Avian aggression leads to murder most fowl - Sqz(A) vs. Chickenboy(J)

[SqzMyLemon]

Andre's away for a week so there will be no game progress until his return. If anybody wants any info let me know.

[SqzMyLemon]

Andre is back and I'm about to run the Dec. 30th turn.

The Japanese are moving quickly. I don't expect Singapore or Luzon to last past Jan. 42 then the pressure will really be on.

Japanese SCTF's have been hanging out at Christmas Island for the last 2-3 days. I'm not sure what their purpose is other than to prevent me sending reinforcements or supply to the base without committing substantial naval assets. If it was a raid then it achieved it's purpose by sinking the lone transport and escort in the area. However, the fact that a Japanese SCTF consisting of at least one CA and another of two AMC's have remained in the area tells me one of two things. These are bait, or following Andre's modus operandi of sending small SCTF's to clear out an area prior to invasion. My only reaction to date has been to suspend further operations in the area until the situation becomes clear and deploy a number of submarines to patrol the area. SS Triton struck payday last turn torpedoing one of the AMC's.

I'll provide a more detailed update once the last few turns have been played to sum up 1941.

[SqzMyLemon]

Look like a Japanese invasion force is heading to Christmas Island. SS Tambor duds twice on CM Tokiwa embedded in an amphibious TF heading east. Another two TF's are spotted by PBY consisting of surface ships also heading east towards Christams Island. This will throw a kink in my plans for the island. Three submarines have spiked to DL's of 10/10, 8/8 and 3/3 which in my book means enemy CV's. I think they are just out of range and will be spotted tomorrow or the next day if they support the landings.

A Japanese DD and a DMS are already at the base clearing mines. There are 242 remaining. I had hoped to land a Marine Rgt. to reinforce the island, but they would have arrived just prior or during the first appearance of Japanese forces in the Line Islands and most likely sunk at sea.

Plan B it is.

[SqzMyLemon]

Christmas Island gets plastered by a Japanese BB bombardment TF during the night. All supply that was on the island is now gone so the defence of the atoll is already compromised. A further disappointment was no mine hits on the bombardment TF. Despite 242 mines and the ships coming to within 2k of the island no enemy ships were damaged. I'm glad I did not risk moving additional troops to the base, they'd all have ended up out of supply and eventually POW's. The lack of mine hits was a big disappointment, but maybe when the amphibious landings begin tomorrow there will be some carnage. I don't know what Andre is committing to the invasion, but for all intents and purposes Christmas Island is already lost. I just didn't have enough time to get the defence established and provide enough supply to hold out. That being said, I've already begun prepping units to take the island back eventually.

Singapore will not last long either, the Japanese have committed over 60 units to Malaya and the base doesn't have a chance to hold out. In light of this I expect a full blown invasion of India to follow as soon as Japan secures Singapore.

The big flanking move around Changsha has begun with the Japanese poised to mount a river crossing against Hengyang. I have to decide whether to risk losing the entire Changsha garrison by holding the base, or withdraw a large portion of the troops to hold the Chihkiang river line instead. Sian is secure as long as my troops can hold out in the rough terrain although large numbers of Japanese troops are being committed to clear the Nanyang - Sian road. China is going to get ugly and it's a question of where can I hold and for how long.

Fun times and Andre's enjoying beating up on the Allies. It's funny, but I feel no angst whatsoever. I just have to remain patient, take my lumps and put things in motion to eventually counter. Right now the priority is getting additional air and ground units to India, in particular the heavy bombers. Andre's pace is frightening, but it also allows me to relax and focus on conserving my forces for Australia and India to stave off auto-victory. I just can't move anything forward with any hope of holding due to his aggressiveness. It's going to be interesting to see if I can take advantage somehow.

[witpqs]

How much supply was destroyed by the bombardment? Do you mind posting that battle from the combat report so we can get an idea of the number of supply hits that too out how-much supply?

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

How much supply was destroyed by the bombardment? Do you mind posting that battle from the combat report so we can get an idea of the number of supply hits that too out how-much supply?

Sure thing. However, there was less than 1000 supply on the island prior to the bombardment. The last few attempts to supply the island were either sunk or had to be turned back due to threat of enemy interdiction. I landed the troops meant for Pago Pago at Christmas Island, but that TF had very little supply in it. I'm not complaining about being out of supply by the way, I just couldn't get enough to the base in time so kudos to Andre.

[witpqs]

Ah. I suspect that the Empire started with 70 or 80k tons of supply on Tinian and Saipan in my PBM and I'm wondering how the bombardments have been doing.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Christmas Island gets plastered by a Japanese BB bombardment TF during the night. All supply that was on the island is now gone so the defence of the atoll is already compromised. A further disappointment was no mine hits on the bombardment TF. Despite 242 mines and the ships coming to within 2k of the island no enemy ships were damaged. I'm glad I did not risk moving additional troops to the base, they'd all have ended up out of supply and eventually POW's. The lack of mine hits was a big disappointment, but maybe when the amphibious landings begin tomorrow there will be some carnage. I don't know what Andre is committing to the invasion, but for all intents and purposes Christmas Island is already lost. I just didn't have enough time to get the defence established and provide enough supply to hold out. That being said, I've already begun prepping units to take the island back eventually.

Singapore will not last long either, the Japanese have committed over 60 units to Malaya and the base doesn't have a chance to hold out. In light of this I expect a full blown invasion of India to follow as soon as Japan secures Singapore.

The big flanking move around Changsha has begun with the Japanese poised to mount a river crossing against Hengyang. I have to decide whether to risk losing the entire Changsha garrison by holding the base, or withdraw a large portion of the troops to hold the Chihkiang river line instead. Sian is secure as long as my troops can hold out in the rough terrain although large numbers of Japanese troops are being committed to clear the Nanyang - Sian road. China is going to get ugly and it's a question of where can I hold and for how long.

Fun times and Andre's enjoying beating up on the Allies. It's funny, but I feel no angst whatsoever. I just have to remain patient, take my lumps and put things in motion to eventually counter. Right now the priority is getting additional air and ground units to India, in particular the heavy bombers. Andre's pace is frightening, but it also allows me to relax and focus on conserving my forces for Australia and India to stave off auto-victory. I just can't move anything forward with any hope of holding due to his aggressiveness. It's going to be interesting to see if I can take advantage somehow.

I think your time in Central China is up. You don't have reliable recon as the Chinese - you may not see any movement dots until it's too late to get your guys out. Depending on your forts/supply situation at Changsha, you could delay there for a while with an appropriately-sized force, but if there's anything you want to save I would get it out. Once he takes Hengyang, all he has to do is take the base to the NE (and W of Changsha), and then your goose there is cooked.

I wouldn't count on the Chinese to hold the Sian road, especially not if armor shows up. You should also consider the ramifications if Changsha falls before this area does - is there anything you want to save from this phase of your resistance? Once Changsha falls, it's easier for him to move due north and cut Sian off from the central valley entirely.



I'm with you on the taking lumps and putting things in motion for later, though. In a way, it makes the early war Allies game that much easier. There are a few things you simply Must Do, and the rest seems to be just long term prep. That does involve moving some pieces around, but many of my early '42 Allies turns have been 15 minutes or less. Some stuff will either live or it will get engulfed in the expansion period. If it does live, that's a bonus. If not, it's all about making sure the asset doesn't go quietly, if possible. The only real exception to this, in my view, is China. That is one area that needs constant attention, which is really just loss mitigation.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Ah. I suspect that the Empire started with 70 or 80k tons of supply on Tinian and Saipan in my PBM and I'm wondering how the bombardments have been doing.

I'll definitely track bombardment/supply loss for you moving forward and periodically post on it.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Ah. I suspect that the Empire started with 70 or 80k tons of supply on Tinian and Saipan in my PBM and I'm wondering how the bombardments have been doing.

I'll definitely track bombardment/supply loss for you moving forward and periodically post on it.

In my experience, it's usually only a couple hundred for standard-size TFs that get lots of hits.

If Christmas for "plastered" (by several BBs and then some), I wouldn't be surprised at the loss of 1000-1500 supply, and not very surprised by something around 2000. Assuming high DLs, recon during bombardment, and some good rolls.

[SqzMyLemon]

Christmas Island falls to shock attack during the initial amphibious landing. Two back to back BB bombardments followed by a supporting bombardment of embeddd surface ships was too much for the defenders. Other than the 3rd Marine Defense Batalion all these troops would have been lost anyway. AAR follows:

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Ground combat at Christmas Island (174,141)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4646 troops, 40 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 182

Defending force 3148 troops, 105 guns, 56 vehicles, Assault Value = 35

Japanese adjusted assault: 49

Allied adjusted defense: 10

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Christmas Island !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
557 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2846 casualties reported
Squads: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 382 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 127 (127 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 48 (48 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 8

Assaulting units:
53rd Naval Guard Unit
61st Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 2nd SNLF
51st Nav Gd /1

Defending units:
114th USAAF Base Force
Christmas USN CPNAB
131st Field Artillery Battalion
147th Field Artillery Regiment
148th Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Marine Defense Battalion
115th USAAF Base Force
E Det USN Port Svc

Andre brought the kitchen sink for this amphibious operation. Four BB's and numerous other supporting SCTF's including KB which appeared three hexes northeast of Christmas Island this turn. I'm relieved to know where KB is, but is an air attack against Pearl Harbor now on the table?

Bad news everywhere, but the darkest days are yet to come.

[Capt. Harlock]

Andre brought the kitchen sink for this amphibious operation. Four BB's and numerous other supporting SCTF's

And I take it the mines did nothing worth mentioning... [:(]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

Andre brought the kitchen sink for this amphibious operation. Four BB's and numerous other supporting SCTF's

And I take it the mines did nothing worth mentioning... [:(]

My experience is that once the minefields are detected by an enemy ship, they can usually avoid them completely.
In this case the Japanese DMS not only detected them but swept a channel!

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

And I take it the mines did nothing worth mentioning... [:(]

Subject to FOW of course, but there were a couple of mine hits. AAR's follow:

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TF 6 encounters mine field at Christmas Island (174,141)

Japanese Ships
DD Yuzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Uzuki, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

3 mines cleared

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TF 6 encounters mine field at Christmas Island (174,141)

Japanese Ships
DD Kikuzuki
DD Uzuki, heavy damage
CA Aoba, Mine hits 1

3 mines cleared

That was it though. I'll take whatever I can get, but rather disappointing considering the number of Japanese ships that were operating in the hex.

[SqzMyLemon]

KB retires south of Christmas Island and is spotted heading west. I am so tempted to follow with two CV's and try and hit some of the enemy ships patrolling the Line Islands. I don't think this move would be expected, however, too much risk of KB changng course and heading towards Palmyra.

A small Allied supply TF was nailed at Noumea by two old Japanese CL's. Scratch two xAKL's and an AM.

I've begun to bug out of Changsha, I'll leave 1000 AV there, but the rest of the units are heading to Changteh. Units at Changteh are redeploying to Chihkiang. The Chinese 26th Group Army, which is my strategic reserve, is heading to Chihkiang to bolster the defence and prevent any chance of the troops withdrawing from Changsha getting trapped.

Interesting SigInt. Japanese troops heading for Kalidjati, not unexpected and the Japanese 4th Division is bound for Port Moresby which is also not unexpected. I wonder if KB will retire to support a landing at Port Moresby? Depending on Andre's dispositions, I may be able to interdict enemy forces landing at Port Moresby if the amphibious operation doesn't include KB support. I'll risk the Betty/Nell threat based out of Rabaul with my SCTF.

Supply TF's are nearing Australia and fuel/supply is pouring into India. Two Hurricane squadrons, the 17th and 258th, arrived at Aden and are being transported by ship to Karachi. The 18th British Division has arrived at Bombay and will head to Madras. Ceylon is receiving restricted reinforcements via the OOB, but I will not add non-restricted units to the defence. I don't want to lose the island, but if Singapore falls as fast as I think it will, I don't want to lose a large portion of the British/Indian Army on Ceylon if Japan invades. I need to remain flexible and not paint myself into a corner.

These first few months are going to be painful with the slow pace of the Allied buildup.

[SqzMyLemon]

Ack, the 4th Division landed at Port Moresby after being completely undetected. Well, I shouldn't really be surprised as the Australian PBY's have been assigned troop transport duties and only after the SigInt tip regarding the 4th Division were they switched back to search. Regardless, I am caught off guard. A SCTF based at Townsville is ordered to make a full speed run to try and catch the remaining transports. I'm guilty of waffling with this SCTF as it has been ordered back and forth between Townsville and Rockhampton for some time. It's moot since I had little air search set up off the coast of Australia and the chance of detecting any Japanese move against Port Moresby was slim. I've had some luck with full speed interdictions, but I worry that I'll remain too close to Port Moresby for my liking and see some Betty/Nell action next turn.

This is where the Manila strike against the American submarine force is paying off. Normally the submarines would be free to to patrol off the coast of New Guinea and throughout the Solomons as early warning beacons.

Japanese forces land at Kalidjati on Java. Not much I can or will do. My main holdout remains Soerabaja. In hindsight, I should have sent the American air units bought out from Luzon to Java. On a side note, Tarakan finally fell on the 2nd after Japan committed additional AV to take the base. The Dutch CD unit dished out some series damage over the course of the battle.

Allied submarines are getting a few strikes in. Two American submarines patrolling the Shikuka - Wakkanai route have sunk a small tanker and xAK over the last few days. A Dutch submarine duds on a Japanese DD at Tarakan though. I hate when the S-boats or Dutch dud on anything, but it happens.

In China, Hengyang falls to the Japanese after a river assault. The race to Chihkiang is on! I'm not sweating China though, I know it's impossible to hold against an aggressive/smart Japanese player in stock.

Dark days...

[zuluhour]

I have problems just keeping the moral of the Aussie CAT squadrons in the 90's. They fatigue fast and need weekends off. I have one in perfect position now. It flew in, flew three or four days, and now sits at 67 moral.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

I have problems just keeping the moral of the Aussie CAT squadrons in the 90's. They fatigue fast and need weekends off. I have one in perfect position now. It flew in, flew three or four days, and now sits at 67 moral.

I've actually started to re-deploy a number of Amerian PBY units to Australia via Fiji. There just isn't adequate coverage with the infant RAAF at this stage.

[SqzMyLemon]

A disappointing surface action by a combined American/Australian SCTF results in failure to interdict unloading transports at Port Moresby. A small Japanese DD screening force defies the odds and sends the Allied force packing. AAR follows:

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 97,131, Range 23,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Sawakaze, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Yakaze
DD Yukaze, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Wakatake

Allied Ships
CA Australia
CA Canberra
CL Perth, Shell hits 1
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 1
DD Edsall, Shell hits 1
DD Paul Jones
DD Parrott, Shell hits 1
DD Whipple, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stewart, Shell hits 1

Being a day time engagement the results are poor despite valuable PP's spent to improve ship Captains and the TF commander. The Allied TF even turns back without trying to reach Port Moresby. As feared, the SCTF remains within range of Japanese bombers based at Rabaul. Luckily, they are not torpedo capable yet. CA Canberra takes only one 60kg bomb hit, but it takes out her torpedo launcher. Give this round to the Japanese.

DD Whipple is in bad shape and broken off from the main TF with a single DD escort. The following day damage control efforts fail and the ship is in sinking condition. She'll most likely succumb on the 6th.

The remaining ships reach Townsville on the 5th, rearm and refuel prior to retiring for Rockhampton. I would not be surpised to see the old Japanese CL's patrolling around Noumea make a run to intercept my force. The possibility of a Japanese CA SCTF lurking in the area can't be counted out as Andre is very aggressive with his cruisers.

On Java the Japanese land additional troops and take the undefended base. I hate trying to defend Java so other than fortress Soerabaja, I haven't put much effort into any meaningfull defence of the numerous coastal bases. The speed and strength in which Andre moves makes trying to defend any particular base extremely difficult. There are just too many Japanese options available and none of them good for the Dutch. I hope to at least to wreck the facilities at Soerabaja by defending there.

Japanese forces reach Pegu, so the Burma road is cut. I'll update China soon as there are some critical decisions to make moving forward.

In hindsight, I would definitely have done a few things differently so far. I put it down to inexperience controlling the Allies and not being confident in their meagre early war capabilities. I realize that giving up on some areas too early will have consequences. The inability to slow the Japanese juggernaut will mean I have less time to get deeper defences set up and I expect to be hard pressed in some key areas. I'm playing to prevent an AV though, so will stick to my plan of not throwing away assets needlessly too early. There's still plenty of time to do that! [:D]

[SqzMyLemon]

Japanese units pour onto Java via Kalidjati. Oosthaven has fallen on Sumatra so another influx of Japanese units will appear shortly.

The Dutch airforce has performed abysmal. I didn't expect much so the performance didn't disappoint. The lack of LBA cover is the biggest reason I will not risk losing naval assets over the DEI.

42 Japanese units are poised to cross the causeway and assault Singapore. I have less than 800 AV behind level 3 forts. Singapore is toast. What I find surprising though is it seems a large number of Japanese naval assets are heading out of the DEI towards Babeldoab. CV Kaga and friends have been pounding Dutch shipping at Soerabaja and no vessels remain afloat. It will be interesting to see where this carrier force redeploys. With the chance of Singapore falling so quickly I'm surprised Andre is moving assets away. Maybe India isn't an objective after all? Then again, it's far too soon to discount anything.

My hat's off to Andre for the speed of his advance and there's little I can do to mount an effective defence. I have no option but to conserve my forces to avoid giving away free VP's. I do believe AV will be on the table and I'm not going to concede anything other than base VP's. Boring for Andre no doubt, but it's a situation of his own making.

No sign of KB after the Christmas Island invasion. My bet is on New Caledonia and Fiji being the next targets.

Hengyang and the two bases in clear terrain west of Changsha are in Japanese hands. Japanese forces are moving to cut the main Changsha - Changteh road to isolate Changsha. I'm leaving 1000 AV in Changsha behind level 4 forts. 650 AV is going to try and block the Japanese move to cut the road. I'm willing to lose all these units as they are meant to delay and force some kind of siege of Changsha. It may not be enough AV to hold for long though. I can't justify leaving 2000-2500 AV trapped at the base without weakening my overall position further than it already is. Around 800 Chinese AV has reached Kukong which is still in Chinese hands, but invested by a couple of Japanese units. I plan on withdrawing my entire force and march to reinforce Kweilin. The Japanese strength is concentrated around Changsha, so if I can get enough troops to the Kweilin area I could attempt a limited offensive to try and liberate Luichow.

Unescorted Japanese bombers have been targeting Chinese units around Sian. I deployed two squadrons of AVG to the base last turn to attempt a LRCAP ambush.

An Australian Bde. arrived at Aden and is loading up for Karachi. The rest of the Australian division will arrive over the next three weeks.