Speedy vs Fabertong - time to smack back the Penguin

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

With 1945 approaching it's time to think of the end game and what to do to get there.

I need about 11,000 more VP's to achieve the 2:1 ratio needed for auto-victory in 1945. From reading the manual AGAIN I assume whenever I get to 2:1 in VP's it will kick in and Ill get the auto-victory. If I didn't achieve that I'd need 1.75:1 by August 1945.

I've attached a screenshot of the 'Empire'. Don't be fooled by the large swathes of Jap held bases in the Pacific Islands and Java. They're in essence cut-off with no way of any supply or material reaching or leaving them.

No further Oil will be coming from the SRA either as the Oilfields on Java and Borneo are all under Allied eyes and air/seapower.

Overall I really salute Faber for carrying on as it's been a tough and hard game for him for over a year of game time now.

Nonetheless, I have to plan further operations until we achieve Auto-Victory and the Japs surrender.

With additional recon being carried out over the past 2 weeks I'm quite clear as to where I'm going to invade next.

Here's a summary of estimated Jap Troop levels according to intel. I'm working on the assumption that 100K men is about 2000 raw AV.

Burma: If intel is accurate Faber still has about 300,000 men in the Rangoon/Moulmein area = 6000 AV. In some ways its not surprising as I had about 10-11,000 AV of men when I tried to advance through the invincible jungle. I still have 6,500 AV up here keeping him honest.

Indochina/Thailand: There's about 2,000 AV worth here with 600 of that in Bangkok, 200 in Cam Ranh Bay and a few other units dotted around here and there.

Borneo - Only small units spread out. About 600 AV total.

Java - About 100,000 men mainly in Batavia and Soerabaya = 2000 AV.

Celebes/Timor - Scattered units. About 200 AV worth.

Pacific Islands - really hard to say how much is still down/trapped in these but there's at least 100,000 men in the Mariana's and Caroline's alone.....

Luzon - Unknown as recon has not got to there recently.

Operations in CentPac are still on-going - Iwo Jima invasion in December followed up by Daito Shoto if Iwo Jima is successful.

The 2nd thrust into the Philippines is also on-going with over 2500 AV on Mindanao and advancing from Davao. I expect to have most of Mindanao under my control by 1945 and the aim is to them land on Southern Luzon.

That leaves all the Allied troops at Singapore.

I am currently thinking of landing in Indo-China and most likely west/south-west of Saigon. I can bring 4,500 AV to the party with 2,000 guns and 1,000 tanks. My reasoning for going here is I should be able to overwhelm whatever Faber has there now and I can potentially cut off his Army in Burma and his forces still in Malaya (40-50K men) IF he doesn't withdraw in time. If he does withdraw = great as I can take Rangoon and it will free up another 6,500 AV in Burma for me. If he doesn't withdraw I'll keep Burma as a prison camp and advance un IndoChina and in to China and Hong Kong. The game will most likely be over by then anyhow.........

Thoughts/views?

[JocMeister]

Sounds like a solid plan. 11k VPs shouldn´t be a problem to achieve at this stage! I got 17k during the last 100 turns. Thats about 12k plus. Clark and Manila alone is something like 3500 VPs. Another 1000 for HK and you are almost there! [:)]

But I think given your complete air and naval supremacy I would probably try and land a little bit further East if you feel its doable. Thailand/Indochina isn´t really necessary at this point is it? Havn´t looked at the VPs though. Lots of small bases there that might add up when summed up.

[Powloon]

Hi Speedy just wanted to say what a great AAR and much kudos to you and your opponent on getting to the end game. I find it particularly impressive as I am running through the first turn of my first campaign and after what seems like a million left clicks of the mouse I am almost at the point where I can unleash the end turn button (repetitive wrist strain anyone). God only knows how many mouse clicks have brought you to the position you are now [:)]

As for advice (which is probably safe to ignore from a newb) I would agree with JocMeister. Looks like Japans navy and air force are all but destroyed and you are after VPs to get auto victory. I'm guessing the force in Singapore could now transit the South China Sea in relative safety to allow you to grab fighter bases on Formosa or the island chain SW of Japan which would allow you to ramp up the strategic campaign on Japan and possibly allow you to use your other 4E bombers.

What is your situation in NORPAC are you in the postion to grab any of the Kuriles to allow you to conduct fighter sweeps over the north of Japan?

[Speedysteve]

Hi Jocke,
 
Thanks for the thoughts [:)]
 
I've been thinking on things over night and I think I'll re-start using B29's for night bombing over Japan rather than supporting Iwo Jima. It was a tough choice but I can net 1000's of VP's with Strat bombing and it just means Iwo may take a little longer.
 
I'm very comfortable of getting 11K VP's I just want them before 1945 to get the Auto Victory at the earliest point! [:)]
 
Interesting thoughts on where I should land next though....my reason for choosing Indochina is to cut-off 6000 AV of Jap troops in Burma OR to force them to withdraw and I can take Rangoon worth 2K VP's. You're right though I could contemplate landing near Hong Kong for example? Formosa would need to wait until I'm secure on Luzon (after Mindanao) or Iwo Jima/Okinawa.....hmm. Decisions decisions....

[Speedysteve]

ORIGINAL: Powloon

Hi Speedy just wanted to say what a great AAR and much kudos to you and your opponent on getting to the end game. I find it particularly impressive as I am running through the first turn of my first campaign and after what seems like a million left clicks of the mouse I am almost at the point where I can unleash the end turn button (repetitive wrist strain anyone). God only knows how many mouse clicks have brought you to the position you are now [:)]

As for advice (which is probably safe to ignore from a newb) I would agree with JocMeister. Looks like Japans navy and air force are all but destroyed and you are after VPs to get auto victory. I'm guessing the force in Singapore could now transit the South China Sea in relative safety to allow you to grab fighter bases on Formosa or the island chain SW of Japan which would allow you to ramp up the strategic campaign on Japan and possibly allow you to use your other 4E bombers.

What is your situation in NORPAC are you in the postion to grab any of the Kuriles to allow you to conduct fighter sweeps over the north of Japan?

Hi Powloon,

Many thanks for your comments and you're right it's taken years of RL to get to this points and 10'000's of mouse clicks!

I certainly have naval and air supremacy. Transiting across the South China Sea would be do-able with the Brit CV Fleets but it would be risky when I neared Hong Kong/Luzon as Faber would have many high level airfields and could muster 100's/1000 planes. Sheer numbers would probably wear my CAP down.

As such I feel going for Formosa directly from Singapore JUST with Brit CV's would be too risky (the US CV's are needed to enable the Iwo Jima and Daito Shoto invasions. I am thinking more about landing near Hong Kong now though as it's not too far away from Singapore. I could land the 4,500 AV there and use a follow up 1000 AV to land later on in the rear at Indo China to create a land bridge. Hmm. Thoughts.....

As for Okinawa I have Us CentPAc forces already preparing for their and, IF the game carries on long enough, I'll be landing there after Daito Shoto falls.

NorPac would be do-able but I have no forces planned or preparing for up here so probably not worth the diversion at this stage.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi Jocke,

Thanks for the thoughts [:)]

I've been thinking on things over night and I think I'll re-start using B29's for night bombing over Japan rather than supporting Iwo Jima. It was a tough choice but I can net 1000's of VP's with Strat bombing and it just means Iwo may take a little longer.

I'm very comfortable of getting 11K VP's I just want them before 1945 to get the Auto Victory at the earliest point! [:)]

Interesting thoughts on where I should land next though....my reason for choosing Indochina is to cut-off 6000 AV of Jap troops in Burma OR to force them to withdraw and I can take Rangoon worth 2K VP's. You're right though I could contemplate landing near Hong Kong for example? Formosa would need to wait until I'm secure on Luzon (after Mindanao) or Iwo Jima/Okinawa.....hmm. Decisions decisions....

I think thats the right call! I have had my B29 do other things from time to time. Besides one really nice port attack sinking ALOT of subs its never been worth it. And with the critical pools you really can´t afford even the slightest losses!

BTW, I may have misunderstood something but I don´t think you need to rush with the VPs. If I understood it correctly you have the entire 45 to get to 2:1?

I forgot that Rangoon is that much VPs. But perhaps having your opponent guard it with 6000 AV is a pretty good deal? [:)] As long as you can grab 2700 VPs somewhere else thats a good deal for you I think? [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Hi Jocke - Yes there's no rush in gaining the VP's I just want to personally get there ASAP! I'm thinking long and hard on where to send the Malaya Army. I am very tempted by the Hong Kong landings with a secondary follow up in IndoChina to seal off Thailand and Burma for good. The challenge with Hong Kong is where to land! The attached screenshot shows the dilemma. If I land to the west at Kwangchowan (I could just land at friendly held Pakhoi of course and march overland) I'll have to shock assault at Canton. If I land to the east of Hong Kong it's a long march overland.

I'm recon'ing Hong Kong tomorrow and Canton the day after.

Maybe I'll land at Pakhoi and march overland........VERY tempted by this.

------------------------

CentPac:

The suppression bombing at Iwo Jima continue with 4E from Guam as the CV attack planes bombed the troops for the first time on the 4th. Not bad results:

Afternoon Air attack on Iwo-jima Naval Guard Unit, at 108,77 (Iwo-jima)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Allied aircraft
Avenger II x 9
Corsair II x 8
FM-1 Wildcat x 11
FM-2 Wildcat x 122
F4U-1D Corsair x 33
F6F-3 Hellcat x 16
F6F-5 Hellcat x 307
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 202
TBM-1C Avenger x 103
TBM-3 Avenger x 97

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 19 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 5 damaged
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
107 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Also spotted were 52nd Division, 19th Army and 2 x BF. The CV's will carry on doing this for a while yet.

B29's were rested for the first 3 days but Guam's contingent flew 40 on the 4th an knocked out Takamtasu's HI in a daylight strike. Only a few fighters were on CAP which shot down 2 bombers. Tinian's contingent will bomb Osaka tomorrow night all being well.

----------------------

SRA:

On Mindanao troops have march westwards from Davao and caught the Japanese defenders south of Cotabato. We'll attack tomorrow. 3 small enemy units are reported in Cotabato as well.

A Small Jap SC TF tried to approach Mindanao on the 1st. CVE TB's set off and sank CL Isuzu with 4 torpedoes.

Recon also detected what looks like 3/4 enemy merchant TF's around Balikpapan/Tarakan. I'm assuming these are ships caught in the region after I took Singapore/Davao. The 2 x CVE TF's will sail west from Davao to intercept.

----------------------

Malaya/Borneo:

As mentioned in a previous post my Brit CV's finished off most of the TF Convoy off Balabac on the 1st. What appeared to be naval remnants from Brunei fled NW towards Bangkok on the 1-3rd. My CV's chased after them but couldn't catch them and headed back to Singapore on the 4th to re-arm and refuel.

Bangkok has 200 enemy fighters according to recon. I'm not keen to engage them in the air so I'm sneaking up a Bombardment TF from Singapore to try and intercept the enemy ships and shell the AF's.

----------------------

Submarine Warfare:

2 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Escolar sank PB Seki Maru #3 SW of Japan on the 1st.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CentPac:

52nd Division was bombed on Iwo Jima causing a further 100 casualties. Also identified the Tonei Heavy Gun Rgt. Hmm.

B29's hit Osaka Manpower (night) causing a few thousand fires. We go again tomorrow. Guam's allotment hit the Engine Facs at Takamatsu only damaging 4. There were 30ish enemy fighters on CAP (even Nates and Claudes LOL) which shot down 4 B29s. We go again tomorrow as well.

----------------------

SRA:

A picture can paint a thousand words and the below Screenshot shows the situation on Mindanao (where Advance Allied forces smashed the ragged Japanese remnants into Cotabato. We await the Americal Division which is arriving tomorrow before we cross the river), my CVE TF's to the west and the Jap TF's trying to break out from the SRA (Balikpapan) and one which snuck in from Japan (Tarakan) to nab some more oil.

Not only are my TBM's having fun but Ventura and Mitchells based at Davao are also targeting enemy shipping.

It's fair to say that bombing has been poor though with only 6 x AK, 1 x E, 1 x TK and 1 x SC reported sunk today.

The screenshot also shows a Jap Merchant TF trying to sneak into Brunei. I have a SC TF to the west as a welcoming party for them.

--------------------

Malaya:

Brit CV's have reached Singapore and are re-armed before setting out to the east again to hunt enemy shipping.

My SC TF should reach Bangkok tomorrow.

Very interesting recon of Hong Kong. Detected 3 ground units (16K men), a probable Military TF and 60 enemy ships in port. Recon of Canton and Haiphong tomorrow.

-------------------

Submarine Warfare:

No contacts today.

[Powloon]

Hi Speedy I can't see that you've mentioned recently what is happening in China. Are your Chinese LCUs in any fit state to support your possible landing near Hong Kong? Any chance they could conduct there own offensive to grab some of the coastal cities?

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Hi Powloon - China has been a dead theatre since mid 1942. I stalled Faber across China (other than SE China which he took all of early on) but I've not had the supply to conduct any offensives of my own. I've spent the time building up all the bases I can and filling out my units with replacements in readiness for ay late war offensive with additional supply. I've attached a screenshot of southern China for your reference. In short they can't conduct an offensive on their own but with Allied landings and oodles of supply they can certainly help out!

I'm veering more and more towards a Landing in SW China either at Pakhoi (friendly) or Haiphong (Japanese) or maybe even at Hong Kong direct if it really only have 3 units and 15K men.

--------------------------

CentPac:

Further night raids over Osaka increase fires up to 7000 by days end.

The daylight raid on Hamamatsu damages another 25 engine factory points and loses 3 x B29 in the process.

CV Air smacks Iwo Jima Naval Guard unit for another 150 casualties.

---------------------------

SRA:

My 2 x CVE TF stay on station SE of Borneo and Faber conducts a 5 x DD Kamaikaze TF right in to their path. They do land a few shells on 2 x CVE (nothing major - 11 SYS) and badly shoot up 2 x Fletchers but in return all 5 Jap DD are lost either in the fire fight or by TBM's in the day. an AV (Kunikawa Maru) and SC Escort are sunk off Balikpapan with the remaining 2 x Jap convoys fleeing back to Soerabaya. My CVE's will follow.

North of Borneo the Jap TF reaches Miri as my SC TF shells Brunei and looks what she finds in port:

Night Naval bombardment of Brunei at 65,87

Japanese Ships
PB Choun Maru #18, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 18, on fire, heavy damage
PB Awa Maru, Shell hits 2
DD Numakaze, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
PB Yasushima Maru, Shell hits 1
PB Shonan Maru #6, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BB Queen Elizabeth
BB Valiant
BB New Mexico
CA Suffolk
CA London
CL Newfoundland
CL Ceylon
DD Rotherham
DD Relentless
DD Redoubt
DD Racehorse
DD Quality
DD Quadrant
DD Petard
DD Penn
DD Pathfinder
DD Paladin
DD Jupiter
DD Bailey
DE Kistna
DE Cauvery

Japanese ground losses:
126 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 32
Port hits 10
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 1

Ashigara is hit by several 15/14" Shells and I hope she sinks now.

My Brit CV's have raced east from Singapore and should be in a position to engage the Jap Merchant TF off Miri tomorrow.

Brit BB TF should sail into Bangkok tomorrow to engage the spotted enemy TF (ships that fled Brunei) and to shell the AF's housing 180 Jap fighters all being well.

Recon failed over both Canton and Haiphong.

Siberoet's B29's target Cam Ranh Bay which had a few enemy ships reported in port:

Morning Air attack on Cam Ranh Bay , at 64,72

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 40

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Toyooka Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Aikoku Maru, Bomb hits 11, and is sunk
xAK Sydney Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
AMc Choun Maru #7, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AD Choko Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Tatsumiya Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMc Wa 3, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Port hits 7
Port supply hits 2

--------------------

Submarine Warfare:

No contacts.

[JocMeister]

For what its worth I would do as you are tempted to do. Land at Pakhoi. Supply to the Chinese is a huge deal! Besides its all clear hexes from there to the east. And there are plenty of places to cross over to Canton. [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Thanks Jocke. I've now 100% decided this is what I'm going to do land at Pakhoi and march (most of) the army to the east to take Hong Kong. A section of the army will move westwards to secure Vietnam and Indo China. Thanks for the your thoughts.

----------------------

CentPac:

Bad weather prevented many air raids on Iwo Jima but the B29's managed to hit Osaka overnight bringing the fires up to 27,000. Additional damage was done to some of the HI/LI which is good.

----------------------

SRA:

Troops continue to move on Mindanao and should reach Cotabato in 2/3 days time.

As US CVE's continue to chase 2 enemy TF's westwards round the SW tip of Borneo (not launching any raids today) the Brits were in full swing today starting with the BB raid on Bangkok:

The Japs sent a 5 x DD TF to try to ward of my ships but to no avail as we steamed on sinking DD Tanikaze in the process.

My boys hit Bangkok hard claiming 45 fighters destroyed in the process:

Night Naval bombardment of Bangkok at 56,62

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 18 damaged
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 89 damaged
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 7 destroyed on ground
Ki-84a Frank: 122 damaged
Ki-84a Frank: 13 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 42 damaged
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 30 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Id Tony: 12 damaged
Ki-61-Id Tony: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB King George V
BB Howe
CA Australia
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Wrangler
DD Whelp
DD Quilliam
DD Queensborough
DD Nizam
DD Nestor
DD Napier
DD Isaac Sweers
DD Quickmatch
DD Quiberon
DD Gwin
DD Taylor
DD Strong
DD Saufley

Japanese ground losses:
341 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (6 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 42
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 112

Siberoet's B29's will follow up to finish the carnage tomorrow.

The Brit CV force loitered north of Miri and hit the Jap TF hard:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Miri at 64,87

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 4

Allied aircraft
Avenger II x 80
Barracuda II x 16
Corsair II x 42
Corsair IV x 11
Hellcat I x 16
Hellcat F.II x 1
Seafire L.III x 18
F4U-1D Corsair x 8
F6F-5 Hellcat x 13
TBM-3 Avenger x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Avenger II: 11 damaged
Corsair II: 1 destroyed
Hellcat I: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
E Susuki, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AO Hayasui, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
TK Takasan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Kongo Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Ogashima, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
TK Koryu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
TK Teisen Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PB Ginyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
SC CHa-10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
TK Rokkosan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
TK Zuiyo Maru
SC Ch 52

I'm directing all of the transports used for Mindanao (and the US CVE/BB TF's) to Singapore to assist in the upcoming landings at Pakhoi. It will be several weeks before this is launched while we await supply and the shipping. The game could of course be over by then if I reach 2:1 in VP's.

--------------------------

Submarine Warfare:

No contacts.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CentPac:

Usual fare here with B29's bombing Osaka at night and CV air bombing Jap troops on Iwo Jima.

------------------------

SRA:

Allied troops reached and stormed Cotabato, Mindanao on the 10th routed the weak Jap troops there:

Ground combat at Cotabato (78,90)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 43380 troops, 713 guns, 1089 vehicles, Assault Value = 1578

Defending force 7179 troops, 83 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 151

Allied adjusted assault: 607

Japanese adjusted defense: 15

Allied assault odds: 40 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Cotabato !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
3766 casualties reported
Squads: 92 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 209 destroyed, 72 disabled
Engineers: 25 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 76 (65 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
633 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 83 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Australian Division
32nd Infantry Division
25th Australian Brigade
Americal Infantry Division
30th Australian Brigade
1st Army Tank Regiment
1st Australian Brigade
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
1st Fiji Commando Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
198th Field Artillery Battalion
2/13th Field Regiment

Defending units:
II/81st Naval Guard Unit
25th Ind.Mixed Regiment
56th Ind.Mixed Brigade
302nd Ind.Infantry Battalion
III/81st Naval Guard Unit
16th/B Division
9th JNAF Coy
11th Air Division
85th JAAF AF Bn

We'll now press on further north to occupy Cagayan and the other small settlements.

Further to the west, between my CVE and Brit CV TF's they wipe out all but a few Jap escorts from the trapped Jap convoys. In total about 25 enemy AK, TK, AO, E, PB and AM ships were sunk over the 3 days.

My BB TF, that shelled Bangkok on the 7th, bumped into the same small Jap DD TF they encountered on their way in. In a short and sharp fire fight DD Asashimo and Oboro were sunk and Nizam fell on the Allied side.

At Singapore troops are continuing to rest and prepare for the China operation whilst we await additional supply and fuel convoys.

----------------------

Submarine Warfare:

3 x dud/missed attacks.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

The slow strangulation of the Japanese Empire continues.....

CentPac:

The Fleet continues to sit off Iwo Jima and pound away at enemy ground units there (about 1/2 days) causing about 100 casualties per strike. I'm in no immediate rush to land here so will do this for a few more weeks at least.

I shuttle CV TF's back to PH when they need to replenish keeping more than enough ion hand to deal with any potential Combined Fleet threat.

Osaka has been the main target for Mariana based B29's over the past 2 weeks. On average 10-40 B29's bomb the city every night with only a few Jap fighters interfering now and then. I've attached a screenshot of the current damage.

---------------------

SRA:

The Land Lubbers continue to push forward on Mindanao smashing the Japanese roadblock west of Cagayan on the 13th. Troops are fanning out across the Island now and aim to encircle the Japs at Cagayan before attacking.

Recon elements reached Cagayan on the 16th and shelling will commence on the 18th.

It's been quiet elsewhere as the ships muster and the troops rest at Singapore.

Ironically SigInt and recon has detected a number of enemy land and ships units moving to Hong Kong.

Although I'm going to have to wait a few more weeks before we can send troops to China I've decided it's too good an opportunity to just sit back. As such 2 x Brit CV and 2 x CVE TF's (5 x CV, 1 x CVL, 18 x CVE) are leaving Singapore tomorrow to interdict and attack enemy positions around Hong Kong. I'm hoping to encounter major enemy naval units in the area (a sub minelayer scouted Manila harbour the other day for example locating 2 x BB's (Ise/Hyuga).

A few small Jap ships were hunted down by DD TF's around Java/Celebes with 5 confirmed sunk (E and PB's).

The Japs holed up at Praboemoelih (Sumatra) and suffering daily air and land bombardments faced an Allied assault on the 16th:

Ground combat at Praboemoelih (48,92)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34187 troops, 578 guns, 734 vehicles, Assault Value = 1055

Defending force 45894 troops, 631 guns, 733 vehicles, Assault Value = 961

Allied adjusted assault: 988

Japanese adjusted defense: 43

Allied assault odds: 22 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3662 casualties reported
Squads: 46 destroyed, 254 disabled
Non Combat: 82 destroyed, 73 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 75 (9 destroyed, 66 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Allied ground losses:
1442 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 195 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 38 (2 destroyed, 36 disabled)
Vehicles lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Assaulting units:
11th Airborne Division
711th Tank Battalion
82nd (West African) Division
1st Filipino Inf Regiment
364th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
100th Indian Brigade
706th Tank Battalion
14th Canadian Brigade
99th Indian Brigade
48th Aviation Base Force
182nd USAAF Base Force
126th RAF Base Force
I US Corps
46th Construction Regiment
88th Medium Regiment
76th Coast AA Regiment
341 Wing

Defending units:
8th Division
34th Ind.Mixed Brigade
32nd Ind.Mixed Bde /1
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
3rd Tank Division
21st Division
36th Infantry Regiment
18th Garrison Unit
6th Guards Inf. Regiment
2nd Amphibious Brigade
46th Div /1
23rd AA Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
51st Field AA Battalion
31st Mountain Gun Regiment
138th Infantry Regiment
13th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
58th Infantry Regiment
55th Const Co
2nd Area Army
1st Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
34th Road Const Co
21th JNAF AF Unit
1st Guards Field Artillery Regiment
28th Air Flotilla
69th Field AA Battalion
1st South Seas Det.
1st JAAF Base Force
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
32nd Port Unit
68th Field AA Battalion
97th JAAF AF Bn

---------------------

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Cavalla heavily damaged AO Sunosaki with a torpedo west of Luzon on the 11th.

SS Barbel sank AKL Oridono Maru off Sapporo on the 16th.

On the other side SS Manta was heavily damaged by an ASW TF and SS Hackleback sunk.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CentPac:

Same old same old here with the Allied fleet sitting off Iwo Jima bombing the retched place every 2nd day on average.

B29's continue to hit Osaka at night slowly continuing to smash the industry there.

-----------------------

SRA:

The Allies continue to re-occupy Mindanao. The only Jap held centres are the nearly surrounded Cagayan garrison and a small Jap force at Zamboanga.

My combined Brit CV/CVE Fleet's headed east from Singapore and has had an action packed 20-22nd December off Luzon and Hong Kong. The first encounters with Jap shipping occurred west of Luzon when a mixture of Merchant and Military (CA/CL's) were detected at Manila on the 20th. 4 x AK and CL Abukuma were reported sunk. There was no enemy air interference on either the 20th or 21st.

On the 21st the Fleet moved northwards to a position midway between Luzon and Hong Kong. Jap Naval elements attempted to engage my CV's at night but the escorts performed well like in the battle below:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Iba at 77,75, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Nachi, Shell hits 10, heavy fires
DD Takanami
DD Kishinami, Shell hits 1
DD Hayanami
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1
DD Arashi
DD Yamagumo
DD Yunagi

Allied Ships
CVE Gambier Bay, Shell hits 1
CVE Nehenta Bay
CVE Ommaney Bay
CVE Petrof Bay, Shell hits 2
CVE Savo Island, Shell hits 1
CVE Rudyerd Bay, Shell hits 1
CVE Battler, Shell hits 2
CVE Activity
CVE Rajah
BB Queen Elizabeth, Shell hits 2
CA Exeter
CL Phoenix
CLAA Van Heemskerck
CLAA Black Prince
DD Taylor
DD Gwin
DD Bailey
DD Sampson
DD Hammann
DD Russell
DD O'Brien
DD Walke, Shell hits 1
DD Morris
DD Isaac Sweers
CA Chicago II

Air raids during the day finished off CA Nachi, CL Kiso and DD Nowaki.

The 22nd saw the Fleets south of Hong Kong and amidst a range of enemy TF's trying to get away from and harbouring near Hong Kong. The jackpot was the locating of and sinking of the 2 Hybrid BB's Ise and Hyuga.

A moderate enemy Air raid (50 enemy planes) from Hong Kong didn't penetrate my CV CAP.

The CV's will stay on station tomorrow to try and take down more enemy shipping that hasn't fled the area.

--------------------

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Piranha sank PB Rokko Maru SW of Japan on the 17th.

SS Sea Fox turned the tables and sank E Kamo from an ASW TF west of Japan on the 19th December.

SS Rock blew up AKL Sunten Maru trying to flee Hong Kong on the 22nd.

-----------------------

As an FYI I need 3,100 more VP's to get AV!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The main action today was south of Hong Kong.

During the night the Japanese launched a very daring and determined attack on one of my CVE TF's sinking 4 x CVE and 1 x DD!:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Hong Kong at 78,65, Range 4,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Avenger II: 3 destroyed
Corsair II: 12 destroyed
F4U-1D Corsair: 39 destroyed
TBM-3 Avenger: 4 destroyed
TBM-1C Avenger: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Hamanami, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
DD Shinonome
DD Murakumo, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
DD Sagiri, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
DD Yugiri, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DD Momi, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Kashi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Shiokaze, Shell hits 4

Allied Ships
CVE Gambier Bay, Shell hits 41, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CVE Nehenta Bay, Shell hits 18, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVE Ommaney Bay, Shell hits 25, on fire
CVE Petrof Bay, Shell hits 28, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CVE Savo Island, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 7, and is sunk
CVE Rudyerd Bay, Shell hits 26, on fire
CVE Battler, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CVE Activity
CVE Rajah, Shell hits 2
BB Queen Elizabeth, Shell hits 1
CA Exeter
CL Phoenix
CLAA Van Heemskerck
CLAA Black Prince
DD Taylor
DD Gwin, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
DD Bailey
DD Sampson
DD Hammann
DD Russell, Shell hits 19, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD O'Brien, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Walke
DD Morris
DD Isaac Sweers
CA Chicago II, Shell hits 2

Some measure of vengeance was exacted during the day as CV Air sank several (10-15 reported) AK's east of Hong Kong and located both Musashi and Yamato off Hong Kong:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 11
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 4

Allied aircraft
Avenger II x 17
Barracuda II x 15
Corsair II x 12
Hellcat F.II x 4
Seafire L.III x 4
F4U-1D Corsair x 52
F6F-5 Hellcat x 19
TBM-3 Avenger x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Avenger II: 8 damaged
Barracuda II: 14 damaged
Barracuda II: 1 destroyed by flak
Corsair II: 1 destroyed
F4U-1D Corsair: 1 destroyed
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
TBM-3 Avenger: 11 damaged
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2
xAK Ikushima Maru
CA Myoko
CL Sakawa
CL Naka
DD Hatsuharu
BB Yamato
CL Yahagi
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1
AMC Hokoku Maru
CL Kashima, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Kumano

Unfortunately my CV's are low on ammo and virtually out of torpedoes. As such we're retiring back to Singapore. I'll keep an eye on the Hong Kong area with recon and potentially return when I've re-armed.

I'll probably be ready to send troops to the area (via Pakhoi) in the next few weeks anyhow.

------------------

Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

[JocMeister]

Ouchi! Did you have any SCTFs in the same hex or was the CVE TF on its own?

[Speedysteve]

It 'decided' to retreat from an enemy TF (despite having absolute danger and do not retreat orders) right into the path of the enemy DD TF and as such was on it's own[8|]

The 'main hex' containing my other CV/CVE TF's has a BB TF guarding them.

[JocMeister]

That sucks [:(]

[Speedysteve]

It does (and in RL it would be a tragedy) but in the grand scheme of things it's a minor blip towards the nearing victory.