Threadwar 3x3 - Japanese Animal War

[Mike Solli]

7 Feb 42
 
Busy day today.  We landed troops at Shortland Island, San Jose and the Admiralty Islands.  We took Bandjermasin and Wau (W of Lae).  Additional attacks occurred at Kragen, wearing down the defenders. 
 
The damaged ML Yaeyama sank after receiving more damage from an OS2U-3.  Also, Dutch bombers damaged and AK and AP off the coast of Bali.  These Dutch planes are located in Soerabaja.  That is pretty much the last level 4 airfield remaining to the Allies in the area.  Bruce and Faber are going to start a campaign to destroy the airfield there.  It'll occur over the next week and be wildly successful.  You'll notice that, over the next week of turns, no Japanese ships will be damaged by Allied planes.  Also note that this was the only place where Allied planes were contesting our advances.
 
Our aircraft had a great day today.  Lilys caught the damaged DD Vampire and put a 100 kg bomb into her.  Our Nells caught the DD Jupiter NW of Malaya and put 2 torps into her.  The best attack occurred at Soerabaja.  Nells and Bettys caught some ships in port and damaged an AK and sank 3 AKs, and a SC.

[Mike Solli]

8 Feb 42
 
Today was another nice day.  Our victorious forces took Kragen, San Jose, Shortlands and Admiralty Islands.  We continued to land troops at Bali. 
 
We lost an AK to old damage, but that was more than offset by the Jupiter and Vampire both sinking from previous damage. [:D]
 
The Allies sent a cruiser TF to Bali to attempt to disrupt our invasion there.  It didn't work. [:D] First, the I-164 put 2 torpedoes into the CL Tromp and some Nells put a torpedo into the CL Dragon.  The Allied TF then made it to Bali and our surface escort force put down the Tromp while taking damage to the DD Yamagumo and CL Natori, mainly from the De Ruyter. 

[Mike Solli]

9 Feb 42
 
We received our first DD reinforcement today.  It was the Makigumo. [:D] 
 
Bali finally fell, giving us another 2700 Allied prisoners.
 
We lost an AP to old damage. 
 
Maizuru's port reached level 9.  That's one of our major repair yards. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

10 Feb 42
 
Today was relatively quiet.  We lost 2 APs to old damage.  Most of the losses occurring in the past week or so were from the invasion of Bali.  The Allies hotly contested this invasion with subs, surface forces and their air force (until Bruce and Faber made the Soerabaja airfield look like the surface of the moon [:D]). 
 
Kashima hit a mine. [8|] 
 
I had sent the I-124 to Noumea to mine the place, which she did.  She also put a torpedo into an AK there for good measure.
 
We Landed on Sagsag and Faber assaulted Manila again, causing 870 casualties for 2000 Japanese casualties. [8|]  We keep plodding along there.  They'll fall soon (I hope).

[Mike Solli]

11 Feb 42
 
We received the CS Nisshin today.
 
We captured Sag Sag and Madioen and landed forces on Roxas, Belitoeng and Tulagi.
 
We lost another AK to old damage.
 
Hanoi's airfield increased to level 4 and Guam to level 3.

[Mike Solli]

12 Feb 42
 
We received an AK reinforcement.
 
The KXV damaged an AG.
 
We took Amchitka with the Rowboat Corps.  We also captured Tulaga, Malang, Padang, Roxas and Belitoeng. 
 
Finally, Lunga's port and airfield reached level 1.  I'm not increasing Lunga's port any more.  That initial level was to be able to sow defensive minefields there.  The goal is for the airfield to reach level 4, to base Bettys.

[Mike Solli]

13 Feb 42
 
We attacked Manila again today.  We lost 3000 troops to about 1000 Allies.  Our air force owns the skies over Manila.  They are almost finished.
 
We lost an AK and AG to old damage.  In addition, the Dutch sub O19 put a torpedo into an AK SW of Johore Bharu.  Another AK hit a mine.
 
Haiphong's airfield reached level 5 and Taihoku's airfield hit level 3.  On the Allied side, Unmak Island's airfield reached level 1.  It has a capacity of level 5.  I suspect they're going to build it up to be able to house 4E bombers. [:(]

[Mike Solli]

14 Feb 42
 
Another quiet day.  We lost an AP and PC from old damage. 
 
The Rowboat Corps took Thousand Ship Bay.  We also landed troops on Normanby Island and Taytay.

[Mike Solli]

15 Feb 42
 
We got more reinforcements today!  We got a Ki-15 Babs Chutai and a 36 plane Sonia Sentai for the Southern Area.  The Sonias converted to Ki-32s and started training.  When we get enough Lilys in the pool, they'll convert to Lilys and head out.
 
Normanby Island and Taytay both were liberated today.  They were undefendended by the Allies.  Unfortunately, Ichang fell to the enemy.  It's truly amazing how many Chinese there are in this mod.  You'll see soon that this is just the tip of the iceberg. [:(]

[Mike Solli]

16 Feb 42

We received a MSW today.  We never can have too many escorts. [:D]

Matale (in the Celebes) fell to the Rowboat Corps. Kingkep also was liberated.

Bruce deliberate attacked Soerabaja.  Each side lost a little less than 1400 troops and their fort level decreased to 5.  Their time is running out. [:D]

Edit: Oh yeah, the I-7 sank an AK about 400 miles NE of Pago Pago.

[Mike Solli]

17 Feb 42
 
Tassaf (the hex W of Lunga on Guadalcanal) fell to the Rowboat Corps today.  The Rowboat Corps is a very important weapon for the Japanese.  As long as there is a garrison in a hex, all base and dot hexes will eventually fall to them.  It saves fuel, troops and most importantly, time cleaning up many of those little "unimportant" hexes that must be taken.
 
We took Milne Bay by force too.  (Ok, it was undefended, but it sounds good.)
 
The Allied sub force had a good day.  The S-39 and Shark each damaged an AK.  Neither sank though.

[Mike Solli]

18 Feb 42

The Rowboat Corps took Takataka, in the Solomons today.  We also took Puerto Princesa.

The Truant had a stellar day today. [:@] She sank an empty AP and damaged an empty AK.

Other than that, not much happened.  We are gathering forces to take Noumea, including the Guards Brigade, the South Seas Detachment and mighty KB.  KB arrived at Truk to refuel and fill up with fighters.  Faber allowed this.  It's an important incident.  That used up 35 of the 75 IJNAF pilots in the pool, leaving us with only 40 remaining.  Faber is very frugal dolling out his pilots.  The IJAAF still has some 350 pilots in the pool.  He allows the IJAAF to replace fighter and bomber pilots.  None of the recon or transport units have gotten any replacements.  They probably won't until the pool is used up.

[Mike Solli]

19 Feb 42
 
We lost an AK to sub damage from 2 days earlier. [8|]
 
We didn't take any bases today, but we are actively working toward that.  Bruce attacked Soerabaja losing 922 troops to 2554 Allied troops.  Unfortunately, the fort level remained at 5.  He's been sweeping and bombing Soerabaja and it's showing.  The fighters there dwindle each day, and losses to AA has been decreasing also.
 
I attacked Honan.  I got a 3:1 against the infernal Chinese but it wasn't good enough.  Their fort level of 5 was reduced to 4 however.  We lost 4474 troops to their 2313.  Fortunately, ours were primarily disablements.
 
Bruce deliberate attacked Singapore again.  For the first time he caused more casualties than he incurred (3176 Japanese to 3307 Allied).  He did reduce the fort level from 6 to 5. [:D]  It's still going to be awhile though.  His daily air bombardment of Singapore typically costs up to half a dozen bombers although the losses are decreasing.

[Mike Solli]

20 Feb 42
 
We received a new type of PC today.  In addition to depth charges, it has a 3" ASW mortar.  Can't wait to see it in action.  There are bunches more in the queue. [:D] I also got a Mavis Chutai for the SE Fleet.  I plan on sending them down to Lunga to keep tabs on the Allies in the Noumea area.
 
The I-19 caught a DD TF unawares and put 2 torpedoes into the Chew about 400 miles NE of Hawaii.  She dutifully broke in half and went down.  The cat eaten by the mouse! [:D]  The Narwhal found an empty AP and put a torpedo into her in retaliation.  I'll take that exchange any day. [:)]
 
We captured Bankha today.  I also deliberate attacked Honan again.  This time I took 3867 casualties to 3189 Chinese casualties.  The fort level dropped from 4 to 3.  Tomorrow I plan on resting the troops and continuing with the air and ground bombardment for a couple of days before another assault.
 
The Noumea invasion is on it's way south from Truk to Rabaul where it will refuel before heading out to it's objective.  I'll give you more details on it's composition tomorrow.  By the way, the Allies obligingly built up the port to level 3 for us.  They obviously have no idea we're coming for a visit. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

20 Feb 42 (cont)

I guess I forgot to elaborate on the Chinese.  Bruce finally got the 55th Div to Moulmein.  They found 34k enemy troops there, mainly Chinese. [X(] There are also about 26k more troops in Rangoon.  [:(]  Burma is going to be a tough nut to crack.  There are a scary number of Chinese in this mod.  They may not be very good, but they make up for that in vast numbers.  They've ejected me from Ichang and I fear they may take another city too.  I'll take Honan in the north, but then will have to send part of that army south to deal with the yellow hordes. [8|]

Here is the current composition of the Noumea invasion force:

KB
6 CVs
158 A6M2 Zeros
138 D3A Vals
152 B5M Kates
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima
CA Tone
CA Kirishima
CL Abukuma
9 DDs

SAG
BB Mutsu
BB Hyuga
CL Tenryu
CL Tatsuta
2 DDs

Replenishment Group
8 AOs (72k capacity)
3 DDs

Sub Force
4 RO Class SS
I-123
I-124
I-16 (Glen carry sub of Faber's that's hanging out between Noumea and Fiji to scout that area)


Invasion Forces
1 Guards Mixed Brigade
South Seas Detachment
Sasebo 5 SNLF
Maizuru 4 SNLF
Kure 5 SNLF
21 Reserve Engineer Regiment
1 Mortar Regiment
13 Base Force

SE Fleet Air Force
54 A6M2 Zeros
72 G4M Bettys
18 Mavis
9 E13A1 Jake
9 Ki-46 Dinah
27 A5M Claude enroute to Truk by ship. Will arrive in about 10 days and convert to Zeros.

The fleets are 1-3 days out of Rabaul.  They will refuel at Rabaul before heading south.  They will be spotted when they reach the southern end of the Solomon Islands.  There is a Catalina unit stationed at Luganville (no airfield there) that is scouting out Lunga.  Should be interesting. [:)]

[DuckofTindalos]

No floating reserves for the landing force, Major Mike?

[Mike Solli]

There will most likely be a couple more SNLFs and a Naval Guard that'll head down there.  They'll be about a week behind the assault force though.  [8|]

[DuckofTindalos]

Hmm, on the other hand, it's fairly early in the game, so it's probably not that heavily defended. A couple of brigade equivalents might do it.

[Mynok]

I wouldn't use naval guard units as reserves for the invasion, but I would have some to follow up as long-term occupiers (assuming that's the intention).

The Rowboat Corps is a very powerful bunch! They are sloooooooowwww sometimes though. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

Not sure what I'll garrison it with.  Most likely the base force, NG and an SNLF.  I'll probably use only part of the base force though.