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I think with multiple bases that have decent airfield size I can create a mutual defensive zone if I couple air power with subs, mines, and keep a strong surface TF available. The nice thing about islands is they don't sink... <grin> And I agree on HQa need - a HQa or two for torpedoes is in my plans for this region.

Most of those other bases have small airfields tho - so the allies really can't fly any heavy bombers out of them...

Yes - I've been looking at the map and thinking I might want to take Naura, Tarawa, & Maiana as they all have the ability to expand the airfield to 2 and the cap is 30k for LCU.

Tabiteuea, Beru, & Nikunau might be good too with airfields expandable to 3/2/2 plus their stacking limits are 60k/30k/30k...

Tabiteuea, Beru, & Nikunau might be good too with airfields expandable to 3/2/2 plus their stacking limits are 60k/30k/30k...

These bases are (3) / (2) / (2) fully expanded to 6/5/5. Very critical because one can base the 7th USAAF/7th Bomber Group on these three islands [4E's require level 5 airfields with the exception of B-29's] and proceed to clear everything within 15 hexes. Nonouti is another (2) exandable to 5 base that is gravy. On these 4 islands a total of 25 4E units can be stationed. These four bases extend Allied power all the way up to Milli and Majuro. This is the base of operations I find optimal to start my attack on Tarawa.

Tabiteuea is really key because the port level + AKE's reload BB's. The only such base in that area for the Allies until the Marshalls are secure.

I am of the ilk as an AFB to ignore the Solomons and focus on the Marshalls for that reason. besides the much better submarine interdiction zones.

It looks like Steve is old-school and likes to throw the one-two Jab/cross combination when he steps into the ring. Steve jabbed his Cruisers @ my BBs that are patrolling Johnston Isle. I saw two ships sink and his CR TF has split in two so I'm guessing there's a ship or three with owees bad enough to be running back to Hawaii. Further east is Steve's "cross," a BB TF coming straight up the center line to clean up. As you can see, I'm still in pretty good shape though. The problem is Ammo... My big guns are low-low so I need to drop back to Kwajalein for some bullets.



Day Time Surface Combat, near Johnston Island at 164,112, Range 26,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 2
BB Nagato, Shell hits 5
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 18, heavy fires
BB Fuso, Shell hits 5
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 5
DD Yugure, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ariake
DD Mochizuki
DD Yunagi

Allied Ships
CA Portland, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Salt Lake City
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Astoria, Shell hits 3, on fire
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
CL Raleigh
CL Trenton, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 6, on fire
CL Helena, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Mustin, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Walke, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Blue
DD Helm

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 26,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 26,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Astoria at 26,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA Portland at 26,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Helena at 26,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL St. Louis at 26,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Yugure at 26,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Raleigh at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages DD Mustin at 26,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA San Francisco at 19,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA Astoria at 19,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA San Francisco at 19,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA San Francisco at 19,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 19,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL St. Louis at 19,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Concord at 19,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Raleigh at 19,000 yards
McMorris, Chas H. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 15,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA San Francisco at 15,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA Astoria at 15,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA New Orleans at 15,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA San Francisco at 15,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 15,000 yards
DD Yunagi engages DD Mustin at 15,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages DD Mustin at 15,000 yards
DD Ariake engages CL Concord at 15,000 yards
CL Trenton engages DD Yugure at 15,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages DD Walke at 15,000 yards
DD Mustin sunk by BB Mutsu at 15,000 yards
Range increases to 17,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA Portland at 17,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
DD Ariake engages CA New Orleans at 17,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA Portland at 17,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Helena at 17,000 yards
DD Blue engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Trenton at 17,000 yards
DD Yugure engages CL Raleigh at 17,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Yugure at 17,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Blue at 17,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Walke at 17,000 yards
Range increases to 18,000 yards
DD Yugure engages CA San Francisco at 18,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Portland at 18,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL St. Louis at 18,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Salt Lake City at 18,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CL St. Louis at 18,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL St. Louis at 18,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL Concord at 18,000 yards
CL Trenton engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
CL Raleigh engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Helm at 18,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Ariake at 18,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 18,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA San Francisco at 18,000 yards
CA New Orleans engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA Astoria at 18,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages DD Blue at 18,000 yards
CL Concord engages DD Ariake at 18,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Trenton at 18,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Raleigh at 18,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Blue at 18,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Walke at 18,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Astoria at 17,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages CA New Orleans at 17,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Salt Lake City at 17,000 yards
CA Portland engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Yunagi at 17,000 yards
CL St. Louis engages DD Yugure at 17,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL Concord at 17,000 yards
DD Blue engages DD Yugure at 17,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Raleigh at 17,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
DD Blue engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Walke at 17,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 17,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Yugure at 17,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA New Orleans at 17,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Portland at 17,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Yunagi at 17,000 yards
CL St. Louis engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CL Concord at 17,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Trenton at 17,000 yards
CL Raleigh engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Blue at 17,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA New Orleans at 16,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Portland at 16,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA New Orleans at 16,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Salt Lake City at 16,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 16,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Helena at 16,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages DD Blue at 16,000 yards
CL Concord engages DD Ariake at 16,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Helm at 16,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Raleigh at 16,000 yards
DD Yunagi engages DD Blue at 16,000 yards
Kogure, Gunji* orders Japanese TF to disengage
BB Fuso engages CA San Francisco at 16,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Yugure at 16,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA Salt Lake City at 16,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL St. Louis at 16,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA San Francisco at 16,000 yards
DD Yunagi engages DD Blue at 16,000 yards
DD Mochizuki engages DD Walke at 16,000 yards
CL Concord engages DD Yugure at 16,000 yards
CL Trenton engages DD Yugure at 16,000 yards
CL Raleigh engages DD Yugure at 16,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Helm at 16,000 yards
DD Blue engages DD Yunagi at 16,000 yards
Range increases to 17,000 yards
CA San Francisco engages DD Yugure at 17,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Astoria at 17,000 yards
CA New Orleans engages DD Ariake at 17,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL St. Louis at 17,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Concord at 17,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Blue at 17,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Raleigh at 17,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Yunagi at 17,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Mochizuki at 17,000 yards
Range increases to 18,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Concord at 18,000 yards
CA New Orleans engages DD Ariake at 18,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL Concord at 18,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA Astoria at 18,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Helena at 18,000 yards
CL St. Louis engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Blue at 18,000 yards
CL Trenton engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Helm at 18,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Blue at 18,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Yugure at 18,000 yards
Range increases to 20,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL Trenton at 20,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Astoria at 20,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA New Orleans at 20,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Yugure at 20,000 yards
CA Portland engages DD Yugure at 20,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL St. Louis at 20,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Helm at 20,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CL Trenton at 20,000 yards
DD Yugure engages DD Helm at 20,000 yards
DD Ariake engages DD Blue at 20,000 yards
Range increases to 23,000 yards
Massive explosion on CA Astoria
BB Fuso engages CA Astoria at 23,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA New Orleans at 23,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA Portland at 23,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL Helena at 23,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CL St. Louis at 23,000 yards
CL Concord engages DD Mochizuki at 23,000 yards
CA Portland engages DD Yugure at 23,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages DD Helm at 23,000 yards
BB Fuso engages DD Blue at 23,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages DD Walke at 23,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA Astoria at 23,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Portland at 23,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL Helena at 23,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA Portland at 23,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Yugure at 23,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Mochizuki at 23,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages DD Blue at 23,000 yards
Range increases to 26,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA Astoria at 26,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CA Salt Lake City at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CL Helena at 26,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CL Helena at 26,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Yunagi at 26,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Concord at 26,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Ariake at 26,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Raleigh at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages DD Helm at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages DD Blue at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages DD Walke at 26,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages CA Salt Lake City at 26,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA New Orleans at 26,000 yards
CL Helena engages DD Ariake at 26,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CL Concord at 26,000 yards
CA New Orleans engages DD Yugure at 26,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Yunagi at 26,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA New Orleans at 26,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA Salt Lake City at 26,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Mochizuki at 26,000 yards
Range increases to 28,000 yards
BB Nagato engages CA New Orleans at 28,000 yards
BB Kirishima engages CA New Orleans at 28,000 yards
Range increases to 30,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Salt Lake City at 30,000 yards
CA Salt Lake City engages DD Ariake at 30,000 yards
BB Fuso engages CA Portland at 30,000 yards
Task forces break off...

In other news Steve drove out a couple of tank units in China, I did some more bombing of Singapore & Palambang, and Steve broke out his 4E bombers for me to spank. So far my zeroes are doing a good job with the hi/low CAP. My success might be due to my pilot skill levels also. Later in the war I won't have fighter jocks with 80+ ratings.

Anyway - rinse & repeat. But the naval battle was sure fun to watch!

You should have multiple Lima AKEs at Johnson Island to rearm your BBs.

ORIGINAL: Cpt Sherwood

You should have multiple Lima AKEs at Johnson Island to rearm your BBs.

I start out with Aden class (it's only Feb of 42) and I have those back in the Marshalls. I had this fear of Steve sending 50+ 4E bombers over Johnston and while I seem to be doing ok against his strikes of 5-10 HB I don't think my Zeroes would do well against 50ish of those beasty Flying Fortresses...

Feb 19 was a bit of a snooze. I’d un-assed Johnston so Steve got no soft kills of TKs and xAKs. I even pulled all my AC that could fly after experiencing the last naval bombardment. To tell the truth tho – I’m beginning to regret that. In the back of my mind I’m wondering what would have happened if I’d set my 9 Bettys to Naval Attack @ 100ft?

Anyway – he didn’t bombard – which is puzzling. I wonder if he’s sitting on it with an invasion TF to the east that I can’t see?

I pushed KB NE of Kwajalein but even with a speed run they would be nine hexes west of Johnston – too far for my aircraft… What to do, what to do? I’m chewing on a run to Midway just to pound the island and get in a little tit-4-tat. Or maybe just pull them back to the Marshalls. I’m pretty sure Steve hasn’t seen them yet – I just wish I’d ditched my slow BB last turn when I pushed KB east of the Marshalls.

Other than that my invasion TFs are getting close to their targets and I’m still walloping Palembang, Clark, and Singapore – plus his Chinese troops that are heading west…

Below is a pic with notes on what's been going on @ Johnston. Steve asked me to post so he can read what was going thru my head later when this is over.

In truth - in a month or so this'll be old news and we can trade emails if he's interested...

Anyway - I have a turn to process so I guess I'll see what 2morrow brings... <grin>

2.21/22.42

So @ Johnston… I routed two subs that were east of the isle through the Johnston hex but neither does anything. Steve bombards with his BBs and then they take off NE. No aircraft fly out of Johnston (bummer). What’s interesting tho is that a DD TF shows up and sits @ Johnston. Is this to protect the waters from subs? 7 ships so I could see this break down into 2 or three ASW TFs to patrol the hex… My KB air groups get in some strikes but they’re DDs which means damned hard to hit. I sink 1 DD. I flew my DB @ 14k and they were really the only group to do much…
I’m still thinking an invasion TF must be east. KB should give Steve pause to at least “park” that kind of TF 4 a few turns. Johnston base is 65/54/65 for port/AF Service/ AF Runway but I have plenty of supply and the troops are not too badly mangled. They have a lot of disruption (in the 70s) but that should go down quickly. In truth – I don’t know how much engineer support disruption\fatigue affects air units but I do know nothing is gunna fly @ Johnston till the airfield damage comes down.

I want to keep KB around for a turn or three to see how fast I can get the airfields up… In 2 turns my BB TF should be rearmed and ready to return… Truth is tho – I don’t think I can take Hawaii right now. Maybe later but with that kind a BB TF plus air superiority from PH I’d need KB @ full strength with really-really good pilots to cover an invasion of the daughter bases. It’d be ugly for sure.
Steve also has 4 subs showing close by on the board and he could easily have double that. I never saw the DD force that’s @ Johnston until this turn… Damn I wish I had some long-legged search AC flying from Johnston. And some ASW patrols to force those subs to keep their heads down.

@ Balikpapan I’m unloading additional air support. I ran Betty against Soerabaja with a 9 AC Zero escort but they got chewed up. I lost 10 Bettys to that mission. I brought in additional fighters and have beefed up CAP. Gimme a turn or three and I’ll start sweeping Soerabaja to eat up his fighters.

I should be assaulting Kendari next turn. Mini KB will provide cover. A 2BB/3CA/3DD TF is also closing in. Visions of Force Z dance in my head.

Over near Singapore I’m flying a few naval missions to help reduce some of those ships Steve is running to Singapore while still trashing his airfield and supply depots.

In Burma it looks like Steve is trying to encircle my main forces camped just south of Meiktila. That ain’t gunna happen but its sure fun to watch.

In China I’m retaking Kweiyang this turn. I’ve got the entire 3rd & 11th Armies walking up the trail between Kweiyang & Kunming and my MB scratching the backs of the Chinese LCU that are just ahead of my forces. I’m getting good damage reports on my bombing of the enemy troops on that trail which tells me they have no supplies and are high in disruption. I’m gunna try a pac-man and gobble them up.

Singapore
AV for units @ Singapore has nearly fully recovered:
o 3.5.42 1772AV
o 3.4.42 1752AV
o 3.3.42 1734AV
o 3.2.42 1698AV
o 3.1.42 1656AV
o 2.28.42 1613AV

I’m still bombing the daylights out of his air base plus I’ve got a couple of air groups tapping ships Steve keeps trying to sneak in for resupply.

@ Johore Bahru the 21st Division, Karafuto Mixed Bde, the 10th & 20th Indian Mtn Gun Rgts, plus the 3rd & 5th Mortar Bn Are moving to Singapore. That’s another 700AV… Figure another 5-6 days and I’ll give Singapore another wack.

Palembang
I got caught with one of those BS coordination problems between escorts and bombers. And the fighter sweep I’ve got set up was the last air group to show up over Palembang… You’d think that if your air groups hit the same target each day for a week or so that they’d develop some kind of a rhythm…

Balikpapan & Celebes
Steve got a sib attack in @ Makassar Strait that took out another APD. I’ve got FP flying ASW plus an air group of Mabel.

I’m redirecting subs into the Java Sea and will put in several patrols there and in the Banda Sea to act as eyes for enemy task forces.

I moved in fighters to cover Kendari. I hope to soon by flying PA from there to enhance my intel.

Ambon
I dropped the Sasebo 3rd SNLF there to take the base and should have either came earlier or brought a bigger hammer. I’m bringing a hammer supplement to address the shortcoming.

Philippines
Clark fell last turn. A pair of infantry units surrendered so Steve lost a lot of combat capability… And the remainder of the units fell back to Bataan (mostly engineer units plus an HQ unit). Combat report shows I captured/killed 394 enemy units. The 38th Division & the 80th Infantry Rgt are both aboard TFs and en route to the PI. I’m gunna use brute overkill to take out the PI and then push up through Mindanao and into the DEI. This 2nd phase should start somewhere around the end of march.

Burma Theatre
Near Toungoo my forward units are dropping back to Toungoo so I can keep my supply line clear. There’s a lot of air combat up here and Steve has uncorked his Flying Tigers. My Zeroes are handling their own and my Oscars, while they don’t shoot down many of his fighters, at least tie them up for very few losses. The maneuverability rating and pilot skill must be the telling force in that dance…

The 5th Guards Engineer Rgt is @ Moulmein and railing it up to Toungoo.

The 91st JAAF AF Bn is @ Rahang and moving to Moulmein.

The 6th Guards are on the rail also, down near Battambang and this unit is headed for Pisanuloke.

Pretty much the entire 3rd Kwantung Army (2120AV) is just west of Nanning and marching for Lang Son. They’ll rail to Vinh and then march to Udon Thani.

The bulk of the 11th Kwantung Army (2791AV) is marching on Kunming from Kweiyang.

Johnston & Line Islands
Subs are patrolling Johnston & the Line Islands I’ve captured. I just sent a couple of midget subs to Johnston plus 340 mines and the base is capped with Zero fighters.

Palmyra & Christmas have subs patrolling and I’ve just sent another TF to deploy mines @ Palmyra.

I'll try to update more 2morrow - gotta catch some Zzzzzz...

Never fight a land war in China...

ORIGINAL: 1EyedJacks

Never fight a land war in China...

Unless you are the Mongolian Hordes!!!

[;)]

<My wife is Bordered Yellow Banner Clan to those of you with a historical bent. I guess that makes my little one a native born 'pillager'. [:D]>

Singapore
Last turn I dropped forts down to 2. I dropped about 150 squads in the attack but the ground units @ Singapore are in surprisingly good spirits and the lost squads are rapidly being replaced (I picked up 47 after a single turn). Two more division en route to Malaya.

I’ve sent the 12th Ku K-1 (36 Betty) to Cam Rahn Bay. Goes to Kota Bharu next turn.

Nicks are en route to this theatre too.

Marshall Islands
Steve lays mines @ Wotje. My AMc are clearing the mines.

Gilbert Islands
7th Independent SNLF Coy aboard TF10 and en route for Tarawa.

China
The 4th air Division is nearing Kweiyang & 54th JAAF AF Bn is rail-prepping for a move to Tuyun from Changsha. This will give me air superiority as I work towards clearing China.

Steve has a few LCU near or @ Kungchang. The 20th Recon Rgt & 3rd Tank Rgt. are @ Kungchang & are prepared to throw the enemy LCU out. The 36th Div & 7th Mixed Bde en route to Kungchang.

Burma
The 5th Amphibious Bde, 4th RTA, & 17th Guards Rgt punched through to my 4ward deployed units just N of Toungoo. Steve had ran a unit into the hex and for some odd reason, I could not supply my troops… Punching in almost 400AV of troops seems to have done the trick though. 1198AV of Infantry supported by tanks & arty is all on a deliberate attack to bloody a nose.

The 6th Guards Div is moving to Moulmein from Pisanuloke. This is another 400+AV to throw into this front of Burma.



Subs
• I-166 calls Cam Ranh Bay home and is patrolling from Chittagong to Akyab and then over to the Adaman Islands.
• I-2 calls Hakodate home and is patrolling from Attu Isle to the waters of Cordova in the Gulf of Alaska.
• I-27 calls Balikpapan home and is patrolling from near Batavia in the Java Sea to NW of Horn Isle in the Arafura Sea.

Capture Bataan, PI
• 864AV of troops sit @ Clark awaiting additional troops
• 80th Infantry Regiment aboard TF136 is E of Aparri, PI and en route to Vigan, PI
• 38th Division is aboard TF120 E of Leyte and en route to Vigan, PI
• 14th Sentai (31 Sally-IIa) @ Legaspi airfield attack Bataan – 3.9.42
• 3rd Ku T-1 (9 C5M2 Babs) recon Bataan – 3.9.42
• 1st Ku K-1 (9 Nell) G-ATK Bataan – 3.9.42

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: 1EyedJacks

Never fight a land war in China...

Unless you are the Mongolian Hordes!!!

[;)]

<My wife is Bordered Yellow Banner Clan to those of you with a historical bent. I guess that makes my little one a native born 'pillager'. [:D]>

Well in truth, I haven't really had to fight for what I've gained so far in China. Really weird strategy from my eyes. Steve is moving all or most of his troops over to Burma. What happens to those troops when I cut off supply lines? He is flexing a little air-power muscle in the Burma theatre but as I move air support into the region my Zero air groups should clear out his fighters and smack down anything but 4e bombers while my Betty & Sally air groups should eat up his supplies to the point that it affects his troops.

@ least that's what I think is gunna happen. apparently Steve thinks otherwise? lol. To my eyes Steve has thrown me the keys to India.

3.12.42
Singpore
The 12th Ku K-1 is in Malaya and will rest this turn to drop down fatigue.

The 15th Ku K-1 & the Bihoro Ku K-1 at Kota Bahru are hitting the airfield again. Also the 4th Ku K-1 & the 89th I.F. Chutai @ Johore Bahru. I was pounding on his LCU but I’m not getting much damage. It’s smarter to keep damage on his airfield and port to keep the forts down to level 2.

LCU @ Singapore = 2185

The 4th Div is aboard TF45 & just east of Formosa. The 53rd Div is aboard TF94 and is just leaving the home isle of Japan. I’m rerouting TF45 as Steve is running subs between Batan Isle in the PI & the southern tip of Formosa.

China
@ Kungchang my armored units rolled 1:2 vs the 35th Chinese Corps broken down into its ABCs. I’ll sit and wait for the 36th Division & the 7th Indian Mixed Bde that are marching in from the south.

Burma
1198AV of troops now equals 1330AV just north of Toungoo. I kicked out the 53rd Chines Corps from that hex with 9:1 odds. God fights on the side with the best artillery – Napoleon. Well – tanks in this case, but his observation seems to still be spot on.

Navy
KB is three days from completing their refit. Battle Fleet is 7 days from completion. I’m trying to decide on pushing the back out towards the Marshall Isles VS using them in the DEI. I’d love to find his carriers but so far they have been hidden. I'm doing some house cleaning - swapping out FP from my war ships and checking my subs for AC. I'll keep the Glen on the subs. I wanna put on Jakes but in reading discussions on this subject it seems the Glen were the only AC that could be carried by subs.

3.13.42
Singapore
LCU @ Singapore = 2253. Yesterday it was @ 2185AV…

Enemy airfield damage shows 8% so I rinse & repeat. Fatigue for the 12th Ku K-1 is @ 11% so they rest for an additional day.

Two divisions en route by sea are another day closer

China
Steve does the “Sir Robin” move @ Kunming. It will revert to me after the turn processes.

The 4th Air HQ is 1 hex S of Kweiyang & the 54th JAAF Bn will arrive @ Tuyun next turn.

45th Sentai (25 Lily-Ib) arrives @ Tuyun and will G-Atk enemy LCU @ 68,47 that is fleeing from Kunming.

Ground units are closing on the enemy locations. Knowing that the Chinese can retreat faster than the mighty Japanese Army can chase them down is a hard pill to swallow <insert laughter here>. I’ve never experience a Chinese campaign like this B4. I expect to have all of China by the end of 1942. This almost forces me into an India Campaign as the bulk of Japan’s forces in China are now closing in on Burma…

DEI
Namlea should see an assault next turn.

The 52nd Naval Guard arrives @ the empty Pare Pare. It will convert next turn.

Steve ran the Marblehead plus 4DD up to Balikpapan. They ended just south of my port. The Marblehead et all ran into a 1DD 1TB TF and expended most of their ammo trashing it. Then they ran into a 1DD TF that did the tango with them. The Japanese DD Yugumo planted 1 good hit on the Marblehead in a running engagement that went from 28k in range down to 8k and then ended back @ 20k. So Marblehead has no marbles left (probably torpedoes tho). The Tako Ku K-1 is on Naval Attack and torpedoes are available thanks to the 21st Air Flotilla stationed @ Palembang. 18 Betty managed to get 1 torpedo into the flank of the Marblehead ‘cause shooting fish @ the DDs is a losing proposition.
So I’m hoping the Marblehead is lame and will turn for safer waters slooooowly. I have a 3DD+1TB TF @ Balikpapan that will try to run it down. And if they stay within range, I’m hoping my Betty group will get a shot at anything left over.

3.14.42
China
The bulk of the 3rd Army is @ Vinh and unpacking. In another 2-3 days they’ll start the march to Udon Thani.

The bulk of the 11th Army is closing in on Kunming.

The 45th Sentai @ Tuyun has been reassigned to attack the airfield @ Tsuyung

DEI
Pare Pare falls to the mighty 52nd Naval Guard unit and they are off to plunder and pillage Makasar.

Ponderously the 33rd division moves from Kendari to Kolaka.

TF64 fails to unload troops for an assault on Namlea due to high command’s failure to turn off the Do Not Unload option on TF64. That error has been corrected.

To the Northwest of the Sulu Sea
Lays the tiny isle of Balabac which has received the mighty I/124th Infantry Battalion. It should be under new management next turn.

Gilbert Islands
Tarawa falls to the might of the Japanese Empire. Bwa-ha-ha-ha.

Singapore
LCU @ Singapore now 2294AV

4th Division is now in the South China Sea

53rd Division is now in the East China Sea

AA to Miri
The 44th Field AA Bn is in the South China Sea and headed for Miri. I’m hoping to surprise Steve and his 4E raids…

Line Islands
The 2nd JNAF AF Unit is loading aboard a fast TF for deployment @ Palmyra. Mini-KB escorts.

PH
Additional Subs deployed. I’d been repairing damage and kinda spaced them… Out they go to dance with his ASW TFs. You never know – Steve could send supplies or troops to Hawaii. And I haven’t seen his carriers anywhere. If I was Steve I’d deploy them as 4ward as I could with a safe feeling and right now he’s gotta be feeling pretty safe about Pearl Harbor.

KB
Is fully repaired and full of beans, fish, and bullets in 4 days. Where can I visit that’ll cause Steve some grey hairs? DEI? Hawaii?

3.16.42
Singkawang Area
I had split up my zero air group into 3 flights of 15 so I could rest them one at a time. Instead of A&B sweeping Palembang they each sweep one @ a time against a CAP of superior numbers. I did not lose many zero (much to my surprise) but I didn’t gain ownership of the skies over Palembang. Then I had unescorted bombers attack. I have three air groups on escort and a pair of MB air groups get their clocks cleaned by going in unescorted. Filth-and-foul-foul-filth.

I’ve recombined my zero air group and it’s on escort to Palembang. I traded a full Betty air group from Balikpapan for the two partials that were @ Singkawang. The full Betty air group is on airfield attack for Palembang. I’ve refilled the two air groups @ Palembang with aircraft and pilots.


Christmas Time
Steve does a landing on Christmas Isle. Naval Bombardment, air bombardment, plus landing force all in one fell swoop. I knew the Line Islands were hanging in the breeze and I’ve got support on the way but that’s all too late now. Fudge.
The RO-67 is in the area and should have a crack @ either the carriers or the landing TF. I-168 is near Palmyra and I’m vectoring it in towards the spotted TFs.

Mini-KB is near Truk…

Singapore
Troop AV = 2,362

PI
80th Infantry Regiment is moving from Lingayen to Clark Field and the 38th Division is unloading @ Lingayen.

Steve has been a great guy to play with. We keep things light. Often our emails are just - here's the turn kind of thing but every now and then we get lippy and have a bit of fun with each other.

Below is a portion of my email to Steve regarding his assault of Christmas Isle last turn.

Snip ***
Oh - by the way - you can have that stupid Christmas Island. We took all of the Christmas presents plus Santa and the elves and deer to Burma about a month ago. We've decided to put those elves to work building bridges. And we've conscripted Santa and his deer sleigh to move oil and fuel by air to avoid your pesky subs. That fat guy is fast! You'd be surprised how much oil/fuel he can get in those sleigh bags - it's almost magic or something.

Aaaaaaaaand we've started a reindeer breeding program. Those darned creatures fly farther, faster, and have better maneuverability then our Zero fighters. Our engineers think we can mount quad 20mm guns on a sleigh platform towed by 4 adult reindeer and get great results. And they run on hay - which is good 'cause there's rumors that oil and fuel are gunna be hard to come up with soon. I think you're gunna lose a lot of 4E bombers to our new weapons platform.

4E bombers... Blink-blink. Hmmm - 4D Sleigh bombers... Hey - I gotta talk to those Japanese engineers some more... I just got another idea.

End Snip ***

Repairs
TF119 (PB @ Takao) to Hong Kong via HP
TF98 (1CA 1E 1xAP 1xAK @ Babeldaob) to Hong Kong via HP
TF224 (1PB 1xAKL @ Legaspi) to Hong Kong via HP

Singapore
Transfer 11th Sentai (42 Oscar-Ic) from Cam Ranh Bay to Singapore. Naval attack @ 100ft to take out those MLs…

The 4th Division TF is just south of Soc Trang

The 53rd Division is just west of the Philippines.

Miscellaneous
I converted a couple of 12 aircraft Nate units to the Oscar-Ic. I’ll use these for escort missions to free up my larger air groups for sweeps. I want to outnumber his CAP and I want to take advantage of the altitude bonus when I sweep. The Ic does not have the fire power to kill a lot of allied fighters outright but good pilots and the maneuverability of the Oscar seem to be giving me those “attacking from behind” messages which equate to hits on the airframes. I’ll take the write-offs from damaging his planes but the tradeoff is that his pilots will most likely live to see another fight – thus gaining more experience.

Burma
The 16th Guards & the 5th Guards Cavalry have arrived @ Cam Rahn Bay and I’m moving them up to Bangkok and north into Burma.

Those ground units that were north of Toungoo are now back at that base.

Why didn't he take Palmyra also? I am rethinking my plans for which island chains I want to sit on. I think I want to go for those groups of islands that can be set up reasonably with air fields and where at least a few of them don't have such sucky stacking limits.

I'm moving air units about to cover bases in the DEI. Troops continue to unload in the PI. another week or so should see me putting a move on Bataan.

Another division of the 21st will arrive @ Cam Ranh Bay in a day or two. I'll send that to Burma also.

I'm trying to use my units in China as whole Armies to hit Burma and then push up into India. I'll never be able to use wet transport for them but they've got legs so I might as well use foot power...