Howlin' At The Moon - DBB Vettim(A) vs Greasylake (J)

[vettim89]

26 May 1942

RAN roughs up a sub off Perth. USN subs fire lots of dud torpedoes. Dutch AF goes after BBs (again) but does put two non-penentrating 300kg bombs into Ise. They also drop one of those bad boys on a CL. No hits on transports today even though there are dozens of targets to be had out there.

Larry has of yet not expanded his perimeter at Semerang. Will be interested if he heads east, west or both directions. Eastern Java is lightly held. Most of the Dutch AS is on the western end of the island which has better defensive terrain. Also no breakout at Rangoon as of yet. Have to wonder is Larry is waiting on supplies to catch up.

The IJA does another Deliberate Attack at Chuhsien reducing forts to 1. Just not enough supplies for the Chinese to make a effective defense this far forward.

I heard the sinking ship sound twice during the replay. Have to wonder which ships went down. Perhaps the LSD from last turn.

[vettim89]

27 May 1942

Dutch sub hits an xAK heading for Rangoon. Dutch AF impales itself against IJN BB again. IJA armor has reached Djakarta. That's about it.

[vettim89]

28-29 May 1942

Slow two turns. IJN has pulled back from Java. It does appear that a second wave is inbound. IJA continues to push my small stack around southern Sumatra.

Chuhsien falls under the weight of 2000+ IJA AS. Now I will have to wait and see how far Larry intends to push here. I knew there was no way Chuhsien could have held. KMT supplies are low everywhere except Chungking. If Larry does pursue the Chinese, I do not think I can hope to stop him short of Changsha.

[witpqs]

We need maps!

[:D]

[vettim89]

30 May 1942

IJN subs have a good day sinking two xAK and a small AO. Trying to change my routing to get off the subs but Larry is doing a good job moving them around. Still, he has not as of yet run afoul of my upgraded DDs. The AO was NE of Auckland in a relative low traffic area. I think he just got lucky on that one.

A bunch of TFs are converging on Norfolk Island. Three CVTF and two SCTF will escort two AMPH Tf with two ID, Tanks and engineers into Noumea.

On Java it appears the IJA is breaking east and have arrived at dot hex Soerakarta SW of Soerabaja. That hex will likley be occupied next turn. The second wave is arriving but the Dutch AF likes the cruiser based SCTF. IJN BB bombard the base just east of Batavia (whose name eludes me at the moment).

The last Filopino unit in central Mindanao dies trying to cross a river into a Japanese occupied hex. Larry lands a SNLF by paradrop on Cebu. I have a Filipino ID there with plenty of supplies. The Shock Attack came off at 1 to 15. Only 620 troops remain. I ordered my own Shock Attack this turn.

June 1 is approaching. As I mentioned before I had been laying low to allow my opponent to get oriented to AE. That will change on 1 June. CV Wasp arrives in 15 days which will give me nominal parity with the IJN CVs. As Larry seems to have his carriers divided all over the map, this should be more than enough. I plan to move out of Noumea towards the New Hebrides then southern Solomons.

One thing I had done on a whim many months ago was to transport a Commando Coy to Milne Bay. While this unit could have been easily brushed aside by the Japanese, he failed to attack. Its presence has blocked the "Row Boat Corps" from taking any bases east of Buna. I still hold Milne Bay, Goodenough, Kirawini, Rossel Is, etc. The SWPAC will move into these areas once I have a lodgement in the Solomons. By then I should have all six USN carriers in the SoPac. Two carriers are being tasked with escorting reinforcements into the NoPac first. Speaking of which, Saratoga should leave the yard next turn.

Maps will come on or around 1 June.

[vettim89]

Per the request, some maps

First Coral Sea region. Hopefully this is where I will be applying some pressure within the next few months

[vettim89]

Situation in the DEI

[vettim89]

China

[vettim89]

Burma

[witpqs]

Thanks! The DEI is very unusual for this point in the game.

[vettim89]

31 May 1942

The IJA lands two Tank Btn at Cebu but they do little better. Resting my Filipinos a turn or two while disruption falls. Still have a chance of repulsing the invasion if supplies hold.

A Fleet boat found working torpedoes and sank an xAK up near Miri. The IJN sent a sub to try to interfere with a small convoy I had sent to Ramree Island. The subs missed and took ten hits. I think it is a goner.

The TF for Noumea should all rendevous next turn. Hopefully things will unload quickly as I don't like having my carriers lingering too long.

Two CVTF sortie for Whittier. From there they will escort a BF to Unmak. FT TF are moving some smaller units from Annette Is, Sitka, and Yunmak


Dutch AF hits nothing today even with better airframes -B-25C and DB7 (A-20). Kicking myself for not moving the three A-24 sq and a BF up here. They would have ripped the Japanese to shreds as Larry withdrew his CVs after he saw how paltry the Dutch air power was and Ryuho got torpedoed

Bunch of SQ get withdrewn (withdrawed) so it takes some rearranging on my part. One RAF Catalina sq will have to stay a few extra days as its replacement if not quite there yet.

[vettim89]

1 June 1942

The TF sail for Noumea. Should take just two turns to arrive. All is very quiet in this portion of the map

The IJA pushes the stack that retreated from Chuhsien one more hex SE.

IJA has arrived at Madien (Sp?) and Tjepoe on Java. Dutch AF managed to actually hit an xAK and an xAP today. Combined PT boat group was unsuccessful in getting past the SCTF at Semerang. No losses.

AV Support has arrived at Dutch Harbor allowing me to move up a PBY Sq.

Cairns AB goes to level 5.

[vettim89]

2 June 1942

Ducth AF gets four more hits on empty tranports. Still I am thinking this op has cost at least 10 ships including Ryuho. The IJA take Medione (sp?) and Tjepoe. More landings on Cebu which seem to be highly disrupted.

Things are surpisingly quite elsewhere on the map. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

[vettim89]

3 June 1942

The TFs are unloading nicely at Noumea. Fort level increased to level 1 before unloading is even half way complete. There are some IJN subs in the area so I do have some concerns here. Moved my CVTF to the NE of Noumea hopefully to get them out of harm's way.

The Dutch AF ignored for the most part the retreating TFs from the second wave at Semerang instead going after TK at Palembang. Unfortunately there is fighter cover there. The target selection and asset allocation routines frustrate me at times.

The IJA moved a unit into the hex NE of Prome effectively blocking the retreat of the units from Rangoon. This is a double edge sword for Larry. On one side I can see the wisdom in destroying units that could be used against him in future operations. On the other side is the fact that by blocking the retreat of these highly depleted units (half of which are due to withdraw withing 120 days), he is forcing himself into defending southern Burma. If he just let them past, he could leave a small force in place to protect his flanks and head north and east to clear the rest of the area.

The IJA tries another Shock Attack at Cebu and is rebuffed with 1 to 3 odds. I ordred a Deliberate Attack myself this turn. My thinking is that this units is ultimately doomed. I could slip into siege mode but would eventually lose the base any way. So I will take my chances that the IJA is highly disrupted after the last attack.

Renell Island was occupied this turn. The 2nd Marines are already prepping for this base. This will likely be my Guadalcanal in this game, i.e., the place where I initially meet the Japanese in a battle of attrition.

[vettim89]

4 June 1942

No battle of Midway for us. One TF is done unloading this turn. The second one will be done next turn. Overall a flawless operation so far. Still worried about I-boats lurking in the area. The a/c for Noumea are heading south now.

My attack at Cebu came off at 1 to 7. I guess the Japanese were not as disrupted as I hope.

New TF exiting the Makassar Strait. Is this a third wave or heading for another base in the DEI?

Pacheng falls just as the last KMT unit slips away. I am trying to make an organized retreat to the river across from Nanyang. So far IJA is cooperating.

Rn starts slowly trickling away from withdraws in the next week. I suspect it may be time to pull them back from Madras. A weakend force is more likely to be a giant VP grab vice someting that can interfere with Japanese plans

[vettim89]

5-7 June 1942

TF finish unloading at Noumea. AMPH TF head to home port. The US carriers are going to poke around a bit to see if we can find some Japanese shipping worth sinking.

Cebu falls on the 6th. My gallant defenders held for almost seven months. Still four bases in the PI that are Allied. They are all out of supply so they should fall easily.

Retreat to the hex opposite nanchang is proceeding nicely. IJA is playing a little whack-a-mole chasing four separate stacks. If the units make it to the target hex in good order, I may move up some AS from the Changsha area to bolster the defense.

PT boats hit a convoy at Semarang on the 7th and sink two xAP for the loss of one PT. They have done great work in the DEI and PI for me.

Allied air is now hitting the IJA on the ground in Burma. Finally amassing some power to do some damage here.

[vettim89]

8 June 1942

Very slow turn. Saw three separate dud torpedo attacks this turn. I think my actual dud rate is even greater than 90% if that is possible.

Very little other action this turn.

On the good news front, the besieged troops in Burma repulsed Japanses attacks both at Magwe and in the hex NE of Prome where the Rangoon defenders are trying to make their way back to India

[vettim89]

9 June 1942

Very slow turn. Only important thing I found out was that the stack trapped NE of Prome is indeed trapped. It cannot leave in any direction other than the way it came in. I had thought it would move north towards Akyab. Apparently some ZOC rules escape me

I am contemplating a problem I have. The IJN carrier fleet is intact barring the either severely damaged of sunk Ryuho. In our previous game, larry had divided his Cvs up quite a bit and I was able to pick off two CVs and a CVl for little cost to the USN. This allowed for a more level playing field during late '42 and early '43. It seems Larry has learned from his lesson. What I need to do is to lure him into a battle on my terms. The question is how do I do that?

[vettim89]

10 June 1942

Action is somewhat slow right now. The IJN has quit the Java Sea for now so my Dutch AF bombers turn to bombing ground concentrations next turn.

The retreat in China is moving along nicely. Should only take a week or so to get everybody across the river from Nanchang

The small BTN at Magwe holds again now against an INF RGT, a RCN RGT and some arty. RAF bombers at Chittagong are a major contributor as they inflict 400 casualties before the IJA can mount their attack. More bombers being moved up. Ground attack skills are in the 70s for most of the RAF Blenheim and Wellington crews as they have been training since the war's start.

I have a carrier raid in the works that should go off in two turns. The IJN carriers are off the grid. SigInt would point at Truk as their likely location.

One thing I have working in my favor is my rapidly expanding OOB. I receive eight DDs in the next 26 days. In addition, the SCs start flowing in 20 days. Larry will hopefully be done using his submarine force so effectively against my sea lanes when they arrive.

CVL Ryujo is still on the sunk ships lists with a 12 May sinking date. I will wait until 12 July before I celebrate. My experience is that FOW will usually reveal itself within two months of a reported sinking.

[vettim89]

11 June 1942

The stack of Allied units that has been chased from Palembang to Benkholin to near Oosthaven has arrived back at Lahat and occupies the base! Of course it has an AS of 1 but they reclaimed a piece of ground daggonit! Unfortunately Padang fell this turn and two out of three units surrendered. The third ran into the jungle. I snuck an xAK into Sibolga but it is unloading painfully slow.

In Burma, the IJA went back to BOMB Attacks. At Magwe, RAF bombers do not do quite as good a job today but did do this:

Japanese ground losses:

135 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 25 (1 destroyed, 24 disabled)

and this

Japanese ground losses:

Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)

That'll do, pig. That'll do.

Oh and all things I had Vals on Ground Attack out of Rangoon. Hmmmmmmm

Potential big news next turn. Stay tuned