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Sumatra.
The IJAAF bomber force continues its bombing of the nascent airfield at Nicobar. The 78 attacking bombers score 5 airbase hits and 51 runway hits. Additionally, 11 P-47s are destroyed on the ground. There were only 12 P-47s on CAP today, reduced from 16 the previous day, and they only managed to shoot down a couple of attacking planes.
The allies cargo ships are now on the retreat from the island, but they are attacked numerous times by Japanese bombers based at Sabang. 7 cargo ships, two minesweepers, a destroyer and the CL Java are all hit. For the following day, the Shokaku and other carriers will again head into action, and the Japanese bombers should have one more chance to hit the retreating ships if the weather stays clear.

I intend to launch a counter invasion of Nicobar at the end of October or start of November, I have two divisions preparing for the base already. It is absolutely crucial that the Japanese airforce can keep Nicobar airfield closed until then. Four battleships will also be heading to the area for bombardment duties. The first two should arrive in three or four days time.

Solomons.
The American destroyer Lansdowne is torpedoed and sunk at Tassafaronga. The allies have presumably unloaded a large amount of fuel at the base now. Most of the Japanese fleet has by now left the area. Only a small cruiser task force remains at the Shortland Islands.

Aleutians.
The Japanese carrier force is nearly at Truk, and should arrive in the area in a couple of weeks. I suspect that the Allied carrier force left the Solomons area at the end of August, and so they are probably fairly near Pearl Harbour at the moment.

Jim has been having some computer troubles, so we have slowed down the pace. This update covers 9 turns in short detail.

Sumatra and Burma.
The allies have landed at least 20000 men at the Nicobar Islands, and this includes a large number of engineers. Nicobar built to airfield level 1 within three days, but repeated bombing by IJAAF bombers, as well as regular naval bombardment runs by the BBs Fuso and Yamashiro have closed the airfield and destroyed a lot of the enemy Thunderbolt fighters on the ground.
The Japanese have reserve troops ready for a counter invasion. Two divisions are on transports heading towards Singapore, where they will meet the rest of the invasion force; two artillery units, a tank regiment, an HQ unit and an Independent Brigade. I will look to launch this invasion in mid October. I will try to get the Royal Navy out to interdict.
There have been no allied ground moves so far in Burma.

Solomons.
The US base in the Southern Solomons is now well established, Rennel is at airfield level 2 and has Helldivers, Corsairs and Avengers. I will not try to take on the airfield. Tassafaronga is at port level 2. Large numbers of PT boats are based there. Lunga is still fully in Japanese hands.

Aleutians.
The allies have started their offensive against Amchitka. On the 27th September, 80 4Es and 94 2E bombers attacked, meeting 107 fighters, mostly Zeroes on CAP. 31 of the allied bombers were destroyed, for 33 Japanese planes on the ground. There was no attack on the 28th, but on the 29th, 102 more bombers attacked. 15 were destroyed, but 42 Japanese planes were destroyed on the ground, and two in the air. Amchitka airfield is gradually being destroyed. I expect the allies to invade Adak soon after Amchitka is neutralised.

Northern Australia.
The Japanese are increasing their fortifications in the towns in Northern Australia. Darwin is now a level 7 fort. I am confident of holding on here for at least a further 6 to 9 months.

China.
The Chinese fighter force has been trying to stop me bombing the crucial Yangku airfield, but their obsolete planes and presumably inexperienced pilots are being swept aside by my reasonably experienced Oscar pilots. I am winning this battle at least 5 to 1 in terms of planes lost.

Overall Situation.
The IJN suffered its first capital ships lost of the war, with the sinking of the CV Zuikaku, plus the BBs Haruna and Kongo. The battle of the Nicobar Islands has so far been a moderate success for the allies, they have sunk three Japanese capital ships for the loss of two British capital ships, and gained a foothold close to Malaya and Sumatra. I need to try to regain my position in the area, and if possible gain a victory over the Royal Navy.

In the Pacific, I expect the move against Adak. I have the Hiryu, Soryu, Junyo and Hiyo in position for that eventuality, but I definitely dont want for them to fight the whole US fleet. If I can get a good strike against the US invasion fleet and then run, I will be happy. Crucially, Amchitka and Attu should be safe for the remainder of 1943. By early to mid-1944, I should be able to upgrade the Japanese fighters to second generation models, and these should have a better chance against the allied planes. One encouraging development is the research work on the Grace torpedo plane, it has gone from February 1944 to January 1944 arrival. I should be able to fully upgrade the KB to this plane by the end of February.

30th September to 6th October.
The past week in game has been very quiet, but there have been some major developments behind the scenes on the Japanese side.

Sumatra and Burma.
A large Japanese invasion force prepping for Nicobar containing some 1200 AV of troops is now loading at Singapore. The invasion force is to be supported by the BBs Fuso, Yamashiro, Musashi and Yamato, as well as by the survivors from the carrier battle of around three weeks ago. For once as a Japanese player, it is nice not to have to launch an invasion on a shoestring, there are 72 APs in the force. I hope that the Royal Navy tries to intervene, so I will try and telegraph the invasion force. I will try to land on the 13th or 14th October.

Aleutians.
There have been no attacks this week on the airfield at Amchitka and it has fully repaired. I have 100 Zeroes at the base, along with a daitai of Tojos should the allies launch an attack at high altitude. The second half of the Japanese carrier force is somewhat to the south of Attu Island, but so far hasnt been spotted.

Elsewhere.
Very little action elsewhere. An old USN light cruiser, the CL Richmond was torpedoed twice by a submarine, in the vicinity of Fiji but so far hasnt sunk.
The Chinese are building up their bomber force, they now possess some 60 4Es, which are gradually pulverising the resources in the mainland of China. There is little I can do to stop such tactics, it is a worrying portent of what will start happening from mid-1944 onwards when the B-29s start arriving. The number one priority must be to deny the US from possession of a base in range of the home islands.

Lets look at the Japanese industry. It is in fairly good shape, considering what stage of the war we are in, I should be able to get to mid 1945 and those tasty late game Japanese fighters if things continue the way they are going. The main concern is the number of resources. Jims strategic bombers are gradually wearing them down. The heavy industry stockpile is falling by around 700 points a day, but I should be able to stop this as the merchant naval shipyards continue to be shut down, and as I slow down my construction of Nissan engines.

The counter invasion of Nicobar is on. Japanese troops land at Nicobar a day ahead of schedule. With no allied air force in the vicinity, and apparently no submarines in the Straits of Malacca, it was impossible to get my invasion force spotted as an attempted lure for the British Navy, and so I decided to land a day ahead of schedule. The invasion force is about half-unloaded, and so far the Japanese assault value is 700, whereas the British have 252. With any luck, the islands will be Japanese held within three days.
Allied heavy bombers operating from Trincomalle in Sri Lanka launch numerous attacks against the Japanese invasion shipping, sinking a small AP, and hitting the CL Kashii and a large AP with a bomb.

Looking at the map below, you can see the position. Around 150 carrier planes in a task force centred around the CV Shokaku are three hexes to the east of Nicobar, and are providing LRCAP. 5 hexes to the South of Sabang is a task force containing Akagi, Kaga and CVL Ryujo. These are so far unspotted, and will be ready to attack the British Navy if they do sortie to fight at Nicobar.

Elsewhere.
In New Guinea, the allied heavy bomber force based out of Coen has closed another airfield. Madang was attacked on the 8th October, and the defending Japanese fighters there were absolutely massacred. 25 Japanese fighters were lost for just 1 of the allied P-38Js. The allied heavy bombers have now achieved complete superiority over the south of New Guinea. First Port Moresby, the Milne Bay, Lae and now Madang have been closed. The next target will surely be Wewak.

In China, there was a large battle over the skies of Yangku on the 11th October. The Japanese lost 16 fighters and 6 bombers, while the allies lost 39 fighters. The bombing of Yangku will continue.

The Japanese troops at Nicobar Islands have fully unloaded by the 14th October. The two battleships Fuso and Yamashiro bombard overnight on the 14th, and then the Japanese deliberate attack the next day achieves a ten to one ratio causing all of the British troops to surrender. The combat report shows 20945 men captured and 74 guns destroyed. Japanese transports immediately head to Sumatra to pick up engineers that have been based there; I want to get a decent level of fortifications built up at Nicobar if possible. I will also be landing troops at the small islands to the south west of Sumatra, to see if any of them are capable of building a decent sized airfield.

This battle has, I feel been a great success for the Japanese. At some cost to the Japanese Navy (Zuikaku, Haruna and Kongo), I have managed to eliminate the threat posed by the Royal Navy for quite some time by the sinking of two of their carriers. I will now be able to concentrate the entire navy for the Decisive Battle.

Elsewhere, on the 15th, there is a major 180 plane raid attacks the port at Adak, and the beleaguered base is once again running short on supplies. I have expected an attack here for many months, but with it fast approaching the winter season, and the heavy modifiers on casualties caused when landing that brings with it, any assault is looking somewhat unlikely.

Here is the overall strategic situation. The bright yellow line on the inside shows areas that are controlled by the Japanese airforce. The paler yellow line shows areas that are held by Japanese forces, but where the allies have achieved aerial superiority.

The location of at least some of the US carriers is revealed! On the 17th, a submarine is spotted by a Seagull and a Helldiver at the extreme left edge of the map, south in real terms of Java. This leaves me convinced that there will be an invasion of Nicobar or one of the islands nearby in mid-November. I am delighted for the allies to be fighting in the area; the battle will be fought in area where I have a large number of airfields, and where the only land based airpower that the allies can bring is in the form of Liberators operating from Trincomalle.

It also leaves me with a difficult choice; fight the Decisive Battle now in a favourable location when the US Navy still has respawning carriers and cruisers? Or wait until later to fight, when the US Navy will be able to call on the support of land based aircraft?
A look at the ground reinforcements list may give some help; a huge number of reinforcements are to arrive shortly, and will mean that Malaya and Sumatra is very stoutly defended indeed if I can hold on for the next six weeks or so.

Burma and Sumatra.
I have about 700 AV at Nicobar; one of the divisions has been withdrawn to the Malaya Peninsula. An engineer regiment and a small construction batallion have been busy building fortifications. Level 1 is reached on the 24th October, and I expect construction to continue at about 15 percent per turn to level 2.

The allied heavy bombers have been withdrawn from Sri Lanka and are now all based back at their long-term home of Chittagong. On the 24th, they launch an attack on the Japanese base at Moulmein. The Japanese lose 32 fighters in the air and 31 on the ground, and of those planes, 21 pilots were killed and a further three injured. The allies lose 37 fighters (all of them Thunderbolts) plus six bombers. For the moment, I am happy with those odds; my strategy is to try to only battle with the enemy long-range fighters.

North Australia.
The allies launch a paradrop attack on the 24th, with a paratroop regiment landing on Thursday Island. The Japanese only have an SNLF unit defending, and it has been heavily damaged by multiple allied bomber attacks, but it is behind level 9 fortifications, and the defenders have no trouble holding off the allies. The unadjusted AV levels are allies 89, Japanese 43. I hope to hold this base for around three weeks; fortifications are a Japanese players best friend.
The Japanese airbase at Katherine still holds firm, and Darwin is building up its fortifications, level 8 should now be fairly close.

Solomons and New Guinea.
The allies have now built up a level 4 airbase at Rennell, and can conduct fighter sweeps against the Shortland Islands. All fighters there have been stood down, and will only fly once more, to protect the shipping soon arriving to evacuate the key base force personnel. Engineers are working on a new base at Green Island, which is out of range of US fighters at the moment.

Aleutians.
We have reached the 24th October, so it seems that the allies will not be launching an assault this year; any attack would encounter the severe cold weather unloading penalties. From being the theatre I was most worried about, it is now one of my more secure areas; a significant amount of the enemy fleet is on the other side of the map, and will take months to get back to the area.

China.
This theatre has reverted back to its quiet state. There are still occasional raids by the Japanese against the airfield at Yangku, this has now reached level 5.

Marshalls.
Again, there are no apparent movements against this island chain. 4th Fleet planes are now arriving on the replacements list at a significant rate, and most of the islands have strong fortifications. I have restricted myself to level 6 fortifications for the atolls, as the idea of level 9 fortresses on coral islands seem somewhat absurd.

Burma and Sumatra.
A Helldiver spots a submarine 6 hexes from the port of Trincomalle, indicating that the US carriers are now at port in Ceylon. Fortifications at the Nicobar Islands are now approaching level 2, they should be there tomorrow if there are no enemy attacks. If there are major battles to be fought around this island, or alternatively at Port Blair or Sabang, then I will need the airfields to be in my hands.

There is no major action in theatre this week, Moulmein repairs its airfields and sends squadrons one at a time down to Bangkok to draw more planes; there are now no airfields in Burma with more than 20000 supplies, and so a supply convoy will arrive at Moulmein within a couple of days. Realistically, control of the skies over Moulmein will probably be lost within the next month.

Northern Australia.
Katherine and Darwin airfields are left unmolested, and the airfield at Darwin continues to be expanded; level 7 is only a couple of days away. The allied paradrop attack at Thursday Island achieves little success. Even with an extra seabees unit unloaded by LCTs, they cannot take down a level of fortifications. The Japanese hold firm here, and this demonstrates the power of fortifications.

Solomons.
The allies landed 5 units at the Russel Islands on the 29th of October, and within three days they have built up a level a port. The allies have at least two CVEs covering this invasion force, the Copahee and the Breton. I havent tried to attempt to stop this invasion, the islands were undefended and too close to the level 4 airfield at Rennel Island, but I will try to stop any invasion of Munda. The allies are continuing along the island chain at a slow pace, and that is fine by me.

The Japanese are also quickly building a new base, at Green Island. With the Shortland Islands airbase now surrendered, I will need a base to hold the tactical bombers to attack any invasion force of the Shortlands, or any other bases further up the chain.

Aleutians.
It has reached November, and so the cold weather penalties apply. I shall try to keep my naval forces outside of it as much as possible. I expect the allies to do the same. I am thinking of evacuating the units at Adak towards the end of February; they will be of much more use as a strategic reserve than isolated and starving at Adak. Of course, such an evacuation would cost me many ships.

China.
The AVG, now with P-47Ds showed up over Yangku, and massacred my Oscar pilots. The allies now hold aerial superioity over Northern China, and are in possession of bases from where the 4E bombers can hit Kyushu. I have few fighters that can deal with the enemy 4Es, although the first squadron of Jacks is scheduled to arrive in about two weeks time. I may choose not to send them to the Marshalls after all.

Here is everyone`s favourite destroyer; the Hibiki, after her November 1943 AA upgrade. She has had a very quiet war; the only thing of note to have happened was being hit by two coastal defence shells on a bombardemnt mission in Borneo in December 1941. All three of her sister ships are also afloat.

The allies are on the move in the Burma theatre. The allies start to advance from Mandalay to Meiktila with a huge 52 unit stack. Additionally, four more units (presumably armour units) are heading towards Magwe, and will probably try to outflank my troops fortified at Meiktila.

A look at the map below will show the situation. Although I want to try to hold Meiktila for as long as possible, I need to make sure that the allies cannot outflank and hence destroy my men there. I will try to send at least a division to the "ma" in Burma hex, to stop any outflanking moves, and then gradually bring in by ship additional troops to unload at Moulmein. One thing that makes this plan harder is that the US Navy, or at least a significant part of it is at anchor in Sri Lanka. Finally, there is the problem of the 180 or so 4E bombers at Chittagong, who can cover an area of sea until roughly the line between Port Blair and Tavoy. Any Japanese carriers heading into that area will be in serious danger. With men loaded on transports at Singapore, I need to keep Moulmein airfield open for about ten more days so they can be disembarked in Burma.

The next 6 weeks are absolutely vital. If I can hold the allies for that time, I will receive four INA divisions at Singapore, that can be transported to Moulmein in fast order. Meiktila currently has three divisions with about 1200 AV behind level 9 fortifications.
Transport ships are unloading supplies at Moulmein, and manage to get the stockpile to just over 20000 points, hence allowing replacement planes to be drawn.

The British launch a large attack on the shipping in port on the 4th November, but the obsolete P-40N escort fighters go down in droves. 62 of them are shot down, along with three bombers, for the loss of 24 Japanese fighters (with only 7 pilots killed). The bombers cripple one transport, heavily damage two others, and do light damage to three more.

Solomons, New Guinea, plus Thursday Island.
The allies are continuing to launch large bombing attacks against the Japanese garrison at Thursday Island, but they still hold out, despite being now over 50 percent disabled. Maybe they could survive until the end of November?

The allies launch a large bombing attack against Wewak on the 4th. 32 of the escorting Lightnings are shot down, plus four bombers but Japanese losses are very heavy. 70 fighters are destroyed on the day, and 33 of the pilots are killed. These losses are unacceptable, and so Wewak is also to be abandoned. In the South Pacific, only two major airfields remain open; Rabaul and Kavieng, plus a developing base at Green Island.
In the South Solomons, the Russel Islands get to a level 2 port, and a level 1 airfield within a week of being occupied; a further reminder of the building power of the allies.

Overall, the allies are now getting serious attrition against my pilots, the key resource for a Japanese player, but these are battles that I really need to fight. It is still another 6 or 7 months until the good Japanese fighters (Franks and George-2s) arrive in numbers, and so I need to keep a core of experienced pilots alive until then. At current loss rates, they will all be dead by that time.

Burma and Sumatra.
The 52 unit stack has arrived at Meiktila. There are just three divisions at Meiktila, behind level 9 fortifications. Japanese bombers launch an attack against the ground units, but the flak is massive. 33 of the 73 attacking Helens are destroyed by the flak.

The key air battle is over Moulmein.

I am running in a convoy of fast moving APs to Moulmein which is carrying a brigade. They are repeatedly attacked by enemy forces. An AP is torpedoed on the 7th, and is forced to return to Singapore. They arrive at Moulmein on the 9th. A PC hits a mine, and a second AP is torpedoed by a submarine but the majority of the ships are still safe. I am hopeful that all the troops will be unloaded overnight, and the APs will have set sail before the AM phase. Should this first reinforcement convoy be successful, I have two more convoys, one containing a division, and a second with supplies to go to Moulmein.

There are large air battles over Moulmein on the 9th. The first attack is from 71 B-24s who meet a CAP of 167 fighters. 13 of the B-24s are shot down before they drop their bombs, and at the end of the day 24 are lost, a great success. There are two naval strikes from small Beaufighter squadrons. In the first, 10 of the 12 Beaufighters are shot down. In the second, they are all damaged. No bomb hits are scored. In the afternoon phase, 63 P-47Ds sweep against a much reduced Japanese CAP. 9 of the P-47Ds are shot down, for the loss of 20 Japanese fighters. Of the roughly 250 IJAAF figthers based at Moulmein the day before, around 30 have been destroyed, and another 80 or so damaged. Just 120 operational fighters remain to face the enemy tomorrow.

Surprisingly, the US Navy seems to still be stationed in Sri Lanka, moving towards the port at Moulmein would make any reinforcement run impossible.

Northern Australia.
The Australians are making a second drive against Daly Waters. Recon reports show 27 units in the hex directly south of Daly Waters. 2 squadrons of Japanese Lily bombers launch a ground attack on the 8th, scoring a limited success. I only turn off one of the squadrons for the 9th, and a disaster ensues. From a strike of 12 Tonys, and 12 Lilys, every single plane is shot down by the allied LRCAP. Darwin has built level 8 fortifications.

At Thursday Island, the allied deliberate attacks are gradually wearing down the Japanese defenders. Three days of deliberate attacks have brought the fortifications down to level 6. The island will fall within the next week.

Aleutians.
The allies are now bringing large numbers of troops to the island next to Adak (I forget the name). On the 9th, 3AKs are torpedoed by Bettys apparently causing 342 casualties. The ships are unloading on the 9th, and protected by a large LRCAP. 10 Japanese fighters and 9 Japanese bombers are shot down.

Total plane losses for the 9th are Allies 56, Japan 116

Burma and Sumatra.
The huge allied stack at Meiktila attacks on the 10th November. The Japanese are heavily outnumbered, about 4 to 1, and the allied attack successfully takes down a level of forts. The allies take 5300 casualties to the 2500 of the Japanese. Total AV at the start of the battle is Allied 5495, Japanese 1420.

Allied medium bombers from Mandalay attack Moulmein airfield on the 12th. 64 Thunderbolts meet 94 Japanese fighters on CAP. 24 of the Japanese are shot down, compared to 14 of the Thunderbolts, but the allied medium bombers are very accurate, scoring a large number of bomb hits, and destroying 40 planes on the ground. With increasing pressure on the Japanese industrial base, and rapidly diminishing fighter plane pools, I decide to withdraw from Moulmein. Any reinforcements runs or supply runs into Moulmein will take massive losses.

On the 13th, the allies launch another deliberate attack. This time, another Japanese division is present. The following results are achieved.

Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 211835 troops, 1147 guns, 1200 vehicles, Assault Value = 4871
Defending force 75963 troops, 346 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1718
Allied max assault: 4598 - adjusted assault: 3851
Japanese max defense: 1760 - adjusted defense: 10481
Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
1560 casualties reported
Guns lost 41

Allied ground losses:
8271 casualties reported
Guns lost 180
Vehicles lost 16

This is a major result for the Japanese. Maybe the allies will stop the siege and instead send the army to flank my position by moving towards Magwe then south. Maybe they will continue the siege. Either way it will delay the allied offensive, and give me time to get the Japanese controlled Indian Brigades into the battle. They are due in just over two weeks time at Singapore.
Why this result is so different to the one from November 10th, which gave adjusted odds of roughly 5000; 3300 is unknown

Northern Australia.
Thursday Island falls on the 12th November. This gives the allies a base within 10 hexes of Hollandia, a key base on the North coast of New Guinea. Within time, that base will surely be closed also. At Daly Waters, the Japanese airforce gains two victories over the allies. On the 10th, 48 B-17s attack Katherine airfield, meeting a large CAP. 22 of the B-17s are destroyed.
On the 13th, over 100 Tonys fly a sweep over the heads of the Australian army one hex south of Daly Waters. 17 P-40s are shot down, for the loss of 1 Tony. Northern Australia still looks very secure for the Japanese.

Solomons.
The allies are gradually building up the base at the Russel Islands. It is now at level 2 for both port and airfield. It can be built up to level 4 for both. Two Japanese minelayers had been laying mines at the Shortland Islands, but they are too slow to leave in the morning. Both are bombed by Avengers operating from the Russel Islands. The new airfield at Green Island reaches level 2, and I start to work on fortifications.

Aleutians.
This theatre is very quiet nowadays. The only thing happening is Japanese transport submarines delivering supplies to Adak, and allied barges doing the same to their forwards outpost at Atka. The allies have built a level 1 airfield in recent days.

With it being now nearly two years into the war, I am surprised at the lack of activity by the US Navy. Their carriers have only been on two offensive operations; in the Coral Sea in March 1942, and in the invasion of Guadalcanal in August 1943.

A quiet period of the war has meant it is a long time without an update.

Burma and Sumatra.
The Japanese are still holding firm against what appears to be the major allied offensive of late 1943. After the allied defeat at Meiktila on the 13th November, the allied forces retreated back towards Mandalay. Now, 22 units are one hex north of Meiktila, and 34 units are heading towards the empty Japanese airfield at Magwe.
With 4 divisions due to arrive at Singapore in the next week, I shall try to make a stand at the jungle hex two hexes to the northwest of Moulmein. The allies have around 5000AV, and the Japanese currently have about 2200, but with more being airlifted in every day.

Due to a misunderstanding regarding the retreat from Meiktila, I will be holding the troops back for a day at Singapore. This will be a real race through the jungles. If the Japanese can hold for the first two allied deliberate attacks, then they will be at a significant advantage, due to the presence of a non-malarial hex at Rangoon, and what I imagine will be a difficulty in supplying the troops. If, as expected the allies manage to push the Japanese back, then they will have instant control of the level 9 airfield at Rangoon, and inevitably the airspace over the Indian Ocean and Indo-China up to Saigon and Malaya.

Northern Australia.
The Australians have already built up Thursday Island to its maximum size, a level 5 airfield, and are now launching attacks against Merauke. This small base is very weakly defended. Currently, only 23 assault points behind level 3 forts. I expect it to fall within two or three days of any allied assault.

At Daly Waters, the Japanese seem impervious to attack. Regular Japanese bombardments are causing over 1000 allied casualties, and dropping the allied assault strength by about 40 points a turn. The latest turn showed the Japanese with 1809 behind level 9 forts compared to the allies 2732. Northern Australia should hold for a further 6 months at the least.

With Thursday Island now under allied control, and Merauke neutralised the allies will more than likely be able to close Hollandia, and it is now that the vital importance of the Japanese base at Kai Island is shown. If the Japanese had no such base, an allied move along the south coast of New Guinea would leave me at the risk of having a large number of troops surrounded in Northern Australia.

Solomons.
The allies have made slow progress along the island chain. Russel Islands recently built up a level 3 airfield. The allies have total aerial dominance over the south of the Island chain, but are not using any warships in the area. I am surprised to see no bombardments of the Japanese held islands of Munda, Tulagi, the Shortland Islands or at Lunga.

Elsewhere.
Very little action in the past ten days. The Chinese airforce with support from the AVG has closed the airfield at Hanoi, and is now busy attacking the heavy industry there. A large number of fighters have arrived assigned to 4th Fleet, and are currently heading towards the Marshalls. CVLs Chiyoda and Chitose will be completed in a couple of days, and CV Taiho is only a month or so away. With Shokaku now heading towards the Home Islands for repairs (at 18 system damage) and upgrades (January 1944), I am thinking of combining them into a mini-strike force.

Burma.
The allies have moved a large amount of their attacking army from Meiktila to Magwe. As the map shows, there are now a large number of troops on the railway heading from Magwe to Rangoon and Moulmein. 8 units are at the crossroads hex, and 22 are at Magwe. There are a further 22 units at the hex between Meiktila and Mandalay, and 4 units on the trail hex to the North-West of that. The Allies have built up Magwe from a level 3 to a level 4 airfield within about three days, it will probably be a level 7 airfield by the end of the month, and hence will be able to close the Japanese airfields as far south as Bangkok.

With the threat of being outflanked at Meiktila, the Japanese are retreating to the jungle hex which is to the west of the "M" of Meiktila. I should be able to bring about 2300 AV to that hex in the next couple of days, and they will be facing an estimated 4500 AV of allied troops. The four Indian Nationalist Army divisions have arrived at Singapore, paused for a day and now three of them are marching to Bangkok. My transport planes there can airlift a division into Moulmein or Rangoon in about 10 days. The next two weeks will be absolutely crucial, allied control of the level 9 airfield at Rangoon would give them aerial superiority over all of Indochina.

Solomons.
Catching me completely by surprise, the allies have launched a paratrooper attack on the empty level 1 airfield at Wau. The Japanese have responded by launching a major airfield bombing campaign of the allied troops there. The allies have brought additional units, surely base forces and engineer units.

Japanese bombers have caused heavy damage, having destroyed over 80 allied fighters at the base in the past four turns, but I fear that the allies will eventually be able to expand the base, and gain aerial superiority over Kavieng and the Admiralty Islands. Indeed, a level 6 airbase would probably be strong enough to neutralise Rabaul on its own. Whatever, at the moment, the base is being surpressed; the most recent turn saw no enemy CAP, 7 Thunderbolts destroyed on the ground, and 11 Commandos presumably bringing in additional engineers shot down by my LRCAP.

Marshalls.
The allies are gradually edging towards the Japanese bases. They are currently building up Vanua Levi (spelling?), slightly to the north of Suva. Maybe we will see a Marshalls campaign in March or April 1944.

Northern Australia.
Daly Waters remains very strong. The allies are not even launching bombardment attacks on the Japanese positions. Japanese bombardments are causing considerable damage to the Allied troops, their AV has decreased by over 150 points since the bombardments started.

The remodeled Chitose and Chiyoda have been completed at Tokyo, but their pilots are very inexperienced, with average experience levels of between 40 and 50. With no on map training missions allowed beside the "training" button, it will takes months before they become even slightly useful. As a similar example, F1/Tainan Daitai, which was all but destroyed in the earlier battle of Nicobar has increased its average experience from 52 to 61 via the training button in the two and a half months since. Hopefully four months of training will bring the Chitose and Chiyoda pilots up to the mid 50s.

The Taiho is due in the next three weeks, hopefully its pilots will be a little bit more useful. Finally, the dive bomber version of the Grace carrier bomber has entered production. The 500kg bomb should be able to do some serious damage.

Burma.
The Japanese troops have reached their defensive position in the jungles to the north of Moulmein and Rangoon. There are 2370 assault points in the stack, and they will receive a defensive bonus from the jungle hex. The allied stack contains some 36 units, with an estimate of 4500 assault points. The battle will likely occur in the next week.

In a separate attack, there are four allied tank units heading down the trail from Magwe to Rangoon. Rangoon curently only has about 100 AV behind level 9 forts, and so it to is in considerable danger. I may decide to retreat everything to Moulmein to avoid getting my entire army cut off in Burma.

Solomons and New Guinea.
Japanese bombers operating from multiple bases in the area; Rabaul, Admiralty Islands, Wewak, Madang and Hollandia have managed to close the allied base at Wau temporarily. Currently there are five units at the base but the allies will surely be ready to fly more in in the near future. Now would be a perfect time for the allies to invade either Port Moresby or Milne Bay, or alternatively to push along the Solomons. All Japanese bombers in theatre are dealing with the airfield at Wau. The map below shows the situation.

The long distance between Rabaul and Wau combined with the frequent flying of missions has left the Zero fighter pilots very fatigued. On the 8th, I turned all of my units there off their missions with very serious consequences; for the first time, allied Hudsons and Venturas based at the new level 4 airfield on the Russell Islands attacked, destroying nearly 60 planes on the ground.

Northern Australia.
The allies are currently trying to close the level 8 airfield at Katherine. On the 7th, 93 Lightnings flew a sweep over the base meeting 128 Japanese fighters on CAP. 31 of the Lightnings were shot down, compared with 29 Japanese fighters; odds that I am happy to accept particularly since only 8 pilots were killed and a further 4 were wounded.

On the 8th, B-17s from Alice Springs attacked. When the allied heavy bombers attack in small groups of less than 50, they seem to suffer heavy casualties. 16 were lost of the 48 attacking. That said, it keeps up the pressure on Katherine. I expect to see the Lightnings sweeping again tomorrow.

At home, the resource pool is still declining steadily, but at an acceptable rate. The HI pool has started to increase again after a long period of decline. It is going up at roughly 200 points a day, and this will only increase as the last few merchant ships I plan to complete are built, and the merchant shipyards are shut down. As the CV Taiho is completed, I can begin to look at closing down naval shipyards as well, and look at building up a large HI and engine stockpile to last me into 1945.

This week had the allies advancing all over the map. The pressure is now really beginning to grow on the Japanese Empire.

Solomons and New Guinea.
In anticipation of a large aerial battle at Rabaul, I have brought more base forces and engineers. The allies launch an attack on the 13th Dec, destroying some 65 planes on the ground. The number of fighters is increased, I now have nearly 230 fighters and an additional 40 float fighters at the key base. Hopefully this will be enough to deal with any future attacks. Nearby Green Island is also being built up, and should soon be a level 3 airfield. It is 6 hexes from the frontline Japanese base at Munda, and so the Grace bombers should be able to attack any further invasion forces. Further back, Lunga is still in Japanese hands, and has been left almost completely alone by the Allied forces. Two submarines have managed to keep it well supplied.

At Wau, Japanese bombers have managed to keep the airfield out of operation, but the allies catch me by surprise and score a major victory on the 11th, with a large number of Lightnings on LRCAP over Wau. Over 80 Japanese planes are shot down, with Judy and Lily bombers suffering particularly badly. Finally, the Allies land the 61st Reserve Division at Merauke and suffer very low casualties. The Exhausted and Disrupted Japanese troops will last a maximum of two turns.

Burma.
From looking completely secure in October, this theatre has fast become a disaster as the Japanese have been forced to retreat right the way back to fortified positions at Moulmein.

Allied tanks reach Rangoon on the 12th December and attack on the 13th to find the base empty of Japanese troops. Faced with the prospect of encirclement, the Japanese have retreated en masse. There are now over 2500 AV at Moulmein. On the 15th, the first allied base forces and engineers arrive at Rangoon. Within two or three days there will probably be hundreds of allied 4E bombers at the base.

Allied control of Rangoon will give them the opportunity to land at Japanese held bases along the length of the Malay Peninsula. Japanese engineers have been building fortifications at these bases for the last few months. Tavoy and Victoria Point are both at level 7, and Georgetown is now at level 6. I will withdraw my recon planes from Port Blair very soon, as it is now completely indefensible. It does however have level 7 fortifications, and so will not be an easy target for the allies. Nicobar is also approaching level 5. Should the allies make an aggressive move here in the near future, I will be looking to fight a carrier battle.

Northern Australia.
This area still holds strong. Large allied bomber raids are having little effect on the Japanese troops at Daly Waters. The coming fall of Merauke will allow the allies to put more pressure on supply routes to Kai Island and Northern Australia. I will look to be reinforcing the key base at Kai Island soon.

Elsewhere.
Japanese preparations are continuing for an attack first against the Chinese at Ichang, and then Northwards towards Honan.
In the Aleutians, there is little action aside from regular allied landing craft supply runs, and bombing runs against Adak. The coastal gun unit there is now 100 percent disabled.
The Taiho is now just 13 days from completion. Shokaku is in drydock in Osaka with 4 ARs and no other damaged ships in port, but has repaired just 2 damage points in the past three weeks.

Thanks for the AAR.  This one is more interesting to me than usual as I'm only a couple months ahead of very similar game. However I'm playing Allies.

I took an identical approach to Jim in Burma.  I moved about 700 AV down the road from Magwe to Rangoon but had most of my force on the main approach to Rangoon/Moulmein. The dirt track hex on the Magwe-Rangoon road behaves more like a paved road/RR hex.  Ultimately this approach unhinged my opponents position and the had no choice but to withdraw to Moulmein.  A wise choice for him.  However, there were extenuating circumstances: Chimaera had about twice the AV you have, and I had to invade Rangoon to draw some of his forces south which weakened his line at Meiktila. He bolstered Rangoon and then I had to evacuate.  Earlier, were you ever concerned about a back-door invasion about an invasion of Rangoon or Moulmein?

Ahoy there Cathartes and good work on saving the River Dolphins[:D]

I never really considered an amphibious assault on either Rangoon or Moulmein. Throughout much of 1943, I had at least 250 AV stationed at both, and behind level 9 fortifications. I also have had a fairly strong naval presence based in Singapore, which would have been able to deal with the Royal Navy had it ventured into the area. Additionally, I have had planes at both of the bases, and they were only closed down in the last couple of months or so. There were only two times that these bases would have been vulnerable. The first was three or four days in early September before the arrival of the Shokaku and Zuikaku at Singapore. The second was between the defence of Meiktila and the subsequent retreat from that base, from say mid October to early December, but by that time I had the KB conspicuously based at Singapore and I was willing to bet that Jim wouldnt risk an engagement with it.

Your game is incredibly similar to this one with the difference that you have a war winning position in the North Pacific, in my opinion.
I particularly look forward to seeing the results of your first carrier battle!

Solomons and New Guinea.
The allies have occupied Merauke and now have planes based there, recon planes will visit in the next turn. At the moment, with the base only being a size 1 and hence by house rules only 50 planes allowed it is no threat, but when it is built up to a size 4, it will be able to close down Japanese bases along the coast of New Guinea. I have been building up Biak, an island near west end of New Guinea to be the forward base in the area. It is currently a level 6 airfield.

The battle continues over Wau. The Allies have been flying in additional troops and supplies presumably from Thursday Island, and the Japanese have been flying LRCAP over the base to try to shoot down the transport planes. In retaliation, the allies have been flying heavy bomber raids over the Japanese bases in the area, at Wewak, Madang and Lae. On the 24th, the allies flattened Lae again, destroying some 60 planes on the ground, and shooting down about 25 fighters, but Japanese LRCAP manages to shoot down 12 transport planes on the 25th. This battle, particularly with the new allied base at Merauke is one that the Americans will inevitably win, but is necessary to fight to slow construction of the allied base at Wau.

In the Solomons, the allies have been using the level 4 airfield at the Russell Islands to launch attack on the airfield at Green Island. They cause heavy damage on the 23rd December.

Burma.
The British have occupied Rangoon and now have bombers based there. For the moment, they are attacking the now empty of planes Japanese base at Moulmein but I am certain that they will soon move to attacking the bases at Tavoy and Bangkok. For the moment, the allied 4Es are at Magwe, but I think that they will be moved down to Rangoon in the near future. The Japanese position in the area is now looking more secure than it was a week ago, as more troops arrive at the coastal base in Malaya, and to the rear area bases in Indochina. I now have garrisons at all bases in the area except for one, a level 1 airbase on a road, which I will deliberately leave empty.

Elsewhere.
In China, Japanese troops are continuing to move towards their positions for the attack at Ichang. I am moving them slowly away from their positions in the north of the country, and bringing in smaller units to try to cover their absence. I will look for a late January start to the attack.
The coastal guns unit which had been at Adak has now been completely withdrawn and will head to the Northern Force HQ unit for rebuilding.

Japanese carriers.
In anticipation of a joint British and American move into the Malayan Peninsula, most of the Japanese carriers are docked at Singapore. With the Grace dive bombers in production, all of the carriers have received them, and the air groups should be fully operational within three days. The Grace torpedo bomber has also moved from February to January 1944, and so all carriers should have them operational by about the third week of February.

With the arrival of the two escort carriers, the Shinyo and Kaiyo of capacity 33 and 24 respectively, I am frantically searching for suitable Zero group to occupy them. The rather inconvenient size of the carriers relative to the typical 27 and 36 plane fighter groups has led me to flying them repeatedly from the Marianas to Toohoku (the Northeast of Japan, Ive lived in Japan too long) and back in an attempt to lose a couple of the planes to ops losses. Somewhat frustratingly, despite fatigue levels into the mid 40s, not a single plane has crashed yet. Although in a few days time, they will be willing to die in their thousands in kamikaze attacks, not a single pilot is willing to give up his life to allow his unit to fit on an empty escort carrier.

After the slight complaint in the previous post about the slow repair rate of the Shokaku, it has had 5 damage points repaired in the last week. The Taiho is now two days away. If all Japanese carriers are in position, I should have about 900 planes available for the decisive battle.

Solomons.
On the 27th, a submarine in the Vanua Levi area was spotted by a Helldiver. Being 7 hexes away from the nearest airbase, there is conclusive evidence that there are US carriers in the area. However, unfortunately in the subsequent few days, none of the Japanese submarines in the area were able to spot anything. I presume that the allies will be heading towards the Solomons, with likely targets of, if judging from the bombing and recon targets, Munda, the Shortland Islands and one of the Louisiade Islands, possibly Deboyne Island. The spotting of CL Detroit at Russel Island is further evidence for an attack being imminent.

Three large Japanese task forces are heading towards Truk. The first contains the Taiho, plus CVLs Chiyoda and Chitose, and has departed from Tokyo. The second and third have set sail from Singapore and contain CVs Kaga, Akagi, plus BBs Ise, Hyuga, Fuso and Yamashiro. It will likely be about 10 days to 2 weeks before they are in position to attempt to deal with any allied invasions.

It is now beginning to appear as though the allies will not even attempt to take Lunga, and will instead try to neutralise Rabaul by using the base at Russel Island, and at Munda to base their bombers. Rabaul contains about 250 fighters, plus 80 Bettys, and Kavieng contains 50 fighters and a further 100 Bettys. Both of these bases are within 10 hexes of Munda, and hence are within escort range of A6M2 and A6M3a Zeroes. Green Island is currently empty, but I will look at moving in A6M5s and Graces if I am given a chance to.

The battle is ongoing over Wau. I have managed to maintain the airfield at 100 percent damage, and am regularly shooting down enemy C-46 Commando transport planes over the airfield. I have no idea of the supply situation of the enemy units there. Merauke is built to a level 2 airfield today. Soon, the allies will be able to close my bases in the north of New Guinea at will, and so this will make the defence of the bases at Rabaul, Kavieng, Green Island and the Admiralty Islands even more important. I fear Japanese defeat in the theatre will come within the next two months.

Burma.
The allies are now bringing convoys into Rangoon. There is a reasonably sized CAP over the base of about 50 planes, but surprisingly, the only missions the allied bombers have made have been against Moulmein.
On the 31st, about 40 IJA Helens and Sally get through to attack an enemy transport convoy, but manage to hit one small AK only. There are troops onboard. I retain carriers with a capacity of around 500 planes at Singapore.

Marianas.
The allied carriers were spotted south of the area, as mentioned earlier but I think that they are heading towards the South Pacific. However, Allied ships are spotted at Gardner Island, and a recon plane will be dispatched there next turn. I receive a massive influx of planes in mid January, including more than 200 P1Y Frances bombers, these will be able to considerably boost the defensive capabilities of the island chain.

Aleutians.
Supply levels at Adak are again falling, after frequent attacks from allied bombers. Additionally, the badly cratered airfield is causing a large number of ops losses for the Topsy transport planes trying to supply them.

Short term strategy.
I expect the allies to launch two major amphibious operations in the next month. The first in the Solomons, and then a second one somewhere in Sumatra or Malaya. With the Grace torpedo bombers not yet available, I shall try to avoid a full scale carrier confrontation for the moment. Hopefully, I shall be able to inflict some damaging blows to the allied invasion fleets, as happened in 1943.

Solomons.
It was revealed that the Allies had been trying to attack Lunga, but had been having trouble getting the necessary units to move from Tassafaronga to Lunga. The units are now apparently moving individually, and so will arrive peacemeal in the next few weeks. I shall not be attacking them.

Allied bomber raids are increasing against Green Island. I expect the allies to attack any day now, but have been thinking that for most of the last month. Akagi, Kaga and Taiho are near Truk and are staying out of allied recon range. In New Guinea, troops retreating from Port Moresby have arrived at Buna over the Kokoda trail. A transport fleet should be arriving in the next couple of days.

Burma.
The allies have brought in three British battleships to bombard the Japanese positions at Moulmein. They appear to be based at Rangoon under a presumably massive CAP. In addition, there seems to be a large force of armour moving along the jungle trails from Taung Gyi to Pisanuloke. This has been spotted and units are being sent along the Japanese controlled railway to oppose them.

China.
The Chinese airforce has received new planes, and now sports shiny new P-47D Thunderbolt fighters and B-25J Mitchell bombers. From their base at Wuchow, they are now able to dominate the South China Sea area, denying the Japanese access to Hanoi, Hong Kong and Canton, and making it dangerous for any shipping trying to navigate the sea between the Philippines and Taiwan. As a result, I will look for a new route for transport convoys from the SRA to Japan. The increasingly long and convoluted route necessary to avoid both the enemy submarine fleet south of Japan, and the Chinese airforce in south east China will put further pressure on Japanese supply lines.

At Ichang, the Japanese forces have completed their transfer of forces, and are now marching towards Ichang. The attack should start in about two weeks time.

Air force.
Several key planes have started or will start production in the next couple of months. The upgraded version of the Tony entered production in January, and offers a slight performance increase, as well as a gun value of 12. I want this fighter to be my main weapon against the allied P-38s, they have been achieving reasonable success so far.

Additionally, the torpedo version of the Grace entered production at the start of January, and is now being produced at over 200 a month. The Soryu has already been transferred to them, and I hope to switch the other carriers to carry them at roughly one every three days. With a maximum speed of 352, they are nearly as fast as the Hellcats (365). How will they fare against them?

The Frank has also moved from May to April 1944. If the Tojos and Oscars factories both upgrade to Frank factories, then there will be over 600 produced a month, which admittedly seems a bit crazy. The stats suggest that these planes will be able to compete well with the Lightnings and Thunderbolts.

As we continue into 1944, the past few days have been fairly good ones for the Japanese empire.

Northern Australia.
The allies have been bombing the Japanese troops at Daly Waters continuously for the past couple of months with hundreds of bombers based at Tennant Creek adn Alice Springs. On the 12th, the combined Australian army launches an attack against the Japanese fortifications at Daly Waters, and the Japanese hold firm.

Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 125661 troops, 815 guns, 631 vehicles, Assault Value = 2644
Defending force 98432 troops, 552 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 1804
Allied max assault: 2597 - adjusted assault: 490
Japanese max defense: 1683 - adjusted defense: 4583
Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)

Japanese ground losses:
1652 casualties reported
Guns lost 38
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
3725 casualties reported
Guns lost 49
Vehicles lost 45

Quite what caused the very poor AV for the Allied troops is unknown, but it indicates that the Japanese should be able to hold on to Australia for a considerable time to come.

Solomons and New Guinea.
A collection of high speed transport ships (with all ships capable of at least 5 hexes per turn) have evacuated nearly 10000 troops from Buna. The allies didnt even spot the evacuation force until the day after. However, surely Hudsons and Venturas based at the Russell Islands will now be searching for the retreating transports.

Burma.
With the British seemingly now basing three battleships permanently at Rangoon, and with the range 10 Grace carrier bombers increasingly coming into production, I am very strongly thinking about launching a massed carrier attack against the port. Recon suggests a large number of submarines and cruisers are in the port there as well. There would be a high risk of the allies striking back with an escorted 4E bomber raid.

There is now a war between Japanese submarines trying to sink merchant shipping, and British ASW destroyers on the route into Rangoon. Japanese subs have sunk two merchant ships, and British destroyers have heavily damaged two submarines and caused medium damage to two others.

China.
The Chinese bombers managed to sink three transport ships and a patrol gunboat of the supply carrying convoy into Canton. The convoy was necessary however, as the base was running well below the 20000 supply points needed to draw replacement planes.
At Ichang, the attack will commence in about one weeks time. Level bombers on ground attack orders have so far failed to perform any missions.

Air force.
The 12th January was a very important day for the Japanese airforce, as over 500 new planes arrive from the reinforcement list. Amongst these are 8 squadrons of the P1Y Frances bomber. If I plan the raid against the British at Rangoon well, I could get the best part of 400 carrier bombers, plus 300 torpedo carrying planes to attack. The possibility of carnage awaits.

Solomons.
Events in the South Pacific are reaching a crescendo. There is a major battle on the 15th January, and also what appears to be a large transport fleet some 6 hexes south of the Russel Islands. Is it an invasion fleet heading for either Munda or the Louisiades, or merely a resupply effort for the frontline base at Russel Islands? The Akagi, Kaga, Taiho plus several CVLs are in wait.

At Wau, P-38 Lightnings are flying LRCAP over Wau, and the Japanese launch six attacks against the base. The first three attacks, mostly by Dive bombers and Lily level bombers suffer heavy casualties, and do little damage to the airfield. The fourth attack however is escorted by over 100 Zeroes from Rabaul, and 33 Lightnings are shot down. A fifth and sixth attack from Kavieng and Hollandia respectively are again escorted by Zeroes, and the exhausted Lightning pilots are again heavily defeated. Wau is left 100 percent damaged.

At the same time, allied 2E bombers from Russell Islands, again escorted by Lightnings attack the airfield at Rabaul. The 99 fighters plus 11 float fighters take down 21 of the 44 escorting P-38s plus 15 of the 124 Hudson and Ventura bombers. Only a few planes are destroyed on the airfield, many of them being in the air attacking Wau. More damaging however are the base supply hits, which take Rabaul below the 20000 supply points level, and hence unable to draw replacement airframes.

Total losses for the day are on the allied side; 82 P-38s plus 15 Hudsons/Venturas. Japanese; 41 Zeroes, 13 Lilys, 9 Tonys, 7 Tojos, 11 others (Emilys, Bettys, Nells, Judys)

For the time being, I can hold the airfield at Rabaul, and inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, but should the allies get established at either Lunga, Munda or Wau, Rabaul will be closed very quickly.

Burma.
The allied heavy bomber force launches an attack against Bangkok on the 14th. Some 150 allied 2nd generation fighters, Thunderbolts and Lightnings escort about 180 4E bombers. The Japanese airforce is crushed. 30 Fighters are shot down in the air, and a further 90 planes are destroyed on the ground. Bangkok is closed, and I will not attempt to defend it any further. The Japanese airforce has withdrawn to the Thai-Malaya border, and to the three large bases on the Vietnam coast, including Saigon. I must hold these bases, they are now the only safe route to withdrawing resources from Indochina, and similarly for bringing in any more troops and supply.
At Moulmein, the British are launching bombardments against Moulmein every other day. Casualties are fairly low, perhaps because of the level 9 fortifications.

China.
The Japanese force has arrived at Ichang, and has some 5000 AV. I have started bombardments in an attempt to draw more supply to the area; currently about half of the troops are short of supply.