Speedy vs Fabertong - time to smack back the Penguin

[crsutton]

Good luck snatching Siberoet. It turned out to be a key airbase for me. A war winner, actually.

[Speedysteve]

Siberoet is already mine its Padang that's up for grabs...

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet area:

We're all set! Final loading has taken place at Siberoet and orders have been given to cross the short straight towards Padang. Time for the armada to set sail! Fighters will be in CAP and the DB/TB are set to attack ships or bomb the troops at Padang.

On the 23rd Hellcat's were patroling over Padang and managed to down 20 x Tina along with a few fighters. In total the Japanese lost 35 planes to my 20 over Padang.

SS I-183 was reported sunk off Siberoet after she attacked and damaged APA Henry T. Allen with a torpedo. SS I-43 was also reported sunk off Siberoet.

----------------------------------

Burma:

Air operations have begun in earnest on the 23rd. Japanese airfields and troops were attacked around Myitkyina, troops at Katha and troops SE of Akyab.

Here what we've reported thus far:

Myitkyina:

33rd Division
2nd Ind. Hvy. Art Bn
2nd Mortar Bn
84th JAAF AF Bn

Katha:

55th Engineer Rgt
31st Field AA Bn
35th Field AA Bn

SE of Akyab:

1st Tank Division
48th Division

Troops are between 9 and 16 miles from their set off point.

------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

5 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Dace claimed PB Shotoku Maru sank off Laoag on the 23rd and then damaged TK Nisshin Maru with a torpedo on the 24th.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet Area:

The journey from Siberoet was action packed! Japanese submarines swarmed over the area with at least 5 being detected. Unfortunately the supply convoy for Padang got separated from the main force and the Jap Subs sinking AK Ellenga, AK Baroda and AK Chyebassa. APA Custer was the worst victim as she was sunk carrying invasion troops and sunk 10 miles off the shore.

Other than that we reached the invasion coast off Padang and troops of 11st (East African) Division set off for the beaches. Due to confusion in the landing, poor seamanship, accidents and enemy troops 1/3 of the division was disrupted.

The rest of the units will head for shore tomorrow after anchoring offshore overnight.

One of the BB Divisions will unleash hell on the enemy at night time as the men go ashore.

In the air the Japanese launched a maximum effort and furious air battles ensued over the target area throughout the day. This was one area that went well. My CAP boys performed brilliantly scoring kill after kill throughout the day. Enemy bombers did get through (about 30 over the day) but no hits were sustained. Some of the raids were heavy (like the one in the screenshot). Recon shows a lot of bombers are missing from enemy airfields but over 300 fighters remain at Palembang and Singapore. I expect a mass of fighter sweeps by Faber tomorrow.

CV air pounded 138th Infantry Rgt positions ashore causing over 120 casualties.

A summary of air losses:

Allied: 24 (18 x Hellcat)
Japanese: 193 (70 x Betty, 60 x Frances, 31 x Tojo, 12 x Jill)

Here's the enemy troops at Padang:

Ground combat at Padang (44,85)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10713 troops, 97 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 446

Defending force 5367 troops, 160 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 184

Assaulting units:
32nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
138th Infantry Regiment
55th JNAF AF Unit
21st JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
11th (East African) Division


-----------------------------

Burma:

Usual stuff up here with air raids against Japanese positions across northern Burma.

Recon has also identified a Tk Rgt at Shwebo.

-----------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

5 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Jack performed a first! She claimed 2 x DD's sunk in one day north of Brunei - DD Yamakaze and then DD Teruzuki

SS Cisco claimed AK Hokumai Maru south of Nagoya with a torpedo.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet Area:

The unloading continued throughout the day on the 26th. The Japanese made no advances on land and both sides were content lobbing a few shells at each other.

About 2/3 of all assault forces are now ashore.

Under the sea Japanese Subs continued to be a menace. DD Beale, AP Poelau Bras and AP St. Mihel were sunk and CL Ceylon, APA John Penn and AP Monticello were damaged.

They did pay a heavy price for this though. SS I-7, I-34, I-36, RO-62, I-4, I-38 and I-53 were claimed sunk.

The Japanese launched air raids as well but they were smaller compared to the raids on the 25th. Once more the CAP did their job and no hits were sustained. 24 Allied planes were lost for 90 Japanese.

-------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

SS Cisco blew up PB America Maru south of Nagoya.

SS Raton claimed TK Shoun Maru off Balikpapan.

SS Gabilan sank DMS W-20 west of Formosa.

[BBfanboy]

Hi Speedy - have spent several days catching up on all the action since I last commented [after your first carrier battle]. You have had a few setbacks but overall have done very well!
The carnage in the past game month has been awesome - he has to be running out of bombers and subs soon!
Watch out for the missing Yamato and Musashi which he might decide to send somewhere your carriers aren't - like Pearl Harbour! Or LA, or maybe just Marcus ...[;)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi BBfanboy - thanks for the comments and hope you're enjoying the read! It's certainly a fun time at the moment and I expect this to continue from now forth. Faber has taken a lot of plane and sub losses but from what I know the 'silly' Japanese production can out produce the Allies so I don't expect him to be short of planes. Especially after several quiet months to build up the pools. He's taken a toll of my planes and ships as well but nothing catastrophic so far.

---------------------------

Siberoet:

A fairly 'quiet' 2 days as my troops continue to unload (about 90% done now) whilst the ofrces on the land square each other up. There's been no Japanese air attacks but their Subs have continued to try and cause damage. Our ASW assets have been alert and performed well. No friendly ships have been reported hit but SS I-122, I-37, I-52, I-45, RO-103 and I-184 were reported sunk and SS I-2 and I-40 were reported damaged.

Orders have been given for the Troops to attack the Japanese tomorrow. It will be the first Allied attack on Sumatra!

----------------------------

Burma:

The Troops have reported in and no sign of Japanese interference thus far. They're 23 miles from their jump-off point.

Allied Planes continue to bomb Japanese troops, positions and bases across northern Burma.

----------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

2 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Flasher reported sinking the troop laden AK Nichibi Maru off Tokara Retto on the 28th.

SS Tautog blew up PB Fuji Maru #3 with 3 torpedoes west of Sasebo.

On the other side SS Raton was reported lost off Balikpapan by E Yugao on the 27th.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet area:

A fairly smooth day overall with no Jap air attacks and only 2 Jap sub incursions with RO-66 being reported sunk and I-182 damaged.

The Landlubbers went 'over the hill' and the resulting attack was disappointing encountering strong enemy fortifications manned by average soldiers. I'm down by 200 AV now and no fort reduction. Grrr:

Ground combat at Padang (44,85)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 33181 troops, 888 guns, 453 vehicles, Assault Value = 1227

Defending force 12035 troops, 117 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 429

Allied adjusted assault: 495

Japanese adjusted defense: 868

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 5)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1725 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 76 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 17 (1 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1180 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 156 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled


Assaulting units:
22nd (East African) Brigade
28th (East African) Brigade
81st (West African) Division
11th (East African) Division
29th British Brigade
2nd British Division
209th Combat Engineer Battalion
23rd Chindit Brigade

Defending units:
32nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
138th Infantry Regiment
55th JNAF AF Unit
21st JAAF AF Bn

------------------------

Burma:

Usual fare.

Recon showed a probable enemy division at Toungoo and a Jap Tk Rgt at Taung Gyi and Mandalay.

------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

3 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Cero blew up AK Ryoka Maru in the middle of the Philippine Sea.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet area:

The 30th was fairly quiet as the final material is unloading at Padang.

The 31st saw a mass of fighter sweeps over Siberoet which resulted in heavy loss for the Japanese (8 x Allied for 60 x Japanese).

No attacks were launched at Padang on the 30th but the men went in again on the 31st and are starting to push the Japanese back:

Ground combat at Padang (44,85)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36168 troops, 909 guns, 507 vehicles, Assault Value = 1136

Defending force 10873 troops, 117 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 305

Allied adjusted assault: 657

Japanese adjusted defense: 325

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 5)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 4

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), disruption(-)
preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1088 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled


Allied ground losses:
488 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

We rest on the 1st Feb 1944 and go in again.

--------------------------

Burma:

Usual stuff as the troops slowly march forward and Allied air roams across northenr Burma.

--------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

3 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Cisco sank AK Genbu Maru off Kochi.

SS Pompon sank the small TK Tennan Maru off Puerto Princesa.

SS Tautog damaged TK Medan Maru with a torpedo SE of Shanghai.

SS Sawfish blew up PB Koei Maru SE of Formosa.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Another action packed month with the action once more focussing around Siberoet and now Padang as the Invasion has gone ashore. The other action has been the re-invasion of Burma. Although as yet it's purely been my troops marching whilst the Allied pound Japanese positions from the air.

In terms of reinforcements - The Brits receive Hellcat's, Mossie PR's and Sunderlands whilst the US receive B25H's and New FM-2 Wildcats. On the sea CV Hornet II, CVE Nehenta Bay, Ranee, Hoggatt Bay, Gambier Bay, Kadashan Bay, Marcus Island, CVL Bataan and San Jacinto and 12 x Subs arrive.

--------------------------------

Points:

Allies: +1998 points
Japanese: +1136 points


Bases:

Allies: 0 (+137 points)
Japanese: 0 (+19 points)


Planes:

Allies: +493 lost
Japanese: +837 lost


Troops:

Allies: +90 lost
Japanese: +47 lost


Ships:

Allies: +29 (+534 points. BB POW, 6 x SS and the rest are transports/freighters/DD's).
Japanese: +71 (+596 points. Mainly sub kills + 13 x SS off Padang).

-------------------------------

Sub Kills:

54 of 92 were successful = 58.70% success.

Dutch Boats:

PB - 5 (1 mine)
AK - 33 (-3)
TK - 7
CM - 4 (+1)
DD - 4
TB - 1
DMS - 3
E - 1
APD - 1
ACM - 1
AP - 1
AMC - 1

= 62 ships
-------------------------------

British Boats:

DD - 1 (1 mine)
AK - 5 (1 mine)
SC - 1
PB - 1
TK - 1
AO - 1
SS - 3 (2 mine)

= 13 ships

-------------------------------

Fleet Boats:

AK - 186 (+27)
SC - 12 (+1)
AP - 9 (+2)
PB - 32 (+5)
TK - 43 (+3)
AKE - 1
CM - 6 (+1)
ACM - 2
E - 8 (+3)
APD - 2
DD - 5 (+3)
CL - 2 (Kashima, Oi)
AO - 5
PC - 1
AMC - 1
AV - 1

= 316 ships
--------------------------------

S-Boats:

AK - 20 (-1)
AP - 2
CM - 1
PB - 5
DMS - 1
SC - 5
TK - 3 (+1)

= 37 ships

= 428 ships = 52.71% of reported sunk ships total.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet area:

The unloading is virtually complete at Padang now. Just the final few support elements are disembarking. There's of course another 150,000 tonnes of supply to unload but that's not immediately urgent.

It looks as though Padang will fall soon. Another attack went in on the 2nd and ground is being taken and the Japanese are taking heavier casualties:

Ground combat at Padang (44,85)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36588 troops, 913 guns, 538 vehicles, Assault Value = 1075

Defending force 9879 troops, 117 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 203

Allied adjusted assault: 577

Japanese adjusted defense: 247

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

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

Japanese ground losses:
1158 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
380 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled

We press on again on the 3rd to try to crack them once and for all.

No air attacks on the Padang area but a few subs have tried their luck even firing some fish in desperation at my ASW vessels (none of which hit). The following Japanese Subs were reported sunk: SS RO-100, I-9, RO-63 and I-23. I-39, I-177, I-31 and I-181 were reported damaged.

Faber did launch a surprise and well conducted raid against Siberoet's port and specifically it's damaged ships on 1st January. My CAP fought hard but the enemy numbers prevailed. My CVE's are still afloat but more damaged against now (in the 50/60 range for FLT):

Morning Air attack on Siberoet , at 42,85

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 156 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 27
Ki-21-IIb Sally x 33
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 42
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 25
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 24
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 24
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 28



Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 28
A-36 Mustang x 1
P-51A Mustang x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 4 damaged
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-51A Mustang: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVE Santee, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Corregidor, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Chenango, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

I predicted no attack on the 2nd and I was right. I expect one on the 3rd though. I've decided to move back to Siberoet from Padang with most of my TF's (except 2 unloading supply). It's a gamble as it means there'll be no CAP over Padang tomorrow but I predict that Faber will launch a port attack on Siberoet and NOT have bombers on naval attack since he wouldn't want to tangle with my CV CAP.

----------------------

Burma:

2 things to note amongst the normal actions (the troops have marched 39 miles so far):

1.) The Japanese 33rd Division has been tracked moving on rail from Myitkyina to Mandalay. It was attacked by LBA on the 2nd which caused heavy casualties (900 men). I wonder if this signifies Faber evacuating northern Burma now.

2.) The Japanese contested one of my Burma raids for the first time on the troops SE of Akyab. 60 x Tojo were on CAP and a big brawl ensued:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 48th Division, at 55,47 , near Akyab

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 63



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 10
Hurricane IIc Trop x 20
Liberator B.III x 15
Spitfire VIII x 27
Wellington GR.XIII x 15
B-24D Liberator x 36
B-25H Mitchell x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 11 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
Liberator B.III: 1 damaged
Spitfire VIII: 5 destroyed
Wellington GR.XIII: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Over the course of the daily actions 40 Allied and 60 Japanese planes were lost.

-----------------------

Submarine Warfare:

SS KXVI heavily damaged the troop laden AK Matsukawa Maru with a torpedo off Victoria Point (a troop convoy bound for Burma. SigInt identifies at leats 2 x Bde's heading for Burma).

SS Dace blew up the fuel laden tiny TK Terukawa Maru off Luzon.

SS Lapon also sank a tiny TK Kaijo Maru off Tawi Tawi.

[castor troy]

over quite some time I have been grumbling about Fabours air losses and the only conclusion I got to was that his pilot quality of fighter pilots must be awful. Do you know if he puts any effort into pilot training or is he one of the players who just doesn't want to do that at all. Now we all know what happens to any side's fighters that are escorting bombers but those IJ fighters on Cap should do very well against escorts while their sweeps shouldn't be doing that bad either.

[Speedysteve]

I have no idea to be honest. I had 'assumed' that the degredation had been caused by the local attrition. By that I mean the earlier attacks on my forces when I entered Siberoet led to a worse loss ratio for me. This has gradually reversed so that loss rates are pretty good nowadays. I would logically assume Faber is keeping the same units in situ and is just replacing the pilots and maybe these replacements aren't highly trained as you say?

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet/Padang:

Padang fell to the Allies on 3rd January!:

Ground combat at Padang (44,85)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36957 troops, 913 guns, 569 vehicles, Assault Value = 1060

Defending force 8862 troops, 117 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 104

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 640

Japanese adjusted defense: 100

Allied assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Padang !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 4 destroyed

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

Japanese ground losses:
3535 casualties reported
Squads: 170 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 96 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 41 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 34 (33 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5


Allied ground losses:
183 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

A foothold has been gained in Sumatra. My forces are quite battered though with between 35-50% disablements across the board. I'll rest up for a fair while whilst we bring in Support forces and establish another air bastion in the region. Once I can project air power from there Palembang will only be 7 hexes away and Singapore 6. It will be 2 weeks before US Reinforcements (support, base and planes) arrive on scene via Cape Town. At that point my CV's will provide air cover for one last time at Padang and then leave the scene for the land boys to take over.

The screen shot below shows the current situation in the area.

--------------------

Burma:

My forces continue to crawl through the jungles as the Japanese continue to pull out from northern Burma. Only 3 enemy units remain at Myitkyina. It's a wise move from Faber as keeping the units up north is a recipe for disaster.

The odd minor interference takes place by Tojo's on my air raids (about 10 planes lost by each side).

Faber snuck in 2 x DD's to Akyab and jumped a supply convoy sinking 5 x AK and a CM. Nice move.

--------------------

Submarine Warfare:

2 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Flounder sank PB Fuji Maru off Chichi-jima.

SS Archerfish claimed AKL Gozan Maru sunk off Hachijo-jima.

SS Guavina left AP Tatsuta Maru heavily damaged east of Singapore with a torpedo hit.

SS Tautog left AK Enju Maru heavily damaged off Amami Oshima.

SS Jack blew up E Kyosai north of Brunei.

SS Pilotfish heavily damaged the large TK Tonan Maru #3 with a torpedo hit in the middle of the Philippine Sea.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Siberoet/Padang area:

Fairly quiet overall as things settle down after the fall of Padang. I'm waiting for support forces and personnel to arrive and Faber is licking his wounds and only sending over a few planes now and then on sweeps. More air power has just entered the region via Cape Town - the new CV Intepid and 4 x CVL's are heading to join their CV counterparts off Siberoet.

-------------------------

Burma:

The Japanese continue to pull out of Northern Burma with everything north of Mandalay reported moving south. The Japanese are also pulling out from east of Lashio. Soon the Chinese will receive more supply from the Burma road when we recapture Myitkyina.

My land forces continue to crawl southwards whilst Air power continues to be employed across the front. Faber appers to have bought more planes into the region (70ish at Mandalay and 90ish at Rangoon) but no offensive strikes thus far.

I've attached a screenshot of the current situation.

-------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

6 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Skate claimed TK Meisan Maru sunk off Laoag with 2 torpedoes on the 5th.

SS Lapon sank AK Mayasan Maru off Tawi Tawi on the 6th.

SS Rasher heavily damaged the troop laden AK Koyo Maru with a torpedo off Daito Shoto.

On the 7th SS Seawolf blew up the tiny freighter Shohei Maru south of Cam Ranh Bay.

SS Hoe also claimed success heavily damaging DD Susuzuki with a torpedo west of Singapore.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Much th same across the board as we slowly move forward in Burma and we await the substantial reinforcement TF's for Padang. The Padang TF's whoudl all be on scene and at Padang by the end of the month. The CV's can then move away from the area for some much needed R&R before moving onto Phase 2 of the offensives.......

Nothing much to specifically report in Burma (I bombed Mandalay AF for the first time and met 50 x Tojo/Tony on CAP. I lost 30 planes to his 7 so I won't try that for a bit).

In the Sumatra region I've detected an enemy TF at Bengkalis. My CV's are moving NW of Padang to 'have a go' at them tomorrow.

--------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

6 x Dud/missed attacks.

SS Skate claimed PB Shotoku Maru sunk off Laoag.

SS Seahorse blew up SC CH 44 off Tokara Retto.

SS Pompon sank AK Iwaki Maru off Puerto Princesa.

SS S-44 heavily damaged TK Toen Maru with a torpedo off Takao.

SS Bluegill sank TK Jinju Maru wouth of Tokyo but was sunk by the escorts in return.

SS Tinosa claimed E Ishizaki south of Nagoya on the 10th.

SS KVIII damaged AK Yamazato Maru off Sabang on the 11th.

SS Templar had fun on the 12th damaging AK Kogyo Maru and heavily damaging AK Heito Maru in the middle of the South China Sea.

SS Drum blew up AKL Taibu Maru south of Nagoya.

SS Grayling sank SC CHa-56 off Wakkanai.

SS Balao sank AK Eiji Maru off Balikpapan.

SS Skate blew up PB Shinko Maru #3 off Laoag.

On the other side 2 enemy subs were claimed sunk off Siberoet and Attu Island.

[BBfanboy]

Wow - your subs are really scoring now that they have good torps.
Did you have his shipping lanes pegged early on or is that a recent development?

[Speedysteve]

Hi BB,

I've always taken a lot of care and focus on my subs. It's my little pet favourite part of the game [:)]

I've tracked things since game start in terms of the shipping lanes, the best places to put subs etc. It's now got to the stage that due to the number of subs it's almost inevitable a convoy will pass at least 1 subs on most potential routes. This coupled with a gradual increase in sub Experience and better torps leads to the above [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Padang area:

Quiet here. Unfortunately the TF my CV's were going after moves away so was out of range on the 13th. My ships retired to Siberoet on the 14th.

The first of the Padang reinforcement TF's has just arrived on screen from Cape Town. This TF contains 35K supply and more importantly oodles of engineers and Av. Support.

----------------

Burma:

Things are continuing to progress here.

On the 14th forces south of Akyab met Japanese troops and I ordered an immediate attack. I was not expecting to face a Japanese Division but it went well:

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 76856 troops, 1337 guns, 1628 vehicles, Assault Value = 2911

Defending force 13516 troops, 156 guns, 58 vehicles, Assault Value = 460

Allied adjusted assault: 1395

Japanese adjusted defense: 574

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
4632 casualties reported
Squads: 121 destroyed, 142 disabled
Non Combat: 74 destroyed, 51 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 66 (36 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 35 (25 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Units retreated 1
Units destroyed 1


Allied ground losses:
525 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 25 (3 destroyed, 22 disabled)

We continue to march south.

On the 15th the Japanese reacted strongly in the air. Recon has now detected 100 enemy planes in Rangoon and 60 at Mandalay. Enemy LBA bombed my forces south of Akyab. I lost 10 fighters to 18 enemy planes. The issue I now have is my men are far enough away from friendly air that the majority of my fighters (Hurri/Spit's) can just about reach my men to provide CAP. I may half my Akyab forces until forces from Imphal and Ledo have started to reach Mandalay. I'll then launch an Airbonre Assault and aim to continue south.

I'll also shortly begin to build up Ramree Island with forces brought into Akyab and Calcutta.

-------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Scorpion and Sawfish combined to sink AKL Rozan Maru over 2 attacks off Takao. Sawfish also claimed PB Nichinan from the same TF.

SS Pogy reported sinking AKL Tainichi Maru south of Mindanao on the 14th. She was badly damaged by E-26 protecting the convoy. She's limping to Carnarvon but it's doubtful if she'll make it.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Padang area:

All quiet here as we await the arrival of the reinforcement TF at Siberoet.

-------------------

Burma:

I decided to attempt a surprise on the Japanese bombers that had been bombing my forces south of Akyab for 3 days in a row. My fighters boys at Akyab were rested on the 16th and provided massed CAP over my troops on the 17th. The Japanese duly turned up and by days end had lost 40 planes (8 x Fighter, the rest Sally/Helen's) to my 8 fighters. Well done boys. Naturally there were no Japanese raids on the 18th.

The enemy abandoned Shwebo and it seems the most northern Japanese troops are in Mandalay. I've attached a sitrep below.

-------------------

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Seawolf heavily damaged AK Kamoi Maru with a torpedo off Cam Ranh Bay on the 16th.

SS Sawfish sank PB Fukeui Maru #7 south of Okinawa.

SS Scorpion detected the same convoy and damaged AK Tosei Maru with a torpedo.

On the 17th SS Pompon damaged TK Tatibana Maru off Balabac.

SS Seadragon detected an enemy sub (I-156) off Soerabja and sank her.

A damaged sub off Northern Japan sank on the way home.