Grudge Match

[John B.]

Hello all, well as you can see below the first battle of Sian resulted in a stunning Chinese rebuff to the IJA. Although outnumbered 2-1 the Chinese army inflicted a 2-1 kill ratio on the IJA and managed to hold them off. I'm rebuilding the fort and more reinforcements are headed that way so I can pull some of the shattered corps out of the line for some rest and refit. But, the Japanese air force has returned its attentions to Sian so that will not be good.

Near Moresby things continue to go well. Scott has poured 5 divisions into his siege plus numerous other units. I have two on the ground plus the Americal unloading. I really think he's on the wrong end of the logistical tether. And, for all you long term planning fans, it seems that his army is mighty vulnerable to an amphibious invasion of Buna.[;)] Not this year but something to think about. And then to watch them all wither away. But, in the present, the Bismark Sea is now a fertile hunting ground for my S Boats. I have several there and in addition to the Hiyo (see above) they have put torpedoes into about 10 merchant ships in the past two weeks of game time. He needs to run convoys there to keep his Moresby siege in supply so I might as well continue to flood the zone. The Fleet subs continue to miss 5 times out of 6 and only have their torpedoes go off against AKLs.

Not much to report in Burma. I've decided to keep shelling because, well, why not. I kill a squad or gun each turn and it beats nothing. Plus, he uses up supply to fight back. I have another Rangoon resupply convoy heading in that this time a full load of Hurricane C's so let's see how well his fighters do. Finally, the American carriers are almost done with their upgrade cycle and I'm moving the troops that took Canton to Suva to join up with the New Zelanders to target Tarawa. Something to do when I find out that his carriers are elsewhere.

[John B.]

Hello all, it has been a long time since I posted. Sorry about that. There is nothing dramatic to report since my last post. So, here's a quick run-down. We're in mid-September 1942 and Scott's main effort is in China. He launched a major assault in Sian a couple of days ago that resulted in very high casualties for him (about 200 squads and devices). Unfortunately, his bombardment is killing 16 squads per day so I am withdrawing out of the city. My next line of defense is the river just north of Sian. He is also pushing in from the West. China is also suffering from a supply shortage. I'm flying supplies in and I still have the Burma road but his many bombardments trigger counter bombardments and there is not much I can do about that.

Stalemate in front of Rangoon. I bombard every turn, but really just to make him use supply. Every now and then I kill a squad but nothing to write home about. My Hurricane IIcs are training away in Chittagong. P-40ks and B-25s are coming on line so my fighter inferiority should lessen a bit over the coming months.

At Moresby I continue to bombard every turn. I can't figure out if he's pulling out or not but I kill a few squads every turn so there is no real harm. Unless something changes drastically he will not take that port as it has level three forts and four divisions in it. At Darwin I got a resupply convoy through and did a quick raid on a Japanese convoy that was unloading and got a couple of AKs. I plan to start invading the islands just north of Darwin within the next month. I am also planning on using the New Zealand troops that defended suva to take Tarawa also within the next month or so.

I have no idea where the KB is. I have not seen it in almost two months. I figure he's upgrading just as I have been but I would like to know where they are. My own carriers have finished their upgrades and are now south of Pago Pago heading towards Sydney. One lucky break, I happened across a IJN sub about ten hexes south of Pearl that got off a shot at the Hornet and missed. Phew!

I am relatively happy with the sub war given how lousy the torpedoes are. Thus far I have hits (that exploded) on about 70 AKs and AKLs with a few tankers and APs thrown in. He has sunk one sub which makes me very happy. Oh, and the subs did sink the Hiyo which is another feather in their cap.

[John B.]

Hello all. Nothing dramatic has happened so it's just a quick update. The main effort appears to be in China. I had to pull out of Sian as his artillery barrages were too costly so I've pulled just across the river and, oddly, Scott seems quiet for now. In the meantime he continues his assault just one hex away from Lanchow. I've held so far and reinforcements are streaming there. Since he's far away from his logistical base there if I can get enough troops I may be able to push him back. My AT regiment there is giving a good account of itself with 12 dead vehicles and 48 disabled in the latest round of attacks. Down in the south east I've roughed up a division and retaken a couple of towns (and freed 10 LI points, every one counts! Scott is getting feisty in Burma and come across the river with a division two hexes north of Pegu. My Burmese Brigade held the first attack and now reinforcements are there. I continue the bombardments at Moresby killing 8-15 squads and devices per turn. I've got just about 1,500 tubes there with nothing better to do than to shoot at him. But, he may be pulling out, it's tough to say. In the meantime he has 200 fighters at Buna so I'm keeping my head down in the air. The P-40 K is starting to show up and the Hurricane IIIc's are here so I at least have something that can fight back.

No sign of the KB. I wonder if he's holding it back to counter any invasion I may launch. That may save him fuel but his time of superiority is slowly slipping away.

My subs continue to give a pretty good account of themselves despite the crappy torpedoes. Today the Guardfish took down an AK full of fuel north of the Philippines and the KXII put two fish into a DMS in the southern Philippine islands.

[BBfanboy]

Did you ever get any indication that Hiyo sank on the way to port? Sounds? Aircraft destroyed on the "ground"? Admission by the Japanese?

[John B.]

BBfanboy,

Well, it's a little bit of a mystery regarding the Hiyo. I never heard sinking sounds and there is not really anything in dead aircraft to show that it's complement was lost. It was also taken off the sunk list for a little while but then reappeared and it's been on here (see below) for about a month now. And, it did take 4 torpedoes so on balance I think it may have gone down but I'm not 100% sure. I am pretty sure that the Shokaku did not go down even though it's listed on here and has been for awhile since it only took one torpedo hit. Akagi? It was toast! [:)]

As an update, there was some drama in Burma and China this turn. First, his division north of pegu launched a shock attack on the Burmese brigade and a demoralized Indian Brigade but could not budge me. He's listed as short of supply and disorganized so he may be stuck there until the Australian division makes it at which point he may be sorry. And, Scott dropped a raider regiment on Tsyun Gi in Burma. By pure luck I had three armored units passing through on the way to the fight in north of Pegu. The raiders did not fare well and now they are about to watch tanks roll over them.[:D] I'd gloat a little bit more, but it was pure and total chance that my units were there.

In China, Scott seems to be gearing up for an attack on Changsha but my defenses are pretty strong. On the other hand, I count 10 (TEN!) IJN divisions in the hex plus various assortments of other units. I have 5 reserve corps in Changsha resting but it could be a tough fight. I did eliminate a IJN mixed regiment near Nanning. I'm now going after another regiment that has been besieging Pakoi (sp?). It's quiet on the Sian front for now which is saving me supply and letting my troops rest up.

Not much news elsewhere. The American carriers just made it to Sydney. No sign of the KB.

[John B.]

Hello all,

Time for a quick update as we grind our way through September 1942. As you can see from the map below, my counter offensive in Southern China has met with some success. I have eliminated two Mixed Regiments at or near Pakhoi and now the southern group of corps (4 of them) are headed to the small encalve to the south (Kwangchung?). I like it because it has 21 light industry and I don't need to leave a garrison behind so I won't lose troops if I can take it. I can leave reap supply dividends until Scott comes back. Meanwhile, I just mauled an RGC division at Wuchow inflicting about 100 squad/item casualties for no Chinese loss. Although I have to leave a garrison here it has 43 active light factories so, again, a nice supply payback for awhile. I don't actually intend to go on to Canton since I'm sure Scott and reinforce it heavilly and it needs a 360 squad garrison for a not very large factory pay off. The Sian sector is quiet as it Lanchow where I think my reinforcements arrived in time to stall his offensive there. So, for now I think China is in a little bit of a stalemate with me picking up crumbs whereever Scott isn't.

Scott's offensive in Burma has come to grief. He lost an SNLF unit as I moved to cut off the 59th division which has now fought it's way out but is still in a precarious position with no road to get away and a British division coming across the river. My bombardments at Moresby continue but I think he's pulling out. I'm frequently tempted to launch an attack since his high casualties indicate poor morale but I think he's still too strong. I just reoccupied Mereuke (sp? island north west of Horn Is.). I have a BB/CA task force moving to intercept some AKLs that are unloading and Dabo. I actually think he has a crusier task force nearby and I'm hoping that my BB (admittedly a Pearl survivor) is a surprise. Meanwhile, I'm starting to move assets to Suva to prepare for the NZ forces to land at Tarawa.

Still, however, no sign of any IJN carriers. The main fleet has not been seen in several months and no carriers at all since the Hiyo went down. Tis a puzzlement.

[John B.]

There are big doing afoot sports fans. It's been about a month and is now Oct. 16 1942. In the interim Scott has now pulled all the way out of Moresby and it appears even Buna. I've now launched three divisions across the Kokoda trail and it will be awhile but, assuming Scott as pulled out I'll have a foothold on the other side of New Guinea. In China I took Kwangchung and on October 14, 1942 the CAF caught 23 Anns and blew them all out of the sky. A rare success. Basically, his offensive is on hold and we're changing towns in the south. As long as China keeps fighting I'm happy.

In Burma I've ground down his 52nd division and it may finally break this turn. I've been using dutch bombers (because, why not?) who are all now at Ground Level experience of 70+ and Wellingtons. But, Scott really caught me with my pants down. I had a resupply convoy heading into Rangoon and it got jumped by 4 IJN CAs and a flood of destroyers. In the end I only lost three AKs basically because there were too many ships for him to shoot at and my two CAs absorbed a lot of the punishment. But, they didn't sink and actually managed to put paid to 5 IJN AKLs at Moulmein in a night surface action.

The big news is below. I have not seen the KB in over two months. And, there it is right it the midst of what appears to be a major operation headed east. but, I can't figure out what the target would be of such a large force? Johnston Island? Canton Island is only worth 30 points. And, because this is a game where worlds collide at this moment a major American task force is loading at Suva with a target of Tarawa (that's the yellow force track you see). The American KB is there as well with 5 CVs and there is a bombardment task force with a CVE. It will take me two more days to fully load and see what he does. If he heads back to Truk then we're good. If he keeps going East it makes it much more interesting (and uses up lots of his fuel). Stay tuned.

[BBfanboy]

Does he have any troop concentrations south of where his ships are? From the way you describe his withdrawal from Buna, I wonder if he is evacuating all his troops from exposed parts of his perimeter.

[John B.]

BBFanboy,

He does not have any troop concentrations or even bases south of his various task forces. If he were heading to Johnston Island or someplace like that he's taking an odd course. Part of me wonders if he's heading back to Suva in which case my huge fleet down there is going to have to bug out quick. I have a turn waiting in the hopper so hopefully things will clarify with the next air search reports.

[BBfanboy]

Oct. 42 seems pretty late for him to go looking for new territory in SOPAC. Hope you can remind him why it is a bad idea ...[:)]

[Mike McCreery]

Nevermind... I replied to the top of the page which was ages ago

[Capt. Harlock]

got jumped by 4 IJN CAs and a flood of destroyers. In the end I only lost three AKs basically because there were too many ships for him to shoot at and my two CAs absorbed a lot of the punishment. But, they didn't sink

Spock: "Random factors have operated in our favor."

McCoy: "In other words, we've been lucky."

Spock: "I believe I said that, doctor." [:D]

[John B.]

@Capt. Harlock, yeah I'd say random factors were operating in my favor on that one!

Not a dramatic picture this time, but you can see that I've started the sprint to Tarawa. The amphb task force has cranked up to full speed so I'm two days out and I don't think I've been spotted, but one can never be sure. I'm following my usual "radio silence" routine by not having any squadrons on search so I don't spot a ship or sub of his with an SBD which would most likely make him go "hmmm, what's that doing there." A bit risky but I"m not strong enough yet to just go blasting in, especially as Truk is not too far away (and I really really hope the KB is there and not lurking north of Tarawa!). The search planes go up tomorrow, however.

Things are quiet elsewhere. So tooing and froing in South China where I'm happy to keep him busy taking and retaking cities while I chew on some IJA regiments and assorted allied troops. A nice airlift is going into china now bring in more than 100 sp per turn which is complementing the Burma Road. I finally beat up that one IJA division that had crossed the river north of Pegu. Bombing raids on his airbases in the islands north of Darwin just to keep them down until I can start my offensive there, which is next on deck assuming Tarawa comes off ok.

I did get a radio intercept that two portions of IJA divisions were planning for Luganville so BBFanboy he may be heading south while I head north. Stay tuned, the next few days could be interesting!

[John B.]

Tarawa is ours and fairly won. It turns out that Scott had a very small garrison that was obliterated by my invasion (175+ carrier planes with 1,000 pound and 500 pound bombs probably helped). This is good as it's worth 100 VP and it gives me search capability far north of Pago Pago and can shorten my convoy routes. I got most of the troops ashore and the KB showed up. I've headed south but the KB is reported near Kawjalein and headed east (see picture below). So, since he has some merchant ships at Naru I'm sending my KB back north to maybe rake them in as a little bonus and then raid Tulagi on my way to sydney to refit. Of course, if he sends the KB south there could be a nasty little carrier battle. We shall see.

He got the bounce on me over Pegu and shot down 20 fighters for the loss of one of his own. But, my armor is almost across the river so things may get interesting there. China is still calm with to and fro in the south. I'm thinking of invading Vietnam. Any downside besides some weak Vietnamese divisions?

At Moresby I just killed a IJA battalion that was on post duty between me and Buna. I may clear out the jungle and use my troops to hold keep his Buna garrison large and not being deployed elsewhere. Not much else to report.

[Capt. Harlock]

I got most of the troops ashore and the KB showed up. I've headed south but the KB is reported near Kawjalein and headed east (see picture below). So, since he has some merchant ships at Naru I'm sending my KB back north to maybe rake them in as a little bonus and then raid Tulagi on my way to sydney to refit. Of course, if he sends the KB south there could be a nasty little carrier battle. We shall see.

In '42, it's always useful for the Allies to know where the KB is. How ready are your own CV's for a fight? Have you got the 40 mm guns, and the Atlanta-class CLAA's?

[John B.]

Capt. Harlock,

Nope, no 40 mm. I'm actually heading back to Sydney to send the American carriers into refit. I got three AKLs and a PB at Naru. I then swung by Luganville and picked up 7 AKs and 3 PBs so a nice little bonus to the Tarawa expedition. But, I think that Scott is going to go paste Tarawa. I see the KB heading down that way and a BB task force heading to it as well.

John

[John B.]

After an intense 4 BB bombardment and two days of airstrikes from the KB the IJA 7th division went in and ran into a meatgrinder. No, they hit their teeth on a brick wall. All hail the NZ brigades and american paratroop battalions. [&o] I'm not sure what the actual casualties were as I don't think the entire 7th division had 400 squads in it. But, regardless, they have a lot fewer now. I don't quite believe that the division is on the brink so this turn is an exploratory bombardment from one unit and some airstrikes from B-26s that flew in overnight now that the shore bombardment is over. If the 7th division still shows up at 0 strength or thereabouts next turn I'll assault and maybe clear them out of there. Either way, this is a big victory for the boys of Tarawa!

[Capt. Harlock]

I'm not sure what the actual casualties were as I don't think the entire 7th division had 400 squads in it. But, regardless, they have a lot fewer now.

It's also very interesting that the IJA combat squads and engineers both show all their losses as destroyed rather than disabled. Congrats!

[John B.]

Hello all, It's been a month in real time and in game time. We are approacing the end of November 1942 and there are doings afoot!

First, Scott has some carrier task force headed towards the Aleutians. The only reason I know this is because he ran into my sub stream heading back to Dutch Harbor for the 12/42 refit. His carrier air did sink a sub [:(] but I'm not too worried. There are very few VPs in the Aleutains so he can have them if he wants to spend the effort. I did scramble the support ships out of Dutch Harbor just in case. This is developing.

In China, I made a play for Canton and got slapped around so I'm pulling back. He is starting to pound the river hex northwest of Sian with air so he might be about to start a big push there. No real answer for the IJA air superiority. I have some Lancers and P-40ks but its just pinpricks.

I have started my big push into the seas north of Darwin. Right now the 1st Marine Div plus support troops is loading at Sydney to invade Dobo. It is going to have 7 BBs and 5 CVs in supporting TFs. My B-24s and B-25Cs out of Darwin have been suppressing IJA airbase construction on all of the islands just north of Darwin to keep the land based air threat under control. He has swarms of fighters at Buna and so I'll take it on the chin to do some sweeps over that along with B-17s out of Townsville to try to keep the Bettys under control as I pass through Horn Island. I've also put almost all of my electric boats and the dutch off of Dobo to intercept any surface forces heading my way. I think that most of his carriers are in Truk but we shall see.

And, in the big push spirit, I've decided to also put another supply convoy into Rangoon. These are always hard fought. I have B-25s and Wellingtons in Rangoon plus b-24s in Chittagon who are doing to do a surprise (I hope) raid on his bomber bases to help the convoy get through. He has scads of fighters that continue to dominate the skis (even the Hurrican IIcs don't seem to do well) but my hope is to pressure him everywhere.

[Capt. Harlock]

He has scads of fighters that continue to dominate the skis (even the Hurrican IIcs don't seem to do well) but my hope is to pressure him everywhere.

It's time to start rolling out the Spitfires and Lightnings.