Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

June 5, 1942 -

There was no action in the Night Phase, although on the Combat Replay map I saw that one of my subs off of Japan was in the same hex as a Japanese TF, but they didn't run into each other.

Daylight brought Japanese bombers and fighters over Tennant Creek again. They continue to keep the Air Fields there fairly well damaged. I'm no longer trying to fly anything out of there. Japanese bombers also hit the Dutch stragglers in Pakanbaroe.

The Catalinas at Noumea flew this turn and actually hit the ship in Port at Luganville. It turned out to be an xAK and I suspect that it was sunk in the attack. It may have been damaged previously by a sub attack.

One of my AVPs along with a couple of DEs were spotted by Japanese Recon planes as it neared Canton Island. I had intended to leave the AVP there to provide Air Support for the Cats at Canton Island because I don't want to put any forces there at this time, and the Civilian BF will be withdrawn in a few weeks. But I realized that my opponent can do the very same thing to me that I did to him at Luganville, so I'm going to find someplace else to park the AVP.

And my opponent still refuses to do “dumb things” as four Japanese LCUs showed up at Katha this turn. So I will not get the opportunity to drop Paratroops in and cut his supply lines. Also, the Japanese Infantry Regiment that captured Bhamo showed up a hex away from Myitkyina this turn. If that unit shows up at Myitkyina before the main attack I'll try to kick it out using the Burma Division, but I don't suspect that my opponent will make that mistake either.

So things are looking pretty tough for my forces at Myitkyina. The situation is much different from what I anticipated when I set up my defence five months before. I was expecting to wear down my opponent's LCUs with constant Air Attacks, but I've since found out that my 2E bombers are pretty much useless for Ground Interdiction, and with so many Japanese fighters around the region I can't win a War of Attrition. So it's a bit discouraging, but I'll have to hope that the Monsoon Effect hinders the Japanese assault because I don't have any other cards to play.

BTW – at the end of the turn a Japanese Recon Regiment crossed the river at Pakanbaroe, staged a Shock Attack, and pushed my Stragglers one hex closer to the coast. I wanted them to do that direction, but I didn't want them to be kicked that direction. Now they will probably die in the Jungle before they get to the coast.

[ADB123]

June 6, 1942 -

There was one sub attack during the Night Phase as USS Cachalot hit an xAK with some duds off of Kobe. My opponent must be getting tired of the antics of my subs because he upped the ante as far as ASW goes and had a PB and a DD as escorts for the Transport TF.

Daylight brought another effort by my opponent to break the back of the Allied Air Forces in Indo/Burma. A sweep by 28 Oscars came in at high altitude over Imphal. I had 8 Hurricane Is there so they couldn't match the altitude, but the Oscars only shot down two of them.

Later the main Japanese attack came as 19 Helens and 41 Sallys flew in escorted by 2 Nicks and 19 more Oscars. Allied Aircraft flew in from nearby bases and 4 AVG P-40Es assisted two Hurricanes. Now that the Oscars were at Escort Altitude things changed. A Sally was shot down, 7 Sallys were damaged, and an Oscar was shot down. The Allies lost a P-40E and another Hurricane.

Finally, 3 more Oscar late-comers showed up and ran into 11 more AVG P-40Es and 8 more Hurricanes. One P-40E was shot down in the melee. But in the end the fighter losses were almost equal on both sides.

So I'm not certain why my opponent chose to hit Imphal. Sure, he damaged the Air Fields a bit, but I've got a lot of other Air Fields in operation and loaded with good fighters. Maybe he thought that I was basing my 4Es out of Imphal. In any event, I have to remain ready for more attacks, so I moved up my Fighter units to Max Altitude, upped their CAP levels to 50%, and set them all to flying on External Tanks so that more planes can assist different bases.

There was one Allied Air Attack in return – the B-17Es at Dacca flew in and hit the troops at Katha. There was no Japanese CAP, so the bombers got through easily, although they didn't cause much damage. But this gave me an idea, so I am trying something I don't usually do, and that is planning back-to-back Bomber raids for next turn. But I'm not just sending my 4Es, and I'm not hitting Katha. I have set the 4Es along with a number of British 2Es to hit the Airfields at Mandalay at 1000 feet!

I haven't had much success in destroying Japanese planes on the ground when my bombers have attacked at 6000 feet, so I am going lower to an attempt to cause some serious damage. Sure, my planes will take a beating, but I want to send a signal to my opponent that he can't just push without getting pushed back.

Of course, as one would expect, the Weather Forecast is calling for End-of-the-World Weather again, but if I waited for clear weather I'd be waiting for the rest of the War.

Otherwise, the only other Japanese attacks were on Yenan. The Japanese Troops in China aren't moving, so I'm not too concerned about things there at this time. And anyway, I can't do anything about it, so I just continue to be let China be run by General Alfred E. Newman.

Finally, Japanese sub I-29 shot off a half dozen torpedoes at a DE in a Troop TF near Nagai Island in the Gulf of Alaska, but missed. I keep on moving more Catalinas into the region, and I have them set for both Search and ASW, so those Japanese subs won't have much time to get comfortable.

[Arnhem44]

How do well do Cats work out on ASW duty? I've got all of them on nav search. For ASW I've been using Kingfishers almost exclusively, they keep the subs heads down but I've yet to score a hard kill.

Oh and I feel your pain there about untangling your rear areas, I never really bothered to plan in detail my unit moves till a couple of game months ago thinking I could keep it all in my head and now I kick myself for not doing it sooner. Been spending the past couple of game months trying to sort who goes where.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: Arnhem

How do well do Cats work out on ASW duty? I've got all of them on nav search. For ASW I've been using Kingfishers almost exclusively, they keep the subs heads down but I've yet to score a hard kill.

Oh and I feel your pain there about untangling your rear areas, I never really bothered to plan in detail my unit moves till a couple of game months ago thinking I could keep it all in my head and now I kick myself for not doing it sooner. Been spending the past couple of game months trying to sort who goes where.

I've only sunk two Japanese subs so far, and both were by depth charges. But my Airborne ASW chases a lot of subs and often reports "hits". There are very few Japanese subs operating in areas where I have a lot of Airborne ASW - the West Coast of North America, the Southeast Coast of Australia, and the Bay of Bengal - and I've got to think that the constant pestering by the Allied planes has to contribute to that.

I use Cats, Floatplanes and 2E bombers for Search/ASW. If Japanese subs show up I increase the percentage ASW until the subs leave. Otherwise, I usually have it roughly equal. If I feel that there is a particular threat from the KB or Japanese surface forces I will set the Cats to Search only for a while. I also use most of my 4Es for long range search.

So this seems to work for me and I've had few problems with Japanese subs so far.

As far as the Gulf of Alaska goes, I'm not treating it as a "rear" area but as a major Staging area that I have to get prepared before the Winter of 1942/43. I not only want to discourage Japanese incursions, but also be in a position to launch one of several multi-theater Offenses that I am planning for March 1943... (shish... [;)] )

[ADB123]

June 7, 1942 –

There was no Night Action again this turn, then Rainy Daylight arrived, and despite Rain, Rain, Everywhere, action happened.

Things started out with the now daily Japanese bombing of Tennant Creek. The Japanese planes came in a little lower than usual so the Australian flak actually hit some of the bombers. Then Japanese bombers hit the Dutch stragglers in Sumatra again.

But then, despite the bad weather, the Allied Air Attacks in Burma began. I'm going to change my usual approach to commenting by pasting in some of the Combat Replay so that you get a clearer idea of what occurred.

First Attack – The Brits come in first and fast:

Morning Air attack on Mandalay, at 59, 46

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 30
Hurricane IIb Trop x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 25

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Blenheim IV bombing from 1000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
14 x Blenheim IV bombing from 1000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
1 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *
8 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *

CAP engaged:
59th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38000, scrambling fighters to 38000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 14 minutes

Second Attack – It's now the afternoon and more Hurricanes sweep in:

Afternoon Air attack on Mandalay, at 59, 46

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 2

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *
3 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *

CAP engaged:
59th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 38000
Raid is overhead

Third Attack – more Hurricanes sweep in but the Japanese CAP is gone:

Afternoon Air attack on Mandalay, at 59, 46

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *

Fourth Attack – the 4Es come in with more Brits:

Afternoon Air attack on Mandalay, at 59, 46

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 16
B-17E Fortress x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 1000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x Blenheim IV bombing from 1000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 1000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb

So despite there being around 90 Japanese fighters stationed at Mandalay, only a handful flew CAP over the base. The rest must have flying LR CAP over the Japanese Infantry Columns that are moving towards Myitkyina.

So for the first time in the war the Allies were able to destroy a sizable number of Japanese planes on the ground and also damage an airfield. And this was despite Bad, Bad Weather. It appears that going in at 1000 feet instead of 6000 feet made a huge difference. And it appears that the Japanese ground units at Mandalay didn't have much capability for Flak. So all-in-all, the results were much better than I expected.

There were two other low altitude Allied Air Attacks this turn. B-17Ds and Liberators flew out of Alice Springs to hit the Air Fields at Katherine. The results weren't as good; the bombers ran into Flak and the Japanese Zeros were at a lower altitude. The Bombers got through and scored some hits, but it wasn't really worth the losses. Then B-17Es flew in and hit the Air Fields at Townsville. They caused a fair amount of damage, but since there were no planes there it ended up being a demonstration of capabilities only.

But the important point was made that the Allies can cause some serious damage to the Japanese Air Force if the Japanese Air Units are massed too much in a single location. Now my opponent has to be concerned to protect all of his key bases instead of focussing the majority of his Air Assets on single targets.

In any event, I sat down all of my bombers and re-organized my fighter squadrons to allow fresh units to come to the Front. I have posted the Air Loss Chart in this report, but there is a certain amount of Fog of War in it. Never-the-less I am pleased.

Then at the end of the day USS Silversides put a torpedo into the side of an xAKL off of Hamamatsu, just to remind my opponent that I intend to continue to be aggressive with my submarine fleet.

Finally, a big Japanese Infantry Division stormed into Yenan with a Shock Attack and captured the base, driving out the starving Chinese unit. Now my opponent can waste his units keeping Yenan garrisoned.

[ADB123]

June 8, 1942 -

The night phase opened up to show that a Japanese Transport TF was still sitting at Townsville this turn. I had sent a sub to check it out but the sub didn't find or engage the TF. So I've got the Hobart and some DDs heading in at Full Speed to try to hit the TF next turn. My opponent doesn't have any bombers in northeastern Oz yet, and the Weather is Bad, with a tendancy towards being Horrible, so I don't think that my incoming TF was spotted, nor is it likely that LBA from Port Moresby can find and hit it either.

A thankfully rather rare occurance happened during the night phase as Japanese sub I-22 caught one of the two US DDs leaving Canton Island and sank the ship with a torpedo. The other DD hit the sub once, but it was too little, too late. This was the first ship that I've lost to a sub in over two months.

Then Cachalot was chased by an SC off of Kochi. The SC didn't find the sub, and later on in the day Cachalot shot and hit an xAKL, but the torpedoes were duds.

Bad Weather interferred with the usual Japanese Air Attacks this turn, causing the attacks on Tennant Creek and the Dutch Stragglers in Sumatra to go in piecemeal. A lot of Japanese Recon flew over Imphal again, along with reports of Japanese Fighters cancelling their missions. I still don't get my opponent's facination with Imphal – I don't have anything valuable there, and it is hard to get in and out of it anyway. Oh well, this is better than if the Japanese were paying attention to my useful bases.

The Upcoming Big News-to-Be is that the Wasp Carrier Group will reach Panama tomorrow. I will send it to San Diego for plane upgrades, and then I am set with all of the Carrier “tools” that I will have for the rest of 1942.

[ADB123]

June 9, 1942 -

The Night Phase started with Dutch sub O16 being chased by Japanese ASW ships off of Phuket. The Escorts didn't catch O16, but the sub's skipper did get to see that the Escorts were protecting a Big Troop Transport TF that includes APs and AMCs. So the sub's skipper went back for another try a while later, got off some torpedoes at a Japanese DD but missed, and was hit with a depth charge for his efforts. So I sent that sub back to Port for repairs, and ordered more subs to cover the region between the Straights of Malacca and Rangoon.

At least, I'm assuming that the TF is bringing more troops to Rangoon for the Japanese Burma Campaign. If the TF is heading elsewhere for an invasion, then it will be the job of the RN to do something about it.

Overall, Allied Naval Efforts were much like that of O16. The Australian CA TF hit Luganville during the night, but they didn't cause any damage to anything, despite having their Float Planes on Recon. I did find out that an SNLF unit is at Luganville – maybe it is just too small a target to hit.

And the Hobart and Friends didn't reach Townsville this turn, despite being set to “Full Speed”. The Japanese Transport TF is still there, as is the US sub which still hasn't found the Japanese Transport TF, so maybe the Hobart will get lucky next turn and arrive before the Japanese ships depart. (But I doubt that because they Japanese ships ought to be unloaded by now.)

BTW – an “Airplane” sign popped up at Townsville this turn, although my Recon didn't find out what sort of planes. So I'm sending in the 4Es to see if they can get lucky. I've also got some Hurricanes at Max Altitude with Drop Tanks at Rockhampton, so maybe they will get the “urge” to fly a sweep over Townsville in support of the 4Es. (But, of course, the Weather Forecast is for Rain, as always, so who knows what, if anything, will fly.)

Surprisingly, the only Japanese Air Attacks this turn were on the Dutch Stragglers in Sumatra. The Australian troops at Tennant Creek were thankful for that respite. I didn't have any Allied Air Attacks planned.

CV Wasp and it's escorts arrived at Balboa this turn. I formed them into a CV TF and ordered them to San Diego. I will change the Devestators for Avengers there.

Just out of curiosity, and because the TF will spend its time in the Off-Map corridor, I didn't select “Computer Selected Leader” for the TF. When I checked the TF after it formed, I saw the following “Fleet Commander”:

LTC K. Rajendran.

Huh? [&:]

I clicked on the LTC and saw that there were only a handful of alternate Fleet Commanders available, and none of them had reconizably “American” names, or at least for the America of 1942. [&:][&:][&:]

I started to laugh as I imagined the reaction of the Crew of the Wasp as they stood at attention to welcome aboard their new Skipper and Fleet Commander, LTC “Ramdamdirty”... [;)][:D][X(]

Ah, the Game Engine is so “entertaining” sometimes. And when you add this to the situation that I reported elsewhere in the Forum of seeing that the Weather Forecasts for Cape Town and Mombasa are calling for “Blizzards”, this does raise the question – if the Game can't get the “little things” right, how do we know that it is getting the “big things” right? [8|]

[ADB123]

June 10, 1942 –

The Night Phase started out with a dot island named Beru occupied by the Japanese. Then USS Herring ran into some fatally bad luck while on its maiden war mission just off of Pago Pago. Japanese sub I-16 spotted the US sub on the surface and put a torpedo into the unlucky Herring, sinking it with all hands.

But the Allies got some revenge at Townsville as Hobart and the four DDs in its Surface Combat TF caught the big Japanese Transport TF still unloading. The weather and visibility were bad so the Allied SC TF got in very close before the fireworks started. The Allied ships started out by shooting up the Japanese escorts, but they also found the time to shoot up a number of Japanese Transport ships too before the Japanese finally got away. None of the Allied ships were damaged badly in the encounter. The only down side was that the Japanese ships were almost unloaded, so there were few Japanese troop casualties. I'm going to past in this portion of the Combat Report so that you can see the results:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Townsville at 92,144, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
DD Matsukaze, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hatakaze, Shell hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
E Susuki, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
AK Kinka Maru
AK Kyushu Maru
xAK Tatuwa Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Toho Maru
xAP Yoshino Maru
xAP Mizuho Maru, Shell hits 4
xAP Kitano Maru
xAP Atsuta Maru
xAP Kanzyu Maru, Shell hits 4
xAP Manzyu Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Teikyo Maru, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
PB Okuyo Maru #2, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Hobart, Shell hits 5
DD Tjerk Hiddes, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Napier
DD Nestor
DD Nizam

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Poor visibility due to Rain with 10% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 10% moonlight: 1,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 5,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
Range closes to 1,000 yards...
CL Hobart engages DD Hatakaze at 1,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages CL Hobart at 1,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages CL Hobart at 1,000 yards
DD Napier engages DD Asakaze at 1,000 yards
DD Hatakaze sunk by DD Tjerk Hiddes at 1,000 yards
xAP Teikyo Maru sunk by DD Napier at 1,000 yards
Range increases to 2,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages DD Napier at 2,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages E Susuki at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages PB Okuyo Maru #2 at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAP Manzyu Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAP Kanzyu Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages DD Napier at 2,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Nizam at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages E Susuki at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages PB Okuyo Maru #2 at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAP Mizuho Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAK Toho Maru at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages DD Matsukaze at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages DD Asakaze at 2,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Nestor at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages E Susuki at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages DD Kamikaze at 2,000 yards
DD Nestor engages xAP Kitano Maru at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages DD Matsukaze at 2,000 yards
DD Nizam engages DD Kamikaze at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 2,000 yards
E Susuki sunk by DD Nizam at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages DD Kamikaze at 2,000 yards
CL Hobart engages xAP Kanzyu Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAP Yoshino Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Napier engages xAK Tatuwa Maru at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
CL Hobart engages DD Matsukaze at 3,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Nestor at 3,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 3,000 yards
DD Napier engages DD Kamikaze at 3,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Tjerk Hiddes at 3,000 yards
DD Tjerk Hiddes engages xAP Kanzyu Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Nestor engages xAP Mizuho Maru at 3,000 yards
CL Hobart engages DD Matsukaze at 3,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Nestor at 3,000 yards
Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Allied success was primarily due to the fact that my opponent did not cover his Transport TF with a Surface Combat TF, as he did the last time that Hobart and Gang came calling. In addition to that message, there is the more subtle message for my opponent that I can hit Japanese targets with my older, minor Naval forces and still cause destruction, while my newer, major Naval forces remain hidden at my pleasure.

Unfortunately, the US sub that has been hanging around Townsville for the past couple of turns still didn't find any of the Japanese ships. However, Japanese sub I-29 did find an Allied TF off of Akutan Island, but the Escort hit the sub twice while driving it off.

Daylight brought the usual Japanese Army Air bombardments of the Dutch stragglers in Sumatra, but surprisingly, that was it for Japanese air attacks.

The Alert for the Japanese at Townsville continued into daylight, however, as US 4Es flew in to hit the Airfields. As usual, with the constant rain the Heavy Bomber Air Attacks were split up. The first attack consisted of 10 B-17Es and 4 B-17Ds which were met by 9 Zeros. The Zeros and the Flak on the ground hit the Forts hard, but the bombers still got through to hit the Airfields. Next, 5 Liberators flew in and faced 4 Zeros. This time the Liberators brushed off the Zeros and even destroyed a few on the ground as well as hitting the general Air Base facilities. Finally, 10 more B-17Es flew in, brushed past the lone Zero on CAP, and hit the Air Base once again.

The attack cost me three B-17s, but it was worth it because it also destroyed and damaged a number of Zeros and damaged the Air Base at Townsville fairly well. This also continues to send a message to my opponent that Japanese Air Bases will be attacked at my will.

Finally, RN sub Trusty took at shot at a PB off of Tavor this turn but missed. Trusty took a couple of minor hits but is still fine to stay on patrol. But this attack brought important information because the PB was in the same big Transport TF that my other sub spotted previously. So it looks like that TF is heading towards Rangoon to unload more troops – probably an Infantry Division or two.

That's important news because it means that at this time my opponent is likely going to strengthen his offensive in Burma rather than attempt a flanking attack in Ceylon or India. I much prefer to see the Japanese forces slogging their way across Burma with all of the problems associated with Supply and Monsoon. Everything that the Japanese want to do there will take time, and Time is what I need.

In the meanwhile, the main Japanese Attack Column moved a hex closer to Myitkyina this turn. My opponent has bumped-up the numbers of Fighters in Mandalay again, but that's okay with me, I'm not planning any attacks on Mandalay at this moment. Instead, I am sending my B-17s on a Port Attack on Rangoon. Maybe they can damage the Port a bit and slow down the unloading of Japanese troops.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: ADB123

ORIGINAL: jrcar

Yes, you are not allowed to loose any bombers

It is a hard call, do those extra B-17 make the difference...

Cheers

Rob

I've worked quite hard to not throw away bombers. For one, I haven't been using many as bombers so far. Almost all of my 2Es spend their time on Naval Search and ASW Patrol, and most of my 4Es spend their time on Naval Search. There aren't a lot of good targets for my bomber forces and I don't want to throw them away to Fighter Traps or Operational losses. And my opponent has been quite careful most of the time to avoid giving me any "gimmies".

But even with that it is hard to maintain full bomber squadrons and still have enough in the pools to do swap outs. Oh, for the Good Old Days of hundreds of 4Es in the pools in mid-1942...

Just started reading your AAR. If I recall correctly were not those B17 units that have to withdraw inked in white rather than red? If they are white, you will get to keep the planes and pilots when they withdraw and the planes will go into the pool. If the withdraw button is red then you will lose all pilots and planes. However, you can put green pilots into the units and slowly draw the experienced pilots out before withdrawing a "red" marked group. I am much further along in my game so I can't remember their status.

[ADB123]

Just started reading your AAR. If I recall correctly were not those B17 units that have to withdraw inked in white rather than red? If they are white, you will get to keep the planes and pilots when they withdraw and the planes will go into the pool. If the withdraw button is red then you will lose all pilots and planes. However, you can put green pilots into the units and slowly draw the experienced pilots out before withdrawing a "red" marked group. I am much further along in my game so I can't remember their status.

You're correct, they were "white", so I did get to keep the planes which have now formed the basis for a little pool of B-17Es for me. (Most of the pilots were not much better than rookies, so they weren't a big addition.)

What struck me was, in the context of the "Game War", the fact that the squadrons would show up for only 3 weeks. If you wanted to use them (and if they had more than one or two planes apiece) there wasn't a lot you could do with them in three weeks, unless your opponent was attacking the West Coast at that point.

[ADB123]

June 11, 1942 -

The Night Phase started out with one of those “every little bit counts” sort of things as USS Gudgeon hit and sank a CMc off of Utsonomiya. The rest of the Night was quiet, but I'm happy whenever something Japanese gets sunk, no matter how small. [:D]

Daylight brought Glens out over the Eastern Aleutians. I don't have a lot of ships in the region right now, so there isn't a lot for the Japanese to see or hunt.

The main Japanese Air Attacks started next as both Sian and Changsha were swept by Oscars, followed by bombing raids with Oscar Escorts. My opponent took some Flak and Ops losses, but I'm betting that he will have the Bombers back again next turn, so I set the two Chinese P-43 squadrons on Hi Alt LR CAP over Sian and put two Chinese H81 squadrons at Hi Alt 100% CAP over Changsha and set another two squadrons on Hi Alt LR CAP over Changsha for good measure. We'll see if I catch anything next turn.

Then the Dutch Stragglers in Sumatra were bombed again. I've got an SST heading to Benkalis with supplies, so if the Troops can survive and reach there it will keep them going long enough for me to try to sneak some of them out in SSTs. Once again, I only wish that I had SSTs even two months earlier.

The Allies got the next two turns in the Air as 16 Forts from India attacked the Port at Rangoon. The CAP consisted of 3 Oscars and 8 Zeros. I got the feeling the pilots weren't cream-of-the-crop, as one fighter of each type was shot down by the 4Es, but they CAP did their job well enough and the Bombers didn't hit their targets. Afterwards I saw that the big Japanese Transport TF had gotten safely past the rest of my subs in the area and is now in Rangoon Harbor.

Next, Forgetfulness Begat Headaches as the Forts on the East Coast of Oz took off to hit Townsville again. Yes, I forgot to stand them down last turn. A number of Zeros met the bombers and although a Zero was shot down the Flak hit the Fatigued planes hard and I lost a couple of bombers. The Forts did hit their target, but it wasn't really worth the effort. Oh well, such is the cost of carelessness.

Finally, in a surprisingly late attack, 20 Oscars and 20 Sallys attacked the Airfields at Myitkyina. The Hurricanes there were on 30% CAP so only a handful were in the Air to meet the Japanese Raid. The Hurricanes did shoot down a couple of Oscars, but the Sallys got through to hit the Airfields. I've now put the Hurricanes on 100% CAP and set a nearby squadron on LR CAP over Myitkyina too. We'll see next turn if it is a case of “shutting the bard door after the horse ran away” or not.

So while I wasn't terribly happy about the Day's air battles, in the end the Japanese lost twice as many planes as the Allies, and if I had remembered to sit out the B-17s in Oz the ratio would have been even better.

Afterwards I noticed that the small Japanese Troop column that had been at Katha has now moved off into the jungle and is heading towards Kalemyo.

Huh? Why does my opponent want to send troops after yet another dot base? I've got a Base Force and a Burmese Rifle unit in Kalemyo, and the Forts are at Level 3 and rising, so it shouldn't be a push over, but even if it is, that base will be yet another place that is very hard to supply, so I'm suprised that my opponent is bothering.

In any event, it looks as if Katha is empty again, and since I already have the Viper Paratroops on their way to Calcutta I may as well use them as I originally intended and cut the Japanese supply line at Katha. This could turn into quite a fun little mess in Burma for the Japanese.

[ADB123]

June 12, 1942 -

This was not a good night for Allied submarines. The Night Phase started out with USS Skipjack hitting a mine at Merak. I've known for some time that my opponent has placed mines at Merak, but unfortunately, the AI doesn't “know” that, so it decided that Skipjack was low enough on fuel to be sent back to Columbo. And the route past Merak was the “shortest” route as far as the AI could figure out.

I don't have any of my subs under AI control, and I check my subs each turn for fuel and damage, but the “magic line” must have been passed as far as the AI was concerned, so it sailed Skipjack into Harm's Way. The only good thing out of the mess was that Skipjack wasn't sunk, and it did make it into the Indian Ocean, so it will now limp back to Colombo for repairs.

USS Sealion wasn't so lucky off of Singhep. It was caught in the Shallows by three E-class ASW ships which found it, hit it hard, drove it to the bottom, and sank it.

Daylight brought a return of Japanese Air Attacks on Tennant Creek as a number of Oscars escorted Japanese Army bombers in to hit the Air Fields again. It's irritating, but there isn't anything I can do about it at this time, so I have to grit my teeth and take it.

China was a different case as 8 Oscars and 9 Lilies flew in to hit Changsha. It seemed at first that I got lucky as 38 Chinese H81s were in the skies to greet the Japanese planes. But my opponent must have had very good pilots in his Oscars because they fended off the Chinese attacks, shooting down 2 H81s. None of the Lilies were bothered and they hit their target and damaged the Runways at Changsha. So this was a case where Pilot Experience and Skill won out over numbers.

I ended up losing a handful of H81s due to A-to-A and Ops out of one Chinese squadrons that flew into Changsha on LR CAP, and the Fatigue of the second LR CAP squadron was up to 50, so I moved both of them away from the region via the Railroad. The two H81 squadrons that were actually flying 100% CAP over Changsha didn't take any losses and their Fatigue was still relatively low so I left them in place.

The Japanese didn't attack Sian, and the Fatigue of the two Chinese P-43 squadrons was still fairly low, so I left them on LR CAP over Sian for the next turn.

In other news, the Fortifications at Pearl Harbor reached Level 8 this turn. I don't really expect my opponent to attempt to invade the Hawaiian Islands any longer, but since I've got plenty of troops and supplies in the islands I'll continue to build up the Fortifications just for the “esthetics”. [;)]

And the Perils of Intel were painlessly brought to my attention as a fresh Recon flight over Katha showed that there are, in fact, still four Japanese units there. So although the Vipers reached Calcutta and are ready to go, I'll keep them in reserve until I spot a real opportunity to cut the Japanese lines. In the meanwhile, I'll just have to keep my Recon up-to-date.

BTW – it now appears that there is only one Japanese unit on the “slog” through the jungle towards Kalemyo. But that will probably be more than enough because I was suffering from Faulty Memory last turn and when I checked Kalemyo it turns out that I only have a single Burmese Rifle unit there, and since it doesn't have any engineers the Forts have never been built.

Oh well... It will still take a long time for the Japanese troops to get there and the Burmese rifles will just retreat down the road towards the next base in the Jungle/Mountains.

[ADB123]

June 13, 1942 -

The Night Phase was busy for Allied subs again, and while not terribly successful, at least it wasn't a disaster.

First off Cachalot was chased by an SC near Kochi, but got away. Later on Cachalot spotted an xAKL by itself, so the sub's skipper decided to surface and use the Deck Gun instead of torpedoes. This would have been a good idea, but the Deck Crew on the Freighter were wide awake and ready and got in the first shot and hit on Cachalot. Cachalot started to fire back, but under increasing fire from the Freighter and after two hits the skipper of the Cachalot decided that he had enough and the sub submerged and sailed off. Afterwards I looked and saw that there was very light damage to the Cachalot, so that looks like yet another sub that needs a skipper-change.

Next Porpoise was chased by PBs off of Muntok, but got away. Those shallows off of Sumatra are very dangerous for my subs.

Finally, Dolphin got off four torpedoes against an unescorted Tanker off of Shikuka, but the fish were duds. It's too bad that the skipper of the Dolphin didn't decide to attack on the surface instead. (Where's that French sub with the two 8” deck guns when you really need it? [;)] )

Daylight started out with another large Japanese Air Attack on Tennant Creek. The Japanese keep on losing a few bombers to Flak and Ops each turn, but it isn't discouraging them. So I decided to send out the 4Es from Alice Springs next turn against the Air Fields at Katherine to see if I can create some discouragement on the Ground.

Myitkyina came under Air Attack again as 18 Helens and 19 Sallys, escorted by 34 Oscars, flew in. The British Air Defense was provided by 15 Hurricanes at Hi Alt. Despite the numerical disadvantage the Hurris got through the Oscars and actually shot up some of the Sallys. The main Japanese bombing effort got through, but they didn't cause a lot of damage. In the end the Japanese lost Oscars and Sallys while only two Hurricanes were lost.

I noticed afterwards that the quantities of Japanese planes at Mandalay have gone down again, while the quantities at Rangoon have gone up, so I set a big Air Attack for next turn on the Air Fields at Mandalay. I've got B-17Es and Blenheims coming in at low altitude to hit the Air Fields and Hurricanes coming in at Hi Alt to sweep. It will be interesting to see how it goes. But I've also set a fair number of Hurricanes to Hi Alt CAP over Myitkyina too, so the Japanese Air Force won't get a lot of rest next turn if the Weather cooperates.

BTW – a British Hurricane pilot joined the US Liberator pilot with 4 kills, so I now have two pilots almost reaching Ace status.

Finally, 20 Sallys, escorted by 7 Oscars, hit Sian. Only 6 Lancers showed up on Hi Alt CAP, and they shot down an Oscar, but the Sallys still hit the Air Fields at Sian. The Chinese P-43 pilots were all fatigued-out afterwards so I sat them down. I also sat down the Chinese H81 pilots at Changsha because they were also getting too fatigued to function. So if the Japanese fly in China next turn the only thing that will stop them will be Weather.

Otherwise, the Japanese Attack Column in Burma is still a hex away from Myitkyina. I'm not bothering to try to bomb it because Allied bombers can't seem to do much damage at all against Japanese Infantry units in the Field. I'd rather use my bombers to try to catch Japanese planes on the Tarmac.

And US sub S-36 arrived at Rangoon Harbor safely, but despite a clear report of the big Japanese Troop Transport still being in the Port, the US sub didn't find or attack it. I've got a Dutch sub on the way to see if they can do any better.

[ADB123]

June 14, 1942 -

This was another night phase that favoured the Japanese. First off IJN I-8 hit a destroyer in a Transport TF that was leaving Tahiti for Hawaii. The DD sank and the Japanese sub got away from the rest of the Escorts. Then USS Gudgeon shot at and missed an xAK off of Utsumomiya. Gudgeon now has to head back to Port for re-arming.

Daylight brought Japanese Air Raids on Tennant Creek despite horrifically bad weather all over Australia. The Allied bombing run to Townsville was scrubbed by the Bad Weather, but the 4Es at Alice Springs did manage to get off and attack the Airfields at Katherine despite End-of-the-World Weather. The 6 Forts and 6 Libs ran into 5 Oscars on CAP and were able to blast past them, shooting one down, but Japanese Flak shot up the Liberators. Never-the-less, the 4Es did manage to hit the Air Fields and destroyed another Oscar on the ground.

The Universal Bad Weather scrubbed most other Morning flights in all regions, except for some Japanese Recon in Burma. Then in the PM Allied planes started to attempt to find their way to Mandalay.

First in were 8 Hurricanes that ran into 14 Oscars, but there were no losses on either side. Then 15 Blenheim IVs and 3 B-17Es showed up unescorted. Another 14 Oscars were on CAP but the Allied bombers fought them off well, shooting down one, damaging 7 more, and even destroying a Helen on the Ground when the Air Fields were hit.

Then 14 more Blenheim IVs and 6 more B-17Es flew in, but this time they were accompanied by 29 Hurricanes that were on Sweep and not on Escort. Again there were 14 Oscars in the Air, but the Allied planes hit them pretty good on the way in and the way out. Two Oscars were shot down and seven more damaged in Air Battles, and another 5 Oscars were destroyed or damaged on the Ground, along with another Helen.

So all-in-all it was a good day in the Air for the Allies. The Japanese lost 26 planes compared to 14 losses for the Allies. Fourteen of the Japanese losses were Oscars, and four more were Helens. The British lost a few Hurricanes, but no key pilots. So I sat down my 4Es, redistributed my 2Es, and redistributed the Hurricanes again so that there is no single base where my opponent can catch a large number of Allied planes.

In additional news from the Indo/Burmese border, Japanese troops still haven't reached Myitkyina. I'm guessing that it is hard for my opponent to keep them supplied, even though I'm not bombing those troops themselves. Hitting Mandalay regularly has got to use up Japanese supply and keep it from moving further up the Trail.

In other news, the @#$%^ Air Field at Dutch Harbor FINALLY reached Level 1. That is such a crummy, uninviting and unpromising Base that I can't see why it was chosen as a major hub for Allied Forces in the region. Oh well, I'm stuck with it so I may as well make the best of it that I can.

In other news, I've been getting a number of useful and interesting Reinforcements recently and I have more coming along soon. I am feeling better every day about the Allied situation.

BTW – here's another strange observation – the pilots in Allied Air Squadrons will train up even if the Squadrons have no planes...

[ADB123]

June 15, 1942 –

The Night Phase was quiet, other than the skipper of the USS Silversides taking a gander at an SC off of Hamamatsu and deciding not to try a shot. The SC then attempted to find Silversides but failed.

Daylight brought a Hi Alt Sweep of Myitkyina by 10 Oscars. The RAF put up 12 Hurricanes as CAP, but the Oscars must have had better Aces in their cockpits because the Hurries couldn't shoot down any Oscars and instead lost a couple of their own. Then a couple of Straggler Oscars flew in to be faced by one last Hurricane, with the Oscars damaging the RAF plane.

Next some lone Sallys flew in to hit the Air Fields at Tennant Creek again. But I was finally able to initiate my Plan to deter the Japanese Target Practice at Tennant Creek, and I'm hoping to get it going within a few more days.

And some Sallys and Oscars flew in to hit the Chinese troops that are on the road just to the South of Sian. The bombers did trivial damage to the entrenched Chinese. Right now my Chinese Fighter Squadrons are resting and training again while I wait for a reasonable opportunity to use them again.

The US 4Es didn't attack Townsville again, thanks to the Continuous Terrible Weather over Australia.

There's been another Japanese TF at Townsville for the past couple of days, but I didn't bother to try to Intercept it, because I assumed that my opponent would learn from the last time. Sure enough, my Naval Search and Recon Planes spotted a Japanese Surface Combat TF in the Townsville hex along with the Transport TF, and then I received reports of Japanese CVs some 5 or so hexes off shore. So I'll let my opponent use up Fuel and go about his business.

And the Japanese Interest in Northeastern Japan continued unabated as Japanese Paratroops captured the undefended Bowen at the end of this turn. But that's it as far as undefended Australian Coastal Bases go, if my opponent wants Rockhampton, for example, he is going to have to fight for it with something more than just a Paratroop Regiment.

And speaking of Fighting – the first Japanese troops arrived at Myitkyina at the end of this turn. It will be interesting to see how well the 1st Burma Division does. It has been sitting in Myitkyina for months, is 100% prepared, and is at 50% Experience and 50% Morale. I have the Burma Army HQ there too, along with the Burma Air HQ, an AA unit, and a miserable Base Force. (Like most of the Burmese Base Force Units, this one has a Morale Level of 10 thanks to the Malaria.)

The Forts are only at Level 4 at Myitkyina. This is one of those Bases that just doesn't want to build up for some unknown reason. I'm not planning to send more any more Troops into Myitkyina – as I wrote before, this is just a Holding Action. If I can tie up the Japanese, that will be good. If I can't, well, I've got more Jungle/Mountain bases in which to fight and where the Japanese Supply Lines keep on getting longer and longer.

I have ordered a 4E squadron to bomb the Japanese troops at Myitkyina from Low Altitude. I may still continue to bomb Mandalay because it appears to be low on Supply and only have few Troops. (This is suggested by the observation that the Air Field Damage at Mandalay is getting repaired very slowly.)

I am also bringing in Surprises to the Air War at the Indo/Burmese border which should come into play within a few days. One of those surprises ought to add a nice bit of confusion to my opponent's plans.

[ADB123]

June 16, 1942 -

The Night Phase brought some tentative Naval Action as the Japanese CA/DD Covering TF took off from Townsville to chase a two-PT TF that I had near Bowan. In the Storms the two TFs got within a 1000 years of each other before they started to try to fight. The PTs fired off their torpedoes, missed and pulled away. A DD in the Japanese TF fired a couple of shots at the departing PTs but also missed. So now I have to send those two PTs south for torpedoes and I'm moving another 2-PT TF up to Rockhampton. The Japanese TF appears to be continuing southwards – I wonder how far south it will go? (Can I hope that it comes within range of some of my LBA that can do Naval Attacks?)

Daylight brought the usual World-Wide Rain that washed out a lot of Japanese Air Attacks and half of the Allied Air Attacks. Some Oscars and Sallys attempted to hit the big Chinese column that is in the Rough just to the south of Sian, but the bombers couldn't find the target. Then some Lilies flew in but they couldn't find the target either, despite there being a dozen or so Chinese units in that hex. There were also a number of Japanese Recon flights over Sian itself, so I set the Chinese P-43s back to Hi Alt LR CAP over Sian just in case my opponent does get a bomber attack off at the base next turn. There were no other Japanese Air Attacks so Tennant Creek and the Dutch Stragglers in Sumatra got a break for a day.

The Allied Air Attack that was planned to hit the Japanese besiegers of Myitkyina didn't fly, but the B-17s at Toowanda finally flew against Bowen after three days of the mission being scrubbed. The Bad Weather did cause the Attack to split in two. The first attack consisted of 14 Forts that ran into 2 Zeros on LR CAP. One Zero was shot down and the Air Base was hit well. Then 8 more Forts flew in but this time they ran into 5 Zeros. One Fort was lost but more Zeros were lost too, and the Bombers did hit their target. So I sat down the Forts again and I'll keep an eye on just what my opponent is doing up in the Far Northeast.

In other news, there are now a LOT of Japanese Fighters, Bombers and Misc Planes at Rangoon. My opponent also brought more planes back to Mandalay, but not as many as are at Rangoon. I'm guessing that my opponent is planning to try to overwhelm my Air Defenses with massed Air Attacks.

In response I reached an Emotional Milestone as I withdrew the three AVG Squadrons. There is no point in keeping them around any longer since they have to be withdrawn in 2 weeks anyway, and P-40Es are not First Line Planes in that War Zone. So it will be up to the Brits and a couple of surprises that I am setting up.

The Japanese besiegers of Myitkyina did not attempt an Attack this turn. The sixth Japanese unit arrived at Myitkyina and there don't appear to be any more on the way right now. I'm guessing that my opponent is waiting for Supplies to catch up to his attacking units.

In other news, I'll be receiving a ton of Zombie Squadrons over the next couple of days as Air Units that I withdrew a couple of months ago come back, minus Aircraft. So I'll likely just pull out the better pilots and withdraw the empty squadrons once again. Some day I may have planes for these squadrons, but it looks like that day will be a couple of years off.

[ADB123]

June 17, 1942 -

There was no Night Action this turn. For some reason my subs are having difficulties spotting Japanese TFs, even though I have plenty of subs where the Japanese TFs are sailing.

Daylight was a different matter as the Battle of Myitkyina began in ernest. The Weather was Wet, which helped to split up the Japanese Air Attacks. First in were 13 Oscars which were met by 9 Hurricanes on Hi Alt LR CAP. I had good pilots in the Hurris, so they turned the tables on the Oscars and shot one down with no losses to themselves. Next 2 Oscar stragglers flew in and found 5 more Hurricanes waiting for them. Once again the British pilots did well and another Oscar was shot down with no British losses.

But then the main Japanese attack arrived as 35 Sallys and 23 Lilies flew in with 41 Oscars as Escorts. By this time most of the Hurricanes were damaged, out of fuel, or out of ammo, so there was only one British Fighter on CAP. The Brit Pilot had Balls of Steel and actually attacked the swarm of Oscars before being driven off. So the Japanese bombers got to do their bombing runs without Fighter interference, but there was plenty of Flak and several bombers were shot down. In the end the Japanese bombs damaged the Air Fields at Myitkyina fairly well, but that doesn't matter because I'm not flying CAP out of there anymore anyway.

The Allied Air Attack didn't fly in the Morning, but in the Afternoon 14 Forts flew out of Dacca and hit a Japanese Artillery Unit at Myitkyina fairly hard. Although there was some Flak no Forts were lost. There were no other Air Raids by either side.

So all-in-all it was quite an acceptable day. Four Oscars and several Japanese bombers were shot down, while no Hurricanes or B-17s were lost.

Then the First Japanese Attack on Myitkyina occurred, with the 9th and 33rd Infantry Divisions, accompanied by three Artillery Regiments, attempted a Deliberate Attack. The Japanese achieved a 1:2 result and lowered the Fortifications from L4 to L3. Casualties were roughly equal on both sides. I was surprised (and pleased) to see that there weren't any Combat Engineering Units in the Japanese Attack.

In other news, my retiring PT TF made it safely to Rockhampton, while the Japanese CA/DD TF disappeared off into the Rain somewhere in the Northeast of Australia. Allied Naval Search Planes did spot the KB around seven hexes to the East of Rockhampton. I'm actually very pleased that the KB (or at least a sizable portion of it) is hanging around the Coral Sea, because that opens up my Options for Naval Movement a lot elsewhere. I continue to be surprised that my opponent hasn't send at least part of his CV force to raid the Gulf of Alaska. Oh well, I'll just continue to be like a Mouse and Play while the KB is Away.

Speaking of “playing” - I am sending a LOT of planes into play at Mandalay next turn. First off, I am sending the B-17Es from Dacca because they didn't suffer much damage nor much Fatigue during their attack this turn on the Artillery Unit at Myitkyina. I am also adding in a half dozen British 2E bomber squadrons. But most importantly, I am sending in almost all of my Hurricane Squadrons on Hi Alt Sweep over Mandalay in the hopes of hitting the Japanese CAP hard.

I am also sending in the First of my Surprises – a USMC Wildcat Squadron. This Squadron was the one that showed up on Saratoga and so I offloaded them in India. They've been training ever since, and these are “-3” Wildcats that have a 37K feet ceiling. I wonder what my opponent will make of that? [:D]

[ADB123]

June 18, 1942 -

The only Night Action concerned Dutch sub KXVIII which was spotted by the escorts of a Japanese Transport TF at Cairns and chased away. My opponent is certainly serious about building up his forces in north-eastern Oz.

Daylight brough action that was focussed upon Burma. First off, it was Myikyina's turn. A Sweep by 12 Oscars ran into some good Hurricane Pilots and the Japanese were chased off with one Oscar shot down and no British losses.

Then the RAF got into action over Mandalay. The first Hi Alt Sweep found 16 Hurricanes facing 1 Nick and 8 Oscars. The Brits had a good time, shooting down 3 Oscars for the loss of only 1 Hurricane. Then another British Sweep flew in and pitted 15 Hurricanes against another Nick and 3 Oscars. Another Oscar was shot down while there were no British losses. Then 15 more Hurricanes flew in and shot down the sole Oscar on CAP. Then 16 more Hurricanes flew in and faced 3 Oscars and 2 Nicks. The Brits shot down one of each Japanese Fighter. Finally, one last 16 plane Hurricane Squadron flew in but there were no more Japanese planes on CAP.

The reason for the light CAP was that a Big Japanese Air Attack was already in the Air and on its way to hit Myitkyina. There were 25 Lilies, 17 Sallys, 6 Tojos and 12 Oscars in the Attack. There was no CAP, but the Bombers missed their target. Then 20 more Sallys along with 29 Oscars showed up, again with no CAP in the Air and this time they hit a British Artillery Unit on the ground.

Then the USMC Wildcat squadron showed up over Mandalay, but there was no CAP. The Marines were followed by 29 Blenheims, which in the absence of CAP were able to hit the Air Fields, Air Supply and Airbase hard and destroyed 2 Oscars on the Ground. But the Main Allied Attack didn't fly.

The Afternoon finally brought out the Bomber raid from Dacca. The elapsed time had given the Japanese a chance to put a Nick and 6 Oscars into the Air for CAP, but the 12 Forts and 15 Blenheims blasted past the Defenders to their target. And when the bombers hit their target I went into a State of Shock – because the Bombers went after some lousy little Japanese Artillery unit. [X(]

Ah SH!T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had goofed up the orders. I had changed the Objective from Myitkyina to Mandalay, but I forgot to change the Target from Ground to Air Field! And to make things worse I used the “change all bombers” command, so all of the Bomber Squadrons that I had moved into Dacca got the same, wrong orders!

A final attack by 16 more Blenheims had to face a Nick and 2 Oscars, but it didn't really matter because those Bombers went after the @#$%^ Arty unit too.

What a wasted opportunity! And for the first time in Six months there had actually been non-stormy weather over my Indian Air Bases. Now the Usual Bad Weather has returned so I pulled back all of my Squadrons to their usual bases and set them to rest.

The Big Plan didn't go that badly overall – 23 Oscars and 2 Nicks were lost compared with 6 Hurricanes and a handful of Blenheims, but it could have been so much better if the Afternoon Air Strikes went after the Air Fields. Oh well... [8|]

There was little action after that. USS Salmon was chased by Japanese ASW ships off of Singkep, and the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina did another Deliberate Attack. The Japanese achieved a 1:2 result again, and once again the Fortifications went down a notch, this time to L2. Again, casualties were roughly equal, although lighter than the previous attack. I'm impressed that my opponent is able to keep his troops supplied for consecutive attacks.

In other news, the KB is still hanging around in the Coral Sea, roughly half-way between Rockhampton and the northern tip of New Caledonia. I'm not sure what my opponent intends, but there isn't anything more in the region around New Caledonia than there was four or five months ago when the KB last ventured into the area.

And in a bit of Good News, the 10th AF HQ arrived at Adelaide this turn. It was a pain to ship them from Aden all the way to Adelaide, but I have enough Air HQs in India and I need more in Oz, so I had them make the trip. Once the HQ is unloaded I will send it via Railroad to Alice Springs to support the Nuisance Bombing.

[ADB123]

June 19, 1942 -

The Night Phase started out with USS Salmon being chased (unsuccessfully) by the Escorts in a Tanker TF near Tandjoengpinang. It's only too bad that the sub didn't get a shot at a Tanker. But Porpoise did get something almost as good a while later as the US sub found an unescorted xAP near Muntok and whacked it hard with a good torpedo.

Then Daylight came, and things were Very Different from usual. There were no Air Attacks in the Morning, and then no Air Attacks in the Afternoon. I can't remember another turn in which neither side sent out any Air Attacks. There were plenty of Recon flights from both sides, but nothing with “teeth” - no bombing, not sweeps, nothing. [X(] [&:]

Then the Ground Attack Phase started and the Japanese column that had moved up to my Chinese Troops on the road south of Sian attempted a Deliberate Attack. There were 4 Japanese Infantry Divisions, 1 Engineering Regiment, and 2 Artillery Regiments. The Chinese forces consisted of 7 Corps and 4 HQs. The Chinese troops had been in place long enough to build up 3 Local Forts, but they were a little low on Supplies.

The result was surprising and encouraging for the Chinese – the Japanese got a 1:4 result and took over three times the casualties that the Chinese took. The Chinese had the advantage of Rough Terrain, and there were roughly equal numbers of troops on both sides. These were also some of my better and bigger Chinese Corps. So maybe my opponent will step back a bit and reconsider his plans for Sian. [:'(]

The situation at Myitkyina was also somewhat surprising as the Japanese besiegers simply attempted an Artillery Attack, which resulted in nothing. I assume from this that my opponent is trying to rest up his Infantry Divisions a bit and reduce their Disruption. But Artillery Attacks use up Supplies, so I'm hoping that I see a few more of those coming my way. [&o]

In other news, the KB disappeared again. However, SIGINT, in one of those ever-so-rare moments, actually gave me some interesting information – a Japanese Tank Regiment is being shipped to Cairns. So my opponent is getting more serious about his efforts in Australia. That's fine by me, because I want to see lots and lots of Japanese troops tied up in Oz and India over the next number of months. [;)]

In the meanwhile, the first US Infantry Division to head for the Aleutians has been loaded on ships and is sailing to the West from Prince Rupert. More will be going the same way.

[ADB123]

June 20, 1942 -

There was sort of a False Peace throughout the Pacific this turn. There was no action during the Night Phase, and no Air Attacks again during the Day Phase. There were plenty of Recon flights by both sides, but even they were hindered by bad weather.

The only event that broke the spell was a Deliberate Attack by the Japanese besiegers of Myitkyina. This time the Attackers got a 1:1 result and reduced the Fortifications down from Level 2 to Level 1. However, the Japanese suffered three times the casualties of the Defenders, so I'm betting that there will be another Artillery Attack next turn as the Japanese Infantry Troops are rested for a day. There is another Japanese LCU on the way to Myitkyina, but it won't get there for several days yet.

Recon, Intel, and snoopy subs let me know that Mandalay still has plenty of Fighters and a number of miscellaneous planes (likely Recon Squadrons), but no Bombers. Instead there are a Lot of Japanese bombers at Rangoon, along with more Fighters than at Mandalay. I wonder if my opponent is intending to send off a Massive Long Range Bombing Attack from Rangoon against Myitkyina. Given the Weather (Horrific as Usual), I'll welcome that because more Japanese Bombers will be lost from Ops than my Fighters could ever shoot down.

Despite the Weather, I am attempting to send off a Bomber Attack of my own next turn with the 4Es and British Semi-Heavy 2Es out of Dacca flying against the Air Fields at Mandalay. This time I made certain to make certain that my bombers were set to hit the Air Fields for certain!

In other news, USS Perch limped into Colombo Harbor with Floatation Damage of 87 this turn. I never expected it to make it to Port, so this is a major bonus for me.

And I also was able to pull a Dutch Base Force fragment out of the Celebes this turn with an SST. Most of the other Fragments that are left in the Philippines or DEI are either “Observer” what-evers that can't be loaded onto an SST, or else they are permanently Restricted and can't be changed to a “loadable” HQ. I'm sending the Dutch BF Fragment back to Australia and will let it rebuild in Sydney until it is big enough to take its place in the ever-growing maze of interlocking bases that I am setting up in Southern Oz.