Argentina vs. Slovakia (Aurorus against 821Bobo)

[Aurorus]

Jan. 21st

After a two night bombing attempt at Oosthaven, which netted little, the allies try a daylight raid. Severe storms hamper the air activities of both sides. The raid is a bit uncoordinated and the first wing to arrive are unescorted bombers. Japanese CAP is likewise disorganized and slow to respond.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Oosthaven , at 48,96

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 23
CW-22 Falcon x 9
L-212 x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged

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

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 300 kg GP Bomb
8 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 300 kg GP Bomb
5 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 300 kg GP Bomb
9 x CW-22 Falcon bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 50 kg GP Bomb
1 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 300 kg GP Bomb
2 x L-212 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 15 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Yamada Det S-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 11 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes

The second wave arrives with the escorts.

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Morning Air attack on Oosthaven , at 48,96

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 10
L-212 x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 1 destroyed
L-212: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x L-212 bombing from 6000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 15 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Yamada Det S-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 15 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes



Notice that the CAP was not even airborne owing to the storms.

[Aurorus]

Allied bombers have been harrying the north of Thailand for a couple days. Today they encounter Flak. Always nice to see Japanese flak firing, after taking beatings over Singapore.


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Morning Air attack on 4th RTA Division, at 58,53 (Chiang Mai)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 3
Buffalo I x 16
Hudson I x 13
Wirraway x 3

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 4 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed by flak

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

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Hudson I bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
8 x Hudson I bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
3 x Blenheim I bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
3 x Wirraway bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking RTA Cavalry Division ...
Also attacking 4th RTA Division ...

[Aurorus]

The Japanese also landed 3 SNLFs at Cebu supported by 27 Lillies, 30 Sallies, 12 Marys, and 10 Sonias. Beaufort fell as well.

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

Ground combat at Beaufort (66,87)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1459 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Defending force 268 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 52

Allied adjusted defense: 4

Japanese assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Beaufort !!!

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

Allied ground losses:
82 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
91st Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
107th RN Base Force

[Aurorus]

Jan. 22nd

A mostly quiet day. A Japanese sub near San Francisco managed to hit an empty AP with 1 torpedo. Otherwise, the only remarkable events were an initial assault at Cebu, which came off well for the Japanese, with heavier casualties for the allies than the Japanese, and the destruction of two Chinese units in northern China, which had been isolated for some time.

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Ground combat at Cebu (80,86)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4370 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 177

Defending force 3489 troops, 52 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 104

Japanese adjusted assault: 50

Allied adjusted defense: 33

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
181 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
212 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
15th Naval Guard Unit
Kure 1st SNLF
16th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
81st PA Infantry Division
Cebu USN Base Force

I hate Cebu. Sometimes it feels as though Cebu is a bigger operation than the whole of Mindanao.

[Aurorus]

The end of the Chinese 11th corps... for now. See you in Chungking next month.


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Ground combat at 91,31 (near Paotow)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 11332 troops, 76 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 389

Defending force 2698 troops, 35 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 277

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 277 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), leaders(+), leaders(-)
disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
2913 casualties reported
Squads: 200 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 233 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 51 (51 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
8th Ind.Mixed Brigade

Defending units:
11th Chinese Corps

[Aurorus]

Jan. 23rd.

Several actions by submarines across the Pacific.

The Spearfish finds a merchantman near Nagoya. She hits and comes back later to finish the cripple.

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Sub attack near Nagoya at 110,61

Japanese Ships
xAK Tenryu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Mikage Maru
PB Sozan Maru

Allied Ships
SS Spearfish

SS Spearfish launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Tenryu Maru
Spearfish bottoming out ....
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

The I-171 finds and hits an ACM, which makes me very happy, since Bob loves mines.

Submarine attack near Lihue at 175,111

Japanese Ships
SS I-171

Allied Ships
ACM YP-284, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

ACM YP-284 is sighted by SS I-171
SS I-171 launches 2 torpedoes at ACM YP-284

[Aurorus]

In the DEI, the action begins to heat up around Java. Zeros sweep Soerabaja and Batavia.

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Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 10
P-40B Warhawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 1 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet

CAP engaged:
24th PG/20th PS with P-40B Warhawk (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(13 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 9 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
3-Vl.G.IV with B-339D (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes

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Afternoon Air attack on Batavia , at 49,98

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 5 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet

CAP engaged:
2-VI.G.V with B-339D (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet eng
aged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes

[Aurorus]

At Cebu, another successful attack. It looks as though the base may fall soon. The Phillipines campaign is winding down.

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Ground combat at Cebu (80,86)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4236 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 163

Defending force 3274 troops, 52 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 72

Japanese adjusted assault: 87

Allied adjusted defense: 53

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
343 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Kure 1st SNLF
15th Naval Guard Unit
16th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
81st PA Infantry Division
Cebu USN Base Force

[Aurorus]

So now that supply has been allocated to the frontline units and the supply level in Japan is beginning to build again such that more bases can be increased to 15K supply or so, I finished off my aircraft research and production expansion for the moment. From memory, which may be subject to an error or two, the fighter production/research, for the moment, is as follows:

A6M2 80 per month
Oscar Ic 90 per month
Oscar R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at IIa)
A6M R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at Rufe)
A6M5d (Nightfighter) 1 x 30
Frank 1 x 60, 6x30
Tony 3 x 30
Tojo 1 x 30
Nick 2 x 30
Nick 1D (Nightfighter) 2 x 30
Dinah III KAI (nightfighter) 1 x 30
KI 94 1 x 30 (this is something that I do not normally do... of course, I never get late enough in the war to use this plane)
A7M2 3 x 30 (this is again something that I do not normally do... but Pax says it is a good idea)

This is for PDU:off. Engine production is at 290 Nakajima 35s per month, and may go up to 300, but no more. I hope to be able to shutoff Zero production for a month or two of the next 6 months and should get to 500 engines sometime in June or July, which is about when the first Oscar factories will be fully repaired. I am slowly adding on to Nakajima 45 R&D, and it is currently at approximately 180 engines per month. I will continue to add on, as supply comes available, for some time. I am building toward 60 Kawasaki engines per month for the Tonies, which is about where I estimate my Tony production to be, until the late war when the KI-100 comes online and more squadrons upgrade to Tony; at which point, the Tony changes engines.

As for bombers, research is limited to Jill 2 x 30 and Judy 4 x 30. The 120 Aichi engine factories are humming away, and I will not add to these nor change them over for the foreseeable future.

I have a few more factories available, but I doubt that I will use them, at least for the present.

[Aurorus]

Jan. 24th

Another ACM is hit by a sub. I hope this means fewer minefields.

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Submarine attack near Niihau at 174,112

Japanese Ships
SS I-26

Allied Ships
ACM YP-73, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

ACM YP-73 is sighted by SS I-26
SS I-26 launches 2 torpedoes at ACM YP-73

[Aurorus]

As I-26 is sinking those pesky ACMs in CentPaC, Repulse and PoW, accompanied by several CLs, bombard Oosthaven. The bombardment is followed up by several daylight airfield raids that manage to destroy a couple of the damaged A6M2s, despite another day of severe storms.

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Night Naval bombardment of Oosthaven at 48,96

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 16 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BC Repulse
CL Ceres
CL Dauntless
CL Durban
CL Danae
DD Jupiter
DD Express
DD Encounter
DD Electra

Japanese ground losses:
333 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 39
Port hits 13
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 5

[Aurorus]

In the Phillipines, Cebu falls, and another island is completely in Japanese hands.

Ground combat at Cebu (80,86)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4235 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 163

Defending force 3008 troops, 51 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 40

Japanese adjusted assault: 57

Allied adjusted defense: 23

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cebu !!!

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

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

Allied ground losses:
1195 casualties reported
Squads: 122 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 275 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 20 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 51 (51 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 78 (78 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
Kure 1st SNLF
15th Naval Guard Unit
16th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
81st PA Infantry Division
Cebu USN Base Force

[821Bobo]

As I-26 is sinking those pesky ACMs in CentPaC, Repulse and PoW, accompanied by several CLs, bombard Oosthaven. The bombardment is followed up by several daylight airfield raids that manage to destroy a couple of the damaged A6M2s, despite another day of severe storms.

I will have to replace my meteorologists. Forecast was clear weather [8|]

[Yaab]

Just a thought. Argentina has Messi and Eternaut[&o], so the final victory will be yours. Banzai!

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Just a thought. Argentina has Messi and Eternaut[&o], so the final victory will be yours. Banzai!

Messi has not played as well for the national team as he does for Barcelona. If this were a war in Europe, I would have more confidence in the spirit of Messi.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

So now that supply has been allocated to the frontline units and the supply level in Japan is beginning to build again such that more bases can be increased to 15K supply or so, I finished off my aircraft research and production expansion for the moment. From memory, which may be subject to an error or two, the fighter production/research, for the moment, is as follows:

A6M2 80 per month
Oscar Ic 90 per month
Oscar R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at IIa)
A6M R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at Rufe)
A6M5d (Nightfighter) 1 x 30
Frank 1 x 60, 6x30
Tony 3 x 30
Tojo 1 x 30
Nick 2 x 30
Nick 1D (Nightfighter) 2 x 30
Dinah III KAI (nightfighter) 1 x 30
KI 94 1 x 30 (this is something that I do not normally do... of course, I never get late enough in the war to use this plane)
A7M2 3 x 30 (this is again something that I do not normally do... but Pax says it is a good idea)

This is for PDU:off. Engine production is at 290 Nakajima 35s per month, and may go up to 300, but no more. I hope to be able to shutoff Zero production for a month or two of the next 6 months and should get to 500 engines sometime in June or July, which is about when the first Oscar factories will be fully repaired. I am slowly adding on to Nakajima 45 R&D, and it is currently at approximately 180 engines per month. I will continue to add on, as supply comes available, for some time. I am building toward 60 Kawasaki engines per month for the Tonies, which is about where I estimate my Tony production to be, until the late war when the KI-100 comes online and more squadrons upgrade to Tony; at which point, the Tony changes engines.

As for bombers, research is limited to Jill 2 x 30 and Judy 4 x 30. The 120 Aichi engine factories are humming away, and I will not add to these nor change them over for the foreseeable future.

I have a few more factories available, but I doubt that I will use them, at least for the present.

Looks very good. You will thank Pax about the Sam...and you will able to increase the r&d into Sam with Oscar or Zero lines that complete should you be in a position to do so.

No Jack or George or Irving-S? I realize only 4 squadrons ever fly the Jack, and George isn't much better, but the 2nd and 3rd Jacks are truly great and George is George!

The other fighter that bears looking at in PDU off environment is the 102A Randy and even the 102B Randy FB. Numerous squadrons upgrade to them...some from the Sonia or Lilly IIc lines.

The 102A gets sterling reviews from Lok and M-M, two sources I always listen to.

Most of your Nick squadrons will convert to something else...taking much of your fighter bomber strength.

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

So now that supply has been allocated to the frontline units and the supply level in Japan is beginning to build again such that more bases can be increased to 15K supply or so, I finished off my aircraft research and production expansion for the moment. From memory, which may be subject to an error or two, the fighter production/research, for the moment, is as follows:

A6M2 80 per month
Oscar Ic 90 per month
Oscar R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at IIa)
A6M R&D 6 x 30 (Beginning at Rufe)
A6M5d (Nightfighter) 1 x 30
Frank 1 x 60, 6x30
Tony 3 x 30
Tojo 1 x 30
Nick 2 x 30
Nick 1D (Nightfighter) 2 x 30
Dinah III KAI (nightfighter) 1 x 30
KI 94 1 x 30 (this is something that I do not normally do... of course, I never get late enough in the war to use this plane)
A7M2 3 x 30 (this is again something that I do not normally do... but Pax says it is a good idea)

This is for PDU:off. Engine production is at 290 Nakajima 35s per month, and may go up to 300, but no more. I hope to be able to shutoff Zero production for a month or two of the next 6 months and should get to 500 engines sometime in June or July, which is about when the first Oscar factories will be fully repaired. I am slowly adding on to Nakajima 45 R&D, and it is currently at approximately 180 engines per month. I will continue to add on, as supply comes available, for some time. I am building toward 60 Kawasaki engines per month for the Tonies, which is about where I estimate my Tony production to be, until the late war when the KI-100 comes online and more squadrons upgrade to Tony; at which point, the Tony changes engines.

As for bombers, research is limited to Jill 2 x 30 and Judy 4 x 30. The 120 Aichi engine factories are humming away, and I will not add to these nor change them over for the foreseeable future.

I have a few more factories available, but I doubt that I will use them, at least for the present.

Looks very good. You will thank Pax about the Sam...and you will able to increase the r&d into Sam with Oscar or Zero lines that complete should you be in a position to do so.

No Jack or George or Irving-S? I realize only 4 squadrons ever fly the Jack, and George isn't much better, but the 2nd and 3rd Jacks are truly great and George is George!

The other fighter that bears looking at in PDU off environment is the 102A Randy and even the 102B Randy FB. Numerous squadrons upgrade to them...some from the Sonia or Lilly IIc lines.

The 102A gets sterling reviews from Lok and M-M, two sources I always listen to.

Most of your Nick squadrons will convert to something else...taking much of your fighter bomber strength.

I do have George at 1 x 30. Jack is at 1 x 15. I am not sure that more Jacks are necessary. At most, I may increase Jack to 1 x 30 and put another factory on N1K. It is not essential to commit to this now as no existing squadrons upgrade to Jack, so accelerating the plane does not have any benefit. In PDU:on, I would have invested maybe 4 factories to N1K and maybe 2 or 3 factories to Jack.

The Randy is another plane that I have never fielded. I have a few more factories that I could allocate, but I am not sure how much more research I want to do. I think that I maintain more supply in forward areas later in the war than most Japanese players, so the extra 120K supply is very important to me. In PDU:off, the supply use is heavier to convert numerous factories to R&D, because many of the factories that are "research" factories in PDU:on, actually have to produce the planes they are originally set to produce in PDU:off. So existing production factories also will have to be converted to produce these planes, if I assign their original factories to R&D. I will have to think on this.

Randy seems like a good option if I want to use the final factories for R&D or just leave them as is. The other option for the final factories is the radar-equipped Francis. I plan to convert the A6M research over to A7M2 once the A6M8 is online. The Oscar R&D will probably convert to the KI-94 once the IIIa is online: depending upon available supply. I will probably not research the Oscar IV, since many squadrons go directly from the IIIa to the Frank. Though if supply is short, the factories will stay on Oscar through the IV.

[Aurorus]

I forgot to mention the other reason that I hold off committing factories to R&D in the first month of the war, beyond the R&D that begins to repair immediately: Oscar and A6M. I hold off because I want to see how intact the oilfields are once I get control.

If I lose 150 or 200 oil, that will impact my R&D plans, and they will be more limited and focused. I think this is a helpful tip to many new Japanese players. If 200 oil is damaged in the assaults, this is 200K supply that will have to be used to repair oilfields. This is supply that must come from somewhere, and plane R&D will have to be less intensive and more focused as a result.

Also, I have lost 2 CVs in the first month of the war before against the Nasty Ironman AI. This also will impact R&D plans to focus more on the airforce and less on the navy.

[Aurorus]

Upon further review and contemplation, I am inclined to put another factory into George. I will probably be producing 60 a month late in the war, regardless, so another factory on R&D does not seem inefficient.

I reviewed the Irving, which is something that I overlooked (thanks Lowpe). I like nightfighter research in general, but I am not sure that the Irving is something worth researching. It will open the nightfighter path for a couple of squadrons to convert to the A6M5d, but the Irving comes available before I will have the A6M5d. I am not sure that I will ever want to produce 30 Irvings in a month... but maybe. It might be worth bumping the factory up to a 30.

The Randy 1A and the radar-equipped Francis are things that I will continue to ponder.

[Aurorus]

Jan. 25th. Recon showed that the allies had pulled their airforce back from Batavia to Buitenzorg. A squadron of Zeros was sent in. The sweep was undetected until the last minute and curiously, there were no allied aircraft airborne, but a dozen on standby.


Morning Air attack on Buitenzorg , at 48,99

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 24
P-40E Warhawk x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed

CAP engaged:
No.21 Sqn RAAF with Buffalo I (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
No.453 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
No.488 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
24th PG/17th PS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes