Speedy vs Fabertong - time to smack back the Penguin

[Speedysteve]

Ah. Thanks guys. This is very useful information and even though I re-read this part of the manual when I posted above it seems I mis-understood! Hmm. I wonder if I will make it to AV at Jan 1st 1945 then. I would say it's quite unlikely now then.....darn.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CentPac:

Little of note here. B29's hit Nagoya on the 7th and 8th November causing upto 45000 fires. Over the following days damage was caused to industry and resources (netting me about 700 VP's) however the presence of over 50 fighters (causing 13 x B29 losses) and the long distance has led to a stand down afterwards as the planes need repair and maintenance.

My next invasions are due in the next few weeks as all necessary shipping has now left PH heading WNW. Updates soon I promise!

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

SRA:

The final troops of 32nd Infantry Division are still loading at Ambon for the Mindanao invasion. Ships should set sail on either the 14th or 15th November.

In Malaya Allied troops stormed the Singapore Causeway on 11th November. I'm actually pretty happy with the result and the first deliberate attack will go in tomorrow. Here's the Causeway assault:

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 81438 troops, 1729 guns, 1676 vehicles, Assault Value = 3054

Defending force 34530 troops, 239 guns, 244 vehicles, Assault Value = 601

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Allied adjusted assault: 919

Japanese adjusted defense: 641

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 5

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

Japanese ground losses:
3810 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 405 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 104 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 48 (24 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (4 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
5036 casualties reported
Squads: 72 destroyed, 635 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 156 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 97 disabled
Guns lost 97 (10 destroyed, 87 disabled)
Vehicles lost 94 (3 destroyed, 91 disabled)

Assaulting units:
45th Recce Regiment
14th British Brigade
29th British Brigade
28th (East African) Brigade
11th (East African) Division
44th (Support) Battalion
16th British Brigade
23rd Chindit Brigade
26th Indian Brigade
Gardner's Horse Regiment
18th Cavalry Regiment
2nd British Division
22nd (East African) Brigade
209th Combat Engineer Battalion
81st (West African) Division
Provisionl Tank Brigade
150th RAC Regiment
111th Chindit Brigade
5th Indian Division
18th SP Field Artillery Regiment
87th Medium Regiment
32nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
134th (East Ang) Regiment
86th Medium Regiment
85th Medium Regiment
122nd British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
49th Ind.Mixed Brigade
5th INA Regiment
3rd INA Azad Regiment
56th Naval Guard Unit
47th Ind.Mixed Brigade
14th Ind.Mixed Regiment
25th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
25th Army
29th JNAF AF Unit
180th JAAF AF Bn
35th Fld AA Gun Co
Maraisha JNAF Base Force
22nd Port Unit
3rd Air Division
2nd Fleet
93rd JAAF AF Bn
12th Base Force
5th Field AF Construction Battalion
16th JNAF AF Unit
7th Area Army
Southern Army
18th Medium FA Rgt /2

Recon detected the Japanese are moving south from Kuala Lumpur towards Malacca (6 units and 33K men reported at KL). I'm actually quite happy with this to get the Japs out of the their forts. I have a strong division behind level 4 forts at Malacca to guard against any Jap incursion. A screenshot of the area is below

All invasion shipping and SC/CV TF's have finished unloading at Malacca and are heading back to Colombo/Ramree Island to refuel, re-arm and pick up more troops before heading back to Malaya.

A scatter of air raids and sweeps over Mindanao, Balikpapan and Batavia net about 50 enemy planes and 5 or so support vessels destroyed for the loss of 15 friendlies.

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

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Haddock sank SC Ch 51 west of Japan on the 7th November.

SS Herring sank E No. 32 but was lost in return SW of Japan on the 9th.

Haddock was in action again on the 10th sinking SC Ch 3.

[JocMeister]

Speedy, the way I read the rules you have until 46 to achieve a 2:1 advantage?

Regarding the B29 bombings. Try switching to night time bombings instead. Its a lot slower but you will lose perhaps 3-4 B29s instead of 30-40!

[Speedysteve]

I'm really not sure on he rules anymore tbh![&:]
 
With regard to B29's. I don't normally lose too many (enough to keep the pools dry though) but it's more down to wear and tear and the long repair rates = pain!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

I'm really not sure on he rules anymore tbh![&:]

With regard to B29's. I don't normally lose too many (enough to keep the pools dry though) but it's more down to wear and tear and the long repair rates = pain!

Yeah, the really take forever. I just upgraded a B29 unit to the B29-25. It will take all the planes 24(!) days to repair. [8|]

And thats at a level 9 AF with 3800 AS...

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CentPac:

The next round of invasions will kick off in the next 10 days or so. I'll detail the plan in a separate post next.

The next Air raid on Japan was the first Night Raid by B29's against Tokyo on the 19th. It was very fragmented and about 30 x B29 bombed in small fragments as 40 planes didn't find the target. There were no Jap fighters on CAP though and only 1 x B29 was lost to flak = good.

Damage was slight though with 3500 fires still burning next day and 13 x Manpower, 26 x Resources, 127 x HI and 105 x LI being damaged. The boys will try again tomorrow night with 72 x Saipan based B29 still active.

Guam's B29 force should be up and running with a week.

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

SRA:

The Mindanao invasion fleets are 2 days away from H-Hour. There's no real Jap air threat in the region at present with Allied LBA dominating the region from Manado and Talaud-Eilanden.

Manado's B24's raided Balikpapan's port on the 15th sinking 2 x PB, 3 x AK and 2 x SC.

I decided to attack at Prabomoelih again on the 19th with disappointing results. I don't understand why this is to be honest as the Jap's have been out of supply for over a month and sustaining 100's of casualties every day from LBA. I'll be resting a fair bit again before attacking:

Ground combat at Praboemoelih (48,92)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32912 troops, 578 guns, 733 vehicles, Assault Value = 899

Defending force 59199 troops, 893 guns, 809 vehicles, Assault Value = 1414

Allied adjusted assault: 459

Japanese adjusted defense: 304

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2210 casualties reported
Squads: 128 destroyed, 66 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 54 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 73 (19 destroyed, 54 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3123 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 298 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 27 disabled
Guns lost 61 (4 destroyed, 57 disabled)

Assaulting units:
11th Airborne Division
364th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
711th Tank Battalion
100th Indian Brigade
1st Filipino Inf Regiment
14th Canadian Brigade
706th Tank Battalion
82nd (West African) Division
99th Indian Brigade
88th Medium Regiment
48th Aviation Base Force
126th RAF Base Force
I US Corps
46th Construction Regiment
76th Coast AA Regiment
182nd USAAF Base Force
341 Wing

Defending units:
138th Infantry Regiment
6th Guards Inf. Regiment
34th Ind.Mixed Brigade
32nd Ind.Mixed Bde /1
36th Infantry Regiment
21st Division
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
3rd Tank Division
1st South Seas Det.
8th Division
2nd Amphibious Brigade
18th Garrison Unit
46th Div /1
13th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
69th Field AA Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd AA Regiment
28th Air Flotilla
32nd Port Unit
1st JAAF Base Force
2nd Area Army
58th Infantry Regiment
31st Mountain Gun Regiment
21th JNAF AF Unit
55th Const Co
1st Guards Field Artillery Regiment
68th Field AA Battalion
51st Field AA Battalion
1st Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
34th Road Const Co
97th JAAF AF Bn


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

Malaya:

The Jewel in the East was re-taken by British forces on the 19th November. It's a great victory against a dispirited and under-supplied enemy. It's a real nice VP swing as well and. of course, provides a very strategic base for me to base my fleets from:

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 77972 troops, 1718 guns, 1676 vehicles, Assault Value = 2489

Defending force 22015 troops, 114 guns, 229 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Allied adjusted assault: 1172

Japanese adjusted defense: 279

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Singapore !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
4578 casualties reported
Squads: 66 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 299 destroyed, 106 disabled
Engineers: 56 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 94 (90 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 162 (162 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
204 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
Gardner's Horse Regiment
14th British Brigade
23rd Chindit Brigade
44th (Support) Battalion
22nd (East African) Brigade
Provisionl Tank Brigade
16th British Brigade
26th Indian Brigade
209th Combat Engineer Battalion
111th Chindit Brigade
150th RAC Regiment
81st (West African) Division
18th Cavalry Regiment
2nd British Division
29th British Brigade
45th Recce Regiment
11th (East African) Division
28th (East African) Brigade
5th Indian Division
18th SP Field Artillery Regiment
134th (East Ang) Regiment
85th Medium Regiment
86th Medium Regiment
32nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
87th Medium Regiment
122nd British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
49th Ind.Mixed Brigade
47th Ind.Mixed Brigade
93rd JAAF AF Bn
56th Naval Guard Unit
16th JNAF AF Unit
3rd Air Division
29th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Fleet
7th Area Army
14th Ind.Mixed Regiment
Southern Army
Maraisha JNAF Base Force
12th Base Force
25th Army
25th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
22nd Port Unit
180th JAAF AF Bn

The boys need to rest and recover but I'll soon start to plan as to where to send these troops to next. The initial option seems to be:

1.) Up the rest of Malaya.

2.) Borneo.

3.) Indo-China.

I'm currently veering towards option 3 as it will cut off (if I take the rail line south of Bangkok/Saigon) the Jap troops in Burma and Malaya.

Thoughts?

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

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Haddock sank E No.26 SW of Japan on the 15th. In return the other ASW vessels damaged her and she's returning to port.

SS Lancetfish sank E W-2 off Japan on the 16th November.

SS Sturdy sank AK Yahiko Maru near Balikpapan on the 16th.

On the other side SS Mingo and Boarfish were sunk by ASW escorts.

[Walloc]

Well Speedy,

He goes from unmodified 1414 AV to 304 AV. That less than 25% near 20% of AV. He is hurting and u can see it number of destroyed vs number of disabled squads too. U dont have a ton of AV tho Steven. 2 divs plus assorted. He is prolly so low in supply by now that squads will go slowly disabled just by lack of supply. He how ever just has alot of squads. 3 divs + more assorted than u. U winning this but less u bring a bit larger hammer u still gona take some casulties/time. If u have 2 3 Tank units around i would move them in and attack with those alone for a bit while inf rests up.

Rasmus

[JocMeister]

Congrats on Singers Speedy! [&o]

Thats going to be a massive shift in VPs for you! [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Thanks Walloc - as always you offer sage thoughts and advice. That makes sense. I won't be diverting other troops or units to this sector though. For me there's bigger fish to fry and more important tasks to accomplish further east! They'll just have to whither away slowly......

Thanks JocMeister - Yup. A nice shift. It's now 52,900 Allied vs 35,000 Japanese.

CentPac Operations:
 
As promised here's the detail on the upcoming invasions following on from the Mariana's Campaign.

The first target for this phase will be Iwo Jima with the second being Daito Shoto.

Recon indicates Iwo Jima holds 12 enemy units, 45K men, 339 guns and 112 AFV's. It will not be an easy nut to crack. The key will be getting ashore with enough active force and THEN to be able to take down the forts. If I can get ashore with enough un-distrupted it will be a matter of time before Iwo Jima falls.

There's over 200 enemy fighters reported on the fields with a further 100 enemy planes on nearby Chichi and Haha Jima. They'll be no problem for my CV air.

The Allied OOB for these invasions is:

Iwo Jima under RADM Barbey's VII Amphib Force
------------------

V US Corps
81st Infantry Division
5th Marine Division
44th Tk Bn
716th Tk Bn
XIV Corps Combat Eng Rgt (BRILLIANT units with over 200 x Combat Engineer squads)

Daito Shoto
----------------

37th Infantry Division
25th USA Division
158th (Sep) Infantry Rgt
34th Combat Eng Rgt
766th Tk Bn
767th Tk Bn
1st USMC Tk Bn

Reserve for the assaults is 3rd Marine Division.

I am a little concerned I'm a little light on the Iwo Jima invasion but HOPE CV Air is enough to get me ashore in good shape.

Naval forces:
------------------

13 x CV
9 x CVL
26 x CVE (Combat)

= 977 F, 405 DB, 619 TB

4 x SC TF (8 x BB)

I wonder if Faber will react with the Combined Fleet (what remains of it according to intel - between 2-5 x CV, 2 (?) converted CVL, maybe CVL Ibuki, Between 4-8 CVE,  BB Yamato, Musashi, Ise, Hyuga, 10 x CA and 16 x CL). I hope so! [:)]

[JocMeister]

Good luck on the invasion. I´m a little bit worried about Iwo too. I really, really hope I´m wrong but I don´t think you have brought enough! How many days have you allocated for air and naval bombardments? Remember that Iwo is an island size 2 and is treated like an Atoll. So you need loads and loads of prep work or you will be gutted in the shock attack.

EDIT: This thread has a nasty example of an Iwo invasion gone wrong!
tm.asp?m=3407882&mpage=1&key=

[Speedysteve]

I know. All of my forces are 100% prepped. I can spend weeks bombing if needed as I have oodles of AO, AE and CVE (VR) on hand......as a minimum 4-6 days bombing though.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

I know. All of my forces are 100% prepped. I can spend weeks bombing if needed as I have oodles of AO, AE and CVE (VR) on hand......as a minimum 4-6 days bombing though.

Try to burn up all his supply before landing? [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hard to know how much he has mind you [;)]. I'm probably going to use my B29's once my CV Air has taken out his CAP too.........

[JocMeister]

Haha, well thats a good point.

I have noticed sudden rises in damage I have inflicted from naval and air bombardments. Say I do 4 days of bombings causing 150 casualties per day. All of the sudden that number goes up to 300 and stays there. Could be when supply starts running short? AA stop shooting back is probably a good sign to? [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Yes. When AA Stops shooting back is a clear sign of low/lack of supply and probably the only way I know how to visibly tell this pre LCU engagement.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

CentPac:

The only thing to note here is the night bombing over Tokyo. I'm now pretty impressed after 2 nights of bombing (19/20th with the planes being socked in on the 21st). Fires have been around the 500-5000 mark but damage has been decent: 40 x Manpower, 37 x resources, 493 x HI, 416 x LI, 12 x ARM and 8 x Ha-45's. This has been caused by fragmented strikes of 3-12 planes (30ish x B29 total each night).

I lost 5 x B29 for 7 x NF over the 2 nights.

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

SRA:

Allied troops stormed ashore at Davao on the morning of the 21st. I feel quite confident of securing Mindanao by the end of the year. There's still a lot to unload but it's looking promising already:

Ground combat at Davao (79,91)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 16404 troops, 134 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 616

Defending force 27862 troops, 419 guns, 881 vehicles, Assault Value = 1511

Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
56th Ind.Mixed Brigade
40th Ind.Garrison Battalion
25th Ind.Mixed Regiment
41st Ind.Garrison Battalion
16th/B Division
9th JNAF Coy
11th Air Division
85th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
Fiji Bde /1
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
19th Infantry Regiment
8th Marine Rgt /3
3rd Australian Div /4
32nd Infantry Div /6
754th Tank Bn /1
34th Infantry Rgt /4
21st Infantry Rgt /3
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
30th Australian Brigade
1st Australian Bde /1
1st Army Tank Regiment
2nd USMC Tank Bn /1
Torres Strait Bn /2
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn
25th Australian Bde /4
Americal Infantry Div /6
2/13th Field Regiment
198th Field Artillery Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
33rd Medium Regiment

Obviously it depends on how quickly I can take the main part of Mindanao and what recon finds but I already have 1000 x AV of troops preparing for southern Luzon as well.

Interestingly recon has identified a probably CV TF at Balabac. I wonder if we'll have a CV battle tomorrow.

I have 230 x F4U1D and 160 x TBM on CVE's in the theatre.........

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

Malaya:

Mopping up continues at Singapore as engineers continue to repair the wrecked port.

The AF's will be operational tomorrow as well.

Recon is starting to recon more of Indo China methodically to uncover what's there......

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

Submarine Warfare:

0 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Picuda reported sinking TK Amatsu Maru NE of Brunei on the 21st.

SS Sea Fox blew up PB Akitsui Maru NE of Okinawa.

In return SS Statesman was sunk by a TK TF Escorts near Brunei on the 21st.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well we had no CV Battle as the suspected Jap TF scurried back to Brunei.....

CentPac:

The only action of note was the night raid over Tokyo. About 40 bombers made it over the target in fragments and were intercepted by up to 40 enemy fighters. Interestingly I shot down a reported 19 of them for no friendly loss! I raised the altitude of this raid from 10K to 20K to test bombing results and they weren't impressive. Only 1500 fires were caused. They're back down to 10K for tomorrow.

Guam's B29 force will be up and running over the next few days. I aim to try and use this force (B29-25's with longer range) to conduct pin point industry attacks on Japan.

The Iwo Jima invasion forces are passing south of Marcus Island.

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

SRA:

Allied forces continue to pour ashore at Davao with no interference from the Japanese.

As mentioned the suspected enemy CV force scurried back to Brunei.

A secondary force of Fijian Commandoes landed at an empty Dadjangas and will take the place tomorrow.

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

Malaya:

The remaining 5000 Japs were wiped out in Singapore today. Singers really is a key base in the game as it will now serve as my main sub base, supply hub AND it has a decent sized Shipyard.

Necessary support vessels and subs are moving to Singers.

My Brit led CV and BB TF's are now moving back from Columbo to permanently stage from Singapore. As an FYI I have 2 x CV TF's (4 x CV, 1 x CVL) and a CVE TF (7 x CVE) along with 2 x SC TF (5 x BB's). These will support the next series of invasions.

Recon is beginning in earnest in Indo China. The more I think on this the more certain I am the next set of landings will be in SW Indo China (Soc Trang/Kompong Trach area). I could comfortably land 3000-3500 AV here in due course (within 2 months once the Singer assault forces have R&R).

My thinking is that Faber can't have a massive force in Indo China as he's just lost 600 AV at Singers, has 2000 AV bottled up at Prabomoelih (Sumatra) and is still holding the Rangoon/Pegu area with well over 25 units (comfortably 2000 AV I would guess).

The landings in Indo China would either cut off the Burma force (IF Faber didn't retreat in time and I occupied the Bangkok area - Faber has 16 units and 50K men here) OR it would force the Burma force to retreat into Indo China and I could occupy Rangoon which is a very good base to have as well. In addition the remaining 60K Jap men in Malaya would be cut off by the Indo China invasions and the occupation Singora to cut the rail line out of Malaya.

Ultimately if it went well I could move up in to China and the Hong Kong area by mid-45 if the game lasts that long...

Thoughts?

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

Submarine Warfare:

0 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Picuda reported sinking the fuel carrying AO Shiriya near Brunei with 2 torpedoes.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Malaya:

The remaining 5000 Japs were wiped out in Singapore today. Singers really is a key base in the game as it will now serve as my main sub base, supply hub AND it has a decent sized Shipyard.

Necessary support vessels and subs are moving to Singers.

My thinking is that Faber can't have a massive force in Indo China as he's just lost 600 AV at Singers, has 2000 AV bottled up at Prabomoelih (Sumatra) and is still holding the Rangoon/Pegu area with well over 25 units (comfortably 2000 AV I would guess).

I think you are "missing" a lot of Jap AV somewhere? Doing a very quick and dirty count on Jap AV in my game comes up with something like 7000 AV in Thailand/Indochina and Erik still has some 300.000 men on Luzon/Formosa.

Can you get some recon done and try and get a feel for the opposition in Thailand? With complete air and naval supremacy you might want to try landing even farther east? Luzon? Formosa? Or land directly at HK? [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Hi Jocke - I'll provide a more in depth summary of Jap troops estimates in a follow up post. A lot more recon has been conducted in the past week to provide a better picture (I feel).

All in all the last week of November 1944 was very good for the Allies with some substantial Japanese shipping being sunk off Borneo and air control has been gained over Iwo Jima.........

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

CentPac:

The Fleet started to come under air attacks from Jap planes in the Bonin's from the 25th. A few planes got through the CAP but no hits were sustained and a reported 160 enemy planes were shot down for 20 friendly. Here's an exapel of the carnage:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Chichi-jima at 115,80

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 7
B5N2 Kate x 9
N1K1-J George x 19
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 16
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 56

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 14
FM-1 Wildcat x 24
FM-2 Wildcat x 252
F4U-1D Corsair x 71
F6F-3 Hellcat x 27
F6F-5 Hellcat x 488

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 3 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 19 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
FM-2 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-5 Hellcat: 2 destroyed

Offensive strikes were launched by the CV's from the 27th (sinking a small Jap TF including AV Sagara Maru fleeing the Bonin's) and a mass of Hellcats and Corsairs were sent on sweeps to take out the Jap's on the 28th and 29th. It wasn't all 1 sided but a reported 200 enemy planes were destroyed for the loss of 40 friendly.

Heavy raids were launched on the 3 main Jap Islands in the Bonin's on the 30th putting the AF's out of action on Iwo Jima. B24's flying from Guam will keep them so.

I'll now begin to bomb Iwo's AF/Port's with my CV's to try and take out supply a fair bit before hitting the troops.

A DD TF was sent ahead on the 29th to take out reported enemy MTB's. It was a fun day with 18 enemy vessels claimed sunk off Iwo Jima.

Meanwhile B29's hit Tokyo (night), Osaka (day raid with 15 losses) and Okayama (night) Manpower with the fires taking out another 800 VP's or so of industry. They're now resting as they'll be used to bomb Iwo Jima's supply soon.

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

Mindanao:

It took over 10 days to fully unload my troops and men at Davao but things progressed fairly quick on the ground with an overwhelming number f troops and the equipment advantage meaning the Jap's took over 8000 casualties and fled out of Davao on the 28th:

Ground combat at Davao (79,91)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 59384 troops, 1060 guns, 1809 vehicles, Assault Value = 2126

Defending force 10794 troops, 109 guns, 27 vehicles, Assault Value = 126

Allied adjusted assault: 508

Japanese adjusted defense: 43

Allied assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Davao !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
4927 casualties reported
Squads: 180 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 275 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 37 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 34 (29 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
339 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
19th Infantry Regiment
25th Australian Brigade
8th Marine Regiment
Torres Strait Battalion
21st Infantry Regiment
30th Australian Brigade
Americal Infantry Division
3rd Australian Division
1st Army Tank Regiment
34th Infantry Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
1st Australian Brigade
32nd Infantry Division
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
Fiji Brigade
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn
198th Field Artillery Battalion
2/13th Field Regiment
131st Field Artillery Battalion
33rd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
25th Ind.Mixed Regiment
56th Ind.Mixed Brigade
16th/B Division
11th Air Division
9th JNAF Coy
85th JAAF AF Bn

Troops are now beginning to head in all directions from Davao to secure the rest of Mindanao (only other Jap troops of interest appear to be 10-15K at Cagayan).

Planes began to fly from the AF's in early December.

A small Jap CL TF (amazingly) snuck in to try and interfere with my transports on the 25th. I say amazingly as I had 2 SC TF's in the hex who did diddly squat and watched the CL's steam at an invasion TF:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Davao at 79,91, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk (damaged on the way in by a sub fired torp)
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 1
CL Abukuma
CL Kuma, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Helm, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mugford, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DMS Southard
DMS Emmons
AM Starling
AM Impeccable
AM Chief
AM Scrimage
AM Scuffle
AM Bittern
SC-636
SC-639
SC-645
SC-646
SC-648
AP William Ward Burrows
APA Clay
APA Highlands
xAP President Coolidge
xAP Monterey
xAP Mariposa
xAP Santa Elena
xAP Santa Paula
xAP Etolin, Shell hits 1
xAP Santa Maria
xAP Santa Inez
AK Crater
AK Carina
AK Cassiopeia
AK Celeno
AK Cetus
AK Draco
AK Eridanus
LST-18
LST-19
LST-21
LST-22
LST-23
LST-24
LST-25
LST-31
LST-34
LST-335
LST-338
LST-339
LST-344
xAK Steel Seafarer
xAP Golden Eagle
xAP Cape Neddick
xAP Benjamin Franklin
xAK William S. Clark
xAK William Sharon
xAK William Sproule
xAP Arundel Castle
xAP Dunera
AMC Hector, Shell hits 29, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PF Casper, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage

During the day TB's from my CVE's found the enemy and sank CL Kuma as well.

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

Malaya/Borneo:

Things are much quieter on Malaya now as I continue to bring men and material into Singapore whilst I decide where to attack next. The only action to note was the Jap's marched 91st Division south from Kuala Lumpur into Malacca (presumably thinking I had moved all my men into Singapore). They were rudely awakened and routed on the 27th:

Ground combat at Malacca (49,81)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10508 troops, 202 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 440

Defending force 7826 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 249

Allied adjusted assault: 393

Japanese adjusted defense: 8

Allied assault odds: 49 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2838 casualties reported
Squads: 109 destroyed, 39 disabled
Non Combat: 66 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 11 (7 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
18th British Division
1304th Construction Regiment
154th USA Base Force
2nd USMC Air Wing Base Force

Defending units:
91st Division

Now on to Borneo and the highlight of the week [:)]

I decided to sail my 3 x Brit CV/CVE TF (along with a SC TF for cover) out of Singapore to attack reported enemy TF's at Brunei on the 27th. They remained undetected on the 28th and hit some nice Jap shipping at Brunei and a TK Convoy heading NE out of Brunei:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Balabac at 70,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Allied aircraft
Avenger II x 12
Barracuda II x 18
Corsair II x 19
Corsair IV x 12
Hellcat I x 6
F6F-5 Hellcat x 13
TBM-3 Avenger x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
CVE Unyo, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Yamagumo
DD Naganami, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
TK Tonan Maru #2
DD Arashi
APD T-1, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK Tempi Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

We meanwhile found BB Mutsu at Brunei!:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 65,87

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 72 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
Avenger II x 46
Corsair II x 7
Hellcat I x 8
Seafire L.III x 11
F4U-1D Corsair x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Avenger II: 7 damaged
Avenger II: 1 destroyed by flak
Hellcat I: 1 destroyed
F4U-1D Corsair: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Torpedo hits 2
xAK Tatuno Maru
xAK Turuga Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Toyohasi Maru
CA Ashigara
DD Yamakaze

She tried to flee the area on the 30th but was hit by a Sub torp and was put under by a further 3 torps from CV air in the day.

All in all the following appears to have been sunk over the course of 3 days (including 1st of December):

BB Mutsu
CVE Unyo
CVE Taiyo
APD - 1
AK - 3
TK - 4 (including Tonan Maru #2
AO - 1
DD - 2
E - 5
SC - 1

CA Ashigara was damaged with a reported 6 x bombs.

My CV's are low on ordinance and will return to Singapore to re arm.

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

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Thule sank PB Kosin Maru #3 off Formosa on the 24th.

SS Gurnard damaged CL Nagara heading to Davao with a torpedo on the 25th.

SS Chub sank AKL Haruno Maru SW of Japan on the 29th.

SS Picuda damaged BB Mutsu on the 30th with a torpedo as she tried to flee Brunei.

On the other side SS Hoe was sunk.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

November was a very good month for the Allies. Singapore was re-taken, Mindanao invaded with Davao captured and the Allies marching to the rest of Mindanao and further raids by B29's on Japan (mainly by night) have seen damage spread across key Japanese industries. It will be touch and go whether I make a Major Victory (2:1) by Jan 1945. I gained roughly 13,000 VP's (almost 8,500 of these due to Strat bombing of Japan!) in November alone but I predict fewer will be gained in December as the only major base I'll be taking (hopefully) will be Iwo Jima and fewer Strat raids will be launched on Japan as the B29's will be used to support he Iwo Jima landings. If I'm close I may take my CV's up to Japan and pound away but we'll see.......

In terms of reinforcements the highlights are CV Bennington, BB Texas, CVE Ameer, Tracker and Commencement Bay, a load of Assault ships and LC's and 9 x SS.

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

Points:

Allies: +13,095 points
Japanese: +345 points


Bases:

Allies: +6 (+2,175 points)
Japanese: -6 (-396 points)


Planes:

Allies: +506 lost
Japanese: +699 lost


Troops:

Allies: +137 lost
Japanese: +1,028 lost


Ships:

Allies: +9 lost (+98 points. 5 x SS, 2 x DD and 1 x AMC at Davao).
Japanese: +74 lost (+806 points. The most substantial being 2 x CVE and BB Mutsu. Most of these losses were due to CV airpower (auxiliaries and merchants along with escorts and MTB's sunk by DD's off Iwo Jima)).

Allied Strat points: +8,422 points

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

Sub Kills:

15 of 20 attacks were successful = 75% success!

Dutch Boats:

PB - 5 (1 mine)
AK - 35
TK - 10
CM - 6
DD - 4
TB - 1
DMS - 3
E - 1
APD - 1
ACM - 1
AP - 1
AMC - 1
AR - 1

= 70 ships
-------------------------------

British Boats:

DD - 1 (1 mine)
AK - 14 (1 mine) (+1)
SC - 2
PB - 2
TK - 2
AO - 1
SS - 3 (2 mine)
DMS - 1 (1 mine)

= 26 ships

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

Fleet Boats:

AK - 302 (-5)
SC - 30 (+2)
AP - 14 (-1)
PB - 57 (+4)
TK - 77 (+2)
AKE - 1
CM - 6
ACM - 2
E - 37 (+4)
APD - 2
DD - 12 (+1)
CL - 1 (Oi)
AO - 8
PC - 1
AMC - 1
AV - 2
AM - 1 (1 mine)
SS - 2 (-1)
DMS - 4
CVE - 1 (Chuyo)

= 560 ships
--------------------------------

S-Boats:

AK - 23 (+1)
AP - 2
CM - 1
PB - 5
DMS - 1
SC - 7
TK - 4

= 43 ships

= 699 ships = 50.22% of reported sunk ships total.