Matrix Games Forums

Just a little teaser, I'm playing the turn right now. [:D]

January 6th, 1942

Malaya:

The "CAP trap" at Singapore worked! Gary left all the Zeros at Kuching, where they flew a heavy CAP... [:-]



The obvious thing to do would be to send my bombers to Kota Bharu, to destroy the damaged Sallys. I decided against it (he might have set up a strong CAP) and will try another ground attack on JB. All fighters are set to 100 % escort, I want all damaged planes repaired before I fly CAP again.

DEI:

Lots of TF sightings this turn. He's massing forces in the South China Sea and between Mindanao and Palau. He's probably going to use two pincers, one from Kuching and one from Manado, to overwhelm my defenses.

The western pincer. The BB at Saigon should be the damaged Fuso.



The eastern pincer. Some traps are set here: 3 PT boat squadrons, CL Boise, some cruisers south of Amboina, and Vildebeests and T.IVa's at Jolo Island and Tarakan. Furthermore, 10 Salmon and Perch class submarines have left Soerabaja and are heading into this area.



To be honest, I have no idea were he will strike. Palembang, Java, Tarakan/Balikpapan, Amboina... everythings possible, even Timor/northern Oz. It will be interesting to see what air cover he will bring along.

Why some people say that Allied SigInt is useless is beyond me. Several days ago I received reports that 1 Japanese division is on its way to Bangkok, and sent 3 submarines to intercept. Today, SS Searaven fired 10 torpedoes, and all missed! [:@]


The fires on the PoW were put out today, she's at 93/53/0 now. [&o]

Philippines:

Forgot to cancel the bombardment attack. Slight losses on both sides.

China:

The usual stuff...

SWPac:

Nothing to report.

CentPac:

I should be glad that Midway is still in Allied hands, but somehow I feel cheated...

what i'm most surprised is that your oppenant hasn't wrapped up Minadano by now.

I like your style of AAR with the maps and descriptions of combat rather than reading someone's combat reports. [&o][&o] it is very easy to follow and understand what is going on. With so many AAR's to read, it is easy to get overwhelmed with trying to follow along.

KUDOS!!!!

ORIGINAL: KDonovan
what i'm most surprised is that your oppenant hasn't wrapped up Minadano by now.

In CHS, the only size 4 airfield in the PI's south of Luzon is at Cagayan, which is mountanous and well defended (but with limited supply). Davao AF = 2, Jolo AF = 3. No Betty slamdunks here, although of course Davao can handle fighters and dive-bombers, Jolo level bombers as well if one is willing to suffer the penalties.

Historically the Japanese landed at Davao on December 20th and establised a seaplane base there. No serious attempt was made to capture the rest of the island until April.

Martin - how did those troops get to that place to hex' east of Tarakan?

ORIGINAL: timtom

Martin - how did those troops get to that place to hex' east of Tarakan?

To be honest, I'm not sure. Those unfortunate troops are a fragment of the Tarakan base force. I suppose it happened when I was loading this unit on transports. Some Japanese DD's came for a visit, and maybe they drove the TF out of the hex. The transport (set to "unload", I guess) then unloaded this fragment. I noticed those troops no more than a couple of turns ago myself, and that's the only explanation I can offer. I'm afraid they will be stuck in this place forever, there's no chance for an evacuation.

KDonovan,
timtom is right about Mindanao. With Manado (AF = 3) and Kendari (AF = 4) in Japanese hands, there's really no need to conquer this island, too. I've already evacuated all base forces to Java (entirely, not fragments), only Inf LCU's are still present and will fight to the end. I might use some PBY's to fly some aviation support squads from Manila to Cagayan in the near future, and then transfer some LB's to that island. Should be a nasty surprise for Gary...

ny59giants,
thank you very much! Feedback is always welcome. [8D]

January 7th, 1942

Burma:

Today the 55th Division took Moulmein (abandoned), so it's time for a first report from this theater.



I evacuated the Rangoon Base Force and the largest part of the CD unit to Port Blair, which is (together with Sabang) crucial in order to transfer Hurricanes from India to Malaya. The 1st and 2nd Burma Brigades were used in my little northern Malaya adventure; now they are guarding Ceylon. That leaves me with a puny force to defend Burma until the Chinese arrive at Mandalay, which is my main goal right now.

The two Indian Brigades are guarding the Irrawaddy; I was hoping that the Burma Rifles could join them before the Japanese arrive and cross the river. I don't think that they can repel the Japanese shock attack alone, and then they would retreat to Rangoon, which I have to avoid at all costs. So unless someone has a suggestion, I will move them towards Meiktila, and then to Mandalay.

My air forces in this area: a squadron of Buffalos and Blenheim IV's each, which I did not send to Singapore so far. They have flown a few ground attacks (to delay the enemy advance), but failed to inflict any casualties.

Malaya:

A quiet turn here. My LB took off today, this is what a usual raid looks like:



More LB are on their way, but I'm not sure if I should base them at Singapore, those raids consume a lot of supplies.

Kuantan was taken by a Japanese tank regiment, and the 22nd Brigade surrendered (2570 casualties). This is the only unit that didn't make it to Johore Bahru, and I had managed to evacuate small fragments with subs and barges. At Johore Bahru, all troops received orders to retreat to Singapore. More and more Japanese troops had arrived during the last days, and I suspect that their first attack will defeat my troops. Furthermore, I hope that an undisturbed retreat will pull the 6000 supplies to Singapore, too.

For tomorrow I set all LB on naval attack (in case the Japanese ships from Kuching sortie) and all fighters on CAP again. The daily recon flight over Kuching reported "only" 50 Zeros flying CAP.  I'm considering moving all fighter planes in Malaya / DEI to Singkawang, and sweep the Kuching. I would have numerical superiority, and fighters on sweep tend to do better than fighters flying CAP. This sweep would be followed by a port attack from Singapore. It's extremely risky (I could lose all fighters in the area), but maybe I can defeat his fighter force in parts, instead of facing them combined over Singapore. Tomorrows recon flight will show if this reduced CAP was an exception, and then I'll decide. Comments?

DEI:

PG Eifuku Maru is the third victim of the small VH2 mine field at Kuching! The remaining mines were swept today.

40+ Sallys bomb Tarakan every day, and the first Japanese Task Force (2 CA's) will arrive here tomorrow, so I guess this will be his (first) target. The invasion convoy is still far away, so it looks like I will have some time to gather my forces. For instance, 22 Army Dauntless´ arrived at Makassar today, the remaining parts of the 2 squadrons are still being uncrated at Darwin (they transfered by rail from Brisbane). The third squadron is at Port Moresby.

Swordfish from Tarakan torpedoed a troop-laden AK at Brunei, 1 hit.

Philippines, China, SWPac, SoPac:

Nothing noteworthy happened.

CentPac:

Yorktown arrives at Pearl Harbor. Nice to have the 4 carriers together, it gives me a (definitely false [;)]) sense of security.

A new convoy is gathering at San Francisco, with troops for the south Pacific. Details will follow...

No turn in my inbox today, so I finalized the plans for my first operation in the South Pacific.

Operation Passenger is the early build-up of the Samoan Islands. Savaii, Pago Pago and Upolu are 3 (potentially) excellent bases, and close enough to support each other. The screenshot details which forces will load in San Francisco and Panama during the next turns. There will be two waves: the first one with all units in black (although I doubt that I have enough transports to carry the 71st Aviation Rgt), the second wave will follow at the end of January with units that haven't arrived yet (yellow) or are still assigned to a restricted command (red). All 4 carriers will cover the troops convoys.



Savaii will be build up to a major airport, while Upolu will stop building its airfield before it is completed - it will be an emergency fighter base in case of an invasion. The backbone of my air defence will be 3 squadrons of P40E's (one will go to Suva), Mohawks and a few P40B's thrown in for good measures. A-29 Bostons and PBY's will fly naval search, some Mitchells ASW patrol, and a so far undetermined amount of Liberators and B-17's will be based here. A minefield and a small submarine division will complete my defense.

I have chosen the Samoan Islands because I can use these bases to put a lot of pressure on Canton Island, which is probably very high on Gary's wish list. Canton Island is only 12 hexes from Savaii, which means that it is within normal range for Liberators, and within extended range for A-29's and B-17's. They will prepare the island for an early recapture. Unless, of course, Japan decides to conquer the Samoan Islands, too. I have no illusions that I can hold these islands if Gary really wants them, but to subdue three mutually supporting air bases he'll need KB and a major part of his surface fleet, and it should take him a while. And if he doesn't take Pago Pago and Savaii at once (both invasions should be quite costly), he's risking an attritional battle far away from the Home Islands.

The most dangerous strategy would be to invade Canton and the Fiji's, and try to isolate Samoa. Fortunately AB's map doesn't end behind Pago Pago, there are the Society Islands which can protect my LOC to Panama. Losses in merchant shipping would be nevertheless very high in this case. Suppressing Suva from Savaii is almost impossible, as it is 14 hexes away, and Nandi can be used as a supporting air base.

Bottom line: instead of reinforcing my LOC between Australia and the West Coast evenly, I'm concentrating my forces in a key location. If my opponent does not eject me from this position soon, he'll find that I can reinforce these bases with a constant stream of troops (RCT's) and planes at a very fast pace. If he does decide to attack early, it will will tie down a major part of his naval and ground assets during his crucial expansion phase. The kicker is that I'm not risking a major LCU in this operation (the 2nd Marines are guarding Pearl Harbor while prepping for Suva).

That's the plan, but it can still be changed. I'm open for suggestions, comments and even vehement criticism! [:)]

Given that you've got a house-rule effectively ruling out an invasion of Panana, are there any restrictions on yourself not to release the Panama air- and ground garrison?

I think you're right to bulk up the SOPAC position, though. I think the Allied player needs to draw up a list of expendable units and commit those to make the Japanese fight for their gains and buy time. However the MC3744 vs Gen.Hoepner AAR demonstrated how the defense needs to be well prep'd not to invite disaster (Hoepner basically loaded up 3-4 divs and hovered up MC's island garrisons). It's a shame that the game doesn't really reward a tenacious defense in terms of casualties inflicted on the attacker - it would make the loss of an extended garrison easier to bear if you could gut an enemy division in the process, both in terms of VP and otherswise.

You might be interested to know that the next version of CHS (if there is one) will hold a review of USMC aviation, which preliminarily indicates that several USMC aviation sqds should become available much earlier.

Yours is easily my favourite AAR around here and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

January 8th, 1942

Malaya:

3 LCU's are still 15 miles away from Singapore, so the 6000 supplies remained at Johore Bahru.

Allied and Japanese LB took of today. There's only a Kingfisher squadron on ASW at Bankha.



For tomorrow I have planned something special, I will cover it in a second post later this evening.

DEI:

A Japanese TF arrived at Tarakan, but no troops unloaded. Is he evacuating?

The Swordfish squadron at Tarakan flew two mission today. In the AM phase, they torpedoed DD Harukaze. Hooray! [:)] To add insult to injury, my local PT boat squadron jumped at the damaged destroyer lateron and put 22 shells into it, without suffering any damage! [:D] Perfect, now they don't have to reload TT's at Soerabaja!

SS KVIII joined the fray and put a fish into AK Havana Maru at Tarakan.

In the PM phase, the Swordfish flew to Brunei:

Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 33,56
 
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
 
Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 7
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 2 destroyed
 
Japanese Ships
PC Shonan Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
AP Kashiwara Maru, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire
 
Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported

Let me summarize: 7 Swordfish torpedoed a DD, a PC and an AP in a single day! Whatever Gary's planning in the DEI, it didn't start good.

My recon pilots reported several enemy TF's between Davao, Manado and Davao; my subs arrived just in time and are fanning out.



China:

The usual air raids. Hong Kong still Allied.

SWPac:

16 A-24 from Port Moresby flew a ground attack mission against the 23rd NLF at Lae and inflicted 39 casualties.

Ro-61 sinks near Gili Gili, the first confirmed victim of the Australian ASW TF.

SoPac:

Something is happening here!!



I have to be careful, KB might be in the area.

CentPac:

SS I-1 interrupted a refueling operation several hexes northwest of Pearl Harbor by putting a fish into AO Sepulga! Now a fast transport TF returning from Midway is without fuel and several days away from Pearl Harbor. [:@] At least the destroyers damaged the submarine slightly with 1 hit.

Operation Walking Mountain

"If the prophet does not come to the mountain, the mountain has to come to the prophet."

In this case, the mountain is our top ace, Maj. "Pappy" Boyington (of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" fame), and the 50 Zeros over Kuching are the prophets. After the latest Oscar debacle, Gary isn't contesting the sky above Singapore anymore. I decided not to wait until Gary gathers enough fighters to take care of my Singapore CAP again. Instead, I'll try to break the spine of the Japanese air force in the area, the 50 Zeros CAP'ing Kuching.

Exactly 150 Allied fighters transfered to Singkawang (level 3 AF) today, with orders to engage and destroy the enemy CAP. After they (hopefully) took care of the Japanese fighters, LB from Singapore will attack Kuching harbor, were a large fleet is gathering. Weather forecast is clear.



I'm risking everthing here. Almost all fighter squadrons from Malaya and the DEI are at Singkawang. But if I manage to defeat those Zeros, Gary will have to pull them out and rebuild them. I have numbers on my side (I expect 100 fighters to actually make it to Kuching), morale, and the sweep bonus, which seems to quite considerable. I might even have a height advantage, as the CAP is probably set rather low, to take care of potential low level torpedo runs by my TB's.

Next turn should be interesting...

ORIGINAL: timtom

Given that you've got a house-rule effectively ruling out an invasion of Panana, are there any restrictions on yourself not to release the Panama air- and ground garrison?

Yes: Political Points. It would take maybe 10 months to "buy" the RCT's and planes that are currently assigned to WC at Panama, and I need PPs for many other things, too. I've got all LCU's at Panama prepping for different objectives, so on paper I've got no real dedicated garrison for the Panama Canal Zone, but there will be a considerable amount of infantry based here for the next years. I would keep a garrison at Panama even if I had enough PPs, but right now there's really no need to think about that.

I think you're right to bulk up the SOPAC position, though. I think the Allied player needs to draw up a list of expendable units and commit those to make the Japanese fight for their gains and buy time. However the MC3744 vs Gen.Hoepner AAR demonstrated how the defense needs to be well prep'd not to invite disaster (Hoepner basically loaded up 3-4 divs and hovered up MC's island garrisons). It's a shame that the game doesn't really reward a tenacious defense in terms of casualties inflicted on the attacker - it would make the loss of an extended garrison easier to bear if you could gut an enemy division in the process, both in terms of VP and otherswise.

I remember this AAR! In fact, Gen. Hoepner's AAR was the first one I've read on this forum, even before I had this game. Too bad it ended...

I'm not sure if mc3744 still had all his carriers when Gen. Hoepner mopped up SoPac with his LCU Death Star, I would have to check. I'm not going to risk my carriers for a very long time (sorry in advance if this makes for a boring AAR), except for a small raid here and there if I can confirm KB's presence somewhere else. The mere existance of an untouched USN carrier fleet would force the Japanese player to guard this massive invasion convoy with KB all the time. If Gary decides to use Hoepner's strategy against me, I won't be able to stop him in SoPac, but I will have plenty of opportunites to strike somewhere else. Another difference is that I'm playing on AB's extended map, were the Allied cannot be thrown out of SoPac completely - the main objective of Gen. Hoepner's (and AdmiralLaurent's) SoPac strategy.

You might be interested to know that the next version of CHS (if there is one) will hold a review of USMC aviation, which preliminarily indicates that several USMC aviation sqds should become available much earlier.

Sounds great! But will I have the pools to keep them full?

Yours is easily my favourite AAR around here and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

Thanks timtom, it's very nice to have some regulars. [:)]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ORIGINAL: timtom

You might be interested to know that the next version of CHS (if there is one) will hold a review of USMC aviation, which preliminarily indicates that several USMC aviation sqds should become available much earlier.

Sounds great! But will I have the pools to keep them full?

Ehrm, can't answer that one - I only do the footwork for the OOB...

The existing CHS USMC/land-based USN air OOB is lifted from stock. The latter has been reviewed, but unfortunately not in time for 2.08. The former is proving somewhat more tricky in terms of getting comprehensive literature, but we should be able to cobble something together.

I believe the stock USMC air OOB is based at least in part on Robert Sherrods 1952 "History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II", which is not without its limitations reg. our purposes. Arrival dates are often those when a sqd arrived overseas rather than on-map, in WitP terms.

Fx, VMF-111 arrives Los Angeles 420311. Historically, per Sherrod, this is actually the date the sqd arrived on Samoa, so obviously it must have been either on the west coast or at Panama some time before. Unfortunately, and typically, Sherrod doesn't inform us (in the relevant appendix) when, except to tell us that the sqd began its deployment from the east coast to San Diego in a couple of days after the outbreak of the war.

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ORIGINAL: timtom

Given that you've got a house-rule effectively ruling out an invasion of Panana, are there any restrictions on yourself not to release the Panama air- and ground garrison?

Yes: Political Points. It would take maybe 10 months to "buy" the RCT's and planes that are currently assigned to WC at Panama, and I need PPs for many other things, too. I've got all LCU's at Panama prepping for different objectives, so on paper I've got no real dedicated garrison for the Panama Canal Zone, but there will be a considerable amount of infantry based here for the next years. I would keep a garrison at Panama even if I had enough PPs, but right now there's really no need to think about that.

I'd be interested to know how much of the hinderance VP limitations is? Is it hand-to-mouth?

ORIGINAL: timtom

Yours is easily my favourite AAR around here and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

Yes, the screenshots are superb & it's really easy to follow what's going on. I should hire VSWG for my AAR. [:)]

VSWG - a couple things:

Could you post an intel screen at some point?

Also, a suggestion: I've noticed twice now that you have Northhampton class cruisers in surface TFs. Their armor is poor & in CHS they start with an air-search radar (CXAM). In my CHS 1.x games (3 now, 1 still ongoing) I started to use them exclusively as CV escorts after a couple unfortunate experiences in surface combat.

Good luck over Kuching!

ORIGINAL: timtom

I'd be interested to know how much of the hinderance VP limitations is? Is it hand-to-mouth?

VP? Victory Points? I assume you mean Political Points.

Well, it's very frustrating to see the large number of West Coast LCU's and planes that are desperately needed somewhere else. On the other hand, most of these units should remain at the West Coast / Panama Canal Zone as garrisons, so it makes sense not to have enough PPs to change their command. There are enough PPs to deal with USAFFE / ABDA transfers, so it only "hand-to-mouth" if you think it is not gamey to strip the West Cost of all units. I'm somewhere in between, so yes, I'm in desperate need of PPs, and I'm dreading the day Mr. Churchill demands some ships from me.

BTW, almost equally restricting as PPs is the fact that in CHS most units (especially Base Forces and Divisions) arrive understrength (around 50 %). If I transport those units to some SoPac island they will never arrive at 100 %, but can I afford to wait for them to fill out? The RCT's save the day again, as most of are filled out, or even overstrength at 109 %.

Here you go, ctangus. I'll replace the Northhamptons as soon as my carriers covering Operation Passenger arrive at Pago Pago. Thanks for the tip!



And to put those "181 Allied Ships Sunk" into perspective: [;)]

January 9th + 10th, 1942

Operation Walking Mountain:

I had 148 ready planes at Singkawang, and 142 (96 %) flew the sweep to Kuching! [X(] They outnumbered the CAP (59 Zeros) by more than 2-1...

...and got slaughtered by the Zeros! I lost 90 fighters, and shot down 30 Zeros. [:(]



But they did clear the way for the LB from Singapore, which flew a relatively undisturbed port attack. Sadly, the bombers concentrated on BB Haruna - losts of bouncing hits, but at least two 5in. mounts were destroyed.



Wow, what a defeat! Did somebody say that A2A combat is too bloody? [;)] Oh well, it was worth a try. I still think it was a good idea, and would probably do it again.  I blame the game engine, the Zero bonus, Andrew Brown for unwittingly removing the AVG bonus [:'(], and a black cat that crossed my path several days ago. [;)]

BTW, Maj. Boyington, that lazy bastard, didn't fly!! [:@] It also means that he is still alive...

But there's no need to despair. I have to give up air superiority of Singapore, of course, but I still have more than 100 fighters in the DEI, so Gary must remain careful. Several Hurricane squadrons are on their way from India to Sumatra, and I had some Buffalos in the pool. And now that my fighters aren't tied down in the defense of Singapore, they can roam freely in the DEI. I already have some ideas what to do with them near Kendari.

Malaya:

The day after the failed sweep Gary did the only logical thing to do:

Day Air attack on Singapore , at 22,51
 
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 42
G4M1 Betty x 23
G5N Liz x 27
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 61
Ki-21-II Sally x 70
Ki-49 Helen x 31
Ki-46-II Dinah x 6
 
Allied aircraft
no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 10 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged
G5N Liz: 1 destroyed, 13 damaged
Ki-21-II Sally: 4 destroyed, 22 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed, 12 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 3 destroyed
Lysander I: 2 destroyed
CW-22 Falcon: 3 destroyed
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed 
 
Allied ground losses:
409 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 1
 
Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 86
 
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Ki-21-II Sally bombing at 10000 feet

The few remaining undamaged ships in Singapore have left the harbor, the bombers had been transfered to Palembang, to fly supplies to Singapore for a couple of days.

At Johore Bahru, the last three units made it to Singapore before the Japanese attacked and took the base. Unfortunately all supply dumps fell into their hands, too. Singapore is stuck with 28.000 supplies.

DEI:

A squadron of Vildebeests at Singkawang decided to commit suicide: set to naval attack, they attacked a Japanese TF at Kuching even though a recon plane had reported 60 fighters on CAP. All 8 planes were shot down.

Balikpapan seems to be the target of the large Japanese convoy north of Celebes. Another Japanese DD is sunk at Tarakan by British TB's, but I think this TF is a diversion from the larger convoy. The bombardment TF at Balikpapan evaded all torpedoes. Tomorrow they'll have to deal with 30 Dauntless too, and the area will be flooded with submarines! [:)]



Once more Nells and Bettys from Kuching try to finish off PoW at Soerabaja, and suffer heavy losses:

Day Air attack on Soerabaja , at 23,66
 
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 15
G4M1 Betty x 27
 
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 5
CW-21B Demon x 6
Brewster 339D x 11
P-26A x 3
P-35A x 5
 
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed, 19 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
Hawk 75A: 1 damaged
CW-21B Demon: 4 damaged
Brewster 339D: 2 damaged
P-26A: 1 damaged
P-35A: 2 damaged
 
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Bomb hits 1,  heavy damage (no damage)
 
Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
 
PoW is now at 93/0/0, all I need is some bad weather (Partly Cloudy at the moment). An Australian ASW TF with a good ASW value will arrive in two days at Soerabaja (unless the remaining Japanese Nells and Bettys slaughter them), and they will escort the PoW through the sub-infested waters south of Java. P40E's will fly LRCAP (even if it is inefficient), and I will swarm the area with damaged AK's in single ship TFs to confuse the enemy submarines and TB's.

Philippines:

[>:]

China:

Hong Kong is holding out despite heavy aerial bombardment. Supply levels are increasing, but I doubt that the base's supply level will surpass the needed amount, so no supplies will be pushed to the units.

Pucheng, another abandoned city in southeastern China, was conqered by a Japanese Mixed Brigade.

SWPac:

Nothing happended.

SoPac:

The Japanese AP's south of Tarawa have disapperead. My cruiser TF has split up and moved to different potential target, but one TF was spotted by a Japanese recon plane. Having lost the element of surprise, they will now retire to the south.

CentPac:

I'm now convinced that the Japanese convoy heading dor Midway was supposed to lure my carriers out of Pearl.

Several I-boats are in the area east of Midway. I-5 and some DD's engaged each other several times during these 2 days, the sub took several non-penetrating hits, but the forward torpedo tubes are damaged.

North Pacific:

Nothing has happened here so far, and for all I care it can go on like this. I decided to use Kodiak instead of Anchorage as my main base. From there, I'm going to advance slowly, very slowly to the west.

ORIGINAL: VSWG

Oh well, it was worth a try. I still think it was a good idea, and would probably do it again. I blame the game engine, the Zero bonus, Andrew Brown for unwittingly removing the AVG bonus [:'(], and a black cat that crossed my path several days ago. [;)]

LOL. Damn that black cat. On the plus-side: you only lost at 3:1 so that keeps Gary futher away from 4:1. Also, losing 30 zeros in a day (plus their pilots!) can't be easy on Japan.

I thought you'd do a lot better than that, but I personally like the unpredictability in combat in this game. (At least when it doesn't work against me. [;)])

BTW, Maj. Boyington, that lazy bastard, didn't fly!! It also means that he is still alive...

He was probaly drunk/hung over from all the plaudits your heaping on him [:D].

Nice try over borneo though i was suprised to see so many P40's going down i'd have thought the 'lesser' a/c would have taken the brunt and the P40's do the killing . c'est la vie.

at the very least he will have to be careful from now on. Rebuilding those P40 units will take a LONNNNNG time though.