South of the Border, West of the Sun - obvert (J) vs Dan Nichols (A)

[obvert]

7 Jan 1942

DEI: Johore Bahru falls. All units that will join the attack on Singers are now moving here in strat. We have roughly 3500 AV ready and rested. The IJA is still hitting the airfields every turn, but due to damaged and worn out planes, we only put up 75 a day now out of about 95 possible. We'l keep going until Singapore falls though.

A TF with 3 BB bombarded Kalidjati this turn and took out 6 Martin 139s on the ground and a few fighters with a lot more damaged. About 35 (!) support squds were also hit, so not much should be flying here soon. No Palembang flights today, which is the point.

PI: Started to bomb Clark heavily, and it looks like very little of the AA is here. I thikn he's getting cozy in Bataan at the fortress and working on the defenses already. 25 Sallies went in to bomb that field and found much more resistence. Also only got about 7 hits on the field.

On Mindanao a Naval Guard is marching to Malaybalay to try and clear that base early. There is 264 AV sitting at Calagyan with our 146 AV. We have 75 AV moving in in about 4 days and will start bombing in a few turns as well.

S PAC: The KB will unite with the oilers next turn. After that it's on to Sydney. I don't expect to find much there, but it makes sense to check it out if we do go unseen. I'll try to also recon Auckland before we're sighted in case something special is there.

N PAC: I threw two subs in front of the possible path of the US CVs, but it just disappeared. I feel they might head to Pearl, so we'll have a few subs in the way there as well. All shipping has moved back to the Kuriles.

subs: We lost the I-2 on the west coast. A Dutch sub was hit critically by one DC, and it's listed as sunk. I am dubious as it launched two torps after the hit!

[obvert]

8 Jan 1942

DEI: Kendari fell today to our 1 SNLF here. Macassar next, and Lautern. All mines were cleared from Balikpapan. The sub threat is still high, so we'll wait a bit before bringing in the tankers. Another sub with a penetrating hit and explosion, but we'll see if it's still in the hex at Ambon next turn.

PI: We continue to pound Clark Field. Nearly all of the available troops have arrived. Just waiting on a 48 AV engineer unit and the Tanaka Detachment. That'll bring us up to about 1200 AV. After a few more days of airstrikes we'll try a bombardment.

S PAC: The KB is refeuled and ready to go. We're aiming to try to move it near Norfolk Island, then shoot in for a raid on Sydney and Melbourne the same turn. The oilers and AMCs will move toward Noumea, covered for this turn by LR CAP. The transport are chugging up behind.

Burma: The Allies moved their remaining Burma troops into the hex at Pegu. We shocked over the river a few turns ago, but are still outnumbered and disrupted. Two more Thai divisions are no the way and three arty units are coming over as well. The IJA is bombing his stack at Pegu daily taking out 5-7 squads.

[obvert]

8 Jan 1942

DEI: Bombers again hit both Batavia and Kalidjati just in case something was left there. Tomorrow we'll give them a rest and prepare for the next offensive. I am considering using them against Singapore, as I don't want the forts to go up there at all, but it's a much more well defended area and we will lose pilots there. The IJA is flying less than I would like right now due to storms and fatigue, so if we don't get at least 4 days a week hitting the fields I may resort to the IJN Netties to add a few sorties in.

The troops going toward Tarakan that have been trudging through the swamps to cross the river must have been too tired to fight once they got there. Their fatigue was not at abnormal levels, but they came in at 1 to 12 in the attack! We got a (-) for leaders and when I looked at both units I discovered that indeed they had land effectiveness in the 20s (!) and were only suitable for rear area duties. I've been diligent about finding out bad leaders and getting new ones in, but I definitely missed these two. So it's now many more turns of waiting. We're highly disrupted there but still have 70 AV to around 35 AV for the Dutch troops, so I don't think he'll be able to kick us out.

On brighter notes we captured Macassar on the first attack and acquired Lautern, finally beating the stout 2 AV base unit and an AAA unit! Air support is already in location for both spots and that will squeeze the situation tighter over the region now. Oosthaven also fell to two para-units, one that walked in from Palembang, and for some reason the Allies had left at least parts of three different bomber groups here. 9 Falcons, 4 L-212s, and 1 Martin 139 were destroyed.

PI: At Malaybalay we attacked with one Naval Guard and came up 1 to 2 but only got 8 disruption and didn't lose a squad. Those PA troops must not be so good. We'll bomb them a bit and try again. The main point is making sure nothing retreats up here from Calagyan. It'll be a few more turns before units are in place to begin attacking there.

Clark Field is a mess now thanks to several days of bombing. Bataan continues to resist attacks. Tomorrow we'll bombard the troops at Clark fro the air and from the ground as we have everything we can muster there now and want to see what the Allies have to offer for defense. My guess is 1075 AV, based on the three PA infantry units surrendered and the one that was mauled at Lingayen.

We're getting the Air HQ out of here now that all of the Allied resistance has been withdrawn. This HQa Flot will be earmarked for Ceylon later in a few months but in the meantime will move down toward Java, probably to Macassar, to help out there.

S PAC: The KB moved down south of Noumea today. There are continued reports of sightings of Allied shipping but these are very similar to sub sighting reports elsewhere, the kind that are mostly ridiculous, like "9 Allied ships sighted moving at 13 knots near Kwajalein." If these are sub sightings they could know we're down here. We'll know very soon.

There appear to be no aircraft at Noumea, so at least that is good, and we're less worried about the amphibious convoy moving down just after. Assuming we don't find anything spectacular in OZ, the KB will move back immediately to support the landing in New Caledonia. No sight of anything near NZ or Fiji. Still a lot of activity around Tahiti, but our sub has moved a few hexes off after being continually attacked a few days ago.

China: The AVG and the first sighting of a Chinese fighter unit showed up at Changsha today. Luckily we had multiple sweeps going in or our bombers would have fared very badly. As it was, we took down 4 P-40Bs and 3 I-15s for the loss of 6 Oscar Ia (4 ops) and 2 Oscar Ic. We also lost 4 Sally Ic there. Our pilot quality is still much better. The Oscar Ia will be moved out immediately as they are just as bad as the Nates against fighters. Only the Ics and the small Tojo unit will fly sweeps or escort up here. I don't want to give any pilots extra kills and exp. This turn we will only use the 30 plane Ic unit to sweep Changsha.

N PAC: Pickets are moving out to look for potential CV raids. Nervous about the sudden quiet up here. The Mavis unit from Adak mostly moved back to the Kuriles. There are still two at Adak, but they see nothing. The small Betty detachment of 2 is moving into Wake today to help extend the search up here, and soon there will be a presence at Marcus as well. Since the KB will be well marked in the next few days I know the Allies could commit the CVs somewhere for a raid. Unfortunately I can't get the Claudes to upgrade yet at Roi-Namur in spite of the HQ there and plenty of supply. There are enough in the pools now as well to fill out the group. Hmm.

[Mike Solli]

Try moving the Claudes to Truk.

[obvert]

Thanks Mike I'll give that a try.

[Mike Solli]

They are a pain in the butt to upgrade. Do you have a carrier in the area? You can fly them to the carrier and move the carrier toward Truk, then fly them off when they are in range.

[obvert]

Well, no not exactly. They're all with the KB near OZ or with the Mini in the DEI. What is it 23-24 hexes to Truk from Roi Naumur? Will they do that with tanks? I only ever use them for training so I forget all details about them.

[obvert]

So after getting home and checking I realized the Claudes won't get to Truk even with tanks. I can stage them through Ponape, but there is already a group at Truk that won't upgrade either. Silliness.

The KB does have a 1/1 detection rating this turn. What exactly does this mean? What will the Allies know about the ships here? When I see bases around the map with a 1/0, a 1/2, or some small detection like that it usually means I can see that there are ships or aircraft or both in the base, but not at all what kind. For ships is this just that there might be the symbol of a fleet on the map but no knowledge of the kind of ships?

It would be useful to know because if we book it to Sydney now, we might get close enough to strike this turn and have complete surprise. If we wait another turn or two though we might get lost in the gap between the NZ and OZ search arcs. Now, it's one thing to lose a ship symbol one knows in an enemy fleet. It's another to lose a fleet one knows has CVs in it.

Any thoughts about 1/1 detection and the reliability of seeing the KB at this level?

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Well, no not exactly. They're all with the KB near OZ or with the Mini in the DEI. What is it 23-24 hexes to Truk from Roi Naumur? Will they do that with tanks? I only ever use them for training so I forget all details about them.

You'll need to put a base force at Ponape and then fly them from Roi Naumur to Ponape and then from there to Truk. You can also put them on an xAK but I think that's too dangerous.

Edit: I just saw your last post. Some people move them back to the Home Islands to upgrade but I've never had to do that.

[obvert]

You'll need to put a base force at Ponape and then fly them from Roi Naumur to Ponape and then from there to Truk. You can also put them on an xAK but I think that's too dangerous.

Edit: I just saw your last post. Some people move them back to the Home Islands to upgrade but I've never had to do that.

I'm flying a part of the Roi-Namur Air HQ to Ponape for the transfer. I've already sent them to Ponape, and I'll hope that at Truk something will happen. As usual I need it to happen NOW but with this game I'm becoming much more patient. Also, I have another Air HQ at Rabaul, and if it doesn't transform at Truk, I wonder if it would go there with the Air HQ.

[Mike Solli]

People have said that they had luck upgrading the unit at Rabaul.

[obvert]

9 Jan 1942

Detection Levels: Well I got my answer from my opponent in an email. He says he has seen a TF 'possibly' with CVs in it, and questions why so many IJ players attack the OZ coastline. Also he questions why Allied players keep vital shipping there. This is either a ploy to get me not to attack, or a smirk that he's prepared for the eventuality. The KB has sighted some shipping down here this turn but didn't attack at 9 hexes. Now that the ruse is up we'll hit the nearby TFs, possibly hit Auckland, but may skip OZ altogether.

China: The AVG showed up in force today and did its job well by popping over to Kweilin and putting a LR CAP over Liuchow. In spite of sweeps ahead of the bombers two groups of Lily got mauled at Kweilin. 22 destroyed!! Ouch! Some pilots only missing though, so maybe they'll come back one day dusty and worn from walking 120 miles. The fighters did well and got an even 2 for 2 exchange, but I fear we've just made some good exp pilots and an ace or two for the AVG.

Two large zero groups are moving into China, including the Tainan group. Sweeps over Liuchow will continue tomorrow, but bombing will take a rest for at least a day in this area. As I'm only concerned with killing supply and troops, some bombing will hit Sian, which we haven't touched as yet, coming behind two separate sweeps and escorted just in case. 11 fighters are listed there but nothing has come up as yet.

DEI: More sweeps and 3 Dutch fighters down. The IJA hit Singers for 25 field, 4 supply, and 6 base hits. Units are nearly all in Johore for the attack commencing around the 15th. The Division and Guard Rgt that took Palembang are loading for a landing on Java since Dutch air is so anaemic and there is no naval presence to speak of. All I want to do here is create a beach head and take a few nearby bases before more units arrive to march on Soerbaja. I'd like to cut the rail lines, but we'll see if the resistance on Java allows that to happen. Air support will come from the Mini-KB and LBA from Oosthaven and Macassar.

Burma: The Thai Divs are on their way to Pegu, but moving slowly. There is no air presence here so we're bombing at will. I'm feeling nervous about this though and another fighter group will move to Chang Mai to support.

[Mike Solli]

Hi obvert. Interesting game so far. A few comments from the peanut gallery.

I am curious about your opponent's comments concerning KB, especially about Oz. Maybe he doesn't realize the ability of the Allies to bomb the southern DEI oil fields early from the north coast. Again, it may be plot to turn your attention elsewhere. In Jan 42, given sufficient precautions on the Japanese side, I don't think there is an area that can protect itself from the might of KB.

I'm curious to see what Tainan Air Group can do against the AVG. I don't recall reading an AAR where those two clashed, but I don't read most AARs so it probably has happened before. Keep one thing in mind. Since you know the the AVG is in China, you know it is not in Burma. Use that to your advantage. Have you taken Pt. Blair yet? If not, that's a great base to station an IJNAF Air Flotilla. It can keep the RN at bay for a long time.

In Java, I recommend landing at Kaldjati. It has a nice level 4 airfield and if you move SW 1 hex to Bandoeng, you cut Java in half. Granted the port is only level 1, but since you're using amphibious TFs, it doesn't matter. The idea is to get a bridgehead, and I think that's the ideal place.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

You can also put them on an xAK but I think that's too dangerous.

I do. I send a Kyushu with an E escort and then haul them back. Expensive in fuel and takes time, but that group is too valuable to sit. Less time than hauling a base force to Ponape, and I can never find one of those that aren't committed to the offensive. So, while I hate putting the group on an xAK, for me, it is always the cheapest, quickest, surest option.

[obvert]

Hi obvert. Interesting game so far. A few comments from the peanut gallery.

I am curious about your opponent's comments concerning KB, especially about Oz. Maybe he doesn't realize the ability of the Allies to bomb the southern DEI oil fields early from the north coast. Again, it may be plot to turn your attention elsewhere. In Jan 42, given sufficient precautions on the Japanese side, I don't think there is an area that can protect itself from the might of KB.

I'm curious to see what Tainan Air Group can do against the AVG. I don't recall reading an AAR where those two clashed, but I don't read most AARs so it probably has happened before. Keep one thing in mind. Since you know the the AVG is in China, you know it is not in Burma. Use that to your advantage. Have you taken Pt. Blair yet? If not, that's a great base to station an IJNAF Air Flotilla. It can keep the RN at bay for a long time.

In Java, I recommend landing at Kaldjati. It has a nice level 4 airfield and if you move SW 1 hex to Bandoeng, you cut Java in half. Granted the port is only level 1, but since you're using amphibious TFs, it doesn't matter. The idea is to get a bridgehead, and I think that's the ideal place.

Thanks for the comments!

In terms of N OZ, I do plan to take that as soon as Java is done. The Allies have already shown a propensity for bombing Oil, and I'm not interested in that happening in 42 if I can help it. I do wonder if there are some nice juicy tankers or something in Sydney he's trying to steer me away from. I've decided to go for Auckland first because it's close and also the KB is closer to supporting the landing in La Foa. I do have a lot of subs on the approaches to Sydney as well. So hopefully there are a few ships there.

I had one group of zeros in China earlier and they handled the AVG so well he withdrew and rebuilt them for over two weeks. Now they are back with better planes and I'm assuming the best pilots he can muster. So yes, this will be a clash of the best we have to offer.

Port Blair is ours and building up. Mavis are there now and I've just been hitting the xAKLs trying to sneak into Rangoon with Betties from Bangkok. An Air HQ is on the way and will either go to Port Blair or Rangoon.

I like hitting Kalidjati, but I've just trashed the place hitting his bombers that were doing night raids on Palembang. It has 75 field damage and 56 to the port. The two bases in the middle, Semarang and Tjepoe, have been reconned and appear to be vacant. I'm sending a fast transport to each with an SNLF unit. Then the Division and support will move in. The SNLFs will hope to cut the rail at Soerakarta one hex from each of the landings. If we can accomplish this it'll make any defense much harder, so hopefully it'll all go faster.

I just go the 163 AV amphibious brigade at Samah and that will first go to Calagyan to hopefully end things there for the Allies, then on to Java if that goes well.

[obvert]

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

You can also put them on an xAK but I think that's too dangerous.

I do. I send a Kyushu with an E escort and then haul them back. Expensive in fuel and takes time, but that group is too valuable to sit. Less time than hauling a base force to Ponape, and I can never find one of those that aren't committed to the offensive. So, while I hate putting the group on an xAK, for me, it is always the cheapest, quickest, surest option.

_____________________________

Pax

I just hate to put anything on a ship to upgrade it, but I guess that might be closer to reality for hat the Japanese had to do.

It's in Truk now after stopping off in Ponape (assisted by 2 air support squads, a fragment flown in from Roi-Namur) and if that doesnt cut it after a week, I'll send them to Rabaul where there is an Air HQ, a Naval HQ, 70,000 supply, and where the field will be a 4 approaching 5 by then.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert

I just hate to put anything on a ship to upgrade it, but I guess that might be closer to reality for hat the Japanese had to do.

Not saying I like it either. But you're already Jan, I sent the Kyushu on 8 Dec (with a load of supply) and have the claudes back in HI well before Christmas. I think the round trip is 10 days or something like that. Anyway, however you do it, you have to upgrade these and get them into the fight. A6M2 groups are too scarce in 41/42 to leave one sitting.

[obvert]

Not saying I like it either. But you're already Jan, I sent the Kyushu on 8 Dec (with a load of supply) and have the claudes back in HI well before Christmas. I think the round trip is 10 days or something like that. Anyway, however you do it, you have to upgrade these and get them into the fight. A6M2 groups are too scarce in 41/42 to leave one sitting.

_____________________________

Pax

I think you're convincing me here. Also, the US Cvs are now down 8-10 hexes south of Canton Island. That is also convincing me that I need that group able to move into the Gilberts and defend a CV raid.

[obvert]

10 Jan 1942

Dan Nichols: I'm starting to get a better feel for my opponent now. Tactically he is aggressive but rarely careless with his forces. Strategically he is making many choices to fall back to lines of defense and not offer strong resistance now in early 42. He can surprise, but I'm starting to get a feel for how his surprises work. I keep running one of Nemos quotes through my head. It's something like; "very often I let my opponent think he is taking advantage of my position and my strategies, but in fact it is my strategy to make him think so."

In China recons have been probing the defenses and have found that there are some massive stacks at Changsha, Henyang, and just north of Nanyang on the road to Sian in the forests. Other smaller stacks (usually of 5 units) control the yellow road approaches to Sian. I'm going to try and make him think these areas are stymying our progress while in actuality I think the large stacks will reduce his supply flow and make it easier for me to move where the stacks are not.

In the Pacific I will encourage his CVs to keep coming out to play by leaving some tidbits for them to pounce on and sounding very depressed about this in emails back to him. I'm actually quite happy to know where some of them are right now and hope I can keep tabs on them into the future. There is also the chance to create the impression the KB is in one place while it's in another. After the Java operation the Mini-KB will disappear. The KB will disappear after the taking of Noumea. When they reappear, there is a chance he could be confused about which is which and stage a raid somewhere. At least this is something I would like to try out.

China: The AVG came up without the Chinese at Kweilin today. We sent in the 15th Ku S-1, another strong and experienced group, to sweep at 20,000. It was a very one-sided battle. Almost no attacks were even made on a zero during the replay. He lost 11-0 plus a few more in ops losses. Hopefully we took out some of those newly experienced pilots from last turn's debacle. Bombers hit Sian and a few other bases we haven't attacked before and were unopposed.

S PAC: The KB hit Auckland, which was like using a sledghammer to crack an egg. The only ships reported there were 2 AMcs and an AE. At least we sunk these. No losses to the air groups. Now on to se what's in Suva while the troops head in to La Foa.

Two anonymous US CVs, most likely the Enterprise and the Lexington that were hiding down south here, hit my two DDs heading to raid Tahiti. One was sunk, the other came away unscathed. I began moving most of the important stuff away from Canton, the Gilberts, and the Marshalls. Pickets are out, subs are moving to get in the way, and search is searching.

N PAC: A sub surfaced and sank an xAKL at Cold Bay with its gun. Must nt be any more BBs around. 2 more are on the way a day or two out.

DEI: The Java invasion force is closing in. One of the fast transport groups will land tomorrow at Tjepoe. The other the next day at Semarang. Mini-KB is cover.

At Singers there is a bit more than I'd thought. We have 4100 AV sitting in Johore. I'll cross with only full DIVs, arty and big combat engineer groups. Tanks, regiments, small engineers groups, etc, will follow a few turns later if they look to be needed. The first crossing should be about 3400 AV.

PI: We bombarded this turn. It looks like only the PA troops are in Clark with 2 tank units. Only just over 700 AV. We have about 1125 AV. These troops shouldn't be of the best quality, and one PA DIV has already been mauled once. After another day of bombardment fro the air to raise disruption, we're going to deliberate attack. I'm wondering why the Marines are not here?

[obvert]

11 Jan 1942

A quiet turn today mostly. Most of the Allies air disappeared again. The only losses he suffered were Dutch patrols hit by the mini-KB.

DEI: An SNLF landed at Tjepoe. There is no unit here, as suspected. Two ground units suddenly appeared at Semarang. Not sure if this was due to some intel he received, but I've changed all of my TFs to land at Tjepoe now. Soerakarta is empty as well, and unless he was in process of moving there, the 1st Raiding Rgt should land and take the base tomorrow. Another Naval Guard, an AF Coy, an engineer unit, and a Division will land tomorrow. In about a week's time we could have 1,000 AV here, which if our rail blockade works out, could threaten Soerbaja. All ground units in nearby hexes are scheduled to be bombed tomorrow if the weather holds, (it's light overcast now).

PI: Tomorrow we will deliberate attack. I'm excited to see how this goes. I'd like to get this part over so we can use Clark, get the airforce shifted there, free up the Air HQ on Formosa, and try to keep bombing to kill supply and fort building.

China: The AVG went home again. There are 24 fighters listed in Kunming, so I think this is one of the groups. Our bombings of Yenan and nanning went well. We've been reconning all over the approaches to Sian. It seems most of the blockades are 5-6 units, which I'm guessing would be an HQ and 4-5 corps. Maybe about 750-850 AV? The current plan is to rail about 2,500 AV with 5 artillery and an HQ to Taiyuan, and from there walk to the first blockade 4 hexes down the yellow road. I haven't seen any recon going on in China by the Allies, so hopefully this would go unnoticed. A large force of about 2,000 AV will go to Nanayang to keep pressure there and hopefully make it look like we want to move this way.