Well its Feb 6th, 1942 and we've been at war for nearly 2 months and here is a score update.
Japan: 9869
Allies: 5585
Army points lost:
Allies: 3694
IJA: 71
Ships lost:
Allies: 171 ships for 2339 points
IJN: 25 ships for 221 points
Aircraft losses:
Method Allies Japan
Air to Air 413 153
Dest. on Gnd 396 18
Flak 58 280
Ops 235 224
So far I am still doing very well in the air war and continue to catch Rob's planes on the ground. I am also outperforming him almost 3:1 in fighter combat.. I am sure this will change as the year goes on and more advanced allied fighters come into play... Not too worried about the US fighters as they seem so far away at this point.. More worried about the british spitfires - when do they show up ? Nothing else (besides the AVG and damn B-17s) can give my fighters a fight... and I'm not even using Zeros up here yet... just Oscars..
Japan Declares War against Western Imperialism - Xargun vs RRoberson (take 3)
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
7 February 1942
Well... A glorious day for IJN Submarines... but I get ahead of myself...
As usual a trio of Hudsons appeared over Yenen as soon as it grew dark, lobbing their bombs all over the place except where Rob wanted them... Once more the bombers score no hits.. I think Rob has kinda forgotten about Yene in his concern over Sian and Akyab.
My Sallies hit Akyab again, but failed to catch any planes on the ground. Has he moved them ? Or did I just miss ? 1 Sally was shot down and 3 more damaged. They claimed 18 enemy troops, 1 airbase, 1 supply and 10 runway hits.
Then the sub onslaught began...
I-172 located an allied TK and attacked, putting 2 torps into an AK, sinking her. A moment later I-15 put a torp into an TK. The I-15 put 2 more torps into the same TK and yet she didn't sink - my guess is 1 or 2 of those hits are FOW... I-3 joined the fun putting a torp into another TK [All night attacks].
My Sally raid on Kunming claimed a single Manpower hit - will I ever hit anything but manpower ?
Air raid on Amboina inflicted 1 airbase, 1 supply and 5 runway hits.. No planes nor men were caught and 3 Nells were damaged.
Rob's bombers hit my troops at Sian again. This time I had 4 zeros flying CAP and they shot down 3 P-40Es. My men on the ground damaged 3 bombers while suffering very minor losses (7 men and 2 guns). A moment later another raid came in. My CAP intercepted and had a shoot out with the escorting Warhawks. 3 P-40Es and 3 zeros were shot down, along with a single Blenheim. This raid was a bit more effective, causing 49 men, 5 guns and 1 vehicle losses.. but it wasn't enough.
Air raids in china claim 100 chinese losses.
My subs were active again during the daylight. I-8 caught and put 2 torps into an AK near Gili Gili, sinking her. The sub then evaded the 3 DD escorts. I-6 put a torp into an AO damaging her.
At Sian my 114000 men attacked the 28000 defenders. In a quick battle my men overran the chinese defenders and they retreated NW. 734 japanese men and 22 guns were disabled. The chinese left behind 895 men and 13 guns in their haste to run away. More important than the base, I also wiped out 2 air groups there - 1 consisting of 20 P-40Es and another of 7 I-153c's. Unfortately the base is wasted. I'm guessing ROb had a lot of engineers there as everything is completely damaged except Manpower. Now I have to decide whether or not to spend supply repairing the HI, resources and oil or just leave it...
My arty strike on Singapore inflicted 72 losses on the brits. And my arty strikes at Rabaul claimed 17 men and a gun.
It seems that Rob is trying to reinforce Gili Gili as well as Lunga (which he already has). I do not have enough ground forces in the area to oppose this yet, but will try to use sea and naval power to stop this.
As usual a trio of Hudsons appeared over Yenen as soon as it grew dark, lobbing their bombs all over the place except where Rob wanted them... Once more the bombers score no hits.. I think Rob has kinda forgotten about Yene in his concern over Sian and Akyab.
My Sallies hit Akyab again, but failed to catch any planes on the ground. Has he moved them ? Or did I just miss ? 1 Sally was shot down and 3 more damaged. They claimed 18 enemy troops, 1 airbase, 1 supply and 10 runway hits.
Then the sub onslaught began...
I-172 located an allied TK and attacked, putting 2 torps into an AK, sinking her. A moment later I-15 put a torp into an TK. The I-15 put 2 more torps into the same TK and yet she didn't sink - my guess is 1 or 2 of those hits are FOW... I-3 joined the fun putting a torp into another TK [All night attacks].
My Sally raid on Kunming claimed a single Manpower hit - will I ever hit anything but manpower ?
Air raid on Amboina inflicted 1 airbase, 1 supply and 5 runway hits.. No planes nor men were caught and 3 Nells were damaged.
Rob's bombers hit my troops at Sian again. This time I had 4 zeros flying CAP and they shot down 3 P-40Es. My men on the ground damaged 3 bombers while suffering very minor losses (7 men and 2 guns). A moment later another raid came in. My CAP intercepted and had a shoot out with the escorting Warhawks. 3 P-40Es and 3 zeros were shot down, along with a single Blenheim. This raid was a bit more effective, causing 49 men, 5 guns and 1 vehicle losses.. but it wasn't enough.
Air raids in china claim 100 chinese losses.
My subs were active again during the daylight. I-8 caught and put 2 torps into an AK near Gili Gili, sinking her. The sub then evaded the 3 DD escorts. I-6 put a torp into an AO damaging her.
At Sian my 114000 men attacked the 28000 defenders. In a quick battle my men overran the chinese defenders and they retreated NW. 734 japanese men and 22 guns were disabled. The chinese left behind 895 men and 13 guns in their haste to run away. More important than the base, I also wiped out 2 air groups there - 1 consisting of 20 P-40Es and another of 7 I-153c's. Unfortately the base is wasted. I'm guessing ROb had a lot of engineers there as everything is completely damaged except Manpower. Now I have to decide whether or not to spend supply repairing the HI, resources and oil or just leave it...
My arty strike on Singapore inflicted 72 losses on the brits. And my arty strikes at Rabaul claimed 17 men and a gun.
It seems that Rob is trying to reinforce Gili Gili as well as Lunga (which he already has). I do not have enough ground forces in the area to oppose this yet, but will try to use sea and naval power to stop this.
8 February 1942
As usual night bombings start the turn off.. This time its 5 Hudson over Yenen and they actually claim 1 hit on my airbase... Nothing important - its fixed before I even really know its damage. My strike on Akyab reports 3 Sallies damaged and 1 Liberator destroyed on the ground - he must have moved his planes out as I'm not getting many hits anymore. The Sallies also claim 1 airbase, 2 supply and 5 runway hits.
Next combat is my ASW sinking a dutch sub off of Northern Borneo... Finally. 10 DDs land 4 depth charges on K-16, sinking her.
Rob tried a little naval bombardment at Rabaul to beat up my troops... What he failed to noticed during the combat replays is a nice little CD unit mixed in with the troops there. Rob landed no hits on my men at all, and my CD beat up on his 3 DDs.. 1 DD sank outright after the failed bombardment and the other 2 limped south of Rabaul.. Maybe with some luck they will fall victim to bombers from Turk or my subs I just moved into the area.
I-170 located some PH cripples and put a torp into the CA New Orleans. The ASW response was luckily avoided, although a few depth charges came close...
My Sallies bombing Kunming claim 8 resource hits as well as shooting down a chinese fighter [:D] 2 Sallies were damaged in the raid.
My fighter sweeps over Koepang and Macassar turned up nothing. Looks like Rob has pulled most of his air assets out of the DEI for fear of losing it to invasion...
A small air raid on Bataan claims 2 airbase and 10 runway hits. Actually they were trying for supply hits to whittle down what little supply he has left, but if he repairs the damage that will help too. I plan on bombing Bataan every day as long as weather and morale hold out.
Rob bombed my men at Sian, catching 59 men and a gun in the open. 1 Nate was shot down as well as a Blenheim - 2 more bombers were damaged.
The highpoint of the turn came when CV Group 1 located an allied TF docking with Gili Gili and hammered it.... 15 zeroes escorted 46 Vals and 47 Kates on a nice raid. 6 allied AKs were hit with a combination of bombs and torps. Nothing was sunk in this raid. A few moments later another raid came in with no escort (22 Vals and 40 Kates). These planes finished off several allied ships including 3 AKs and a DD escort. Intel reports 2 DDs and 5 AKs still afloat - all damaged. I shall finsih them off tomorrow or the next day... CV Group 1 also spotted a long AP heading for Gili Gili to the north and sent 14 zero and 21 Vals after it.. They sunk it after only 6 bomb hits. I'm assuming it was carrying men to Gili Gili - or otherwise it would not have been sailing where it was... Possible evac from Rabaul or Lunga ? Or something else.. not sure.
Of offshoot of my CD guns success at Rabaul is that the fleeing DDs ran right into my ML TF moving in to the south of Rabaul to mine the narrows there to prevent just such a thing. Unfortunately the fleeing DDs said hi, hammering 2 MLs... The combat was brief and nothing was sunk, but 2 of my MLs need to make it back to Truk before sinking.. The one should make it the other I'm not sure about [:@]
A sub SW of Truk got off a lucky shot and hit an AP carrying the relief force heading for Truk [:@] The AP is not hit too bad, and it will divert to Admiralty Islands to drop off its load of men.
A Brigade and Division said hi to 2 partial chinese units west of Yenen, sending them running for cover back to the west. Probably some sort of recon in force of Robs.
My attack on Singapore went ok I think. I reduced the forts to 6, but lost over 4100 men. The defenders lost 1200 men. I am considering this a good attack despite the heavy losses as I am going up against a high fort level and decent experience troops, but I outnumber them 110000 to 58000 and should be able to take the base. The men are resting this turn to recoup some disruption they suffered...
Rob tried an attack at Wenchow, where he has a partial chinese unit against my NLF. The NLF luckily has level 3 forts and repulsed his attack without loss. The chinese suffered 89 men lost. His unit is much bigger than mine, but his lack of supply and fatigue/disruption from moving through the jungle can't be good.
Sub commandos have landed and captured Aru Island north of Oz. I plan on taking all 3 of these islands over the next week or so simply to deny them to Rob.. My troops also captured Jesselton on the northern coast of Borneo.
Invasion TFs heading for Miri and Brunei are 2 days out and will hit both bases at the same time to minimize damaged to the precious oil. I have TFs of engineerings, AV support and supplies right behind them as well as 10 TKs moving in to pick up oil.. There has to be 100k oil sitting in those 2 bases by now.... I am also counting on the free fuel there as well, as Saigon is a little low on fuel due to supporting dozens of TFs back and forth to Malaya and Borneo ferrying men and supplies.
I have pulled my 3 Sentais of Sallies off the line at Rangoon and moved them back to Bangkok for a couple days R&R. The units don't NEED the R&R (still have good morale), but they are slowly gaining more and more damaged planes and figured I might as well give them somewhere safe to relax. In there place I have flow 2 Sentai and 1 Chutai of Nells / Betties. The 3 units will rest this turn and then perform a long range raid on some ports in India. I am thinking of Diamond Harbor - looks nice and safe [:)] And from Rangoon its well within torpedo range too.
CV Group 1 is heading SW a bit to see what I can find floating around the waters between Oz and PM - hopefully I can pick off some more merchies carrying supplies or better yet men to PM or Gili Gili.
Also, in 4 days I have a ton of new units arriving: 4 Special BFs, 1 BF, 1 Construction BN, 2 Chinese Divs, 2 SNLFs and 5 Naval Guard units. Most of these will be sent south to Truk to begin the capture of the Solomons and PNG. I need to land at Lae and perhaps Gili Gili with force and hold them.. Perhaps I will try Lunga too... Not sure what he has there... Or even perhaps Noumea - depending on what he has moved where... Oh well some ideas for thought.
Next combat is my ASW sinking a dutch sub off of Northern Borneo... Finally. 10 DDs land 4 depth charges on K-16, sinking her.
Rob tried a little naval bombardment at Rabaul to beat up my troops... What he failed to noticed during the combat replays is a nice little CD unit mixed in with the troops there. Rob landed no hits on my men at all, and my CD beat up on his 3 DDs.. 1 DD sank outright after the failed bombardment and the other 2 limped south of Rabaul.. Maybe with some luck they will fall victim to bombers from Turk or my subs I just moved into the area.
I-170 located some PH cripples and put a torp into the CA New Orleans. The ASW response was luckily avoided, although a few depth charges came close...
My Sallies bombing Kunming claim 8 resource hits as well as shooting down a chinese fighter [:D] 2 Sallies were damaged in the raid.
My fighter sweeps over Koepang and Macassar turned up nothing. Looks like Rob has pulled most of his air assets out of the DEI for fear of losing it to invasion...
A small air raid on Bataan claims 2 airbase and 10 runway hits. Actually they were trying for supply hits to whittle down what little supply he has left, but if he repairs the damage that will help too. I plan on bombing Bataan every day as long as weather and morale hold out.
Rob bombed my men at Sian, catching 59 men and a gun in the open. 1 Nate was shot down as well as a Blenheim - 2 more bombers were damaged.
The highpoint of the turn came when CV Group 1 located an allied TF docking with Gili Gili and hammered it.... 15 zeroes escorted 46 Vals and 47 Kates on a nice raid. 6 allied AKs were hit with a combination of bombs and torps. Nothing was sunk in this raid. A few moments later another raid came in with no escort (22 Vals and 40 Kates). These planes finished off several allied ships including 3 AKs and a DD escort. Intel reports 2 DDs and 5 AKs still afloat - all damaged. I shall finsih them off tomorrow or the next day... CV Group 1 also spotted a long AP heading for Gili Gili to the north and sent 14 zero and 21 Vals after it.. They sunk it after only 6 bomb hits. I'm assuming it was carrying men to Gili Gili - or otherwise it would not have been sailing where it was... Possible evac from Rabaul or Lunga ? Or something else.. not sure.
Of offshoot of my CD guns success at Rabaul is that the fleeing DDs ran right into my ML TF moving in to the south of Rabaul to mine the narrows there to prevent just such a thing. Unfortunately the fleeing DDs said hi, hammering 2 MLs... The combat was brief and nothing was sunk, but 2 of my MLs need to make it back to Truk before sinking.. The one should make it the other I'm not sure about [:@]
A sub SW of Truk got off a lucky shot and hit an AP carrying the relief force heading for Truk [:@] The AP is not hit too bad, and it will divert to Admiralty Islands to drop off its load of men.
A Brigade and Division said hi to 2 partial chinese units west of Yenen, sending them running for cover back to the west. Probably some sort of recon in force of Robs.
My attack on Singapore went ok I think. I reduced the forts to 6, but lost over 4100 men. The defenders lost 1200 men. I am considering this a good attack despite the heavy losses as I am going up against a high fort level and decent experience troops, but I outnumber them 110000 to 58000 and should be able to take the base. The men are resting this turn to recoup some disruption they suffered...
Rob tried an attack at Wenchow, where he has a partial chinese unit against my NLF. The NLF luckily has level 3 forts and repulsed his attack without loss. The chinese suffered 89 men lost. His unit is much bigger than mine, but his lack of supply and fatigue/disruption from moving through the jungle can't be good.
Sub commandos have landed and captured Aru Island north of Oz. I plan on taking all 3 of these islands over the next week or so simply to deny them to Rob.. My troops also captured Jesselton on the northern coast of Borneo.
Invasion TFs heading for Miri and Brunei are 2 days out and will hit both bases at the same time to minimize damaged to the precious oil. I have TFs of engineerings, AV support and supplies right behind them as well as 10 TKs moving in to pick up oil.. There has to be 100k oil sitting in those 2 bases by now.... I am also counting on the free fuel there as well, as Saigon is a little low on fuel due to supporting dozens of TFs back and forth to Malaya and Borneo ferrying men and supplies.
I have pulled my 3 Sentais of Sallies off the line at Rangoon and moved them back to Bangkok for a couple days R&R. The units don't NEED the R&R (still have good morale), but they are slowly gaining more and more damaged planes and figured I might as well give them somewhere safe to relax. In there place I have flow 2 Sentai and 1 Chutai of Nells / Betties. The 3 units will rest this turn and then perform a long range raid on some ports in India. I am thinking of Diamond Harbor - looks nice and safe [:)] And from Rangoon its well within torpedo range too.
CV Group 1 is heading SW a bit to see what I can find floating around the waters between Oz and PM - hopefully I can pick off some more merchies carrying supplies or better yet men to PM or Gili Gili.
Also, in 4 days I have a ton of new units arriving: 4 Special BFs, 1 BF, 1 Construction BN, 2 Chinese Divs, 2 SNLFs and 5 Naval Guard units. Most of these will be sent south to Truk to begin the capture of the Solomons and PNG. I need to land at Lae and perhaps Gili Gili with force and hold them.. Perhaps I will try Lunga too... Not sure what he has there... Or even perhaps Noumea - depending on what he has moved where... Oh well some ideas for thought.
9 February 1942
As usual the turn starts off with nightly air raids in Burma / China. Rob sends 4 Hudson against Yenen and they actually hit 2 Nates on the ground destroying them - no real loss. I have hundreds of these to spare - and I didn't lose pilots which are more important to me.
An IJN Sub I-18 found another AK with the 3 DDs creeping along the far east edge of the map and put a torp into her.
I also sent a fighter sweep into Lashio and they found some Buffalos to play with. 27 Zeros against 7 Buffalos... not a fair fight, but oh well... My zeros shot down 6 Buffalos without any losses [:D]
I sent another air raid against Bankha (Sumatra) and caught a FK 51 on the ground. They also claimed 2 airbase, 3 supply adn 21 runway hits at the cost of 1 Lilly lost and 1 damaged.
My air strikes on Bataan continue with 1 plane being damaged and targetting the port. I got 4 port hits, 3 fuel and 5 supply hits. Those should hurt his supply a bit - especially since he can't have too much supply there.
Rob raided Sian again with Blenheims and some P-40s. My Nates did nothing but my flak claimed 1 Blenheim destroyed and 3 more damaged. The bombing raid wasn't too great, only 45 men and 1 gun hit.
In china my air raids claim 164 chinese troops.
My Air raid on Singapore proved distastrous. I lost 7 Sonia and another 9 damaged - and they hit nothing. Dive Bombers just get eaten up by flak here, I will have to use my level bombers...
My troops captured Tomini base (northern half of Suluwesi I think). No losses were incurred due to the base being unoccupied.
Arty fire at Rabual claims 17 allies and 0 japanese troops. I will simply be bombarding until fresh troops arrive in 3-4 days.
This turn was rather slow all around - just the way Rob likes them [:@]
An IJN Sub I-18 found another AK with the 3 DDs creeping along the far east edge of the map and put a torp into her.
I also sent a fighter sweep into Lashio and they found some Buffalos to play with. 27 Zeros against 7 Buffalos... not a fair fight, but oh well... My zeros shot down 6 Buffalos without any losses [:D]
I sent another air raid against Bankha (Sumatra) and caught a FK 51 on the ground. They also claimed 2 airbase, 3 supply adn 21 runway hits at the cost of 1 Lilly lost and 1 damaged.
My air strikes on Bataan continue with 1 plane being damaged and targetting the port. I got 4 port hits, 3 fuel and 5 supply hits. Those should hurt his supply a bit - especially since he can't have too much supply there.
Rob raided Sian again with Blenheims and some P-40s. My Nates did nothing but my flak claimed 1 Blenheim destroyed and 3 more damaged. The bombing raid wasn't too great, only 45 men and 1 gun hit.
In china my air raids claim 164 chinese troops.
My Air raid on Singapore proved distastrous. I lost 7 Sonia and another 9 damaged - and they hit nothing. Dive Bombers just get eaten up by flak here, I will have to use my level bombers...
My troops captured Tomini base (northern half of Suluwesi I think). No losses were incurred due to the base being unoccupied.
Arty fire at Rabual claims 17 allies and 0 japanese troops. I will simply be bombarding until fresh troops arrive in 3-4 days.
This turn was rather slow all around - just the way Rob likes them [:@]
10 February 1942
The turn starts off with an allied sub attack on my transports heading for Brunei. Dutch sub K-14 hit an AP with 2 torps, but failed to evade my depth charges, taking two hits. 40 IJA troops were killed or wounded in the attack and we're not sure if the AP will make Brunei to unload its troops or not. Even after the turn it has 94 flt, so maybe it will make the 1 hex to the target and offload during the night phase before it sinks - at least I hope so.
Then Rob's nightly air raid at Yenen - this time by 6 Hudsons but they hit nothing.
My air raids in china claim 66 chinese troops and 2 guns.
Roughly 40 Lillies bombed Singapore from 10K feet taking minor damage (2 planes damaged) but nothing was hit.. I think I will keep around this altitude to save pilots and planes.
Another fighter sweep this time at Mandalay runs into 5 Buffalos and 6 Hurricanes. IN a brief battle, 1 zero is downed along with 5 buffalo and 1 hurricane.
IJN Sub I-6 put two torps into another allied Tanker - but it didn't sink [:@] A moment later I-25 puts two torps into BB Oklahoma a few hexes east of PH [:D] Unfortunately, escorts landed 3 depth charges on her, sinking her [:@]
My troops unloaded at Miri and should be capturing the base this turn. Troops should be landing at Brunei next turn.
My reinforcements for Rabaul are 2 days away, but ROb has a sub sitting there guarding the port. I have ASW escorts with the TF and they will have to brave the sub as I don't have time to wait for a dedicated ASW TF to be formed and sent. I want Rabaul so I can bomb the hell out of Port Moresby. I have the bombers all ready at Truk and they are itching to go...
My port raid on Diamond Harbor did not launch for some reason - possibly fighters, so I have assigned a chutai of zeros to escort them. Hopefully the raid will launch and damage a few ships - just to give Rob something else to think about. I am planning a raid on Ceylon in a few days after the Diamond Harbor raid.
One of my MLs damaged by those retreating DDs sunk this turn. An allied AK sunk this turn too - hit it last turn with torps. Also an allied TK sank this turn too - damaged a few turns ago by torps.
I have most of the fuel unloaded at Kendari and the ships are refuelling and getting out of the sub trap - I am leaving ASW assets behind to try to bag some subs, but the bulk of the warships (and baby CVs) will be moving out next turn. Not sure where to employ them yet, but I'll find somewhere. Perhaps Malaya ?
Then Rob's nightly air raid at Yenen - this time by 6 Hudsons but they hit nothing.
My air raids in china claim 66 chinese troops and 2 guns.
Roughly 40 Lillies bombed Singapore from 10K feet taking minor damage (2 planes damaged) but nothing was hit.. I think I will keep around this altitude to save pilots and planes.
Another fighter sweep this time at Mandalay runs into 5 Buffalos and 6 Hurricanes. IN a brief battle, 1 zero is downed along with 5 buffalo and 1 hurricane.
IJN Sub I-6 put two torps into another allied Tanker - but it didn't sink [:@] A moment later I-25 puts two torps into BB Oklahoma a few hexes east of PH [:D] Unfortunately, escorts landed 3 depth charges on her, sinking her [:@]
My troops unloaded at Miri and should be capturing the base this turn. Troops should be landing at Brunei next turn.
My reinforcements for Rabaul are 2 days away, but ROb has a sub sitting there guarding the port. I have ASW escorts with the TF and they will have to brave the sub as I don't have time to wait for a dedicated ASW TF to be formed and sent. I want Rabaul so I can bomb the hell out of Port Moresby. I have the bombers all ready at Truk and they are itching to go...
My port raid on Diamond Harbor did not launch for some reason - possibly fighters, so I have assigned a chutai of zeros to escort them. Hopefully the raid will launch and damage a few ships - just to give Rob something else to think about. I am planning a raid on Ceylon in a few days after the Diamond Harbor raid.
One of my MLs damaged by those retreating DDs sunk this turn. An allied AK sunk this turn too - hit it last turn with torps. Also an allied TK sank this turn too - damaged a few turns ago by torps.
I have most of the fuel unloaded at Kendari and the ships are refuelling and getting out of the sub trap - I am leaving ASW assets behind to try to bag some subs, but the bulk of the warships (and baby CVs) will be moving out next turn. Not sure where to employ them yet, but I'll find somewhere. Perhaps Malaya ?
11 February 1942
Night started with I-170 putting a torpedo into the CA New Orleans sinking her [:D] Yeah !!! Then came an air raid on Sian by 4 Hudson - hitting nothing.
My BB (Mutsu) and a CL (Katori) ran into two damaged allied DDs near Vella Lavella. After a quick round of combat in which the BB missed, the Katori landed a single shell on a DD and then they fled into the night and escaped. Damn, would have been nice to bag them both.
My ASW efforts near Kendari hit the dutch sub K-9 with a single depth charge - hopefully it will be enough to send them packing for some repairs.
My damaged AP heading for Brunei sunk before unloading troops - but some of the men were rescued by the ships of the TF - but still I lost a lot of men - 1/3 of the SNLF invading Brunei.
My troops finally unloaded at Brunei and will be attacking next turn against the light defenders. If I remember correctly there is only a base force defending Brunei.
In a sader note, I-6 was hit by two enemy depth charges and sunk while trying to escape from enemy ASW DDs.
My air raid on Kungchang ran into some P-40s flying CAP. 5 Sallies were destroyed in total, along with 1 P-40 [reports claim]. The bombing raid did very little damage to the airfield there and wasn't worth the losses.
Rob raided Rangoon again (from Dacca I think) with 10 B-17s and 16 LB-30 Liberators - 24 Oscars intercepted them. 2 Oscars were shot down by defensive fire as well as 4 Liberators. Another 7 Liberators were damaged along with 1 B-17. They managed to claim 2 manpower hits and I forgot to check the actual damage. I will check this next turn though.
My air raid against Diamond Harbor finally flew - guess they wanted those zero escorts, although they ran into no CAP. 4 Nells and 1 Betty were destroyed along with 7 and 5 planes damaged respectively. They didn't do a great job (nothing sunk), but they should have caused some havoc in the port. They hit 2 APs and 6 AKs with bombs only - all torps missed. They also claimed a couple men, a gun and 3 hits on the port facilities. Kinda funny though, combat report shows them all launching torps and no bombs ... Hmmm.
Another raid on Bankha costs me 1 Ann and claims 2 supply and 22 runway hits.
Just incase I raided Macassar airfield as well. No losses - 1 plane damaged in the raid. My bombers claimed 5 men, 1 airbase, 1 supplyand 17 runway hits.
Air raids in china claim 165 men and 1 gun.
My troops from last turn captured Miri base.
Not much else happened last turn. I got a ton of units for this turn: 2 chinese divisions which were fully filled out. 4 Special Base Forces which arrived fully filled out and 1 SNLF which arrive fully filled out. The rest arrived in their normal 25% status. My Manpower pool, which was over 135,000 is now at 77,000 due to the newly arriving units. Not worried, the newly filled units will be quickly used - especially the base forces and the 2 chinese divisions - they have already been sent to the front.
My baby CVs and all warships not assigned to ASW duties were refueled and ordered to leave Kendari this turn. They are heading west to avoid the clump of enemy subs along the eastern approaches. Not sure if anyone knows this, but you can sail through the islands directly west of Kendari - if you select that hex as your destination... otherwise it will try to move you around them.
Also, an allied AO and 2 TKs sank this turn from previous damage. Just more kills for my subs which are doing a wonderful job so far this game against his merchies...
My BB (Mutsu) and a CL (Katori) ran into two damaged allied DDs near Vella Lavella. After a quick round of combat in which the BB missed, the Katori landed a single shell on a DD and then they fled into the night and escaped. Damn, would have been nice to bag them both.
My ASW efforts near Kendari hit the dutch sub K-9 with a single depth charge - hopefully it will be enough to send them packing for some repairs.
My damaged AP heading for Brunei sunk before unloading troops - but some of the men were rescued by the ships of the TF - but still I lost a lot of men - 1/3 of the SNLF invading Brunei.
My troops finally unloaded at Brunei and will be attacking next turn against the light defenders. If I remember correctly there is only a base force defending Brunei.
In a sader note, I-6 was hit by two enemy depth charges and sunk while trying to escape from enemy ASW DDs.
My air raid on Kungchang ran into some P-40s flying CAP. 5 Sallies were destroyed in total, along with 1 P-40 [reports claim]. The bombing raid did very little damage to the airfield there and wasn't worth the losses.
Rob raided Rangoon again (from Dacca I think) with 10 B-17s and 16 LB-30 Liberators - 24 Oscars intercepted them. 2 Oscars were shot down by defensive fire as well as 4 Liberators. Another 7 Liberators were damaged along with 1 B-17. They managed to claim 2 manpower hits and I forgot to check the actual damage. I will check this next turn though.
My air raid against Diamond Harbor finally flew - guess they wanted those zero escorts, although they ran into no CAP. 4 Nells and 1 Betty were destroyed along with 7 and 5 planes damaged respectively. They didn't do a great job (nothing sunk), but they should have caused some havoc in the port. They hit 2 APs and 6 AKs with bombs only - all torps missed. They also claimed a couple men, a gun and 3 hits on the port facilities. Kinda funny though, combat report shows them all launching torps and no bombs ... Hmmm.
Another raid on Bankha costs me 1 Ann and claims 2 supply and 22 runway hits.
Just incase I raided Macassar airfield as well. No losses - 1 plane damaged in the raid. My bombers claimed 5 men, 1 airbase, 1 supplyand 17 runway hits.
Air raids in china claim 165 men and 1 gun.
My troops from last turn captured Miri base.
Not much else happened last turn. I got a ton of units for this turn: 2 chinese divisions which were fully filled out. 4 Special Base Forces which arrived fully filled out and 1 SNLF which arrive fully filled out. The rest arrived in their normal 25% status. My Manpower pool, which was over 135,000 is now at 77,000 due to the newly arriving units. Not worried, the newly filled units will be quickly used - especially the base forces and the 2 chinese divisions - they have already been sent to the front.
My baby CVs and all warships not assigned to ASW duties were refueled and ordered to leave Kendari this turn. They are heading west to avoid the clump of enemy subs along the eastern approaches. Not sure if anyone knows this, but you can sail through the islands directly west of Kendari - if you select that hex as your destination... otherwise it will try to move you around them.
Also, an allied AO and 2 TKs sank this turn from previous damage. Just more kills for my subs which are doing a wonderful job so far this game against his merchies...
12 February 1942
A slow turn - which is only good for Rob.
An ASW TF returns to Nagasaki and locates a mine field. The MSWs start clearing it automatically - nothing is hit.
Surprisingly there are no night raids by anyone - I believe weather prevented Rob from hitting Sian.
A fighter sweep over Lashio finds 5 Buffalos. In the fight, 1 zero and 1 buffalo are shot down - not a good showing, but then only 8 zeros were sent.
Air raids on chinese units claim 101 men.
My Lillies bombed Singapore again from 10k feet, this time hitting some men and claiming 17 men and 1 gun. My troops fired a couple hundred arty shells into Singapore, claiming 25 allied men hit.
Bataan recieves more bombs, costing them 158 men and 1 gun. I have also ordered a couple divisions and arty to Bataan to begin shelling them as well for preparation of the last battle on Luzon.
IJN sub I-153 put a torp into an allied AK south of Timor. I believe it is heading to Koepang to help the build up there. I have several subs now stationed south of Timor to inderdict shipping from Oz to the island.
My men were repulsed at Brunei, but the fort was lowered. I have ordered a Shock attack and should capture the base next turn. Miri is damaged pretty good for having suffered no air raids and having no friendly troops there during the invasion. Roughly a third of its oil production is damaged - not sure how, but it is... I am loading up supplies at Saigon and sending them there for repairs. The oil at Miri and Brunei is fairly safe from any allied attacks for most of the war, so its worth it to repair this supply.
My sub commandos capture Tenimbar Island, bringing the total to 2 of the little islands north of Darwin that I now control. The troops are loading back up on their subs and heading for the third island. Hopefully they will not be disabled when unloading and will be able to capture the island before returning to Kendari for some R&R.
An IJN PC in port at Palau sunk this turn from previous damage. Not happy about it, as PCs are my backup ASW assets and I will need all I can get in 43...
Troop ships at Tokyo are loading up men and supplies for destinations elsewhere. Base Forces are loading up first, then combat units for dispersion to the South Pacific where they are needed.
CV Group 1 is rendevousing with an replenishment TF southeast of the PNG and once refueled will head to Noumea to bomb the base there. CV Group 3 is heading SE towards Pago Pago and such to see if I can find some allied merchie TFs and the missing 2 allied CVs.. I have a hunch Rob is using the 2 CVs as convoy escorts for his first real run of convoys to Oz. Maybe I can get a CV battle out of him [:D] Once this tour is done, CV Group 3 will retire to Japan for repairs. Nothing is hurt bad, but the CVs have 6-10 sys damage from wear and tear and need some yard time...
CV Group 2 (in Japan) is nearly fully repaired. Only 1 CV has any damage left (4 sys) and 1 BB (1 sys). They will most likely head west once repaired to support operations in the Burma - once the Straights of Malacaa is cleared - which I believe Rob may be mining ? Or at least he is mining the bases in Sumatra (Medan, Bankha) as I have spotted several allied subs in the straights, but they never leave the southern end - so they are mining something, just not sure what. I will send MSWs ahead of any ships passing through the straights just in case.
My Sallies are back on the line at Rangoon after several days of R&R. They will commence nightly bombing of Akyab airfield once more. If nothing is there, they will be directed against the other airfields within range - Manadaly, Pagan, etc... My LR bombers are back at Bangkok where they will rest before their bombing raids on more British / Indian bases. I want to raid Ceylon, but the range is to great for torps and for fighter escorts. So that may wait until CV Group 2 passes through the straights.
An allied AO sunk this turn from previous damage as well. Nice to know my subs can kill merchies effiecently.
An ASW TF returns to Nagasaki and locates a mine field. The MSWs start clearing it automatically - nothing is hit.
Surprisingly there are no night raids by anyone - I believe weather prevented Rob from hitting Sian.
A fighter sweep over Lashio finds 5 Buffalos. In the fight, 1 zero and 1 buffalo are shot down - not a good showing, but then only 8 zeros were sent.
Air raids on chinese units claim 101 men.
My Lillies bombed Singapore again from 10k feet, this time hitting some men and claiming 17 men and 1 gun. My troops fired a couple hundred arty shells into Singapore, claiming 25 allied men hit.
Bataan recieves more bombs, costing them 158 men and 1 gun. I have also ordered a couple divisions and arty to Bataan to begin shelling them as well for preparation of the last battle on Luzon.
IJN sub I-153 put a torp into an allied AK south of Timor. I believe it is heading to Koepang to help the build up there. I have several subs now stationed south of Timor to inderdict shipping from Oz to the island.
My men were repulsed at Brunei, but the fort was lowered. I have ordered a Shock attack and should capture the base next turn. Miri is damaged pretty good for having suffered no air raids and having no friendly troops there during the invasion. Roughly a third of its oil production is damaged - not sure how, but it is... I am loading up supplies at Saigon and sending them there for repairs. The oil at Miri and Brunei is fairly safe from any allied attacks for most of the war, so its worth it to repair this supply.
My sub commandos capture Tenimbar Island, bringing the total to 2 of the little islands north of Darwin that I now control. The troops are loading back up on their subs and heading for the third island. Hopefully they will not be disabled when unloading and will be able to capture the island before returning to Kendari for some R&R.
An IJN PC in port at Palau sunk this turn from previous damage. Not happy about it, as PCs are my backup ASW assets and I will need all I can get in 43...
Troop ships at Tokyo are loading up men and supplies for destinations elsewhere. Base Forces are loading up first, then combat units for dispersion to the South Pacific where they are needed.
CV Group 1 is rendevousing with an replenishment TF southeast of the PNG and once refueled will head to Noumea to bomb the base there. CV Group 3 is heading SE towards Pago Pago and such to see if I can find some allied merchie TFs and the missing 2 allied CVs.. I have a hunch Rob is using the 2 CVs as convoy escorts for his first real run of convoys to Oz. Maybe I can get a CV battle out of him [:D] Once this tour is done, CV Group 3 will retire to Japan for repairs. Nothing is hurt bad, but the CVs have 6-10 sys damage from wear and tear and need some yard time...
CV Group 2 (in Japan) is nearly fully repaired. Only 1 CV has any damage left (4 sys) and 1 BB (1 sys). They will most likely head west once repaired to support operations in the Burma - once the Straights of Malacaa is cleared - which I believe Rob may be mining ? Or at least he is mining the bases in Sumatra (Medan, Bankha) as I have spotted several allied subs in the straights, but they never leave the southern end - so they are mining something, just not sure what. I will send MSWs ahead of any ships passing through the straights just in case.
My Sallies are back on the line at Rangoon after several days of R&R. They will commence nightly bombing of Akyab airfield once more. If nothing is there, they will be directed against the other airfields within range - Manadaly, Pagan, etc... My LR bombers are back at Bangkok where they will rest before their bombing raids on more British / Indian bases. I want to raid Ceylon, but the range is to great for torps and for fighter escorts. So that may wait until CV Group 2 passes through the straights.
An allied AO sunk this turn from previous damage as well. Nice to know my subs can kill merchies effiecently.
13 February 1942
Another day and damn did nothing happen - ok somethings did, but nothing much of any importance.
I offloaded most of the reinforcements at Rabaul (minus the 1 AP which made an emergency stop at Admiralty Island to drop off its troops). Some coastal guns fired on the TF but nothing was hit. In the 2 phases, the entire load of troops was offloaded along with most of the supplies. Another day will see the rest offloaded and the TF heading home for Truk.
I bombed Akyab during the night. Of 3 groups (over 80 bombers) only 33 Sallies took part in the raid - 2 Sallies were shot down (2 more lost to ops) and 2 damaged. They scored 1 airbase and 8 runway hits and claim 1 Catalina destroyed.
Since nothing much was found at Akyab, the Sallies have been directed at Pagan airfield and will bomb there for a few nights - providing there is something there to hit. If not, we will move on to another airfield.
Rob bombed Rangoon again from his secure base at Dacca. 9 B-17s and 12 Liberators showed up to contend with the 24 Oscars I had in the air. No enemy planes were shot down (came in at 30k+ feet), but 4 B-17s and 2 Liberators were damaged. Luckily being so high, they hit nothing.
My baby CV TF sailed past Macassar and hammered the air strip just to be safe. 1 Kate was damaged. They claimed 1 Beaufort destroyed, 18 men, 1 gun along with 5 airbase, 1 supply and 21 runway hits.
The chinese air force showed up again today - this time over the heated battle against the 21st Chinese Corps. 9 fighters and 46 bombers hit my men there claiming 161 men and 2 guns damaged. 1 bomber was damaged from AA fire.
My own bombing of the 21st Corps was weak, claiming only 37 men disabled.
My Shock attack at Brunei was repulse [:@] Losses were equal on both sides and the last fort was destroyed. Hopefully this turn's Shock Attack will take the place - and hopefully it won't be completely destroyed... I need that oil.
Air and arty attacks on Singapore claim 47 men.
My Shock attack at Rabaul was repulsed with heavy losses - depsite reinforcements. Over 400 men were wounded or killed to only 14 enemy losses. I have ordered the units to conduct arty strikes for the next couple turns to rest, then will try again. The fort level 3 is killing me. I will try to find some engineers (if any are close by) and bring them in to help with that.
Not much else happened, except for an allied AK sinking near PM. I believe it was one that I damaged on the Gili Gili raid.
CV Group 1 refueled at Nauru Island (met by a replenishment TF) and is now heading south at full speed since my subs south of Java have spotted 2 allied TFs full of APs.. They are probably not APs but AKs full of supply, but either way they are worth killing, since they are only 2 weeks from OZ and I'm trying to starve OZ as much as possible so I can invade northern and western Oz in 6 months or so.
CV group 3 failed to rendevous with its replenishment TF (ended up 1 hex apart) so they are rescheduled to meet a few hexes SE of their current position - might as well move closer to their destination before refueling.
I hope to catch his merchie TFs heading for OZ between my two CV groups - maybe even his CVs if they are there.. With 2 CV TFs he may decide to let the merchies all sink and save his CVs (if they are even there).
Back home repairs are coming along great on my CV and BBs, as well as the first several upgraded DDs are all repaired now. As soon as the Soryu is finished repairing (4 sys left I think) they will regroup and head west.
A new sub arrived last turn - with a scout plane. I have dispatched this sub to the north pacific, between the Kurils and Marcus Island to perform perimeter searches just incase Rob gets ballzy and tries to raid Japan. I have been worried about this since turn 2 as its a very real possibility - especially if you pull a lot of air assets out of japan for use elsewhere. I still have tons of air units in Japan, but am beginning to pull them out, so I want the extra security of possibly spotting any attack a couple turns away so I can react.
In 5 days the Junyo arrives [:D] This will give me lots of CVs at Japan, and I can then relieve the CVs in the South Pacific so they can return home for some R&R.
I have tons of units in Tokyo, as well as in china and Burma recieving replacements, and my Manpower is still slowly increasing, which is good. My HI is also increasing by a couple hundred points each turn. I could activate some more Mitsu engine factories but would rather save the HI for later in the game.
My first TF of oil will dock at Kagashima next turn - 16K oil along with 21K resources will be quickly offloaded and my damaged ships sent to repair yards. This TF has come all the way from Balikpapin...
That is about it for now... I am thinking of a CV raid on Ceylon in the future, as well as landings in norther OZ to disrupt his industries and any plans he might have. I have a feeling northern Oz is weakly defended and will be for some time. What do you guys think ?
I offloaded most of the reinforcements at Rabaul (minus the 1 AP which made an emergency stop at Admiralty Island to drop off its troops). Some coastal guns fired on the TF but nothing was hit. In the 2 phases, the entire load of troops was offloaded along with most of the supplies. Another day will see the rest offloaded and the TF heading home for Truk.
I bombed Akyab during the night. Of 3 groups (over 80 bombers) only 33 Sallies took part in the raid - 2 Sallies were shot down (2 more lost to ops) and 2 damaged. They scored 1 airbase and 8 runway hits and claim 1 Catalina destroyed.
Since nothing much was found at Akyab, the Sallies have been directed at Pagan airfield and will bomb there for a few nights - providing there is something there to hit. If not, we will move on to another airfield.
Rob bombed Rangoon again from his secure base at Dacca. 9 B-17s and 12 Liberators showed up to contend with the 24 Oscars I had in the air. No enemy planes were shot down (came in at 30k+ feet), but 4 B-17s and 2 Liberators were damaged. Luckily being so high, they hit nothing.
My baby CV TF sailed past Macassar and hammered the air strip just to be safe. 1 Kate was damaged. They claimed 1 Beaufort destroyed, 18 men, 1 gun along with 5 airbase, 1 supply and 21 runway hits.
The chinese air force showed up again today - this time over the heated battle against the 21st Chinese Corps. 9 fighters and 46 bombers hit my men there claiming 161 men and 2 guns damaged. 1 bomber was damaged from AA fire.
My own bombing of the 21st Corps was weak, claiming only 37 men disabled.
My Shock attack at Brunei was repulse [:@] Losses were equal on both sides and the last fort was destroyed. Hopefully this turn's Shock Attack will take the place - and hopefully it won't be completely destroyed... I need that oil.
Air and arty attacks on Singapore claim 47 men.
My Shock attack at Rabaul was repulsed with heavy losses - depsite reinforcements. Over 400 men were wounded or killed to only 14 enemy losses. I have ordered the units to conduct arty strikes for the next couple turns to rest, then will try again. The fort level 3 is killing me. I will try to find some engineers (if any are close by) and bring them in to help with that.
Not much else happened, except for an allied AK sinking near PM. I believe it was one that I damaged on the Gili Gili raid.
CV Group 1 refueled at Nauru Island (met by a replenishment TF) and is now heading south at full speed since my subs south of Java have spotted 2 allied TFs full of APs.. They are probably not APs but AKs full of supply, but either way they are worth killing, since they are only 2 weeks from OZ and I'm trying to starve OZ as much as possible so I can invade northern and western Oz in 6 months or so.
CV group 3 failed to rendevous with its replenishment TF (ended up 1 hex apart) so they are rescheduled to meet a few hexes SE of their current position - might as well move closer to their destination before refueling.
I hope to catch his merchie TFs heading for OZ between my two CV groups - maybe even his CVs if they are there.. With 2 CV TFs he may decide to let the merchies all sink and save his CVs (if they are even there).
Back home repairs are coming along great on my CV and BBs, as well as the first several upgraded DDs are all repaired now. As soon as the Soryu is finished repairing (4 sys left I think) they will regroup and head west.
A new sub arrived last turn - with a scout plane. I have dispatched this sub to the north pacific, between the Kurils and Marcus Island to perform perimeter searches just incase Rob gets ballzy and tries to raid Japan. I have been worried about this since turn 2 as its a very real possibility - especially if you pull a lot of air assets out of japan for use elsewhere. I still have tons of air units in Japan, but am beginning to pull them out, so I want the extra security of possibly spotting any attack a couple turns away so I can react.
In 5 days the Junyo arrives [:D] This will give me lots of CVs at Japan, and I can then relieve the CVs in the South Pacific so they can return home for some R&R.
I have tons of units in Tokyo, as well as in china and Burma recieving replacements, and my Manpower is still slowly increasing, which is good. My HI is also increasing by a couple hundred points each turn. I could activate some more Mitsu engine factories but would rather save the HI for later in the game.
My first TF of oil will dock at Kagashima next turn - 16K oil along with 21K resources will be quickly offloaded and my damaged ships sent to repair yards. This TF has come all the way from Balikpapin...
That is about it for now... I am thinking of a CV raid on Ceylon in the future, as well as landings in norther OZ to disrupt his industries and any plans he might have. I have a feeling northern Oz is weakly defended and will be for some time. What do you guys think ?
14 February 1942
The night started with 38 Sallies bombing Pagan airfield. They must have been drunk or something, as they only scored 1 Runway hit. They should have done better, so I'm guessing it was weather related.
Several ASW and sub attacks go off for both sides, but nothing is hit.
Rob bombs my troops moving north from Sian. 18 Hudson Is, 12 Blenheim Is, 35 Blenheim IVs and 13 P-40Es attack and hit 110 men and 6 guns. I have very little CAP over them (I forgot to station some) but some from Sian gave them a little help. In the battles 5 of my 6 Nates were shot down by the P-40s. 4 Blenheim IVs are damaged.
A B-17 raid came in against my troops assaulting Rabaul. 22 B-17s from PM attacked from 5000 feet scoring some good hits against my CD unit. 104 men and 3 guns are reported damaged. 1 Catalina was destroyed (accompanied raid) and 3 B-17s were damaged.
The Chinese Air Force showed up again over the battle against the 21st Chinese Corp. 9 fighters and 43 bombers littered the area with bombs claiming 60 japanese and 4 guns. A single chinese bomber was damaged.
A moment later my air force showed up over the same hex attacking chinese troops. The raid inflicted 47 enemy casualties.
My bombers at Balikpapin bombed troops fleeing Samarinda again. They claim 138 allied men and 1 gun disabled with no losses of their own.
My air raid struck Rabaul with 89 Bombers (Nells and Betties) flying from Truk and escorted by 18 zeros. They hit the Base Force on Rabaul causing 182 men, 2 guns and 2 vehicles in casualties. 1 Nell was lost, and 3 other planes damaged.
Air raids on other chinese troops inflict 81 troops in casualties.
A lucky bombing raid of Dutch Torpedo Bombers from Koepang lands a bomb on an IJN ASW DD. The ship is heavily damaged but will make port easily and will be repaired.
My Shock Attack at Brunei captured the base, driving the allies NE into the jungle. The base is damaged with 1 manpower and 29 oil damaged. Supplies are already on the way to repair these. Also, 10 TKs (size 9k) are already docked and loading the oil Rob left for me. Over 100k worth of oil is sitting in Brunei waiting for shipment back to Japan.
My sub commandos have captured Kai Island, completing the conquest of all 3 small islands North of Oz. The troops are now on their way back to Kendari for some R&R.
Rob landed a couple hundred men on Baker Island retaking it. I didn't spot any ships approaching so he either used subs or a fast transport TF. Either way it doesn't matter as troops loaded up at Kwajelein and are heading to take the island back, supported by a surface TF.
CV Group 3 has to head back to Truk or Admiralty Island for fuel, as the damn escorts of the replenishment TF drank a large portion of the fuel it was carrying. The CV TF has enough fuel to reach a friendly base and refuel, but my plan of trapping enemy TFs between my two CV TFs is no longer possible. It will take at least a week for the CVs to reach base, refuel and return to the Noumea area.
CV Group 1 has just refueled and is racing S-SW to catch the TFs being trailed by my subs. Replishment TFs are streaming south to refuel them after the battle.
The AP damaged by an allied sub a few days ago finally succumbs to the damages and sinks in port at Admiralty Island - luckily all troops and supplies were offloaded in time.
Several ASW and sub attacks go off for both sides, but nothing is hit.
Rob bombs my troops moving north from Sian. 18 Hudson Is, 12 Blenheim Is, 35 Blenheim IVs and 13 P-40Es attack and hit 110 men and 6 guns. I have very little CAP over them (I forgot to station some) but some from Sian gave them a little help. In the battles 5 of my 6 Nates were shot down by the P-40s. 4 Blenheim IVs are damaged.
A B-17 raid came in against my troops assaulting Rabaul. 22 B-17s from PM attacked from 5000 feet scoring some good hits against my CD unit. 104 men and 3 guns are reported damaged. 1 Catalina was destroyed (accompanied raid) and 3 B-17s were damaged.
The Chinese Air Force showed up again over the battle against the 21st Chinese Corp. 9 fighters and 43 bombers littered the area with bombs claiming 60 japanese and 4 guns. A single chinese bomber was damaged.
A moment later my air force showed up over the same hex attacking chinese troops. The raid inflicted 47 enemy casualties.
My bombers at Balikpapin bombed troops fleeing Samarinda again. They claim 138 allied men and 1 gun disabled with no losses of their own.
My air raid struck Rabaul with 89 Bombers (Nells and Betties) flying from Truk and escorted by 18 zeros. They hit the Base Force on Rabaul causing 182 men, 2 guns and 2 vehicles in casualties. 1 Nell was lost, and 3 other planes damaged.
Air raids on other chinese troops inflict 81 troops in casualties.
A lucky bombing raid of Dutch Torpedo Bombers from Koepang lands a bomb on an IJN ASW DD. The ship is heavily damaged but will make port easily and will be repaired.
My Shock Attack at Brunei captured the base, driving the allies NE into the jungle. The base is damaged with 1 manpower and 29 oil damaged. Supplies are already on the way to repair these. Also, 10 TKs (size 9k) are already docked and loading the oil Rob left for me. Over 100k worth of oil is sitting in Brunei waiting for shipment back to Japan.
My sub commandos have captured Kai Island, completing the conquest of all 3 small islands North of Oz. The troops are now on their way back to Kendari for some R&R.
Rob landed a couple hundred men on Baker Island retaking it. I didn't spot any ships approaching so he either used subs or a fast transport TF. Either way it doesn't matter as troops loaded up at Kwajelein and are heading to take the island back, supported by a surface TF.
CV Group 3 has to head back to Truk or Admiralty Island for fuel, as the damn escorts of the replenishment TF drank a large portion of the fuel it was carrying. The CV TF has enough fuel to reach a friendly base and refuel, but my plan of trapping enemy TFs between my two CV TFs is no longer possible. It will take at least a week for the CVs to reach base, refuel and return to the Noumea area.
CV Group 1 has just refueled and is racing S-SW to catch the TFs being trailed by my subs. Replishment TFs are streaming south to refuel them after the battle.
The AP damaged by an allied sub a few days ago finally succumbs to the damages and sinks in port at Admiralty Island - luckily all troops and supplies were offloaded in time.
Question
What do you guys think my chances of taking Midway at this stage of the game are ?
Xargun
Xargun
-
Brausepaul
- Posts: 484
- Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2004 7:54 pm
- Location: Braunschweig, Deutschland
RE: Question
I guess it is rather easy to take it, but more difficult to hold it. It is in comfortable distance from PH. I would avoid it since the relation of gain/cost seems not good enough for me, only if you really plan to take Pearl Midway seems to be of use as a footstep. But as far as I know you plan to commit your forces in Australia and the South Pacific, right?
RE: Question
ORIGINAL: Brausepaul
I guess it is rather easy to take it, but more difficult to hold it. It is in comfortable distance from PH. I would avoid it since the relation of gain/cost seems not good enough for me, only if you really plan to take Pearl Midway seems to be of use as a footstep. But as far as I know you plan to commit your forces in Australia and the South Pacific, right?
Yes, I plan on invading the north coast of Oz - planning on defending them but not killing myself to keep them. By invading Oz, I will tie up a lot of the US reinforcements as he rushes them to Oz to secure it. While he is doing this, he is not counterattacking my perimeter.
Also my thoughts on Midway was to cause him to change his plans and reinforce the Hawaiian islands and pull naval forces home to protect Hawaii. I will have to check the distance, but Nells / Betties may be able to bomb PH from Midway and thus he will have to provide large amounts of fighter cover. But I agree that I cannot hold it permanently - more of a take it (kill wantever units he has there - probabaly a brigade plus by now) and force him to come within range of my planes to take it back.
Xargun
RE: Question
It is still a viable proposition. In fact anywhere is at this time, it depends on what you want it for though?
If he wanted to defend it more diligently he has now had time to do so. Therefore you can reasonably assume that you will meet extra infantry and maybe CD unit/s – unless he has thought ahead and surmised you may try it and has pulled out instead. Can you tell what he has there – will recon give the game away?
You are now contemplating taking on an Island with the closest proximity to Pearl or the Mainland. You did some vicious damage to his BB fleet and the rest of it may be in other locations, but once he gets organised I can imagine the units there (assuming you take it) will not get much rest.
As I first put forward – you can still take anywhere (OK other than maybe the mainland US) but you ARE going to struggle to hold it. So why are you contemplating it? What is the strategic benefit.
You gain a base to launch Carrier forays with. This will require Tankers to unload fuel here. I hate loosing my tankers as Japan – you just do not have enough. But if you commit your Carriers here your continued Isolation of Oz will be enhanced. However, your carriers must stay visible and doing this removes the “where is the KB” worry. He can look to enhance other locations.
As to strangling Oz. He may start supplying it from India – so the mini KB will obviously be prowling around here. If he surmises this, and his carriers don’t resist you in your Midway gambit, then they are likely to turn up against the mini – KB, and that equals ouch!
So I think what I am saying is YES, by all means you can do it. But it is that “all means” that should drive your decision. In order to hold it you will HAVE to commit heavily. If you don’t you will loose it again quickly. If you only want it for a short time then cool. Just make sure you know what you are trying to achieve.
If he wanted to defend it more diligently he has now had time to do so. Therefore you can reasonably assume that you will meet extra infantry and maybe CD unit/s – unless he has thought ahead and surmised you may try it and has pulled out instead. Can you tell what he has there – will recon give the game away?
You are now contemplating taking on an Island with the closest proximity to Pearl or the Mainland. You did some vicious damage to his BB fleet and the rest of it may be in other locations, but once he gets organised I can imagine the units there (assuming you take it) will not get much rest.
As I first put forward – you can still take anywhere (OK other than maybe the mainland US) but you ARE going to struggle to hold it. So why are you contemplating it? What is the strategic benefit.
You gain a base to launch Carrier forays with. This will require Tankers to unload fuel here. I hate loosing my tankers as Japan – you just do not have enough. But if you commit your Carriers here your continued Isolation of Oz will be enhanced. However, your carriers must stay visible and doing this removes the “where is the KB” worry. He can look to enhance other locations.
As to strangling Oz. He may start supplying it from India – so the mini KB will obviously be prowling around here. If he surmises this, and his carriers don’t resist you in your Midway gambit, then they are likely to turn up against the mini – KB, and that equals ouch!
So I think what I am saying is YES, by all means you can do it. But it is that “all means” that should drive your decision. In order to hold it you will HAVE to commit heavily. If you don’t you will loose it again quickly. If you only want it for a short time then cool. Just make sure you know what you are trying to achieve.
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RE: Question
Taking Midway to me at this point is to accomplish three items
1) Kill whatever he has moved there to beef it up and remove them from the game so I don't have to worry about them later (plus scoring more VPs). The air units he may have there are more important than the ground units.
2) Force him to react to Midway being mine. Whether he attacks it - has to be via the sea, as only B-17s can reach it and they won't do much damage nor for long. If he wants to bring his BBs out to play, he will have to bring CVs to cover them or else my torpedo bombers will maul them and score even more points. If I can even get 1 air raid off Midway to hit PH, he will have to heavily reinforce it with CAP to prevent me from making PH a ball of fire and killing everything there.
3) IF I have it he doesn't. What I mean is he cannot use it to base naval sorties or subs out of. He'll have to use PH which is a lot farther than Midway from my bases.
With PI almost fully captured I am looking for places to send my units that have been fighting there for 2 months. I have a couple divs (with tons of arty support) moving to Bataan to finish him off and several of them are preping for invasions on the islands nearby with enemy units - the rest will be able to be deployed elsewhere as soon as I can move them.
As for PI, I am thinking of leaving Iiole (sp ?) island alone and using its proximity to Clark Field as a live weapon training grounds for my aircraft. He wont be able to get those units out of there without using subs and I don't think the PA units are worth that. What do you guys think of that ?
Port Moresby is another Midway for me as well. I don't think its holdable, but I don't want the allies to have it either. I am thinking of taking it and pulling most of the forces back out. I will have to examine the distances from the major bases in Oz and stay out of range of the majority of his aircraft.
What do you guys think ? Also, feel free to express ideas of your own. I am getting to the point where I need to start planing the second half of my invasions - the DEI is coming along and Borneo is nearly all mine. Once Singapore falls, Sumatra and Java will fall quickly...
Xargun
1) Kill whatever he has moved there to beef it up and remove them from the game so I don't have to worry about them later (plus scoring more VPs). The air units he may have there are more important than the ground units.
2) Force him to react to Midway being mine. Whether he attacks it - has to be via the sea, as only B-17s can reach it and they won't do much damage nor for long. If he wants to bring his BBs out to play, he will have to bring CVs to cover them or else my torpedo bombers will maul them and score even more points. If I can even get 1 air raid off Midway to hit PH, he will have to heavily reinforce it with CAP to prevent me from making PH a ball of fire and killing everything there.
3) IF I have it he doesn't. What I mean is he cannot use it to base naval sorties or subs out of. He'll have to use PH which is a lot farther than Midway from my bases.
With PI almost fully captured I am looking for places to send my units that have been fighting there for 2 months. I have a couple divs (with tons of arty support) moving to Bataan to finish him off and several of them are preping for invasions on the islands nearby with enemy units - the rest will be able to be deployed elsewhere as soon as I can move them.
As for PI, I am thinking of leaving Iiole (sp ?) island alone and using its proximity to Clark Field as a live weapon training grounds for my aircraft. He wont be able to get those units out of there without using subs and I don't think the PA units are worth that. What do you guys think of that ?
Port Moresby is another Midway for me as well. I don't think its holdable, but I don't want the allies to have it either. I am thinking of taking it and pulling most of the forces back out. I will have to examine the distances from the major bases in Oz and stay out of range of the majority of his aircraft.
What do you guys think ? Also, feel free to express ideas of your own. I am getting to the point where I need to start planing the second half of my invasions - the DEI is coming along and Borneo is nearly all mine. Once Singapore falls, Sumatra and Java will fall quickly...
Xargun
RE: Question
Midway would not be that bad. By taking it you probably get an Sub-tender or two. If the airfield is big enough you can put Bettys there to bomb ports in PH and to get some nice attacks at any fleet coming to take midway back. As long as you can keep your airfield open it will be a threat to units in PH. Once it is closed you have lost for than he can Bombard you at will. If the cost of taking midway seems reasonable, I would do it. If he takes it back, just retreat your airgroups via wake. All ground forces will be lost, so don't put to much troops there.
Take it, cause as much damage as possible from there and then withdraw. It has not so much strategic worth but gives you some nice tactical advantages.
Take it, cause as much damage as possible from there and then withdraw. It has not so much strategic worth but gives you some nice tactical advantages.
soeren01, formerly known as Soeren
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tanker4145
- Posts: 183
- Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2004 9:49 pm
RE: Question
Xargun,
I like your strategy of cutting off Australia, and diverting the US forces with Midway and an Australian invasion. If you can pull it off without losing too much, I think it could be a very good strategy. Are you planning on keeping a mini-KB in the DEI to periodically sortie and destroy any transport TF's he has coming from India?
I'd second not putting too much at Midway as for ground forces and bring plenty of supply since you may have trouble getting more through if you don't keep the KB there to escort.
As long as you can continue to expand and fortify your perimeter bases while taking on Oz and Midway, and don't lose too much in your invasions, I really like your idea and think it could work very well.
I like your strategy of cutting off Australia, and diverting the US forces with Midway and an Australian invasion. If you can pull it off without losing too much, I think it could be a very good strategy. Are you planning on keeping a mini-KB in the DEI to periodically sortie and destroy any transport TF's he has coming from India?
I'd second not putting too much at Midway as for ground forces and bring plenty of supply since you may have trouble getting more through if you don't keep the KB there to escort.
As long as you can continue to expand and fortify your perimeter bases while taking on Oz and Midway, and don't lose too much in your invasions, I really like your idea and think it could work very well.
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Kereguelen
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Wed May 12, 2004 9:08 pm
RE: Question
ORIGINAL: Xargun
as only B-17s can reach it and they won't do much damage nor for long.
Midway is not within range of B-17s. But I guess that PH is within Nell/Betty rang. But this will do you no good - day attacks slaughtered by massive CAP. Night attacks may score some hits on ships in port (one of my PBEM adversaries is doing just this from Johnson as a base against me at PH), but need a lucky hit to actually sink a ship in port (while taking heavy flak and operational losses because of the long range).
RE: Question
ORIGINAL: Kereguelen
Midway is not within range of B-17s. But I guess that PH is within Nell/Betty rang. But this will do you no good - day attacks slaughtered by massive CAP. Night attacks may score some hits on ships in port (one of my PBEM adversaries is doing just this from Johnson as a base against me at PH), but need a lucky hit to actually sink a ship in port (while taking heavy flak and operational losses because of the long range).
Good no real aerial counterattack until he gets B-29s. I am willing to sacrifice some Nells for a decent run on PH. The way I look at it, he will have to have fighters at PH when I take Midway, or he can't get them there in time - too far from the west coast to transfer directly - have to crate them up and ship em. All I need is to hit a few ships in port, his airfield or even his repair yard (again [:D]) and he'll panick, pulling everything back to PH to protect it.
Also Midway (size 6 airfield I think) will be a perfect base for me to send 2-3 CVs from to raid PH at least once - hitting the airfields and port once more. EVen if I only kill some merchies and recon planes, the threat of my CVs roaming around PH will force him to move naval assets - mostly his CVs - to protect it. Right now he has 5 CVs and I have 7, pluse 4 or 5 babies, so I have the advantage still... 3 of my CVs are a match for 4 of his. He would need all 5 around PH to confront me. If he does not, then I raid behind PH killing merchies hauling men, planes, fuel and supply for PH and Oz. That would be the main purpose for Midway. Mid-Late 43 he would land a couple Divs there and take it back, but they would end up fighting part of an NLF and base force or something like that.. Nothing valuable.
Xargun
RE: Question
ORIGINAL: tanker4145
Xargun,
I like your strategy of cutting off Australia, and diverting the US forces with Midway and an Australian invasion. If you can pull it off without losing too much, I think it could be a very good strategy. Are you planning on keeping a mini-KB in the DEI to periodically sortie and destroy any transport TF's he has coming from India?
I'd second not putting too much at Midway as for ground forces and bring plenty of supply since you may have trouble getting more through if you don't keep the KB there to escort.
As long as you can continue to expand and fortify your perimeter bases while taking on Oz and Midway, and don't lose too much in your invasions, I really like your idea and think it could work very well.
I coul keep a couple baby CVs at Java and use LR Bombers from Soerbaja perhaps to keep the sealanes free of allied shipping... But I plan on pushing northing into Burma and India so he won't have anything free to ship south.
Once Singapore falls, Sumatra will fall fast, same as Java. Once Bankha and Medan are mine, my fleet will sortie north to Rangoon bringin supplies and fuel - and haul oil back to Singapore. I plan on sending 3 CVs into the Bay to keep his ships shut up in their ports and then I will raid them. He is building up a huge force at Akyab (something like 18 units there or so) so I will just bypass them and land behind him like at Diamond Harbor or such. It will take a division or two, but I will have them free by then.
What I might do is an actual invasion of Ceylon. Land a division or two on Ceylon and take the island. I would then base some DBs and TBs there and seal off India. The Brit CVs are no match for IJN CVs and if I took Ceylon his navy would be done in India - they might flee to Oz, but India / Burma would have no navy and supplies would have to come via land from India to reach the front.... long way and I doubt much would arrive.
Xargun
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Capt. Harlock
- Posts: 5379
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RE: Question
Port Moresby is another Midway for me as well. I don't think its holdable, but I don't want the allies to have it either. I am thinking of taking it and pulling most of the forces back out. I will have to examine the distances from the major bases in Oz and stay out of range of the majority of his aircraft.
What do you guys think ? Also, feel free to express ideas of your own.
If you're planning on invading Northern Oz, then seizing Port Moresby is a highly valuable thing to do. (PM has been taken by the Japanese in another PBEM game on this forum, and the Allied player confesses that it interferes with his supply convoys quite a bit.) Also, it seems to me that if Midway is out of B-17 range from PH, then PH would be out of Nell range from Midway. (Maybe I've got the ranges wrong.) The targets in range from PM are lower value, but there's more of them, which would force Rob to thin out his CAP significantly.
Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?
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--Victor Hugo