Hagane no Arashi - JuanG (J) vs General Patton (A) - BTS 1.9 AAR

[JuanG]

Thanks for the support! Apologies for the slight delay in updates here, I've unfortunately fallen ill with a severe fever for the past two days and haven't been able to focus enough to update this. Hopefully I can get the 9th-11th posted tommorrow or the day after.

[JuanG]

Long overdue update, sincere apologies for the delay. As we are now up to the 18th or so, the next few updates will be in a fairly compact 'timeline' format for each region.

December 9th-11th

Malaya
9th- More troops landin at Mersing.
9th- CAP from KB-4 has a field day shooting Swordfish and Buffaloes down. CL Mauritius presumed sunk by Kates to south of Singapore.
10th- Ki-43s rebased to Kota Bharu sweep Singapore, lose 1 for 3 Buffalo and 1 Hurricane.
10th- More kills by KB-4 CAP, Aihara L. from Shoho-1 becomes first ace of the war.
10th- Mersing falls, 1 ID + Tank Regiment heads to Johore Bahru.

Philippines/Luzon
9th- Landings at Lingayen
9th- Sweeps over Clark score 10+ P-40 downed for loss of 1 A6M. Half a dozen or so reportedly destroyed on the ground.
10th- Landings at Legaspi (south Luzon). Second force due to land at Atimonan in a few days.
10th- More air combat, better showing by P-40s today, loss of 2 A6M for 5 P-40. 1 caught on ground.
10th- Lingayen falls. 21st PA division surrenders.
11th- Legaspi falls unopposed.

Philippines/Mindanao
9th- More strikes on shipping plus US Asiatic fleet. KB-3 assisted by 4 subs prowling Sulu and Celebes Seas at chokepoints.
10th- KB-3 continues to hunt, will need to retire to replenish in a few days. Mini KB arriving on station tommorow.
10th- Landings at Butuan (north Mindanao).
11th- KB-3 hammers CA Houston again with 4 bomb hits (torpedoes all gone by now), heavy damage and fires reported.
11th- I-124 sinks YFD-1 Dewey in the Sulu Sea.
11th- Butuan falls.


Target rich environment.

Borneo/Celebes
9th- Landings at Miri. Landings at Singkawang.
10th- Miri falls, landings at Brunei.
10th- Landings at Manado. SAGs hunting in Celebes Sea / Makassar Strait.
10th- Singkawang falls. Air HQ + Base Force due tommorow.
11th- Brunei falls.
11th- Manado falls. Force reembarks for Ternate.

Java/Sumatra
9th- I-159 puts 1 torpedo into BC Repulse off Batavia.

South Pacific
9th- Landings at Tarawa.
10th- Landings at Kavieng (Bismark archipelago, north of Rabaul).

Central Pacific
9th- Strikes from KB sink CV Lexington and 3 DD. No CAP present so Lexington was clearly out of action, and Enterprise not nearby.

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 65
B5N2 Kate x 88
D3A1 Val x 89

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 7 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 6 destroyed
TBD-1 Devastator: 7 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Dunlap, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
DD Maury, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
DD Balch, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

10th- I-9 misses a shot a CV Enterprise due SE of where Lexington sunk. KB turned back last turn, so too far to pursue.

[ny59giants]

KUDOS on getting "Lady Lex."

I know how much closer to Japan the Allies are in carrier power with this mod that it will help you out as you go through '42. Cutting down their CVs by 1/3 at this point may allow you to operate KB 1, 2, and 3 separately longer like John 3rd likes to do.

[JuanG]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

KUDOS on getting "Lady Lex."

I know how much closer to Japan the Allies are in carrier power with this mod that it will help you out as you go through '42. Cutting down their CVs by 1/3 at this point may allow you to operate KB 1, 2, and 3 separately longer like John 3rd likes to do.

Very fortunate turn of events, I agree, especially given that, as I mentioned earlier, I don't think GP is shy about using his CVs.

The current plan is probably to split KB into 3 sections, each consisting of 2 CV and 2 CVL if I can manage it (maybe just 2 CV and 1 CVL for the one with the two biggest carriers). Once the first of the Shokaku-Kais arrive I will rearrange this to 4 sections, each 2 CV + 1 CVL, and always operate atleast two together.

[JuanG]

More timeline format stuff, should be one more of these and then I should be close enough to do slightly more detailed writeups and some plans for January.

December 12th-14th

Malaya
14th- Attack at Kluong by one of the Infantry Divisions landed at Mersing is successful, cutting off Singapore from the rest of Malaya.
14th- Shock attack at Johore Bahru by Tank Regiment scores 2-1, but fails to capture base. Another Infantry Division will be arriving here from Mersing shortly.
14th- Victoria Point falls. Forces from Northern Malaya push southwards.

China/Hong Kong
12th- First deliberate attack against Hong Kong scores 3-1, drops forts.
13th- Second attempt only scores 1-2, though losses are light. Engineers drop forts another level.

Philippines/Luzon
12th- Landings at Atimonan.
13th- First attack at Clark Field scores 1-1, drops forts. More forces enroute.
13th- Atimonan falls, forces begins sweep towards Manila.
14th- Unescorted Betty strike against Bataan sees 4 go down to a trio of P-40s on CAP. Later strike sees no CAP, but destroys several P-40 and B-17 on the ground.
14th- Second attack on Clark Field scores 1-1 again, drops forts to 0.

Philippines/Mindanao
12th- KB-3 strikes CA Houston again, scoring 4 bomb hits. This time she is reported in a group with 6 DDs, two of which are hit. Same group hit in the afternoon, Houston no longer present.
12th- Two British DDs (from Hong Kong) are attacked near Palawan, with one sunk in the morning and the second in the afternoon.
13th- KB-3 begins to retire for replenishment. Mini-KB sweeps into the Sulu Sea.

Borneo/Celebes
12th- G4Ms now based at Singkawang begin strikes against shipping near Java and Sumatra.
13th- Two SAGs hunt in the Makassar Strait, scoring several sinkings. Additional ships detached to reinforce these incase the remainders of Houstons group try to break out.
13th- Landings at Ambon. Landings at Sorong.
14th- Landings at Ternate.
14th- SAG based around CA Nachi engages group of 5 US DD's during the day in the Makassar Strait, with inconclusive results. DD Hatsuyuki develops a severe fire after a single hit.
14th- Second SAG around CL Teshio engages the same group of DDs, leaving several ablaze and badly damaged. DD Fubuki takes 4 shells and heavy damage, but remains afloat for now.
14th- Mini-KB fails to strike at surviving DDs, instead sinking three HDMLs near Tarakan.
14th- Attack on Ambon comes off as a 1-5 due to 'leaders', and it turns out that commanding officer of the 1st Kure Assault Division doesn't know which end of the rifle should be pointed at the enemy. There will be day of rest and leadership 'reassignment' before the next attack.


CA Nachi and escorts get a bloody nose.


CL Teshio and escorts give a better showing, though CV strikes fail to catch any of the cripples.

South Pacific
14th- Kaving falls, after additional troops were shipping in. Invasion forces for Port Moresby on the way.

Central Pacific
12th- Landings at Wake Island, which falls in the evening. 1st Maizuru Assault Div. will reembark for duties in the South Pacific, while a garrison force for Wake is assembled.
12th- Landings at Canton Island, attack scores 2-1 and drops forts to 0. Should fall tommorow.
13th- Landings at Nauru Island, which falls on the same day. Attack at Canton Island only scores 1-1.
14th- Canton Island falls.