Reckless Bravery - Alikchi vs Cruft II (CHS)

[Alikchi2]

Thanks Cap - go for it! They're easy. (You may want to look at Thayne's format as well, with the text in the map - it looks more professoinal but you're limited in space.) I plan on throwing similar maps in periodically.

Sorry about the delay on this update - it's been a very busy few days!

01/10/42

Burma/India: Nates appear at Tavoy to CAP 55th Div IJA, but the Blenheims break through with only one damaged bomber. More casualties inflicted. Still no movement..

2 days until Formidable arrives!

China: Forts at Changsha are 29% of the way to level 6 - I feel increasingly secure here.

At Nanning, his bombardment by 19th Mixed Brigade did exactly nothing. I'm going to try a Deliberate Attack tomorrow - I outnumber him by quite a bit.

Malaya: Just bombardments at Kuala Lumpur.

The Philippines: IJA troops deliberate attack at Clark and successfully bring the fort down a level to 3. Not good! I sent about 200 assault points from Manila towards Clark to reinforce.

The other interesting thing today was an airfield attack at Manila. It was mostly ineffective - 11 hits - but participating were 15 G5N Liz bombers, native to CHS!

I assume he's put the Liz into production as he does not start with any. Looking at the stats, the Liz is a fairly good heavy bomber - it has a payload equivalent to a B-24, anyways.. pretty scary. This gives the IJNAAF a bomber capable of quickly reducing my airfields.

Today several were damaged, and damage to the airfield was minimal, but the future could be ugly.

DEI: It took him a while to unload all his troops at Singkep Island, but they attacked today. Surprisingly, they were repulsed by the Dutch. More time for me, yay..

I also paid PPs for all the units I'd moved to Palembang, even though they weren't in restricted theatres. I changed the Aussies from Southeast Asia to SWPAC, and the Marines from Asiatic Fleet to SWPAC. It only seemed fair.

SOPAC: His SNLF took Upolu today (finally). I assume it's only a matter of time before he makes another try at Pago Pago. Time is good, though - the ground troops there are shedding their disruption..

CENTPAC: The Buffaloes defending Midway upgraded to Wildcats. Other than that, nothing doing...

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Capital Ships in the Pacific, January 10th, 1942



Note - Yorktown arrived via the Panama Canal and is now only a few hexes from San Francisco.

Incoming reinforcements include BBs Mississippi and Idaho (at Panama City; 2 days) and BB Royal Sovereign + CV Formidable (Middle East; 3 days).

[Alikchi2]

1/11/42

Burma/India: I received 221 RAF Base Force, 221 Aviation, 225 RAF Base Force and 225 Aviation at Middle East today! 221 will go to Chandpur where the airfield will hit 3 soon. 225 will go to Ledo where it will support transport aircraft bringing in troops from China.

CV Formidable arrives tomorrow!

Other than that, no action.. Oh, his Nates disappeared at Tavoy again; I'm really getting good experience for my Blenheims.

China: My Chinese produced an extremely successful bombardment attack at Nanning, killing 133 Japanese in exchange for 17 Chinese. I had thought they were going to deliberate attack today.. ah well, nothing wasted. Deliberate attack is tomorrow.

His huge army still stands outside Changsha. What's his plan?

Malaya: No new action.

The Philippines: Liz and Betty continue their fun over Manila. No new action otherwise.

DEI: He attacks Singkawang with Nells from Kuching and doesn't achieve much. In reponse, a single B-17 attacks Kuching from Bandoeng. It is attacked by 16 Zeroes and damaged repeatedly, then damaged again by flak, but still manages a 500 pound bomb hit on "Fukko Maru". [:'(]

Also, 23rd Brigade AIF is loading up at Darwin for the trip to Amboina. That's another 60 assault points sacrificed, I know, but the delay will be worth it.

Palembang grows stronger every day, and tomorrow I should be able to upgrade my P-26s to P-39s.

SOPAC: Another crushing air attack by the Kido Butai on the poor Marines at Papaete.
We're down to one 5-inch CD gun.

Farther south, other Marines begin landing at Papaete. Troops currently arriving or on their way include:

2nd Marine Defense Battalion
2nd Marine Division
2 Artillery Units
A USN Base Force
SBDs and Airacobras

CENTPAC: AK Boreas is torpedoed again and this time she sinks. Finally.

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Screenshots!
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Japanese raid Manila with their Liz and Betty bombers. (This attack scored 11 runway hits.. also, the supply situation at Manila is quite bad. Moving the USAFFE HQ to Manila to help.)

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Naval reinforcements. A lot tomorrow!

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Air groups incoming. Again, a lot tomorrow. Those Hurricanes are going to come in handy.

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Finally, ground troops. I'm getting quite a bit in the next month or two. I'm especially excited about the engineers - you can never have enough.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Are those Liz at Luzon and experimental squadron like those 9 Tojos in China? I thought the japs did not have any 4E bombers in 42....

BTW: very good AAR , as always mate! keep it up!

[Alikchi2]

Are those Liz at Luzon and experimental squadron like those 9 Tojos in China? I thought the japs did not have any 4E bombers in 42....

BTW: very good AAR , as always mate! keep it up!

Thanks Hoepner! Always good to hear from you. [:)]

I don't know the specifics as I haven't played with the Japanese much but in CHS the Japanese start with Liz factories in Japan but no production. Historically the Liz was ready in December 41 but it was decided not to produce it.. (mechanical problems I think). Cruft has decided to give the Liz a shot, I guess.

Only AC I've seen of this type are of the Takao daitais. I don't know how many Cruft plans on producing, but I hope not many! They're good aircraft with a large bombload and range.

Thanks again!

[Gen.Hoepner]

Well, i'd say that if i was him i would build HORDES of Lizs!...The Japs desperately need a good army bomber to match the liberators and the fortress. in China that monster can be deadly...he can pound Chungking to dust, while with sallies you just need to many of them to obtain results similar to 20 allied 4E bombers

[Alikchi2]

Okay, that's just scary, Hoepner. [X(] LOL. If he does what you suggest things could get pretty bad once he gets enough of them in service.

I hadn't thought of his bombing Chungking and that worries me. Normally he restricts himself to IJA bombers in China but I could see him breaking that rule when such an opportunity for destroying my factories beckons. Ack!

I'll have to put more thought into it.

Here's the stats of the Liz and the B-17E for comparison.. All the Liz that I've spotted are based in Legaspi attacking Manila. My B-17Es are based in Java, Australia, Hawaii and (soon) India..



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[mogami]

Hi, I see they reduced the bomb load for the G5N it was designed to carry a bomb load of 4000KG (thats 8x500KG as opposed to 3) They also shortened the range. 3x500kG is what a Betty/Nell should carry (they were designed to carry 1600kg bombs or 1x1600KG torpedo but you had to remove the bomb-bay doors to load the torpedos.
Japan built 6 of these monsters but they served as transports and never carried a bomb.
They were left out of WITP stock scenarios because only 6 were built and if you allowed the Japanese player to build them as bombers and gave the intended load and range they would alter the course of the war. The Allies would have to build bomber intercepters over air superiority fighters. (G5N based at Dutch Harbor could reach SF. Based at Kwajalean they could reach Pearl Based at Saigon they could bomb most of China or India From Rabaul they could bomb Brisbane. (well anyway their range would be something like 44 or 45 hexes with 90 hex transfer range.) I always screw range up. I mean is 2600 mile range 1300 miles for missions? (22-23 hexes) But if you assigned them to Kamikaze how far could they reach?

"Today several hundered large Japanese aircraft descended on San Francisco wrecking havoc on TF entering the bay"

Even with a 23 hex range they would be the terror of the Pacific. Japan was unable to make them work. We bowed to history and ran from these critters. (Sorry Brady)
A wonderfull "what if" aircraft but one that should not be included in anything attempting to recreate what was possible.

[Alikchi2]

Thanks for the comment Mogami!

As scary as it sounds, it looks like a dumbed down B-17 to me. Which is still bad, but not "bombing San Francisco" bad. Maybe Lemurs knows more than I do..

In any case, it'll definitely make the game very interesting.

1/12/42

India/Burma: Formidable and everything else arrived! Hoorah!

Royal Sovereign and a DD are going to Columbo to sit around. Formidable, escorted by CA Dorsetshire, CL Caledon and several DDs is going on ferry duty, as per history.

Formidable has managed to stuff 32 Hurricane IIs onto the deck, two squadrons. They're heading for Java right now.

The other aircraft that arrived will have to wait for AK transport to the Indian subcontinent (house rule).

China: The deliberate attack forced him out of Nanning, yay. [:D] That's one threat dealt with. Bombers redirected to attack his army near Changsha. My confidence in this theatre is rising.. the attack on Kaifeng will begin soon.

Malaya: More bombarding, but things are looking a bit.. creaky. Hudsons hit nothing and S-36 eats a depth charge. Plooey.

The Philippines: Bombardments at Clark. No other action.

DEI: He captures Singkep finally - 1800 Dutch go into captivity.

Enemy troops began unloading at Singkawang after a fierce early-morning bombardment by IJN cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, Mikuma and Mogami. Allied aircraft from Palembang launched counterstrikes (A-20s and Swordfish) but no hits were scored. One Swordfish was downed and several other aircraft were damaged. I was hoping for some torpedo hits, drat..

The P-26s are now P-29s. Granted, most of their pilots have about 20 experience, but still..

Oh yes, I got 3 more Dutch subs at Soerabaja today. They're helping form a picket line between Sumatra and Borneo.

SWPAC: Cruft makes his first move in the New Guinea/Solomons theatre today, landing at the Admiralty Islands. He can take all he wants for now.

SOPAC: Kido Butai is still using Pago Pago as a giant practice target - my CD guns must have done something bad...

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Another update as soon as I run the turn (soon!).

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

Enemy troops began unloading at Singkawang after a fierce early-morning bombardment by IJN cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, Mikuma and Mogami. Allied aircraft from Palembang launched counterstrikes (A-20s and Swordfish) but no hits were scored. One Swordfish was downed and several other aircraft were damaged. I was hoping for some torpedo hits, drat..

What is the range on Swordfish in CHS? In the standard game they can only deliver torps at a 4 hex range.

[Alikchi2]

The range is the same I believe - they launched at 5 hexes and only dropped bombs. I was hoping that he might stray into torpedo range.. twas not to be, and I ended up with lots of damaged a/c as a result.

Anyways - I'm up far too late, so I'm just going to paste the AAR into here and write it up tomorrow. Good night, everyone..

1/13/42

India/Burma: No action.

China: No action.

Malaya: His deliberate attack at Kuala Lumpur brings the forts down to 2, ack. We may not last much longer herre.

The Philippines: Bombardments at Clark, yawn. I moved a few hundred assault points to Clark from Manila while they're still free. Our numbers are pretty close and most of my troops have fairly high experience levels..

DEI: Aircraft from Singapore, Palembang and Bandoeng airfields attack Japanese naval units off Singkawang, which fell to an NLF today. Only one hit was scored - a 500 lb bomb dropped by a Stringbag bounced off Mikuma's armor.

Dropping their range to 4 (thanks cap!).. Palembang is up to 250 assault points now and still growing. Forts will hit 5 soon, 1300+ mines have been laid and 6 PT boats are hidden away just to make it even more painful.

In Amboina my next Australian brigade is about halfway there. Palembang and Amboina are strong points - I wonder how they'll stand up to Japanese pressure.

SWPAC: The Admiralties fall, as expected.

SOPAC: I spotted two TFS headed in the direction of Suva.. maybe it's just some raiders. More on this tomorrow.

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I'm writing the next post now!

[Lemurs!]

I think Mogami might be confusing two different aircraft, which i do all the time.

The plane he seems to be talking about with the huge range and bomb load was the G10 6 engine bomber which had a 10000km range. 1 was built and flew on like the 7th of August '45.
That plane is not in the game. Not.

The G5 Liz was built before the war from an American prototype and there was much discussion on it.
There were no mechanical problems with the aircraft but it was found to be only slightly better armed than a Ki21 Sally, and the climb rate and max ceiling were poor, and the max speed was pathetic.

More importantly for Japan they saw the need to increase aircraft production which needed more engines. Japan was having troublebuilding enough engines as it was thus the Liz was dropped since it used 4 engines per plane.

In the game, IMO, it will either be used as a novelty by 1 or maybe 2 groups and have very little effect or a Japanese player will build a fair amount of them but then produce quite a few less overall aircraft in '43 and '44.

This plane should be in the game in my opinion, it was a real aircraft that Japan CHOSE not to build.
For all that WITP is talked about as a production system it is not production it is a prioritizing system. It seems that pretty much anyone with Matrix was afraid to include real possibilities.
This is why the 4th Yamato is in my version of the CHS; it was not stopped until July '42. That is the players choice, not Matrix's.

The Liz max bombload is dropped to 8000lbs in the 1.0 release of CHS on Spooky's.

Mike

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: Lemurs!

I think Mogami might be confusing two different aircraft, which i do all the time.

The plane he seems to be talking about with the huge range and bomb load was the G10 6 engine bomber which had a 10000km range. 1 was built and flew on like the 7th of August '45.
That plane is not in the game. Not.

The G5 Liz was built before the war from an American prototype and there was much discussion on it.
There were no mechanical problems with the aircraft but it was found to be only slightly better armed than a Ki21 Sally, and the climb rate and max ceiling were poor, and the max speed was pathetic.

More importantly for Japan they saw the need to increase aircraft production which needed more engines. Japan was having troublebuilding enough engines as it was thus the Liz was dropped since it used 4 engines per plane.

In the game, IMO, it will either be used as a novelty by 1 or maybe 2 groups and have very little effect or a Japanese player will build a fair amount of them but then produce quite a few less overall aircraft in '43 and '44.

This plane should be in the game in my opinion, it was a real aircraft that Japan CHOSE not to build.
For all that WITP is talked about as a production system it is not production it is a prioritizing system. It seems that pretty much anyone with Matrix was afraid to include real possibilities.
This is why the 4th Yamato is in my version of the CHS; it was not stopped until July '42. That is the players choice, not Matrix's.

The Liz max bombload is dropped to 8000lbs in the 1.0 release of CHS on Spooky's.

Mike

interesting stuff...

lemurs i was wondering if you were going to post the other differences your CHS version and the teams???

[Alikchi2]

I think Mogami might be confusing two different aircraft, which i do all the time.

The plane he seems to be talking about with the huge range and bomb load was the G10 6 engine bomber which had a 10000km range. 1 was built and flew on like the 7th of August '45.
That plane is not in the game. Not.

The G5 Liz was built before the war from an American prototype and there was much discussion on it.
There were no mechanical problems with the aircraft but it was found to be only slightly better armed than a Ki21 Sally, and the climb rate and max ceiling were poor, and the max speed was pathetic.

More importantly for Japan they saw the need to increase aircraft production which needed more engines. Japan was having troublebuilding enough engines as it was thus the Liz was dropped since it used 4 engines per plane.

In the game, IMO, it will either be used as a novelty by 1 or maybe 2 groups and have very little effect or a Japanese player will build a fair amount of them but then produce quite a few less overall aircraft in '43 and '44.

This plane should be in the game in my opinion, it was a real aircraft that Japan CHOSE not to build.
For all that WITP is talked about as a production system it is not production it is a prioritizing system. It seems that pretty much anyone with Matrix was afraid to include real possibilities.
This is why the 4th Yamato is in my version of the CHS; it was not stopped until July '42. That is the players choice, not Matrix's.

The Liz max bombload is dropped to 8000lbs in the 1.0 release of CHS on Spooky's.

Mike

Thanks Lemurs!

I see. That makes a lot of sense to me.. and I hadn't thought about how many engines the plane will be sucking up. The speed is rather low, too.. Maybe the Liz that he's built will be more useful for me than him.

Of course, if he goes all out, it's still pretty much a Japanese B-17. And that's not good.

I really liked your old Japanese shipbuilding options like the multiple Taihos, Lemurs, I wish they'd still been in CHS when we started this game! Kudos.

I am now going to edit the January 13th post to make it readable.

[Lemurs!]

Don was worried there would not be enough slots for minesweepers to repawn in if we included my ships.

I am releasing a version of CHS with all the extra ships today,
it will probably be directly from me.
I will remove 20 late war transport subs, late war landing craft (Japanese), and a few other useless odds and ends. That way there will still be enough room for minesweepers.

Thanks for the nice words.

Mike
masonsgild@charter.net

[Alikchi2]

Don was worried there would not be enough slots for minesweepers to repawn in if we included my ships.

I am releasing a version of CHS with all the extra ships today,
it will probably be directly from me.
I will remove 20 late war transport subs, late war landing craft (Japanese), and a few other useless odds and ends. That way there will still be enough room for minesweepers.

Thanks for the nice words.

Mike
masonsgild@charter.net

Awesome! I'll have to give it a try. (Those late war landing craft did seem a bit purposeless.. ) And you're welcome, thanks again for your work.

On with the AAR!

1/14/42

India/Burma: The first B-17s flew into Dacca today, after a trip from Brisbane via Wyndham, Bandoeng and Singapore. Fatigue is around 50.

China: My Chinese arrived at Kaifeng and his Division + base force immediately Deliberate Attacked to force me out. His attack failed and he sustained fairly heavy casualties. I started bombarding in response.

Another Chinese army set out for Hankow today, and the 2nd Squadron AVG arrived at Chungking. After some rest they will move forward and support the attack on Kaifeng (his IJA bombers have been attacking a Chinese unit that went off course for some reason).

Malaya: His deliberate attack at Kuala Lumpur got 0-1 odds and did nothing today. As a bonus, the forts went back up to 3! Excellent.

I think that being split into 3 groups may actually be an advantage to me. At least if it takes this long to reduce the other 2 pockets.

Speaking of, a Mixed Brigade began bombarding at Kuantan today. I don't expect it to last nearly as long as the force at Kuala Lumpur, though.

The Philippines: His deliberate attack at Clark achieves nothing as well and earns him nearly 1400 casualties. [:D] I'm pleased with the ground combat results today..

DEI: Nothing, nothing.

SOPAC: Okay, I guess he wants Fiji, as well. Kido Butai (or a portion of; CV Akagi was spotted) showed up north of Suva and pounded the place with Vals today. It looks like troops are going to be landing either there or at Nandi, which is undefended.. eek. See the map at the end of this post.

A little farther west, the 14th NZ Brigade has finished loading up at Auckland and will now head north to garrison Noumea. A NZ Base Force has been earmarked for the French city as well, and Australian AKs began unloading supplies today. If Cruft wants Noumea too he'll have to fight for it.

CENTPAC: A LOT of convoys are floating around right now. No action otherwise.

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[Alikchi2]

I've been mowing the lawn, which has given me a chance to ruminate about my long-term plans for this game-year. [:D]

I'll go through it theatre-by-theatre, AAR-style.

1942

India/Burma: I'll start with India, which has not seen major action yet.

In my last game, India was essentially empty - every combat unit I could find was pushed into Burma. Looking back, it was successful but not smart or fair.

Right now, I have India pretty well garrisoned, with strong reserves at Dacca, Hyderabad and Madras and small garrisons sprinkled elsewhere. Air defenses are pretty much nonexistent at this point, but Hurricane groups have been earmarked for the major bases.

As for Burma.. In my last game I was able to hold him at Mandalay and even gain air superiority with the aid of the AVG and many, many Hurricanes. I don't think I can repeat that this game. For starters, I'm playing more realistically, which means no more China Command Chinese marching in to help, and the majority of the AVG (2 out of 3 squadrons) will be deploying to China.

My troop deployments in Burma are fairly spread out now with concentrations at Moulmein, Rangoon, Lashio and elsewhere. I don't expect anything to stand up very long to an IJA division, but I hope to delay. The line I expect to establish will end up with him controlling Mandalay and (possibly) Akyab, with my main bases being Imphal, Kohima, Chandpur, Ledo and Dacca.

By the end of 1942 I may be able to begin a limited counteroffensive, depending on whether he has put more troops into the theatre.

In the air, I can at least attempt to hold. If he commits only Army aircraft, we may even keep each other in check. After the lack of heavy bombers in our last game, I've begun moving in several groups of B-17s to Burma. My primary airbases right now are Rangoon and Mandalay; by the time he's finished, I expect them to be Dacca, Chandpur, Imphal and Ledo.

As for the naval war - there's not much I can do with the Eastern Fleet, but I plan to keep him on his toes. Raids on Palembang, northern Java and eastern Malaya should force him to keep a few air units in the area.

China: I've learned a lot since the last game, in which I lost Changsha and most of Northern China. I don't have any grand offensive plans for 1942 - yet. Right now, I'm interested in holding what ground I have, and if I still have control over Changsha, Nanning and Sian by December 1942, I'll be a happy man.

Changsha is especially important as a supply-producing city. About 3000 assault points worth of troops are there, protected by the AVG. He has 100,000 troops outside. My goal right now is to force those 100,000 Japanese to go someplace else, please.

Malaya: I can't really plan a long-term strategy for this theatre, as I don't think this theatre will last longer than another month or so. [:'(] I've been divided into three pockets. Once he's reduced the first two (Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur), only about 250 assualt points will be left for the defence of Johore Bahru and Singapore.

All naval units have been evacuated except for two AKs (I'm not sure why they're still there, actually). In the air, my Buffalos attempted to engage his Oscars only once and were utterly mauled. Now they serve as ground attack aircraft.

Anyways, I expect him to be at the gates of Singapore in roughly a month. By then the air units will have been evacuated south to Java or north to India. In the meantime, all I can do is wait.

The Philippines: My hopes here are slightly higher than in Malaya, but not by much. Again, it's only a matter of time before things end here.

In Luzon I've done fairly well so far, I think. The battle at Clark is going fairly well considering his superiority in numbers and quality. Once Clark hits a low fort level, the troops fall back to Manila.

Currently occupying Manila and feverishly building forts are the troops that held off the Japanese at Naga for a while quite successfully. I expect him to make a move on Manila at any time, at which point troops will be sent from Clark to reinforce.

In Mindanao I have a few Filipino divisions stacked up at Cagayan - 250 assault points total, looking surprisingly tough. I may be able to hold here for a while, which means the level 4 airfield is still useful.

Speaking of, my air forces have been pulled out to the DEI where they're getting replacements and recovering morale. I've been considering bringing them back to the PI in a week or two, if I still have good airfields available. But right now everything is pretty smashed up, and I'll be needed them in the DEI soon..

Finally, my naval units in theatre consist of about 5 PT boats, one of which has 42 systems damage and is effectively useless. They're based in Butuan, just waiting for opportunities to sink stuff.

DEI: This was always my favorite theatre. [:D]

My play style here isn't particularly radical, but I've brought in extra assets. Prince of Wales and a reinforced Force Z (minus Repulse, wah) sit in port at Kendari awaiting developments. Boise, Marblehead and 4 DDs are the only members of the Asiatic fleet remaining in Dutch waters and are now based at Tjilitjap. Dutch and American submarines have made Soerabaja their home and are beginning to get hits. Soerabaja port, by the way, is 59% of the way to a level 9 - at which point the many Dutch MLs will go into a frenzy of minelaying.

I have significant forces at Palembang, including two Dutch base forces, the fragments of two British, an Australian brigade from Malaya and the 4th Marines from the Philippines. All have been switched to SWPAC Command, and they're sitting on a significant stockpile of supplies, 1200 mines, and level 5 forts. The most important thing is the number of engineers - 44. The British, Dutch and Americans know how much the Japanese want that oil, and they're ready to fight for it and if necessary destroy the refineries.

In Java, extra forces include most of the FEAF and aircraft evacuated from Malaya. Incoming is a British tank regiment, American field artillery and A-24 Dauntlesses, and 32 Hurricanes ferried by CV Formidable.

At Amboina, the garrison has been reinforced with two "Bird" battallions and an Australian brigade, plus American artillery. 11 T.IVa torpedo bombers sit on the airfield, as well.

My strategy in the DEI is to inflict as much damage on him and slow him down as much I can without losing too much.

SWPAC: Not much happening here yet, but he's started to advance. I have not reinforced New Guinea or New Britain and I expect them to fall. Port Moresby is on my list of places to prepare for defence but right now it's weak.

My strategy here is simple defense. I don't believe he'll go for Australia and I can afford to lose New Guinea and the Solomons. If he's extra slow I may land at Lunga but this is not likely.

SOPAC: He's moving very, very fast here, taking Canton Island and in the process of taking Fiji and Samoa.

I can't stop him from taking these places. I want to hold on to what I have left. That means Noumea and Papaete. If he went for Papaete I would be amazed, since it's so isolated, and in any case I'll have about 20,000 Marines on shore in a few days.

Papaete and Noumea are to be my primary bases in this theatre. From Noumea I plan to (eventually) take back Fiji and Samoa. Canton Island will be dealt with by CENTPAC forces.

CENTPAC: Wake has been lost but nearly every other island has been well-garrisoned.. if he attacks any farther north than Canton Island I can and will squash him.

Strategy here is to hold for the remainder of 42. Eventually I will rebase the fleet at Pearl, but for now it stays at the West Coast until the primary upgrades are done.

Strategy? I really would like Canton Island back. Christmas Island is being developed into a base from which I can launch an offensive against it. But it'll be a while.

I doubt I'll see any island-hopping until much later in the year - if at all.

NORTHPAC: My strategy here is about the same as the last game - Cruft has made no moves, so I'm building up a base at Attu Island to launch a bomber offensive from. I may perhaps do some raiding with CVs here later in the game (Dutch Harbor is going up) but right now we're static.

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Now to run the next turn...

[Alikchi2]

I'm updating a LOT today..

1/15/42

India/Burma: Another squad of Hurricanes shipped out by AK today, destined to serve as CAP over Delhi. Need more AKs at Middle East for the rest..

China: Moved several units around - I'm sending spare Chinese to Sian and Ichang. My armies advance on Hankow and bombardments continue at Kaifeng. Speaking of, the AVG has arrived and is LRCAPing Kaifeng.. the next time he tries to attack my troops there, he'll be in for a nasty surprise.

In the south, I've been considering launching an offensive towards Pakhoi, now that I've kicked the Japs out of Nanning, but it's still only a thought..

He's gotten more confident in his bombing today. With two AVG squadrons I should be able to get some kills.

Malaya: A deliberate attack at Kuantan by the Japanese fails against my level 4 forts. Maybe these guys will last longer than I thought. [:D] Other than that, not much happening - the usual bombardments at Kuala Lumpur, ground attacks by my Buffalos.

I'm putting the Buffalos on LRCAP over Kuala Lumpur again next turn. I know the last time was a fiasco, but who knows, maybe we can bring down a few Oscars this time.

The Phililppines: Luzon: I've spotted enemy troops in the hex between Naga and Manila - looks like he's closing in. Troops (about 200 assault points' worth) have been detached from the Clark army and are heading for Manila (roughly 500 assault points).

In the south, he's landing at Mindanao! Just as I was thinking about bringing aircraft back, too.

Luckily for me it appears that he's underestimated the number of troops I have there - at last notice it was 1800 Japanese versus 8500 Filipinos. I'm going to try to shock attack them out.

I also have PT boats closing in from Butuan and subs moving to the area. Let's see how tomorrow goes.

DEI: My subs did a very good job today. North of Kuching, KXIII put two torpedoes and 4 88mm shells into AP Shirashika Maru, which turned north to escape. Unfortunately, the fires illuminated it for SS Porpoise, which hit it with two further torpedoes and promptly sent it to the bottom. [:D]

Further south, new arrival O24 hit AP Yamakisan Maru with a torpedo but suffered 2 depth charge hits (50 sys, 50 flt) for her trouble. 024 had only been in theatre for a few days.

All of this does not prevent his Nells and Zeroes from launching at Kuching though. They hit a tanker group loading oil at Balikpapan and sunk two, the others immediately disbanding into the port. Brewster CAP has been moved to Balik in case he tries to finish them off.

SWPAC: No action..

SOPAC: Troops began landing at Nandi on Fiji today. (See map again). His Kates bombed Suva port and caught two minesweepers that were idling there - neither sank, but one had to be scuttled. I may be able to sneak the other out somehow.

I evacuated 22 PBYs from Suva to Auckland and Wellington - only 10 remain. In the meantime, I'm not moving any ground units to Nandi - I can't stop him from taking the base in time. 4th NZ Brigade will fight to the end, though.

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Screenshots!
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Fiji:



1. CarDiv 1? (Akagi and Kaga spotted)

2. Transports with covering cruisers

3. More transports?

4. Surface combat force?

5. CarDivs 2 and 3? (Were recently bombing Pago Pago)

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The Big Picture in the ABDA Area:

[Alikchi2]

My Chinese have been facing some opposition for the first time in the last few days.. perhaps the AVG can clear things up a bit.

[Alikchi2]

Another fairly good day!

I think I'm (finally) starting to get a handle on ground combat...

1/16/42

India/Burma: 18th UK Div will (finally) land in Madras tomorrow. I now have 24 B-17s at Dacca..

China: The AVG did its job here - LRCAP of Kaifeng brought down 5 Anns. Better than nothing!

In the south, I'm launching yet another attack from Wuchow towards Canton. Maybe I can make him draw away troops from Pakhoi (which means I could retake it with troops from Nanning).

I love Andrew's map in China. It makes things so much more fluid than "whoever controls the railway wins".

Malaya: Another fairly successful bit of aerial action. This time my Buffalos somehow manage to shoot down some Japanese - 5 Buffalos go down in exchange for 4 Oscars and 3 Lilies. Excellent.

The Philippines: Troop strengths in Clark and Manila are now roughly equal.

At Cagayan, my shock attack worked. I achieved 445-1 odds and forced an SNLF to retreat.
PT boats and subs didn't catch anything though.. phooey.

DEI: More damaged shipping escaped from Batavia today with no Nells on my case. Otherwise, no action. An airfield icon has popped up at Menado.. He must have Zeroes there because my Hudsons don't want to launch anymore.

SOPAC: The unit landing at Nandi was the South Seas Detachment - 10,000 troops. Nandi fell today and I'm sure that he'll start marching to Suva immediately..

4th NZ brigade is a tough unit - not as tough as the SSD, but it'll be able to hold for a bit, I hope and believe. The only real fly in the ointment is supplies. If the battle lasts for a while, they may give out.

CENTPAC: Nothing yet.. Argonaut is doing good work in the Marshalls.

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Any day where he has more losses than me is a good day

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi
CENTPAC: Nothing yet.. Argonaut is doing good work in the Marshalls.

Now that really is evil. I'll have to be on the look out for that. Fortunately, all my convoys are escorted by MSWs. [:'(]