A Wench in the Logistics Machine: Mike Solli (J) vs. USS Mike (A)

[USSAmerica]

DEC 26, 1941
We had a little bit more excitement today with shooting on both sides. The Barisan Rgt did manage to catch the last train from Soerabaja to Batavia and will help the base hold out a day or two longer.

The famous Hibiki pounded one of my Dutch subs off of Kuching. KXVII took some good damage, but will likely make it back to either Soerabaja or Darwin if the enemy troops on Java approach Soerabaja too quickly (which they probably will).

Halsey got some payback up near Attu Island. The CVTF caught 2 xAK's and a PB at the base and put them under, and they also found and hit another small TF of 1 PB and 2 xAK's a bit to the NE of Attu Island, heading east. Looks like it may be carrying a base force for Adak, as a few Non Combat and Engineer troops got wet. Halsey ordered the CVTF to follow this target transport TF on the north side of the Aleutian chain to finish them off. They will then exit the theater to the SE, maybe getting in a few bombs at Adak on the way past, and then into the open waters of the North Pacific. Mike's KB is now two days away from the last spotted location near Milne Bay, so I can't keep my guy's location easily visible to him any more.

No changes at Singapore or in the PI. Mike is sitting in Manila and Clark and just bombarding my guys. Just to stir the pot a little bit, I ordered the two tank Bn's and the PS Cav Rgt at Clark to Deliberately attack. It's not going to really hurt me if the attack doesn't go well, and maybe I'll catch Mike off guard.

[USSAmerica]

DEC 27, 1941
The suspected base force remains that Halsey hit yesterday were stranded on Kiska Island today. Mike actually did a good job to get them on land, but they will be very cold and hungry for a while as I picked off the damaged transport and PB that landed them there. I also hit the port at Attu and sunk the damaged PB that was there. Another suspected PB is running to the NE. I'm going to move to the east a bit and hope to catch it from the air on my way out of the area.

Over at Tarakan, Mike started landing in force. The Dutch CD unit there earned their pay today, scoring several hits on 3 different transports. One of them is quite damaged and burning brightly. Other than the Dutch subs, these guys are the only group that has had an impact so far. The Dutch air power still has not scored a single hit on a Japanese ship. I know that is not what they are trained for, but no one even hit a ship by accident yet.

[USSAmerica]

DEC 28, 1941
The landings at Tarakan continued today and the Dutch CD unit there continued to take a toll on the Japanese transports. 4 different transports were heavily damaged and on fire, while a couple more were hit a few times. At least one or two of these damaged transports from the last two days will show up on the sunk ships list.

Halsey and the CVTF in the North Pacific were not able to catch any ships today, so they executed their secondary mission and hit the port at Adak. No ships are in port there that I have spotted, but at least the damage will slow down construction and base expansion there. I did spot the elusive PB to the south of Adak now. Japanese subs are starting to show up in the area, hunting my guys, so it's time to take our leave. I'll move them to the south of Adak tomorrow and then head for Seattle to replenish. I have the 87 Mtn Rgt and half of a combat engineer Rgt starting to load on transports at Seattle, so I'll escort them to Dutch Harbor with the carriers. I may even add BB Warspite to the TF as she is finished with her repairs there. Yorktown will arrive at San Diego in the next day or two. She will head to Pearl to man the fort for now.

[BBfanboy]

Since the Dutch Air Force is likely to be eliminated anyways, I set them to bomb at 2000 feet if they have some NavB skills or 1000 feet (LowN skill) if they have none. I have never failed to score some hits before they get eliminated. Those 300 KG/660 lb. bombs that the Dorniers drop can penetrate BB deck armour! (at least on the Kongos).

[USSAmerica]

Good point, BB! I need to drop the altitude of those bombers right away. They are currently around 6000 ft.

[USSAmerica]

DEC 29, 1941
A relatively routine turn today with the excitement focused on the waters off of Merauke. Yesterday I spotted a small TF with a few E's and a DD trying to slip past Horn Island in the Torres Strait. I figured they were going to try to raid Merauke, where I had an AVP and an xAK unloading supply for the Dutch float patrol planes flying from there. I had three Dutch ships just finish some minor repairs at Darwin, CL Tromp and 2 DD's. I set a patrol zone a hex away from Merauke and ordered them to head there at full speed. 3 Clemson DD's on ASW patrol near Darwin were ordered to catch up with them and join. My Dutch ships caught the Japanese TF today, but after they had already passed by Merauke and continued to the NW. Surprise! They were escorting 7 troop transports. It was a pretty good gun battle with torpedoes missing all targets:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Merauke at 86,123, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Hasu, Shell hits 1
E Hachijo
E Kunashiri, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
E Ishigaki
DMS W-20, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAP Hikawa Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAP Huzi Maru
xAP Yoshino Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Teikyo Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire
xAP Dairen Maru
xAP Hoten Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Tango Maru

Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 3
DD Banckert, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Evertsen

Japanese ground losses:
377 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

With more targets to spread their fire between, the Dutch didn't seem to sink any ships outright but several were left quite damaged and burning. My guys got off with pretty light damage and merged with the 3 Clemsons at Merauke. DD Banckert still has some fires burning, so couldn't refuel. She will remain behind to repair at Merauke while the other 5 head back out to try to catch the Japanese TF again. It was a long battle, and Tromp is out of forward main battery ammo, but the Japanese should also be rather low on ammo and I've added the 3 Clemsons to the mix with full magazines and full torpedo tubes. I am really curious where these troops were heading, but I'm hoping to make it a moot point tomorrow.

Oh, I also ordered all my Dutch bombers and the remaining Brit bombers at Singapore to fly at 1000 ft for their Naval attacks. Thanks, BB!

[USSAmerica]

Edit: double post....

[USSAmerica]

Edit: triple post... sheesh!

[USSAmerica]

Wow, a triple post!

[BBfanboy]

Wow, a triple post!

Sounds like spam - you better green button that guy!

[btd64]

Wow, a triple post!

Sounds like spam - you better green button that guy!

And do it quickly ...GP

[USSAmerica]

DEC 30, 1941
The Dutch hit a Japanese ship from the air today! Thanks to the tip from BBfanboy, I dropped all of the Dutch bomber squadrons to 1000 ft. altitude (something I should have thought of myself). They will not last much longer anyway, so the increased fatigue and morale hits are a worthwhile tradeoff to actually score a few bomb hits. LSD Shinshu Maru was hit be a single 300 kg bomb near Billiton. There is a LOT of Japanese shipping in the area and Mike can't provide air cover for all of them.

It was a headline day for the Dutch all around. Even as the Japanese spread across the island of Java, CL Tromp and friends caught the previously damaged ships from yesterday's battle. An E and two xAPs were pounded. The E is confirmed sunk while the two xAPs were burning fiercely and likely went under after I lost contact. Time to make like a baby and "head out" of the area as a SCTF with at least BB Fuso in it is heading south past Boela.

Not a lot of note happening anywhere else. Mike's forces continue to grind their way forward, except they still show no signs of crossing into Singapore or attacking at Manila and Clark, or moving on Bataan. It's been a number of days now since my last sighting of the KB. I have to be prepared to see them pop up almost anywhere on the map, although I do have my naval search umbrella up from Midway, all the way around the island chain to Suva, so I should get a chance to scatter if they move into any of those areas. I'm curious if Mike might have them chasing after Halsey up around Adak since I hung around that area for several days. I'd be happy with that, as Halsey is on his way back to Seattle at the moment.

[USSAmerica]

DEC 31, 1941
A few small successes today help to keep the Allied morale up as we continue to be driven back across the map at a high level. 3 Hudsons and 3 Blenheim I's flew from Singapore against some transports and scored 3 bomb hits on an xAK off Singkawang. They are smaller, 250 lb bombs, but 3 may be enough to cause the xAK to sink. The Silent Service got in on the act today as well. S-41 put a smaller fish into a TK just off Davao. I have 4 S boats patrolling in this area. SS KX had some fun off Tarakan today as well. She hit a PB with one torp and an xAK carrying troops (likely ENG's) with two more. That one sunk. Then there was SS Sturgeon. Recon showed some transports without a long string of escorts in the Lingayen hex of the PI. She found an xAK and emptied her torpedo tubes, missing with all shots. But, it was dark and she scored 13 deck gun hits on the xAK before almost running out of ammo. A little reminder to Mike that very few areas are safe for him to run unescorted transports.

The Japanese transport TF that I whittled down a bit off Merauke the last couple of days linked up with the BB TF and pulled into the Ambon Island hex. They will likely unload tomorrow. Hopefully, the CD guns there can bleed Mike a little bit more.

The convoy carrying the British 18th Div arrived at Darwin and is unloading. Should take about 3 days with the Darwin Port expanding tomorrow to size 4. There is a smaller convoy carrying about 35k of supply following them by 3 days. Getting the 18th safely ashore will be a significant step in my defenses, particularly with Mike making some very early longer range invasions.

In Burma, Mike's advance troops are moving to cross the river from Moulmein. This is a Thai division and a much stronger Japanese Rgt with some supporting troops. I have single ship supply runs still unloading at Rangoon, with the last 5 on the way there now. I don't think there will be more time after they get there for supply to unload and be drawn inland before the rail line gets cut. Based on the Tracker stats and history, some supply has been pulled into China from Burma so far, and Mandalay and Lashio are both pulling supply inland from Rangoon. I think some of the supply has "leaked" back through the jungle to India but overall I feel this effort has been a success so far. With the last transports unloaded, there will be around 120k supply in Burma to be pulled into China. I just hope I can get it inland before Mike cuts off and captures Rangoon. I don't want to feed his troops! I've lost no ships to date with the AVG and some Brits flying CAP, and I've managed to pull all of the fuel produced so far out of Burma to India and Ceylon. In the next day or two I'll turn off the refineries to quit producing any more fuel. I'm balancing the 270 supply/day they produce with being able to haul away all the fuel before Mike takes Rangoon. I'd much rather force him to haul oil than already refined fuel. I've long since turned off refineries at Tarakan, Balikpapan, Soerabaja, and Palembang. There is more supply at those locations than I'll be able to use, and the fuel does me no more good there.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 1, 1942
Happy New Year! At least I hope it is happier than 1941. We have played two turns since I updated the AAR last week, so here is the second turn report.

The Japanese 4th Div came ashore at Ambon Island today. The CD guns didn't score any hits, but perhaps they caused a bit of mayhem as over 20 squads were lost while landing. More likely the troops were not prepped for Ambon Island. The 4th Div is the one that captured Port Moresby, which explains the unusual route they took past Merauke. More SNLF troops landed at Guam today, but there was no attack today.

At Davao, one of Mike's Tankers found one of the mines I planted. It was a different TK from the one that ate a torpedo yesterday, so two damaged, but I'd rather it were the same one and damage it enough to sink it. Never the less, another pinprick.

The change to 1000 ft Naval Bombing for the Dutch and Brits in the DEI is paying off. 3 Blenheim I's scored 2 more bomb hits on an xAK carrying troops near Singkawang. Off Toboali, another Dutch 139WH-3 hit an xAK with a big 300kg bomb. Lesson learned for the beginning of the next game I start. These bombers are not very well trained for Naval Bombing so they need the increased accuracy of low level bombing. Yeah, the increased morale and fatigue hit will wear them out, but they are "consumable" to begin with. None of them will survive the first few months of the war, except in unusual circumstances. Despite their better land bombing experience, I really feel they make very little difference bombing the invading troops, but every ship that the Japanese lose is gone for good.

Shipping is finally making it's way to Capetown from across the west end of the map. The first 100k supply convoy departed today for Darwin. It's also carrying most of the small LCU's that arrive at Capetown. Convoys are also forming up at Panama to start the UK – Capetown relay. Almost all of the AP's and AK's that can later convert to APA and AKA's are going to be safely tucked away on these off map convoy routes until upgrade time. The couple that have not yet joined them are making their way to either Panama or Capetown now. (2 of them were in the Brit 18th Div convoy at start).

One other note for today, Yorktown left SD for Pearl Harbor today after her escorts joined her from their arrival point at Panama.

[BBfanboy]

I do not use Britain as a supply source for the reason that it is further from CT than Eastern USA, and the latter can provide all the supply needed. Take one of your TFs at CT and set it to go to Britain and not the number of hexes. Ditto to go to the EUSA. Fuel is also available in USA more so than in Britain. Although you don't need fuel to travel off-map, you may have xAKs that can carry fuel in a tank or actual tankers you want to supply CT for TFs going on-map.

[Lowpe]

BB, what are you smoking?

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[BBfanboy]

Hmmmm - I know I checked it out long ago and EUSA was best. I will check when I have a TF at CT to work with and see what I get.

[USSAmerica]

Lowpe's data is correct. UK is farther from Panama than the EC, so I'll actually be sending the new convoys that form up at Panama to EC for their initial load, then on to CT. From there it's UK-CT.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 2, 1942
The amphib landing of the 4th Div at Ambon Island continued today and the Dutch CD guns woke up. 5 150mm hits on one xAP, and a single hit on 3 others. It's a little pathetic, but we are still at the early stage of the game where I measure my success not by stopping the invasions, but by how many scratches I can cause while being crushed. The deliberate attack by the 4th was resisted today, but tomorrow will likely sweep the defenders aside.

Not a lot of action elsewhere in the Pacific today, but there is a hint of action to come. There is finally a movement arrow on the Japanese troops that are finally starting to move across the causeway into Singapore. I ordered a Hudson bomber group and the Swordfish group that has only 1 remaining plane to make their way to Darwin. Both withdraw by June of 42, but they cost no PP so I might get a bit more use out of them. A handful of odd bombers and a couple of Buffaloe's remain to put up token resistance.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 3, 1942
Mike is flipping turns faster than I can with work and house stuff. I try to make a point to get the turn back to him before I spend available computer time on the AAR. Turn went back to him last night so here is the second update for today.

Ambon Island fell today to the 4th Div, as expected, but not before scoring one more 150mm hit on the same xAP that took 5 shells yesterday. Take that, Tojo! LOL Several other scattered Dutch bases fell today as well, including Ternate, Muntok, and Billiton. Our heroic Dutch 139WH-3's scored one more 300kg bomb hit on an xAK at Billiton. More troops also came ashore at Guam yesterday and today, but they haven't attacked again yet.

China. I only have a fuzzy big picture of my "strategy" in China. 1. Prevent as many units as possible from being cut off, surrounded, and eliminated piecemeal. 2. Get as much supply into China as I can via Burma and hoard it as best I can. 3. Prepare for a siege around Chungking and it's nearby bases. All of the Chinese Air Force has been bought out and is now in India, where they will undergo a long term training program at Delhi. About half of the ground forces that can be bought out have already made their way to Burma and will rest and fill out around Calcutta. The other half are making their way to the border. Almost no LCU's in China will take replacements to conserve supply.

Supply into China may become an issue sooner than I would like. The last of my supply shipments to Rangoon are unloading and the Burma Road is still open. Today Mike made a paradrop on Toungoo, which sits on the rail line from Rangoon to Mandalay. I had the small 10th Burma Rifles Bn stationed there, but screwed up and didn't remember to change them from Strategic mode to Combat mode after they arrived. A 4 to 1 assault captured the base, where I likely would have held them off if my guys were in Combat mode. I figured that would do it for the Burma Road 500 supply/day, but Rangoon shows the Road is still open. I guess as long as there is a road path open to the west of the rail line, the Road stays open. I'll try to keep these Japanese Raiders from moving west to also cut the road, while I try to recapture Toungoo and reopen the rail line with some troops from Mandalay. Perhaps some of those Chinese units that are making their way through Burma will be useful for a while.