Slaughter of the Innocents - RA - Marbakka (A) vs. John the 3rd (J)

[marbakka]

December 25, 1941

China
I have some troops near Sinyang that were cut off and well on their way to running out of supplies. I'm moving them into Sinyang along with the troops that were to the NW. I believe this is about 900AV worth of troops with decent commanders. I'm hoping to catch him off guard. If not, then I'll move those troops back out on the other side of the city where they can get some supplies.

Burma/Malaya
Nothing much has changed here except that he sent 9 Tojos to show the AVG how real fighting is done. I'm annoyed with that battle on several different levels, one of which is at 26000 feet.

DEI
He landed at Lautem.

SOPAC
I think his CV is headed back toward Rabaul, but I can't really be certain. He landed a force at Lunga and I'm pretty sure his SCTF that I'd spotted near Luganville was there to cover that landing. I'm moving my SCTFs back up toward Guadalcanal to see if they can cause a ruckus.

CENPAC
No sign of his CVs. I turned the Air transport TF back to the WC and my damaged ships will continue to Pearl Harbor. CL Detroit went down today, meaning that I lost both cruisers from that fleet. The rest should be able to reach Pearl without any incident unless he chases them.

[marbakka]

December 26, 1941

China
A bombardment attack at Sinyang revealed that I have 5 times the AV there. We will try a deliberate attack tomorrow and see if we can take the base before his reinforcements arrive from the SW. My own reinforcements will take a long time to get up there, so if they DON'T take it tomorrow, I'm going to have to sit tight.

Burma
His zeros decimated 2 squadrons of AVG in Rangoon. This is getting absurd. These jokers have appeared both in China and Burma to take down the AVG. I'm losing my best pilots and aircraft. At this point, I may have no choice but to pull them all back to India to get replacements. Once again, they appeared well above 20000ft.

DEI
He landed at Merak in Java. I have a speedbump at Batavia and then it will be pretty clear sailing for him all the way down to 'Baja. My airbase between 'Baja and Koepang is not complete and at this rate will NOT be complete anywhere close to soon enough to get troops to Dili or Koepang in time.

KB2 sailed south from Ambon and around Timor so that it could hit both Koepang and Darwin. Another aggressive move and another big payoff. As it happened, I had fleets in both ports. In Koepang, there were some destroyers escorting a single AKL which had to stop there for fuel. 3 DDs survived and are disbanded in port but everything else was sunk. In Darwin, I had a couple cargo TFs unloading the last of their supplies before returning via Horn Island. All were sunk.

SOPAC
He landed at and took Lunga and his ships immediately withdrew toward Rabaul. That left me with nothing to attack with my SCTFs. I'll leave them in the area for a day or two and then pull them back for refueling. He has 2 submarines parked in the harbor at Luganville and I can't do a thing about it.

CENPAC
No sign of the KB1.

[marbakka]

December 27, 1941

China
I hadn't planned on any real effort down near Amoy, but he seems to have cut off a good number of my southern troops. They are ordered to attack Chaochow with Amoy next in line.

Burma
I couldn't be more disappointed in my fighters at Rangoon. I don't think they have shot down a single enemy aircraft so far in the war. It will be extremely difficult to resupply Burma/China if I can't protect the convoys trying to come in from the west.

DEI
Japan takes Merak and pushes on to Batavia. KB2 has disappeared SW of Timor. Things feel pretty bleak in this theater.

SOPAC
I knew it might be a good day when the first naval engagement of the day was 3 CLs and their escorts against 2 CVEs and their escorts. We didn't score any carrier hits on that battle, but later in the day we were able to get a couple shells into each, setting one of them on fire. The bigger battles of the day involved CAs Pensacola, Indianapolis, and Australia against a large transport fleet escorted by CA Furutaka. Pensacola was moderately damaged when she took a torpedo in the teeth, but the end tally definitely tips in my favor. I think it unlikely that Furutaka will survive. She was involved in several engagements throughout the day, but in the biggest she took 17 shell hits, the majority of which were critical hits of one sort or another. She'll be in the yard for a long time if she doesn't sink first. Rather than pursue the CVEs and damaged ships closer to Rabaul, I have ordered both SCTFs back to Sydney for rearming.

I don't really know how significant a battle this is. His CVEs were not badly damaged at all (they launched about 11 Vals in the afternoon). It is nice to have mauled his CA like that, and I doubt more than 2 of those transports make it to Rabaul. Some of those ships had troops aboard, but I have no way of knowing where they whether this was the Guards Mixed Brigade headed for Luganville or just reinforcements for Guadalcanal. I think it likely that it was the latter, which means there is still a force headed for Luganville. I will turn them around as fast as possible in Sydney and have them out by Luganville again asap.

CENPAC
Still no sign of the KB1. Pearl remains paralyzed.

(note: I got the date wrong on the graphic)

[Lecivius]

If I could make a request, can you resize your screenies down just a wee bit?  Post 392 is easy to read, the others extend past the typical monitor.  Makes it hard for us trying to figure out how to clobber John [:D]

[Q-Ball]

You knocked the crap out of that invasion TF with Furutaka in it....you should be happy about that! Whatever ground units that it was carrying are likely almost destroyed. Not to mention the fact you probably sank FURUTAKA, an AMC, and other ships. Nice job!

If the CVEs are operational, it is probably prudent to get out of there. No reason to press your luck.

[marbakka]

December 28, 1941

China
I should have known that the day I order a shock attack at Sinyang would be the day his reinforcements roll into town. Its not the end of the world or even the end of my attack, but I need to wait a week or so for the rest of my troops to get there and then I'll probably retreat out the other side. He is attacking at Tsiatso and Nanyang in the north. In the south, Kanhsien fell today.

Burma
He shock attacked Moulmein. I'm kinda surprised by this, but I can see the effectiveness. He brought the fortifications down to 0 in a single day (from 2), and he only paid a small price to do so. I could try to move my troops, but I doubt they will get across the river in time before his next attack. We'll see.

Malaya/Philippines
I'm starting to get real frustrated with the performance of my pilots. I don't think I have come out ahead in a single battle so far. Clark has no aircraft remaining only 23 days into the war. Singapore got hit for the first time today and in a single day their fighter defenses were nearly wiped out. It's ridiculous.

DEI
KB2 and what appears to be either the mKB or a single CV have swung to the west of Timor to clear rid the seas of my ships. His CBA sunk an entire fleet of those small AOs that couldn't get away fast enough. There is a fully loaded TK fleet to the west running for dear life, but I don't know that they can be saved unless he simply does not see them.

Meanwhile, a large invasion force is moving from Ambon to Dili (or Koepang). I didn't have much of a chance to build up Dili, so I expect a quick loss there followed by complete and total Japanese air superiority shortly thereafter. With his CVs in the area, my Banshees at Koepang are usele--wait, no they were already useless. Nevermind.

SOPAC
Unfortunately, he had 2 more SCTFs near Rabaul which stepped in to harass my wounded ships all the way across the Coral Sea. I believe I counted a total of 12 surface engagements during the turn and I'm pretty sure we set some sort of record for bouncing shells off of one another's ships. It was incredible to watch. All 90 minutes of it.

My ships aren't in TERRIBLE shape, but they need to get to port FAST or they will be. My CLs are completely out of ammo and I'm sure the CAs are the same. I can only hope to get a little distance during the night.

CENPAC
SigInt has a unit of the Guards Mixed Brigade headed for Christmas Island. Sheesh. Would you like Los Angelos, too?


I confess that I'm completely demoralized so far. The minor victory of hitting his transport fleets yesterday is no solace at all if it costs me 3-4 cruisers to do it. I'm 90% sure that if I had kept my CVs in theater they would be at the bottom by now.

But I don't give up. Not this easy.

[Dan Nichols]

Which Christmas Island? There are two of them.

[marbakka]

ORIGINAL: Dan Nichols

Which Christmas Island? There are two of them.

SOPAC, not IO. My bad. (GMB is the unit that took Midway)

[marbakka]

December 29, 1941

China
It was a pretty good day on the ground today. Tsiatso held out against a shock attack and my southern raiding force took Chaochow in a day. However, he has two divisions racing toward Sian north of Tsiatso. They will be cut off soon, and it will be hard to get those divisions out of there. I've withdrawn the forces north of here (Yenan) but they won't be back anywhere close to fast enough. In fact, I'm concerned that Sian itself may be in trouble.

Burma
A second shock attack at Moulmein was not successful. We roughed them up a bit. It sounds weird, but I need to retreat across the river now and give up the city. Most of my Burma forces are in this hex and I'd rather make a fighting retreat to India than some sort of glorious last stand in Moulmein of all places.

DEI
LOTS of troops landing at Lautum. I expect a very large force to be marching around on Timor soon. No sign of his carriers in the IO.

SOPAC
Those 2 CVEs that I put shells into a couple days ago have come back for their revenge. My 3 CAs are in real bad shape and moving very slowly for the coast when enemy bombers show up on the horizon and put a couple more into Pensacola for good measure. She's probably going down. Australia may go down even faster with 85 SYS damage. This is a high price to pay for sinking an invasion force, imo.

CENPAC
No sign of KB1. Is it even still here? Is it safe to send help to NOPAC? I hate being paralyzed up here. Losing Midway is no fun at all.

CV Yorktown arrived today. I haven't decided whether I will send her to the other CVs in Cape Town or leave her here to wait for Hornet.

[marbakka]

December 30, 1941

Burma
Some bombing of my Moulmein troops who are marching across the river while his own troops are still disrupted. Also, his bombers managed to stretch pretty far from Tavoy to reach an ASW fleet and a cargo convoy that were inbound for Rangoon. Not a terrible lot of damage was done, but there ya go.

Malaya
He seems to be making no serious effort for Singapore. Curious.

DEI
He managed to get a bomb into an xAKL that has been sneaking the Cebu BF south through the Makassar Strait. She should stay afloat long enough to make it to 'Baja where they will all die inglorious deaths soon anyway.

He has at least 1 CV parked SW of Koepang. Looks like my Aussie purchases for Koepang were a waste of PP. I'm debating sending them to Cocos instead, though that island is already well garrisoned.

SOPAC
His raider CV (or CVE?) near Brisbane caught up to and bombed my wounded cruisers. They managed to sink the only one that wasn't very damaged - CL Adelaide. Pensacola's fires have increased to 11. Australia has 84 SYS damage (-1 from yesterday). I can't stop what is about to happen to these guys.

A submarine parked in the bay at Noumea surfaced and sunk a transport ship carrying part of the Tahiti detatchment.

NOPAC
Amphibious landing at Achmitikatakalaka Island (west of Adak)

[marbakka]

December 31, 1941

A hush settled over the Pacific today...

China
A shock attack at Nanyang ends somewhat poorly for the Japanese but reduces fortifications such that he will likely take it before I can get support up there.

Malaya
There is evidently no movement toward Singapore. Strange.

DEI
KB2 still hovers SW of Timor preventing any kind of reinforcement of Koepang.

[marbakka]

January 1, 1942

China
A second consecutive shock attack at Nanyang returns poor odds, but my troops don't capitalize.

Burma
He finally realized that I was abandoning Moulmein and crossing the river. However, his shock attack didn't accomplish much of anything. The remaining troops should make it across tomorrow where they will join the 200 or so AV that is already there and digging in for the crossing.

DEI
KB2 has moved NW as if to skirt the western coast of Java. If it moves NW another day, I'm going to try to sneak my transport up into Koepang. I smell a trap, though.

SOPAC
Pensacola sank when emergency repairs failed. Australia's repairs failed as well, and I expect she'll sink in the night. I'm glad that these ships sank his invasion fleet, but losing 2 CAs seems a bit of a steep price.

CENPAC
KB1 is still in place north of PH. I had an ASW fleet get pulled up there. I saw it happening, but I needed to scout the area anyway, so I didn't pull them back. A couple destroyers went under and I expect DD Ward will sink as well before she can get back.

[marbakka]

January 2, 1941

China
I'm pretty sure that every unit of mine that is not in a city got bombed today. If only the AVG weren't entirely worthless this game...

Philippines
Every day, he bombards Clark Field and every few days he attacks Manila. I was a little too strong in CF and too weak in Manila, so I have made that adjustment. Today's deliberate attack in Manila ended fairly well for me, but the fortifications are down to 0, so I expect things to begin looking bleak fast. He took Subic Bay a few days ago, so CF will be outgunned soon. I'm debating abandoning CF and piling everyone in Manila. Whaddayathink?

Burma
I successfully crossed everyone across the river on the day that he shock attacked again. He took the city, but failed to hit any of my troops again. He has the Imperial Guards here, so his AV is around 350. I have just under that amount of AV myself digging as fast as they can just across the river. Once he crosses, I think it will be time to start evacuating ENGs from Pegu/Rangoon. He is obviously prioritizing this area.

Heavy naval bombing of the cargo fleet in Rangoon's harbor resulted in the sinking of CL Enterprise. AVG sucks.

DEI
A carrier group has appeared NE of Cocos and sunk a few transports that were finished unloading all but the last of their cargo. I don't have anything else there that he can bomb except dug in troops. I'm skirting Koepang's reinforcements along the coast of Australia. If there is another day with no sign of the KB2 SW of Timor, I may run them in full speed and start unloading. Anything to slow his rampage through here.

SOPAC
CA Australia sank in the early morning hours. My only surviving SCTF in this area should be ready for sea in about a week and a half.

NOPAC
SigInt indicates heavy radio traffic east of the Kuriles. Adak invasion? Returning KB1?

[marbakka]

January 3, 1941

China
I'm pleased with the progress around Amoy. We have taken 1 base and will probably take another in a couple days. He is moving reinforcements over from Amoy, but !SURPRISE! I have another 350AV rolling in from the north. These are all consequences of his cutting my southern forces off early.

At Sinyang, I have about twice as much AV. My troops have decent leadership but low experience. Should I try a deliberate attack here? I don't think it is enough to take it, but who knows.

Burma
He is already moving his troops to cross the river. Dig, baby, dig!

The AVG finally had a decent day over Rangoon. They shot down at least 6 Zeros and 7 Nells. They didn't fare quite as well against the Oscars and Tojos, but I can only expect so much in one day, I guess.

Malaya
My air units here are pretty much decimated. Heavy bombing every day will do that to you.

DEI
Naval bombardment of Cocos and Koepang. Is this the precursor to his pulling his carriers back for replenishing? One can hope. My transport is holding at Derby for an opportunity to shoot up there.

CENPAC
KB1 has been spotted moving west past the French Frigate Shoals. FINALLY, I can feel confident about moving my ships around on the WC. Both BBs Colorado and Warspite are ready for sea at Seattle. I'm debating sending them to NOPAC until their buddies in Pearl are repaired and ready to go.

[BBfanboy]

Colorado is due for an upgrade in January - usually kicks in before she leaves the yard after her game start repairs. Did you hold up on that upgrade? I have found the old BBs benefit much, especially in AA and sometimes in protection during the upgrades and usually let them go ahead. Not much you can use her for at this stage anyway - too slow, too vulnerable and gunnery sucks! [:(]

[marbakka]

January 4, 1942

China
On the southern coast, my second unit has arrived in Swatow and should be more than enough to ensure victory. SigInt reported that he is rushing another battalion here, but I plan on owning the property when he tries to land it. Meanwhile, another set of around 350 AV has arrived in Amoy. He has had a unit between Amoy and Chaochow for a week now. One day it is heading west and the next day it is heading east. I don't think he anticipated another set of troops coming in from the north. Rather than give him time to move his reinforcements over, I'm going to skip straight to the deliberate attack and hope that what he has there isn't much. I know these captures in the south are virtually meaningless, but it is still nice to be actually winning SOMETHING.

Malaya
Kuala Lampur was occupied today. He is moving at a snail's pace. I've had a bunch of troops in Jahore Bharu set to strat mode for weeks now. I left them there just for the look of the thing, but they will be dropping to Singapore as soon as they reach the northern bases.

Burma
Another decent day for the AVG. He is bombing the forest hex SE of Pegu pretty heavily but some of my CAP is bleeding over to help. It appears as though he has had second thoughts about chasing my troops across the river. I expect his Imperial Guards will be coming across after a few days rest.

Philippines
An attempt to shock attack at Clark Field failed pretty miserably.

DEI
Another day of fighting in Batavia, but my guys there are holding up well. I wasn't even intending to put up much of a fight up there. Meanwhile, my transports are NW of Derby and close enough that I'm starting to think about making a full speed run to unload at Koepang. It'd be nice to have a CD guarding against another bombardment. However, I'm still not positive that the carriers have left the area. I'm doing some pretty heavy naval searching over the next couple of days, but I may pull the trigger and roll the dice.

CENPAC
KB1 shot straight south to catch 3 xAKs and sink them. What a tragedy! These three ships were survivors of the massacre at Manila Bay. Hopefully the KB1 will now turn west toward Truk for refitting. I do have a transport convoy on its way down to Christmas Island, that I suppose he could catch if he tried, but it seems a bit out of his way to me, and I don't think he's spotted it.

[marbakka]

January 5, 1941

China
I was disappointed today. I'd ordered a deliberate attack on both Amoy and Swatow. These were supposed to be relatively easy fights. However, it turns out he has built up to LEVEL 4 forts in both bases. Who does that? He has less than 100AV in Amoy, so I'll probably try a shock there tomorrow, but Swatow is a no-go. I'm moving those troops back to Chaochow.

Philippines
His deliberate attack in Manila proved to be a victory for me. Troops levels were relatively equal but the leadership, terrain, and fort level 1 helped give 1 to 3 odds. I destroyed 122 and disabled 255 squads compared to my own losses of 5 squads and 115 disabled. That'll annoy him a bit.

Burma
Sooner than I expected, the Imperial Guards Division crossed the Salween river north of Moulmein. That single unit is about the same strength as my entire stack of units. The auto-shock attack disabled 171 of his squads, but did little to stem off his inevitable victory here.

DEI
Bombardment of Koepang. That is twice that these BBs have bombarded, so they can't have a lot of ammo left. I just need some sort of confirmation that they have left the area so that I can run the transports in from the Australian coast.

CENPAC
He took Palmyra. I'm annoyed that I had no advance warning of this despite having search planes watching the approach. I have now lost Wake, Midway, and Palmyra. I am blind to any flanking maneuver around Hawaii. Is this indicative of an attempt to take Pearl? I've got to decide what to do with the supply convoy that was headed for Christmas Island. I think I'll let them continue and unload but they will have to take a long route to get back home.

[marbakka]

January 6, 1942

China
My shock attack in Amoy did not achieve victory but I did get 1 to 1 odds and brought the fortifications down to 3. I think what I'll do is move some troops over from Chaochow (maybe all of them) and take Amoy by force. In Central China, he is trying to sneak a unit NW past Ichang. Hopefully, I've spotted it soon enough that my Ichang army (1300AV) can intercept and decimate it.

Burma
An attempted bombing raid against my front line forces was savaged by the LRCAP out of Rangoon. I'm glad to see them do something productive for a change.

DEI
There is a convoy moving west out of Ambon. It is the only thing causing me to hesitate sending my transports north to Koepang.

NOPAC
SigInt tells me of Heavy Radio Transmissions coming from the western Aleutians. I think this is the convoy that I've been watching come up from the Kuriles. My best guess is that it is an Adak invasion.



Wake. Midway. Palmyra. NOPAC. All of this looks like some sort of Hawaiian campaign.

[marbakka]

January 7, 1942

DEI
Another bombardment of Koepang - this time with different battleships. I think it is high time I looked to put these troops down somewhere else. The most likely candidate is Port Moresby, though I hate to stick anyone else in that death trap.

SOPAC
Heavy Radio Transmissions headed SE to the east of the Solomon Islands. This is an expected route for anything aiming for Guadalcanal or Luganville.

(image has the date incorrect)

[marbakka]

January 8, 1942

China
His 2 flanking divisions in the north have pushed through the woods and into the plain near Sian. I'm still rushing troops down from the north to help, but it looks pretty nasty up there. In the south, he tried to attack my retreating troops near Chaochow and didn't do well.

DEI
He pushed 4 CAs through the strait and bombarded Sabang. There isn't much there, so no harm done. I think he'd like to see me respond with a SCTF, but I know that he has bombers all over the place over there, so no thanks.

CENPAC
I managed to torpedo an AO near Truk. Does this mean he has carriers headed to the Rabaul area again? Perhaps.

There was a LONG morning engagement between my little supply convoy (2CLs and DDs escorting) and his SCTF down there (1CL & DDs). We lost most of the xAKLs but while he was pounding on them, I was pounding on his CL. I believe there were 36 shell hits on the poor thing and many of those set fire to this or that. We finished her off in a separate engagement later in the morning.

Unfortunately, this offensive against Christmas Island (he landed and took it today) was assisted by the KB1, so the survivors of the surface engagements were bombed all day. The CLs and 1 DD did ok, but everything else was sunk (DD Cunningham survives but will sink in the night). I have set the CLs to full speed, separated them into separate TFs for speed reasons, and sent them to Pearl. They -might- escape the carriers, but it seems unlikely.

------------------
All of this action over here in CENPAC is less concerning than he probably hopes. I am not using a SOPAC supply route in this game, and Pearl is really only valuable to me because I start out with so many assets there. When those are repaired and moved out, it will serve as a launching point for a CENPAC invasion force, but little more. Most of my action will be in the Indian Ocean this game. He is grabbing up stuff that I don't think hurts me that bad. Just annoying.

Luganville, on the other hand, I'd love to actually keep.