Onto the breach - Da Big Babes (where are the babes?)

[vicberg]

This is kinda fun...the big reorg...all 14-15 knot transports and 14 knot PBs are moving to Osaka...All the 12 knots trans and 11 knot PBs are moving to Nagasaki. All the fast (> 15 knot) are moving to tokyo. The short endurance destroyers will convert to APDs. All 10 knots are moving to either Fusan or Ominato. The short range SCs (1000 endurance) will be used for escorts in Fusan and Ominato. The medium range (1500 endurance) SCs will be used for Nagasaki -> Shanghai. This frees up the longer range PBs.

[vicberg]

Here's the mid-to-southern China Strategy...

In the early turns, same as everywhere else...do damage before they stack. Unfortunately, they will stack, so at that point it's time to stretch their troops. I believe that Sian is like Paris was to the 1914 Germans, unresistable. But the losses incurred accross the terrible terrain to get there, coupled with Sian being in open ground makes it too costly and undefendable. The extreme northern attack, which has happened in my 2x2 PBEM takes troops months away from support or help...too extended...one 50 point Oil Field isn't worth it.

So I'm going to damage troops where I can, pose a threat in the north, and then concentrate in the south to gain ground. I may leave the 38th division, after hong kong falls, to help out. The 38th depends on how other areas are going. Fort building will be occurring to prevent the chinese from getting any unreasonable thoughts.

As far as air is concerned, it will be a mixture of Airfield and Ground attacks. The ground attacks will be to prevent movement and airfield to prevent forts. I need to make sure that the AVG doesn't show up to ambush, so I'll need to switch things up frequently.

My only real question mark is Wenchow. A major thorn in the side. Not really an offensive threat, but hard to take because of forts and terrain...I'm probably going to bypass in the beginning and once the rail line from Chengchow to Singyang is open, strategic a number of divs down to Hengchow...road movement down to Wenchow, take it out and then transfer back. The chinese generally become afraid to come out of their terrain, once established, so I'm going to bet on that.

[vicberg]

Another part of the china strategy is to use brigades that do not form into divisions quickly to do the bulk of the garrisoning.  This insure that brigades that do get reinforcements (in March, 42) are allowed to form into divisions.  It's a real pain and time consuming to switch things up if troops aren't positioned right.
 
I've also released 4 squadrons of sallie Cs for use in China from Manchuko.  They are in Hankow now and should start causing some headaches.  I'm also starting to consolidate planes and AF units so I can quickly release AF units for use elsewhere.

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Nomad

Here, just for you:

[X(]

[Nemo121]

Another nice quote re: plans is that "Planning forms an excellent basis from which to improvise." It is pretty much the same point jrcar made and it is how I always think of plans.... a general view of what will happen with all the details to be improvised on the fly --- and sometimes massive changes in direction in response to in-game events.

[vicberg]

LOL...and that's exactly the mistake I made last game.  Not enough improvisation, not soon enough and without enough...So thank you...that's another mistake I don't want to make again. 
 
This time, I have 4 divs (21st, 33rd, 4th, 38th) which I'm not committing to any theatre yet.  The 16th is going to Sopac.  This will be named force "improvisation".

[Nemo121]

Hmm, 4 out of 10 first wave divisions uncommitted? You might do better to commit more forward initially so as to force the enemy onto the back foot. Just because a unit is committed to one attack doesn't mean it can't switch if necessary. Improvision doesn't necessitate such a huge reserve.

As things stabilise you can always build your reserves...

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Hmm, 4 out of 10 first wave divisions uncommitted? You might do better to commit more forward initially so as to force the enemy onto the back foot. Just because a unit is committed to one attack doesn't mean it can't switch if necessary. Improvision doesn't necessitate such a huge reserve.

As things stabilise you can always build your reserves...

I was thinking the same thing. I find it hard to regain my balance as the Allied player when there is overwhelming force applied to my defenses at every point in those first months. Having base after base taken, with there seemingly never being a chance to catch my breath can lead to loss of focus on my part. I have to make myself stick to my own long range plans while looking for opportunities to harrass, slow him down, or maybe start to bleed him here and there.

But if the pressure is off of me in even one area it allows me to catch my breath. Regardless, I say use those divisions now.

[vicberg]

Good advice. 
 
Witpqs loves to stack everything into a single hex and build forts.  What happened last game is I committed 6 divs to clark and 4 to singapore...imperial went to rangoon and 16th on java.  One of the 6 on clark was transferred from Manchuko.  Java fell easily, but 6 divs on clark wasn't enough.  I couldn't even get a 1-1.  I was bombarding daily, but he was still able to get forts up.  Same with singapore...4 divs didn't achieve a 1-1 to either...while stymied at both of these locations, fortress palembang was being built into a 1000 AV, fort level 6 monster.  Uggg
 
This is why I'm a bit gun shy to commit one way or the other (or both).  I'm tempted to commit to clark.  I doubt that 2 divs will be enough to take it, in spite of my overly complicated plan (lol)...but clark can be a quagmire.  4 divs in malaysia will definately take singapore. 

[Blackhorse]

ORIGINAL: vicberg

I would like to know more why people feel first turn mersing is gamey?  I don't get it.   

I'll take a stab at it. The Japanese did not want to risk losing surprise for the PH attack by attacking, or commiting to an attack, anywhere else first. The British, Dutch and US were on the lookout for any task forces that might be heading their way. The most the Japanese were willing to do was to send their invasion convoys into the Gulf of Siam adjacent to Japanese-held Indochina, from which they could steam during the night at reach the beaches they historically did under cover of darkness -- but not further south -- in conjunction with the PH raid. By staying in the Gulf of Siam, the Japanese froze the British in place, as the British did not know if the Japanese were moving to invade Thailand, strike Malaysia, or relocating forces to Japanese-held Cambodia.

But if Japanese warships/troopships were seen sailing to Khota Baru or points south, they would immediately signal to the Allies that a Japanese invasion was coming, and where. From all that I've read, there is every likelihood that British would react quickly and definitively to Japanese forces in these waters. As these waters were heavily-travelled by merchant shipping, as well as by Dutch and British patrols, there is very little chance that Japanese warships could steam towards Mersing or Palembang without being detected far from shore. From the Khota Baru "trigger line" it is more than a day's sailing for most troopships to Mersing . . . and three or four days to Palembang.

If the Japanese intend to open the war with invasions at Mersing or Palembang, British and Dutch warships and planes would be shadowing the invasion task forces out to sea long before they reached the shores. It would certainly be an interesting start to the war to have "the balloon go up" with British destroyers and Dutch light cruisers interspersed among the Japanese transports. However it began in those circumstances, the element of surprise would have been lost, with the Japanese telegraphing their intentions long in advance.

To me, the most appropriate simulation of a Day One invasion at Mersing, in game terms, would be an ahistorical turn one, with surprise off, and the Allies free to move all British and Dutch units -- land, sea and air. [NB: given the strategic situation at the time, this still might well work better for the Japanese than the safer historic campaign.] As long as there were no invasion convoys heading to the Philippines on day one, there might still be an opportunity to catch the Americans napping in port.

IMHO, opening the game with a Day One invasion of Palembang is purely a Japanese Fantasy scenario. The British and Dutch should have at least three days to shift their ships and planes to react prior to the invasion, and that is not possible in the game.

The beginning section of Costello's The Pacific War has a nice discussion of the strategic intentions and day-to-day decision-making, of the British commanders in the month leading up to the beginning of the war.

That's my two cents. Having said that, I've got my feet up on the couch, and the popcorn next to me, and I'm fascinated to see how your campaign comes out. Good luck!

[Blackhorse]

Operation MacArthur Sucks
The operation is relatively simple. Prevent massive stacking on Clark by attacking multiple locations and preventing retreat to Clark. Elements of the 2 divs I've committed to the operation will focus on Clark and destroy it. If this is successful, then the rest of Luzon should fall quickly. But the best laid plans....

To make this happen, initial aerial assaults will include air field attacks on Bataan, Clark and Manilla. Iba is being passed on the air attacks because I want the airfield intact. The KB will launch a full port attack on Manilla to annhilate any potentital allied threat to the operation. Paratroopers will land on Cabnatuan to insure that allied retreats are away from Clark. Each amphib TF has ample sub and surface escorts. I'll be splitting these away turn two to protect the amphib fleets...

I'll be interested to see if this works. As I understand the ZOC rules in AE, a paradrop on Clark won't affect control of the hexsides between it and the surrounding hexes, so US forces should still be free to move/retreat among them.

But just because I think that's the case, doesn't make it so.

[vicberg]

Blackhorse
 
That's a very good argument for the warp speed deep strikes.  Though my opponent and I have very few HRs and didn’t consider these movements gamey, I understand better why warp speed TFs are not for deep strikes but rather to move units to locations that would not have provoked an allied response.  I will adjust for future games. 
 
I do wonder though what the commonwealth would have done if they had spotted one large amphib fleeting moving to some central point between Mersing, Singkawang and Palembang (before breaking apart into sub-TFs).  If PH didn’t happen and America is neutral, would Churchill have allowed anything to possibly provoke the Japanese into a war with Commonwealth only and possibly delay American (and isolationist) entry into the war?  It’s an interesting what if.  Not really doable in game context. 
 
Of course with a Manilla port strike and a Luzon attack, it blows the above "what if" out of the water and the commonwealth would have removed transports, moved air units, or otherwise started a defense. 

[vicberg]

December 8th 1941....

Luzon
A mixed bag. I've done this a few times. I usually get all 4 spots (Lingayen, San Fernando, Iba, Bantagas), sometimes one spot fails (iba usually), but this time 3 out of 4 failed to dislodge. My luck against George hasn't been the best so I'm not surprised. I'm also not worried because it's tying up his troops which is the goal. Elements of 2 divs are landing in Iba and San Fernando. The paradrop on clark didn't do anything because Iba failed to dislodge. Only Lingayen succeeded. His darn MTBs (which I don't have an answer for) intercepted an ampib TF and got a couple of fish into transports. The transports didn't sink and will continue with their mission.

An uncoordinated air attack out of takao cost me 14 nells and betties not including operational losses. Sigh...same altitude, same location...

The KB stayed in the area to do one more port attack against Manilla. The port attack sunk a few remaining ships but managed to nav attack quite a few fleeing tankers, transports and escorts (DDs and PGs) in the process...there's too many to list, but I'll show a sunk list sometime coming. I've decided to keep the KB there for one more turn to sweep out the P-40s and ground attack manilla forcing moving to defend clark.

Malaysia
Malaysia went as expected. Khota Bharu fell. Mersing fell. Most of the 2 divs worth of troops landed in one turn at Khota. 1 regiment from Mersing is moving west to cut off the rail line. A second is staying in place. My guess is that george will attempt to stack as much as possible on Kuala Lampur and counter attack south possibly with units from Singapore.

George counter attacked mersing with surface forces.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Mersing at 51,82, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano, Shell hits 3
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Vendetta, Shell hits 1
DD Stronghold
DD Encounter, Shell hits 1
DD Isis
DD Jupiter, Shell hits 7, heavy fires

The air attacks against Mersing didn't go well for me, which was expected. 5 transports were sunk and an AP heavily damaged. This was why the mersing attack was limited.

The imperial division is railing south. The 2 divs in Khota will be moving to cut off allied units in Aloe Star, Georgetown. To facilitate this, air units from indo-china and northern malaysia are ground attacking allied units to prevent strat movement. Once units have cut off allied units, the air war against singapore will begin.

Borneo
Sinkawang fell. A unit of Oscars will be transferring to start sweeping Singapore.

Sumatra
Palembang fell. Zeroes, Nells and Betties from Saigon will be transferring to this base. The base was taken with almost no damage.

Timor
Kendari fell. A unit of nells will be transferring from Takao to this base. Amphibs from Babeldaob are moving on ternate and ambon.

Sopac
An amphib is moving on Kavieng. I'm going to be conservative here until the KB arrives as the allied carriers could possibly show up anytime and gum up the works. Fighters will move to Kavieng once it falls and then see what's in Rabaul. If empty of enemy air units, then I'll move against Rabaul using the 144th regiment, which is currently in route to Guam.

Marshalls
Once again, this is another somewhat risky operation without the KB. I've moved subs in a picket line northeast to southeast of Wake. If carriers show up, I'll scrub the operation and move all the subs against the carriers. If not, then a bombardment force of CLs and DDs will soften wake for an invasion with 2 SNLFs.

[vicberg]

December 9th, 1941....

China
George is doing a big retreat in China. I bloodied him up last game. He's not sticking around this time. He's moving units in the north towards Sian and Nanyang. I'm using air units transferred from Manchuko out of Hankow to slow his movement while my forces assemble for Chengchow. The 26th Mongolian division has been formed and will support Chengchow.

In the center, I've pulled out of Ichang. 2 divisions from the Wuchang surroundings are moving south to Nanyang. 2 divisions are moving to Sinyang to clear the rail line. Remaining 2 are moving towards Changsha to bloody the chinese before these stack up. These will retreat back and form defenses at Wuchang.

In the south, the 104th is moving from Canton to Wenchow. Air units from Canton are doing airfield attacks against Wuchow to prevent fort buildup and hitting ground units to prevent movement. The wad of japanese units have arrived in Hong Kong along with the 23rd HQ. Attacks will begin tomorrow.

My strategy in china will be to open up the south. Hold the center and north. I don't like the northern attacks, at least in the beginning. The terrian in the center and south is much better for operations. Once the south is secured, then I'll focus, in multiple axes on the center area.

Borneo
I sent an SCTF from Singkawang to bombard Kuching to prevent George from using the airfields against me. I have a number of amphib TFs moving from Cam -> Singkawang -> Palembang to secure sumatra and invade Java with. These amphibs must be protected along the route. The 21st div and 33rd are in route as well as numerous support units. An Oscar C squadron arrived and will start sweep operations in a couple of days when supplies are better.

Sumatra
The 93rd is moving southwest of Palembang to prevent George from doing a build there against me. The nells and betties are doing damage nailing a tanker, a couple of transports and a AP. This may have been a mistake, but I've detected 58 ships at port in Batavia. The lure is too tempting so I'm doing a full port strike against it. There's 25 fighters defending, so air losses could be high, but my air losses are high already and it's just too tempting. George has started the strategic campaign against Palembang doing 9 damage to the oil there. I'm transferred a large zero squadron from Takao to Saigon. This will be transferred tomorrow to Palembang. My experience is that zeroes can hurt 4Es at this stage of the game, probably because of the zero bonus and pilot quality.

Timor
Amphibs from Balebdaob are still in route. I've sent an SCTF to Ambon to bombard that base. The mini-KB is moving close to support as well. The rest of the mini-KB is in route from the home island and should arrive in Balebdaob in a few days. This includes 6 BBs.
I'm hoping the nells stationed at this base start doing some damage against fleeing allied naval forces moving through the malacca straights. The 4th division is in route to Balebdaob to support Java operations.

Luzon
Iba fell today. 2 Squadrons of Nates have transferred to the base to start sweeping. Hate using nates for this, but I don't have anything else. The remaining zero squadron at takao will be used to escort the nells/betties as they continue to nail the airfields at clark.
Units are moving from Iba and Lingayen to clark. Once San Fernando falls, I'll increase from level 3 to level 4 airbase and move army LBA to support operations.

Sopac
The 16th is in route to Truk. This will be used to support Sopac operations. I don't like to go far into Sopac because it stretches the japanese forces way too thin for my liking. Plus, I feel George is going to use the Marshalls route for his attack axis, so the more I put into Sopac, the greater the POWs. The goal of Sopac will be solomons and PM. I may push further depending on degree of defense and losses, but I'm reserving that choice for later.

Marshalls
No carriers detected and a bombardment TF and amphib TF continues moving on wake.

[vicberg]

December 10th, 1941....

I've realized a few things: 1) Scenario #2 is over the top on what the japanese get, 2) Palembang is critical early, 3) It's very gamey for a 1st turn Palembang invasion, and even though we don't have rules against it, it will be the last time I do first turn warp speed deep strikes...

That being said, it was a tit for tat turn.

Luzon
The ground bombardment didn't stop his movements to clark from manilla. So I'll keep up the airfield attacks and move the 2 divs onto clark, hopefully smashing the northern units along the way. George is moving units up from legaspi. I'll need to get some forces into manilla to prevent the two forces from joining. The 65th brigade is slated to do that.

Malaysia
In spite of my bombardments, it looks like units were able to evac aloe star. I'm a turn away from blocking that evacuation, so next time more ground attacks on aloe. Mersing is getting ground attacked daily so my unit is still a few days from cutting off the rail. Note to self, bring in an armor, but I won't be doing deep strikes in the future so cancel that note. The air attacks on singapore are starting today with air strikes and sweeps.

Palembang
It's brutal how palembang can dominate that area. The port attack against batavia went well
Morning Air attack on Batavia , at 49,98

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
G3M2 Nell x 12
G4M1 Betty x 13

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 6
CW-21B Demon x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 1 destroyed
CW-21B Demon: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Van Heemskerck, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAP Poelau Bras, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AGP Aldebaran, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Kota Tjandi, Bomb hits 3, on fire
xAP Kota Agoeng, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Brastagi, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Encounter, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AS Janssens, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Francol, Bomb hits 1
xAP Van Cloon, Bomb hits 1
xAP Kota Inten, Bomb hits 1
xAK Toendjoek, Bomb hits 1
xAK Manoeran, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAP Kota Baroe, Bomb hits 1
xAK Mariso, Bomb hits 1
AVP Merel, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Meroendoeng, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

This next turn I'll switch to nav attacks with port strike as a secondary. A large unit of zeroes transferred today and will start the air war against the 4Es.

Marshalls
Here's the tat part...his carriers were lurking to the south of the marshalls and nailed the amphib loading in the gilberts.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Makin at 136,125

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18
SBD-2 Dauntless x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 9

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Asanagi, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Kamikaze Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tenyo Maru, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
CM Okinoshima, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yunagi, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
1543 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 42 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Solomons
Kavieng landed and will shock attack today. The TFs there are vulnerable to the carrier group in the gilberts, so it's withdrawling to truk. The KB is being shifted to truk. George is pretty aggressive, but I doubt he'll challenge truk this early in the game. Could be he wants to lure the KB away from java, where it can do major damage, but palembang is going so well, that I'm not sure the KB is needed for java anyway.

China
Mostly movement and using air to prevent his movement. I haven't had good luck against George, but I can't say that anymore.

First attack against Hong Kong (deliberate)

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20332 troops, 328 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 538

Defending force 8053 troops, 132 guns, 72 vehicles, Assault Value = 228

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 815

Allied adjusted defense: 193

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Hong Kong !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
1073 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 60 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled

Allied ground losses:
10476 casualties reported
Squads: 235 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 246 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 157 (157 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 104 (104 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

Assaulting units:
66th Infantry Regiment
38th Division
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
20th Ind Engineer Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
5th RF Gun Battalion
21st Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
23rd Army
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Hong Kong Fortress
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
1st Middlesex Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force

[vicberg]

More back and forth...

Misc
Subs nailed a CM and AK
SCTFs destroyed another AK
And always fun early in the war:

ASW attack near Singkawang at 56,88

Japanese Ships
DD Shirakumo
CA Chokai
CL Sendai
DD Asagiri
DD Shirayuki
DD Fubuki
DD Yugiri
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
SS KXV, hits 4

Sumatra

Reducing the Allies

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 5
CW-21B Demon x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 2 destroyed
CW-21B Demon: 1 destroyed

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 24

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 11


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 3 destroyed


And a few TKs and other allied ships sunk by netties out of palembang

And defending Palembang

Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17



Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 49
B-339D x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged
B-339D: 3 destroyed

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
CW-22 Falcon x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
CW-22 Falcon: 3 destroyed

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 3 damaged

Luzon

Keeping the Clark forts down. The base is about 50% damage. My goal is to switch between Clark and Bataan to prevent fort buildup. The 65th has moved on Manilla...other units trying to nail isolated allies. Bulk of 2 divs moving on Clark.

Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
G4M1 Betty x 28

Allied aircraft
P-35A x 1
P-40B Warhawk x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

San Fernando Fell

Ground combat at San Fernando (80,74)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 5996 troops, 36 guns, 79 vehicles, Assault Value = 101

Defending force 3626 troops, 60 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 109

Japanese adjusted assault: 117

Allied adjusted defense: 45

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE San Fernando !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

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


Allied ground losses:
1653 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 54 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 25 (25 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

China

Typical air attack on chinese units in the open

Morning Air attack on 50th Chinese Corps, at 85,55

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 25
Ki-30 Ann x 25
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 20

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
194 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Strategic

We'll see if the initial Luzon disruptions enable a fast attack on Clark. It's very doubtful right now, but not out of question.

Mersing so far seems a waste since he was able to move his troops south before I could cut off the rail line. However, he's pulling everything to singapore, so a regiment out of mersing can capture northern cities and speed up the movement of troops south. So not a complete waste.

Kendari has been a total waste so far. Nells haven't flow once. Plenty of supplies and air support, but they aren't flying. So not worth it.

George is retreating in force for everywhere in the north and middle areas of china. I'm hitting his ground forces hard from the air and moving divisions from the middle to southern area. Not sure how this will play out. The 38th division is staying in southern china to help with operations.

Palembang has been dominant both in terms of damage caused to allied naval forces but also because of the retreat that is has caused. The 21st and 33rd divisions are in route to invade northern java.

Sopac and Marshalls (wake) have both not gone well. George surprised me by splitting his carriers and defending both areas, so I took a few more shipping losses than needed. The KB is moving to Truk and will support both Sopac and Wake in time.

[vicberg]

December 12th, 1941...


Sumatra
More defense of palembang against strategic attacks against the oil fields:

Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31


Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 40
B-339D x 2
Hudson I x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-339D: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 2 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31



Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 12


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged

This is why I believe odds against 4Es work. I'm not overstacked...I do have more than enough support and almost 3-1 odds. Ground units are moving out from Palembang to expand the holdings.

Timor
Ternate, Ambom fell today. Guam fell also, though it's not part of timor. George is attacking units in Kendari. The mini-KB has successfully defended against attacks. The rest of the mini-KB plus 6 BBs from HI are arriving within a couple of days. These will be used along with the 146th regiment to support a southern java invasion. In combination with the 21st and 33rd from palembang, java should fall fairly quick.

Luzon
The air war continues against Bataan this time. Both airfields are at about 50% damage according to FOW. The 65th Brigade arrived at Manilla. The SNLF defending Batangas was destroyed by a counter attack. George has moved units up from the peninsula.

Air losses are high because of the aggressiveness of the attack in all theaters.

[vicberg]

December 15th, 1941...

Malaysia
The air war is in ernest...

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 18

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 37

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

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 5 destroyed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 5 destroyed

Mersing wasn't a total waste. I'm able to take southern cities to speed movement down to singapore. My only regret is not moving the 1st raiding rgmt paratroops down to indo-china faster. Kuala Lampur is the only city I need and paratroops would be just the trick. However, George is moving forces to cut the rail line.

[vicberg]

Luzon

The blitz assault on Luzon wasn't a complete failure either. He has at least 6 units away from clark and manilla fell. George is moving units to counter-attack, but I'm not too worried about these troops. I have around 1-1 on Clark right now (not including terrain), so I'm going to take a pop in the next few days and see what happens. Airfield attacks on clark and bataan continue to keep fort building down.

[vicberg]

China

More manuevering....the south will be my empahsis this game. The 38th div is in route from Hong Kong. George is still retreating on all fronts. My goal is to get the southern cities and provide multiple axes of attacks up to the Changsha area.

In the north, I have a division and 4 brigades moving on the communist strongholds. This is more diversionary than real. If I can push him back, I may get another city for no attacks.

The majority of my forces will be going for nanyang. From there, I'm stopping, fortifying and transferring troops for Changsha and south