Today is the 25th, yesterday the 24th. My bad.
The Supreme Commander is puzzled. 3 Jap TFs in Blenheim range of Calcutta headed NW hove into view today. Recon suggested CAs and APs but some of my Wimpies had a crack at them - at least some of them turned out to be MLs, of all things, in force, 3 or 4 of them. A few bombs hit home too, so not bad effort.
I dunno what hes doing. A feint? A cockup? A diversion?
My port strike on Rangoon was totally ineffective. Recon of Rangoon today picked up - get this - 16 units, and a listed strength of 30,000 (which I reckon is crap, given Lunga you may as well multiply that by 4). So something big is in the offing.
Oddly, recon only picked up 9 aircraft at Rangoon.
???
your guess is as good as mine.
Recon of Mandalay picked up 9 units but thats not so scary, they have been there for quite a while and are, I believe, somewhat screwed up by malaria.
A Japanese light force of CL + DD went over my sub picket in the Malacca Straits and a Perch class had a go. Dud torpedoes and it got heavily depth charged and is unlikely to make it home but we'll see. The heading of the TF is unknown but presumably its going NW.
In answer to the above, current land unit dispositions in India are (not including base forces, only combat units) :-
Karachi : None
Bombay : Indian Division (little one), 1 Arty, Fortification 6
Bangalore : UK Bde, Indian Division (little one), Fort 5
Madras : Arty (using it as a coastal battery), Fort 4
Colombo : Indian Division (big one) Fort 6 (almost 7)
Trimcomalee : None
Diamond Harbour : 1 Arty
Calcutta : 3 Indian Div, 1 Indian Bde, Armoured Bde
Chandpur : 1 Arty
Asansol : 1 UK Div, 1 Armoured Bde
Jorhat : 1 Indian Bde
1 UK Div and 7th Armoured stuck on a hill SW of Jorhat, about 2 weeks from getting back on the railroad. Ledo is picking up 2 Chinese divs from Myritkina.
Ground reinforcements fairly soon (within a month) :-
3 Chindit Bdes at Karachi
Indian Bde at Colombo
Major airfields (>270 av support and airfield at least 5)
Bangalore
Bombay
Calcutta
Dacca
Ledo
Royal Navy :
2 Battleships
1 CV
1 CVL
About a dozen submarines
Assorted lesser ships
(not good eh)
Just about every base in India has some limited ability to hold a/c. Currently just about every frame is at Calcutta or Dacca, with Colombo holding a lesser force of Beauforts.
Setting the bombers to skip bomb tomorrow to clean up his MLs which foolishly are in range. Aside from that I'm gonna have to wait and brace myself for what dastardly scheme SPrior has in mind.
Elsewhere, disturbing quiet across the pacific...
EUB vs Sprior - see who gets his banana straightened
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
RE: Lunga recaptured
Another day passes, little change...
Except. My subs in the Malacca Strait get heavily attacked by Vals and Kates. KB is there... and comin'!
I moved Warspite and friends to Madras and put 2 squadrons of Hurricanes there. I might just pull the entire RN back to Karachi though. We'll have to see where KB is headed.
Except. My subs in the Malacca Strait get heavily attacked by Vals and Kates. KB is there... and comin'!
I moved Warspite and friends to Madras and put 2 squadrons of Hurricanes there. I might just pull the entire RN back to Karachi though. We'll have to see where KB is headed.
RE: Lunga recaptured
26th June, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
His ML sortie pulled back to Rangoon. One of the MLs sunk on the way after being skip bombed. Today, the subs in the Malacca straits didnt come under Val attack so I guess its likely the KB passed over them today, though none made attacks.
CAs and APs are sighted at Rangoon once more, I presume that to be the MLs but the quality of recon is so crap that its hard to tell.
I'm sortieing several squadrons of Liberators on recon missions to Rangoon while his fleet is there in the hope of getting a better idea of whats coming.
I set the big UK division which is a reserve at Asansol to go to Karachi for paranoias sake. Six barely usable subs with sys damage in the high single digits are pressed into service from being fixed at Bombay and directed to form a ring of raiders around Ceylon.
Sad that the main force I can deploy is submarines, they arent war winners as Java demonstrated.
CHINA
Stalemate. However... my sub pickets in the South China Sea found CVL Shoho, which passed over one of them. Direction of travel unknown, it had a big escort of DDs which failed to sink the sub. Where is that going? West I assume.
DEI
Java is now entirely his, he took Kragen today.
He is landing troops at Pomala on Sulawesi, only Kendari and Makale remain Dutch now.
CA and AP is sighted at Makassar, again the quality of the recon is dubious. I'm confident he aint breaking Koepang yet.
The three damage British battleships I'm sending to Sydney now rather than back to India given developments there. A long way (have to go the long way around with Port Moresby in Jap hands) but Sydney has a big port and will have ARs soon which is more than can be said of India.
7th Australian Division - a full size div - is loading up at Derby and will be dumped on Koepang.
He aint taking Timor, oh no. [:D]
SOPAC
Major recon efforts on Port Moresby (3 units, 3300 troops - bullshit) and Gili Gili (3 units, no troop estimate). If he's making a major push into India its imperative that I really have the USA run wild while he's elsewhere. Besides, I -need- that route from the Coral Sea to the DEI open. If India comes under pressure I'll need to pressure him back ASAP, and raiding the Gilberts just wont cut it. First - information, and then we can make considerations of feasibility. Tomorrow all three Fort squadron fragments will recon Port Moresby, I want -usable- info not rumours!
I get some Lightning recon a/c very soon, and its about time.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
Same sort of thing is going on here, despite the above about the Gilberts not cutting it. My Fortresses newly stationed on Canton Island make the first raid upon Baker today, doing moderate damage. Only Emilies seem stationed there. A major recon effort with 3 Mitchell squadron fragments hits Baker too - appears to be a light garrison, 2 units, 9700 troops. Canton Island has 2 divisions, 1 Armoured Bde, and 1 arty unit, so I could stomp all over Baker Island without any worries if I could only get them there. APs are rare, and they are all busy at Lunga still.
In about 2-3 weeks I'll have ~30 APs and about 40-50 AKs at Noumea, which is a lot of ships, and the entire USN pretty much. Noumea will by then have 3 divisions of US troops and sundry other forces. The Diggers can stump up another Div which is at Cairns currently (a SWPAC Div that is). Good to go if we are feeling ballsy!
BURMA/INDIA
His ML sortie pulled back to Rangoon. One of the MLs sunk on the way after being skip bombed. Today, the subs in the Malacca straits didnt come under Val attack so I guess its likely the KB passed over them today, though none made attacks.
CAs and APs are sighted at Rangoon once more, I presume that to be the MLs but the quality of recon is so crap that its hard to tell.
I'm sortieing several squadrons of Liberators on recon missions to Rangoon while his fleet is there in the hope of getting a better idea of whats coming.
I set the big UK division which is a reserve at Asansol to go to Karachi for paranoias sake. Six barely usable subs with sys damage in the high single digits are pressed into service from being fixed at Bombay and directed to form a ring of raiders around Ceylon.
Sad that the main force I can deploy is submarines, they arent war winners as Java demonstrated.
CHINA
Stalemate. However... my sub pickets in the South China Sea found CVL Shoho, which passed over one of them. Direction of travel unknown, it had a big escort of DDs which failed to sink the sub. Where is that going? West I assume.
DEI
Java is now entirely his, he took Kragen today.
He is landing troops at Pomala on Sulawesi, only Kendari and Makale remain Dutch now.
CA and AP is sighted at Makassar, again the quality of the recon is dubious. I'm confident he aint breaking Koepang yet.
The three damage British battleships I'm sending to Sydney now rather than back to India given developments there. A long way (have to go the long way around with Port Moresby in Jap hands) but Sydney has a big port and will have ARs soon which is more than can be said of India.
7th Australian Division - a full size div - is loading up at Derby and will be dumped on Koepang.
He aint taking Timor, oh no. [:D]
SOPAC
Major recon efforts on Port Moresby (3 units, 3300 troops - bullshit) and Gili Gili (3 units, no troop estimate). If he's making a major push into India its imperative that I really have the USA run wild while he's elsewhere. Besides, I -need- that route from the Coral Sea to the DEI open. If India comes under pressure I'll need to pressure him back ASAP, and raiding the Gilberts just wont cut it. First - information, and then we can make considerations of feasibility. Tomorrow all three Fort squadron fragments will recon Port Moresby, I want -usable- info not rumours!
I get some Lightning recon a/c very soon, and its about time.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
Same sort of thing is going on here, despite the above about the Gilberts not cutting it. My Fortresses newly stationed on Canton Island make the first raid upon Baker today, doing moderate damage. Only Emilies seem stationed there. A major recon effort with 3 Mitchell squadron fragments hits Baker too - appears to be a light garrison, 2 units, 9700 troops. Canton Island has 2 divisions, 1 Armoured Bde, and 1 arty unit, so I could stomp all over Baker Island without any worries if I could only get them there. APs are rare, and they are all busy at Lunga still.
In about 2-3 weeks I'll have ~30 APs and about 40-50 AKs at Noumea, which is a lot of ships, and the entire USN pretty much. Noumea will by then have 3 divisions of US troops and sundry other forces. The Diggers can stump up another Div which is at Cairns currently (a SWPAC Div that is). Good to go if we are feeling ballsy!
RE: Lunga recaptured
27th June, 1942
Paranoia ruled today, so a -lot- of recon missions were flown to try and get me some accurate data.
BURMA/INDIA
Rangoon is holding 22 fighters, 50 auxiliary a/c (transports? Interesting), 17 units with 86,000 troops, 474 guns and 0 AFVs. This recon I believe as every squadron in Dacca was set to recon today.
86000... if thats his sole force I'm too worried yet. A massive invasion appears to not quite be on the cards.
22 fighters... not many. I decide to, as the saying goes, "go for it" and slate the heavies for a daylight raid on the place tomorrow. Heres hoping I dont get cut to pieces again by the uber Zeroes.
I've set the medium bombers and Wimpies to bomb Mandalay now just in case he's getting ideas there again. Bombing malarial ground troops is always good - any losses, minor though they be, will not be recovered without evac.
A Dutch sub is going to be laying mines in Rangoon today for harassment purposes.
CHINA
Sian, Chungking and Kungchang are all heavily engaged by Japs. I cant dislodge them, they cant dislodge me, but they have the upper hand. Four divisions of Chins are headed east out of Kweiyang in an effort to cut the supply line to Chungking, they are doing alright so far, having cleared out one Jap div. The Sian supply lines (and Kungchang too) are very well defended, and my guerillas have been cleared out there. This effort from Kweiyang is my last hope.
The supply situation, with Chungkings industry neutralised, is starting to bite.
DEI
No submarine strikes today. Some naval activity around Macassar, out of Beaufort range from Timor sadly. I can do nothing but observe.
The Royal Sovereigns are on their way now and my RN cruiser force is beginning to regroup at Koepang once more. They may lack the heavy guns now but they will still try to act as a shield for Koepang at least until the 7th Australian Div has landed there.
A huge supply convoy, half a million supply points, is a few days from Derby now having come from Karachi.
Supply I generally dont find to be much of a problem, I'm usually swimming with it where I need it. Java was if anything oversupplied, for example. Its LCUs I'm short of!
SOPAC/AUS
My AP convoy with reinforcements arrives at Lunga tomorrow. He hasnt attempted to disturb Lunga at all, not even with a single aircraft. I'm going to pull the weaker NZ Bde back to Noumea for R&R and replenishment. A second load of mines at Lunga will bring the minefield there up to about 800 surprises, not bad for so little time to work - Noumea at port 9 sure helps.
Baseforces for Lunga still ages away. A good base being built, defences adequate - but currently unusable!
Port Moresby got heavily reconned - 4 units, 7900 troops.
Problem is hes' tightly wedged onto New Guinea now, he has major bases at Rabaul, Gili Gili and PM (tho GG hasnt been developed much) and minor bases at Munda, Buna, Dobadura and Lae (and I suppose Tassafaronga if Lunga ejectees count).
Not going to be easy to crack that place if he has plenty of a/c. He doesnt at PM - fighters only. But Rabauls strength, I have no idea.
If he goes for it in India, with his carriers committed, its definitely time for Operation Running Wild however.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
I've been steadily bombing Baker Island with Forts and Mitchells now - while one rests, the others fly. All sorts of targets, airfield, ground troops, whichever tickles my fancy at the time. I would love to start relieving him of his poorly garrisoned Gilberts but without the sealift its a pipedream. And my CVs can only be in one place at a time.
As you may have picked up from this AAR though when I have pipedreams like this I then attempt to go about turning them into reality anyway. [:D]
Paranoia ruled today, so a -lot- of recon missions were flown to try and get me some accurate data.
BURMA/INDIA
Rangoon is holding 22 fighters, 50 auxiliary a/c (transports? Interesting), 17 units with 86,000 troops, 474 guns and 0 AFVs. This recon I believe as every squadron in Dacca was set to recon today.
86000... if thats his sole force I'm too worried yet. A massive invasion appears to not quite be on the cards.
22 fighters... not many. I decide to, as the saying goes, "go for it" and slate the heavies for a daylight raid on the place tomorrow. Heres hoping I dont get cut to pieces again by the uber Zeroes.
I've set the medium bombers and Wimpies to bomb Mandalay now just in case he's getting ideas there again. Bombing malarial ground troops is always good - any losses, minor though they be, will not be recovered without evac.
A Dutch sub is going to be laying mines in Rangoon today for harassment purposes.
CHINA
Sian, Chungking and Kungchang are all heavily engaged by Japs. I cant dislodge them, they cant dislodge me, but they have the upper hand. Four divisions of Chins are headed east out of Kweiyang in an effort to cut the supply line to Chungking, they are doing alright so far, having cleared out one Jap div. The Sian supply lines (and Kungchang too) are very well defended, and my guerillas have been cleared out there. This effort from Kweiyang is my last hope.
The supply situation, with Chungkings industry neutralised, is starting to bite.
DEI
No submarine strikes today. Some naval activity around Macassar, out of Beaufort range from Timor sadly. I can do nothing but observe.
The Royal Sovereigns are on their way now and my RN cruiser force is beginning to regroup at Koepang once more. They may lack the heavy guns now but they will still try to act as a shield for Koepang at least until the 7th Australian Div has landed there.
A huge supply convoy, half a million supply points, is a few days from Derby now having come from Karachi.
Supply I generally dont find to be much of a problem, I'm usually swimming with it where I need it. Java was if anything oversupplied, for example. Its LCUs I'm short of!
SOPAC/AUS
My AP convoy with reinforcements arrives at Lunga tomorrow. He hasnt attempted to disturb Lunga at all, not even with a single aircraft. I'm going to pull the weaker NZ Bde back to Noumea for R&R and replenishment. A second load of mines at Lunga will bring the minefield there up to about 800 surprises, not bad for so little time to work - Noumea at port 9 sure helps.
Baseforces for Lunga still ages away. A good base being built, defences adequate - but currently unusable!
Port Moresby got heavily reconned - 4 units, 7900 troops.
Problem is hes' tightly wedged onto New Guinea now, he has major bases at Rabaul, Gili Gili and PM (tho GG hasnt been developed much) and minor bases at Munda, Buna, Dobadura and Lae (and I suppose Tassafaronga if Lunga ejectees count).
Not going to be easy to crack that place if he has plenty of a/c. He doesnt at PM - fighters only. But Rabauls strength, I have no idea.
If he goes for it in India, with his carriers committed, its definitely time for Operation Running Wild however.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
I've been steadily bombing Baker Island with Forts and Mitchells now - while one rests, the others fly. All sorts of targets, airfield, ground troops, whichever tickles my fancy at the time. I would love to start relieving him of his poorly garrisoned Gilberts but without the sealift its a pipedream. And my CVs can only be in one place at a time.
As you may have picked up from this AAR though when I have pipedreams like this I then attempt to go about turning them into reality anyway. [:D]
RE: Lunga recaptured
28th June, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
As hoped my heavy bombers managed to smash up Rangoon pretty good, with only four a/c lost, not bad at all. The mediums pound Mandalay pretty well too.
However that achievement was overshadowed by the KB turning up south of Madras, where Warspites group is based. Fortunately the KB was distracted by an ASW group of MSWs nearby and so Warspite was untouched, but it might not have been. Decisions. KB is headed NW apparently towards Ceylon, figure that must be his target? Madras is a sucky place for the battleships I discover, if they go west towards the open sea the coastline will force them nearer KB (assuming thats where KB is going), if I go east I get trapped.
As he apparently has no Betties around I'm sending her east at full speed, and praying to the gods of war that KB goes west.
Colombo is being evacuated of all ships bar MSWs which will stay behind to feed/distract the beast.
The heavies are moved to Bangalore where they rest.
Hurricanes in range are concentrated at Colombo (only 3 squadrons, not good enough).
Ditto for Madras (2 squadrons of Hurricanes + Beauforts)
There is another Jap TF between Madras and Calcutta. The olde CA/AP TF. God knows what it is. I'm just hoping it isnt Mini KB, or Warspite is buggered. [:(]
CHINA
No change.
DEI
All Jap shipping around Macassar has vanished. I've slated Martins out of Koepang to recon the place. Looks like its quiet now though.
SOPAC/AUS
Theres a lot of unloading going on at Lunga, while the CVs cover.
48 Fortresses that were scattered around northern Australia in the event of a Timor invasion are redeployed to Cairns, meaning I have 2 x 48s there. This in readiness for rapid intervention at Port Moresby while he's off elsewhere.
I'm pondering a carrier raid on Rabaul as it seems like SOPAC isnt such a big deal to him and it may well be empty - but I dunno. Going to take a few days before my APs move back out of range from Rabaul so no need to make that decision yet.
I decide to strip Noumea of 60 av support (its on 330 so that should be no worry but I wanted it slightly over 270 to be sure) as Lunga needs to be turned into an airbase like, right now.
BURMA/INDIA
As hoped my heavy bombers managed to smash up Rangoon pretty good, with only four a/c lost, not bad at all. The mediums pound Mandalay pretty well too.
However that achievement was overshadowed by the KB turning up south of Madras, where Warspites group is based. Fortunately the KB was distracted by an ASW group of MSWs nearby and so Warspite was untouched, but it might not have been. Decisions. KB is headed NW apparently towards Ceylon, figure that must be his target? Madras is a sucky place for the battleships I discover, if they go west towards the open sea the coastline will force them nearer KB (assuming thats where KB is going), if I go east I get trapped.
As he apparently has no Betties around I'm sending her east at full speed, and praying to the gods of war that KB goes west.
Colombo is being evacuated of all ships bar MSWs which will stay behind to feed/distract the beast.
The heavies are moved to Bangalore where they rest.
Hurricanes in range are concentrated at Colombo (only 3 squadrons, not good enough).
Ditto for Madras (2 squadrons of Hurricanes + Beauforts)
There is another Jap TF between Madras and Calcutta. The olde CA/AP TF. God knows what it is. I'm just hoping it isnt Mini KB, or Warspite is buggered. [:(]
CHINA
No change.
DEI
All Jap shipping around Macassar has vanished. I've slated Martins out of Koepang to recon the place. Looks like its quiet now though.
SOPAC/AUS
Theres a lot of unloading going on at Lunga, while the CVs cover.
48 Fortresses that were scattered around northern Australia in the event of a Timor invasion are redeployed to Cairns, meaning I have 2 x 48s there. This in readiness for rapid intervention at Port Moresby while he's off elsewhere.
I'm pondering a carrier raid on Rabaul as it seems like SOPAC isnt such a big deal to him and it may well be empty - but I dunno. Going to take a few days before my APs move back out of range from Rabaul so no need to make that decision yet.
I decide to strip Noumea of 60 av support (its on 330 so that should be no worry but I wanted it slightly over 270 to be sure) as Lunga needs to be turned into an airbase like, right now.
RE: Lunga recaptured
Just going to cover events in the Indian Ocean now as the rest of the map is quite quiet.
Warspites group, due to the idiocy of the SC in setting their home base to Karachi and leaving them on retirement orders, ran east of Madras and then ran back again - two hexes from KB.
However! the sacrificial lamb MSWs absorbed the Vals and Kates as expected so Warspites brush with death has not sent her to Davy Jones Locker - yet.
I've set her to rebase at Diamond Harbour and head there at full speed, never know, she might make it.
I have six subs around Colombo and as the KB TF will be heavily defended have tried out the wolfpack tactics mentioned on these threads here by Mr Frag a while back - splitting them up into 3 x 2 rather than 6 x 1 TFs. They are all Dutch bar one Brit sub too, so no worries about dud torpedoes here. If I can mar a CV with a 533mm torpedo I'll be a happy man.
I'm gathering up Spitfires from Myritkina and China to defend the Calcutta triangle, which is where Warspite looks to be bottled up in - assume she gets that far. The heavies have almost relocated in good order to Bangalore, no need to turn them loose yet - I'd rather wait for APs to be sighted and then turn em loose and hope they dont go for the carriers.
Warspites group, due to the idiocy of the SC in setting their home base to Karachi and leaving them on retirement orders, ran east of Madras and then ran back again - two hexes from KB.
However! the sacrificial lamb MSWs absorbed the Vals and Kates as expected so Warspites brush with death has not sent her to Davy Jones Locker - yet.
I've set her to rebase at Diamond Harbour and head there at full speed, never know, she might make it.
I have six subs around Colombo and as the KB TF will be heavily defended have tried out the wolfpack tactics mentioned on these threads here by Mr Frag a while back - splitting them up into 3 x 2 rather than 6 x 1 TFs. They are all Dutch bar one Brit sub too, so no worries about dud torpedoes here. If I can mar a CV with a 533mm torpedo I'll be a happy man.
I'm gathering up Spitfires from Myritkina and China to defend the Calcutta triangle, which is where Warspite looks to be bottled up in - assume she gets that far. The heavies have almost relocated in good order to Bangalore, no need to turn them loose yet - I'd rather wait for APs to be sighted and then turn em loose and hope they dont go for the carriers.
RE: Lunga recaptured
30th June, 1942
Warspite made it out of the noose. The KB went on to attack a MSW at Colombo, where it ran into 40 Hurricanes. Almost all of the 40 were shot down in exchange for 9 Zeroes - that doesnt bode well. They were my weakest numpty pilots however as Colombo was a bit of a backwater up till now.
The heavies have almost completely relocated to Bangalore now. Going to wait for a bit yet before giving them the word.
Elsewhere, its July now, so the Dutch can finally upgrade. The tiny pathetic handfuls of Martins and similar Dutch frames are now upgraded. This affects Koepang in particular as thats where the RDAF mainly is. Four squadrons of Martins - less than a dozen a/c in total - have now become 4 squadrons of Hudsons, fully kitted out. Unfortunately as always the Warhawk pool is at zero, so the Brewsters arent spared from mediocrity just yet.
I'm keeping them as Hudsons not Beauforts btw, as I got more than enough Beaus already. I need some long range level bombers.
...uh, this get pilot button. can someone explain what it does exactly? It seems to not care about pilot pools (the Dutch one is empty) but they seem to be as green as grass. Experience 20?
.
Is that reflecting grabbing a random soldier and putting him in the cockpit?
Warspite made it out of the noose. The KB went on to attack a MSW at Colombo, where it ran into 40 Hurricanes. Almost all of the 40 were shot down in exchange for 9 Zeroes - that doesnt bode well. They were my weakest numpty pilots however as Colombo was a bit of a backwater up till now.
The heavies have almost completely relocated to Bangalore now. Going to wait for a bit yet before giving them the word.
Elsewhere, its July now, so the Dutch can finally upgrade. The tiny pathetic handfuls of Martins and similar Dutch frames are now upgraded. This affects Koepang in particular as thats where the RDAF mainly is. Four squadrons of Martins - less than a dozen a/c in total - have now become 4 squadrons of Hudsons, fully kitted out. Unfortunately as always the Warhawk pool is at zero, so the Brewsters arent spared from mediocrity just yet.
I'm keeping them as Hudsons not Beauforts btw, as I got more than enough Beaus already. I need some long range level bombers.
...uh, this get pilot button. can someone explain what it does exactly? It seems to not care about pilot pools (the Dutch one is empty) but they seem to be as green as grass. Experience 20?
. Is that reflecting grabbing a random soldier and putting him in the cockpit?
RE: Lunga recaptured
*rubs hands*
Soon, preciousss, we will be able to put 150 Fortresses over New Guinea. The Yanks will be feeling their oats on that day!
Soon, preciousss, we will be able to put 150 Fortresses over New Guinea. The Yanks will be feeling their oats on that day!
RE: Lunga recaptured
2nd July, 1942
Been a delay, my cable company cut me off, the <censored>.
BURMA/INDIA
We got no less than 6 Jap TFs off the east coast of Ceylon now. The leaders appear to be battleships, one of them is an ML TF, and there are carriers there too.
Beauforts have sortied from Madras and Colombo, with Tomahawk escort. I'm not sure how many CVs he has, Zero CAP seems to be of the order of 1 squadron normally, but he could just be spreading his LRCAP around his TFs. The Beauforts have sunk an ML and put a torpedo into a Jap battleship so far.
The heavies are flying tomorrow, either skip bombing or bombing from 1000 feet, depending on experience. I expect its really going to hurt them, but the pools have plenty of replacements. After the troops land I'll use them on ground attack.
The silver lining - Colombo has 1 Div + 1 Bde, and both have 100 prep points and oodles of supply, so if Ceylon is his target it wont be a pushover. If he lands on India itself he'll have to get past Bangalore, which is also a Div + Bde on 70+ prep points.
I moved a squadron of Beauforts and a squadron of Mohawks to Akyab, which will mark Rangoon. Also I've set Warspite loose from Chandpur, in a risky move I'm going to try a raid on his shipping at Rangoon - far as the SC is aware there are no Betties stationed anywhere in Burma.
CHINA
He's moved up 2 divisions now sitting on the road NW of Changsha. I outnumber him greatly but am unwilling to advance and so send my men in in penny packets like last time. However, I have a Chinese unit sitting on the road to Chungking further north, so his supply is still cut. He'll have to do the advancing himself, suits me. Two Chinese corps have been reluctantly stripped from the southwest and are almost at Chungking, when they arrive we'll have to try to throw him out.
DEI
I've still got my tenuous hold at Koepang, which got reinforced with an Australian Division today. Lots of Jap shipping at Macassar, but I'm not too bothered. I think if he goes for Koepang now he'll get really badly bruised. Looks like Timor will be in Allied hands for the foreseeable future.
SOPAC/AUS
Supplies are being unloaded at Lunga still, its taking ages as its APs doing it. Lunga will have about 25k of supply when all is done.
Noumea got reinforced with a Div, bringing up its garrison to 3 divs now. (+ 2 paras, +1 raiders, +1 armoured bde). That means, assuming we leave one Div at Noumea as garrison, we have 3 divs (1 Aus div as well can participate) to throw at Jap bases in the area.
I'm sending a sub load of marine raiders to Port Moresby, where they will find out precisely what units he has there.
The shipyard at Noumea has done a really good job, Enterprise is on 6 Sys damage now (it was on 11 not long ago as reading this AAR will reveal).
My big aviation support unit from India arrived at Derby today. Thats good, a lot of Aussie bases are slightly over their aviation limit - too many frames, not enough support. Excess stuff is going to go to Derby which will, no doubt, turn into a massive airbase fairly soon as a result.
Lunga now has 800 mines, and its only going to go up. I'm give the minelaying a rest when I get it up to around 1500.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
I put an RCT on Amchitka Island, so aside from the AV/EAB unit at Attu, thats now the forward point of Norpac. When Attu Island reaches airfield 4, then I'll reinforce that, lots of Norpac RCTs around.
In CentPac, bombers from Canton Island hit Baker again to keep him honest. Canton Island now has 2000 mines around it... the minelayers are then dispatched to SoPac where they will lay their presents around Guadalcanal, Luganville, Reef Island and Noumea.
Been a delay, my cable company cut me off, the <censored>.
BURMA/INDIA
We got no less than 6 Jap TFs off the east coast of Ceylon now. The leaders appear to be battleships, one of them is an ML TF, and there are carriers there too.
Beauforts have sortied from Madras and Colombo, with Tomahawk escort. I'm not sure how many CVs he has, Zero CAP seems to be of the order of 1 squadron normally, but he could just be spreading his LRCAP around his TFs. The Beauforts have sunk an ML and put a torpedo into a Jap battleship so far.
The heavies are flying tomorrow, either skip bombing or bombing from 1000 feet, depending on experience. I expect its really going to hurt them, but the pools have plenty of replacements. After the troops land I'll use them on ground attack.
The silver lining - Colombo has 1 Div + 1 Bde, and both have 100 prep points and oodles of supply, so if Ceylon is his target it wont be a pushover. If he lands on India itself he'll have to get past Bangalore, which is also a Div + Bde on 70+ prep points.
I moved a squadron of Beauforts and a squadron of Mohawks to Akyab, which will mark Rangoon. Also I've set Warspite loose from Chandpur, in a risky move I'm going to try a raid on his shipping at Rangoon - far as the SC is aware there are no Betties stationed anywhere in Burma.
CHINA
He's moved up 2 divisions now sitting on the road NW of Changsha. I outnumber him greatly but am unwilling to advance and so send my men in in penny packets like last time. However, I have a Chinese unit sitting on the road to Chungking further north, so his supply is still cut. He'll have to do the advancing himself, suits me. Two Chinese corps have been reluctantly stripped from the southwest and are almost at Chungking, when they arrive we'll have to try to throw him out.
DEI
I've still got my tenuous hold at Koepang, which got reinforced with an Australian Division today. Lots of Jap shipping at Macassar, but I'm not too bothered. I think if he goes for Koepang now he'll get really badly bruised. Looks like Timor will be in Allied hands for the foreseeable future.
SOPAC/AUS
Supplies are being unloaded at Lunga still, its taking ages as its APs doing it. Lunga will have about 25k of supply when all is done.
Noumea got reinforced with a Div, bringing up its garrison to 3 divs now. (+ 2 paras, +1 raiders, +1 armoured bde). That means, assuming we leave one Div at Noumea as garrison, we have 3 divs (1 Aus div as well can participate) to throw at Jap bases in the area.
I'm sending a sub load of marine raiders to Port Moresby, where they will find out precisely what units he has there.
The shipyard at Noumea has done a really good job, Enterprise is on 6 Sys damage now (it was on 11 not long ago as reading this AAR will reveal).
My big aviation support unit from India arrived at Derby today. Thats good, a lot of Aussie bases are slightly over their aviation limit - too many frames, not enough support. Excess stuff is going to go to Derby which will, no doubt, turn into a massive airbase fairly soon as a result.
Lunga now has 800 mines, and its only going to go up. I'm give the minelaying a rest when I get it up to around 1500.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
I put an RCT on Amchitka Island, so aside from the AV/EAB unit at Attu, thats now the forward point of Norpac. When Attu Island reaches airfield 4, then I'll reinforce that, lots of Norpac RCTs around.
In CentPac, bombers from Canton Island hit Baker again to keep him honest. Canton Island now has 2000 mines around it... the minelayers are then dispatched to SoPac where they will lay their presents around Guadalcanal, Luganville, Reef Island and Noumea.
RE: Lunga recaptured
3rd July, 1942.
Quick update only.
INDIA
He is landing forces at Trimcomalee, I'm not sure how many yet. I estimate that to conquer Ceylon rapidly he'll need four divisions. 3 will do it but take a little time. 2 is probably not enough - he'd get Trimcomalee but not Colombo.
His CVs are parked to the east, I'm tentatively sending Illustrious and Hermes to a spot NW of Ceylon to cover Trimcomalee harbour with Swordfish, but it'll be days before they get there and the situation may have changed completely by then. Still, off they go.
Warspite got attacked by 20 Nells out of Rangoon (oops!), fortunately it was a "failed to find target". So she skulks back to Chandpur where the Spitfires are.
And I didnt set my heavies so they didnt fly. Try again tomorrow...
EVERY WHERE ELSE...
Elsewhere more or less quiet. Lunga now has aviation support units unloading there - the two Marine Wildcat squadrons that were overloading my CVs are taken off and put on Henderson Field. The CVs themselves go back to Noumea, letting the Marine Wildcats cover the landings, as its taking too damn long.
Wasp arrived today and is sent to SOPAC with a DD escort.
Coronado recon from Nanomea Atoll finds Tarawa deserted except for a Japanese flag. I think he's left CentPac almost bare. Unfortunately PM is the priority here, but if/when I recapture Port Moresby I'll start a limited offensive in the Pacific if he remains welded to India. All I want New Guinea for is to protect my routes from the Coral Sea to North Australia, I'm not really interested in Rabaul or Truk.
Quick update only.
INDIA
He is landing forces at Trimcomalee, I'm not sure how many yet. I estimate that to conquer Ceylon rapidly he'll need four divisions. 3 will do it but take a little time. 2 is probably not enough - he'd get Trimcomalee but not Colombo.
His CVs are parked to the east, I'm tentatively sending Illustrious and Hermes to a spot NW of Ceylon to cover Trimcomalee harbour with Swordfish, but it'll be days before they get there and the situation may have changed completely by then. Still, off they go.
Warspite got attacked by 20 Nells out of Rangoon (oops!), fortunately it was a "failed to find target". So she skulks back to Chandpur where the Spitfires are.
And I didnt set my heavies so they didnt fly. Try again tomorrow...
EVERY WHERE ELSE...
Elsewhere more or less quiet. Lunga now has aviation support units unloading there - the two Marine Wildcat squadrons that were overloading my CVs are taken off and put on Henderson Field. The CVs themselves go back to Noumea, letting the Marine Wildcats cover the landings, as its taking too damn long.
Wasp arrived today and is sent to SOPAC with a DD escort.
Coronado recon from Nanomea Atoll finds Tarawa deserted except for a Japanese flag. I think he's left CentPac almost bare. Unfortunately PM is the priority here, but if/when I recapture Port Moresby I'll start a limited offensive in the Pacific if he remains welded to India. All I want New Guinea for is to protect my routes from the Coral Sea to North Australia, I'm not really interested in Rabaul or Truk.
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Captain Cruft
- Posts: 3741
- Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:49 pm
- Location: England
Re: Get New Pilot
ORIGINAL: EUBanana
...uh, this get pilot button. can someone explain what it does exactly? It seems to not care about pilot pools (the Dutch one is empty) but they seem to be as green as grass. Experience 20?
Get New Pilot does just that. If there are trained pilots in the pool it will use them first, otherwise you get rookies with about 50% of the standard experience for that nation for that year. There is a table in the manual which gives these values.
Personally I think it is a good feature because you now have precise control of which air groups get the trained pilots. The only bad thing is you can not put rookies into e.g. transport groups unless the pool is empty.
P.S. Looks like someone is going for the PzB option ...
RE: Re: Get New Pilot
ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
P.S. Looks like someone is going for the PzB option ...
This is the new Japanese strategy for a lot of players. Go for the auto victory with India and China supplying the big victory points. Since there aren't any big point bases in the Central Pacific. They put up a passive defense to slow the USN there. By the time the USN can take advantage of it, the game is over. Auto victory.
RE: Re: Get New Pilot
ORIGINAL: Halsey
ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
P.S. Looks like someone is going for the PzB option ...
This is the new Japanese strategy for a lot of players. Go for the auto victory with India and China supplying the big victory points. Since there aren't any big point bases in the Central Pacific. They put up a passive defense to slow the USN there. By the time the USN can take advantage of it, the game is over. Auto victory.
Quite possibly. I'm going to have to start knocking on Japans door ASAP then with the US.
I think I'm in a better position than Wobbly was when this happened - India if anything has been reinforced (there are Chinese divisions at Calcutta), I can easily shuttle troops to and from China with all my transports at Ledo, the Royal Navy is mostly not at India so he cant rack up some free VPs by sinking all the Royal Sovereigns, Timor is emphatically still in ABDA hands and from there its only a hop, skip and a jump to start bombing his oilfields to hell (its only Port Moresby's loss that keeps me from really being a pain in his ass in the DEI), the KB has lost about 200 crack pilots with very little to show for it...
I remain optimistic. The other thing in my favour is I tend to the reckless, trying to attack where possible, I don't think I play the game very conservatively. Which is good, as if he leaves the Gilberts open I'll start roaring up the island chain pretty quick.
RE: Lunga recaptured
4th July, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
He landed a single division at Trimcomalee, this is working on reducing the forts there. As there are only engineers at Trimcomalee it should fall in a couple of days.
Thunderstorms have grounded all my aircraft, leaving the defenders more or less helpless.Madras now has ~20 Beauforts + 10 AVG Tomahawks, Colombo has Vildebeest and a lot of Hurricanes, about half of which are being set to divebomb shipping.
My UK Division which was engaging the Imperial Guard near Jorhat is almost back on the RR.
CHINA
Chungking is starving to death, on about half the supply it needs. on the other hand the Japs there are cut off, just, by my guerilla tactics, so they must be hurting as well. I'm going to wait a while and then we'll have to shock attack and go for broke...
DEI
Not much change. Lots of shipping. Lots of Allied subs there too but they dont seem to hit the shipping much...
SOPAC/AUS
Bad news. Some Aussie troops who were at PM did some recon of Port Moresby today. 3 Jap divisions there. No way I'm cracking that open any time soon. Change of plan required in the South Pacific I think. Looks like I'll have to rely on the 150 Fortresses in the theatre to shut down PM if I need to send convoys through the gap, not ideal, but 3 divs, no way.
I'm going to leave a permanent garrison of 1 USMC division and 1 NZ Bde at Lunga, + CD guns + engineers.
CV Enterprise needs upgrading, so its going to Auckland to do just that. When all my USN ships are back at Noumea I'll look over those and upgrade any that need it as well.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
With PM a currently insurmountable barrier, I am eying the map here now hungrily instead. Norpac is out, maybe next spring.
But the Central Pacific, hmm.
He does have a single unit at Tarawa after all. SNLF garrison or engineers, I imagine. Now that assaults on PM are out, I'm thinking of a CV supported landing on Tarawa instead. With 1 Marine and one US division, supported by the entire US Navy.
If he's playing in India its important I make him pay -somewhere-, anywhere. I'm actually quite eager still to bring his CVs to battle, so long as its on my terms. [;)]
BURMA/INDIA
He landed a single division at Trimcomalee, this is working on reducing the forts there. As there are only engineers at Trimcomalee it should fall in a couple of days.
Thunderstorms have grounded all my aircraft, leaving the defenders more or less helpless.Madras now has ~20 Beauforts + 10 AVG Tomahawks, Colombo has Vildebeest and a lot of Hurricanes, about half of which are being set to divebomb shipping.
My UK Division which was engaging the Imperial Guard near Jorhat is almost back on the RR.
CHINA
Chungking is starving to death, on about half the supply it needs. on the other hand the Japs there are cut off, just, by my guerilla tactics, so they must be hurting as well. I'm going to wait a while and then we'll have to shock attack and go for broke...
DEI
Not much change. Lots of shipping. Lots of Allied subs there too but they dont seem to hit the shipping much...
SOPAC/AUS
Bad news. Some Aussie troops who were at PM did some recon of Port Moresby today. 3 Jap divisions there. No way I'm cracking that open any time soon. Change of plan required in the South Pacific I think. Looks like I'll have to rely on the 150 Fortresses in the theatre to shut down PM if I need to send convoys through the gap, not ideal, but 3 divs, no way.
I'm going to leave a permanent garrison of 1 USMC division and 1 NZ Bde at Lunga, + CD guns + engineers.
CV Enterprise needs upgrading, so its going to Auckland to do just that. When all my USN ships are back at Noumea I'll look over those and upgrade any that need it as well.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
With PM a currently insurmountable barrier, I am eying the map here now hungrily instead. Norpac is out, maybe next spring.
But the Central Pacific, hmm.
He does have a single unit at Tarawa after all. SNLF garrison or engineers, I imagine. Now that assaults on PM are out, I'm thinking of a CV supported landing on Tarawa instead. With 1 Marine and one US division, supported by the entire US Navy.
If he's playing in India its important I make him pay -somewhere-, anywhere. I'm actually quite eager still to bring his CVs to battle, so long as its on my terms. [;)]
RE: Lunga recaptured
Slight change of plan - turns out a lot of US ships need upgrading, again. Given the future change of focus to CentPac, I'm sending them, plus ARs, to Pearl Harbour for upgrades. It'll be quicker there than at Auckland, and when done, they'll be closer to the action.
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Captain Cruft
- Posts: 3741
- Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:49 pm
- Location: England
RE: Lunga recaptured
ORIGINAL: EUBanana
Slight change of plan - turns out a lot of US ships need upgrading, again. Given the future change of focus to CentPac, I'm sending them, plus ARs, to Pearl Harbour for upgrades. It'll be quicker there than at Auckland, and when done, they'll be closer to the action.
Good plan. Auckland would do the upgrades but is too small to make the repairs on the big ships happen any faster.
RE: Lunga recaptured
5th July
Quickie again for today.
Trimcomalee falls. He gloats in his email about all the captured fuel and supply. So... he plans on continuing his drive deep into India then I would assume.
Thunderstorms still rage so my aircraft are all grounded.
The coastal guns at Trimcomalee did manage to rake his ships fairly badly so it wasnt a complete giveaway.
My submarines have had one attempt at the KB for four days running. End result - one Dutch sub sunk, one damaged, no hits, though Hiryu got attacked. Bah.
He has a battleship TF in Colombo harbour, I dunno what his plan is. Blockade with surface forces? Thats audacious. In 2 days now Illustrious and Hermes will be 4 hexes NW of Colombo. This is a daring raid on those battleships - KB is about 4 hexes east of Ceylon atm, so a Swordfish strike, at max range, just beyond KB. Talk about tickling the tail of the dragon...
Elsewhere, some rearranging. 50 Fortresses are moved from Noumea to Canton Island, so I have 100 heavy bombers there now as well as 60 odd Mitchells and 100 or so fighters. The fleet sets sail from the South Pacific headed for Pearl. I reckon our new offensive aimed at the Gilberts will begin in about 3 weeks.
Question is, to attempt Baker Island, or just go straight for Tarawa. I'm inclined to do the latter, Baker is now a wreck thanks to weeks of bombing from Canton Island.
First atoll assaults of the war, ooo. Is it actually possible to make the Japs surrender? I'm probably going to be using about 2/3 divisions in the landings, heres hoping he has only SNLF there, which is what I suspect.
Quickie again for today.
Trimcomalee falls. He gloats in his email about all the captured fuel and supply. So... he plans on continuing his drive deep into India then I would assume.
Thunderstorms still rage so my aircraft are all grounded.
The coastal guns at Trimcomalee did manage to rake his ships fairly badly so it wasnt a complete giveaway.
My submarines have had one attempt at the KB for four days running. End result - one Dutch sub sunk, one damaged, no hits, though Hiryu got attacked. Bah.
He has a battleship TF in Colombo harbour, I dunno what his plan is. Blockade with surface forces? Thats audacious. In 2 days now Illustrious and Hermes will be 4 hexes NW of Colombo. This is a daring raid on those battleships - KB is about 4 hexes east of Ceylon atm, so a Swordfish strike, at max range, just beyond KB. Talk about tickling the tail of the dragon...
Elsewhere, some rearranging. 50 Fortresses are moved from Noumea to Canton Island, so I have 100 heavy bombers there now as well as 60 odd Mitchells and 100 or so fighters. The fleet sets sail from the South Pacific headed for Pearl. I reckon our new offensive aimed at the Gilberts will begin in about 3 weeks.
Question is, to attempt Baker Island, or just go straight for Tarawa. I'm inclined to do the latter, Baker is now a wreck thanks to weeks of bombing from Canton Island.
First atoll assaults of the war, ooo. Is it actually possible to make the Japs surrender? I'm probably going to be using about 2/3 divisions in the landings, heres hoping he has only SNLF there, which is what I suspect.
RE: Lunga recaptured
6th July, 1942
Another quick report. Is it a monsoon or something? Another day of thunderstorms and grounded a/c in India. With Trimcomalee in his hands it looks like he's rearming and replenishing his battlewagons there. I did set the Fortresses to port attack the place but they dont fly.
I moved some Blenheim IVs to China (which has been perpetually grounded, barely a single sortie has flown there in literally weeks due to the weather - wtf) for ground support, which the Chinese badly need.
And I'm extracting another Chinese Div from Myritkina to Ledo. The ones in Calcutta seem to be strengthening quite rapidly really, faster than I expected. I guess the plentiful supply, presence of HQs and the massive Chinese Rifle Squad pool helps there.
Another quick report. Is it a monsoon or something? Another day of thunderstorms and grounded a/c in India. With Trimcomalee in his hands it looks like he's rearming and replenishing his battlewagons there. I did set the Fortresses to port attack the place but they dont fly.
I moved some Blenheim IVs to China (which has been perpetually grounded, barely a single sortie has flown there in literally weeks due to the weather - wtf) for ground support, which the Chinese badly need.
And I'm extracting another Chinese Div from Myritkina to Ledo. The ones in Calcutta seem to be strengthening quite rapidly really, faster than I expected. I guess the plentiful supply, presence of HQs and the massive Chinese Rifle Squad pool helps there.
RE: Lunga recaptured
7th July, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
Been hesitating with Illustrious and Hermes. As it looked like the whole Jap fleet was retreating to Trimcomalee I let the Brit carriers retire towards Bombay - now the surface blockaders/bombarders have resurfaced. Snap decision, I decide to "go for it" and the two tiny Brit carriers charge at full speed, hoping for that strike on Jap shipping at Colombo at maximum range.
A Jap DD sinks in the mid Bay of Bengal due to coastal gun fire, and an AP carrying troops is torpedoed just off Rangoon by my lurking subs. He's disbanded some damaged ships at Trimcomalee harbour - today I set the heavy bombers of Bangalore on a night port strike of Trimcomalee.
CHINA
Looking grim. Not much to say really. I look at other AARs (like Tabpubs) with envy, seeing the Kuomintang advancing! Advancing! I'm only just clinging to Sian and Chungking by the skin of my teeth!
Really cocked China up early on and now I'm paying for it alright.
DEI/SOPAC
With the change of plan from taking Port Moresby, the massive bomber base at Cairns has become a bit redundant. I sent 72 Airacobras from Cairns to Derby. I might send em over to Koepang, I might not - not sure. Koepang has 200 fighters now but is a bit down on bombers, there are some Beauforts but not a lot (well, 50 odd, I guess thats a fair bit!). Derby could use a proper garrison anyway, so they are staying there for now.
Lunga is getting another AK convoy fairly soon which should bring it up to 50,000 supply. Then... I can let Lunga stew for a whilewith engineers building things.
I just noticed Koepang has 3 AA divisions there. 3! probably overkill. All the Dutch remnants.
CENTPAC
Fleet relocation is underway. Coronados out of Nanomea Atoll spot 4 Jap AKs at Tarawa, looks like the place is not as sleepy as I thought after all. I have quite a lot of fleet subs marking the Gilberts and Marshalls - probably too many really, its not target rich. Some more fuel and supply is dispatched from SF to Canton Island - it doesnt need it urgently, but if the campaign is going to really roll I better stock up anyway.
APs will be a long time in coming, they are still in the process of rendezvousing at Noumea.
Bombers out of Canton Island are now bombing Baker Island's port facilities. I think I'm gonna land at Baker after all, I dont want to overextend myself. I got plenty of time. Baker can be getting a roasting from Canton Island round the clock while my fleet gets itself upgraded.
NORPAC
Norpac gets a special mention all of its own today, as my submarine activity here is really being cranked up a peg. Sub reinforcements from SF have been routinely sent to Dutch Harbour of late, I now have about 10 subs operating in the far north. Gatos are sent to the strait between Japan and China, S-boats are lurking in the Kuriles.
BURMA/INDIA
Been hesitating with Illustrious and Hermes. As it looked like the whole Jap fleet was retreating to Trimcomalee I let the Brit carriers retire towards Bombay - now the surface blockaders/bombarders have resurfaced. Snap decision, I decide to "go for it" and the two tiny Brit carriers charge at full speed, hoping for that strike on Jap shipping at Colombo at maximum range.
A Jap DD sinks in the mid Bay of Bengal due to coastal gun fire, and an AP carrying troops is torpedoed just off Rangoon by my lurking subs. He's disbanded some damaged ships at Trimcomalee harbour - today I set the heavy bombers of Bangalore on a night port strike of Trimcomalee.
CHINA
Looking grim. Not much to say really. I look at other AARs (like Tabpubs) with envy, seeing the Kuomintang advancing! Advancing! I'm only just clinging to Sian and Chungking by the skin of my teeth!
Really cocked China up early on and now I'm paying for it alright.
DEI/SOPAC
With the change of plan from taking Port Moresby, the massive bomber base at Cairns has become a bit redundant. I sent 72 Airacobras from Cairns to Derby. I might send em over to Koepang, I might not - not sure. Koepang has 200 fighters now but is a bit down on bombers, there are some Beauforts but not a lot (well, 50 odd, I guess thats a fair bit!). Derby could use a proper garrison anyway, so they are staying there for now.
Lunga is getting another AK convoy fairly soon which should bring it up to 50,000 supply. Then... I can let Lunga stew for a whilewith engineers building things.
I just noticed Koepang has 3 AA divisions there. 3! probably overkill. All the Dutch remnants.
CENTPAC
Fleet relocation is underway. Coronados out of Nanomea Atoll spot 4 Jap AKs at Tarawa, looks like the place is not as sleepy as I thought after all. I have quite a lot of fleet subs marking the Gilberts and Marshalls - probably too many really, its not target rich. Some more fuel and supply is dispatched from SF to Canton Island - it doesnt need it urgently, but if the campaign is going to really roll I better stock up anyway.
APs will be a long time in coming, they are still in the process of rendezvousing at Noumea.
Bombers out of Canton Island are now bombing Baker Island's port facilities. I think I'm gonna land at Baker after all, I dont want to overextend myself. I got plenty of time. Baker can be getting a roasting from Canton Island round the clock while my fleet gets itself upgraded.
NORPAC
Norpac gets a special mention all of its own today, as my submarine activity here is really being cranked up a peg. Sub reinforcements from SF have been routinely sent to Dutch Harbour of late, I now have about 10 subs operating in the far north. Gatos are sent to the strait between Japan and China, S-boats are lurking in the Kuriles.
RE: Lunga recaptured
Week off as I was on holiday in Berlin, woo.
8th July, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
Heavy Jap shipping spotted by my subs around Rangoon, presumably his APs returning home. Most of the Jap warfleet appears to be at Trimcomalee, KB, battleships, the works. My heavy bombers port attacked Trimcomalee at night but didnt achieve anything.
Tomorrow the British carriers Hermes and Illustrious will be 4 hexes NW of Colombo, they are going to loiter there in a dangerous move to see if they can rouse some battleships. The heavies are going to bomb Japanese ground forces now between Colombo and Trimcomalee.
CHINA
Still stalemated around Sian and Chungking. Heavy guerilla warfare efforts on the road supplying his troops at Chungking, there are five Chinese divisions involved and about half that in Japs, and I'm sending more in.
DEI
Lots of Jap shipping at Kendari, presumably he's reinforcing the new front line of his empire. Koepang stands, defiant. Bring it on!
Lots of submarines in the DEI/South China Sea and even the Yellow Sea, but not finding any targets.
SOPAC/AUS
A single submarine landed raiders at the ungarrisoned Tulagi today, I'm gonna take it just to spite him. [:D].
I transferred 50 Fortresses from Cairns to Koepang, so the south east of Australia is devoid of long range bombers now.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
My subs out of Dutch Harbour patrolling around the Home Islands are getting beat up by his aircraft, so Dutch Harbour is getting filled up with damaged subs. I send em down to Pearl Harbour to be fixed - a few did run the gauntlet and are on patrol in between China and Japan.
My 150 bombers continue to bomb the tar out of Baker Island. "Not a rat will have survived"... Hopefully I'll be landing there around the end of this month, so they will have had a -lot- of softening. Hopefully it'll be a walkover.
8th July, 1942
BURMA/INDIA
Heavy Jap shipping spotted by my subs around Rangoon, presumably his APs returning home. Most of the Jap warfleet appears to be at Trimcomalee, KB, battleships, the works. My heavy bombers port attacked Trimcomalee at night but didnt achieve anything.
Tomorrow the British carriers Hermes and Illustrious will be 4 hexes NW of Colombo, they are going to loiter there in a dangerous move to see if they can rouse some battleships. The heavies are going to bomb Japanese ground forces now between Colombo and Trimcomalee.
CHINA
Still stalemated around Sian and Chungking. Heavy guerilla warfare efforts on the road supplying his troops at Chungking, there are five Chinese divisions involved and about half that in Japs, and I'm sending more in.
DEI
Lots of Jap shipping at Kendari, presumably he's reinforcing the new front line of his empire. Koepang stands, defiant. Bring it on!
Lots of submarines in the DEI/South China Sea and even the Yellow Sea, but not finding any targets.
SOPAC/AUS
A single submarine landed raiders at the ungarrisoned Tulagi today, I'm gonna take it just to spite him. [:D].
I transferred 50 Fortresses from Cairns to Koepang, so the south east of Australia is devoid of long range bombers now.
CENTPAC/NORPAC
My subs out of Dutch Harbour patrolling around the Home Islands are getting beat up by his aircraft, so Dutch Harbour is getting filled up with damaged subs. I send em down to Pearl Harbour to be fixed - a few did run the gauntlet and are on patrol in between China and Japan.
My 150 bombers continue to bomb the tar out of Baker Island. "Not a rat will have survived"... Hopefully I'll be landing there around the end of this month, so they will have had a -lot- of softening. Hopefully it'll be a walkover.