Japan Declares War against Western Imperialism - Xargun vs RRoberson (take 3)

[Xargun]

Well not a bad couple of days in the war..

Dec 23

A lone allied ship sunk all by itself this turn - TK Merula. I had hit it previously and it has finally succumbed to the damage. I have located about 6 allied subs and am attacking them all with ASW TFs hoping for some more success there.

I finally caught up with Rob's massive group of Martins and hit them with a bombardment TF. I damaged a bunch and killed 7. In the air this day I only lost 2 zeros and killed 6 enemy fighters [2 Buffalo, 1 P-40 and 3 Brewster].

On the ground my forces continue to push hard, capturing Wasile, Kavieng (Bismark Arch - via sub assault) and Kragen (Java - via sub assault).

Dec 24

My ASW TF dropped a bunch of depth charges but only claim 2 hits on the SS Skipjack. She is definately damaged, but didn't sink - so I'm not sure how bad. I also sunk an AK near Akyab and a small surface TF found and killed the last known PT in the PI area.

My men on the ground are doing great. I captured Homan (China), Kuala Lumpur (Malaya) and Makale (Suluwesi). Makale and Kuala were undefended, but I drove off the defenders in Homan.

My damaged CV is roughly 3-4 days from Japan. CV Group 1 is approaching Palau on its rush to Kendari and the planned air raid on Broome. CV Group 3 is trolling east of PH looking for targets. Several subs have been dispatched to the area to aid in scouting.

Next turn my assault troops will land on Wake and I hope to capture it in 1 day of fighting. There are at least 2 allied subs in the area (I'm thinking more like 4) and I hope they don't catch any of my transports. Once Wake is captured, I have TFs full of base forces, supplies and fuel waiting to land and unload. I also have some Mavis from Japan waiting to land and begin recon ops.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Christmas wasn't too bad for the Empire of the Sun.. Could have been better - but then what can't be better ??

Dec 25

My aircraft found more merchies and hit 4 of them, with an AK and an AP sinking (2 more AKs damaged).

My ASW TF found another enemy sub and damaged her.

For some reason an allied DD showed up at Kendari and ran smack into my BB TF returning from a bombardment mission. Needless to say the DD didnt stand a chance and didn't even get off a shot.

On the ground my troops captured Wake Is, wiping out the Marines and engineers there, as well as catching half a dozen Wildcats and a PBY on the ground... My troops also took Muntok via sub assault.

Dec 26

I sent a bombardment TF to Koepang to hit the airfield as well as clean out several TFs I see around there. They were successful. The TF sunk 2 AKs and 2 APs. The TF went on to engage some PTs there as well, sinking 2 of them and not taking any return damage. The bombardment on the airfield was not that successful.

Also 3 AKs sank from previous damage or scuttling.

One of Rob's subs said hi to an ASW TF hunting it and the IJN lost a MSW to an allied torpedo. Rob's air force in Malaya also hit the shipping docks at Kuantan pretty good, damaging several ships with those damn 500 # bombs. Luckily the troops those APs were carrying were mostly ofloaded and only supplies left.

[Xargun]

More days and more allied shipping sunk !!

Dec 27

A slow day for the Empire of Japan, only a single allied ship sunk - not even by attacks - either scuttled or sunk from previous damage - a loine AK.

CV Group 3 is moving west to intercept a slow moving TF that my subs have been trailing from PH for 2 days... My intel on the TF shows 2 BBs and 2 CAs, and its speed is only 2 hexes per day, which makes it damaged ships from PH... A nice juicy target [:D]

On the land my men capture Ichang (in china) and Cotabato (Mindanao). It seems to me that Rob is retreating all along the chinese frontier leaving token defenses in several of the front-line bases - I took Homan against a single Corps defending it, when a few days before there were 3-4 Corps defending it... Same in Ichang..


Dec 28

The recon phase goes good and much to my surprise CV Group 3 detects the crippled warship TF AND 4 other TFs in the approx area !!! A jackpot of ships...

CV Group 1 launches 2 or 3 strikes - none at the crippled warships which happen to be encountering some weather. The planes concentrate on a single, large merchie TF to the SE. Bombs and Torps hit the TF heavily, sinking 2 AP and 3 AK, as well as damaging many others.

Rob has a TF arrive at Midway and encounter mines I laid on day 1 or 2 of the war. They seem to clean them up nicely, until an escorting CL hits one !!!! I just hope its fact and not FOW...

Two allied AKs sink from previous damage as well..

On the ground my troops capture Kweilin (china - against a single base force defender), Malacca (Malaya) and Moulmein (Burma). The base force defender in Moulmein retreats east into off the roads as I had a unit to the north on the rail blocking its retreat towards Rangoon.

A little good news for the allies... A dutch force attacked and liberate Kiagen (Java) after I pulled my tired sub assault troops off the base.. If they had stayed they would be dead now...

[Xargun]

Another day and more damage is inflicted to the allies...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/29/41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Amboina, at 39,73 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

4 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
DD Shiokaze
CA Takao
CA Atago
DD Mikazuki
DD Kawakaze
DD Yudachi
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied ground losses:
123 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Amboina, at 39,73

Japanese Ships
DD Shiokaze
CA Takao
CA Atago
DD Mikazuki
DD Kawakaze
DD Yudachi
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied ground losses:
181 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 2

Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 7
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 1

Not much Naval action this turn, except for the double bombardment of Amboina. Rob based those damn Martins there last turn and attacked Kendari (yet again) doing some damage. I had those warships sitting there doing nothing, so I took the chance Rob would do his usual - hit and move - with the planes and bombarded the base. I didnt catch any planes, but inflicted some good damage to the base itself and the supplies there - that should put a damper on his defensive fort building and the amount of supplies he has to work with.

Sub attack at 123,78

Japanese Ships
SS I-17, hits 1

Allied Ships
AK Steel Voyager, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk

My subs are still active, this one catching an allied AK near PH and sinking it. My guess it was full of supplies or fuel.. Either one is a good kill.

Day Air attack on TF at 20,85

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Lematang, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 123,78

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 18
B5N Kate x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Alaskan, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boreas
AK Steel Seafarer, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Steel Exporter, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Alabaman
AK Nebraskan, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Canadian, Torpedo hits 1
AK Bridge

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 123,78

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 24
B5N Kate x 24

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Steel Exporter, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk
AK Alaskan, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Steel Navigator, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boreas, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Bridge, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Nebraskan, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Steel Seafarer, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk
AK Aldebaran, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

The attacks against the merchies went very well - although I would have rather attacked the crippled PH ships... But, looking at it another way... I sunk 3 allied AKs most likely loaded with war material (supplies or fuel) without any losses to my striking force. My CVs had nearly 1200 ordnance so I have plenty of bombs and torps to use up before I have to worry about running low on weapons for them.

Day Air attack on Johore Bahru , at 22,49

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 21

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 2 destroyed

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johore Bahru , at 22,49

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
G3M Nell x 42

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 6 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
11 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
7 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 44,54

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 28

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
13 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 51st PA Division, at 44,54

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
8 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 89th Chinese/B Corps, at 47,37

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 8
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-51 Sonia x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
24 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
10 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
8 x B5N Kate bombing at 12000 feet

As you can see my air force is pretty active in bombing enemy bases and hitting chinese units detected in china. I have actually transfered air units from Kwangtung to the Chinese Command for exclusive use in china - I could have transfered them to Southern or Burma Command so I could use them elsewhere without paying the PP cost, but I don't want to cheese the rules AND I want the units to be able to draw replacements easily - I have already seen the difference from my previous games in which it took 4-5 days to replace a single aircraft, and now its 1-2 days... Much better... I am planning on transferring more planmes from Kwangtung into China / Burma, especially fighters, as Rob has brought portions of the AVG into china and I have nothing to stand up to them as of yet - all my stockpiled zeros are slated for CV replacements and I don't want to use them up yet.. But I almost have all zeros replaced on my CVs so its almost time to upgrade those Claudes back in Japan and ship them to china to deal with the AVG and chinese fighters.

Ground combat at Clark Field

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 110275 troops, 1445 guns, 40 vehicles

Defending force 34885 troops, 322 guns, 6 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
178 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Naga

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23498 troops, 225 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 10207 troops, 63 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Japanese ground losses:
311 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
138 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hengchow

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 60011 troops, 787 guns, 14 vehicles

Defending force 53845 troops, 387 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
149 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 47,37

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 26454 troops, 327 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 3293 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 98 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses: * Chinese unit surrendered !!!
1963 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Nanning

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 24147 troops, 218 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 22339 troops, 120 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Raba

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 691 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Raba base !!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 30,34

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 7679 troops, 88 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 2788 troops, 30 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

My men are pushing hard across the map. I am bombarding several large concentrations of enemy forces and doing good damage to them each turn. I plan on keeping this up for a while until I feel they have had enough beating and then I'll attack...

I captured Raba (Island in Timor Sea area) as part of my plan to capture several of the small islands so I can move between Kendari and NW Oz without being easily seen (by bases - air recon can still locate me).

I plan on continuing the attack on Naga until the 2 PA Div there surrender. I have also moved a unit into Manilla to prevent units from Clark Field retreating to Manilla. I think Manilla will be harder to crack than Bataan - as I want Manilla... Bataan can sit there and rot for a couple months before I crack it open..

Do you guys like this style of reporting or the previous ?

[Brausepaul]

Thanks for the updates, I closely watch you reports. I like the previous style more (even if the combat reports give more detail).

[Xargun]

A slow turn, dispite the fact that I have CVs in range of dozens of targets...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/30/41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 81,63

Japanese Ships
DD Oboro, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Toshi Maru #5
MSW Yoshino Maru
MSW Toshi Maru #8
MSW Tamozono Maru #2
MSW Tamozono Maru #1
DD Kisaragi
DD Mutsuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
SS Tambor

I've been trying to hunt down these subs near Wake for several days now.. and this sucker pops up and attacks my ASW TF. Not only that, he hits a DD (hurt pretty bad) and I don't even hit it back [:@]

Day Air attack on 1st Burma Brigade, at 30,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 12

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 4

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Burma Brigade, at 30,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 38
Ki-15 Babs x 2

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
23 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 44,54

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M Nell x 20

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
2 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x G3M Nell bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 44,54

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 44

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
97 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
10 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
14 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
9 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hopei Militia/B Division, at 53,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hopei Militia/B Division, at 53,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hopei Militia/C Division, at 55,23

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 35
Ki-21 Sally x 28

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
15 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
13 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet

My air force continually attacks enemy units doing some damage, but more importantly they are disrupting enemy units - which is important - especially at locations where my men are attacking this turn...

Day Air attack on TF at 119,74

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10

Allied aircraft
SOC-3 Seagull x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-3 Seagull: 4 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Kuantan at 24,47

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 8

Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 5
Vildebeest IV x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 1 damaged
Vildebeest IV: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AP Ume Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage * Crippled

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Vildebeest IV bombing at 1000 feet
1 x Vildebeest IV bombing at 1000 feet
1 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Vildebeest IV bombing at 1000 feet
4 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 116,73

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 18
B5N Kate x 22

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 4 destroyed, 15 damaged
B5N Kate: 16 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Phoenix
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 1
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Raleigh

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 116,73

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 23

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 7 destroyed, 19 damaged

Allied Ships
DM Preble
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Phoenix, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk - Magazine Explosion

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 116,73

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 24

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 9 destroyed, 15 damaged

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 2
CL Phoenix, on fire, heavy damage * Sunk - See above
DM Preble, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet

Well my bombers attacked the warships... Only thing is I didn't spot any BBs and the cruisers have massive AA power - I didn't realize it til now.. I knew they have a lot, but not that much. My Vals survived good, but my Kates got mauled... The Kates will have to stand down a day or two to repair planes and recover morale, while the Vals are ready to go at them again... I made a mistake this turn... I was too worried about air attacks against my CVs, so I kept my Zeros on a short lease (1 range) and didn't think Rob would have CAP over the targets... Luckily his fighters didn't do much damage to my bombers (only got a couple kills). I won't make that mistake again... I hope.

In all my bombers did ok... They damaged most of the cruisers with bombs and torps, and a lucky shot killed the CL Phoenix - although would have rather killed a CA, but I'll take it.. The ships have to be damaged worse than they were, as most of the bomb hits reported that they penetrated the deck armor - even on the CAs...

Now that I pulled the Kates off the line tomorrow the Vals will strike the damn BBs if they are around... That is just my luck..

BTW, did you notice Rob's feeble attack ? His 2 seagull floatplanes attempted an attack on my CVs ? At least they gave my zeros something to do...


Ground combat at Clark Field

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 111305 troops, 1471 guns, 41 vehicles

Defending force 34828 troops, 319 guns, 6 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
153 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Naga

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23135 troops, 212 guns, 3 vehicles

Defending force 9825 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Japanese ground losses:
214 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hengchow

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 61120 troops, 829 guns, 14 vehicles

Defending force 53718 troops, 384 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
113 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 47,37

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 26480 troops, 326 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 2173 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 718 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses: * Another chinese unit surrendering [:D]
3821 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Nanning

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 24143 troops, 219 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 22457 troops, 120 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 30,34

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 7699 troops, 88 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 2681 troops, 22 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Jambi

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 48 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Jambi base !!!


Naga should fall tomorrow (or the next day at the latest). This will give me 2 more PA Div kills (and a base unit I think). This will also free up a division plus smaller units to march on Manilla. I may take the smaller units (SNLF units) and drop them off on Mindanao to speed up the capture of that island - and then take the smaller unoccupied islands as well.

My bombardments of Clark Field and Henchow are still killing 100's of enemy troops and like I said, I plan on continuing these for some time before attacking. Clark Field is full of enemy units and Henchow has like a dozen enemy units as well - roughly 5 Corps in defense..

My troops have captured another chinese unit deep in my chinese territory.. Recon spots 3-4 more such units through mainland china, and soon they will be completely cut off - as soon as Henchow falls... I have a couple divs looking for them so I can wipe them out piece by piece like the others.

My sub troops captured Jambi (Java - north of Palembang) in preparation of future landings there to avoid the CD guns at Palembang - would rather march overland than take the CD gunfire on my ships and troops...

Two allied AKs and a TK sank this turn from previous damage, as did an IJN AP. The AP Ume Maru (at kuantan) has now been bomed 3 separate times and is at 90+ in both sys and flt damage. It is sitting in Kuantan port (size 2) and I will leave it there til the flt damage is gone, or it sinks... Scuttling will only save a single VP, so its not worth it.

[Capt. Harlock]

a lucky shot killed the CL Phoenix - although would have rather killed a CA, but I'll take it..

The Phoenix is a Brooklyn class cruiser -- a CL in name only, since they have 15 six-inch guns, 10,000 tons displacement, and armor as good as any Allied CA. Against Japanese DD's and CL's they should be even deadlier than a CA: they can pump out six-inchers at the rate of two a second.

[wobbly]

Yeah I agree - they are fearsome AAA ships as well. That was a good kill

[Xargun]

Alrighty, we have one vote for the old style and none for the new style so for now I'm going back to the old style of reporting the events.

Well New Year's Eve started out with the potential for a great day, but unfortunately it did not turn out that way. CV Group 3 (near PH) was in range of 2 allied TFs, including what I believe are crippled PH survivors AND the cruiser TF I hit yesterday... Unfortunately for some unknown reason, the CVs failed to launch ANY planes. I am not too happy about this, but nothing I can do.

I found some mines at Kwajalein and my 4 MSWs took two rounds at clearing them up. Not sure if I got them all or not, so they will continue sweeping for another day or two.

One of my subs located an allied TF and sunk an AK, surfacing and using it's deck gun as well as torps to sink it. No men lost, so I'm assuming its carrying basic war material.

In the air, Rob pounded one of my Tank Regiments in China with a couple British bombers and over a score of chinese bombers, all escorted by 2 fighter groups - including part of the AVG. The losses were not that bad, and luckily this tank regiment is simply a scout and not planning on seeing any real combat.

My bombers hit several targets in China and Burma this turn, causing many casualties. A Burma unit was hit east of Rangoon and several partial Chinese Corps were hit in various locations in china.

My arty bombardmens continue at Clark Field, causing another 170 casualties. My men attacked at Naga once more losing 187 to 138 allied men. But the fort has been reduced to level 0 so I am hopefull my next attack will overwhelm the defenders, since I hold almost a 3:1 superiority in men.

Two more attacks cause two more partial chinese units to surrender, another 3100 chinese POWs... From my intel and recon reports, it looks like Rob has another 2 Corps behind my lines - 4 units in SE china (I believe they are all partial units) and 2 in the northern portion for a total of 6 partial units, or 2 full Corps. I have the 4 units cut off from supplies and am working on doing the same to the other 2.

As soon as Naga falls, I am moving all those troops to Manilla and planning on attacking. I believe Manilla is vastly understrength as he has not attempted to push out my single Guard unit sitting there. With the strength of 2 divisions, I hope to crush Manilla.

CV Group 2 has made port at Tokyo and will remain there for repairs to most of its fleet. CV Group 1 has left Kendari (fully refuelled and rearmed) and is heading through the Timor Sea to a rendevous north of Broome.. In one or two days it will strike at Broome's port - and hopefully all the nice juicy ships that I think are there.

[Brausepaul]

See, guys? My vote DID count [:'(]

[tsimmonds]

Glad someone's did.[;)]

[Xargun]

Not a good day for the Empire...

The turn starts off with two allied AKs sinking from previous damage - both near PH and most likely full of war material. Then I-1 strikes. He is sitting just NW of the presumed crippled ship TF and guess what happens.. They move right into his hex and low and behold there is the BB Arizona in all her glory, limping away from my CVs to the SE. I-1 proceeds to approach and put two fish into her sides before leaving - no counterattack either...

Then the air phase... My CVs launch this time.. A full wave of Vals along with a few Kates and escorting zeros attack the Arizona. The flak is not too bad - but hell it seems the Arizona is by itself, limping back to PH. I hit the sucker with 3 more torps and 22 bombs (reportedly). The Arizona has to be a burning hulk of scrap metal now - but its still afloat.

My CVs also launch 10 Kates at a lone allied AK to the SE and sink it as well.

Off the coast of Camraahn Bay an allied sub surfaces and attacks an IJN AK. Several gunshots are reported hitting as well as a torpedo.. But the AK stands its ground and returns fire, hitting the sub 3 or 4 times as well and driving it off.. The AK will make it to port and save its load of 7000 supplies - not only that, but I believe it actually damaged the enemy sub [:D] Now I like that captain.. he may be in store for a promotion to an ASW TF.

I sent 2 bombardment TFs to hit Mersing this turn, as I felt it or Johre Bharu was the site of Rob's Malaya air force - I was kinda right... I also hammered Johre Bharu with a large airstrike from Kuantan which put the airfield out of commission for a few days (depending on how many engineers he has there). But disaster struck at Mersing...

A small TF from Saigon (1 CL and 4 DDs) as well as a large TF from Kuching (3 BB, couple cruisers and like 10 DDs) converged on the base. Before they could open fire the RAF (at Mersing) launched and attacked.. Over a dozen torpedo bombers struck at the BB heavy TF.... Despite heroic attempts at shooting them down (I did kill a couple and damaged a lot), the RAF pilots managed to put torps into 2 of my BBs (Hyuga and Yamashira). Both ships are damaged and will need repair time, but at least there were no critical hits that devastated the ships.. Both TFs bombarded the base killing a bunch of men, supplies and a couple planes. They are ordered to retreat under friendly air cover this turn.

Rob's ASW teams did a good job this turn, damaging 2 subs, after one of them sunk an AK. Something like 8 DDs attacks it - ouch... I'm just happy it survived and it should make it to Wake for emergency repairs.

In the air I continued to hammer chinese troops throughout china and ROb continues to hammer my scouting tank regiment north of Hanoi. Lots of british planes are in the mix and I am planning some fighter sweeps and airfield raids this turn to try to cull their numbers..

On the ground the IJA did very well this turn... Baker Is falls to sub commandoes and a TF of Mine Layers are a day away to mine the port - I expect Rob will attempt to take it back within 7-10 days as he usually does, so maybe the mines will sink something... Gonna leave a sub here as well as a picket. A NLF captured Pinrang (Suluwesi) and is now loading back up for return to Kendari, where it will spend a few days resting, before the assault on the allied air base on the SW tip of the island - Rob has been basing several groups of fighters, patrol and some bombers there. I am hitting that base this turn with bombers from Balikpapin, trying to kill the runway.

The cream of the crop today is the capture of Naga [:D] My IJA Division (and attached SNLFs) finally overran the PA defenders, causing over 16000 casualties (and 69 guns). That is two less PA Divisions I have to fight at Manilla now.. I am giving the troops there a day (or two) rest, then marching them to Manilla where they will take the city. The defenders at Manilla are very weak - only 5 enemy units scouted, of which only 1 is an actual combat unit - some RCT... They have a lot of men there (Manilla base force is huge), but they are mechanics and engineers and don't fight very well.. I'm hoping the roughly 2 divisions I will attack them with will be enough to take the city... Then once I take Clark I can rest and starve out the men at Bataan for a while...

Also on the ground a tank regiment east of Moulmein catches up to the fleeing remains of the 107th RAF base force and grinds them into the dirt, dispatching almost 700 RAF men - thats one less BF Rob will have to defend burma.

I have the 55th Div and 1/3 of another Div 1 hex E of Rangoon, engaging the 1st Burma Brigade. Recon of Rangoon (for the past week) shows only 1 unit there - probably the static base unit, but there could be more. I am bringing up the Imerial Guards Div and moving another 1/3 of a division around the hex in an attempt to cut off the Burma Bde's retreat.. Hopefully in 3-4 days I can full out attack and remove the Bde from the game.

CV Group 3 is moving slightly SW and attempting to hit the Arizona and anything else in the area for another day. They are forbidden to move within 4 hexes of the SE most base in Hawaii (forget the name, but the one with an actual airfield, not the southernmost base) for fear of retribution from allied SBDs. No matter what the CV Group finds this turn, they will move off in pursuit of some more AKs hauling war material spotted heading SW.

CV Group 1 is meeting up with the baby CV TF and her tanker for a quick top off and then she will sprint south to hit the port of Broome. All air groups on the CVs are at full capacity and the Vals and Kates have been enjoying some much deserved R&R on the ships and are fully rested and excited about another possible PH...

Xargun

[Xargun]

A slow day in the war... at least at sea.

An allied AK sunk from previous damage...

CV Group 1 has met up with my baby CV TF and its oiler and are heading south for Broome. All Kates are set for port attack (except a small group of 5 which is set to Naval attack just in case). All Vals are set to airfield attack and all fighters are set to CAP and some escort. A group of 20 zeros is set to sweep Broome of any fighters as well.

On the ground my men continue to surge ahead with victories. Two unoccupied bases fall this turn to sub commandoes - Sampit (Borneo) and Emirau Is (Bismark Arch). In both locations the troops will be picked back up and carried home for some R&R... I have finally arrived in Vigan with an oversized SNLF... It attack the base and captured it, along with two base forces there - another 2000+ men captured or killed. Now all of Luzon is mine except Clark, Bataan and Manilla...

My arty bombardments of Clark continue killing between 100 and 200 men per turn and will continue for 5 or so more days, before I actually begin attacking.. At Hengchow (China) my arty bombardments there are killing 3-500 chinese men per turn. The odds there are fairly even as my men are up against roughly 7 full chinese corps. I am currently moving some tanks around behind the base to cut it off from supplies and more importantly cut off any path of retreat.

[Xargun]

An active day in the war, but not much to show for it...

An allied AK sunk this turn from previous damage and that is all that was sunk.

CV Group 3 failed to finish off the Arizona which has limped into PH air cover so the Group is heading South towards Palmyra Is to hunt for some more merchies before heading to Kwajalein to support operations there.

CV Group 1 AND my baby CV TF move 250 miles NW of Broome and launch a massive attack of over a hundred planes against the base. Roughly 40 zeros either escorted or were busy sweeping the skies over Broome. The Ozzians (is that a word ?) had roughly 20 or so fighters in the air for CAP - first hint I have had of enemy airplanes present there. My zeros tore into them. In the end half of the enemy fighters were shot down with minor losses to my zeros and bombers... The Vals struck at the airfield, catching 5 enemy planes on the ground and the Kates went directly for the harbor, which, as I guessed, was stock full of enemy ships... Unfortunately the Kates took a beating from flak (only 3 actually shot down though) and hit only 4 targets, 2 with 800 kg bombs, 2 with torps. Both of my primary targets were located in Broome - the BB POW (which took a 800 kg hit) and the BC Repulse (which took a torp). I was not too happy with the perforance of my Kates with their low hitting percentage, but at the end of the turn when I checked they still have good morale and very few damaged planesm so they will going back in next turn again. Hopefully with the fighters partially suppressed (shot down) and the airfield damaged, they will do a better job.

I plan on keeping the fleet CVs on station for at least several days and if necessary I will send the baby CVs back to Kendari for new planes and to resupply. I am thinking of using the Nells / Betties at Kendari to bolster the attack on Broome.. have to look at the situation.

This turn I upped the CAP on the 2 CVs in case Rob gets brave and tries to hit the TFs with air strikes from Broome or other nearby bases. I also have adjusted a couple more small Kate groups to Naval Attack incase Rob tries to run for it from Broome. Hopefully the ships there have lost a bunch of Ops due to the attack and/or damage will slow them down if they run... If his warships make a break my CVs will not be able to pursue them - due to lack of comparable speed. Oh well, we will see what he does...

[Xargun]

A much better day for the Empire of Japan... One of the best days since the opening of the war in fact...

The day starts off with 2 ships sinking from previous damage. An IJN AP sunk from damage occured at Wake (it had 90+ flt damage last turn) and the BB Arizona sunk beneath the waves as well [:D] I was very happy to see this... Now 3 US BBs from PH are sunk.

An ASW TF returning to Nagasaki (from chasing allied subs) found some mines and began to clear them. Looks like Rob has been using his subs to plant some mines...

CV Group 1 launched another massive air raid on Broome at dawn - reminiscent on the Dec 7th raid on PH - 24 Zeros, 42 Vals and 65 Kates were sent against the just waking northern Oz harbor. As the planes approached the base a dozen Oz fighters met them in the air. My fighters once more cleaned up on the allied fighters, allowing the bombers to fly through and hit their targets. The Vals once more hit the airfield catching 4 more planes on the runways. The Kates performed about the same this time around hitting only 3 different ships this time. They reportedly put two fish into the POW, and 1 into each of the Repulse and the CL Tromp. The good thing about the hits were both the POW and Repulse suffered magazine explosions [:D] I saw the first one on the POW and was happy, then a moment later saw the attack against the Repulse and saw another one.. I was like no way... but its true, they both sunk near end of turn.

In revenge Broome launched two useless air attacks against my CVs.. The first one came with 9 fighter escorts and 3 Martin bombers. They targetted the baby CV TF. Over 40 zeros and a dozen Claudes met the allied planes in the air and shot down 7 of the fighters and 1 Martin. Somehow the last 2 Martins made it past the CAP and started their run on the Ryujo. Luckily my flak caught both of them and sent them tumbling into the sea. A moment later a trio of Hudsons attacked unescorted. CAP intercepted them and shot them all down... SO my CVs claim both capital ships of Force Z (Prince of Wales and the Repulse) without any real damage in return - although my aircraft losses were a little bit higher this time - the Kates got beat up some this time around.

My ASW efforts were useless this turn as the damn US sub Triton attacked two separate ASW TFs near Wake, luckily missing with both attacks.. My ASW TFs failed to damage the sub in their return attacks.

My arty attack on Clark Field was disappointing this turn - only 100 casualties.. But the arty attack on Hengchow was once more impressive - 500 casualties. My troops also attacked several cut off chinese units and achieve unbelievable odds yet no one surrendered... My men north of Johre Bharu shock attacked the allied unit there, driving it south with over an 8000:1 odds.... WOW !!! Never seen any odds like that. The bulk of my troops have arrived in Manilla and are attacking this turn. I hope to capture the city quickly.

That is aboutit for the turn... 3 allied BBs sunk this turn... a great turn on the naval side if you ask me...

[Xargun]

Well this turn was decent... Not as good as my last one, but still good..

My TF of APDs (best IJN ASW ships available) hammered the SS Sealion, hitting with 4 depth charges in two attacks and sinking her.

CV Group 1 struck at Broome again today... launching at first light again. This strike was a lot smaller than the previous ones as I have become to rotate groups to naval attack AND rest. Only 54 bombers attacked this time, but 22 zeros were escorting them. They encountered only 5 enemy fighters, of which 4 were reportedly destroyed. The Vals and Kates went on to attack the ships in port. They concentrated on all warships, hitting a total of 6 CLs and 2 DDs. Mostly bombs (250 kg) were used, but a couple torps struck 2 CLs as well - at the end of the day DD Vampire and CL De Ruyter both sank.

CV Group 3 is heading SSW past Johnson Island looking for the fleeing merchie TFs I saw near PH. I will search a few more days before turning west for Kwajalein for replacement planes and crew..

Seeing some ships in Manilla Harbor, I sent a sentai of Betties against them.. They failed to attack the ships, but beat up the port some and caused over a 100 casualties - to the CD base unit [:D]

Aircraft from Laoag bombed Manilla heavily causing over 170 casualties in preparation for the push on Manilla by ground forces.

Rob & I had a nice little air battle East of Rangoon. I had an airstrike coming in to hit the 1st Burma Bde there and he had some LR Cap over the hex. In the battle over 23 IJA planes were reportedly shot down (more like 7 or 8) and 8 allied fighters were reportedly shot down (more like 4 or 5). The Sallies continued on to bomb the brits, but it just goes to show you that Oscars are not even a match for crappy Buffalos. Argh... I need more Zeros.

My planes in china continue to harrass lone chines units inflicting harm upon them almost at my leisure. Rob's air force in china seems to concentrated in a few bases (probably the only ones with decent sized airfields) and have been bombing my scouting units or attempting city attacks.. So far they have not been attempting to defend his units against my air attacks... Which is fine, air attacks will not kill much, but will sap the combat strength from the units in the form of fatigue and disruption.

At Hengchow my men attacked in force weakening the defensive forts of the base. Over 1400 IJA troops were killed or wounded, while claiming over 900 enemy KIA or WIA... Although I lost half again what he lost, I consider the attack a success.. Killed a lot of enemy troops and lowered the fort level...

At Homan, Rob has a partial unit sitting in my base in a delaying action. I attacked the 2200 men with over 80,000 IJA troops and lost 111 men, but inflicted almost 1000 losses upon the unit.. The unit hastily retreated.

My troops at Clark Field launched more arty shells at the defenders causing nearly 200 casualties and destroying 4 guns and a tank.

My men attacked Manilla, losing 137 men and 2 guns, and only killing 34 allied troops and destroying 2 guns. They did not even lower the forts by anything, but I will keep up the pressure. I have way more combat troops than he does there and eventually they will win.

In a brief battle in china my troops Shock attacked the 90th Chinese Corps/B - which was surrounded) and without losing a single man, we captured over 2500 chinese troops. Another unit wiped out.. if only he didn't get them back in 30 days... but at least they will be at 1/3 strength and need time and supplies to build back up to fighting strength.

In Sumatra, the So Sumatra Bn entered Jambi and lioberated it against no opposition. It is not a problem that he took it back - but it is actually better this way.. He will probably leave the unit there instead of Palembang where it would do him more good... I will land my troops between Jambi and Palembang and cut off the Bn until I secure Palembang when the time comes - if it is still there.. The less units in the oil mecca the better chance I will take it relatively intact.

[Xargun]

A slow day in the war against the Western Imperialists...

The day starts off with I-173 locating and attacking what seems to be a TF full of DMS.. a mistake. My torps missed their targets, but the 4 DMS returned fire and sunk the sub.

My air attack on Broome today consisted of 19 zeros, 42 Vals and 21 Kates. The encountered only 4 enemy CAP and wiped out half of them. The bombers proceeded to hit the port once more... To my surprise the attacked 5 different CLs in port [I was right.. This is where Rob has been hiding his warships.... I didn't think he had that many cruisers....] 250 kg bombs and a couple torps struck the CLs, but unfortunately none were sunk, although two were seriously beat up.

The surprise here was that Rob sortied a large force of ships NW towards my CVs.. I believe he is trying to engage them in surface combat, luckily they stopped 1 hex short of my CVs [;)] Intel reports at least 5 ships and all heavy cruisers, which can't be true.. I am guessing numerous CLs and DDs only, as he has nothing heavier in the area [that I know of at least]. My CVs are moving WSW a couple hexes and hitting the port with a few strikes, but switching most of my groups to naval attack. Hopefully I will hit the TF hard and kill whatever he has there.. I moved WSW as I feel it is the least likely way to move (except closer to Broome which is a mistake in case he brings in more air power) and hopefully he will not guess that direction... But if he does, we should have a decent battle.. Although neither of my TFs have any BBs with them, they both have several heavy cruisers and DDs with them... Should be a good battle.. if it happens - and I would prefer that it doesn't. With my luck, his DDs will put some torps into my CVs...

CV Group 3 located a lone AK E of Johnson I. Two waves of bombers sent it to the bottom of the pacific.

The air battle east of Rangoon went better this turn for me.. My 18 Oscars engaged 17 enemy fighters. Reports indicate I lost 7 Oscars to the allies losing 11 Buffalos (out of 6 present) and 2 P-40Es of the AVG. Not a bad round of combat for me..

Arty strikes at Clark kills or wounded almost another hundred allied troops. My attack on Manilla goes like last turn, repulsed. Those damn crappy secondline troops are holding the base.. I lost 400 men, he lost 100... and no forts were destroyed...[:@]

At Hengchow the battle went similar to yesterday. I lost 1100 and he lost 900. I am wearing him down. I have also finished surrounding the base cutting off his retreat and any supply. If I can wipe out this force it will hurt Rob's chinese defense considerably, as there are roughly 7-8 full corps worth of troops bottled up in Hengchow.

My sub commandos strike again, this time landing and capturing Nanomea Atoll south fo Tarawa. They will be embarking back on the subs and heading south to capture another island. They will continue until unable to fight (too many squads disabled) or all 3 of the islands are captured. Then they will return to base for some R&R.

[Xargun]

Another day, another cup of sake...

The day starts off with a massive bomber raid on Bankha (in Java). Rob has been basing some bombers / patrol planes out of there and I just noticed it is a nice sized airfield and figure it would be an out of the way place to hide his Malaya air force while they rest... so I bombed it... and bombed it good. Over 90 bombers and a dozen fighters attack the airfield. They were intercepted by a lone Buffalo and 3 Hawks... My zeros took care of the enemy CAP and the bombers hit the fields.. report show roughly 6 or 7 F.K. 51s destroyed on the ground and a couple more damaged. but nothing else. So either the Malaya air force wasn't there or I missed them.. either way I killed a bunch of recon planes... I also got 10 hits on the airbase, 10 airbase supply hits and 28 runway hits. That should keep those dutch engineers busy for a while [:D]

My bombers from Laoag (PI) hit Manilla again, inflicting a 100 losses on the Fort unit there. Half a dozen planes were damaged in the attack, but most will be fixed before the next turn.

In return, Rob's British bombers (and some B-17Es) bombed my troops attacking Hengchow. My small CAP was ineffective but the AA from the ground units damaged 6 bombers total.. My losses were low (only 15 men) which pleasantly surprised me. A moment later the chinese bombers got in on the act - their attack was just as useless, although my CAP didn't even intercept them.

CV Group 1 barely avoided the large surface force from Broome (we ended up 1 hex apart), but that all it takes.. My CVs launched only one strike and a small one at that - opnly 50 bombers - roughly half Vals and half Kates. For some reason my bombers seemed intent on killing some tincans, as they concentrated their fire on 4 DDs damaging all 4. Two were hit with lone torps and the other two took 3 and 5 bombs hits respectively. Nothing was sunk, but there are at least 2 (if not 4) badly damaged DDs now sitting in the water like ducks...

CV Group 3 is now SSE of Johnson I and found another war material convoy. This one consisting of 3 ships - 2 AKs and a lone DD escort. My bombers hit all three ships on the first wave, hitting one AK with 3 torps plus a bomb. The DD took 2 bombs and the other AK took 1. The second wave was slightly larger than the first but only a single torp struck an enemy ship - an AK. The DD took the brunt of the assault, catching 9 bombs all by himself. An AK took the torp hit and 3 bombs... The second AK was 'could not find target' which means it was sinking. In the end one AK and the DD escort sank. At first I wasn't too happy with the killing until I check the daily airplane losses - which I do every couple turns - especially after major Air - Air combat... Low and Behold 33 B-17s were lost this turn to Ops... Since I only saw a few B-17s on the combat turn, I am assuming the AK I sunk near Johnson I was carrying at least part of a B-17 Squadron [:D] [:D] That is the best news I had for the turn... much better then sinking a few thousand supply. Thats one less B-17 group I have to worry about, although I do believe they auto respawn just not sure how long... I want to say 6 months or a year.. Any one know ?

On the ground my men took Nukufetau Island (south of Tarawa) and Talasea (Bismark Arch) via sub commandoes.

My attack on Manilla gave me an unexpected surprise. My forces lost 160 men, but we caused almost 300 losses on the defenders... They must be low on supplies or worn out so I will press the attacks.

My arty strike on Clark Field was not very productive - less than 50 enemy losses.. But my arty strike at Hengchow was decent - 150+ enemy losses.

That just about does it for this turn. I am working on cutting off several more chinese units retreating NW from the Kweilon area, but am not sure if my units will move fast enough before they can get to the nearby chinese base (forget the name).

[Xargun]

Another day in the great war...

To start the turn off Rob's chinese air force attempted to bomb my men attacking Hengchow.. Little did he know I had move an entire sentai of Zeros to Changsha and had them performing LR CAP... My fighters shot down 5-6 chinese bombers out of the 8 he sent without any losses.

The next wave was B-17Es bombing the same location. My zeros fought hard and actually managed to shoot down 1 B-17 - which is good for them.. The good thing is that they damaged 6-7 more, which will take a while to repair. 1 zero was shot down by the B-17s powerful guns and another one damaged. But both of these attacks on my men were mostly stopped, as neither did any damage to my troops.

Rob's bombers based in Broome finally got up enough nerve to attack CV Group 1.. 4 Brewster fighters and 3 Hudson Is attacked. They ran into almost 30 fighters on CAP. My CAP shot down 2 Hudsons and a Brewster. The lone Hudson broke free of the CAP and attacked the Zuikaku, but missed.. Flak from the CV brought down the last bomber.

CV Group 1 returned fire... First strike consisted of a single Kate which located and missed the DD Pillsbury, which was showing heavy damage and aflame. The next wave consisted of 38 Vals, 26 Kates and 9 Zeros. They lcoated the main enemy TF and hit it. Only 5 ships were hit, but all five were hit hard... CL Durban took 4 bombs and a single torp hit. CL Danae took 2 bomb hits and exploded with a Magazine explosion. DD Electra took 2 bomb hits. DD Paul Jones took 3 torps and sank quickly. DD Van Nes took 2 bombs and limped away. In all my strike sunk 1 CL and 1 DD, and damaged 2 more DDs and a CL. It looks like Rob is trying to escape with this TF west along the Oz coast, while some of his earlier cripples head back towards Broome. I am moving my CVs west to try to finish off the healthy ships before they get away. Then I will swing east and finish off the cripples... I want to hit Brooke more to finish off the 5 or 6 CLs burning in her harbor, but not sure if I will have the aircraft to do so when I swing back. Oh well..

CV Group 3 locates and finishes off the AK they damaged yesterday.

A major air battle erupts over the 1st Burma Brigade (east of Rangoon). 17 Oscars engage 14 allied fighters.. In the furball 5 Oscars are reported shot down, along with 5 P-40Bs (die AVG !!) with 3 Buffalos and 2 P-40Es damaged. My Oscars gave better than they got for once... I am moving another sentai of Oscars into the area (Tavoy) and sent 4 reinforcements to Moulmein to bolster the sentai that has been fighting for a while.

180 miles to the North of PH IJN sub I-20 attacked a pair of US ASW DDs... Two torps (out of 4) hit DD Patterson, blowing her apart... The return ASW efforts failed as I-20 snuck away... A little while later, she returned and put 1 torp (out of 4) into DD Jarvis - and once more evaded ASW efforts.

My bombardments of Clark came through damaging over 120 enemy soldiers. My attack on Manilla failed again, this time with the allies taking 89 losses and my men losing over 300.. The troops there are standing down for a few days (gonna lob some arty shells into the city though) and away some reinforcements... which are loading up at Formosa as we speak. Its not much, but even a little bit more will help, so an ENG RGT is loading up to help with the fortifications.

My arty strike on Hengchow claims 80 chinese soldiers. At Wuhan my troops achieve 117:1 odds and YET the stubborn chinese unit there will not surrender. Not sure what else to do, but to keep pounding on them.

In Malaya my men finally capture Johore Bharu. Over 1200 brave IJA soldiers were lost while inflicting 300+ losses on the retreating allied units.. Now I only need to capture Mersing - which intel shows is held by a base unit only - and then I can march on Singapore. I'm giving my men a little R&R before that happens...

[tsimmonds]

I want to say 6 months or a year..

The rule I found says "non-Dutch air units destroyed on the ground when their base is captured will return to the game as a reinforcement after 360 days." (15.2) Whether this applies to air units destroyed by any means or is specific to this one case, I couldn't say. If they do come back I would presume the delay would be 360 days. Perhaps rroberson would take a peek at his air unit arrival schedule and enlighten us...?[;)]