Meanwhile, in another corner of the multiverse (No Dmitry Z zone)

[bradfordkay]

To me, Fiji is the lynch pin of the first MLOD in the south Pacific. When you can have Suva and Nadi both built up to level 9 airfields you have a formidable base that is tough to crack. Thus, as the allied player my first forces always go there. Next will be Va'va'u (sp? - game is not up) and Pago Pago, but Fiji first.

[John B.]

Encircled, Nadi would be an interesting choice for the fighters but there is a higher level of fort at Suva by one level so that might help even if just a little. I was trying to get one more convoy ashore with a battalion of tanks but they were too late. If he leaves, they may try to sneak in there.

[Encircled]

Trust me, it won't

If he bombards, he'll wreck the base and decimate your fighters.

He won't expect fighters at a smaller air base (at a guess) and that might mean you have a better chance of getting a good hit on the KBs aircrews.

[John B.]

Well, it's on in Fiji!

Dmitry was too wily to head into Suva figuring, no doubt, that I was building it up and he has landed at Nadi. It looks like the landings consist of the 21st division, a Naval Guards unit, and SNLF and I"m sure there are base forces as well. You can see on the screen what is waiting for him in Suva. If he only brings one division I don't think he can push me out of there with level three forts and a whole lot of artillery but we'll see (and 40,000 supply so there won't be a shortage for awhile). I think the key will be can I shut down the airfield he will need to build and can he keep the KB on station long enough to get it built up.

A CS and some CLs did some desultory bombarding at Nadi, he has BBs but they may be the KB escort so he may not want to use up their ammo.

Quick question. My current airbase admin level allows for four air units. What is the effect of flying more airunits out of an airbase than the admin level allows?

Also, invasion force headed to Port Blair. Stay tuned.

[John B.]

FYI, you can't see it on the screen shot but I also have an HQ there along with an AA unit (AA level is at 35 artillery level is at 204).

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: John B.


Quick question. My current airbase admin level allows for four air units. What is the effect of flying more airunits out of an airbase than the admin level allows?

AFAIK having more units (but enough Air Support squads) just means some units will have coordination issues. The Air HQ should make up for most of that.

[John B.]

BBFanboy,

Thanks for the tip!

As expected, Dmitry brushed aside the Nadi baseforce and he has a full strength division plus a number of 40 AV regiment/brigades heading towards Suva. I don't see any engineers or artillery. I'm resting up a couple of B-26 squadrons to move to Suva for ground support and, more importantly, to hopefully keep Nadi unusable as an airfield and to burn up his supply.

A Dutch SS did account for an AP this turn while the KB moves around to try to avoid subs and to spot others. I'm cycling them in and out of range so I can always hope to have low detection value subs to put into the fray.

Take a look up in the upper left hand corner, that's a TF that reports say is heading NW. I've sent a CA TF to near Guadalcanal on the theory that with the rush rush of advance Dmitry does not have torpedo bombers or even search aircraft up there. with the long LOC he may be vulnerable to hit and run attacks. Or, maybe not.

[pontiouspilot]

Just tuned in....he will not be able to linger too long with loss of his big fleet oilers. Depending on what he has built in Rabaul he has a hell of long haul to refuel and replenish.

Out of curiosity what's at Pago Pago?

[BBfanboy]

Looks like he is making a secondary landing on the isle SE of Suva.

[John B.]

That was the KB SE of Suva just moving around to stay away from subs. My concern is that this turn all the ships left Fiji and are headed back to the Northeast but the KB disappeared. Not even any anti-sub patrols. Hopefully they are headed to the North west as well. He has 30 fighters at Nadi but I did nothing this turn as I don't want the KB to come back I want to run in reinforcement convoys (Unless he's heading south with the KB in which case I'll be crying in my beer pretty soon).

@ Pontiouspilot. Not much. 2 marine defense forces and the somoan battalion. And, they're all digging like crazy!

[BBfanboy]

After you sank his AOs, there is a good chance he will retire to refuel rather than continue south. Here's hoping!

[John B.]

I'm not sure I got all of the AOs, he came back this turn. And, blah. I had my Suva air units (including the P-39s) on a night time raid on Nadi. None of them flew, but they were all sitting in a nice little row when the KB did an airfield strike on Suva for the first time. So, he outfoxed me in the air. Sigh, so I'm back on CAP and we'll see how long until the next airfield strike. Still, it was odd that he went Northeast and then came back. I wonder if there are oilers up there. I've sent a CA/CL over to find out.

In good news, he tried a bombardment of Suva and wound up losing several squads outright. It will take him awhile to get me out of here.

[John B.]

Tough day for the Royal Navy near Port Blair. I was trying to get into his invasion convoys and ran into a bombardment TF on it's way back from pounding my troops there. The first round did not go so well. Only one HMS made it out alive (albeit in good shape). FYI, the Razor was in charge of the Japanese here and those torpedoes really hurt!

[John B.]

Round two seems to have gone better. All of my ships lived and looking at them post battle they should be ok if they can get away. They're out of range of land based torpeodes (famous last words) and it looks like the IJN lost two big destroyers and maybe a CA. I don't think it's enough damage to put the BB down with the smaller caliber shells unless the fires are somehow worse than reported. At least this second round may make it a bit less lopsided in losses.

Meanwhile, near Suva the KB has been AWOL for two days and I'm running in reinforcement convoys. Stay tuned!

[John B.]

It was sad, very sad indeed. Dmitry insists on not playing fair by being very sneaky with his carriers. He put carries into the Bay of Bengal and finished off my entire TF and caught the Repulse to boot. On the plus side, when Britain rebuilds its navy it won't be saddled with lots of extra ancient ships. Still, not a good turn for the Brits.

On the plus side, he did sink a CA in the So. Pac, but a CL TF of mine caught an invasion force and took it out. And, my reinforcement convoys are not unloading at Suva including a tank battalion and more AA plus two more fighter groups. I have a bombardment headed for Nadi with a BB and a CL TF. He has carriers on the way but it looks to me as if he has split the fleet carriers up. He had a LOT of Kates coming at the Repulse so my fighters over Suva may be enough to protect the ships as they unload. I think he's in danger of being bogged down on Fiji.

It sucks to be the Allies in 1942 and I wasted too many British ships without payoff but so far its not too bad.

[BBfanboy]

Tough round, but you can recover in six months or so. If he loses a CA that is major for him.

Gotta do some proofreading on your post. A couple of times the word "now" has come out "not", which makes it very confusing if you don't guess what the typo was! [;)]

[John B.]

BBFanboy,

Thanks for the tip, I can see how "not" would be confusing.

I was a bit lucky in the Indian Ocean as I had BBs and a British CV on the way but they did not make it in time to get slaughtered so they turned tail and headed back to Bombay.

Meanwhile, in the SoPac, I've managed to land reinforcements at Suva so it's back up to 40K supply and just about a fort level 4. I also put in more AA and a battalion of tanks. He is losing 2-3 squads per turn to the artillery bombardment and I have additional reinforcements on the way. The KB (or some part of it) showed up so I had to disband my resupply convoy but two ships could not disband as they had a few unloaded devices on board. Dmitry's KB was on anti ship mode and launched a strike that flew into the teeth of my CAP and the net result was 10 Vals and 20 zeros shot down for just a handful of P-39s and P-40Es. That's a trade I'll take any day!

Now I' a little perplexed as to what Dmitry's strategic direction is. He is not pushing up the coast in Burma and other than Suva there has been no new push in the So. Pac or towards Australia. Things that make you go hmmm.

[BBfanboy]

Feb. 1942 - he has the wherewithal to expand in any direction so he could be concentrating his troops for Amphib lift to someplace like Calcutta or Ceylon or he could have N. Oz in his sights. Recent AARs have shown how difficult it is for the Japanese to advance in Oz after mid 1942 (when decent Aussie tanks show up) so I would bet India is a target.
I am discounting N. Pac because his navy is not concentrated anywhere near there. SoPac has too many islands for the Japanese to thrust deep and hold.

[John B.]

A little good news from the Philippines. there do not seem to be as many ronsons, er Japanese tanks, as there were awhile ago. It's always nice to get a little back from the huge surrender numbers that come out of Clark Field when it all goes to hell.

[John B.]

And, every now and again the Chinese can successfully gang up on the Japanese. This was nice, but Dmitry did get some back by wiping out about 100 squads and taking Wuchow this turn.

@ BBFanboy, I think you may be right. He has stopped jumping onto islands in the So. Pac. and he has made no move towards Darwin. That plus the fact that so many carriers were in the Far East makes me wonder about India as well. I'm glad that I still have the Aussies there. I'm not making any big effort to protect Ceylon just because it's too easy to get trapped there. The American also have a division that is ready on the East coast to go to India as soon as PP are available.

Oh, and this just in. It looks like a SNLF just landed in Akyab. It's not defended so he'll take it.