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The problem theatre Oz

His main forces have now disappeared/withdrawn from Port Augusta to regroup.

I wasn't going to wait for Wargmr to renew his offensive so I dashed off on the rail lines. Some troops went to Perth with the main body sent to Alice Springs.

The units fought strongly but the IJA was being overwhelmed by armour and the dreaded B-17es.

A happier picture- Norfolk Island

KB and company arrived a day late to catch his CVs and transports but we did scare off his fleet.

Norfolk has been isolated for a while and blasted to smithereens. It should fall in a day or two.

Not really material but a good morale boost

Vulnerable Allied Positions around Fiji

Tempting targets once Norfolk is finalised. This may be by design though to lure me away from Oz and the DEI.

Wargmr knows I'm a sucker for hunting down isolated allied army units.

PI- should have this wrapped up in the next month

China- going well as I slowly mop up his isolated pockets.

Chungking will be a tough nut but I will go after it in early 43. First I want to clean up some cut off positions in the north which are interdicting the oil/fuel flow.

Burma- both sides are skirmishing and manoeuvring in the jungle. I also am dealing with British paras that were dropped behind the lines.

The air war is becoming quite vicious as I commence large sweeps targeting his fighters.

I am building a reserve at Rangoon and yes major supply convoys are on the way- as you can see I am running pretty low on it.

Thanks Obvert

I have tended to shy away from the strat bombing in Oz as I thought in the early days of 42 it was becoming a bit harsh/ unfair. When I thought about recommencing the air offensive against his cities, I accidently stumbled over the LOD and the rest is history.

I still hold Tasmania and Brisbane where I recon Melbourne and Sydney daily and I can confirm both bases are strongly protected by fighters. How he managed to get them into Oz I'm not sure, but he has done a great job.

Logistically I couldn't do it now anyway aside from using KB which I am loath to do.

ORIGINAL: obvert

You only real chance seems to be strategic points from OZ. Maybe as he moves his forces to the fronts you can bomb more distant target in the rear. Melbourne of course has a ton, and tends not to be as guarded. Sydney might be tough, but Newcastle and other smaller bases could be hit hard.

29th Sep 42

News of the day Norfolk Island has finally fallen. Confirmed destroyed Allied units are the following:

Defending units:
14th NZ Brigade
193rd Tank Battalion
8th NZ Brigade

Now not being an expert on Allied replacement pools, I suspect rebuilding the NZ brigades would be a bitch?

Elsewhere Wargmr is fighting well and at least achieving close to 1:1 in the air and sea. On the ground he is still bleeding hard but autovic is starting to look remote

Hand me my shovel, it might be time to start digging in.

1 Oct 42

A feel good moment occurred today whilst Oz slowly falls out of my grasp.

I have found in the past the only way to surprise Wargmr is locate KB in an ambush and go dark somewhere across his LOC.

After about 5 fruitless days of waiting between Oz and NZ, finally a juicy tanker convoy has shown up. I think the finally tally was 5 decent oilers scratched

Elsewhere he has commenced a strong advance up the east coast of Oz which will not be opposed. The great Oz safari is now coming to end aside from Perth

6th Oct 42

The last few days have been ordinary for the Empire around Oz. In a classic case of tactical stupidity, in the face of a superior force, I divided 6 x destroyers into two smaller sqns and then sent to them separate destinations.

Consequently I don't need to worry about any further upgrades for those ships!

A CVL also took a torp off the coast of OZ after our shipping raid. Finally he has commenced building up bases very close to my LOC which presents a threat but also an opportunity.

I'm also being hunted by a swarm of subs-a giant fly swat would come in handy right about now.

Failing that I changed my settings on KB after taking a play out of Mr Kane's game book.

I have received a lot of these messages during the Op reports- at least 7 reports per day of subs attacking and hitting Allied SS.

My question is- are they actually hitting them???

D3A1 Val from Junyo-2 attacking an Allied SS at 106,163
an Allied SS is reported HIT
D3A1 Val reports periscope at 107, 164 near Lord Howe Island
B5N1 Kate reports diving submarine at 107, 164 near Lord Howe Island
B5N1 Kate from Shoho-2 attacking a Grampus class SS at 105,162
a KXIV Class class SS is reported HIT
B5N1 Kate reports possible submarine at 108, 161 near Noumea
B5N1 Kate from Shoho-2 attacking an Allied SS at 106,161
an Allied SS is reported HIT

I figure about 10% hit, maybe more. Just try to max the DL. If you can spare them put 2 or 3 destroyers on dedicated ASW with react two hexes and follow your carriers.

Thanks, I do have them lit up like a Christmas tree with just about all of KBs air assets dedicated to the task.

I have good LBA search coverage around the area and pretty certain his CVs have long fled.

From this point onwards in the war, KB and friends will only operate under the cover of LBA search.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I figure about 10% hit, maybe more. Just try to max the DL. If you can spare them put 2 or 3 destroyers on dedicated ASW with react two hexes and follow your carriers.

In a desperate attempt to prevent falling off into page 3 for the AARs, here is quick update.

Auto vic is off the table and I have withdrawn from the east coast of Oz. The new tactic is to bleed the Allies and take full advantage of Sce 2 forces and interior LOCs.

Main targets have been Allied fighter aircraft and pockets of cut off/ exposed Allied troops.

Manilla still holds out but will fall shortly. China is turning into an exercise of extermination as pockets of cut off starving Chinese are liquidated with armour and air.

Wargmr is engaged in a significant buildup of his forces with likely targets being:

1. Fiji (exposed and hard to defend from my perspective)- most logical target.

2. Noumea

3. Perth

4. Ceylon

The happy hunting ground of China

You've done well against his ships and ground forces so far. I'd say it's time to get to a defensive perimeter now and let him decide where he thinks it best to strike, then react to that. It's very easy to hit an extended Japanese Empire, but harder the closer it is to the inner circle. Pull back while you can.

The stalemate of Burma- suits me just fine!

Wise words and advice there Obvert. Without turning this AAR into Obvert fan club, I find myself agreeing with just about everything you suggest or propose

Below I have already started the construction of my strong points in the DEI. I lacked the discipline and common sense to do this properly last time and I paid big time for it.

I am using forces which are quietly being withdrawn from Oz

ORIGINAL: obvert

You've done well against his ships and ground forces so far. I'd say it's time to get to a defensive perimeter now and let him decide where he thinks it best to strike, then react to that. It's very easy to hit an extended Japanese Empire, but harder the closer it is to the inner circle. Pull back while you can.

Opportunity or trap?

Wargmr loves to forward deploy troops on multiple axis of advance. I find I can stop some but not all and thus it has been a very effective strategy.

Below is another example. It could be a trap but regardless it will take me considerable troops and resources to destroy this outpost.

He knows I can't resist going after exposed positions and has played on it before.

Either way I intend to send these digital troops to the afterlife

State of war Nov 42

Auto vic is off the table and the majority of IJA has now advanced north away from Oz's east coast (we don't retreat).

Hobart has now been recaptured by the Allies. Digging in has well and truly commenced with the DEI and central pacific looking quite tough. Troops are pouring into the region after the capture of Manilla.

On all key metrics the Japanese economy is strong with a/c production now starting too really ramp up.

I will not be adopting a passive defence. I intend to build strong points at key strategic locations and have strong mobile reserves just out of air recon. I am still actively targeting his land based fighter aircraft which I suspect are quite low in pool reserves. Without adequate fighter aircraft, I am hoping he will struggle in consolidating any position he captures.

Allied ground losses have also been quite high for the first 12 months- mostly Chinese but the Australians/ new Zealanders have also taken some heavy hits.