Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

20 April 1942

Japanese troops are moving on Singaojap (sp) in NW Borneo. A Dutch SS torpedoes an AK and the Dutch AF actually scraped together enough plans to hit an empty AP. Larry has moved his Divisions back to Manila and tried another Deliberate Attack which came off at 0 to 1. I know Manila will eventualy fall but the resistance here has bought me precious time. Just about a week before I start moving troops south

[vettim89]

Realize I haven't posted for a while. Will post the May 1942 update soon.

[vettim89]

First the score. Point differential is completely based on Army Points lost. I lead in A/C points lost even this early in the war.

[vettim89]

Ships sunk. I finally scored a capital ship and it was a BB to boot. Yamashiro was lost in the sub onslaught I unleashed as Larry moved through the Sunda straight to invade SE Java

[vettim89]

A/C losses. His Zeroes are taking a beating

[vettim89]

PI - Manilla fell on May 7th. Still a lot of work for Larry to do

[vettim89]

NEI: Dutch forces are backed in a corner but again still a lot of clean up work for Larry

[vettim89]

Top Pilots. With the battle for the Phillipines and NEI about over, the focus has shifted west. Rangoon has become a meatgrinder with daily attacks with 100+ Army bombers. I am rotating Hurricane squadrons in and out as fatigue and damage build. I am thinking about trying to sneak an aviation regiment into Rangoon. If Larry does not move by June 1, I am thinking about reinforcing Rangoon. He needs to move soon or I will make this a stopping point for him.

[vettim89]

Now that I have caught up, I thought I would bring things up to date. It is now May 15th game date. Larry has taken all of Java except Soroebaja and the base immedite to the NE of it. He has landed at Koepang which was my last forward sub base. I move the AS based there to Broome but I have a hunch this is a temporary base at best. My short legged Dutch subs may become useless very soon. Larry has taken the Admiralty Islands and Dobodura (but not Buna). He has occupied Bougainville but no further south in the Solomons.

On the Allied side, lots of defensive preparations. I have moved about a million units of supply to Oz. Also I have moved Oil in to support the HI there. Fuel continues to be a problem in Oz. Almost all SWPac units are at Lahai and SoPac units are at Hilo. Several TransTF are at Hilo and will began loading tomorrow. My full CV force will then escort these units to New Caledonia. Once this units are well entrenched, I will then move SWPAc units to Oz. The I will move CentPac units to Canton Island in preparation for an offensive in the Gilberts presently scheduled for August.

All in all the game is going well for me so far. My ability to hold Manila for 5 full months tied up so much of Larry's assets that he will likely never be able to catch up.

[vettim89]

Soroebaja fell under the weight of three Divisions and a Tank RGT. The Japanese CV's reappeared: some are SE of Trico and some are SW of Wake. Waiting to see if this is a prelude to an invasion of Ceylon or just a raid. I suspect the TF near Wake is escorting a resupply mission

[vettim89]

21 May 1942

I forget the name but Larry took the base on the NE corner of Palawan (PI). This base was unoccupied. SS Trusty put 2 TT's in ML Kuroshima today. This ship was reported sunk. If FOW confirms this kill, it will be the 10th ML I have sunk thus far. Don't know how many of these the IJN has, but I have to believe I have put a serious dent in this group. This can only mean good things for me in the future. My troops at Hilo will begin reloading tomorrow - I loaded them up but forgot to send a destination so they all promptly unloaded. I will send them all to Kona this time where they will rendevous with 2 ASW TF and my CV's. I have sent a large number of AK's around OZ and toward PH. They are now approaching Pogo Pogo.

[vettim89]

23 May 1942

No new invasions. Rangoon has become even more of a meatgrinder with Larry sending strikes with 70 Fighters and nearly 100 bombers. The Brits are holding up amazingly well. My lack of Aviation support here is my downfall. The chance of getting a unit in by any route other than overland is hopeless. Considering Rangoon is so isolated, I don't know if I really want to risk a Av Support unit there anyway. Will have to consider this. I am hesitant to commit major forces to Burma as it will expose my left flank in India.

My troops are loading up at Hilo and should depart tomorrow or the next day for New Caledonia. I have Americal, 2nd Marine Divs, two BF's, two EAB, a FA rgt, and an AA Rgt. This force is meant to be defensive alone. My offensive operations are planned into the Gilberts at this point. But that is a long way away. Once the troops are safely ashore in New Caledonia, my transports will head back to pick up SWPac units and move them to Oz/PM. PM is becoming a question for me. Originally I had conceded its loss to Larry especially after KB wiped out the Aussie Navy. But with him still bogged down in the PI and NEI, I am beginning to think I may be able to hold. When the SWPac units approach OZ, I will evaluate whether to send them to PM and maybe Gili GIli vs OZ.

I should log into the scenario as Japanese and see how badly Larry's AP losses have really hurt him. If I had lost 34 AP's at this point, I would be crippled. How badly has this hindered Larry's ability to conduct major offensive operations?

[vettim89]

25 May 1942

Wewak fell. SS Haddock put two TT's into an AK. That is about it. One more day before the trans leave for NC

[vettim89]

27 May 1942

Larry has landed at Cebu with 10 k troops. First attack went off at 1:1 and reduced forts to 3. Likely will fall in 3 or 4 days. Japanese paratroops took Puerto Princess in the southern PI. I am going to evacuate my air units from Rangoon. The constant bombing has raised airfield damage to 60 and service damage to 50. Just can't keep my Hurricans in the air anymore.

[vettim89]

Well, the tornado sirens went off and amazingly my clients are canceling their appointments left and right. So I sit here at my desk thinking about what to do. I know Larry has begun thinking about Burma from Sigint. I am as well set there as I can be. Most units are well entrenched and supplied. I am still holding back my thetre reserve well north in India until I see a major commitment of troops somewhere. Larry has a tremendous amount of cleaning up to do in NEI and PI. I still hold almost all of Sumatra and most of the central and southern PI. I still hold quite a few bases on the north coast of NG and all of the SOlomons south of Shortlands. Larry holds Dobodura but I hold Buna and all the dot hexes in the vacinity including Milne Bay.

My present op is to secure Noumea with enough fighting force to stave all but the most determined attack. Once these units are in place I am debating on Moving SWPac units to Oz or perhaps directly to PM and Milne Bay. I have probably a month to decide. We are almost to June 1st which means I should be only 2 to 3 months away from thinking about modest offensive operations. I am still leaning toward the Gilberts as my initial thrust but we will have to see what the game brings. I really don't want to get bogged don in jungle warfare and I prefer the short powerful thrusts necessary to take the central pacific atolls. I am frustrated because what meager offensive power I have is too far away from Larry's units in the NEI and PI top do anything. I am actually hoping he invades Burma to give me somewhere to engage him.

One though I had is to go directly toward the central Solomns with SWPac units. Just bypass PM completely. Just random thoughts as to where I am. WHat about China - I really don't understand the ground combat system well enough to strike there.

[vettim89]

28-29 May 1942

Cebu has fallen. Larry is sending increasing numbers of Zeros and Oscars and the fragments of Dutch units scattered around the NEI. Typical Jap Fan Boyism. Those units that can are moving towards Japanese units to impale themselves upon them. My convoy has set sail for the South Pacific. I am sending them south towards Pago Pago first and then west to New Caledonia. Long haul. Meanwhile my recently arrived AP's from SEAsia/ABDA are heading to WCUSA to pick up some more SWPac units. I use PP's to buy 6 FS from Panama that are now bound for SOPac AOE. I was looking at the ships availability screen and was happy to see that very soon I will be getting nearly an AK a day. Thank you Mr. Kaiser.

Larry is a very cautious player and has not risked his CV's on anything that wasn't important. Will have to see where he heads. I have got to believe he is going to at least take Rangoon, Moulmein, and probably Mandalay in Burm before he gets too adventuresome anywhere else. He is giving me the time I need.

I also discovered that vast numbers of Chinese troops are static in Big B! Thanks Brian ever so much. Between that and the paltry B-17 replacement rate of 12 per month, I have very little to do now.

[vettim89]

30 May 1942

SS Truant is attacked by Japanese ASW forces north of Victoria Point. There were 7 DD's involved in the attack which means this was not a dedicated ASW force (we have a HR limiting ASW TF to 6 units). SO I think I stumbled on an invasion force likely heading to Moulmein. No TF's were sighted this turn but this is still out of range of my units in India on NavSearch. Tomorrow will tell.

No new invasions but I think this is likely just a lull. Remaining Dutch AF units operating out of Balikapapan put a few bombs into wandering Japanese AK's. I have positioned several subs between where these units were hit and Soerobaja which is the closest major port.

Other than that, it is quiet.

[vettim89]

31 May 1942

So we come to the end of May. To my woe, Japanese have "occupied" both Buna and Goodenough Island without moving a troop or firing a shot. A Japanes CV TF is 2 hexes SE of Timor escorting some AP's which I think are likely heading to Lautern. RAAF Hudsons impaled themselves against the Zero CAP for no hits.

The anticipated invasion of Burma has not materialed. Wonder what is going on with the units I knwo are loaded up.

Lastly I payed the 300 PP to keep the two RN DD's in theatre. CHurchile has already stole 6 or 7 DD's from me and he will just have to deal with it.

Big round up coming tomorrow

[vettim89]

Well Larry is throwing a little curve ball at me but I will get to that later. Here is the score. Not much change in the last month

[vettim89]

Ships sunk. I lost very little in May