Bo...oops in the South Pacific - LST (A) vs SierraJuliet (J) Bottlenecks Mod

[LargeSlowTarget]

Hi Ed, how are you doing?

zebratwo, sending Pensacola into the Gilberts to pounce upon imprudent Japanese invasion TFs is an old AFB trick, has been done by others in older AARs, I have just taken mental note. The evacuation of civilians add a little more credibility to such a foray. It might as well have been a dud operation - the Japanese player may send the preloaded convoys to other locations - Midway for example.

[zebrazwo]

Haha, no need to explain, just take the win and act like it was all part of the plan

[Mike Solli]

Edit: Btw, SJ has told me that he should be able to finish the first turn this weekend. One heck of a preparation. I usually finish the first turn of Japan in less than six hours.

6 hours for the Japanese first turn?! For me it's usually around 100 hours. I check EVERYTHING. Anyway, this looks really interesting. Add me to the list. It'll be interesting to see it from the Allied perspective.

[Mike Solli]

LST, what is the significance of the civilians? Why bother rescuing them? Do you lose VPs if the Japanese capture them or gain VPs if you rescue them? Also, how many are we talking about?

[Mike Solli]

LST, what is the significance of the civilians? Why bother rescuing them? Do you lose VPs if the Japanese capture them or gain VPs if you rescue them? Also, how many are we talking about?

[Mark VII]

Every civilian point comes with a support point. A disbanded support point at a main base adds one support point to the pool. Also think destroyed civilians and their support points are VP's for the Japanese. It's been several years since I tried this so I could be wrong.

LST, what is the significance of the civilians? Why bother rescuing them? Do you lose VPs if the Japanese capture them or gain VPs if you rescue them? Also, how many are we talking about?

[LargeSlowTarget]

Every civilian point comes with a support point. A disbanded support point at a main base adds one support point to the pool. Also think destroyed civilians and their support points are VP's for the Japanese. It's been several years since I tried this so I could be wrong.

LST, what is the significance of the civilians? Why bother rescuing them? Do you lose VPs if the Japanese capture them or gain VPs if you rescue them? Also, how many are we talking about?

What Mark VII said.

My "civilian" units consists of squad devices labelled "Noncombat Personnel" with zero Anti-Soft and zero Anti-Armor value and load costs of 12, and of an equal number of support squads (in order to prevent disablement and attrition of the "Noncombat Personnel" squads due to lack of support).

Standard VP rules apply - 1 VP for every 3 items (squad, vehicle or gun) destroyed.

There are 1938 "Noncombat Personnel" devices in my mod, with corresponding support we arrive at 3876 squad devices, which could potentially yield 1292 VPs to Japan if the Allied player chooses to ignore the evacuation of civilians and Japan manages to destroy them all.
Most of the civilian units are in areas which Japan can capture easily (PI, DEI, Malaya, PNG, Solomons, SoPac), a few are more difficult to reach (PH, Ceylon).

Disbanded support squads go to the pool.

Edit: Btw, SJ has told me that he should be able to finish the first turn this weekend. One heck of a preparation. I usually finish the first turn of Japan in less than six hours.

6 hours for the Japanese first turn?! For me it's usually around 100 hours. I check EVERYTHING. Anyway, this looks really interesting. Add me to the list. It'll be interesting to see it from the Allied perspective.

As a "personal mod", I have included certain features which suit my playing style and help me saving a lot of clicks and thus time on the first turn.
Many ground units in Japan, Manschukuo, Korea, India and CONUS already have movement orders, either heading for ports of embarkation or in case of India, to locations requiring garrisons.
Most of the shipping that is in port in the base scenario is already assembled in TFs in my mod, they have movement orders to proceed to "assembly points" for sorting-out and reallocation or conversion.
This is of course not necessarily optimal for the war effort according to someone else's plans, and for this PBEM, I myself have made certain modifications to the "at start" setup of TFs and LCU movement orders in order to better suit my plans for this game.
Still, just making adjustments to the setup instead of being forced to give orders to each single LCU and ship at start is saving a lot of time.

[Mike Solli]

1292 VP is significant. I like that feature. I also like the fact that you did a lot of the clicks for us. Very nice.

Now get back to the war!

[LargeSlowTarget]

Dec 9th, 1941

Bases lost
Forgot to mention, Bukit Besi – Dungun has been occupied by the Japanese yesterday.
Itbayat Island has been occupied by the Japanese today.

Sub War
S-40~ has been in the perfect position to intercept the invasion of Northern Luzon. In a night attack, she torpedoed DMS W-9 near Laoag. When dawn rose, she found and stalked an enemy cruiser SAG, hitting CA Ashigara with two fish. The cruiser surely will require some yard time.
The Dutch sub KXI has torpedoed xAK Kansai Maru off Singora, but suffered damage from depth charges and must RTB for repairs.
Sister sub KXV has torpedoed xAK Daigen Maru #1 near Poulo Condore Is. four times and added some gunfire for good measure. The ship went down like a rock, helped along by a deck-load of artillery, as the Dutch observed.
Sister sub KXII was not so lucky, she got sighted by escorts off Kota Bharu and suffered damage in the ensuing depth charging and has to RTB as well.
KXVII, also operating off Kota Bharu, has been sighted, attacked and damaged as well.

CONUS
A couple of old four-stacker destroyers have entered the yards to be converted into “destroyer-transports”, in anticipation that future operations may require some transport capacity coupled with speed.
All ships not due for immediate conversions or upgrades are being reshuffled – transports and freighters doing 14 knots or more to SF to prepare for a reinforcement operation for PH, large and medium tankers as well as AOs to LA with lots of refineries nearby, and slow merchant ships and tankers to SD and on to the Caribbean in order to start hauling resources and oil to the US.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
Determined not to be outdone by the Pensacola, the heavy cruiser Louisville broke away from her Pearl Harbor-bound convoy to push even deeper into enemy territory. Venturing beyond the Gilbert Islands, she reached Jaluit in the Marshalls, where she happened upon the crippled survivors of the Pensacola's engagement the previous day.
The Louisville ensured those ships wouldn't see another sunrise. Opening fire at 18,000 yards, she closed the distance to a mere 3,000 yards to deliver the finishing blows. CM Okinoshima and DD Yunagi were sent to the bottom, while the destroyer Asanagi was left burning and heavily damaged. In exchange, the Louisville brushed off four minor, inconsequential hits.
However, it proved to be "one atoll too far." A counter-attack by 22 twin-engine bombers caught the cruiser; while her AA managed to splash one "Nell," the Louisville took a torpedo hit. The resulting damage (41/33 flotation) has throttled her maximum speed to just 11 knots. With the ship still well within range of enemy bombers for the next 48 hours, she faces a precarious crawl back to safety. Such is the price of doing business.

PH is virtually surrounded by enemy submarines in a close blockade. However, the port is empty except cripples, some mine-craft and the dozen PT boats which have returned from their eventless dash north.
KB has been sighted near French Frigate Shoals. PH remains at high alert because the enemy carriers may still do a night sprint towards it for another strike.

SoPac
Small ships have been dispatched from the PNG area to start collecting the Australian civilians from the Solomon Islands.

SWPac
Sydney is busy collecting and dispatching shipping from all over Australia and New Zealand. The larger ships will be loaded with supplies and sent to Java and hopefully on to Singapore.
In the PNG area, local shipping, flying boats and some civilian transport planes pressed into government service are busy evacuating civilians from Rabaul, Lae and other settlements.

PI
The British DDs Scout and Thanet, fleeing from Hong Kong, have bumped at night into a Japanese SAG (CL Naka, 7 DD) near Subic Bay. Thanet received two hits, DD Asagumo was hit once in return, before both task forces broke off the engagement.
The evacuation of shipping assets from Manila to safety is proceeding without enemy interference so far. No cruisers blocking the Celebes Sea, no Mini-KB either. Strange, but I won’t complain.
Enemy bombers have attacked the small freighters engaged in shifting supplies and equipment across Manila Bay from the capital to the Bataan peninsula. xAKL Maayo suffered two torpedo hits and disintegrated. AM Finch sunk after one hit.
Enemy bombers also attacked ground PI Army ground forces at Tuguegarao, 46 casualties reported.

DEI
Shipping and Flying Boats are busy hauling civilians, resources and fuel out of the DEI to keep them from falling into Japanese hands. Most of the available military supplies – mainly on Java – are destined for shipment to Singapore to allow this future fortress to hold as long as possible. However, the Dutch struggle to provide escorts for even the most important convoys.

Malaya / Burma / India
While the British-Indian Army continues to retrea...- uhm, redeploy, enemy bombers have attacked ground forces retreating from Kota Bharu. No casualties were reported.

China
Enemy bombers have attacked the 94th Chinese Army- Corps at Suizhou without effect. Enemy troops are advancing on Hog Kong.

[LargeSlowTarget]

Dec 10th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURE Lu'an (Central China).

Sub War
SS Stingray~ found damaged DD Michishio near Poulo Condore Is, but the four torpedoes launched failed to produce results.
SS KXIV ~ found damaged DD Michishio as well, but missed with two torpedoes.
SS KXVII suffered an ASW attack near Bukit Besi and collected two hits – RTB for repairs.
SS I-124*has sunk xAKL Maria A and xAKL Escalante R near Tabango (PI).

CONUS
Most bases with industries or resources try to secure the 10k supplies needed to start repairing (expanding) them.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
xAP Haleakala has died of wounds at Hilo.
The operational report listing aerial ASW contact reports around PH is about two meters long.
KB has been sighted six hexes ENE of Johnston Island, heading SW. This direction will bring it within one hex of Canton Is. Will KB cover an invasion of this important US-Australia stepping stone?
If both KB and Pensacola continue their present courses, their paths will cross. Although the crew of the “grey ghost” – a nickname bestowed on her by Tokyo Rose after the cruiser’s sudden and unexpected appearance off Makin – is itching to have a go at KB, the empty ammo magazines would leave only ramming or boarding as possible offensive actions. Since discretion is the better part of valor, Pensacola will change course.

SoPac
USS Louisville has made a “full-speed” run south from Jaluit at the risk of increasing float damage. She managed to reach the doubtful security of Ocean Island.

SWPac
The evacuation of civilians continues and reinforcements for PM have been dispatched.

PI
PT boats investigated reports of enemy TFs sighted near Iba. They found CL Naka and a bunch of DDs under a half moon. PT-31, PT Q-112 and PT Q-113 were lost.
SS Pike has laid a minefield at Aparri. A short time later, a Japanese DMS discovered the minefield the hard way.
SS Sealion laid a minefield at Vigan.
Enemy air attacks have sunk xAKL Isla de Mindoro, xAKL F Escano, xAPc Regulus, xAKL Governor Smith, xAKL Vizcaya, xAKL Tangob, xAKL Silvestre and xAKL Talisay.
A daring low-level attack by seven SOC-1 Seagull float planes and 12 Philippine P-26A fighters against enemy shipping offloading at Vigan has damaged xAP Kokuryu Maru #2, xAK Lyons Maru and xAK Katuragi Maru with multiple bomb hits, numerous casualties were observed among the troops on deck. In a second attack, more bomb hits have been reported on four different enemy merchant ships.
The 3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion at Tuguegarao has been bombed, 78 casualties reported.
Enemy troops have landed at Legaspi.

DEI
Batavia is now home of a mixed bag of medium bombers from Australia, Britain and the Netherlands. The pilots will be trained in naval attack tactics. All Dutch fighters have been ordered to Singapore.
CM Gouden Leeuw lays defensive minefield at Kendari-Staring Bay ( 70 , 106) and sets course for Soerabaja

Malaya / Burma / India
Enemy air attacks have hit Victoria Point, 16 casualties reported by the lone British base force. A fast xAP has been dispatched to evacuate the isolated troops.
Enemy bombers also attacked Butterworth/Sungei without effect.

China

Hong Kong suffered multiple air attacks, two Vildebeest damaged on the ground.
Changsha has been attacked, the air base received moderate damage and two DB-3M bombers have received minor damage.
Lu'an, a dot base south of the Yellow river, has been taken by the Japanese. Enemy troop movements indicate that an effort to open the road to Sinyang might be the goal.

[LargeSlowTarget]

Dec 11th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURE Legaspi (PI).
Langkawi (Southern Thailand) is occupied by the Japanese.

Sub War
SS Stingray~ has been slightly damaged in an ASW attack by two Japanese DDs near Poulo Condore Is.
SS Perch~ has ventured too close to Takao, hit a mine and must RTB with 34(28) float damage.
SS KXIV launched 2 torpedoes at DD Akatsuki near Kota Bharu, missed, and collected 3 hits in the ASW counterattack.
SS I-10^ has found the big liner xAP President Coolidge near Ambrym (New Hebrides) and put two fish into her 72(61) flood damage. The liner was returning from Nauru with New Zealand troops aboard. She will try to reach nearby Efate.

CONUS
Shipyards are pretty busy.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
Guam has been naval bombarded and invaded. Yard oiler Robert L Barnes has been damaged and will be scuttled in the harbor entrance.

SoPac
Two Japanese ”Armed Merchant Cruisers” have found a small group of Allied merchant ships returning to CONUS near Ta'u (Samoa Islands). xAK Salamaua and xAK Suva collected two hits each, but the Allied convoy managed to escape.

SWPac
The evacuation of civilians is progressing well without enemy interference so far. Combat troops in the PNG area have been ordered to concentrate at Port Moresby and some local shipping has been made available for this purpose.

PI
Undefended Legaspi has been captured by Japanese Army and/or Navy ground troops. Both sides nearly started firing on each other in the rush to be the first, and whoever won appears to be disputed. Apparently, Army-Navy cooperation is not well developed in the Japanese Armed Forces.
Near Iba, US PT boats have clashed with CL Naka and her DD escorts in broad daylight, losing PT-34 in the process.
USN floatplanes have attacked IJN cruisers operating between Samar and Southern Luzon, but obtained no hits and lost a Kingfisher to AA.
The P-26As had no luck in their attack against the CL Naka TF near Iba either.
Enemy torpedo bombers have found the floating drydock ARD YFD-1 Dewey near Tacloban and sank her with three torpedoes, and the two tugs YP _La Florecita and YP _Napa that were trying to pull her to safety as well (in my mod, the “_”before a ship name symbolizes a tow line – there is no dedicated ship class for tugs).
Enemy air strike continued to reduce the small fry crossing Manila Bay: xAKL Sintang, xAKL Amelia, xAPc Kanlaon, xAKL Zamboanga, xAPc Kolambugan, xAPc Fortuna, xAKL Opon, xAKL Tito, YO-4, xAKL Explorador, xAKL Moago, xAKL Jolo and xAKL Domingo sank.
A few bombers have attacked the 3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion at Santiago (Luzon), causing 60 casualties.

DEI
The evacuation of civilians is progressing well without enemy interference so far.

Malaya / Burma / India
The airbase at Victoria Point has been bombed by the enemy – what for?
Kuantan has been invaded by enemy SNLF troops – the defenders have already retreated towards Singers.

China
British MTBs ventured into Canton looking for Japanese shipping, only to lose MTB-27 to a mine. They clashed briefly with four Japanese torpedo boats upon return to Hong Kong, with no damage to either side.
The small British Air Force at Hong Kong tried to bomb Japanese ground forces approaching the city.
The Chinese Air Force has tried to bomb oil installations on Taiwan at Taihoku, using a handful of DB-3M and A-29A Hudson bombers. Enemy fighters on CAP spoiled the aim and damaged four Hudsons.
In return, Changsha airbase has been bombed by the Japanese, the base suffered moderate damage, and one “Sonia” bomber has been shot-down by AA.
Hong Kong airbase has been heavily bombed, over 40 runway hits.
Wenchow airbase has been bombed by a handful of old IJNAF bombers, light damage.
16th Chinese Army Corps, at Gushi has been bombed as well, 25 casualties.
Hong Kong has withstood a first ground attack, suffered almost 400 casualties but inflicting almost 700 on the Japanese.

[zebrazwo]

When does HK usually fall in your mod?

[LargeSlowTarget]

When does HK usually fall in your mod?

That depends on the amount of air support and the dice and how hard the Japanese player is "driving" his ground forces. Earliest date was Dec 13th so far, usually it takes a week longer.


Dec 12th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURED Guam.
Kuantan is occupied by the Japanese.

Sub War
SS S-39~ has torpedoed xAP Haruna Maru off Legaspi.
SS S-40~ missed DD Minegumo near Iba.
SS S-41~ has had a very rough day at Vigan. In two ASW attacks, the old sub has collected 11 (!) damaging hits. At the end of the day, the sub was barely alive, with 46 sys, 97(44) float and 22(10) eng damage. She will try to retire to Lingayen for repairs, if she makes it.
A minefield laid by US submarines off Vigan has been discovered by two Japanese merchantmen the hard way, means boom.
SS Cachalot~ has intercepted KB near Palmyra but failed to score.
SS I-162 has sunk xAKL Tinimbo near Muntok (DEI).

CONUS
Nothing to report.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
KB has been sighted near Palmyra, still heading SW. The few ships in the general area have been ordered to evade to the south.
The Japanese 55ID 144th Infantry Regiment and 5th Defence Force have captured Guam after token resistance by the weak garrison.
[So far, SJ is following history quite closely, no surprises yet.]

SoPac
In the Samoa area, the Japanese AMC Aikoku Maru^ has played hide-and-seek with the New Zealand AMC Monowai~. In no less than five different engagements, the Kiwi ship collected one hit and the Japanese was left burning with two solid hits.

SWPac
Nothing to report.

PI
Enemy air attacks have sunk xAPc Surigao, xAPc Princess of Negros, AM Quail, xAKL Emillia, YO Sarangani in Manila Bay.
Sometimes the enemy bombers are escorted by fighters, sometimes not. P-26A at Manila have tried a cap trap, but unfortunately, this time the strike had escorts – six of twelve Peashooters lost.
USN float planes continued their low-level naval strikes, but the float planes missed cruisers near Legaspi.
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion at Santiago has been bombed, 28 casualties reported.

DEI
Nothing to report.

Malaya / Burma / India
Air attacks have hit the FMSV~ Brigade south of Kota Bharu, 8 casualties reported.
The air base at Victoria Point has been bombed again and moderately damaged. It’s ok, I don’t use it.
Our air attacks against the enemy invasion force at Kuantan have been a disaster. Unescorted torpedo bombers bravely pressed attack runs despite enemy CAP and AA. Of 24 Vildebeest III, 15 were shot down, of eight Swordfish, five failed to return. No hits.
Enemy torpedo bombers have sunk a small convoy fleeing from Hong Kong near Terempa, north of Borneo - xAK Hai Lee, xAK Hanyang and xAK Fatshan lost.

China
Near Zhongshan, British MTBs based at Hong Kong have clashed with four Japanese torpedo boats. MTB-26 and MTB-8 have been sunk, but so has TB Hiyodori.
Hong Kong has suffered repeated air attacks, two Walrus II damaged.
Changsha air base has been bombed again and suffered slight damage.
Another DA at Hong Kong has reduced fortifications to 1, 405 casualties reported on the Allied side (mostly disabled), the Japanese lost 915 men (26 squads destroyed – nice).

[LargeSlowTarget]

Dec 13th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURE San Fernando.
Japanese forces CAPTURE Huoqiu.
Cawayan is occupied by the Japanese.

Sub War
Sad news: SS S-41 has sunk - LCDR Holley G M has been KILLED.
SS Sturgeon~ missed xAK Tarayasu Maru near Vigan and suffered damage in the ASW counterattack. SS Porpoise~ missed CL Naka near Iba and received three hits in return. Both subs will RTB for repairs.
SS O19* laid a minefield at Kota Bharu, SS O20* laid a minefield at Kuantan.
SS KXIV has torpedoed TB RTN Phuket twice near Kota Bharu, this plus a mine hit should put her under.

SS I-162 has sunk xAPc Majang near Muntok – the ship was full of civilian refugees.
SS I-165 has sunk xAPc Joby near Terempa.
SS I-156 has sunk xAP Ipoh, also near Terempa.

CONUS
Nothing to report.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
Contact lost with KB.

SoPac
xAP President Coolidge has sunk in port at Efate, but the NZ troops aboard have been able to leave the ship in time.

SWPac
The evacuation of scattered civilians and troops in the PNG area continues – examples:
11 x DH-84 Dragon transporting Oz Civilians to Port Moresby.
8 x Junkers 52 / 3m transporting A Coy/NGVR from Rabaul.
2 x S.23 Empire transporting 1 Ind Coy(-) from Kavieng.

PI
Air attacks have sunk YO-42, xAKL Romblon, xAKL Churruca, YP _Trabajador and a barge in Manila Bay.
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion bombed again at Santiago, 27 casualties reported.

DEI
The tug YP _Ethel Moller, fleeing from Hong Kong, got caught by CL Isuzu and her DD escorts north of Borneo near Terempa and of course did not survive.

The evacuation of scattered civilians and selected troops continues – examples:
8 x PBY-4 Catalina transporting Asiatic Fleet' from Bataan / Corregidor
16 x L-18 Lodestar transporting Dutch Civilians from Makassar
2 x Do-24K-1 transporting Dutch Civilians from Ruteng
2 x Do-24K-1 transporting Dutch Civilians from Endeh
3 x Do-24K-1 transporting Dutch Civilians from Maumere
1 x Do-24K-1 transporting Dutch Civilians from Larantoeka
3 x Do-24K-1 transporting Dutch Civilians from Pantar
3 x PBY-5 Catalina transporting Dutch Civilians from Alor

Malaya / Burma / India
Bad day for the Thai Navy: TB RTN Phuket has hit a mine at Kota Bharu, then got hit by sub torpedoes. MTB RTN CMB-4 has hit a mine at Kota Bharu. That will teach them that helping the Japanese is not without risk.

China
The Japanese bombed air bases at Wenchow, Changsha, Kwangchowan and Hong Kong.
The few British planes at Hong Kong have attacked the IJA 38th Division, causing 6 casualties.
The defenders of Hong Kong defeated another DA, but suffered 533 casualties for only 307 on the Japanese side.

[LargeSlowTarget]

Dec 14th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURE Jitra / Alor Setar.
Japanese forces CAPTURE Victoria Point.
Laoag is occupied by the Japanese.

Sub War
At PH, multiple USN TFs of three DDs each have started hunting submarines in Hawaiian waters. Numerous contacts, but so far, no DD lost.
SS KXVIII has hit DMS W-6 near Bukit Besi – Dungun with two torpedoes – I think a total loss can be assumed.
SS Searaven~ has finally nailed CL Naka with a torp near Iba.
SS Sturgeon~ still tried desperately to get laid off Vigan, had numerous contacts – but is still a virgin.
SS S-37~ has suffered heavy damage from ASW attacks near Vigan and must RTB.
SS RTN Blajunbol was on a kill streak – she has torpedoed xAP Hong Siang and AMC Kanimbla near Tandjoengpinang. Both ships are loaded with troops evacuating Kuching and just may stay afloat long enough to reach Singers and offload.
SS I-162 was on akill streak as well – she has sunk xAK Reael near Billiton and xAKL Merkus near Toboali.

CONUS
A pair of Canadian corvettes patrolling the Vancouver – SF track has encountered an elusive submarine off San Francisco – so the hungry wolves have finally arrived. Too bad for them, the shipping in the CONUS area is still in the yards for arming.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
Nothing to report.

SoPac
No trace of the enemy AMC or of KB, the evacuation of civilians from the Samoan Islands (New Zelanders) is proceeding. However, “no trace” rather means “no search assets available”…

SWPac
The evacuation of civilians and troops from the PNG and Solomons continues.

PI
PT Q-111, the lone survivor of the PI Navy, has ventured forth to investigate reports of enemy ships off Subic Bay. The reports turned out to be true - three IJN DDs – but the lucky PT lived to tell the tale.
Enemy air attacks have sunk xAKL Bicol. With the numerous sinkings in the last few days, the Allied TFs in the PI (I usually group ships by same type) have been reduced to groups of two or even single ships, making them harder to detect.

DEI
Java is running low on supplies, shipments to Singers have been stopped until resupply ships do arrive from Australia, Ceylon, and Africa.

Malaya / Burma / India
A TF of British DDs have encountered minefields E of Singers at 51,84 and NE at Tioman Island (51,83). I am happy that they did spot the eggs at night without hitting one. I am even happier that this “flycatcher” vanguard has issued warning for Force Z following in their wake. This has allowed both forces to continue their little sprint up the coast to Kuantan unharmed. A couple of encounters resulted, which generally went bad for the Japanese ships, and then Force Z pounded the Japanese beachhead. Confirmed sunk: DD Tsuga, AMc Wa-19, AMc Wa-3, PB Fuji Maru #4, PB Kantori Maru, SC Ch-7, SC Ch-9.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Kuantan at 51,79
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ia Hayabusa: 13 damaged
Ki-43-Ia Hayabusa: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-15-II Karigane: 2 damaged
Ki-15-II Karigane: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BC Repulse
CL Mauritius~
CL Durban~
CL Dragon~
CL Danae~
Japanese ground losses:
515 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 40
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1

BB Prince of Wales firing at Kuantan
BC Repulse firing at Kuantan
CL Mauritius~ firing at Yokosuka 2nd SNLF
CL Durban~ firing at Kuantan
CL Dragon~ firing at Kuantan
CL Danae~ firing at Kuantan

Enemy air attacks have targeted the 3 SSVF~ Battalion at Butterworth/Sungei, causing 38 casualties. The enemy is closing in from the N and E, Jitra / Alor Setar has fallen to the Japanese. The rearguard has orders to observe, not to fight, and will try to fall back just ahead of the advancing enemy.

China
BBs Ise and Yamashiro have bombarded Wenchow, causing 300 casualties and heavy damage to the infrastructure – good, let them wreck what they want. After the bombardment, the IJA 4th Division landed at Wenchow. If the defenders can hold a bit, almost the entire 3rd War Area forces will arrive to help.
Kwangchowan, Hong Kong, Wenchow and Changsha got bombed. I understand Hong Kong and Wenchow, but the rest?
Hong Kong has withstood another DA, 316 Japanese casualties against 233 Allied.
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Chungking (76, 45)! – WTF? I justnoticed that I did not pay attention to the garrison requirements – what a noob error! I blame staff. Orders have been issued for troops to double back.

[LargeSlowTarget]

Postscript:

A shituation is developing in Central Malaya.

Japanese tanks are rushing inland from Kuantan, threatening to arrive at the crossroads at Jerantur / Kuala Lipis faster than the ex-garrison of Kota Bharu can retreat to meet-up with the local garrison.

I am rushing reinforcements to Jerantur / Kuala Lipis, hope they will arrive in time. Otherwise the 9th Indian Div will be reduced to a single brigade.

CentralMalaya141241.jpg (110.98 KiB) Viewed 335 times

[zebrazwo]

I know it's early days still but what's your feeling about the supply/ressource/fuel/oil situation?

[Mundy]

Hi LST

Great you got Steve moving again. I'll have to bug him about this.

Our game went on quite a while until it fizzled out. We were pretty stalemated at the time.

Two years ago, I survived an aortic dissection. I wasn't expected to live through it at the time and I'm fortunate to still be up and about. I went through a mini-stroke during the surgery. The doctors didn't seem concerned at the time, but I've found that I've struggled with complicated things. I'm trying to get a single player mission going and it's getting to be quite a challenge. I used to fly right through the game start, but it's way more difficult lately.

I'm happy to follow you guys along on this. I'm friends with Steve on FB, so we still stay in touch.

Later

Ed

[LargeSlowTarget]

@zebrazwo
Well, as the author of the mod, I know what I have done, but I do not necessarily fathom the consequences
I know that the Allied industries in the "safe" areas need a lot of supplies to repair and ramp-up war production, so I do limit supply shipments out of CONUS for the moment.
Shipping is first going into the yards for arming anyway.
I rather concentrate on removing a max of resources and fuel/oil from the future SRA.
The only places supplies are being moved to are Luzon and Singers, but these supplies are coming from Java, Colombo and Australia.

@Mundy
Looks like you have had an escape from death as close as it can get. I hope that you will fully recover with time.
Tell me, is Steven the kind of player that would contemplate a landing at Pearl Harbor? Just wondering, given the latest developments...

Dec 15th, 1941

Bases lost
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tuguegarao !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Butterworth/Sungei !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Johnston Island !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tarawa !!!
Borongan is occupied by the Japanese.

Sub War
SS Salmon~ has sunk AMc Kyo Maru #1 near Legaspi.

CONUS
Nothing to report.

NoPac
Nothing to report.

CentPac
Up to now, my opponent has been rather conservative in his attacks, he has followed history and the initial scenario setup pretty close, almost predicably. But here comes the surprise – the capture of Johnston Is. by the Maizuru 2nd SNLF under cover of KB. The island had not been reinforced yet due to the proximity of KB in the Palmyra area and the mass of IJN subs around PH.
Btw, that sub threat has eased a bit since USN started ASW patrols last turn – the enemy subs have left the immediate vicinity of PH and are now trying their luck in a wider ring around the Hawaiian islands.
The question is – is that unexpected capture of Johnston Is. just “grabbing low hanging-fruits – or is it just the beginning of an invasion of Pearl Harbor?

SoPac
Nothing to report, except the loss of Tarawa of course. We can win it back later easily.

SWPac
Nothing to report.

PI
Looks like SierraJuliet has put minesweepers to work at the landing beaches on Luzon, mines are being swept faster than my subs can refresh the fields. Time to look for other areas.
With only a handful of planes remaining in the PI, it has been decided to evacuate the Far East USAAF' HQ from Bataan via airlift. The Philippine President Quezon and the USN nurses will go next.
xAKL Palopo tried to sneak supplies from Balikpapan to Mindanao, but ran smack into a Japanese TF (3 CA, CL, 4 DD) off Cotabato and did not survive the encounter. That TF seems to be part of a covering force, because enemy troops have started to invade Mindanao at Davao.
Enemy air attacks sank xAPc Dos Hermanos, xAKL P Aboitiz, xAKL Rizal and PC YP-97 in Manila Bay.
A deliberate attack at Lingayen by advance elements of the Japanese (identified as the 48ID 48th Recon Regiment) has hurt itself on two USA tank battalions backed by an coastal arty unit. The US ground task force inflicted 251 casualties and suffered one tank destroyed.

DEI
Busy beavers are still evacuating civilians, resources and fuel. The longer KB remains in the CentPac instead of the IO, the more valuable assets the Allies will be able to deny the Japanese.

Malaya / Burma / India
My trap aiming at any naval reaction to Force Z’s foray to Kuantan has failed due to bad weather. All bombers had migrated from Batavia to Singers for the party. The airbases there are now overstacked and lack AV. As hoped-for, BBs Haruna and Kongo plus Cas and DDs went south towards Kuantan into bomber range from Singers. Alas, in severe storms, a large part of the combined British-Dutch-Australian bomber fleet turned back or couldn’t find the target, the bombers that braved the weather missed and lost one Martin 139WH-3 to shipboard AA.
The 5ID 42nd Infantry Regiment with supporting tanks has routed the 3 SSVF~ Battalion at Butterworth/Sungei. The remnants of the rearguard will board trains and join the parent unit at Singers.

China
The enemy continues to unload at Wenchow. The 4th IJA Infantry Division is currently facing three Chinese Corps – I hope the Chinese will be strong enough to defend the base.
HK bombed, but no ground attack, just arty duels. Looks like the attackers need a rest.

[Mundy]

@Mundy
Looks like you have had an escape from death as close as it can get. I hope that you will fully recover with time.
Tell me, is Steven the kind of player that would contemplate a landing at Pearl Harbor? Just wondering, given the latest developments...

I would highly doubt it. There wasn't a lot of raw offense on his part in our game. I was making the moves starting in '43 and I took the Marshalls quickly. We got into a massive stalemate in the Marianas by 1945. I did take Luzon, but wound up not able to keep supplies going there. I would say take advantage of those little rocket armed landing ships which you get later in the war. Having a bunch of them in your amphib TF will pretty much nuke the island your landing at.

Thanks for the kind words. My event was two years ago now, so I think I'm passed the danger zone. I'm on lots of blood pressure meds, which tend to keep me light-headed a lot. I still have an aortic aneurysm which they're watching, but they're content to check on it once a year. Both my parents happened to die by aortic aneurysm, so it all feels like a repeat.