Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

January 31, 1943 –

My opponent is back, so we will attempt to do turns in a more regular manner for the next little while. However, I have already warned my opponent that I will be unavailable during the second week of September, so the Match won’t be moving forward much faster than it has been lately.

The last day of January 1943 started out with submarine action as an Allied AM attacked Japanese sub I-29 off of Geraldton. The sub was hit once and left without firing. But then I-25 spotted the already seriously damaged AMC Chitral and put a torpedo into the ship. Chitral didn’t go down, but it needs to reach Geraldton quickly. I-25 got away clean.

Then USS Pompon was spotted by an PB escort near Guam. Pompon got hit once and is now heading back to Pearl.

Daylight brought lots of Aerial Recon and Patrols. Allied planes spotted the KB to the north of Exmouth. This is where a Japanese Replenishment TF was spotted last turn, so the KB may be refuelling before getting into more mischief.

The only Air Attacks were in Burma where British Liberator IIs hit the Japanese troops to the east of Akyab and US B-24Ds hit the Japanese troops at Kalemyo.

And at the end of the day USS Sargo reported that its repairs are failing, so Sargo may not make it back to Port.

[ADB123]

Here's the situation in northwestern Australia:

[ADB123]

Here's the situation in the Indo-Burma region:

[ADB123]

February 1, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw US sub S-46 take a shot at an SC in the cold waters north of Uruppu-jima in the middle Kuriles. The torpedoes missed and the Escort Ships in the Japanese TF chased off the old US S-Boat, hitting it once but causing little damage. What was most interesting about this was that the SC was in a fairly large Transport TF that contains Freighters and Tankers. I wonder where it is going?

That TF caught my attention enough so that I am putting into action a plan to see if I can catch and surprise it. I've ordered more Subs into the area and I've put more Long-Range Search planes into action from my bases in the Western Aleutians. Currently my opponent has Search planes but no Bombers in the Eastern Kuriles, and his Search Planes aren't doing a very good job at finding my Subs in the Absolutely Lousy Winter Weather between the Kuriles and the Aleutians. So if that TF ends up at one of the Eastern Kuriles I may well have an opportunity to create some mayhem. We'll see over the next couple of turns.

The Other News of the Night wasn't as promising as both USS Seadragon and AMC Chital reported that their Temporary Floatation Repairs were failing. Eventually Chital made it to Port in Geraldton, but it only stayed afloat long enough for some of the crew to Abandon Ship before it went down. Seadragon remains barely afloat.

Daylight brought out numerous Japanese Naval Search Planes over Northwestern Australia as the KB moved closed to the Coast again, confirming my suspicions that it had been refueling last turn. There were no Japanese Air Attacks, but one Glen was shot down by CAP over Geraldton. My Air Defences in the Region continue to grow so if the KB does send out Bombers or Fighters again they will find some tough going. In the meanwhile I have no intention of sailing anything other than subs and PT Boats in the Region.

Once again this turn the Allies flew the only Air Attack Missions. First off British Liberator IIs hit the Japanese troops that are east of Akyab again. Then B-24s hit the Japanese troops at Akyab again. But then the Main Event struck – a full multi-sqaudron B-17/B-24 hammering of the Airfields at Myitkyina. There was no CAP and the 4Es had a field day. My opponent won't be basing any planes at Myitkyina for a while.

This was followed by multiple 4E attacks on the Air Base at Katherine in Northern Oz. Some Nicks and Tojos flew LR CAP from Darwin, but the Bombers got through and hit the Air Fields repeatedly.

And far away from the Front around 3 dozen US DDs got upgrades this turn. This is a very quick upgrade and the DDs will be back in action in a day or so.

[ADB123]

February 2, 1943 -

The Night Phase brought some of those frustrating moments where the only response is to grit your teeth and shake your head.

First off, a single Japanese CL sailed into Exmouth on a Bombardment run. The two PTs that were on Patrol took one look and ran off as fast as their little engines could take them. These PT Boats had very good skippers, and a very good and aggressive leader, but the “tweaks” in the Game Engine to “tone down” PT Boats came into play and so the presence of a single CL was enough to cause the PT TF to avoid engagement at all costs.

This was followed by a larger Bombardment TF containing 3 CAs and 2 CLs. The Defensive Guns on Shore didn't fire at any of the ships in either TF and so the Japanese ships got to fire away at will. Fortunately the damage wasn't severe, and only one Recon plane was destroyed on the Ground. But it was a frustrating experience that was followed by one last bit of “insult over injury” as the Allied Anti-ship LBA found some excuse to not fly during the day either, despite spotting the retiring Japanese ships.

I'm still kicking myself over the entire mess in the northwest of Oz because it occured specifically because I jumped the gun and sent troops into Port Hedland too soon. Oh well, despite my continued lousy judgement and worse luck I am going to attempt to set another trap in the region. But I'll have to be careful because the KB is still hanging around and it is wearing plenty of Good Luck charms as it continues to avoid the even increasing number of Subs that I'm putting in the Region.

In Burma the Allied Air Forces almost received an unpleasant surprise as well as the Air Attacks on the Japanese troops that are east of Akyab found a few Tojos and Oscars on LR CAP. As luck would have it, I had decided to send in 2E bombers this turn along with 4Es, and of course the 2Es flew in first. However, the British Medium Bombers handled themselves well, losing only one Wellington while shooting down one Tojo and still hitting the Japanese troops. By the time the Liberator IIs arrived the Japanese CAP was finished for the day.

In an attempt to avoid being too predictable I sent my main 4 squadrons of 4Es out to hit the Air Base at Mandalay this turn, right after hitting Myitkyina last turn. But this time I sent out P-38s on Sweeps, so of course, there were no Japanese Fighters on CAP. The 4Es hit the base nicely and roughed up the Air Fields well.

Finally, the Secondary US 4Es hit the Japanese troops at Kalemyo again. But that is just a warm up because two Infantry Divisions moved into position to Attack at Kalemyo this turn, so I ordered all of the 4Es and 2Es in the Region to hit the Japanese troops there and ordered all of my Troops at Kalemyo to Assault the place. Unless I am exceptionally unlucky I ought to capture Kalemyo next turn.

[ADB123]

February 3, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw the same PT boats from the previous day at Exmouth run into an even bigger Japanese Bombardment TF that contained a couple of BBs along with CAs. This time the PT Boat skippers were too close and had no where to run, so one of them fired a torpedo at a BB at 4K yards and amazingly enough hit the Battlewagon. But as Luck Would Have It Again, the torpedo was a near dud and did little or no damage. So the Japanese TF continued in to Bombard Exmouth.

Daylight brought some Nells out to hit the empty Air Field at Port Hedland, followed by an attack by the bombers from the KB. Port Hedland and Exmouth now are in great need of Supplies, but re-supply will have to wait until the IJN goes back north for replenishing and celebrations.

In the meanwhile the Allied Air Force in India attacked the Japanese Infantry Regiment at Kalemyo mercilessly. There was no Japanese CAP so all of the various 2Es and 4Es got in and dropped their bombs, albeit with varying degrees of accuracy and success.

Then Dutch Sub KIX attacked a DD in a big Japanese Transport TF off of Moulmein, but missed. The Escorts in the TF chased KIX away without hitting it. But obviously lots of Supply and likely more Troops are being sent into Burma by the Japanese.

Next, the Big Assault on Kalemyo occurred. The single Japanese Infantry Regiment was attacked by a British Infantry Division, an Indian Infantry Division, 2 Armoured Brigades, and two Artillery Regiments. The Allied assault easily captured the base, kicking out the Japanese while causing heavy casualties to the defenders. Now I'm moving up a Base Force and some Engineers in order to re-build the base and prepare for the next Allied move.

And finally, another Armoured Brigade crossed the River to the east of Akyab to join the Indian Infantry Division that is already there. Despite the Indian Division being much bigger and stronger than the two Japanese Infantry Regiments that are there, the Game Engine declared a Shock Attack must be performed, so both Allied units were disrupted by the attack. Fortunately, the Japanese suffered much larger casualties. I've got another Armoured Brigade on its way, along with an Artillery Regiment, so I ought to eventually drive those two Japanese Infantry Regiments out of that Blocking Position.

And there was another Milestone reached this turn, as USS Arizona came out of the Repair Yards at Pearl Harbor almost 14 months after the BB was nearly sunk during the Japanese Air Attack. Arizona is now on its way to the West Coast for Modernization, which means that it will be out of action for most of 1943 too.

[ADB123]

February 4, 1943 -

There was no Night Action this turn for a change as the various Japanese Attack TFs vanished into the darkness. The only activity was a Japanese near Exmouth that danced around some PT Boats.

Daylight saw continued Allied Bombing action in Burma as British Liberator IIs hit the Japanese troops that are east of Akyab while US B-24s hit one of the several Japanese combat units in the jungle to the east of Kalemyo. In both cases Allied Escorts flew along but there was no Japanese LR CAP at either location.

So Japanese activity has gone stealthy again. I'll have to prepare better for the next time that the Japanese come out of hiding. Last time in northeastern Oz I attempted to Advance with a Shoe String operation, but I got Clotheslined instead.

[ADB123]

February 5, 1943 –

The Night Phase was quiet again, other than a PT TF spotting a Japanese sub at Carnarvon.

Daylight brought Rain most everywhere except for Lashio where the USAAF 4Es flew in to smash up the Air Base nicely. There was no CAP and as a bonus three Dinahs were destroyed on the ground.

Otherwise things are fairly quiet as I continue to build up my forces all around, and re-build them in northwestern Australia. The good news is that the B-24D1 has come on line at a rate of 48 planes per month. This almost feels miraculous.

[ADB123]

February 6, 1943 -

There was no Night Action again this turn.

Daylight brought a return of the Japanese Army Air Force to active bombing in China as attacks flew against the Air Bases at Sian, Hengyang and Liuchow. I'm not sure what my opponent intends to accomplish with this, other than to increase his Ops losses.

Bad Weather interferred with most planned Allied Air Strikes in the Far East this turn other than 4E and 2E strikes on the Japanese troops to the east of Akyab. There was no Japanese CAP this time so it was good practice for the Allied Bombers.

US 4Es also flew against the Air Base at Katherine this turn. Again there was no Japanese CAP so the bombers had a good run and hammered the Base nicely.

With the KB and Japanese Bombardment TFs gone from northwestern Australia I set my LBA in the region to low altitude ASW and started to get some nice results. I'm sending in an ASW TF too, just in case they find some easy pickings. (In order to keep a certain amount of deception in play, I just used Dutch DDs in the ASW TF, despite their weak ASW ratings. I don't want to advertise how much of the USN is in the region.)

[ADB123]

February 7, 1943 –

There was no Night Action again this turn.

Daylight started out in a promising manner as my low altitude ASW planes started to buzz Japanese subs all over the west coast of Australia. Some of the planes even attempted attacks. And eventually, even the little Dutch DD ASW TF got into the act and attacked a Japanese sub, achieving one hit.

Then it was purely a case of Weather Happens. In fact, the Bad Weather was so Bad that even my opponent commented upon it because it affected one of his attacks. But he didn’t realize how lucky he was that his planes attacked at all, and that once again my planes refused to fly against a Japanese base that actually had Japanese combat planes on the ground.

So a big, multi-base Japanese Air Attack hit Akyab. There were 125 bombers and 75 fighters. A handful of Hurricane IIcs wandered over from Cox’s Bazaar and tangled with the Japanese escorts a bit. Two Hurricanes were eventually lost, but no pilots. But thanks to the Weather the 125 Japanese bombers did negligible damage on Akyab.

The main Japanese attack was followed by a Sweep by 25 Tojos, but they found nothing in the Air. Then another 25 Helens flew in and missed their target.

But most importantly from my perspective, the main USAAF 4Es and the P-38s refused to fly once again against Magwe, and to add insult to injury, this time there were Japanese planes in Magwe. I’m getting really tired of constantly missing opportunities.

Two secondary 4E bomber squadrons did fly against secondary targets. The British Liberator IIs hit a Japanese Infantry Division that is closing in on the hex to the east of Akyab where I have been attacking the two Japanese Infantry Regiments. And the second string USAAF B-24D squadron hit another Japanese Infantry Division that is on the road between Mandalay and Myitkyina and is moving into the Jungle to block my advance past Kalemyo.

So thanks to the Japanese Internal Transportation Lines, the River Crossing Rules, and the Bad Weather my early advance in Burma is about to stall. Oh well, I’ll just keep on trying to bomb Japanese bases and positions, and be satisfied with tying down so many Japanese units.

Elsewhere, two second line B-24D squadrons in eastern Australia attacked the Air Fields at Port Moresby this turn. They were met by 14 Tojos and 4 Zeros, but it was the Weather that had the most important say in what transpired, and the Liberators caused minimal damage to the Air Fields.

So it looks as if I’ll just be back to building bases again for a while.

[ADB123]

February 8, 1943 –

There was no Night Action again this turn.

Daylight brought out very intense Allied Aerial ASW off of the west coast of Australia. At least a half dozen Japanese subs were chased and bombed, in some cases multiple times. I’ve also got a couple of ASW TFs on their way to add to the headaches for the IJN subs. I wonder how long before my opponent pulls the subs out?

Daylight also finally brought the long awaited Allied Air Attack on Magwe. Despite having Level 9 Air Bases and multiple Well-lead Air HQs the Air Attacks still came in somewhat scattered.

First in were 25 P-38Gs who found 7 Oscar IIs, 27 Oscar Is, and 6 Tojos on CAP. The Air Battle was something of a wash with 2 Tojos and 2 P-38s going down.

Next came in 24 P-38Fs who found 8 Oscar IIs, 18 Oscar Is, and 17 Tojos on CAP. The P-38F pilots had a tougher time and 3 Allied planes were lost versus 1 Tojo going down.

Next the 4Es came in – 14 B-17Fs, 14 B-17Es, and 22 B-24Ds met 4 Oscar IIs, 7 Oscars Is, and 9 Tojos. The 4Es had no problems and got past the Japanese Fighters easily, hitting the Air Base quite well. However, there were no planes caught on the ground.

Finally, 25 P-38Es arrived late to the party, but still found 4 Oscar IIs, 5 Oscar Is, and 6 Tojos. The P-38 Pilots had an easy time with the tired Japanese pilots, shooting down 2 of each type of Oscar as well as 3 Tojos.

Two other Allied Bomber Attacks flew – Liberator IIs hit the Japanese Infantry Division that is southeast of Akyab and B-24Ds hit Japanese troops near Kalemyo.

The End-of-the-Day results were reasonable, although not as good as one might hope:

Japanese losses:

Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 16 – 14 A-to-A, 2 Ops
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 7 - 6 A-to-A, 1 Ops
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 5 – all A-to-A

P-38G: 7 – 6 A-to-A, 1 Ops
P-38F: 7 – 6 A-to-A, 1 Ops

Only a couple of pilots were lost and none of them were experienced. Three more pilots reached Ace status.

No 4Es were lost.

In other news, the Air Base at Corunna Downs finally reached Level 1, which means that I can now fly in a Base Force. Kalemyo also reached Level 1, which means that my Transport planes will be more effective in bringing in Supplies. It appears that the Campaigns in both Northern Oz and Burma will be long and hard, so bringing in more troops and supplies will be critical.

[ADB123]

February 9, 1943 -

The Night Phase brought a Surprise as a Japanese combat unit started to land at the empty DEI base at Saumlaki. The four islands to the north of Darwin are still unoccupied, so it looks as if my opponent intends to change that.

Daylight brought messy weather and broken up Japanese Air Attacks on Akyab. Zeros, then Tojos, then Oscars all flew in against no opposition. Then 100 Japanese bombers flew in to attack, followed by two more groups of 25 each. The bombers caused some damage, but nothing serious.

Allied bombers also got into action again over the Japanese troops near Akyab and also those near Kalemyo. My opponent is now moving up some serious forces. It will be interesting to see how well he can keep them supplied.

Equally interesting is the appearance of 2 Japanese submarines in the region. They are the first enemy subs that I've seen there since I started my advance. I wonder if my opponent will bring in his Bombardment TFs and the KB like he did in Oz?

And lots of Japanese subs were spotted multiple times by Allied Aircraft this turn, but this time there were no attacks. So I'm sending out more ASW in case I can catch a sub that way.

[ADB123]

February 10, 1943 -

The only Night Action was the continued landing of Japanese troops on Saumlaki. Later on in the Day the troops captured the unoccupied base.

Daylight brought more Aerial spotting and attacks on Japanese subs in the Bay of Bengal. Airborne ASW off of the west coast of Australia reported a steep drop in the number of Japanese subs seen.

Then the Air Wars started again in Burma and both sides were hampered by Bad Weather.

First off there were a number of Japanese Fighter Sweeps over the Indian troops that are sitting engaged with the Enemy in the hex to the East of Akyab. The Sweeps were followed by Japanese Bomber Attacks which consisted of one large attack and several single-squadron attacks. Few of the attacks hit their target and those that did caused little damage.

Then the Allied Air Forces did the same thing on some of the Japanese units to the east of Kalemyo and again Fighters Swept in followed by Bombers. As with the Japanese attacks the results were trivial.

So I've decided to change my approach in Burma. Next turn I have a number of good Allied Fighter planes set to Sweep over the engaged troops that are to the east of Akyab. It will be interesting to see of these Air Units will fly over a target that contains troops from both sides.

And I brought forward all of my 4Es to two main Front Line Bases and set them to attack one Japanese Air Base. I hope by increasing the numbers of 4Es in the attacks I will cause more damage and maybe catch some enemy planes on the Ground too. To add more Teeth to the Attack I've also ordered my P-38s to Sweep the Base too. It's time to start to change the Balance of Power in Burma.

And elsewhere I am moving up units to change the local BoP and start pushing in a few more places. We'll see how that progresses over the next couple of months.

[ADB123]

February 11, 1943 -

There was no Night Action this turn.

Daylight brought multiple reports of Japanese submarines in the Bay of Bengal near Chittagong. Allied 2E bombers happily harassed and bombed the Japanese subs. There was also a report of a single Japanese sub off of the southwest corner of Australia. I moved more Allied 2Es into position to harass and attack that sub too.

The rest of the Air Action this turn was also from the Allies. First off multiple Allied Fighter Squadrons Swept the skies over the Japanese and Allied troops in the hex to the east of Akyab. No Japanese bombers or fighters showed up to contest the skies.

Then the Main Event started over Taung Gyi as the Allied Air Forces attacked the Air Base there in record numbers.

First off 24 P-38Es Swept in and found 30 Tojos and 49 Oscar Is on CAP. The E's attacked vigorously, shooting down 1 Tojo while losing one Lightning.

Next 18 P-38Gs flew in and faced 14 Tojos and 35 Oscar Is. This time 4 Oscars and 1 Tojo were destroyed while 2 Gs were lost.

Then 25 P-38Fs flew in and faced 8 Tojos and 17 Oscar Is. The Fs had a clear advantage, shooting down 3 Tojos and 2 Oscars while losing none of their own.

Now it was the time for the biggest Allied 4E attack to-date to take place as 22 B24Ds, 16 B-17Es, 16 Liberator IIs, 16 B-17Fs, and 12 B24D1s arrived. However, to my dismayed surprise 11 Beaufighter VIcs also showed up to attempt to provide CAP.

I had to kick myself because those Beaufighters were well back from the Front and I never expected them to join in on the attack. But I had forgotten to dial-back their range and they were still set to 15 hexes. The Allied Attack found 7 Oscar Is and 1 Tojo on CAP, and the Beaufighters attempted to tangle with the Japanese fighters, with the expected results.

But the mess with the Beaufighters aside, the Allied Heavies blasted in and hammered the Air Base and Air Fields at Taung Gyi very hard, although as has become “normal” with Allied Air Base Attacks, there were no Japanese planes caught on the ground.

Finally, one last 12-plane B-24D squadron flew in on its own. There were still 3 Oscars and a Tojo on CAP but the Liberators blew right past the Japanese fighters and hit the Air Fields hard again.

The End-of-Day results were as follows:

Oscars lost: 15 - 14 A-to-A, 1 Ops
Tojos lost: 8 - 6 A-to-A, 2 Ops

P-38Es lost: 5 – 3 A-to-A, 2 Ops
P-38Gs lost: 4 – all A-to-A
Beaufighter VIcs lost: 3 – 2 A-to-A, 1 Ops
P-38Fs lost: 1 – A-to-A

No Allied bombers were lost and 4 more USAAF pilots became Aces, while another Ace got his 6th Kill.

So all-in-all it was a reasonably good attack and give my opponent more to worry about. I'm resting my bombers and fighters next turn while increasing Aerial ASW efforts.

And Allied Forces continue to arrive at the various Fronts, as well at Future Fronts.

[ADB123]

February 12, 1943 -

The dot base Molu, next to Saumlaki in the DEI, was occupied automatically this turn. Otherwise there was no Night Action.

Daylight brought continued Allied aerial harassment of multiple Japanese subs in the Bay of Bengal and of the one Japanese sub off of the west coast of Australia. But the only other activities were various Recon flights from both sides. So this was a turn where at the end there was no Combat Report.

I've ordered Bomber attacks in Burma and Northern Australia for next turn so things will liven up a bit. I'm also moving more forces forward, particularly into the Central Pacific. My opponent has so many planes in northern Oz, southern Burma, and the eastern Kuriles that his forces ought to be relatively slim elsewhere. Now it is a matter of finding out where.

[ADB123]

February 13, 1943 -

There was no Night Action again this turn.

Daylight brought out the Allied 4Es in India where the Senior 4 4E squadrons went after one of the Japanese units in the jungle to the east of Akyab. The Japanese Infantry Division was hit hard and took a lot of casualties. Then the Australian 4Es went after the Air Base at Katherine again, hitting the Air Fields hard. In both cases there was no Japanese CAP.

But there are plenty of Japanese Fighters in both Theaters, likely just waiting to spring a Trap. Recon reported 185 Fighters at Toungoo and 137 at Darwin, along with hundred of other planes. I have no intention of flying my Bombers or my P-38s into either Death Trap.

There were no Japanese Attacks of any kind this turn. Even the Japanese subs were absent from the waters off of the west coast of Australia and the Bay of Bengal.

In other news, USS Arizona started Refit on the West Coast this turn. The BB will be in port for another 115 days – just in time to participate in the planned Summer Advances.

And Exmouth is all repaired again. I'm moving in Supplies via Transport AC, Transport Subs, and Fast Transports. I've also got an Marine Defense Battalion on its way to the region. It will be nice to put that unit in place too.

[ADB123]

My opponent didn't have time to do a turn this evening, and I am going out of town tomorrow without my game pc for a week and a half, so there will be yet another hiatus in this match. My apologies to all of the good folks who take the trouble to read this AAR. I hope to get back to a more regular schedule soon.

[ADB123]

February 14, 1943 –

I’m back, and once again I’m trying to remember just what I was doing and planning in this match. This turn indicated that I’m doing little of either…

There was no Night action and no Day action either, other than plenty of Air Recon.

Then at the end of the turn a Japanese Paratroop unit landed on Manokwari and captured it. I had forgotten that the base had never been captured by the Japanese.

My opponent continues to build up his defenses from my most obvious threats in Burma and northern Australia. There are huge numbers of Japanese Fighters and Bombers in various Burmese locations as well as Darwin. And INTEL reported that more Japanese AA units are headed to places like Kaopang, most likely in anticipation of Allied 4E onslaughts in the future.

And the 4Es are going out in Burma again next turn. I’ll close another Japanese forward base while avoiding the main Japanese Air Traps in southern Burma.


I received a lot of Naval Assets this turn, including HMS Victorious which showed up at Cristobal for no good reason. I have no need of a British CV in the eastern Pacific so I sent the carrier sailing off to Cape Town.

China continues to be quiet. My opponent seems to be content with the Status Quo for now.

So it continues to be a matter of moving Forces and Support forward for me.

[DanielAnsell]

Good to see you back at it. What other big plans do you have right now other then continuing to bomb his bases in Burma?

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: Carny

Good to see you back at it. What other big plans do you have right now other then continuing to bomb his bases in Burma?

I've got three main attacks currently underway, two of which are designed to siphon off enemy strength from the third. And I now have a fourth Front that I am building up very quietly.

1 - Burma – Burma is tying down more and more Japanese forces. It is miserably hard to move forward because of Supply constraints, but that holds for both sides. Currently the Japanese have around 200 front-line Fighters, and 400 miscellaneous planes (likely bombers being trained/rested) at one base alone. I have roughly equivalent strength in planes, but I've got them spread out to avoid one-shot wipe-outs. I've engaged the Japanese at two points on the ground and will engage them at another one shortly, and one more in another month or so.

I'm spending a lot of time and effort building up my Front Line bases in order to get them to hold reasonable amounts of supplies, so those supplies will flow further forward. It's a slow business, but I'm fairly certain that my pressure in Burma has directly caused my opponent to ease off in China where I am always desperately short of Supplies.

So I intend to continue to push forward with Troops, supported by Air. It's a good formula from my p.o.v.

2 – Northern Australia – The KB/Combined Fleet raid was a nuisance, but it didn't stop my advance in northwestern Oz. And my opponent's experience with the KB's fighters versus a single squadron of P-38s surprised him as much as my equally futile experience with my Wildcats during my CV raid on the Kuriles. And now I've got Corsairs and Spitfires in the mix too, so I would love to see the KB come back.

Right now I'm fairly convinced that the main part of the KB is holed up in Soerabaja/Singapore. My opponent appears to be attempting to set up Timor as a major Fortress-Trap in support of further Japanese raids. But I've got a “secret” prowling around out of LBA-Search range just in case the KB and friends show up again. My opponent likes to keep his Support/Replenish TFs near, but behind, his Combat TFs and I would love to ambush more AOs. (I haven't been able to do that since the earliest part of the match.)

So if my opponent does nothing I will continue to build up northwestern Oz in preparation for an advance on north-central Oz in Spring 1943. If he tries more Raids I will attempt to ambush his forces from behind while challenging them head-on with ever-increasing LBA.

3 – Northeastern Japan – I am still building up the Aleutians like mad. Right now some of the bases are built up to their limits, so I am moving off Engineering units to other bases. (With all of the force that I have up there a Japanese attack on the Aleutians at this time would almost win the game for me.) I am starting to move in some of those very long range Naval B-24 Recon variants which will allow me to probe even more over the Kuriles.

But my advance depends upon two things – Spring, and Hellcats. I intend to move once I've got Hellcats on my CV decks, and while I will make a feint at the Kuriles, particularly the emptier ones, I am preparing all of my forces for Sakhalin Island. I'm going in Big, and I'm going in Hard, so I want to be totally prepared.

4 – The “Quiet Zone” - the Central Pacific has become a region of birds chirping and whales singing, but little else. So I've started to move serious forces into my existing Central Pacific possessions in order to build up the bases and prepare my Fourth Front. There are a lot of islands that are still unoccupied and I intend to move forces into them, backed up by 4Es and CVEs. I'm not intending invasions against enemy-occupied atolls, but I won't need to with so many empty bases around that I can build up and use to isolate enemy bases.

Essentially, I intend to force my opponent to continue to spread out his forces all over the map and to use up lots of fuel in the effort. Time is on my side, and I will be content to continue to push bit-by-bit over more and more places over the first third of 1943.

BTW – I have no intention of spending any time or effort on the Solomons unless my opponent starts to pull out the massive forces that he has put into that region.

BTW II – for 1944 I am already planning for Sumatra.

Thanks for your interest!