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

[Xargun]

A nightmarish day for the IJN...

The day starts off going good for the IJN.. An IJN sub torpedoed an AP near Fuji sinking it along with a load of troops - 145 men and 6 guns were lost at least as the ship went down with all hands... Another IJN sub in the Bay of Bengal also sunk a RN AK loaded with troops - at least 97 men and 3 guns of the 221 RAF Aviation unit were sent to the bottom of the bay curtesy of two IJN torps [:D]

Then the day went bad.... Last turn one of my TFs were attacked by some SBDs from one of the small islands in the Timor Sea (near Java I think) and an AK took a 500# bomb hit.. There wasn't that many SBDs so I didn't think much of it... But that was a mistake... as this turn showed.

As soon as the sun rose, the air around Balikpapin was filled with enemy planes... The first raid came from nearby Samarinda and consisted of 12 SBDs of VS-6 escorted by 11 Brewsters. They attacked a small ASW TF to the east and managed to land a single 500# bomb on a DD. Then the attacks at Balikpapin came...

The first raid was only 4 planes (2 Brewsters and 2 SBDs) which somehow managed to get past my 14 fighter CAP - only 1 SBD was shot down. Luckily the other SBD missed the CA Mogami - good thing too... that sucker was carrying a 1000# bomb...

The next raid was a combined raid from Tarakan and Banjarmasin and consisted of 8 Buffalos, 13 F4F-3 Wildcats and 25 SBDs. My CAP did just as crappy against this wave as well and shot down a single Buffalo. The SBDs hit 3 out of 4 heavy cruiser targets... Luckily these suckers were at the extreme edge of their range and only carried 500# bombs, which all bounced off the cruiser's armor - 1 set of torp tubes was destroyed and nothing else... No bombs penetrated, but I'm sure lots of fires... IF only it stopped there...

In the PM Phase they came back for a second strike - 11 SBDs and 12 Brewsters from nearby Samarinda struck again.. This time they went after the main TF docked in port (loading up resources and oil with 4 CAs providing AA cover). My CAP did a little better shooting down 2 Brewsters... 4 Ships were targetted and all 3 CAs targeted were hit with a single bomb each... Unfortunately at 1 hex range, these were the 1000# bombs which sliced through the armor of the CAs... CAs Chokai, Kumano and Suzuya took a hit each with the hit on the Chokai resulting in a Magazine Explosion dooming the ship... But we weren't finished here yet...

Another raid coming from Tarakan and Banjarmasin struck again... 9 Buffalos, 12 Wildcats and 16 SBDs struck, hitting the 3 CAs left.. Luckily these were smaller 500# bombs and none penetrated the cruiser's armor once more... My CAP did its crappy job again shooting down 1 Buffalo and 1 Wildcat.. AA fire downed a SBD.

After the battle I saw what the problem was... Rob has been using his level bombers to attack at 1000 or 2000 feet and all my CAP was set at 5000 feet, so they were not able to engage the SBDs or escorts (probably flying at 10K+) in time to really stop them.... this problem has been corrected.. as well as more fighters put on CAP - including several groups flying LR CAP. The TF has also been disbanded into port to aid in its AA power - and to allow the port facilities to help repair previous damage.

The major problem is that all of these groups were from the CVs Lexington and Enterprise according to their designations... Now either these CVs are in the area - which I doubt very much - or he simply dropped off their air groups in OZ and has them sitting in port somewhere... Would be a wonderful time to find them But I doubt it will happen... But if I can maul these air groups it will effectively hurt the two CV's offensive ability... Only if I can...

I have increased fighters at Balikpappin as well as put all groups there on CAP at 10-15K. I have also increased CAP at Kuching - couple BBs in port - and Kendari - 6 carriers either in port or docked in a TF there. I have also transferred some of the CV air groups to Kendari to get full benefit from them.

Rob also tried (unsuccessful) air raids on Takao, Canton, Hong Kong and Truk. It seems a day of major air attacks by the allies. I struck back with another large raid on Sian's airfield destroying 3 chinese fighters and getting 22 hits on the runway (2 airbase and 3 supply hits as well).

In return my ASW efforts damaged another US Sub of Takao...

An arty attack at Clark claims 200 enemy casualties and the troops at Manilla prepare for another attack on the city - supported by 6 groups of bombers from Lingayan and Laoag.

My arty attack on Singapore claimed over 40 enemy losses and I have determined that I do not have the firepower at Singapore to take the city - roughly 5 divisions... I am hurridly importing 1 or 2 Engineering Regiments as soon as I find them. These will help against the high levels of forts I expect to find.

In China my troops at Tatung have completed their surrounding of a chinese unit and attacked this turn. 914 enemy soldiers and 1 gun were killed or captured as Hopei Militia/B is removed from the game... I believe I wiped out another portion of this unit earlier..

The loss of heavy cruiser Chokai brings the total number of warships lost to 2... itself and the CL Sendai lost due to CD gun fire at Soerbaja... I have examined the losses and scored and have them posted in the next message..

[Xargun]

Total Score:
Allies: 7731 Japan: 8094 [I am winning, but not by a large margin yet..]

Base Score:
Allies: 233 bases for 6955 points
Japan: 215 bases for 2336 points

AC Lost:
Allies: 901
Japan: 533

Army points Lost:
Allies: 2634
Japan: 52

Ships Lost:
Allies: 151 ships for 2131 points
Japan: 18 ships for 191 points

Strategic Losses:
Allies: 92
Japan: 0

Ships lost:

Allies: 1 AD, 30 AK (Small), 28 AK (Large), 2 AO, 3 AP (large), 3 AP (medium), 8 AP (small), 4 AS, 1 AV, 4 BB, 1 BC, 1 CA, 6 CL, 14 DD, 2 ML, 10 MSW, 6 PG, 12 PT, 8 SS, 3 TK (large), 4 TK (small)

Japan: 1 AP (small), 5 AP (medium), 1 CA, 1 CL, 1 ML, 1 MSW, 3 PC, 4 SS

I have lost very few warships - only 2 really and they are the bulk of my points lost...

[Capt. Harlock]

Base Score:
Allies: 233 bases for 6955 points
Japan: 215 bases for 2336 points

Have to do something about that! I assume taking Singapore and Manila would go a long ways...

[Xargun]

The turn started off with a massive night time bombing raids by me across several airfields. The following fields were hit: Chungking, Samarinda, Banjarmasin and Macassar. Chungking was hit as it was the last known location of about 100+ chinese and british bombers - I got 1 airbase and 1 runway hit and destroyed an SB-2c on the ground. At Samarinda I didn't get any planes, but got 15 men, 1 gun, 1 supply and 1 runway hit. At Banjarmasin I got 2 runway and 1 airbase hit. At Macassar I destroyed a CW-21B Demon on the ground and got 1 airbase and 1 runway hit as well. I figured Rob would move all the CV planes, but I was hoping to catch the damaged ones that couldn't fly away or if he risked me not attacking. The night attacks cost me 1 Sally and 2 Nells damaged - no actual losses - so it was a good raid... except that I didn't hit the real targets [:@]

I spotted some merchies moving to Midway last turn and since it is not a size 3 port, I moved a sub into the base to attack.. Unfortunately 2 ASW DDs found me and hit the sub with a depth charge.. The sub sustained mild damage and is limping back to Wake for quick flt repair before headng to Japan for repairs.

My sub caught another US AP near Fuji killing 100 men and 1 gun, but not sinking the ship.

A massive British air raid on Yenen Airfields - 49 Blenheim Is (2 groups) and 18 P-40Es. My small time CAP - 4 Nates - were beat up with 2 being shot down. The bombers didn't hit much, but did hit the airbase twice and the runway once.. No british planes were shot down or even claimed.

I did a daring daytime raid on singapore's airfield. 9 zeros & 13 Nates escorts 73 Lillies on the raid.. No enemy fighters were encountered - didn't think there would be any, but you never know - and 7 lillies were shot down and another 20+ damaged... 41 enemy troops were hurt and the airfield was peppered: 24 airbase hits, 4 supply hits and 50 runway hits. The problem is that Rob has at least 6+ Base Forces there so the damage won't last long.. I am simply trying to keep him from building new forts... Any easier way ? Any suggestions ?

My aircraft in china wounded or killed over 198 men and 3 guns in a variety of air raids on chinese units.

A large TF of empty AKs and TKs escorted by a couple DDs and PGs were heading to Balikpapin to load up oil and resources when out of the sun came a wave of US Naval planes. 5 Wildcats and 7 SBDs came out of nowhere and attacked. Luckily they concentrated on a single AK and hit it with 3 bombs... somehow the AK did not sink, but was crippled - they were dropping 500# bombs - probably why the AK is still floating.
The aircraft seemed to be based at Menado in Suluwesi.

An Invasion TF just finished loading up a NLF at Zamboanga (Mindanao) and were just about to leave port when more US Naval planes showed up. 8 Wildcats and 7 SBDs came roaring in from the west and attacked. Unfortunately the SBDs were carrying 1000# bombs - luckily only 1 found a target, a poor MSW accompanying the TF as ASW protection. As the planes withdrew to Jolo, the MSW was still floating.... somehow...

My arty strike at Clark netted 264 men and 4 guns - a good showing. My arty at Singapore claimed 114 Brits and Ozzies.

My attack at Manilla was repulsed with 318 men and 8 guns lost to only taking out 185 men and 5 guns..

My sub commandoes claim Arawe base on the Bismark Arch... Now only Gasmata and Rabaul remain in enemy hands... Gasmata will most likely be taken via sub assault and then I will land a Brigade or such on Rabaul to capture the base.. Not sure if Rabaul has CD Guns, so I may land at Gasmata and march overland.. I will have to consider this.

[Xargun]

The day started off with more night air raids on allied bases. Samarinda was hit again by 25 naval bombers inflicting a single hit on the runways. Banjarmasin was struck as well, with 32 bombers hitting it. 1 SBD was destroyed on the ground (Yeah !!) and 1 hit was claimed on each of the Airbase, supplies and the runway. Macassar was also struck by 18 bombers which inflicted a single hit on the runway.

The AP hit last turn near Fuji sunk during the night...

My Invasion TF near Jolo that was attacked last turn by naval bombers from Jolo quickly approached Jolo and dropped off its NLF - trying to unload the men before the bombers struck today and sunk more ships.

My MSW ASW TF found some mines at Wake - not a surprise being I spotted an enemy sub there last turn - and began cleanup operations.

Another IJN sub located an American TF and put a torp into an AK killing 18 men. Unfortunately the AK did not sink.

Rob's followup air raid on Yene was met by stiffer CAP - 13 Nates instead of 4 - and they managed to shot down a Hudson and damage a couple more as Rob's bombs missed thier targets again.

In a surprise move 7 B-17Es appeared in the sky over Truk. They must have appeared far enough away that my radar picked them up as all 9 zeros were in the air when they arrived over the base. 1 zero and 4 B-17s were damaged in the aerial duel and more importantly, all the bombs missed whatever target they were going after - assuming it was the port again.. but who knows....

My aircraft in Luzon flew today and hit the Corregidor M Fortress in Manilla from two different bases killing or wounding 166 men and 5 guns... 8 planes were damaged in the raid, but should be repaired for tomorrow's attack.

In china another 58 men and 2 guns were killed or wounded in a series of air raids on units stuck outside bases.

3 B-17Es showed up in the sky above Kendari seeking out the CV TF docked there. They were met by over 25 planes on CAP. 2 B-17s were actually shot down by my zeros and 3 more damaged... No ships were hurt. WOW !!! I actually shot down some B-17s in air to air combat... that is fairly rare...

While disgorging troops at Jolo the Invasion TF was attacked by naval planes stationed there. 9 Wildcats and 6 SBDs attacked... Luckily only 2 bombs found targets - unfortunately they were both 1000# bombs... But luckily again, they hit separate APs, setting them both on fire, and hurting them... But they were both able to unload their men and are in no danger of sinking.... provided they don't get hit again. My flak actually claimed 1 attacking SBD.

IJN sub I-20 attacks the TF again today and hits another US AK, killing 59 men. This sub is active !!

My arty strike on Clark claims 204 men and 10 guns. The arty strike on singapore claims 63 men.

The attack on Manilla finally reduces the fort level to 0 [:D] I lose 92 men and 2 guns in the attack, but claim nearly 500 enemy troops and 1 gun killed or disabled.. A good attack.. Now with the forts gone, I will continue to attack until the odds turn against me or I win the city.

My men moved into Rangoon last turn and attacked. Only the Base Force was in the base - which I believe Rob could have moved out due to the bug with the unit, but he played fair and left it behind as he should. 31 brave IJA solders were wounded in the attack, but we captured over 5100 enemy troops.

Now with Rangoon in my hands - which Rob has stripped of fuel and supplies - I can now prepare my march up the rail to Akyab and such... I have a feeling Rob has been fortifying Akyab with troops from India as well as tons of supplies and fuel. My first move will be to get AV support to Rangoon and begin moving in fighters and bombers... I will begin the war by blockading Akyab with naval bombers... Then once the Straights of Malacca are clear - have to take Sumatra first - I will bring naval forces north and head into India.... I may bypass Akyab and strike at Ceylon or elsewhere in India if Akyab is heavily fortified.. But that will take some time and perhaps some sacrificial sub commandoes to find out...

[tsimmonds]

I am simply trying to keep him from building new forts... Any easier way ? Any suggestions ?

Nope, this is the best way; keep the engineers occupied, make him burn supply. Realistically though, he may not be able to increase the fort size at Singapore. The time (and therefore cost) needed to fortify increases with the SPS of the base in question. Singapore's total SPS is 15, making it one of the largest bases on the map (and therefore one of the most expensive to fortify). But whether he can fortify or not, making him burn supply is surely worthwhile....

[Xargun]

ORIGINAL: irrelevant

Nope, this is the best way; keep the engineers occupied, make him burn supply. Realistically though, he may not be able to increase the fort size at Singapore. The time (and therefore cost) needed to fortify increases with the SPS of the base in question. Singapore's total SPS is 15, making it one of the largest bases on the map (and therefore one of the most expensive to fortify). But whether he can fortify or not, making him burn supply is surely worthwhile....

Would attacking the port be cheaper in terms of damage and lost planes, than hitting the airfield ?

Xargun

[Capt. Harlock]

The problem is that Rob has at least 6+ Base Forces there so the damage won't last long.. I am simply trying to keep him from building new forts... Any easier way ? Any suggestions ?

If you have the repair facilities to spare... send the Yamato in to duel the CD batteries!

[Xargun]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

If you have the repair facilities to spare... send the Yamato in to duel the CD batteries!

Won't have the Yamato for another 3-4 months... As for other BBs, I currently have 5 in the shop for repairs, although of the 5 only 1 is higher than the teens in damage. Plan on leaving the others in the shop until 100% repair - should be about the same time my hurt CV is fixed AND the arrival of the Junyo... Then I plan on sending 3-4 fleet CVs into the Bay of Bengal to remove the british navy threat - by then he should have 4 or so RN BBs and at least 2-3 Carriers of various size..

Xargun

[tsimmonds]

Would attacking the port be cheaper in terms of damage and lost planes, than hitting the airfield ?

That is a very interesting question. What's the difference between the port and the airfield as a bombing target? We know the CD's hang out at the port, the AA and engineers at the airfield. If you get an airbase supply hit you kill supply, but for a port supply hit, I can imagine it's fuel. What else? I can't think of anything really, but I bet the port is harder to damage, takes longer (costs more) to repair. It's prolly 6/half-a-dozen, but absent testing it's just a SWAG.

edit: Well, maybe just a WAG.

[Xargun]

Well the day starts off with a small supply TF encountering Mines at Kuantan... I wonder when Rob placed those ? Luckily I have been using MSW for ASW escorts in this area and they swept up some mines.. I will dock the TF and continue sweeping with the 3 MSW escorts.

Rob tried some nighttime air raids at Yenen and Rangoon.. At Yenen he hit nothing and at Rangoon he managed to kill an Oscar on the runway. My air raids at Macassar turns up 2 hits on the runways and no kills.. or losses for that matter.

Hmmm. An odd combat report (I just noticed - I don't usually look at the combat reports until I do my AAR as I watch the combat)... It shows an IJN TF encountering mines at Wake and shows an IJN AP sinking and an allied AK sinking with 535 allied losses reported. I can confirm the AK sinking according to my notes but neither it nor my AP was anywhere near Wake.. Oh well.. just combat overflow I'm assuming. I did find a mine field at Wake and my 5 MSWs started cleaning it up.

My air raids in china netted me 184 troops and 2 guns today.

I attacked Samarinda AF again - this time during the day and with escort. Nothing was in the air and 2 Betties were damaged. 2 airbase, 1 supply and 5 runway hits were claimed.

The 1st Burma Bde was located and bombed again. They currently sit 1 hex NW of Rangoon in the delta area and I have a tank RGT racing to cut them off from retreat. They lost 79 men and 1 gun.

My planes bombed Manilla again targetting the Corregidor Fort unit. 123 men and 3 guns were lost. 8 planes were damaged and 2 lost in the raids.

My Dive Bombers from Johre Bahru spotted the AK docking at Singapore and attacked. 35 planes attacked and they claimed 19 bomb hits on the ship... it sunk shortly thereafter.

My arty attack on Clark produced 339 men and 3 guns lost. The arty attack at Singapore claimed 97 men lost.

My attack on Manilla inflicted 322 men, 4 guns losses on the enemy, while only lossing 130 men and 6 guns.

My attack on Jolo failed, but managed to reduce the fort level to 0.

My men at Sabang (North tip of Sumatra) recieved some reinforcements and were able to attack, capturing the base - I hate when you land a couple squads and they get disabled leaving you with 1 able squad and like 4 able guns.. but unable to attack...

[Xargun]

A slow day in the way.. Nothing was sunk at all...

My ships continue clearing mines at Kuantan and Wake.

I tried a nighttime raid on Chungking which netted me 1 chinese fighter and 1 bomber along with 6 hits on the runway. Rob returned the favor with a night time B-17 raid on Rangoon causing 1 airbase and 1 runway hit. He followed it up with a daylight Blenheim raid which hit nothing.

I attacked the airfield on Menado during the day with 48 bombers escorted by 16 zeros. One F4F-3 was flying CAP and was shot down by my fighters. 2 Betties were damaged while attacking the airfield which claimed another Wildcat and 1 Dauntless as victims. Also 11 men were hurt, along with 4 airbase, 1 supply and 7 runway hits.

I bombed the 1st Burma Bde again inflicting 113 losses upon it.

Manilla was bombed again, with the Corregidor fortress taking the heat and losing 12 men. 2 Vals and 3 Anns were damaged and 1 Ann lost from AA fire.

Air raids in china claim 22 chinese troops.

US Naval Bombers from Jolo strike at the invasion fleet claiming another bomb hit on the AP unloading supplies... After exmination it is a lie, as the damage is no worse than that suffered from the first bomb hit two days ago.

Arty strike on Clark claims another 279 men and 7 guns destroyed. Arty attacks on Singapore claim 139 allies lost.

The attack on Manilla went okay with 321 allies (10 guns) lost and 162 IJA troops (4 guns) lost. The odds were 0:1 and I can't seem to shake it... I have ordered a couple days rest for the troops, then will return with a Shock Attack... Air raids will continue while my men rest.

An NLF and a Bde attack the Philippino base of Butuan. The last PA troops on the island of Mindanao held at first, but then were overrun and surrendered. This last base falls and defeats all enemy troops on the island. Over 2100 POWs were taken.

The attack at Jolo failed again [:@] Going to try a Shock Attack next.. if that doesn't work then this unit is done... as it will be depleted... It nearly is now.

[Xargun]

A not so good day for the Empire...

With a large amount of fuel moving to Kendari (to refuel my CVs and their escorts - thats why they have been sitting there for the past week - low fuel levels) I needed to neutralize the AF at Amboina.. The beginning attacks failed... Only 11 Nells launched and managed to hit the AF with 1 hit - on a runway... At there were no losses.

An IJN Sub found an allied AP and put a torp into her side - killing 43 men and a gun. Moments later another sub found a US TK and hit it as well. A few moments later I-22 found another target and hit another TK with a torp. My subs are doing a number between PH and the west coast... Best ever.

I struck at Tarakan AF with 57 bombers. I damaged a Brewster fighter on the ground as well as 11 men and a gun. 1 Airbase and 7 runway hits were reported.

Air raids hit chinese units claiming 94 men and 3 guns destroyed.

The 1st Burma Bde was smacked yet again today.. But this time Rob finally put some CAP over these poor men - they have been attacked via land or air for over a week straight. 3 P-40s of the famed AVG engaged my escorts. 2 Oscars were shot down along with a single Sally... 1 P-40 was reportedly damaged -- not a good showing... But the bombers inflicted 55 losses on the unit.

This is where it turned bad... Flying from Samarinda and Banjarmasin came the US naval bombers once more... My CAP over Balikpapan was beat up by the escorting Wildcats and the SBDs dived on my TF once more... A total of 4 attacks took place in the AM & PM phases. In total 1 Zero and 4 Nates were shot down on my side.. A total of 1 Buffalo, 1 Dauntless and 5 Brewsters were also shot down. No IJA planes were damaged, but 1 Wildcat and 19 SBDs were damaged... Hopefully this will result in a bunch of damaged planes for the next turn as well as very low morale.

3 IJN CAs were hit... CA Suzuya took 5 1000# bombs, 3 500# bombs and 1 torpedo and is crippled with 87 sys/62 flt /16 fire damage. CA Kumano took 5 1000# bombs and 4 500# bomb hits and is hurt with 34 sys/24 flt/8 fire damage. And CA Mogami took 3 500# bombs and is hurt 51 sys/17 flt/0 fire... Mogami took the brunt of the last air raids several days ago.

My arty attack at Clark claimed 276 men and 8 guns. The arty attack at Singapore failed to score any losses.

My NLF conducted a Shock Attack on Jolo and captured the base along with over 1300 allied POWs.

Basically Rob caught the same TF loading oil and resources today as he did before. The TF is nearly fully loaded and will head out in a couple days, once the nearby air space is fairly safe... The 3 CAs will most likely stay behind until they control their flooding, and then they will limp home to Japan for some repairs. These attacks make me mad as only 8 or so of my CAP were flying out of what should have been nearly 20 planes... Not sure what the problem is, but I intend to correct it..

I am also sending my 2 CVs from Kendari a couple hexes to the east so they can launch a raid on Amboina to destroy the airfields there before my fuel comes strolling through there. The first TF has roughly 20K fuel on it with newly arrived 150K of fuel at Palau... The first 20K is in a replenishment TF which will meet up with the CVs and refuel at sea before continuing to Kendari.. The CV TF, all refueled, will run escort for the other shipments until the air threat in the area is silenced...

[Xargun]

Well the turn started off with loads of ASW action... IJN ASW TFs located and attacked 2 different allied subs, damaging one near Formosa. Another IJN ASW TF hit an allied sub near Wake.

IJN SS I-174 hit an allied AK with a torpedo but then quickly sank as it was pounced on by escorting DDs. The AK hit was carrying troops towards Midway.

Night air raids struck Rangoon - 4 B-17s attacked the airfield scoring 1 runway hit.

Bombers from Balikpapin hit the airfield at Samarinda scoring 2 hits on the airbase and the runways each.

CV Group 3 sailed to within 240 miles west of Amboina and unloaded on the island base. 96 bombers (48 vals and 48 kates - 2 full CV wings) escorted by 12 zeros struck the island's airfield. They destroyed a Dutch patrol plane (Do 24K), as well as 21 men, 2 guns, 10 airbase hits, 5 supply hits and 49 runway hits. This damage will make operating aircraft from the base a little difficult for the next couple days - long enough for the first TF of fuel to make it past. Then CV Group 3 will be in an escort position.

Bombers hit Manilla again today claiming 64 men and 2 guns as losses in return for 1 Nell lost and 2 Nells damaged.

In china my air raids claimed 25 men and 0 guns throughout the theater.

Arty strikes on Clark field only claimed 92 men and 2 guns today as casualties. And the arty strike at Singapore only scored 48 losses.. Arty strikes across the board were poor today.

My men in china have surrounded and caused the surrendering of the 80th Chinese Corps/C and captured 2867 men and 12 guns. Another partial chinese unit wipe out [:D]

Some sub commandos from Sabang landed on the beech of Nicobar Island and captured it. Nicobar is a small beech between the northern tip of Sumatra (Sabang) and Andaman Islands which is held by an unknown sized allied unit - assuming its a british or indian unit. I will land some troops there and find out how large soon enough...

My BBs are repairing nicely at home and 4 of the 5 should be ready by mid february for duty again. Also, several DDs are being sent to repair bases to recieve their Feb 42 upgrades.

Once Kendari is fueled up, I believe I will send the baby CVs home to Japan for some slight repairs (they all have 4-8 sys damage each) and then send them to Singapore to support operations there.

CV Group 2 is resting nicely at Kwajalein for the troops there to build up enough preparation points for the invasions of Canton and Palmyra Islands. These invasions will probably happen some time near the end of Feb.

Currently I am 1500 points ahead of Rob score-wise... Rangoon made a big difference.. It was worth 700 points to him and far less to me, but it was a huge point swing. I am moving base forces and such into Rangoon to support aircraft and build forts... Anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to hold Rangoon in late 43 ? Anything I should be doing now ?

Xargun

[Capt. Harlock]

Anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to hold Rangoon in late 43 ? Anything I should be doing now ?

IMHO you should not be wasting resources on potential defense at this point of the game. Grab territory and resources, cause as many losses as you can. Towards the spring of 1943 you should think about mines and CD units to prevent naval bombardments, and of course building forts, and airfields for CAP.

[Xargun]

Another day in the war against the Imperialists [:D]

Rob tried more night bombing of Yenen and failed.. Nothing was hit and 1 Blenheim IV was damaged.

My ASW TF (of 10 DDs) finally caught an elusive sub and hit it with 4 depth charges sinking it. Not sure if it was a dutch or US, but O20 is no more.

A TK also sunk just NE of PH - I believe it was damaged a couple days ago by an IJN sub.

My Sub stationed near Lunga fired on an allied AK but missed. This AK was later seen at Lunga - with a few friends... So it seems Rob is garrisoning Lunga early.. I wonder how much he has there.. This is probably not the first TF sent there... The sub has only been on station for a couple days.

Another IJN Sub put a torpedo into another US TK, but unfortunately it didn't sink.

A daylight raid on Yenen by 10 Hudson I bombers it nothing but 1 Hudson was shot down and 3 more damaged. Rob seems insistant on damaging the base - probably the airfield more than anything, and as of yet has been unsuccessful.

CV Group 3 returned to Kendari and launched an air raid on Macassar. 82 bombers (38 Vals & 44 Kates) escorted by 17 zeros hit the air base at Macassar inflicting 3 airbase and 31 runway hits - a single Val was damaged in the attack.. The CV TF will dock with Kendari and hit Macassar airfield again just to get it beat up so Rob can't base those damn SBDs there.

Air Strikes in china claim 307 men and 4 guns destroyed.

My arty strike on Clark was good this turn, claiming 203 men and 7 guns destroyed. The arty strike on Singapore was poor again, claiming only 22 men.

My men attacked and captured the 58th Chinese Corps / C this turn which included 1050 men and 6 guns.

I also have another chinese unit surrounded near Hanoi and am attacking it in force this turn to try to force its surrender.

Also, the 1st Burma Bde is being hit by more air strikes next turn, as well as the Imperial Guards division which just moved into the hex. I believe I ordered the Imp. Guards to Shock attack, so this should spell the end of the 1st Burma Brigade... The Imp Guards is at full strength (103%) from a couple days of R & R in Rangoon.

I am airlifting the 22nd Av Regiment from Bangkok into Rangoon to bolster normal and AV support. Once AV support is raised I will fly in more air units and begin the seige of Akyab. Not sure if I want to capture Akyab or just force Rob to defend the hell out of it and then leapfrog it into India. I suppose it will depend on how much he has stockpiled there. I also have just landed 3 AA Regiments in Bangkok who will begin the long march to Rangoon to provide AA defense against the brits as I'm sure Rob will try to close Rangoon's airfield.

I have also loaded up my invasion force for Rabaul this turn. I was waiting for the units to reach 100 preparation and they finally have. I have also ordered my LR bombers at Truk to bomb Rabaul's airfield this turn as an opening move... Probably only strike for a single day and then rest up until the invasion TF is closer and then do continuous strikes until they land. I am sending a full regiment of combat troops in the first wave and that should be enough to take Rabaul - unless Rob has reinforced it, which I doubt as it is a write off base... Oh well we will see...

[Xargun]

Another day and more allies face the sword [:)]

The turn starts off with an IJN sub attack gainst an allied TK, hitting with 1 torp.

Then another night air raid on Yenen, this time he actually manages to hit a runway ith a single bomb - easily repaired. If he keeps this up he will run himself out of supply in china by using these large british and now B-17s.

My air attacks in china claim 117 men and 5 guns as destroyed.

My bombers from Tavoy strike at the 1st Burma Bde and encounter 4 AVG P-40s. My escorts intercept them and shoot down all 4 P-40Bs without losing a single Oscar - I like those odds. My bombers perform poorly, only wounding 10 men.

An ASW TF located and depth charges the hell out of an allied sub. In two rounds of attacks, over 10 depth charges are dropped, but only 2 hit damage the sub. [:@]

In return, an dutch sub attacks an ASF TF hunting it, sinking a MSW with a single torpedo hit. Oh well, I'll get him back in 500 days or so.

My arty strike at Clark is productive, claiming 213 men, 4 guns and 1 vehicle destroyed. The arty attack on Singapore is less so, claiming only 59 men.

My shock attack on Manilla is repulsed with 688 IJA losses and 514 allied losses. My aircraft did not attack Manilla at all. I will continue the attack and hopefully my aircraft will disrupt the defenders before my men attack.

NW of Rangoon the 1st Burma Brigade surrenders as over 24,000 IJA troops rush them in a Shock Attack. nearly 1600 british troops (and 10 guns) are captured and will be put to work harvesting resources for the Empire [:D] I wish we could put POWs to work... At least building railroads...

[Xargun]

The turn starts off with some more night bombings by Rob. Yenen is attacked again and they manage to hit another runway (1 hit) and destroy a single Nate fighter... Rangoon is also hit by 3 B-17s and they maul the place. They came in at 1000 feet and tore the place up. 1 airbase and 2 runway hits claim 2 Sallies and an Oscar, along with 64 men and 2 guns. 2 B-17s were damaged in the raid... I really need those AA regiments here. I will start transporting them as soon as the AV regiment is finished being air lifted in. I just hope those AA guns aren't to big for the planes - I have a hunch they may be.

Also at night, I struck at Singapore aiming for both the airfield and the port. 2 Lillies were shot down during the raid and 6 more damaged. the airbase was hit twice and the runways 7 times, but no port hits.

My Bombardment TF from Kendari showed up at Koepang for a nice nighttime visit. I thought Rob would greet my ships with a nice campfire and some S'mores, but instead 3 damn PT boats come out and say hi.. They picked me up on radar (didn't know PTs had radar) and surprised me. Luckily no torps or MG fire hit my ships and only a single round of combat was fought - I never got a chance to fire back... As the PTs fled, my TF approached the coastline / port and let loose. 4 DDs, 1 CL, 3 CA and 2 BBs hammered the port and airfield. The airbase was hit 20 times, 4 supply hits and 41 runway hits. Along with 95 men and 1 gun were reported destroyed. But the good news is I found those damn US Naval aircraft [:D] [:D] 4 SBDs, 1 Buffalo and 1 Wildcat were destroyed as well as 15 SBDs and a Wildcat reported damaged. Looks like these aircraft will need some TLC to be operational again... My TF ran back north under cover of darkness to avoid any retaliation strikes - they moved 5 hexes away - just out of range [;)] Due to the high success and the plenty of ammo left, the TF has been ordered back to Koepang to pick off some survivors...

I sent a sentai of zeros to Akyab to perform a fighter sweep and a huge flying circus resulted. 27 zeros engaged 3 Demons, 8 Buffalos, 35 Hurricanes and 4 P-40Bs... In the battle 11 zeros were shot down, as well as 10 hurricanes, 6 buffalos and 2 P-40s. A huge dogfight which I do not believe neither Rob nor me have the planes to spare for such.. But he has better pilots coming in then I will. Oh well... Looks like I just need to move another sentai of zeros into the theater... I do have another one in the area performing CAP over a base... Looks like they might be promoted to front line use.

29 Nells from Truk struck at Rabaul. The runways were hit 5 times and 10 Nells were damaged.

Air strikes in china claim 151 men and 0 guns as destroyed.

Arty strikes at Clark claim 312 allied troops along with 9 guns. My arty strike at Singapore is poor once again - only 25 men claimed.

My Shock Attack at Manilla went off wonderfully, despite no air support once more. Over 30,000 IJA troops shock attacked the 17,000 enemy troops and defeated them. 275 IJA men and 5 guns were lost, but nearly 13,000 enemy soldiers, 19 guns and 1 vehicle were captured. I also captured roughly 10,000 supplies.

With Manilla in my hands the score has changed drastically. I now have 9204 to Rob's 5931. As soon as Singapore falls, I should have him doubled in points.

I have invasion TFs heading for Rabaul from Truk. They are heading to Admiralty Islands first incase Rob gets any SigInt on them.. Once there, they will redirect to Rabaul, giving him 2-3 days to catch wind before they land, instead of over a week.

I also have troops heading to Medano (NE tip of Suluwesi) to capture the base there. The base is unimportant, except for the airfield there. I don't want Rob to be able to base his naval bombers along my supply routes to Kendari and Balikpapin.

I also have 2 naval guards units from Balikpapin marching NE to Samarinda to capture the airfield there as well.. Although this will not stop Rob from basing bombers in Borneo, it will force him to use extended range to hit Balikpapin and reduce his bomb load to simple 500 pound bombs, which will bounce off my heavy armor... instead of those ship-killing 1000 pounders.

[Brausepaul]

Just want to stick my head in and say that I really like this AAR,currently the only one I'm following. Give him hell, Samurai![:)]

[Xargun]

ORIGINAL: Brausepaul

Just want to stick my head in and say that I really like this AAR,currently the only one I'm following. Give him hell, Samurai![:)]

Thanks.. Nice to know people are reading these [:D]

Well I just got back from visiting relatives for the holidays and Rob is in Texas for his bowl game. I am currently waiting for the turn from Rob, and hopefully it will come soon. I am about to do my first round of upgrades to my DDs and an anxious to get some more AA power - IJN needs all it can get - especially now that Rob has 4 US CVs on the loose.

While waiting, I am thinking of posting my expanded industries on here for your guy's opinions... Or at least what industry each base has now (I doubt I remeber exactly what was expanded and by how much). Are you guys interested or not ?

Xargun