Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy(A) vs KenchiSulla (J)

[Mundy]

09 June 1942

Mean, nasty S-18 gets another shot today, at Shoho. Unfortunately, a miss. I'll have to seek out sub commanders with similar stats for this area.

I'm getting a buildup of people at Benares. I still have my supply issues in India. I'm moving a bunch of xAKs from Aden to Abadan to help with this, since that also seems to be a good supply source.

I think KB has just vanished. I'm only seeing CVLs off of Port Moresby. I'll wait a turn or so before assuming this, since search planes can be erratic at times. If they have left, I'll have to assume something else is up. I've withdrawn my two carriers back to Wellington.

If he keeps using SAGs west of Oz, I'll start sending tankers to Albany.

[Mundy]

12 June 1942

Dealt with this back on the 9th:

ight Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato

Allied ground losses:
343 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17
Port hits 3

E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BB Yamato
BB Yamato firing at 4th KNIL Regiment
F1M2 Pete acting as spotter for BB Mutsu
BB Mutsu firing at Port Moresby
F1M2 Pete acting as spotter for BB Nagato
BB Nagato firing at Barisan KNIL Regiment


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

Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna

Allied ground losses:
127 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

BB Kirishima firing at 4th KNIL Regiment
BB Hiei firing at Barisan KNIL Regiment
BB Haruna firing at Barisan KNIL Regiment

Yamato finally decides to poke her beak into my affairs. Port Moresby finally fell this turn. Supply (lack thereof) and disruption did them in. Most of them escaped into the jungle, where they'll spend the rest of their miserable lives starving.

Wasp, North Carolina, San Juan and friends all departed Panama, bound for New Zealand. Most of Wasp's squadrons are a few short, but that should be taken care of when they reach port.

My first big cargo force shows up at Auckland. The 11th MAG, a couple base forces and a port maintenance engineer unit are there, along with a bunch of airplanes -- a mix of USMC and USAAF types. I'd say there's about three carriers worth of combat planes there now. Armed LCUs are mainly the indigenous variety with a few brigades of infantry and some light armor.

In China, I scored a victory at Ankang, shining a small ray of hope on things there...

Ground combat at Ankang (82,42)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 42311 troops, 158 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1147

Defending force 378 troops, 0 guns, 71 vehicles, Assault Value = 38

Allied adjusted assault: 127

Japanese adjusted defense: 16

Allied assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ankang !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 58 (56 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
489 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
41st Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
7th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
22nd Group Army
7th New Chinese Corps
55th Chinese Corps
21st Group Army
3rd Group Army
5th War Area
8th Group Army
2nd Group Army
31st Group Army

Defending units:
23rd Tank Regiment

My Chinese corps in India surrenders, finally. The USA 27 will probably get away. They did take some reinforcement components today, so there's still life in them.

I think KB is still present near Moresby. They look to be headed back, probably to Rabaul or maybe Truk. They will run my sub gauntlet in the straits.

One of my blimps reports a hit on a sub near San Francisco.

[Mundy]

16 June 1942

Enterprise has been flipped over to TBFs. They're at about half strength. When up, I'll have four carriers converted over.

Mush Morton had a little "accident" on the way out of San Fran:

Sub vs Sub: SS I-26 attacking SS Wahoo at 213,73

Japanese Ships
SS I-26

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo, Torpedo hits 1

SS I-26 launches 2 torpedoes at 1,000 yards

She's at 10 sys, 35 flt and 1 eng, so she'll probably get back okay.

On the other side of the ocean...

Sub attack near Wakkanai at 122,47

Japanese Ships
xAK Aden Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Nagato Maru
SC Ch 26

Allied Ships
SS Nautilus

SS Nautilus launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Aden Maru
Nautilus diving deep ....

Nautilus' CO must be "adjusting" the torpedoes a bit. This is like kill number 7 for this boat.

Another good shot near Ceylon:

Sub attack near Koggala at 28,51

Japanese Ships
TK San Pedro Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Greenling

SS Greenling launches 4 torpedoes at TK San Pedro Maru
Sub escapes detection

I've got two significant ground engagements going on right now.

First:

Ground combat at Gorakhpur (54,26)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7772 troops, 110 guns, 477 vehicles, Assault Value = 395

Defending force 21389 troops, 266 guns, 286 vehicles, Assault Value = 600

Japanese adjusted assault: 352

Allied adjusted defense: 149

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), preparation(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
108 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 17 (1 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
501 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
7th Tank Regiment
Guards Tank Division

Defending units:
7th Indian Division
27th Infantry Division
19th Indian Division
1st Madras Construction Battalion
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
225 RAF Base Force

If they fall, they'll be driven back to Lucknow. I only had troops here on a whim to begin with, so I lucked out. I have an anti-tank unit, but they're at Benares.

The other, in China:

Ground combat at Paoshan (65,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15282 troops, 185 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 351

Defending force 12922 troops, 48 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 195

Japanese adjusted assault: 370

Allied adjusted defense: 388

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
289 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Guards Division
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
21st Army

Defending units:
54th Chinese Corps
NCAC
33rd Base Group

This one keeps going back and forth turn to turn. One turn I clobber them and they do the same the next.

It seems odd, but with Port Moresby gone, things feel simplified a bit.

Two USA regiments have landed at Auckland, along with more engineers and some artillery. It will be almost as tough as Suva before too long. I haven't really read any AARs dealing with a New Zealand invasion. I'm not sure where the typical landing points would be. I doubt they'd sail right up the gut at the main bases. I'm having to spread out some squadrons to the little places to make room at Auckland and Wellington. As mentioned before, I have about three carriers worth of combat power there. The third regiment to the division (37th, I think) will arrive in San Francisco in about a month and a half or so.

[Capt. Harlock]

Mush Morton had a little "accident" on the way out of San Fran:

quote:

Sub vs Sub: SS I-26 attacking SS Wahoo at 213,73

Japanese Ships
SS I-26

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo, Torpedo hits 1

SS I-26 launches 2 torpedoes at 1,000 yards


She's at 10 sys, 35 flt and 1 eng, so she'll probably get back okay.

That's it from a Japanese torpedo? Wahoo's a lucky boat. . .

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
It seems odd, but with Port Moresby gone, things feel simplified a bit.

Two USA regiments have landed at Auckland, along with more engineers and some artillery. It will be almost as tough as Suva before too long. I haven't really read any AARs dealing with a New Zealand invasion. I'm not sure where the typical landing points would be. I doubt they'd sail right up the gut at the main bases. I'm having to spread out some squadrons to the little places to make room at Auckland and Wellington. As mentioned before, I have about three carriers worth of combat power there. The third regiment to the division (37th, I think) will arrive in San Francisco in about a month and a half or so.

No, that makes a lot of sense to me. Port Moresby was a drain on you. It was an exposed outpost that you had difficulty maintaining. Now that it is gone your weakest point of defense has also vanished.

I definitely applaud your efforts to further your defensive preparations but with summer well underway it's time you think shift your thinking a bit. This is especially true with the Japanese engaged with you heavily in India while struggling heavily to take Port Moresby. Now bases like Auckland need to become staging areas while you establish outposts closer to the current Japanese positions which are probably unlikely to move forward in the Pacific. Given your play style in particular I think you will be well served in moving early to establish bases for fighters later on. The bomber crews in 1943 will thank you for your 1942 decisions.

In particular I'm curious about the Gilberts. With Noumea and Port Moresby gone I think it makes the Gilberts more important and is a weakness in Japanese defenses. If you can get 4E bombers and P-38 fighters flying full load in the Gilberts you can dominate the region.

[Mundy]

Yeah, lots of choices coming up. I've struggled in the Gilberts before, my only experience being a game vs the AI. There, I took Tarawa, but got pretty much stuck there in a stalemate. I'd probably want to grab at least four bases at once, similar to what I'm thinking about the Marshalls. There's always a move to Luganville to cut off everything south of there, too. I've got time to think about it. I have four battleships in the yards for upgrades -- two of them with 60 day jobs. Long Island is in San Fran, training up a VMB squadrons of SBDs. That would be good close air support for an invasion. Wasp should be on-map in a couple days. I saw carriers north of Rabaul, so I figure KB is off to Truk right now.

17 June 1942

Today is bad torpedo day.

Sub attack near Pescadores at 84,62

Japanese Ships
TK Goyo Maru
TK Kurume Maru
TK Tatekawa Maru
TK Rikko Maru
TK Akatsuki Maru
E Ishigaki

Allied Ships
SS Triton

SS Triton launches 4 torpedoes at TK Goyo Maru
Triton diving deep ....

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

Sub attack near Sapporo at 119,49

Japanese Ships
xAK Nissho Maru
TK Yuho Maru
TK Tennan Maru
xAK Kinsyu Maru
PB Okuyo Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Dolphin

SS Dolphin launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Nissho Maru
Dolphin diving deep ...

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

Sub attack near Truk at 111,109

Japanese Ships
xAK Tarayasu Maru
xAK Toba Maru
PB Naruto Maru #3

Allied Ships
SS Gar

SS Gar launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Tarayasu Maru
Gar diving deep ....

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

Submarine attack near Torres Islands at 117,147

Japanese Ships
xAKL Heiwa Maru, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-31

xAKL Heiwa Maru is sighted by SS S-31
SS S-31 attacking on the surface
SS S-31 low on gun ammo, Williamson, T.F. breaks off surface engagement and submerges

Rather interesting with the heavy tanker presence at Pescadores. Is it possible to lean heavily on non-Japanese HI for points?

My only successful sub incident involved no torpedoes.

My one big fight in India:

Ground combat at Gorakhpur (54,26)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7726 troops, 110 guns, 477 vehicles, Assault Value = 381

Defending force 20691 troops, 264 guns, 285 vehicles, Assault Value = 549

Japanese adjusted assault: 186

Allied adjusted defense: 94

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
102 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
475 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled

Assaulting units:
7th Tank Regiment
Guards Tank Division

Defending units:
7th Indian Division
27th Infantry Division
19th Indian Division
1st Madras Construction Battalion
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
225 RAF Base Force

I don't think they'll hold out much longer there. I've got the planes gone already.

[Sangeli]

Interesting battle in India. Seems to be pretty good evidence those early war infantry divisions can't really stop tanks. Even the American ones. Although the lack of supply can't help either.

[Mundy]

Yeah, not a lot of stuff to fight with. You need the dedicated AT units to help.

[Capt. Harlock]

Japanese Ships
xAKL Heiwa Maru, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-31

xAKL Heiwa Maru is sighted by SS S-31
SS S-31 attacking on the surface
SS S-31 low on gun ammo, Williamson, T.F. breaks off surface engagement and submerges



Rather interesting with the heavy tanker presence at Pescadores. Is it possible to lean heavily on non-Japanese HI for points?

My only successful sub incident involved no torpedoes.

And even then, the deck gun ran out of ammo before they could sink the target. Accuracy seems to be a problem . . .

[Mundy]

Yep...emptied the magazine on that one.

20 June 1942

I indulged in some adventurism this turn. Colombo bombardment mission, Mk II. I filled out the Martlet squadrons on Formidable and Illustrious and gave it another go, encouraged by my results last time.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,42

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 66 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
G4M1 Betty x 33

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 13 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1
CV Formidable
CL Newcastle
CLAA Van Heemskerck

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp


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

Morning Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,42

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
G4M1 Betty x 18

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CV Formidable

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp


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

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,42

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
G4M1 Betty x 22

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 11 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Formidable
BB Resolution

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

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

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,42

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
G4M1 Betty x 18

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 8 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Illustrious is at 33 sys, 74 flt and 3 eng. She's enroute with an escort to Mangalore. If damage is halfway under control, I'll continue to Bombay, otherwise, I'll disband there and heal a bit. Two RAF fighter squadrons are moved to the coast to LRCAP, The fighters on the other CV are nearly all damaged and can contribute no more. None of my battleships were touched. The way I outnumbered the Zekes, I thought they would shred them mercilessly, but they weren't up to the task. Definitely not "Midway" material. I probably could have full speeded the BBs in and hit Colombo, but that's needless risk at this point.

My last infantry regiment for the Marshalls op is bought out at San Francisco and enroute to Pearl. As mentioned, any move there is at least a month and a half out, due to battleship refits. If KB is at Truk, that move would be pretty dangerous anyway, as it wouldn't take them long to get there. I need more prep time anyway.

In China, I got driven out of Paoshan:

Ground combat at Paoshan (65,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15677 troops, 185 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 392

Defending force 12894 troops, 47 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 181

Japanese adjusted assault: 808

Allied adjusted defense: 283

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Paoshan !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
204 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
4741 casualties reported
Squads: 48 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 220 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 46 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (15 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (18 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
5th Guards Division
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Army

Defending units:
54th Chinese Corps
NCAC
33rd Base Group

The 33rd surrendered to the hoards. Anytime I'm involved in an iffy fight, I should start running any support units out pronto, as they always give up.

Big air battle over Gorakhpur:

Morning Air attack on 7th Indian Division, at 53,26 , near Gorakhpur

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 4

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
165 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
51st FG/26th FS with P-400 Airacobra (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead



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

Morning Air attack on 7th Indian Division, at 53,26 , near Gorakhpur

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 42
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 27

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 4 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
24 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
23rd FG/76th FS with P-40E Warhawk (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
51st FG/26th FS with P-400 Airacobra (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(9 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 107 minutes



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

Morning Air attack on 7th Indian Division, at 53,26 , near Gorakhpur

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 27
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 21

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Morning Air attack on 7th Indian Division, at 53,26 , near Gorakhpur

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 36

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Kill ratio was in my favor, but he has the pure advantage in numbers, rendering any success moot.

I've had my fun, but I'm back to continuing my buildups. If he runs a four-strong version of KB, I can probably take them.

Here's what that part of India looks like:

[Mundy]

Here's the tabulated losses. That Zero ablative armor worked wonders...

Apart form this, I'm buying out Seabees, since I have my regiments done. Once I get a bunch of CB units out, I'll save up for some divisions.

[Sangeli]

Those British CVs cannot stand up to Japanese LBA. Especially in this game where I think that CAP on CVs is too weak compared to real life. Despite having a decent number fighter the vast majority of the Betty's in each wave successfully launched torpedoes; it was inevitable they would end up with a couple of hits. Disrupting Japanese LBA with your own LBA is a must if you want to launch BB bombardments covered by CVs. Of course even if the Illustrious sinks the loss won't be felt too badly as it was due to withdraw anyway. I just hope your much more valuable USN CVs don't have to relearn these sorts of lessons the hard way.

[Mundy]

The LBA situation in India is lame enough as it is. I can't compete with his air in the NE. Karachi is loaded with broken units, which respawned from the Java disaster. Two USN CVs on the same mission probably would have seen the bombardment through. I was optimistic based on my last attempt, but Illustrious was only about 2/3 strength in Wildcats that time.

Ceylon is basically a dead issue to me right now.

The USN carriers will only get involved in "must have" situations -- preferably in the middle of a Suva invasion. With KB gone, any timetable for that is unknown to me. I can hope when he commits, a little bird will tell me ahead of time. Any activity near Townsville or Brisbane will help me as much as it would in Suva. Wellington's nearing that point, also. More support troops are landing next turn to help on that end. North Island will be a fortress, but South Island is weak. I'm due to check on locations for units known to be prepping for Suva/Oz/New Zealand. With my intel reports, I tend to ignore anything which doesn't say "preparing for invasion of" or "is moving to". I'll sort by unit, once I know its intentions to see if any location fixes have come up. Later, I'll spell out what I know for the future.

I'm thinking of moving my heavy bombers at Suva to Townsville to harass Port Moresby. Luganville and Noumea are starting to get a bit strong to hit with unescorted bombers. Moresby's probably nothing but rubble yet, so maybe I can keep it that way. When P-38s start to show, maybe I can get a bit more daring. I wonder how feasible, grabbing Truk right from the Marshalls is. Ponape would have to go first, I would think. It would definitely hose up everything to the south. It's probably time for some skamboogery missions with Argonaut, I think. I think all my USMC paras are at Pearl. She's in Suva, as I was intending to help supply PM with her, but now doesn't have a mission there.

Illustrious' fighters that were in-air have landed. When repaired up, I'll used them in the east to help out. I'm getting the supply conveyor belt rolling out of Abadan, so I hope the supply situation in India will improve within two weeks. Fuel isn't an issue there at all, as about 1.2 million points of fuel are just sitting at Karachi and Bombay.

I'm upping my sub presence in the Pescadores-Formosa area, based on his tanker presence there before. No clue how he's routing his fuel, since none of it seems to be going to Japan. Sounds like some exploit of a better fuel situation in IronBabes. Most of my fleet boats are running out of Dutch Island or Midway. Some fleet boats and the S-boats are running from Suva and/or Brisbane and/or Townsville. They're heavily covering Luganville, Koumac and Noumea, as well as the straits off of Milne Bay. Some of the latter got beat up badly, but I'm now sure how, as I didn't notice it on the reports. Might have been some lucky air. My blimps in San Francisco have already claimed two hits within a week there. I've seen completely unarmed planes claim hits, too...

I've always been good with subs, so this is a bit frustrating.

Turns will be a little slow until Friday. I'm stuck at work late today and tomorrow, so with our time zone difference, we'll only get one turn out these days. I'm impressed we manage two on weekdays, with 3-4 each on weekends. That's about two weeks game time in one real week, which is blazing fast in my experience.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
It's probably time for some skamboogery missions with Argonaut, I think. I think all my USMC paras are at Pearl. She's in Suva, as I was intending to help supply PM with her, but now doesn't have a mission there.

I would definitely prepare such missions by getting units in place but I think you need another OP concurrent with "skamboogery" missions to keep the Japanese honest. The problem with any SST occupation/invasion is that while you can easily and cheaply get units to their destination, they are very exposed and become easy targets for Japanese bombers and eventually counter invasion. It is time consuming and resource consuming for the Japanese in comparison to what you invest but if Japanese resources aren't being stretched it really just becomes extended combat training as the missions are generally low risk. You're best off waiting until you have another OP (or two) to divert Japanese attention and stretching those assets.

[Mundy]

21 June 1942

Illustrious gets caught and finished. The RAF CAP made a decent showing, but they wouldn't be driven off.

orning Air attack on TF, near Cochin at 28,39

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 32

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5
Hurricane IIb Trop x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 15 destroyed, 2 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

CAP engaged:
No.67 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
No.136 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (13 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
13 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead

My air at Auckland:

3 VMF F4F
1 VMF F2A
2 VMSB SBC
1 VMSB SBD-1
1 VMSB SBD-2
1 USAAF P-39
5 USAAF P-40 (mix if Bs and Es)
1 USAAF A-20

That should hold 'em.

Heavy bombers at Suva are moving to Townsville and are paying Port Moresby a visit. I'm replacing them with assorted USMC and USAAF planes from Pearl -- 8 transports worth. Antiship was fairly weak there, so I'm adding more, plus three fighter squadrons.

[Mundy]

23 June 1942

My SigInt summary:

Unit - Date - Last Known Location - Location Last Date

Brisbane:
57th Division - 1942-05-06 - 111,43 - 1942-05-12

Suva:
20th Recon Regiment - 1942-03-14 - Fusan - 1942-06-17
40th Inf Group Brigade - 1942-05-12 - Fusan - 1942-05-27
78th Infantry Regiment - 1942-06-16 - Fusan - 1942-05-04
20th Engineer Regiment - 1942-06-22 - Fusan - 1942-04-30

Suva:
9th Division - 1942-04-13 - 111,43 - 1942-02-03
17th Army - 1942-05-25 - Yokohama/Yokosuka - 1942-06-05

Townsville:
29th Division - 1942-04-04 - Mukden - 1942-05-07

Perth:
11th Division - 1942-04-29 - <unknown>

111,43 if I remember right, is right on the Manchu-Russkie border.

I think my esteemed opponent is starting to lose patience, too...

Ground combat at 76,42 (near Chengtu)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 51293 troops, 390 guns, 204 vehicles, Assault Value = 1583

Defending force 42779 troops, 231 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 997

Japanese adjusted assault: 563

Allied adjusted defense: 751

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1746 casualties reported
Squads: 41 destroyed, 256 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2178 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 213 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled

Assaulting units:
63rd Division
15th Division
70th Division
41st/B Division
13th Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
41st/A Division
35th/C Division
China Expeditionary Army
1st Army

Defending units:
56th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
8th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps


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

Ground combat at Wuchang (84,51)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44535 troops, 332 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 1483

Defending force 123970 troops, 589 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1783

Japanese adjusted assault: 1111

Allied adjusted defense: 1087

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
4789 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 416 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 24 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1483 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 116 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 9 (2 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Assaulting units:
12th Ind.Mixed Brigade
3rd Division
12th RGC Temp. Division
58th Division
22nd Division
18th RGC Temp. Division
13th Army

Defending units:
73rd Chinese Corps
79th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
18th Chinese Corps
87th Chinese Corps
10th Chinese Corps
20th Chinese Corps
53rd Chinese Corps
37th Chinese Corps
99th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
22nd Artillery Regiment
4th Heavy Mortar Regiment

[Sangeli]

I am a bit surprised frankly that your opponent is trying to attack you at Wuchang. If I remember correctly you are trapped and the Japanese can easily lay siege to you with a single division. Instead the IJA is trying to destroy a large and still powerful stack of Chinese units that are far removed from the main battles near Chengtu. And speaking of which nicely done; that is a huge stop. Do you have reserves left in the area? You definitely stopped the IJA in that particular hex but I have a feeling the IJA will come from another direction to try to take Chungking. It's a race against time...

[Mundy]

Thanks, although I don't have a lot of say in the matter, with my troops trapped in Wuchang. We have another deadlock one hex west of there on the road, with two units each in the hex, evenly matched. I probably have a half a dozen or so corps in the cluster of bases, but they're on garrison duty. I could round them up in an emergency, if it's worth the VP hassle.

I've only now noticed that Australia has built up a bunch of DB-7s in the pool. A couple Wirraway squadrons just converted. I have Beaufighters in the pool, but nobody to convert right now. Some Wirraway squadrons can, but apparently I don't have enough PPs to do it. Probably a few hundred required for them. Over 50 P-40 also in the pool, which is good.

[Mundy]

25 June 1942

Took some time to review things.

I'm pulling all the air support out of Benares. I have no planes there anyway right now due to his approach, so they're all boarding the trains for points north and west. CF has a stack one hex east approaching, and I've tasked some bombers to slow them down. I've got about 1,100 AVs there. I want to be careful not to let them get surrounded. Maybe I should task a couple units as skirmishers. My gut feeling is that he won't push much further than this point for the time being.

My first supply transport to Karachi is nearly empty. Another is enroute and a third is loading at Abadan.

I decided to look over the Gilberts. I've sorta ignored them up to this point. He really doesn't have much of a presence there -- Tarawa and Ocean Island. A couple small islands from the canoe troops, also. That's pretty much letting me cut corners on my transport routes from Pearl and the States. I'll have to ponder these a bit. Most of my Marshalls troops are fully prepped. If I do that one, I'd like to kick it off before August. August and October will see some of my battleships up for refitting. If I get a good foothold there, I can probably polish up the Gilberts at my leisure.

[BBfanboy]

Ocean Island can't be built very much - useful for recon but not much more, unless you think you need the resources.
Tarawa is a worthwhile target, and Makin might be weakly held too. I would want to know where KB was before assaulting either one - don't want to get into a carrier battle where he has LBA supporting and you don't. IIRC, Abemama is a decent island near Tarawa that can be built to provide LBA fighter support. I don't recall seeing any IJ player put a garrison on Abemama.