Islands of Destiny: RA 5.0 Japanese Side

[John 3rd]

Dan's Father was in a car wreck so it looks like no turns for us today. I wished him GOOD THOUGHTS for his Dad and go take care of the SENIOR Southern Paddler!

[John 3rd]

This day got blown to He**. Between Dan's dad and my store NOTHING got done. I've got the turn but don't have the time to run it and give orders. Shall do so tomorrow...

Sorry about that. RL intervenes!

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: viberpol


BTW: Pity that while we exchanged so many e-mails and messages you still don't know who you have been playing against. It's viberpol, not viperpol... [:D]

I have been playing Ark for four years real time in our campaign. He is a top notch player and a great opponent-that I can assure you.

On the other hand I called him "Viperpol" for the first two years of our game without realizing it was wrong, and still slip up on occasion. I think it is time for a new name for him. I am suggesting that he go with. "My Little Pony." It is so much easier to remember......[;)]

[John 3rd]

My little STF are doing fairly well against Dan's ships leaving Sabang. Today these six DDs get a VERY nice surprise:

[John 3rd]

Combat Report
December 26-27, 1942

The Fleet has sailed and is moving into position. Tojos begin to fill the AFs at Georgetown and Alor Star. We are just about ready to 'Green Light' the Operation to move Dan's Sumatra gambit into its put up or shut up moment!

North--Central Pacific
Ailinglaplap
Pick-up an SNLF Assault Brigade at Ailinglaplap in the Marshalls. It heads south for Luganville.

Tabitueau
Ships are arriving to pick-up two small Base Forces and move them to Norfolk Isle so we can open an Emily base.

South Pacific
Tulagi
All CVL/CVE arrive on the 27th and will refuel. Headed south to rumble after that...

Noumea
Launch a Deliberate Attack upon the Allied lodgement and get a 1-2 with Japan taking 1,143 cas and the Allies 743. Units present here: 4th FA Bn, 24th (Sep) Inf Reg, 14th NZ Brigade, and N Force Detachment. I hope the attack forces Dan to move north to SAVE THEM! He now knows I have deployed a second ID here and finish these troops.

Sumatra
Troop Movement
Both Japanese ID have moved the hex away from Silbolga and are now moving into the hex where Dan is holding the 2nd and 10th ID. He has one full strength Inf Reg and elements/pieces of five others. FOUR Japanese ID will route them.

Move an Army Corps HQ out of TJB to where these four ID shall be. This leaves 2nd Area Army and a Corps HQ at TJB. We'll move that Corps HQ one hex north to join the 14th ID soon.

The 48th ID will be loaded onto transports and taken to TJB in 2-3 days. It will join the 14th ID on the coast.

Southern Army will begin unloading at Victoria Point tomorrow. This location allows me to prep for any Burma or Sumatra target I need.

Nias
Attack Nias on the 26th and get a 1-1 result lowering Forts to 1. Try again in conjunction with BB Fuso's bombardment but score a 1-2 on the 27th. Will rest several days and FINISH this target. Roughly 75-100 bombers are hitting the troops everyday.

Sinabang
Have two Sentai of bombers hitting this location each day. Order Fuso and her 3 CAs to hit it on the 28th. Have two full strength Brigades and an SNLF Assault Brigade detailed for this target. Recon places nearly 4,000 troops here including another Marine CD unit and an Inf Regiment.

Burma
Port Blair
Have two days pass without a 4EB Raid. NICE!

55,48 (East of Ramree)
Dan orders a Deliberate Attack here and does not realize my reinforcements have arrived. The Attack yields a 1-3 result. There are 843 Japanese casualties for 2,383 Allied, 38 Guns, and 47 Vehicles. Not bad!

Ramree
Dan has moved anything that carries machine guns to Sabang. FINE. Starting next turn I shall concentrate 100-150 bombers to hitting Ramree's AF. Perhaps I can draw some of those fighters back before I launch my SWEEPS...

STF
A STF of 6 DDs have an EXCELLENT pair of days. On the 26th, these fine ships smash a convoy of three large APs. Each is worth 19-21 VP so that is a nice bag. The 27th sees an even better day as the STF smashes THREE TF. They sinks 2 TK and an SC, then an AP and 3 AK, and finally two more AKs with another limping away. The ships are out of everything but some 25mm AA...NICE WORK.

A STF of 4 DDs enter the Kill Box from the south and another 2 CL and 4 DD enter from Port Blair.

SS Operations
12-26
Ro-68 hits AK Forthbank near Sabang

I-17 hits AK Washingtonian with 1TT near Diego Garcia

[John 3rd]

I am bored today. Sent a turn to Dan but his family situation is trumping playing anything at the moment.

Got to thinking it might be interesting for Readers to know exactly what is about to smash into Sabang and seas around it:

The Kido Butai
TF-1: Ryujo, Shoho, Zuiho, Nisshin--103 Zero and 36 TB
TF-2: Akagi, Kaga, Hiyo, Ryuho--106 Zero, 69 DB, and 64 TB
TF-3: Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku--102 Zero, 102 DB, and 68 TB

Total: 311 Zero, 171 DB, and 168 TB---Worst Daitai experience is mid-60s and most of the CV Daitai are in the high-60s and low-70s.

Naval Aircraft
Zero 212, Betty/Nell 203, Val 93, and Kate 149: TOTAL--657 Planes

IJA Aircraft
Tojo 347 and Helen/Sally/Lily 177: TOTAL--524 Planes

Distant Aircraft in Burma
108 Fighters and 202 Bombers

GRAND TOTAL: 1,831 (not including Burma)

Current Plan:
In 3-4 days we shall launch the aerial assault. The Tojos will SWEEP for two Days and then I shall unleash the Zeros and ALL the Bombers. KB will move into a blocking position NW of Sabang to prevent anything from moving in or fleeing the target.

Current Screenshot:

[kjnoel]

Why only sweep for two days with tojos?

You are positioning KB to block the sealanes so I assume that means you would welcome his CVs interfering. Why rush the tojo love?

I would expect there to still be serious resistance after only two days of sweeps. After your first sweep he could activate reinforcements for all his losses which would be in need of repair on day two but ready for action on day 3....

[Chickenboy]

What sort of aerial resistance are you looking at in or around your targets, John?

[John 3rd]

I won't be Sweeping for just two days. Want to seriously attrit his Fighters and damage their morale before the bombers are released. I plan to add the Zeros and Bombers (IJN/IJA) beginning DAY THREE. The IJN will target shipping and the Port. IJA will go after the AF. The decision to commit the bombers will be made only after we see how well the Tojos are doing.

Enemy Numbers? Simple:

Sabang
350 Fighters are flying CAP over Sabang. There are at least 2-3 CVE at Sabang as two Squadrons of Naval Attack Aircraft have been used against my DDs when they were near the base. These planes have been flying CAP for DAYS and DAYS. I'll wager their morale is already somewhat down so my massed Sweeps should serve to really drop that even more quickly.

The closest Japanese bases (Georgetown and Alor Star) will hold the Tojos while TJB, Sibolga, Singora, and Victoria Point will hold the Zeros and Bombers. If there is ANY sanity to the game engine, the closest bases go first and then the escorted bombers will come in next. We hope...

Langsa
He has two Squadrons of B-25 flying out of Langsa. They have been getting pummeled by my CAP fighters whenever they sortie.

[kjnoel]

I typically fill out my squadrons with max pilots and set them to 70% CAP, 30% REST, range 0. I have never seen an appreciable drop in morale over months assuming they don't fight.

The number of pilots and range seems to be the key for not affecting morale so don't assume any defenders will be low before you start fighting.

[Chickenboy]

John,

You will take your losses Tojo sweepers, of course. Do you have sufficient airframes in the pools? Also, do you have a 'rotational' schedule or regional reserve building to spell airgroups that must be rebuilt?

[John 3rd]

I've got nearly 200 airframes stockpiled currently.

I have my main supply located at Singers. It will serve to refresh and retool my planes and pilots. Just got the 12-28 turn done and harvested about 150 new fighter pilots from my IJA Training Squadrons. Grabbed almost 100 IJN fighters pilots as well. Looks like we're nearly ready.

Betty's at Prome got some lunch today at Ramree:

[John 3rd]

Combat Report
December 28, 1942

I HATE to think about working American Torps in four days!

North--Central Pacific
Move several Chutai of Jakes for air search to Canton, Baker, and Vaiputu. Want to make sure nothing gets past for a nasty surprise.

South Pacific
The Second Kido Butai moves away from Tulagi and heads south. It is now fully fueled, planes fully stocked, and pilots ready.

Noumea
Order a Deliberate Attack at Noumea. We'll see how those boys handle it and how well supplied they are. If this gets a poor result then I shall use my 3 CA to bombard the troops for softening up.

Sumatra
Nias
Pasted by LBA (100 bombers) and a bombardment by 3 CAs add. Need to wait 2-3 days before another assault.

Sinabang
BB Fuso is about to hit this base.

Medan and Langsa
Both bases are hit strongly by LBA.

Malaya
Georgetown and Alor Star
Three Sentai of Tojo at each location. Final four units to arrive tomorrow. The Date for Falcon Day is now scheduled for December 30th.

Port Blair
AF is still toast despite three days without 4EB attacks. Looks like my opponent is sending in a DD TF to hit the shipping. Have a pair of Training CLs and 5 DD present with another 4 on the way. Whatever comes shall get a hot reception.

Burma
Ramree
As shown in the previous Post, Ramree has some shipping arrive. Prome launches 63 Fighters and 23 Betty to hit it. The Fighters CRUSH the 21 Hurricanes protecting the AF/Base (1 for 7) and the Betty sink a pair of AKs.

The AF itself with be hit by 125 Bombers tomorrow. Want to try to distract Dan some by starting the air campaign back up here.

55,49 (North of Prome)
The 41st ID, 14th Brit Brig, and 754th TK Bn are all hit by a total of 110 Bombers.

55,48
An attempt is made to hit 21st ID here with a small strike of Vengeance Bombers. They are met by a dozen Zeros who shot down the entire strike of 5 planes.

Indian Ocean
American CVs SPOTTED at hex 31,51! I-166 takes a shot at a DD in the screen and misses. It gets slightly damaged but I recognize the CLAA and CA listed on the Combat Screen as escorts we tangled with a few days ago. Lex and Sara (and many others) are there. Raise Air Search to try and keep track of their movements.

KB sits about 15 hexes west of Sabang and will refuel tomorrow. Time to light things up and see if we can devine what Dan is doing the day prior to Falcon Day.

SS Operations
I-166 Action already detailed.

I-18 SINKS AK Allara with a pair of TTs near Koggala

Decide to go after Dan's CVs. Order 8 SS to move into the area he's keeping the CVs and see if we can get LUCKY! Risky but why not...

[John 3rd]

Combat Report
December 29, 1941

Time for the DEEP Breath. Letting everyone in the Tojo Fan Club take one last day off. Falcon Day is scheduled for December 31, 1942. I meant that last turn but got confussed. Anyone got a FAVORITE Tojo Altitude??? [:D]

North--Central Pacific
Calm

South Pacific
Second Kido Butai
Everyone moves away from Tulagi and heads due south.

Noumea
A Japanese Deliberate Attack brings the odds down from 1-3 to 1-2. Progress. Casualties are 722 Japan and 365 Allied. Bring in a second Betty Daitai to bomb the troops. Will add the 3 CAs from the KB-2 in a couple of days. We'll coordinate the bombardment with the next assault upon the Allied Line.

Recon
Have done recon of Auckland for several turns and NOTHING is, apparently, there. Cannot reach Wellington yet so shift all Emily back to Air Search.

Sumatra
Lots of troop movement.

Nias--Sinabang--Langsa--Medan
All bombed for the turn.

TJB
Order my Bombardment TF of Yamato and 4 BC to hit Langsa. Want to keep the pressure up. Have moved three AKE to TJB so we can reload.

Malaya
All seven Sentai of Tojo are now at their bases ready to go. Resting one final day before the Assault.

Singapore
Begin loading the 48th ID and 40,000 Supply for TJB.

Burma Area
Port Blair
FOUR days without being hit. The AF is beginning to look somewhat patched.

Singket
Gonna stit the pot. Load all of the 3rd and 4th Raiders (Para) on 2 CL and 6 DD to FTF them here. Want Dan getting nervous. We'll see if they might be enough to take the base back. Elements of the 3rd Para Raiders have been there forever and not messed with by the Allies whatsoever.

Ramree
Japanese bombers appear over this base and port in true strength for the first time and ages. A total of 21 Hurricanes meet the attacks. A total of 94 Fighters, 73 IJA Bombers, and 20 Betty participate. The IJA Bombers fight their way through FIERCE Flak (11 losses) to lightly damage the AF while the Betty wing their way in and sink three more AK. About 14 Hurricanes are shot down...

Akyab
Did recon over several bases I haven't checked in a while and find that Akyab has NO FIGHTERS and lots of bombers in it. Shift my Theatre attentions to this target tomorrow.

Operation Ko-1
The 12th ID, 18th ID, and 2nd TK Div move out from Prome and head for the hex NW of there. From there they shall strike hex 55,49.

Kido Butai
CVs move NE this turn and I let the Jakes shift over to air search. We'll see what we spot tomorrow. AOs stay with the CVs for the moment.

China
77,53
This hex FALLS as two of three Chinese units are forced to retreat out of it versus a 2-1 attack. POSITIVE. Tomorrow the RR Line will be open for business.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd
A Japanese Deliberate Attack brings the odds down from 1-3 to 1-2. Progress. Casualties are 722 Japan and 365 Allied. Bring in a second Betty Daitai to bomb the troops. Will add the 3 CAs from the KB-2 in a couple of days. We'll coordinate the bombardment with the next assault upon the Allied Line.

While that's all well and good, I strongly recommend you wait until your disruption backs way back off before re-attacking. After a 1-3 and a 1-2 attack, it's got to be very high, thus reducing your combat strength significantly. Why not keep up a bombardment (naval and aerial) for a week or so?

[crsutton]

Tojo altitude, or did you mean to say "tojo attitude?"[;)]

[GreyJoy]

Altitude? Do you have any HR concerning it? If not, the higher the better. P-40s can't go higher than 29K and Wildcats are pigs above 20k

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Tojo altitude, or did you mean to say "tojo attitude?"[;)]

Just delayed Falcon Day to the 31st. Needed time to make the last adjustments right. Setting Altitude for 31,000 Feet.

We're thinking very similar thoughts right now. Dan has brought his CVs into strike range of Port Blair and he hit a couple of DDs sinking them. Luckily he did not strike Blair since I had AKs and another small STF present.

KB swing into action and sinks 3 AK. We're 23 hexes apart. I move 4 hexes TOWARDS him. We'll see if he is UP for it!

No time for a detailed report.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd
We're 23 hexes apart. I move 4 hexes TOWARDS him. We'll see if he is UP for it!

4 hexes towards him? That's it? [insert chicken 'bawking' noises here]

[zuluhour]

I disagree, now is the time for a detailed report.[:-]