Yubari,
Any attack can be the critical game changing attack. I was not criticizing per say - merely asking for clarification on your intentions and methodology. Port Blair does have the potential to be a huge value to you, if the Empire commits naval, air, and ground forces away from other operations, especially PH. By some military logic, your invasion threatens both Medan and Rangoon. If he buys into that, he has to mount a large invasion, or deploy significant forces to prevent a sweeping attack. IMHO, rangoon is very vulnerable to amphibious invasion with Blair in your hands, and if the allies are successful in the invasion and plan the overland well, the entire empire burma army can be bagged in 42. I know because I have done it.
Think about drawing on your late war Empire experience regarding airpower use and apply that to PH and other points on the map. It is the same logic.
Anyway, good hunting.
Ocean of (Allied) Blood.
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
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topeverest
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:47 am
- Location: Houston, TX - USA
RE: 10th May 1942
Andy M
11th and 12th May 1942
Topeverest,
That is exactly the threat that I am now trying to plant in FatR`s mind, of how risky his position in Burma now is. I have a large stack of units at Chittagong heading towards Cox`s Bazaar and will start to send a number of recon flights over the bases.
It appears that FatR is now utterly committed to the Hawaiian islands, there are still at least 5 battleships in the area, around 600 planes and two more divisions were spotted in the last couple of turns on transports headed towards Kona (to make a minimum of 7), and I do not think that I can stop that much force at this time.
I wonder if the fact that I am not American influences my thinking on Pearl Harbour? I do not view it as being particularly important to this war now, and wouldn`t even be too upset if I lost Lahaina. Maybe I would like to avoid the ignominy of being one of the only people to lose Pearl though.
Port Blair.
Unloading has sped up massively since the arrival of the Eastern Fleet unit at Little Andaman and it should all be completed tomorrow, both of the islands should have at least 60000 supplies and be able to survive any siege for many months. Indeed I am now confident that these islands will not be retaken.
Night attacks by Sally units score no hits, but Hurricanes on night duty manage to shoot 1 down and flak destroys another 2. Flak here is proving to be many times more effective than that at Pearl Harbour, which is a tremendous relief for me.
Hawaii.
Poor Arizona is in a terrible condition at Pearl Harbour, with system damage at 99 and flooding and engine damage both around 90 it is a miracle she is still afloat, damage repair is now estimated at nearly 1100 days, or around three years.
On the West Coast, there is a large number of recon planes spotted over Los Angeles, is it possible that FatR will send the KB to attack there in the next day or two, it would certainly fit in with his hyper-aggressive play so far, and would make sense given the 11 days or so since the KB was last spotted around the Line Islands. I move nearly all of my West Coast fighters there just in case.
South Pacific.
Two Japanese cruisers arrive at Suva and bombard, destroying a Buffalo based there. Very pleasing to see these missions still being undertaken, probably another 10000 or so fuel used. A level 1 airfield is completed at Efate, I hope to make the leap to Luganville in the next three weeks or so.
China.
A shock attack by Japan in the area north of Ichang forces three more units to retreat but there is a small bright side, two Japanese armoured car units are completely destroyed.
That is exactly the threat that I am now trying to plant in FatR`s mind, of how risky his position in Burma now is. I have a large stack of units at Chittagong heading towards Cox`s Bazaar and will start to send a number of recon flights over the bases.
It appears that FatR is now utterly committed to the Hawaiian islands, there are still at least 5 battleships in the area, around 600 planes and two more divisions were spotted in the last couple of turns on transports headed towards Kona (to make a minimum of 7), and I do not think that I can stop that much force at this time.
I wonder if the fact that I am not American influences my thinking on Pearl Harbour? I do not view it as being particularly important to this war now, and wouldn`t even be too upset if I lost Lahaina. Maybe I would like to avoid the ignominy of being one of the only people to lose Pearl though.
Port Blair.
Unloading has sped up massively since the arrival of the Eastern Fleet unit at Little Andaman and it should all be completed tomorrow, both of the islands should have at least 60000 supplies and be able to survive any siege for many months. Indeed I am now confident that these islands will not be retaken.
Night attacks by Sally units score no hits, but Hurricanes on night duty manage to shoot 1 down and flak destroys another 2. Flak here is proving to be many times more effective than that at Pearl Harbour, which is a tremendous relief for me.
Hawaii.
Poor Arizona is in a terrible condition at Pearl Harbour, with system damage at 99 and flooding and engine damage both around 90 it is a miracle she is still afloat, damage repair is now estimated at nearly 1100 days, or around three years.
On the West Coast, there is a large number of recon planes spotted over Los Angeles, is it possible that FatR will send the KB to attack there in the next day or two, it would certainly fit in with his hyper-aggressive play so far, and would make sense given the 11 days or so since the KB was last spotted around the Line Islands. I move nearly all of my West Coast fighters there just in case.
South Pacific.
Two Japanese cruisers arrive at Suva and bombard, destroying a Buffalo based there. Very pleasing to see these missions still being undertaken, probably another 10000 or so fuel used. A level 1 airfield is completed at Efate, I hope to make the leap to Luganville in the next three weeks or so.
China.
A shock attack by Japan in the area north of Ichang forces three more units to retreat but there is a small bright side, two Japanese armoured car units are completely destroyed.
13th and 14th May 1942
Port Blair.
The map below shows the allied transports retreating en masse back towards Columbo, as well as a complete list of units at Little Andaman. Already at level 3 airfield, a level 5 airfield should be completed within ten days and then work can continue on the level 2 forts. I think that this base is now secure.
With the arrival of Hermes into port at Madras (I thought that the route back to Columbo would be crawling with submarines), this marks the end of the operation, with not a single ship being lost! During the battle the Japanese, including the crucial fight at Chittagong just before the Port Blair landings have lost 39 fighters and 23 bombers, compared to 23 allied fighters. I shall likely leave Hermes in Madras for many months now, the route back to Columbo and a repair shop will be incredibly dangerous even for an undamaged warship, never mind a crippled old light carrier with a top speed of 5 knots.
Right at the edge of the map, near Diego Garcia, Catalinas spot what looks to be a lone AMC patrolling and Japanese submarines launch three attacks on the 14th, fortunately all of them missing.
Hawaii.
The Fuso, Yamashiro, Hyuga and Ise all bombard Lahaina and cause minimal damage. It is evident that they are replenishing in Hawaii itself.
China.
Never one to leave a single unit out of action for even a single day, FatR is now launching a renewed attack in the south of the country to compliment his attack on Sian. Troops look to be moving along the road route towards Kukong, and so I shall retreat around 3000 AV of troops back towards that city. With lots of good defensive terrain I should be able to hold here.
Over the same hex, the Chinese version of the P-43 Lancer gets into action, 2 being shot down for one Sally, not an overly auspicious debut.
Burma.
FatR has spotted my large stack of units at Chittagong and is of course attacking them, Nicks showing up for the first time and Sallys doing little damage. Japanese troops look to be retreating from Katha so it looks as though FatR is worried about Burma. Excellent.
The map below shows the allied transports retreating en masse back towards Columbo, as well as a complete list of units at Little Andaman. Already at level 3 airfield, a level 5 airfield should be completed within ten days and then work can continue on the level 2 forts. I think that this base is now secure.
With the arrival of Hermes into port at Madras (I thought that the route back to Columbo would be crawling with submarines), this marks the end of the operation, with not a single ship being lost! During the battle the Japanese, including the crucial fight at Chittagong just before the Port Blair landings have lost 39 fighters and 23 bombers, compared to 23 allied fighters. I shall likely leave Hermes in Madras for many months now, the route back to Columbo and a repair shop will be incredibly dangerous even for an undamaged warship, never mind a crippled old light carrier with a top speed of 5 knots.
Right at the edge of the map, near Diego Garcia, Catalinas spot what looks to be a lone AMC patrolling and Japanese submarines launch three attacks on the 14th, fortunately all of them missing.
Hawaii.
The Fuso, Yamashiro, Hyuga and Ise all bombard Lahaina and cause minimal damage. It is evident that they are replenishing in Hawaii itself.
China.
Never one to leave a single unit out of action for even a single day, FatR is now launching a renewed attack in the south of the country to compliment his attack on Sian. Troops look to be moving along the road route towards Kukong, and so I shall retreat around 3000 AV of troops back towards that city. With lots of good defensive terrain I should be able to hold here.
Over the same hex, the Chinese version of the P-43 Lancer gets into action, 2 being shot down for one Sally, not an overly auspicious debut.
Burma.
FatR has spotted my large stack of units at Chittagong and is of course attacking them, Nicks showing up for the first time and Sallys doing little damage. Japanese troops look to be retreating from Katha so it looks as though FatR is worried about Burma. Excellent.
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topeverest
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:47 am
- Location: Houston, TX - USA
RE: 13th and 14th May 1942
You want much more than 60k supplies in Blair considering what and where it is...double that at least. No rush, but I would mount a resupply mission when feasible. I dont see an air HQ. i would fly one in too and begin harassing flight ops
Andy M
RE: 13th and 14th May 1942
Sorry I was so pessimistic about PB. I stopped watching my replay in mid-replay to let you know it is Jan43 and the japs are still bombg me at PB. I am pessimistic about my own problems being at PB. LOL
15th and 16th May 1942
Heavens you are right topeverest, supply consumption seems to be running at nearly a 1000 a turn at Little Andaman. Hopefully this will decrease if I was to stop building forts and airfields. Port Blair has an air headquarters unit so should hopefully be able to launch torpedoes.
No problem bigred, you were right as the Japanese finally started an aggressive response to my landing this turn.
Port Blair.
A Japanese sub sinks an xAP near Columbo but is then itself sunk by a Flower class AMC. It is the only shipping casualty so far of the Port Blair campaign.
On the 16th May, the air campaign at Port Blair begins in earnest. First 3 Japanese cruisers and then Mutsu and Nagato bombard Port Blair fighting a duel against two Indian coastal batteries, thankfully doing very little damage and destroying just one Hurricane on the ground. Then Oscars sweep Port Blair and in the ensuing battle, 8 Airacobras (from the AVG) and 3 Hurricanes are shot down for 8 Oscars
Little Andaman is proceeding at 40 percent a turn to a level 4 airfield, it should get there tomorrow. I may decide to move my main defensive airbase here, it is one hex further away from what looks to be the main Japanese aerodrome at Tavoy and should prove easier for the Royal Navy to defend in any surface battle.
With the Japanese navy ready to fight, I shall now bring in more recon planes, submarines and Swordfish and Vildebeest. I think that, if they headed in this direction straight after their raid in the South Pacific, the KB should be arriving in theatre around the 23rd May after around 5 months at sea with, as far as I can tell, not a single day in port.
China.
The Japanese stack is now moving to the hex north west of Sian, 6 tank regiments arriving this turn, I should be able to get 4 Chinese corps into the mountain hex on the road towards the west of the country.
Hawaii.
The flooding on Arizona is slowly increasing, up to 93 now. At the current rate she will slip gracefully under the waves in the next turn or two. A US sub sinks an APD loaded with some troops heading towards Kona, good to see gronud units still heading this way.
No problem bigred, you were right as the Japanese finally started an aggressive response to my landing this turn.
Port Blair.
A Japanese sub sinks an xAP near Columbo but is then itself sunk by a Flower class AMC. It is the only shipping casualty so far of the Port Blair campaign.
On the 16th May, the air campaign at Port Blair begins in earnest. First 3 Japanese cruisers and then Mutsu and Nagato bombard Port Blair fighting a duel against two Indian coastal batteries, thankfully doing very little damage and destroying just one Hurricane on the ground. Then Oscars sweep Port Blair and in the ensuing battle, 8 Airacobras (from the AVG) and 3 Hurricanes are shot down for 8 Oscars
Little Andaman is proceeding at 40 percent a turn to a level 4 airfield, it should get there tomorrow. I may decide to move my main defensive airbase here, it is one hex further away from what looks to be the main Japanese aerodrome at Tavoy and should prove easier for the Royal Navy to defend in any surface battle.
With the Japanese navy ready to fight, I shall now bring in more recon planes, submarines and Swordfish and Vildebeest. I think that, if they headed in this direction straight after their raid in the South Pacific, the KB should be arriving in theatre around the 23rd May after around 5 months at sea with, as far as I can tell, not a single day in port.
China.
The Japanese stack is now moving to the hex north west of Sian, 6 tank regiments arriving this turn, I should be able to get 4 Chinese corps into the mountain hex on the road towards the west of the country.
Hawaii.
The flooding on Arizona is slowly increasing, up to 93 now. At the current rate she will slip gracefully under the waves in the next turn or two. A US sub sinks an APD loaded with some troops heading towards Kona, good to see gronud units still heading this way.
17th to 19th May 1942
Port Blair.
The IJAAF tries a night attack but AVG pilots on night CAP shoot down four and no damage is done to the airfield. In the morning of the same day three separate squadrons of Oscars sweep and shoot down four Airacobras of an AVG unit that I had stupidly forgotten to stand down with the rest of the Hurricanes. There is still no sign from sigint of any units preparing for Port Blair so I assume that there will be no landing attempt.
Supply usage on the two islands has moderated considerably, both are now using about 500 points a turn and so should be OK for the next couple of months.
Burma.
The first allied units have arrived at Cox`s Bazaar to find that no supplies will flow there. I shall start trying to build forts there to increase the supply flow. I also move some of the RAF bombers to forward airfields in India to start a night bombing campaign against IJAAF airfields in the area. It now looks like the Japanese have retreated all units all the way back to Shwebo.
Hawaii.
The SS Halibut, damaged by a depth charge attack and returning to the West Coast for repairs spots something in the hex southwest of it on the night of the 18th which then promptly disappears from sight in the morning. Sighted around ten hexes to the east of Pearl Harbour and not looking to be a submarine, is this a possible sighting of the KB? Hex counting shows that it is in a likely position if they moved from their attack position on the 1st May back towards Kwajalein, refuelled there for one day and then moved eastwards towards the US west coast.
China.
Chinese forces gain a very small and very unusual victory forcing a Japanese recon unit to retreat and destroying 50 squads and 30 vehicles. Japanese troops north of Sian seem to have stopped moving, maybe they are only trying to cut my supply route and starve my units.
Large scale bombing of Sian airfield continues and it is noticeable that all of the enemy Lily bombers have been withdrawn from service (we are playing with PDU on)
DEI.
Japanese troops are approaching the western point of Sumatra, Sabang and have the best part of a division here. On Java, supplies are completely run out at Malang and the forts are down to 0. Not long to go now.
Japanese carriers.
Always the most important bit of info in the game, the position of the KB. Is it safe to guess that the mysterious spotting east of Pearl Harbour is the KB? It would fit perfectly with FatRs previous use of it. The ocean between Pearl Harbour and the US west coast is totally free of allied shipping so will FatR be brave enough to launch an attack against one of the US cities?
Most importantly, what should the allies do if the spotting is confirmed correct in the next few turns?
The IJAAF tries a night attack but AVG pilots on night CAP shoot down four and no damage is done to the airfield. In the morning of the same day three separate squadrons of Oscars sweep and shoot down four Airacobras of an AVG unit that I had stupidly forgotten to stand down with the rest of the Hurricanes. There is still no sign from sigint of any units preparing for Port Blair so I assume that there will be no landing attempt.
Supply usage on the two islands has moderated considerably, both are now using about 500 points a turn and so should be OK for the next couple of months.
Burma.
The first allied units have arrived at Cox`s Bazaar to find that no supplies will flow there. I shall start trying to build forts there to increase the supply flow. I also move some of the RAF bombers to forward airfields in India to start a night bombing campaign against IJAAF airfields in the area. It now looks like the Japanese have retreated all units all the way back to Shwebo.
Hawaii.
The SS Halibut, damaged by a depth charge attack and returning to the West Coast for repairs spots something in the hex southwest of it on the night of the 18th which then promptly disappears from sight in the morning. Sighted around ten hexes to the east of Pearl Harbour and not looking to be a submarine, is this a possible sighting of the KB? Hex counting shows that it is in a likely position if they moved from their attack position on the 1st May back towards Kwajalein, refuelled there for one day and then moved eastwards towards the US west coast.
China.
Chinese forces gain a very small and very unusual victory forcing a Japanese recon unit to retreat and destroying 50 squads and 30 vehicles. Japanese troops north of Sian seem to have stopped moving, maybe they are only trying to cut my supply route and starve my units.
Large scale bombing of Sian airfield continues and it is noticeable that all of the enemy Lily bombers have been withdrawn from service (we are playing with PDU on)
DEI.
Japanese troops are approaching the western point of Sumatra, Sabang and have the best part of a division here. On Java, supplies are completely run out at Malang and the forts are down to 0. Not long to go now.
Japanese carriers.
Always the most important bit of info in the game, the position of the KB. Is it safe to guess that the mysterious spotting east of Pearl Harbour is the KB? It would fit perfectly with FatRs previous use of it. The ocean between Pearl Harbour and the US west coast is totally free of allied shipping so will FatR be brave enough to launch an attack against one of the US cities?
Most importantly, what should the allies do if the spotting is confirmed correct in the next few turns?
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topeverest
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:47 am
- Location: Houston, TX - USA
RE: 17th to 19th May 1942
Cox bazaar will flow supplies. Remember the 7 day supply cycle. Set stockpiling correctly across all bases in India and Burma and wait. This assumes you have enough supply in India in total. If that, then It will happen.
Andy M
20th to 22nd May 1942
Topeverest, the seven day supply cycle? Do supplies move only every week, and is this the kind of movement that can be altered by the supplies requested button? What I am seeing is that because Cox`s Bazaar has only a level 1 port, only a maximum of 50 supplies can flow there a turn. When the forts are increased this turn, that should increase to 100 a turn. I am no expert on this part of the game.
Port Blair.
FatR is continuing to send Oscar sweeps over Little Andaman and Port Blair and launches a bombing attack on the 21st, destroying 5 allied fighters on the ground and then another couple the turn after. I move the fighters back to Little Andaman which is one hex further from Japanese bases and has a level 5 airfield and so will not be affected by overstacking issues. It is also 19 hexes from Trincomalee and so I will be able to withdraw all of my planes if that becomes necessary.
With FatR apparently flying his fighter sweeps a distance of 10 hexes daily, I send the Hurricanes up on this turn looking to meet some exhausted IJAAF pilots. If I cannot win this battle, then I shall think about retreating all of my air units to rear areas until the second generation planes become available.
There is no sign of any Japanese naval presence in the area, the KB should be arriving in theatre by now or in the next turn or two if it moved here directly from the South Pacific. I am becoming more certain that the KB is deep in the Pacific between Hawaii and the West coast.
Hawaii.
It finally happened, Arizona sinks rather peculiarly directly after a large Sally raid against the Pearl Harbour airfield. Nevada still remains afloat with flooding damage in the 50s. The Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise and Hyuga are all continuing to bombard; I wish the game modelled damage to the main guns from being fired. They have probably fired more times in the past two weeks at Lahaina than they did in reality in the whole war.
Sigint says that the 5th Division, involved in the fight at Singapore is planning for Lahaina. I think that that makes the 4th, 5th, 6th, 18th and 33rd Divisions all planning for the operation, as well as a couple of regiments. Also in theatre are the 38th and 48th divisions which fought at Hilo, plus numerous smaller units.
China.
The Japanese are now moving northward from Sian, a small tank regiment is facing up against 4 Chinese corps. In a mountain hex I have around 2000AV of troops and I am hopeful that these will hold against anything other than the main Japanese army.
Another advantage is that these troops are a long way behind the front line so they should not suffer so badly from FatRs trademark attack, hitting the units with hundreds of Sallys for days to stop them retreating and then a shock attack. Aditionally, being so far from Japanese airfields means that I should be able to use the Chinese bomber force to slow down any advancing Japanese units.
Burma.
Fort construction is moving ever so slowly at Cox`s Bazaar, now 90 percent of the way to level 1. Hopefully when level 1 is eventually reached, supply movement will increase a little. I have to say I really like this improvement in AE, logistics are now much more of a challenge.
Reading my last entry again, it looks somewhat like I am asking for information. These are of course only rhetorical questions. Thankyou to everyone for keeping strict radio secrecy here.
Port Blair.
FatR is continuing to send Oscar sweeps over Little Andaman and Port Blair and launches a bombing attack on the 21st, destroying 5 allied fighters on the ground and then another couple the turn after. I move the fighters back to Little Andaman which is one hex further from Japanese bases and has a level 5 airfield and so will not be affected by overstacking issues. It is also 19 hexes from Trincomalee and so I will be able to withdraw all of my planes if that becomes necessary.
With FatR apparently flying his fighter sweeps a distance of 10 hexes daily, I send the Hurricanes up on this turn looking to meet some exhausted IJAAF pilots. If I cannot win this battle, then I shall think about retreating all of my air units to rear areas until the second generation planes become available.
There is no sign of any Japanese naval presence in the area, the KB should be arriving in theatre by now or in the next turn or two if it moved here directly from the South Pacific. I am becoming more certain that the KB is deep in the Pacific between Hawaii and the West coast.
Hawaii.
It finally happened, Arizona sinks rather peculiarly directly after a large Sally raid against the Pearl Harbour airfield. Nevada still remains afloat with flooding damage in the 50s. The Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise and Hyuga are all continuing to bombard; I wish the game modelled damage to the main guns from being fired. They have probably fired more times in the past two weeks at Lahaina than they did in reality in the whole war.
Sigint says that the 5th Division, involved in the fight at Singapore is planning for Lahaina. I think that that makes the 4th, 5th, 6th, 18th and 33rd Divisions all planning for the operation, as well as a couple of regiments. Also in theatre are the 38th and 48th divisions which fought at Hilo, plus numerous smaller units.
China.
The Japanese are now moving northward from Sian, a small tank regiment is facing up against 4 Chinese corps. In a mountain hex I have around 2000AV of troops and I am hopeful that these will hold against anything other than the main Japanese army.
Another advantage is that these troops are a long way behind the front line so they should not suffer so badly from FatRs trademark attack, hitting the units with hundreds of Sallys for days to stop them retreating and then a shock attack. Aditionally, being so far from Japanese airfields means that I should be able to use the Chinese bomber force to slow down any advancing Japanese units.
Burma.
Fort construction is moving ever so slowly at Cox`s Bazaar, now 90 percent of the way to level 1. Hopefully when level 1 is eventually reached, supply movement will increase a little. I have to say I really like this improvement in AE, logistics are now much more of a challenge.
Reading my last entry again, it looks somewhat like I am asking for information. These are of course only rhetorical questions. Thankyou to everyone for keeping strict radio secrecy here.
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 20th to 22nd May 1942
Where do you have your Command HQs in India?? I would move at least one to Chittagong as they draw supply to themselves above what you are requesting at that base. Start prepping it for a target in Burma. It is easy to forget the importance of HQs, especially the range Command HQs (India HQ has range of 9 while the Southern & Eastern have range of 5) have when it come to combat modifiers.
Is CM Abdiel still afloat?? She carries 150 mines with a speed of 38 to mine your two ports with some DDs as escorts. I would use subs to mine the shallow hexes coming out of Singapore as ships will soon be coming up from here.
Fast Transport in more AA units. If your fighters cannot kill them then use AA guns. I know in WITP there were a few American BFs that had a deadly amount of AA in them. Double check what you have and see if you can send them to India/Burma.
Is CM Abdiel still afloat?? She carries 150 mines with a speed of 38 to mine your two ports with some DDs as escorts. I would use subs to mine the shallow hexes coming out of Singapore as ships will soon be coming up from here.
Fast Transport in more AA units. If your fighters cannot kill them then use AA guns. I know in WITP there were a few American BFs that had a deadly amount of AA in them. Double check what you have and see if you can send them to India/Burma.
[center]
[/center]
[/center]23rd May 1942
Excellent idea Giants. I have had the command units in the rear in the belief that it helped with the repair of damaged squads but shall move them forwards immediately.
The Abdiel is still afloat but unfortunately isn`t able to load any mines. The type that she can load (I think Type XVII) is scheduled to arrive at the start of December 1942, and I used her initial load to mine Vizgapatnam a couple of months earlier.
Andamans
A day of very heavy air battles over Little Andaman, as the IJAAF makes an attempt to destroy more British fighters on the ground. In four separate battles, 25 Hurricanes and 11 P-400s are shot down and on the Japanese side, my best estimates suggest that a total of 35 Oscars and 30 Sallys destroyed with no damage done to the airfield.
This is the kind of attritional fighting that strongly favours the Japanese, those losses are probably only a week or so of production, whereas for the allies the Airacobra pool is now completely exhausted and there are only 8 Hurricanes left. I may try to fight one more battle here and then withdraw back to Trincomalee to rebuild the squadrons with the cannon armed Hurricane, 48 a month of which start to arrive in June. As ever, I am hopeful that a lot of IJAAF pilots are killed.
Three new P-40 squadrons arrived at Karachi in this turn, and I am bringing in another 10 or so squadrons by ship from the US East coast to Capetown, if I can get 250 or more operational fighters, then this should be an excellent place to try to attrit the IJAAF.
Burma.
Cox`s Bazaar has at last reached level 1 forts and supply flow has apparently increased to 100 per turn. It is clearly going to take a long time to be able to build up a logistics system to be able to support a move through the jungle towards Rangoon.
The Abdiel is still afloat but unfortunately isn`t able to load any mines. The type that she can load (I think Type XVII) is scheduled to arrive at the start of December 1942, and I used her initial load to mine Vizgapatnam a couple of months earlier.
Andamans
A day of very heavy air battles over Little Andaman, as the IJAAF makes an attempt to destroy more British fighters on the ground. In four separate battles, 25 Hurricanes and 11 P-400s are shot down and on the Japanese side, my best estimates suggest that a total of 35 Oscars and 30 Sallys destroyed with no damage done to the airfield.
This is the kind of attritional fighting that strongly favours the Japanese, those losses are probably only a week or so of production, whereas for the allies the Airacobra pool is now completely exhausted and there are only 8 Hurricanes left. I may try to fight one more battle here and then withdraw back to Trincomalee to rebuild the squadrons with the cannon armed Hurricane, 48 a month of which start to arrive in June. As ever, I am hopeful that a lot of IJAAF pilots are killed.
Three new P-40 squadrons arrived at Karachi in this turn, and I am bringing in another 10 or so squadrons by ship from the US East coast to Capetown, if I can get 250 or more operational fighters, then this should be an excellent place to try to attrit the IJAAF.
Burma.
Cox`s Bazaar has at last reached level 1 forts and supply flow has apparently increased to 100 per turn. It is clearly going to take a long time to be able to build up a logistics system to be able to support a move through the jungle towards Rangoon.
24th and 25th May 1942
Andamans.
Following the large battles of the 23rd, Japan tries to attack Little Andaman at night. Hurricanes shoot down one of the attacking bombers and flak destroys another two. The three survivors score no hits, the flak here is awesome compared to the pathetic US guns, that must be a bug in this mod. Unfortunately they have an altitude limit of 25000 feet and FatR is sending his Sallies in at that height. On the 25th, just two days after losing 65 planes at Little Andaman, another 200 or so attack. My fighters are all kept on the ground and 4 Hurricanes are destroyed there.
British searchplanes spot three separate Japanese fleets on the 25th. A carrier fleet with around 100 planes and a surface fleet are 7 hexes from Little Andaman, and another surface fleet is three hexes further back. I imagine that the fleet in the same hex as the carriers is the Mutsu and Nagato, and the fleet a little further away is the Suzuya, Ashigara and Atago. My best guess is that the carriers are the Akagi and the Hiyo. I retreat all the operational fighters back to Ceylon.
South Pacific.
Two large allied convoys moving south of Suva report a large number of aircraft in the area. With a large number of subs in the area, it could just be Glens, it could be Jakes from another surface fleet, there was one in the area about 10 days ago or it could be a part or most of the KB. Whatever, I split the convoy up and set them to flee at full speed. Again, my patrol planes have failed to detect approaching ships.
Surprisingly, the next day, all of the ships escape, I will try to reunite them a bit further south and then send them again to their destination.
North Pacific.
I am starting in earnest the build up at Adak Island. There hasn't been more than a couple of Japanese ships up here the whole war but I am loath to send units a long way along the island chain at the moment, infantry units in the US are still in very short supply, and I am completely out of political points having just bought out a lot of restricted units in the last couple of turns.
Japanese carriers.
With this sighting of carriers in the Andamans area and indirect evidence of more carriers operating east of Pearl Harbour and around Suva, it looks possible that FatR is using three separate carrier fleets, which I find to be simply unbelievable risk taking. I am very nearly ready to strike back.
Following the large battles of the 23rd, Japan tries to attack Little Andaman at night. Hurricanes shoot down one of the attacking bombers and flak destroys another two. The three survivors score no hits, the flak here is awesome compared to the pathetic US guns, that must be a bug in this mod. Unfortunately they have an altitude limit of 25000 feet and FatR is sending his Sallies in at that height. On the 25th, just two days after losing 65 planes at Little Andaman, another 200 or so attack. My fighters are all kept on the ground and 4 Hurricanes are destroyed there.
British searchplanes spot three separate Japanese fleets on the 25th. A carrier fleet with around 100 planes and a surface fleet are 7 hexes from Little Andaman, and another surface fleet is three hexes further back. I imagine that the fleet in the same hex as the carriers is the Mutsu and Nagato, and the fleet a little further away is the Suzuya, Ashigara and Atago. My best guess is that the carriers are the Akagi and the Hiyo. I retreat all the operational fighters back to Ceylon.
South Pacific.
Two large allied convoys moving south of Suva report a large number of aircraft in the area. With a large number of subs in the area, it could just be Glens, it could be Jakes from another surface fleet, there was one in the area about 10 days ago or it could be a part or most of the KB. Whatever, I split the convoy up and set them to flee at full speed. Again, my patrol planes have failed to detect approaching ships.
Surprisingly, the next day, all of the ships escape, I will try to reunite them a bit further south and then send them again to their destination.
North Pacific.
I am starting in earnest the build up at Adak Island. There hasn't been more than a couple of Japanese ships up here the whole war but I am loath to send units a long way along the island chain at the moment, infantry units in the US are still in very short supply, and I am completely out of political points having just bought out a lot of restricted units in the last couple of turns.
Japanese carriers.
With this sighting of carriers in the Andamans area and indirect evidence of more carriers operating east of Pearl Harbour and around Suva, it looks possible that FatR is using three separate carrier fleets, which I find to be simply unbelievable risk taking. I am very nearly ready to strike back.
26th May 1942
Andamans.
As expected, the Mutsu bombards Little Andaman and does little damage. The British fighter force had been removed earlier back to Ceylon anyway. As was not expected, the Japanese land a force at the island of Trinkat, the fourth island along the Andaman island chain. 8 infantry squads and 48 support squads are damaged, so it looks like this is a base force. The map below shows the position at the moment. Frustratingly, none of the allied submarines placed along the way can get a shot at the Japanese ships. However, more are to arrive soon, there should be around 25 Dutch and US S boat submarines in theatre in the next week.
FatR doesnt know this, but he has launched this attack at an absolutely perfect time. Grrrrr.
North Pacific.
With all of the Japanese activity in the Andamans, I decide to launch a large scale reinforcement mission to the Aleutians, and send a couple of newly arrived units, originally attached to South Pacific up to Seattle ready for transport to the Aleutians. As the South Pacific HQ arrived recently and is effectively imprisoned in Pearl Harbour, this seems a sensible use.
South Pacific.
Following the appearance of lots of Japanese planes in the area of Suva a couple of days ago, not a single Japanese ship has been spotted in the area despite a large number of search planes. This could have been merely a large collection of Glen equipped subs, or FatR could have been using a small number of high speed carriers which appeared and dissapeared at very high speed.
Burma.
An RAF units which was forced to retreat towards the enemy in Burma takes an empty Katha. Supplies are now flowing very slowly to Cox`s Bazaar.
DEI.
Malang finally falls and with that ends the resistance of the Dutch.
As expected, the Mutsu bombards Little Andaman and does little damage. The British fighter force had been removed earlier back to Ceylon anyway. As was not expected, the Japanese land a force at the island of Trinkat, the fourth island along the Andaman island chain. 8 infantry squads and 48 support squads are damaged, so it looks like this is a base force. The map below shows the position at the moment. Frustratingly, none of the allied submarines placed along the way can get a shot at the Japanese ships. However, more are to arrive soon, there should be around 25 Dutch and US S boat submarines in theatre in the next week.
FatR doesnt know this, but he has launched this attack at an absolutely perfect time. Grrrrr.
North Pacific.
With all of the Japanese activity in the Andamans, I decide to launch a large scale reinforcement mission to the Aleutians, and send a couple of newly arrived units, originally attached to South Pacific up to Seattle ready for transport to the Aleutians. As the South Pacific HQ arrived recently and is effectively imprisoned in Pearl Harbour, this seems a sensible use.
South Pacific.
Following the appearance of lots of Japanese planes in the area of Suva a couple of days ago, not a single Japanese ship has been spotted in the area despite a large number of search planes. This could have been merely a large collection of Glen equipped subs, or FatR could have been using a small number of high speed carriers which appeared and dissapeared at very high speed.
Burma.
An RAF units which was forced to retreat towards the enemy in Burma takes an empty Katha. Supplies are now flowing very slowly to Cox`s Bazaar.
DEI.
Malang finally falls and with that ends the resistance of the Dutch.
- Attachments
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- AndamanSea.jpg (164.39 KiB) Viewed 165 times
27th May 1942
Hawaii.
Invasion Lahaina!
Japan launches a huge invasion effort against Lahaina and allied coastal guns firing back do a somewhat disappointing effort at firing back. One of the old Japanese training Cls is hit heavily along with the CL Naga which takes two shells. 2xAKs and 5 other xAKLs are hit heavily and most of these will sink. In the unloading process around 8000 casualties are reported.
The following Japanese units have so far been reported at Lahaina, around 7 divisions worth of troops. Although they are not fully unloaded, the Japanese outnumber me more than two to one already.
Ground combat at Lahaina (182,108)
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 13439 troops, 306 guns, 342 vehicles, Assault Value = 615
Defending force 35279 troops, 266 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 1367
Japanese ground losses:
399 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
54th Coastal Artillery Regiment
2nd Marine Raider Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
298th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
276th Coastal Artillery Battalion
2nd Marine Regiment
2nd USMC Engineer Regiment
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
208th Coast AA Regiment
102nd USN Base Force
811th Engineer Aviation Battalion
197th Coast AA Regiment
118th USAAF Base Force
111th USN Base Force
46th Construction Regiment
43rd Construction Regiment
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
Defending units:
77th Infantry Rgt /1
48th Div /3
17th Infantry Rgt /4
24th Infantry Rgt /1
5th Div /1
5th Ind. Engr Rgt /2
38th Div /1
16th Infantry Rgt /3
18th Div /2
4th Div /1
20th Engr Rgt /2
27th Electric Engr Rgt /1
65th Nav Gd /4
40th Bde /1
23rd Medium FA Rgt /2
Burma.
The India command unit is approaching the front lines and forts are gradually being built at Cox`s Bazaar. A second division has arrived there and brings another 75 engineers.
Andamans.
Supply use seems to have settled at an average of 400 per turn at both Little Andaman and Port Blair. The Japanese ships unloading at Trinkat have all disappeared and it was a base force unloaded there. I already have troops loaded on transports to retake this island.
Invasion Lahaina!
Japan launches a huge invasion effort against Lahaina and allied coastal guns firing back do a somewhat disappointing effort at firing back. One of the old Japanese training Cls is hit heavily along with the CL Naga which takes two shells. 2xAKs and 5 other xAKLs are hit heavily and most of these will sink. In the unloading process around 8000 casualties are reported.
The following Japanese units have so far been reported at Lahaina, around 7 divisions worth of troops. Although they are not fully unloaded, the Japanese outnumber me more than two to one already.
Ground combat at Lahaina (182,108)
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 13439 troops, 306 guns, 342 vehicles, Assault Value = 615
Defending force 35279 troops, 266 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 1367
Japanese ground losses:
399 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
54th Coastal Artillery Regiment
2nd Marine Raider Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
298th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
276th Coastal Artillery Battalion
2nd Marine Regiment
2nd USMC Engineer Regiment
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
208th Coast AA Regiment
102nd USN Base Force
811th Engineer Aviation Battalion
197th Coast AA Regiment
118th USAAF Base Force
111th USN Base Force
46th Construction Regiment
43rd Construction Regiment
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
Defending units:
77th Infantry Rgt /1
48th Div /3
17th Infantry Rgt /4
24th Infantry Rgt /1
5th Div /1
5th Ind. Engr Rgt /2
38th Div /1
16th Infantry Rgt /3
18th Div /2
4th Div /1
20th Engr Rgt /2
27th Electric Engr Rgt /1
65th Nav Gd /4
40th Bde /1
23rd Medium FA Rgt /2
Burma.
The India command unit is approaching the front lines and forts are gradually being built at Cox`s Bazaar. A second division has arrived there and brings another 75 engineers.
Andamans.
Supply use seems to have settled at an average of 400 per turn at both Little Andaman and Port Blair. The Japanese ships unloading at Trinkat have all disappeared and it was a base force unloaded there. I already have troops loaded on transports to retake this island.
28th to 30th May 1942
Hawaii.
6100 more Japanese casualties on the 28th May as the unloading continues, and a lot more ships sinking. The Japanese now have 2057AV on the island and presumably have more to unload, it looks like they have brought enough to take the island.
A small PT boat squadron is sent to interfere with the landing and an almost comedic scene occurs in the 58-ship large Japanese task force with 6 separate ship collisions. 4 of the collisions involve the same ship, which sinks afterwards.
Unloading is completed by the 30th May, and the Japanese have on that date 2195AV against the allied 615, the allies having around 30000 tons of supply left. I imagine that the island will be taken by about the middle of July
Andamans.
The 30th May is another day of slaughter at Little Andaman as the British Hurricanes and the AVG battle against the IJAAF. With the IJAAF attacking every day in the past week, it is likely that their pilots are very tired and their planes damaged/fatigued and the allies pull off a fairly convincing victory. In 4 separate battles, 15 Hurricanes and 15 Airacobras are lost for an estimated 70 Japanese planes, roughly half and half divided between Sallys and Oscars.
With a service rating of 1, the Oscars will all be replaced and flying again by the 1st of June, but the service rating of 2 for the Sally means that it might be 3 or 4 days before they are attacking again.
The small British/Australian invasion force is approaching Trinkat, I am ordering it to land there the day after tomorrow. With the Japanese having just 5AV of troops there, the island should fall easily. Japanese search planes spot the British carrier TF today so FatR should be expecting a landing there tomorrow. I also have a surprise for him to be revealed tomorrow.
I have brought my recon B-25 unit to Little Andaman to allow me to recon Singapore for any Japanese movement. As I have just 4 of these planes, and no more due to arrive until April 1943, I only use them in the most important situations, and they prove their worth by managing to spot the Japanese carrier TF at anchor at Singapore. Also spotted are a couple of task forces heading along the Singapore Straights, one of which is confirmed to be a surface group containing the BB Haruna.
Japanese carriers.
Aside from the small unknown force spotted at Singapore, no definitive sighting of these since the raid in the south Pacific in early May. The couple of Catalinas I still have operational in Hawaii havent spotted anything so far during the Lahaina invasion.
Strategic.
It is beginning to look as though a concentration of allied fighters can at least match the improved Japanese planes in this mod in one off battles when the Japanese are flying every day at a range of 9 or 10 hexes. I shall now look to congregate large numbers of fighters at the bases of Port Blair and Little Andaman including 10 to 12 squadrons of US fighters that have been transferred from the US mainland in the past two months. Although Japan can certainly afford to lose the planes, it surely cannot replace such a large number of pilots in a large scale attritional war in the Andamans.
The key question is going to be whether the allied fighter plane stockpile can hold up. At the moment I am getting 48 Hurricanes, 10 Mohawks, 35 P-40Es and 25 P-39s per month and a total of 50 P-38Es. Bringing in a couple of Canadian units will bring a few more of their excellent variant of the Hurricane. If things get desperate then I also have 45 Wildcats a month that I can thrown in, but I would prefer to build up a reserve for the carriers in the event of any battles.
Air losses from the latest turn, with the Japanese losses significantly overestimated I think.
6100 more Japanese casualties on the 28th May as the unloading continues, and a lot more ships sinking. The Japanese now have 2057AV on the island and presumably have more to unload, it looks like they have brought enough to take the island.
A small PT boat squadron is sent to interfere with the landing and an almost comedic scene occurs in the 58-ship large Japanese task force with 6 separate ship collisions. 4 of the collisions involve the same ship, which sinks afterwards.
Unloading is completed by the 30th May, and the Japanese have on that date 2195AV against the allied 615, the allies having around 30000 tons of supply left. I imagine that the island will be taken by about the middle of July
Andamans.
The 30th May is another day of slaughter at Little Andaman as the British Hurricanes and the AVG battle against the IJAAF. With the IJAAF attacking every day in the past week, it is likely that their pilots are very tired and their planes damaged/fatigued and the allies pull off a fairly convincing victory. In 4 separate battles, 15 Hurricanes and 15 Airacobras are lost for an estimated 70 Japanese planes, roughly half and half divided between Sallys and Oscars.
With a service rating of 1, the Oscars will all be replaced and flying again by the 1st of June, but the service rating of 2 for the Sally means that it might be 3 or 4 days before they are attacking again.
The small British/Australian invasion force is approaching Trinkat, I am ordering it to land there the day after tomorrow. With the Japanese having just 5AV of troops there, the island should fall easily. Japanese search planes spot the British carrier TF today so FatR should be expecting a landing there tomorrow. I also have a surprise for him to be revealed tomorrow.
I have brought my recon B-25 unit to Little Andaman to allow me to recon Singapore for any Japanese movement. As I have just 4 of these planes, and no more due to arrive until April 1943, I only use them in the most important situations, and they prove their worth by managing to spot the Japanese carrier TF at anchor at Singapore. Also spotted are a couple of task forces heading along the Singapore Straights, one of which is confirmed to be a surface group containing the BB Haruna.
Japanese carriers.
Aside from the small unknown force spotted at Singapore, no definitive sighting of these since the raid in the south Pacific in early May. The couple of Catalinas I still have operational in Hawaii havent spotted anything so far during the Lahaina invasion.
Strategic.
It is beginning to look as though a concentration of allied fighters can at least match the improved Japanese planes in this mod in one off battles when the Japanese are flying every day at a range of 9 or 10 hexes. I shall now look to congregate large numbers of fighters at the bases of Port Blair and Little Andaman including 10 to 12 squadrons of US fighters that have been transferred from the US mainland in the past two months. Although Japan can certainly afford to lose the planes, it surely cannot replace such a large number of pilots in a large scale attritional war in the Andamans.
The key question is going to be whether the allied fighter plane stockpile can hold up. At the moment I am getting 48 Hurricanes, 10 Mohawks, 35 P-40Es and 25 P-39s per month and a total of 50 P-38Es. Bringing in a couple of Canadian units will bring a few more of their excellent variant of the Hurricane. If things get desperate then I also have 45 Wildcats a month that I can thrown in, but I would prefer to build up a reserve for the carriers in the event of any battles.
Air losses from the latest turn, with the Japanese losses significantly overestimated I think.
- Attachments
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- Planes30thMay1942.jpg (161.69 KiB) Viewed 165 times
RE: 28th to 30th May 1942
Andamans.
The allies unleash their big surprise, the 5 carriers of the US fleet appear a couple of hexes north of Sabang but unfortunately the Japanese have not reacted as aggressively as I expected them to do. The combined US and British fleet finds itself 10 hexes away from the small Japanese carrier fleet in the day phase. The US fleet is however in range of lots of land based air and 5 separate attacks are made. The CAP however performs excellently and all of the attacking bombers are shot down.
Betties however do spot and attack a couple of xAKLs which are to unload more supplies at Little Andaman, two are sunk.
So far identified in the area are the Kirishima, Haruna and the Yamato, plus the Japanese carrier force of around 200 planes. With the location of the rest of the Japanese carriers still unknown it would seem prudent to withdraw my invasion fleet, a force of 6 divisions was loaded on transports and was two to three days away from landing.
The landing at Trinkat and the resupply mission to Little Andaman shall continue however.
China.
There have been two large battles at hex (82,55) in the past couple of days. In the first, Japanese force shock attacked and retreated three Chinese corps. In the last turn, 3000AV of Japanese troops shock-retreated a Japanese division and a brigade. The division in particular was absolutely pulverised, left at an AV of 7 even before the retreat.
Strategic.
I have 6 divisions loaded on ships and two to three days away from their invasion targets but with so many Japanese ships on the scene, and the position of the main KB not known I think that it is wise to withdraw at this time rather than risk suffering a serious defeat. In the next month, the US fleet will get considerably stronger with the 36 plane fighter groups, Avengers to replace the Devastators, the Wasp arriving at Balboa and AA upgrades for the Yorktown class.
With what looks to be a secure and important position in the Andamans already achieved the only way I could lose this war is with a bad carrier battle defeat. I am ready to fight Japan in the Indian Ocean but only in friendly waters.
In the longer term I will look to base 4 engine bombers in the Andamans (Little Andaman and Port Blair can both be built to level 8) and these should be enough to overcome any Japanese air force in either Burma, Malaysia or on Sumatra, depending on which way I choose to go next.
The action in the Andamans. The bright green hex has three US and three British carriers. In the dark green hex is the Trinkat invasion fleet. In the dark red hex is the Japanese carrier fleet and the Haruna, Kirishima and Yamato are in the bright red hex.
The allies unleash their big surprise, the 5 carriers of the US fleet appear a couple of hexes north of Sabang but unfortunately the Japanese have not reacted as aggressively as I expected them to do. The combined US and British fleet finds itself 10 hexes away from the small Japanese carrier fleet in the day phase. The US fleet is however in range of lots of land based air and 5 separate attacks are made. The CAP however performs excellently and all of the attacking bombers are shot down.
Betties however do spot and attack a couple of xAKLs which are to unload more supplies at Little Andaman, two are sunk.
So far identified in the area are the Kirishima, Haruna and the Yamato, plus the Japanese carrier force of around 200 planes. With the location of the rest of the Japanese carriers still unknown it would seem prudent to withdraw my invasion fleet, a force of 6 divisions was loaded on transports and was two to three days away from landing.
The landing at Trinkat and the resupply mission to Little Andaman shall continue however.
China.
There have been two large battles at hex (82,55) in the past couple of days. In the first, Japanese force shock attacked and retreated three Chinese corps. In the last turn, 3000AV of Japanese troops shock-retreated a Japanese division and a brigade. The division in particular was absolutely pulverised, left at an AV of 7 even before the retreat.
Strategic.
I have 6 divisions loaded on ships and two to three days away from their invasion targets but with so many Japanese ships on the scene, and the position of the main KB not known I think that it is wise to withdraw at this time rather than risk suffering a serious defeat. In the next month, the US fleet will get considerably stronger with the 36 plane fighter groups, Avengers to replace the Devastators, the Wasp arriving at Balboa and AA upgrades for the Yorktown class.
With what looks to be a secure and important position in the Andamans already achieved the only way I could lose this war is with a bad carrier battle defeat. I am ready to fight Japan in the Indian Ocean but only in friendly waters.
In the longer term I will look to base 4 engine bombers in the Andamans (Little Andaman and Port Blair can both be built to level 8) and these should be enough to overcome any Japanese air force in either Burma, Malaysia or on Sumatra, depending on which way I choose to go next.
The action in the Andamans. The bright green hex has three US and three British carriers. In the dark green hex is the Trinkat invasion fleet. In the dark red hex is the Japanese carrier fleet and the Haruna, Kirishima and Yamato are in the bright red hex.
- Attachments
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- Andaman.jpg (136.1 KiB) Viewed 165 times
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 28th to 30th May 1942
What do you have covering the southern approaches to Ceylon?? I've played FatR and I would expect something to be coming from that direction at some point. Subs, some picket transports, and PBYs should be covering as much as possible. I would have some high endurance American subs patrolling off the straits between Java and Sumatra.
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[/center]1st June 1942
Yes good thinking Giants, I have seen a couple of AMCs around here in the past month, and wouldnt be surprised to see cruisers or destroyers enter Columbo itself. I havent mentioned it in the AAR but FatR has left Cocos Island empty so I have an AVD based there with a Catalina squadron, and a few submarines near the Oosthaven Batavia straight, hopefully they should spot any carrier forces. I shall land a large unit, possible the 1st Marines there in the next month or so to secure it and then build up a large patrol base.
Andamans.
Nearly all of the Japanese ships retreat, presumably back to Singapore. There is however a group of 6 destroyers that moves straight towards the Allied fleet, presumably as an attempt to get a lucky torpedo hit against a carrier. It doesn't matter as the US fleet also moves somewhat northwards and sinks two of the six destroyers. It is noticable again that destroyers are incredibly hard to hit, and about two thirds of my large afternoon strikes tries to attack destroyers that have already been sunk.
Japanese air attacks against the allied fleet again come up blank, some 40 Japanese planes being shot down for the loss of 9 allied fighters. 7 Betties manage to break through the CAP to launch strikes against British carriers but all miss and 6 are shot down while flying away.
Allied troops land at Trinkat, I shall try a deliberate attack tomorrow and 15000 tons of supplies have been landed at Little Andaman, with another 7000 left at sea. So far the operation has been a small tactical victory for the allies but I dread the appearance of a Japanese submarine, I have around 50 of my Dauntlesses on ASW work.
Allied High Command.
They were demanding the return of a lot of torpedo bomber squadrons and Hurricanes right in the middle of the battle, 9 squadrons to be withdrawn by the 1st of June and with my political points completely exhausted from having bought out the Indian units I had to return them, not wanting to risk negative political points. Can you not be a little patient!
Andamans.
Nearly all of the Japanese ships retreat, presumably back to Singapore. There is however a group of 6 destroyers that moves straight towards the Allied fleet, presumably as an attempt to get a lucky torpedo hit against a carrier. It doesn't matter as the US fleet also moves somewhat northwards and sinks two of the six destroyers. It is noticable again that destroyers are incredibly hard to hit, and about two thirds of my large afternoon strikes tries to attack destroyers that have already been sunk.
Japanese air attacks against the allied fleet again come up blank, some 40 Japanese planes being shot down for the loss of 9 allied fighters. 7 Betties manage to break through the CAP to launch strikes against British carriers but all miss and 6 are shot down while flying away.
Allied troops land at Trinkat, I shall try a deliberate attack tomorrow and 15000 tons of supplies have been landed at Little Andaman, with another 7000 left at sea. So far the operation has been a small tactical victory for the allies but I dread the appearance of a Japanese submarine, I have around 50 of my Dauntlesses on ASW work.
Allied High Command.
They were demanding the return of a lot of torpedo bomber squadrons and Hurricanes right in the middle of the battle, 9 squadrons to be withdrawn by the 1st of June and with my political points completely exhausted from having bought out the Indian units I had to return them, not wanting to risk negative political points. Can you not be a little patient!
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 1st June 1942
Have your CVs "follow" a SC TF to help prevent a SC TF getting straight through. I usually have all my CV TF with orders to follow this SC TF. So, I could have 5 or 6 TF in a hex.
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[/center]2nd to 4th June 1942
Thanks Giants.
Andamans.
FatR seems to have surrendered the initiative up here, there have been no sweeps over Little Andaman or Port Blair in the past three days and no sign of any naval presence, apart from a veritable swarm of submarines.
More supplies unloaded at Little Andaman, now well above 70000 tons there. Progress is continuing on the forts, a day or two away from level 4. The landing at Trinkat went uninterrupted by the IJN and the island fell to the Allies on the 3rd June. A number of Japanese troops survive on the island and I am attacking to try to eliminate them. A naval base force that arrived at Karachi will hopefully be unloaded there in around two weeks time to give lots of naval support points and then I will look to unload a division plus coastal guns and AA.
The current task is the unloading of the Australian 6th Division plus supporting forces at Cap Nicobar, the small island three hexes southwards from Little Andaman. Although the port is a size 0, I think that the Eastern Fleet should hugely speed up unloading there, there are apparently 75 naval support points there. Around 50 transports are currently unloading there and I have more than 170 fighters flying LRCAP from Port Blair and Little Andaman.
Continuing recon of Singapore shows no sign of the Japanese mini KB, or any of the battleships previously seen in the Straits of Malacca. The most likely destination is I think a quick run through the Java-Sumatra strait and a raid into the Indian Ocean.
Hawaii.
I forgot to mention it in the last entry but the Japanese are now landing more troops at Lahaina on barges. It is a dangerous way to land as at least 10 of them are obliterated by hits from the 155mm guns. Interestingly, 105mm guns are also firing, and they did not fire at the larger xAKs landing a few days ago. With another 100 non-combat squads destroyed, I guess this is a command unit.
North Pacific.
The Japanese seem to be reconning quite a few bases in the Aleutians chain but havent yet spotted a base with allied troops. I have a cruiser task force already heading up here.
Andamans.
FatR seems to have surrendered the initiative up here, there have been no sweeps over Little Andaman or Port Blair in the past three days and no sign of any naval presence, apart from a veritable swarm of submarines.
More supplies unloaded at Little Andaman, now well above 70000 tons there. Progress is continuing on the forts, a day or two away from level 4. The landing at Trinkat went uninterrupted by the IJN and the island fell to the Allies on the 3rd June. A number of Japanese troops survive on the island and I am attacking to try to eliminate them. A naval base force that arrived at Karachi will hopefully be unloaded there in around two weeks time to give lots of naval support points and then I will look to unload a division plus coastal guns and AA.
The current task is the unloading of the Australian 6th Division plus supporting forces at Cap Nicobar, the small island three hexes southwards from Little Andaman. Although the port is a size 0, I think that the Eastern Fleet should hugely speed up unloading there, there are apparently 75 naval support points there. Around 50 transports are currently unloading there and I have more than 170 fighters flying LRCAP from Port Blair and Little Andaman.
Continuing recon of Singapore shows no sign of the Japanese mini KB, or any of the battleships previously seen in the Straits of Malacca. The most likely destination is I think a quick run through the Java-Sumatra strait and a raid into the Indian Ocean.
Hawaii.
I forgot to mention it in the last entry but the Japanese are now landing more troops at Lahaina on barges. It is a dangerous way to land as at least 10 of them are obliterated by hits from the 155mm guns. Interestingly, 105mm guns are also firing, and they did not fire at the larger xAKs landing a few days ago. With another 100 non-combat squads destroyed, I guess this is a command unit.
North Pacific.
The Japanese seem to be reconning quite a few bases in the Aleutians chain but havent yet spotted a base with allied troops. I have a cruiser task force already heading up here.