SBD Dauntless fodder - Alikchi (J) vs Lord Windy (A)

[Alikchi2]

Turn 36: January 10, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Pretty damn successful day.

DEI

There’s still a LOT of Allied shipping floating around near Batavia, despite my repeated raids on the place. In the very early hours of the morning, light cruiser Natori and six destroyers arrive off the city. Poor moonlight and heavy rain mean that vision is limited to just 1,000 yards. The Japanese surface combat force runs right into an Allied convoy. Two engagements follow.



The potentially-mutinous Westralia puts up a fight with her 6” guns but is quickly put down with two Long Lances. The convoy has effectively no defense at that point. We don’t wipe it out entirely - low visibility and general confusion are our enemies here.

The sun rises, though, and Palembang airbase is alerted. Nells and Betties load torpedoes and clean house.



So: a lot of Allied shipping has been sunk, I’m pleased about that. Why was it there? That many large ships leads me to believe that they were intended to either evacuate or reinforce Java with troops. Hard to tell which.

On the ground, our boys finally take Tarakan and Ambon! Ruteng falls too! A great day for Japan in the (soon to be formerly) Dutch East Indies.

Malaya



Apart from Kuantan, it appears we have a clear path to Singapore. Our fighter sweeps over the city are unchallenged today. A good sign.

Philippines

An unopposed strike works over the Manila airfield some more, and the 21st Division arrives to reinforce us at Bataan.

Pacific

A Naval Guard unit occupies Tabiteuea, joining the base force already there. We’re building an airfield. I want to make as many of the Gilberts useful as possible - create an interlocking, mutually supporting web of island airbases that can be loaded full of Zeroes and torpedo bombers.



Troops are about to occupy Baker Island as well. That should keep Canton Island from being isolated too easily. We spot an Allied task force nearby, but as it appears to be just a convoy I’m not too concerned.

Burma



Yup, this is a theatre now. After a fairly exhausting march west over the shitty road from Rahaeng, the lead elements of our army here capture an undefended Moulmein. I have done absolutely no recon here and have no idea what sort of defences Windy has for me in the Rangoon/Pegu area. Will be working to rectify that soon.

Aircraft Losses



No allied aircraft challenge us over Singapore OR Manila today. We’re winning the air war.

Operational Report Excerpt



Overall Score

[Rommel76]

Fantastic AAR!!

[Alikchi2]

ORIGINAL: Rommel76

Fantastic AAR!!

Thank you!

[Alikchi2]

Turn 37: January 11, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

China



100,000 (!) Chinese launch a deliberate attack at Hankow, one of my most important front-line bases in Central China. Our 26,000 IJA soldiers hold the place, but clearly more help is needed. I pull troops out of the Changsha assault and set them marching northeast.

Philippines



Bataan falls to a shock attack - the American troops isolated there surrender, and the nasty artillery defending the coast is in Japanese hands. We despatch minesweepers to the hex.



More bombing of Manila - Army bombers escorted by Zeroes.

Malaya



Undefended Malacca is taken by the tanks and tankettes of the 5th Recon Regiment.

DEI



I’m feeling bold. Akagi and Kaga are once again sortieing from Cam Ranh Bay. I’ve decided to send them through the Sunda Strait and start raiding the Indian Ocean. Should be fun, and might help convince Lord Windy that I have bigger plans for India or Western Australia (I don’t).

Pacific



Our troops on Wake have been successfully evacuated. The 5300 survivors are on their way back to Truk, covered by the Kido Butai.

As expected, Baker is captured by the Sasebo 8th SNLF. No opposition.

Overall Map



1 - Hawaii
2 - Baker & Canton Islands
3 - Japanese sub concentration off Australia
4 - Java Sea
5 - Burma
6 - Truk
7 - Andaman Islands (Port Blair)

Ships Sunk By Points: Allied vs. Japanese (partial excerpts)



Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 38: January 12, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

DEI

Three heavy cruisers pound Batavia under cover of darkness.

Night Naval bombardment of Batavia at 49,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

46 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Kurama
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 1
CA Takao

Allied Ships
CVL Hermes, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 4, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
115 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Manpower hits 1
Fires 174
Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 23
Port hits 1

CA Kurama firing at Batavia
Ammo storage explosion on CVL Hermes
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Ashigara
CA Ashigara firing at Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
CA Takao firing at Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Takao

Betties and Nells fly during the day and score more hits. I don’t think Hermes and Glasgow are going to make it out.



To the southeast, we’ve flown in bombers to Makassar, and they get to work today. No Air HQ yet, so no torpedoes, but the Betties are already proving their worth hitting Allied shipping with bombs.

Philippines

More uncontested bombing of Manila. Feels good man.



Clark Field is repairing quickly enough. Airfield’s good to go, working on the service facilities now.

The minesweeping at Bataan begins as a DMS TF arrives.

TF 31 encounters mine field at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Ships
DMS W-18
DMS W-3
DMS W-2

72 mines cleared

Manila recon report:



Malaya/Singapore



Palembang bombers attack some Brit HDMLs at Singapore. An xAKL is torpedoed as well.

Singapore recon report:



China

Another deliberate attack at Hankow - we repulse the enemy once again. We try our own attack up north at the Kaifeng crossroads (88,43) and inflict slightly more casualties. More bombardment is needed.



In the south, holy shit where did these guys come from? 64,000 Chinese show up at Shaohing and kick out the single regiment defending the place.

Australia



SS Ellaroo of the Melbourne Steamship Co. Ltd takes a torpedo from RO-34 off the Australian coast.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 39: January 13, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Southeastern Pacific



I-23 catches a fully loaded tanker south of Fiji. The cargo catches fire. I doubt the ship will survive.

Philippines



Clark is progressing nicely.

DEI



Dutch submarine KXIII lines up a shot on cruiser Atago, but misses. Atago responds with two direct depth-charge hits.



This is an embarassing one: a single British destroyer, HMS Thracian, intercepts and savages a small troop convoy off Ambon. Nothing is sunk, but the poor soldiers packed into the xAKs take heavy casualties. I don’t remember exactly what unit was being carried here - maybe engineers or a base force for Ambon?



Our aircraft flying from Makassar have spotted what seems to be a very large allied convoy with lots of valuable APs east of Soerabaja. Makassar Betties tried to bomb it today but all missed. Akagi and Kaga are diverting from their original mission to sprint southeast along the Java coast and try to catch the convoy.



Our Naval Guard heading for Dili should be landing soon. We don’t have much intel on Timor but I doubt there will be a real fight.

Malaya/Singapore



Shockingly bad day today here. Not really expected much opposition, I sweep with only a couple of Zero groups.They are bounced by surprisingly competent Hurricane, Whirlwind and Spitfire pilots.

Aircraft Losses



Ouch.

[Alikchi2]

Turn 40: January 14, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Central Pacific



St. Louis will survive and I-4 might not but it’s still totally worth it. Brooklyns are terrors, fuck ‘em.

Philippines



More prep work at Bataan.



And at Manila. We go in with no escorts and get away with it. Followup strikes by Army bombers do well, too.

Malaya/Singapore



60 Army bombers pound the poor Brits defending Kuantan. Two regiments take the place with ease shortly thereafter.

DEI

Our Makassar Betties attack the convoy of troop transports spotted yesterday - but only manage one bomb hit, on the Dutch xAP Van Overstraten



Akagi and Kaga didn’t quite catch the convoy either, but they should be able to manage it tomorrow. Also: Makassar’s airfield was expanded to size 4 today, and the Air HQ is good to go. The Betties will be flying with much more deadly and accurate torpedoes in the morning.

Southeastern Pacific



I-23 continues to be useful, spotting what is apparently another Allied convoy west of Fiji. Junho, Unho, Harima and Inaba are in the area and are despatched in that direction. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch something juicy tomorrow or the next day.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 41: January 15, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

DEI

Kongo and Haruna go for a bombardment of Batavia.



We do decent damage, but: MINES.




They’ll be fine. Still annoying. Back to Cam Ranh Bay and then Hong Kong for repairs.




Destroyer Shirakumo will not be fine. As part of a small group raiding Soerabaja, she strikes a mine then is finished off by a Dutch torpedo. I hate to lose good destroyers.



Akagi and Kaga catch that convoy we’ve been tracking near Timor. It’s a massacre - the troop ships are empty but xAPs are valuable things.

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15198 troops, 194 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 514

Defending force 46732 troops, 467 guns, 348 vehicles, Assault Value = 1208

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

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Division
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
Marinier Battalion
Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion
46th Indian Brigade
6th KNIL Regiment
2nd KNIL Regiment
2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
45th Indian Brigade
4th KNIL Regiment
44th Indian Brigade
1st KNIL Landstorm Battalion
1st KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
Lijfwacht Cav Sqn
48th Gurkha Brigade
Tjilitap Base Force
South Java Base Force
ABDA
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
ML-KNIL
Commandement Marine
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
North Java Base Force
Batavia Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Soerabaja Base Force
MLD
2 ML-KNIL Aviation
KNIL Army Command
Bandoeng Base Force

Also, we notice Commonwealth reinforcements at Batavia - the 44th, 45th and 46th Indian brigades, as well as the 48th Gurkha Brigade. Historically, the Indian troops (altogether the 17th Indian Division) fought in Malaya and Burma, so I suppose I should expect an easier advance in those places.

Philippines

More unopposed bombing of Manila. Troops are resting and prepping for another go at the place.

China



The Changsha approaches are still a stalemate, and will be for a long while now that I’ve sent off part of the force to reinforce Hankow. The Chinese try for an attack there and suffer huge casualties, despite better than 3-1 numbers in their favor. Terrain and fortifications are on my side.



At the Kaifeng crossroads, we’re dealing surprisingly good damage with just bombardments.

Far Pacific

Remember the USS San Francisco? She got torpedoed by one of our subs a few weeks back. Apparently she survived. The aircraft of light carriers Junho and Unho set out to rectify that this morning.



The first four Mabels execute an absolutely perfect attack, with four torpedoes smacking into San Francisco. She goes down almost instantly.

An xAK convoy is battered as well.



Junho, Unho and friends are ordered to flee north at full speed, I’m sure he’d love to take a second shot at sinking my poor little CVLs.

Recently Sunk Ships



Pretty damn good day.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 42: January 16, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

China

Let’s start here for a change! We order a deliberate attack at 88,43 (the Kaifeng crossroads) and do a wonderful amount of damage.

Ground combat at 88,43 (near Kaifeng)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 99691 troops, 1124 guns, 1178 vehicles, Assault Value = 3190

Defending force 65103 troops, 498 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 775

Japanese adjusted assault: 2086

Allied adjusted defense: 1293

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3829 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 157 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled

Allied ground losses:
6454 casualties reported
Squads: 365 destroyed, 227 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 69 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 46 disabled
Guns lost 72 (46 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Burma



Pegu falls. It is completely undefended. Rangoon looks empty, too. Has he evacuated Burma entirely? If so, I’m grateful.

Malaya/Singapore



Our tanks have arrived at an undefended Johore Bahru - just across the water from Singapore. We’ll be railroading all our boys here to rest and regroup before our attack on the Lion City. I intend to turn the place into a big airbase, as well, to support the assault.



Our Zeroes do a bit better sweeping against the RAF today.

DEI

Makassar’s Betties and Akagi & Kaga’s Kates and Vals cooperate in picking off a few stray xAPs, then discover something particularly juicy: a large convoy unloading at Koepang, on the western end of Timor. This one is, apparently, packed full of troops.



I’m just going to quote the combat report here, because holy shit:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Koepang at 68,116

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
B5M1 Mabel x 17
B5N2 Kate x 25
D3A1 Val x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
B5M1 Mabel: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Zealandia, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
xAP Koolinda, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AM Ipswich, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Patris, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AM Deloraine, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Marella, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
AS Platypus, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AM Cairns, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
xAP Koolama, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAP Raranga, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Wollongbar, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Allied ground losses:
5150 casualties reported
Squads: 56 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 207 destroyed, 205 disabled
Engineers: 26 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 41 (31 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 57 (53 destroyed, 4 disabled)

I think I just sunk a division.

Home Islands



The new light carrier Kuroho is commissioned and available for service.



The battleship Kirishima, which was torpedoed by USS Spearfish on December 10, is still being patched up at Kure. Should be ready for action in 40 days or so.




Up in the Kuriles, we’ve dropped off a base force and a pile of supplies at Paramushiro-jima. Getting the airfield up to level 4 is a high priority.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 43: January 17, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Philippines

A swarm of PT boats sink a DMS, and two low-speed minesweepers are killed by coastal artillery off Manila. Clearing the path is taking its toll.

Malaya/Singapore



A big Palembang bomber raid on Singapore is mostly ineffectual - I’m flying my Nells and Betties at a safe 13,000 feet now, and their accuracy suffers. Just a few hits in the runways.

DEI

Morning Air attack on TF, near Koepang at 68,116

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
G4M1 Betty x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Wollongbar, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Marella, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Koolinda, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AS Platypus, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
327 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 25 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 27 destroyed, 21 disabled
Vehicles lost 53 (28 destroyed, 25 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Makassar Betties clean up the survivors off Koepang. We scour the Timor Sea clean - nothing spotted at the end of the day. Feels good.

China

Another deliberate attack at 88,43 inflicts lopsided casualties. I think that stack is pretty much broken.



We completely destroy the last two units blocking the long road to Sian. Just a few hexes of marching now.

Hangchow is still hanging on too, behind level 4 forts.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 44: January 18, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

DEI



With no enemy ships in sight, the Makassar Betties attack Koepang’s airfield. If he’s putting planes there, I want to get to work making the field unusable immediately; if he has troops there, this will slow down the building of fortifications.



Two major Japanese troop transport convoys turn into the Karimata Strait. The 28th Division and the Guards Mixed Brigade, along with a host of support units, are a few days from being unloaded at Merak. That’s more than 20,000 troops available to reinforce the siege of Batavia. Batavia, incidentally, gets pasted by a bombardment from cruisers Amagi and Chokai this turn.



Just east of Java, an invasion convoy is about to land the 1500 men of the Kure 1st SNLF at Banjoewangi, on the eastern tip of the island. I also have fun plans for using paratroops on Java - expect that soon.

Philippines



Constant bombing has KOed the Manila airfield, hopefully for good.

Elsewhere/Et Cetera

A Dutch sub torpedoes an xAK full of paratroopers.

At 88,43 in China, a Japanese bombardment destroys 50 Chinese squads. Hangchow resists another deliberate assault but our troops are rapidly being whittled down.

A sweep over Singapore trades a single Zero for a few RAF fighters.

Ships Under Repair



This is just the major units - carriers, battleships and cruisers. The four big CVs at Truk are prepping for the Port Moresby operation. The three CVLs are undergoing conversion from their previous auxiliary roles and won’t be available for most of a year. Kongo and Haruna are repairing a little bit of the mine damage at Cam Ranh Bay before they head to Hong Kong’s shipyard for the serious stuff.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 45: January 19, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Philippines

With the Manila airfield knocked out - and Clark fully repaired and stuffed with Japanese warplanes - I decide it’s time to work over Manila’s port again. Betties and Nells shower it in 800kg bombs.



Apparently Nevada and Chester are still there, probably within an inch of being written off as total losses. We score hits on a few other ships as well, and the Army bombers target ground troops.

DEI



Koepang is bombarded from the sea and the air. Cruiser Nagara and seven destroyers bang away at the place in the night. Betties bomb the base during the day. My concerns about it being some kind of strongpoint appear unfounded - there’s not much to shoot at, so far as I can tell.



Java is developing rapidly outside of Batavia. Djokjakarta: the Navy paratroopers of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF are dropped over the town and encounter no resistance. We secure it with a mere 240 troops, cutting the railroad line in the process.

We have more paratroops from the Yokosuka 1st to spare - they’ll be going out tomorrow.

China



Another deliberate attack at 88,43 results in further horrific casualties for the poor Chinese. 446 squads destroyed today. Encouraged by this result, I set my boys up for a shock attack tomorrow.

Malaya


A significant portion of my army in Malaya is already resting in Johore Bahru, more are streaming in.

Elsewhere



The huge tanker Mobilfuel eats two torpedoes from I-16 just off Sydney.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 46: January 20, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Burma



Well, that was easy.

It looks like Burma has been completely abandoned by the Allies. Now it’s a leisurely march north for me to occupy as much of the country as I can before the monsoon season begins on May 15. I’d like to establish some decent airbases to menace India with.

Malaya/Singapore



More Palembang raids on Singapore. They’re still pretty ineffectual - bombing from 13,000 feet doesn’t do much. Keeps the RAF busy, anyways. I’m building up at Johore Bahru as quickly as I can - I want the IJAAS aircraft to take over suppressing Singapore from there, so I can use the IJNAS at Palembang to support the siege of Batavia.



With the fall of Mersing, only Singapore remains in Allied hands.

DEI



It’s true, I’m feeling pretty good about this theatre right now.

1 - An Army Brigade is working to clear out the western Sumatran coast.
2 - An independent battalion (I think) approaches Oosthaven.
3 - SNLF exploiting the hell out of the undefended Dutch flanks.
4 - The paratroopers take Semarang today. We have bisected Java.
5 - Another SNLF has landed at the southeastern tip and will be marching towards Soerabaja.
6 - Makassar is a great base; the airfield reached Level 5 today. I have support troops, HQs, etc en route.
7 - Akagi and Kaga will be resting at Makassar. They’ll need fuel and some slight repairs before I send them off on that Indian Ocean raid. I may have some CVLs accompany them.. we’ll see.

Solomons

We’re about to land a Naval Guard unit to take Tulagi. A detached carrier division of Kido Butai is covering them and roaming around. Unryu and Donryu should be fine. A pair of modern Japanese carriers wandering around the Coral Sea with no support and very little recon - what could go wrong?




China



The shock attack at 88,43 goes through and oh boy it’s a doozy.

Ground combat at 88,43 (near Kaifeng)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 96486 troops, 1127 guns, 1178 vehicles, Assault Value = 2801

Defending force 55734 troops, 438 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 364

Japanese adjusted assault: 1924

Allied adjusted defense: 797

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2260 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Vehicles lost 130 (13 destroyed, 117 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
8607 casualties reported
Squads: 152 destroyed, 67 disabled
Non Combat: 620 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 37 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 59 (51 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units retreated 7
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

A few units are still in the hex but the Chinese have largely retreated across the river to Chengchow. This is a huge victory for me in this theatre. I’m going to try to encircle and destroy this shattered stack at Chengchow to complete my domination of northern China.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 47: January 21, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

China



Since cleaning out the Manila minefields is taking longer than I expected, I diverted my big battleship bombardment group to hit Hangchow, which is conveniently coastal. Fuso, Yamashiro, Mutsu, Nagato, Ise, and Hiei blast away at the Chinese army with their big guns, inflicting about 500 casualties. They’ll now return to Formosa to rearm, then it’s back to the original mission at Manila.

The naval gun support was nice, but constant Chinese deliberate attacks at Hangchow are wearing my men down. If I can hold the place for another week, I’ll be surprised.



More troops failed to retreat at 88,43 than I had expected. 8 corps - but their assault value has been reduced to about that of a decent Japanese brigade. Just a bombardment for them today.

Truk/Rabaul



The 40th Brigade begins boarding its transports. Destination: Port Moresby.



At Rabaul, we’re unloading supplies, base forces, aviation troops and construction guys. Two Betty and two Zero squadrons are stationed there now. The Betties are set to recon Port Moresby - let’s avoid any nasty surprises.

Malaya



Zeroes sweep Singapore, doing pretty well: I lose one aircraft, the RAF loses two Spitfires, a Hurricane and a Whirlwind.

Philippines

Sallies, Sonias and Lilies continue bombing Manila.

DEI



Benkoelen, on the western coast of Sumatra, is taken from the Dutch.

Aircraft Losses



Sorry about this super low quality image - I forgot to screenshot, so I pulled this from the video.

[Alikchi2]

Turn 48: January 22, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Philippines

Destroyer minesweepers run into PT boats off Bataan, a confused melee ensues; no one hits anything.

Bombing of Manila continues with no opposition. I really hope the Americans are having supply issues. At the very least, all this bombing should keep his engineers too busy to build the forts up.

New Britain/New Guinea/Solomons



The Betties ran their recon missions over Port Moresby today and report back: three units, ~3900 men. The troop figure seems a little low but overall it matches my expectations: a base force, the original defense brigade and maybe one other unit - an Australian battalion or an American regiment or something. The 40th Brigade should be able to take the place solo if those numbers are accurate. Still, I got fucked hard by Saros in our PBEM in an attempted invasion of Port Moresby recently. Gonna do more recon.

Our Naval Guards begin landing at an undefended Tulagi. I’d like to use it as a seaplane base. We also moved to take Gasmata today.

Et Cetera/Elsewhere



The American submarine Swordfish sinks two transports between Formosa and the Chinese mainland. I don’t like functioning USN torps. No thanks.



I-165 smacks the huge tanker Mobilgas with two torpedoes off Sydney. Her sister Mobilfuel was hit in the same area on the 19th. These are juicy targets and good kills if they sank.

Far to the east, light cruiser Kiso and three destroyers bombard Palmyra - deep in the central Pacific - just to freak Windy out a little.

Operational Report Excerpt



Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 49: January 23, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Malaya/Singapore



The airbase at Johore Bahru is finally set up to my liking, and today the first Army strikes go in on Singapore. Pressure is off the Palembang bombers to keep Singapore suppressed. Thank god - my Betty and Nell losses have been heavy enough already. Damage is pretty light, the Sonias only score 9 hits on the runway. More bombers will be joining in soon. Anns and Sallies and the like.

Philippines

We continue to work over Manila with bombers, you’ve seen it all before.

DEI



Bandoeng falls to our roving SNLF. We capture a bunch of Dutch aircraft left undefended at the airbase.

China



We kick more defeated Chinese out of 88,43.

Ground combat at 88,43 (near Kaifeng)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 96075 troops, 1128 guns, 1176 vehicles, Assault Value = 2731

Defending force 40675 troops, 250 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 272

Japanese adjusted assault: 1731

Allied adjusted defense: 531

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
633 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 87 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4385 casualties reported
Squads: 380 destroyed, 60 disabled
Non Combat: 565 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 24 (12 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Units retreated 5

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Just a few hostile units left in the hex.

New Britain/New Guinea/Solomons

Tulagi and Gasmata fall.



More recon of Port Moresby: about the same, 4200 troops, 4 units. Also, the amphibious invasion TF has left Truk.

Elsewhere



The carrier Tairyu is just about finished. No new capital ships for us for half a year.

Aircraft Losses

[Alikchi2]

Turn 50: January 24, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Philippines



I decide to switch it up today and go after the Manila port once again. There’s no fighter opposition and flak is weak. Betties and Nells are able to cruise low and slow and score plenty of hits with big nasty 800kg bombs.



This is still happening, too. American artillery loves to fire on my sweepers and pick them off, but there shouldn’t be many mines left now.

Malaya/Singapore



Oscars sweep over Singapore today.




Just for kicks, I’ve created a pair of midget submarine task forces at Johore Bahru - 8 subs total. I’ll be sending them straight into Singapore. Maybe we’ll get a lucky torpedo hit on something docked there?

New Guinea/New Britain/Solomons



The Kido Butai, under Yamaguchi, has linked up with and is covering the Port Moresby invasion force carrying 40th Brigade. We’ve subbed in light carriers Unho and Junho for Unryu and Donryu, which are currently operating independently at Rabaul.

Operational Report Excerpt



Aircraft Losses

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Why does he have so many ships in Manila??

more important... did he abandon the Bataan to defend Manila?? [:-]

without those forts/ coastal guns; he is naked, you can have non stop naval bombardment; including your old battleships.. this will put his disruption level to unsustainable levels

[Alikchi2]

Yep. I don't think he was aware of this and I am excited to demonstrate. [;)]

[Alikchi2]

Turn 51: January 25, 1942

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Philippines



Look at this sick filth. I send every bomber I have at the Manila harbor in an attempt to clean it out. By the end of the day, the little anchor symbol on the Manila hex has vanished. This means that - so far as my recon can tell - there are no longer any ships left to sink.

China



Two regiments of the 104th Division and a pair of independent batallions capture the town of Kukong in southern China. The defenders were a pair of headquarters units and a base force.

Deliberate attacks at Hangchow are grinding down the fortifications and my units there are being reduced to nubs. I order a retreat to Shanghai.

Burma/Malaya/Singapore



Operation Midget Minesweeper is a complete success.



The Port Blair invasion fleet is passing unmolested through the Strait of Malacca.



With Burma apparently undefended, I give the marching orders for occupation of the country.

New Guinea/New Britain/Solomons



Satisfied enough with the recon, I put the Betties to work bombing Port Moresby’s airfield again.

On the invasion front, things are moving along:


1 - The invasion force, Kido Butai, and a bombardment task force of cruisers.
2 - Unryu and Donryu forging ahead. They serve as scouts, pickets, and bait.

Aircraft Losses