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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/13/42

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Sub attack at 117,65

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34

Allied Ships
AK Minnesotan, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Patterson
DD Henley


The submarine cordon east of Pearl Harbour is now 120 miles wide and extends for over 900 miles. I am certain that for every ship hit a score or more get through but even culling 1 ship in 40 will count in the long run, especially since I have found the range at which Allied ASW flights become less effective.

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Sub attack at 25,55

Japanese Ships
AP Nachisan Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXIV

An empty AP suffers the riposte and sinks.

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Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 32
Ki-30 Ann x 35
Ki-51 Sonia x 53
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 80


It looks like some 30 enemy fighters and a similar number of bombers are based at Hengchow. Hitting Hengchow now achieves two objectives:
a) trapping these fighters and bombers and preventing them from doing me any damage and
b) it was about time to begin hitting Hengchow in order to begin drawing down Chinese supplies. My attempt to cut off the Chinese southern front from most of its supply should begin on the 15th January and so beginning to trap fighter and bomber squadrons in bases which may soon be abandoned could pay significant dividends.


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Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 34
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 44
G4M1 Betty x 6

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 6 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 8

Singaporean airfield and port damage is almost back down to zero. It is clear that more than 50 bombers will have to be tasked with keeping airfield damage levels up here if I am to be able to move my shipping along the shortest routes. I'll begin rebasing my naval bomber squadrons and try to begin 100+ bomber strikes on the 15th.

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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 2


No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 8


Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 1 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
3 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet

Highly ineffectual strikes against Koepang continue. My Zeroes and Bettys have been rebased and only a Mavis Chutai remains there. I intend to bring some AAA assets into play in the southern DEI but am content for the Allies to burn Australian supplies in continuing these rather ineffectual bombing missions.

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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
Ki-21 Sally x 353
Ki-48 Lily x 26
Ki-49 Helen x 59
Ki-46-II Dinah x 8
Ki-15 Babs x 12

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 3 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 93


Airfield damage in Manilla was falling again so another airfield attack was in order. Results were quite good and tomorrow I will return to ground attacks.

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Day Air attack on TF at 23,56


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 6
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 3
Hudson I x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 3 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Martin 139: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Furutaka, Bomb hits 1
CA Kumano
BB Fuso
BB Kongo


This bomb failed to penetrate the cruiser's armour.

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Day Air attack on TF at 23,54


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Oyashio

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Natori

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 5000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-32 Mary x 7

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 5

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AP West Point
AP Empire Chivalry, Bomb hits 2, on fire

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Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 12

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged

The air attacks on Rangoon today and tomorrow were without exception disastrous. My Oscars either refused to fly or died in droves and with them went many of my best Nell pilots.

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Day Air attack on TF at 23,56


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 3
Blenheim IV x 2
Hudson I x 2


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Hyuga

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
2 x Blenheim I bombing at 5000 feet
2 x Hudson I bombing at 5000 feet

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Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 32740 troops, 380 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 662

Defending force 18942 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 539


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported


Homan appears to be stalemated which suits me perfectly as it pins 3 Chinese Corps in place awaiting execution when the supply lines are finally cut. Of course if the supply lines don't get cut this will prove to be an expensive mistake as the Chinese must be fortified to a fare thee well by now.


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Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2998 troops, 107 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3354

Defending force 68736 troops, 487 guns, 187 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1408



Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported


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Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5280 troops, 179 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 4831 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 29



Allied ground losses:
53 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


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Ground combat at 45,35

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 94985 troops, 698 guns, 72 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3201

Defending force 35780 troops, 306 guns, 2 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 700

Allied max assault: 2797 - adjusted assault: 498

Japanese max defense: 728 - adjusted defense: 591

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
607 casualties reported
Guns lost 14

Allied ground losses:
2056 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 2

The two divisions I put over the river north-east of Hengchow are drawing a lot of fire down on themselves. Between Hengchow, hex 45-35 and hex 45-34 I can identify over 35 enemy units concentrated against a mere 1400 AV of my own troops ( which is even weaker than it seems as they are spread out amongst 4 hexes). In the Kweilin/Wuchow area a force of 5 to 6 Chinese units holds each of the towns while my concentrated Canton Force is moving to capture Kweiling thus complicating the enemy's operational situation. Taking Kweilin will not be at all operationally or strategically decisive BUT if my paratroops take Kweiyang then it will break another "spoke" of the enemy's resupply effort to what I hope will become the Hengchow Pocket and, if necessary, allow me to move troops to reinforce Kweiyang.

It would appear that as in Bagration the order in which I commenced my operations tended to dislocate the enemy's reserves and now I am in a position to take advantage of this by varying the vector of my thrusts in response to reconnaissance information. Of course all of this presupposes a lack of formed reserves in the enemy rear. So far I can account for roughly 95 enemy formations. I think that still leaves a potential force of some 150 to 200,000 men to be uncovered. I would imagine most of them are garrisoning Chungking as I certainly held off developing my operations in the south long enough to make committing them to the north look like a wise course of action but one can never be sure of these things.


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Ground combat at 44,30

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5222 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 143

Defending force 1230 troops, 0 guns, 87 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 52

Allied max assault: 121 - adjusted assault: 23

Japanese max defense: 49 - adjusted defense: 73

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Allied ground losses:
219 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

A small Chinese force attacked a HQ of mine which had lagged behind the rest of Canton Force as it cleared the railway line to Kweilin. Fortunately the HQ survived quite well and is hurrying to join the main force. As it is on a railway it should make it before the Chinese can attack it again.




What happened to the possible carrier battle and the continued butchery of the Allied convoy you may ask? Well, in the middle of an otherwise CLEAR day in the Pacific a single patch of cloud managed to cover KB and prevent all air operations for the day. [:D] Such is life. Tomorrow KB will move 240 miles west in an attempt to catch some of the damaged shipping. The day after that it will sprint westward to within 120 miles of Canton with all Vals and Kates set to Airfield Attack. I plan to close the airbase, take out some of the B-17s that have been harrassing my shipping and form the 2 BBs and 2 CAs in the KB into a bombardment group in order to:
a) damage the airbase and B-17s based there even more, ( plus burn a bit of supply)
b) disable as many of his engineers as possible to help keep fortification and airfield levels down until I can gather the force required to retake Canton and
c) get some idea of just how much force he has there so that I can scale my counter-attack accordingly.

The initial airfield strike should occur on the 15th with the bombardment TF and ground attacks occuring on the 16th. I will then hang around in the area to keep the airfield closed while my underway replenishment field passes past Canton and out of range. Afterwards this underway replenishment TF will move to the Noumea area to carry out underway replenishment of the CVEs, CS and AVs in the Australian Blockade Line. The CVEs and their accompanying destroyers and cruisers are all down to 300 to 400 endurance each [:D]. It was a risk but one well worth taking if it caught me a few more convoys. At present though I am coming around to thinking that the Allied convoys I noted leaving the US over the past 3 weeks or so were probably all headed for Canton and I am unlikely to see any making for Australia for some time to come. Still, the blockade will be maintained until such time as US carriers sortie to the area.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/14/42

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TF 42 encounters mine field at Batavia (19,59)

Japanese Ships
MSW Toshi Maru #2
MSW Rokko Maru
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Choun Maru #21
MSW Choun Maru #7
MSW Choun Maru #6
MSW Banshu Maru #56
MSW Banshu Maru #52
MSW W.5

Batavia harbour is being swept for mines preparatory to the arrival of my shipping. Enough APs to move all 4 Regiments in the Java/Sumatra region are converging on Batavia.

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Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 31
Ki-30 Ann x 36
Ki-51 Sonia x 51
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 72

With this strike the airbase is completely closed and a squadron of P-40Es which my Oscars seem to have no answer to are removed from the aerial contest.

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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 9


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

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Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 42
LB-30 Liberator x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed
D3A Val: 1 destroyed


Japanese ground losses:
62 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 34

These Kates and Vals were island-hopping to join KB. Unfortunately their last hop coincided with the onset of US raids on Johnson Island.

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Day Air attack on 21st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
G3M Nell x 20
G4M1 Betty x 13
Ki-21 Sally x 145
Ki-48 Lily x 11
Ki-49 Helen x 32
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged


Allied ground losses:
173 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

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Day Air attack on 71st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
G3M Nell x 11
G4M1 Betty x 12
Ki-21 Sally x 65
Ki-48 Lily x 7
Ki-49 Helen x 25
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
240 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

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Day Air attack on 4th USMC Regiment, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
G3M Nell x 11
G4M1 Betty x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 50
Ki-48 Lily x 4
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

The rotation of enemy combat units being attacked continues. I am reading this as representing a significant decrease in the combat effectiveness of the enemy's strongest units. I think that if this continues and my ground unit readiness levels continue to increase I will Deliberate Attack on the 16th. I will decide the tasking of the Battleline at that time... It should be in Brunei replenishing at that time.

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Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 32

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 23
P-40B Tomahawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 14 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 2 destroyed, 11 damaged

Allied Ships
AP West Point
AP Empire Attendant, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Empire Tamar, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Wow, what a disaster. 14 Oscars downed for just 2 x Hurricane IIs. I am unsure if this is because the Oscar is completely outmatched by the Hurricane or if it was also partially aided by the fact that the Oscars were tied to escorting the bombers. Tomorrow a Sentai of Oscars will conduct a fighter sweep at high altitude. If they also suffer horrendous losses then Zeroes will be transferred in. If they do well then Oscars will continue to be used on this front.

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Day Air attack on TF at 109,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
D3A Val x 11
B5N Kate x 25

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Malama, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
TK Emidio, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported

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Day Air attack on TF at 109,99

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 14
B5N Kate x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Don Isidro, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
55 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Only very small strikes went out today. The three enemy ships within range all sank. Several have definitely escaped towards Canton but, tomorrow, after KB sprints to within 120miles of Canton Island, the rest should be cornered.

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Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 8
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 13

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 16
P-40B Tomahawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Empire Trooper, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage


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Ground combat at Balikpapan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5176 troops, 32 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 140

Defending force 3650 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 76


After a few days of rest it will be time to attack at Balikpapan.

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Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 120960 troops, 1192 guns, 103 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2226

Defending force 34891 troops, 229 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1068

Japanese max assault: 1984 - adjusted assault: 1225

Allied max defense: 1083 - adjusted defense: 471

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1300 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
911 casualties reported
Guns lost 14

Even though I achieved 2:1 odds the Chinese did not retreat. I think this was because I had inadvertently cut them off from Chungking. I am moving the offending unit out of the way and will deliberate attack again then.

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Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 32777 troops, 382 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 663

Defending force 19035 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 542



Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


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Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3018 troops, 107 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3871

Defending force 68595 troops, 479 guns, 187 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1412



Allied ground losses:
77 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

As you can see the Imperial Guard Division has finally joined the attack on Manilla and the AV immediately climbs from 3300something to almost 3900. I also realised that I managed to forget to change the objective of Southern Area HQ to Manilla earlier in the game so now I have lost much of the bonus I was banking on from the Area HQ... I have reset its objective to Manilla but expect this late change to benefit me little.

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Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 44779 troops, 210 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 543

Defending force 26153 troops, 227 guns, 239 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 531



Allied ground losses:
114 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

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Ground combat at Ledo

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3304 troops, 33 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 66

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Allied max assault: 38 - adjusted assault: 4

Japanese max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ledo base !!!

The Allies have retaken Ledo using an Indian Division. So far so good in recovering from the unintentional exploit.


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Ground combat at Andaman Island

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 165 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 6

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 10 - adjusted assault: 12

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Andaman Island base !!!


Andaman is taken and a construction Bn and Base Force begin airlifting in.



Below you can see a representation of the plans for the next week or so in China.

As you can see my transports are airlifting paratroops from Hanoi, Ichang and Changsha to Kweiyang. I have reconned it for several days at an altitude of 1000 feet and it is the most weakly defended of the Chinese bases. It LOOKS like there may only be a Base Force there and that pretty much everything else in Western China has been sent to the Western Fronts. I have over 200 transport planes committed to this lift, 4 parachute regiments and will be following up with an NLF and a Naval Guard unit. Between them these forces should be able to muster about 250 AV in defence of Kweiyang. I don't truly expect them to hold against a determined attack BUT they will tend to massively dislocate his south-eastern defensive line by drawing troops from this line northwards and westward to retake Kweiyang.... Why not simply send Corps down from Kunming. Answer: I certainly expect that to happen also but there will be a need to maintain strong reserves in each of his remaining cities as I have shown a willingness to mount extremely risky airborne operations in China.

The light green arrows show the 4 thrusts I will make over the next few days while the dark blue lines in the south show the options I have for exploiting the capture of Kweilin. As you can see my basic plan for the next few days is to move into Sian, cut the Chungking/Sian road once and for all, put the 1st Provisional Tank Division ( + engineering support) across the Yangtze river 120 miles from Chungking cutting the Chungking/Hengchow LOC. (In conjunction with a succesful paratroop landing this will basically cut off all supply to the Hengchow pocket comprising roughly 1/3rd of all Chinese forces.) and take Kweilin.

In the days after that I can choose to exloit Kweilin's capture by either moving to fully cut off Hengchow, moving to take Wuchow or moving to reinforce Kweiyang depending on which will appear to be more operationally decisive at the time.

Even if the paratroop landings fail I should be able to achieve much the same objectives, albeit at a slower pace, using the 1st Provisional Tank Division and a road march from Kweilin to Kweiyang.


The light blue line represents the air attacks which have closed Hengchow.

This picture shows the situation in the DEI with the APs I had been hoarding at Kendari, Soerabaja, Kuching and Pontianak all on their way to Batavia under cover of an APD ASW hunter-killer group.

If, when I attack Manilla tomorrow my attack looks not to have the power to succeed I will be able to have an additional 1000 AV in Manilla and combat ready by the end of January. Yes this will wreck my timetable but at least it should help ensure Manila does fall...

The urban bonus is a real killer. Personally though I think that when I attack I will secure a solid 1:1 odds attack and the Brigades will not be needed at all. However I've been wrong before and it is always useful to hurry one's transport operations "just in case".


I have also circled the important enemy bases which still hold out, namely, Balikpapan, Macassar and Teloekbetoeng. The forces in these bases are not at all particularly strong and they should fall to me over the next couple of weeks. I am not bothered about them really as only Teloekbetoeng has a Brigade committed to its capture. The others are only being attacked by a total of 5 NLFs and, as such, aren't tying up any important units at all.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/15/42

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ASW attack at 61,44

Japanese Ships
PG Shotoku Maru
MSW Fumi Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon

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Sub attack at 20,59

Japanese Ships
AP Miike Maru, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
SS KXIV, hits 1

K XIV decided to take on Miike Maru on the surface. It landed a couple of minor hits but managed to get hit itself. All in all a bit of inconclusive sparring but with Teloekboetang soon to fall and the combat-worthy submarines in the area beginning to run out of torpedoes I should soon have enough of a breather to set up my planned ASW cordon at the choke points on the routes towards my SLOCs to Japan.

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ASW attack at 66,44

Allied Ships
SS Gar

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Sub attack near Batavia at 19,59

Japanese Ships
AP Biyo Maru
PG Sozan Maru
PG Eifuku Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXII

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ASW attack at 66,44

Japanese Ships
APD APD-31

Allied Ships
SS Gar

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ASW attack at 66,44

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 12
PC Ch 11
PC Ch 10
PC Ch 6
PC Ch 4
PC Takunan Maru #5
PC Shonan Maru #17
PC Shonan Maru #2
PC Shonan Maru #1
PC Ishigaki
PC Kunashiri
PC Hachijo

Allied Ships
SS Gar, hits 4

I'm including all of today's sub attacks in order to show just how aggressively they are being handled by the Allies and how aggressively they are beng hunted. As of today 14 allied submarines are confirmed lost ( 10 to port attacks, bombardments etc and 4 to anti-submarine attacks) with another 4 almost certain to have been sunk by ASW TFs but not yet confirmed.

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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 9


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1

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Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 35
LB-30 Liberator x 24


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
33 casualties reported

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 41


Johnston Island is a shambles after these attacks. The IJN Base Force is currently unloading and several thousand tons of supply as well as a construction Bn and 2 x AAA Bns are on their way from Midway. My goal here is not to create a bastion which will hold out when the enemy counter-offensive ( which should occur once they realise KB is in the Indian Ocean) comes but merely to create some attrition of the four-engined bombers and use Johnston as a learning tool in my crafting of further defensive positions when I'm defending areas which I actually care about keeping.

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Aerial attacks on the forces near Canton Island continue apace with planes from both KB and land bases participating. As none of my land bases within range are sufficiently developed to support Bettys with a torpedo loadout I opted to order my Zeroes to dive-bomb and my Bettys to skip-bomb. This proved quite effective with Ohioan being strafed and hit by the Bettys and the other ships being dive-bombed succesfully by the Zeroes.

It looks to me like ten allied ships will be sunk over the next day or so. Tomorrow will feature attempts to close the airfield and runs to target by two bombardment fleets, each comprising 1 BB and 1 CA. I expect these to prove devastating to both the ground troops and enemy airfield and my only worry now is that my recon shows something in the order of 150 planes on Canton Island. None are identified as fighters so I have to assume he may have over 100 bombers and a couple of squadrons of patrol planes. My CAP is at 90% but I have never even managed to dent a raid by his four-engined bombers so I'm taking a real risk here.

Day Air attack on TF at 101,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
B5N Kate x 25

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Pennsylvanian, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
108 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

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Day Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
D3A Val x 28
B5N Kate x 59

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK K.I. Luckenbach, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Arkansan, Bomb hits 1
AK Ensley City, Bomb hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
AK Henry S Grove, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Tuscaloosa City, Bomb hits 14, on fire, heavy damage
AK Susana, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Diamond head, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Dorothy Luckenbach, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
G3M Nell x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Ohioan, Shell hits 4, Bomb hits 1
AK K.I. Luckenbach, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Ensley City, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Diamond head, on fire
AK Tuscaloosa City, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Arkansan, Bomb hits 3
AK Dorothy Luckenbach, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Henry S Grove, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 35

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 7
P-40B Tomahawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 4 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 damaged

Yes, it does seem that forcing the Oscars to cover the bombers crippled them. The fighter sweep shows much more favourable results and will continue.


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Ground combat at Balikpapan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5255 troops, 32 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 143

Defending force 3692 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 76

Japanese max assault: 108 - adjusted assault: 29

Allied max defense: 62 - adjusted defense: 21

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
194 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported

Good, it looks like I brought sufficient force to Balikpapan. DEI should be cleared, excepting some of the trivial bases on the west of Sumatra, by the beginning of February.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 99097 troops, 1138 guns, 9 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2348

Defending force 33664 troops, 196 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1007



Allied ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Guns lost 5


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8992 troops, 284 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 686

Defending force 100420 troops, 636 guns, 68 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3017

Japanese max assault: 0 - adjusted assault: 0

Allied max defense: 2255 - adjusted defense: 1287

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
625 casualties reported
Guns lost 53

Allied ground losses:
400 casualties reported
Guns lost 17

No, I hadn't lost my mind. This was, unfortunately, the end result of the ground combat model deciding that my decision to send several artillery regiments to reinforce the TWO divisions of troops I have north of Hengchow required them to Shock Attack across the river as though they would have the stupidity to cross at enemy-held points instead of into the bridgehead held by over 40,000 of my men.

The solution to this is extremely simple. Instead of having this apply to all movement with no modifiers add in a modifier which looks at the ratio of friendly to enemy combat power in the hex being entered into. That way if you had no combat power in the hex you would suffer the sort of losses and disruption which currently occurs but as the ratio of combat power in the hex rose to 2:1 ( which is he magical ratio in WiTP) a modifier would be applied to reduce the losses and disruption which occur.

That would very simply simulate the difference between crossing into a hex in which you have a strong bridgehead vs conducting a river crossing into the teeth of enemy fire and also every situation in between whilst requiring no new coding except the required references to a "modifier table" or "modifier equation". I think it is a reasonably quick and reasonably simple fix... assuming the code base allows it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweilin

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 52266 troops, 680 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1365

Defending force 21854 troops, 164 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 666


Japanese ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
185 casualties reported
Guns lost 9

Excellent, Kweilin should fall quickly and completely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Macassar

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2150 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 57

Defending force 1830 troops, 10 guns, 4 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 33

Japanese max assault: 47 - adjusted assault: 56

Allied max defense: 29 - adjusted defense: 9

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Macassar base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Do 24K-2: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
89 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
2807 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
Vehicles lost 1

Macassar falls.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 32884 troops, 382 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 667

Defending force 18949 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 538


Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3048 troops, 108 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3897

Defending force 68983 troops, 505 guns, 188 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1423


Allied ground losses:
138 casualties reported
Guns lost 4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 45113 troops, 212 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 564

Defending force 26312 troops, 227 guns, 241 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 533


Allied ground losses:
154 casualties reported

hmm, a significant number of vehicles. Could this be an armoured regiment? Interesting... That's quite a diversion of resources from India. If 1 Indian Division can be tied down guarding Ledo whilst another Indian Division and an Armoured Regiment are committed to Rangoon that would be quite a sizeable diversion of resources from India proper. He must expect me to continue to mount attacks on Rangoon and while that was my intention prior to the reinforcement I'm not sure it is feasible after the reinforcement.

I wonder if this could mean Trey thinks I will want to reduce all festungen in my rear? I could see how my focus on Rangoon, Manilla and occupying the bases in Papua New Guinea could make him think that and it would certainly provide an explanation for the Allied actions at Rangoon ( reinforcing it with both land and aerial units at great risk), Canton ( reinforcing it with both land and aerial units at great risk) and Singapore ( using his merchant fleet unto destruction in order to supply it for a long siege and continuing to base significant amounts of fighters and level bombers from it). It seems to be a strategy designed on the belief that I will delay my most important operations in order to "tidy up" these bases. If I choose to isolate and attrit them it simply yields more prisoners at a later date and robs India of forces. Trey knows this full-well so the only reason he would do this is if he believes I will commit to Singapore or Rangoon next.

hmm, I may feed into this with a fake reinforcement convoy to the Malayan peninsula from Lingayen, let him spot it and hint that it is the transfer of my main strike force to Malaysia in order to attack Singapore. It won't deceive for long but even an extra week would let my forces get half-way to India.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Elements of three parachute regiments drop onto the airfields at Kweiyang and immediately meet resistance from a Chinese Base Force. The Emperor's finest are, however, not to be denied and Kweiyang is expected to fall over the next day or two. The 1st Provisional Tank Division timed its crossing of the river south-east of Chungking perfectly and has cut the road supplying the Hengchow pocket.

An interesting sidenote is that my parachute regiments all seem to have upgraded their anti-tank guns to 47mm models which cannot be air-transported. This seems ludicrous and I'm wondering if it was another example of the Japanese doing something insanely stupid OR if it is a game bug? I can't see any commander willingly upgrading to more effective anti-tank guns which, unfortunately, he'll have to leave at home at precisely the time he might need them.

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 948 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 56

Defending force 1364 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 76 - adjusted assault: 37

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Given the situation in China it looks like I could move against the Soviet Union sometime in mid-1942. My question is this:

I understand that people feel it is fair to give the Soviets warning of the attack so they can redistribute their forces but that the Soviets cannot do anything aggressive until the Japanese attack so how much warning time should I give if I foresee attacking the Soviet Union at the beginning of July 1942?

I've seen 1 month stated as being a reasonable amount of time and I tend to agree. It is more than sufficient time to allow the Soviets to mass their resources yet not enough to remove all Japanese advantage PLUS if I give 3 months of warning and something goes wrong in China I could end up attacking a few months late and being even more disadvantaged.


So, 1 month advance warning ( with a unit crossing the border to activate the Soviets), fair or not?

Thanks for the reply nemo .. i'd somehow missed the bataan capture. I've never seen/experienced a manilla bombard so i cant help there , sorry.

Hi, Untill Japan actually moves a land unit across the border they are not able to plot airstrikes or naval missions against Soviet bases. You can't begin the war with airstrikes or para drops. So you only need to say " I've ordered the Army across the border"
Then the Allied player just waits for you to cross and activate the Soviets. The turn they become active you can plot air strikes and naval missions. But that same turn the Soviets can begin to order land movement and air missions of their own.
He may get a hint of what is up by observing your TF sitting 1 hex off his bases. (waiting for the LCU to cross)

Be adivsed unless you change objectives of your LCU 2 or 3 months before you actually order the border crossing the Soviets will have the advantage of prep points. (The Allied player can set objectives to defend Soviets bases and then move the LCU there once he is allowed to move.

when you change objectives the intell may be picked up by Allied siginal intell.

What I'm thinking of is the following:

1. Move a unit across the Soviet border about 1 month before I plan to attack thus activating all Soviet land and air units.

2. House rule to say that while the Soviets can prepare everything for a defence they can't issue any offensive taskings ( airfield attack, port attack, ground attack) until such time as the invasion proper begins. of course I would expect their CAP to be 100% or their close-in airfields to be evacuated.

I think this could be historically justified as a border clash deciding the Soviets to prepare for a real invasion but not wanting to start anything if at all avoidable as they wouldn't want a war on two fronts...

If no-one objects and finds the above ueber-gamey then that'll be my course of action.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/16/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 31
Ki-30 Ann x 36
Ki-51 Sonia x 57
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 61

And in keeping with my realisation that the best way to fight enemy four-engined bombers and P-40Es is to bomb them into oblivion while they are on the ground over 120 of my planes dive-bomb Hengchow. I'm also very interested in how much supply this is burning off. What I wouldn't give for a better idea of how much supply is used to repair bomb damage etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 34

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 16
P-40B Tomahawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 6 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 damaged

A 1:1 exchange ratio on sweeps. Not ideal but information which will be worth this cost when it comes to creating my aerial force mix for the Indian campaign.

I've tested an Oscar Sentai almost to destruction. In 2 days I will test a Zero Daitai against these Hurricane IIs and P-40Bs. Once I am satisfied that I have a handle on Zero vs Hurricane combat I will commit the other 2 Zero Daitai I've flown in today to combat and the 90+ Zeroes will sweep the skies over Rangoon clear of enemy fighters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 79
G4M1 Betty x 50
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 4

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 6
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 13 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 15 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 3 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed
Martin 139: 1 destroyed
Blenheim I: 3 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
77 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 39


I've decided on a simple split of my bomber forces. Army bombers will hit Manila, navy bombers will hit Singapore. Many convoys are now on their way to the DEI to bring back the resources and oil necessary for my industry.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton Island , at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
D3A Val x 108
B5N Kate x 134

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 5 damaged
B5N Kate: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 9 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 6 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
318 casualties reported
Guns lost 9

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 115

Canton Island has been put out of commission. 15 bombers are destroyed on the ground, including some B26s of which I had no clue. Hmm, 68 bombers and 70some auxiliary planes COULD represent one squadron of B17s ( some 36 planes) and one squadron of B26s ( another 36) plus a huge amount of patrol and recon planes. I am inclined to think there is probably a 3rd squadron of bombers there being counted as auxiliaries though.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Yokosuka 3rd SNLF, at 41,35


Allied aircraft
I-153c x 12
IL-4c x 9
SB-2c x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
26 casualties reported

Chinese bomber forces react to the landings at Kweiyang. Fortunately I was expecting this and have a Zero Daitai waiting in French Indo-China for transfer to Kweiyang once it falls. Flying in of the Imperial Japanese Air Force Base Force tasked with supporting this Daitai began today so once the base falls I will be able to mount a strong CAP to prevent enemy LRCAP interfering with my transports and also bomber raids.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 29
LB-30 Liberator x 25


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 24


The AAA Regiments are three days out. Once they land I will be able to begin the test. In the meantime I think that a night-time Port Attack on Pearl Harbour will remind the Allies that Midway should be their main concern, bombing milk runs notwithstanding.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 40
G3M Nell x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Dorothy Luckenbach, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
AK K.I. Luckenbach, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tuscaloosa City, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Henry S Grove, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

The skip-bombing Nells manage o put 2 bombs into Henry S Grove whilst my Zero Daitai and 2 Chutais manage to plaster the other three transports. The bombs are only 60 Kg but every little bit helps and it is making it look as though I'm very concerned with Canton which fits nicely with my maskirovka.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Canton Island at 98,99

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma

Allied Ships
AK Henry S Grove, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
AK Dorothy Luckenbach, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
AK K.I. Luckenbach, Shell hits 3, and is sunk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Canton Island, at 98,99 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

84 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 12
BB Hiei, Shell hits 7


Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

The 2 bombardment TFs strike during the daytime, sink the remaining transports and then bombard the enemy forces. While no further bomber losses were recorded the end of day report showed 18 B26s and 13 B17s destroyed. I can only imagine that the bombardments took out the 16 bombers unaccounted for by my airstrikes. While many shells hit the Hiei and Tone their damage is trivial.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 199672 troops, 1929 guns, 569 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3928

Defending force 69710 troops, 525 guns, 188 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1444

Japanese max assault: 3871 - adjusted assault: 1131

Allied max defense: 1466 - adjusted defense: 4577

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)


Japanese ground losses:
3608 casualties reported
Guns lost 93
Vehicles lost 41

Allied ground losses:
2802 casualties reported
Guns lost 68
Vehicles lost 8

Manila's urban bonus looks like it is going to break the back of the Southern Area Army unless extraordinary actions are taken. With that realisation it becomes essential that the battleline be committed. Losses greater than 1/4 of the battleline will result in the cancellation of this tasking, anything less will be accepted.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 2984 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 76

Defending force 1354 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 100 - adjusted assault: 38

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0


Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported

Kweiyang will fall next turn. There appear to be 3 Chinese Corps on a path just 1 hx from Kweiyang. Much will depend on how quickly they can move into Kweiyang. I have, in addition, to the 5 paratroop regiments, the base force, the NLF and the Naval Guard unit managed to find a free Brigade which I will fly in from Changsha. This should make a defensive position boasting, roughly, 400 AV. This should be enough to hold until the Canton Force can move up in relief.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Balikpapan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5016 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 125

Defending force 3662 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 72

Japanese max assault: 95 - adjusted assault: 60

Allied max defense: 58 - adjusted defense: 19

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Balikpapan base !!!

Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 3 destroyed
Do 24K-2: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
120 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Allied ground losses:
8307 casualties reported
Guns lost 41

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweilin

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 69668 troops, 767 guns, 11 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1376

Defending force 21607 troops, 149 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 653

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese max assault: 1385 - adjusted assault: 459

Allied max defense: 609 - adjusted defense: 137

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2


Japanese ground losses:
1106 casualties reported
Guns lost 26

Allied ground losses:
500 casualties reported
Guns lost 16


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sian

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 100612 troops, 1137 guns, 14 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1892

Defending force 25360 troops, 198 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 591

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese max assault: 1714 - adjusted assault: 525

Allied max defense: 613 - adjusted defense: 358

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2


Japanese ground losses:
1888 casualties reported
Guns lost 54
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

With a little time to rest up the Yenen Force should be able to clear Sian using just deliberate attacks...


Below I have posted a picture of my production as of 16th January.

As you can see my fuel levels remain fairly healthy whilst supply is falling precipitously. Much of that drop has been due to the need to fully stock Midway, Noumea, Kendari and Rabaul whilst not yet benefitting from the supply produced in the DEI. That is fine. I have set ALL oil and resource facilities to repair damage (excepting the one north of Kungchang which was completely destroyed by guerilla activity when my paratroops didn't have sufficient AV to prevent this even though they had sufficient to take the city. My position that there should be a period of grace has already been described.) and so will allow the supply in these regions to be used for repair first.

My HI has reached a steady reserve of some 42000 HI, my resources have improved and should reach 20,000 shortly. My oil production is 2370 and should reach 2500 one what I already hold is repaired. My naval shipyard expansion is almost complete and I think that I have sufficient leeway her to increase it again at the expense of airplane production. Costly? Yes but also my best chance of having a carrier arm which can engage the Americans in a battle of mutual destruction in the early months of 1943... part of my long-term plan to cripple Amrican power projection capabilities for as long as possible.

Armament factories will have to increase production a little more as the reserves there are running down but the 50% increase in vehicle production seems to be doing the trick with my reserve increasing a little every day.


All in all I think that accelerating shipping at the expense of aircraft production in these first few months (when allied with my strategy of committing the minimum number of fighters possible and the maximum number of bombers once air supremacy is achieved) will put me in a superior position in mid-43 than concentrating on aircraft production at the expense of the shipping. Aircraft production rates are relatively responsive when compared to the effect on shipping production of a change in emphasis at a later date.

I have decided that once I have a 1,000 Mitsubishi engine reserve I will lower production to the rate of usage and free up 8000 HI for my shipbuilding. Later in the war once I have built the crucial late-war CVs I will be free to shift all of the HI currentl being thrown into shipbuilding into my aircraft production and be ready for the 2nd half of the war in which rate of airframe replacement becomes a decisive factor.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/17/42

Today was really a day full of ASW action. 4 subs got pretty badly shaken up on both sides with 1 Japanese and 1 Allied sub almost certain to sink.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Belitung Island at 23,58

Japanese Ships
APD APD-1
APD APD-2
APD APD-39
APD APD-38
APD APD-37
APD APD-36
APD APD-35
APD APD-34
APD APD-33
APD APD-32

Allied Ships
SS KXIV, hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 117,65

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34, hits 9

Allied Ships
DMS Elliot
DMS Long
DMS Dorsey
DD Rathburne
DD Kane
DD Hatfield
DD Lawrence
DD Sands
DD Gilmer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Canton Island, at 98,99 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

34 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 4
CA Tone
CA Chikuma
BB Kirishima


Allied ground losses:
514 casualties reported
Guns lost 17
Vehicles lost 6

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9
Port hits 8
Port supply hits 5

I wanted to bombard for another couple of days to reduce the number of support troops, supply and CD guns so that they wouldn't have the time to recover much combat power before my ground troops land.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 118,67

Japanese Ships
SS I-174, hits 1

Allied Ships
PC Tiger
PC Reliance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 23,54

Japanese Ships
AP Koryu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shinonome

Allied Ships
SS KXI, hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 61,44

Japanese Ships
PG Seisho Maru
PG Kyo Maru #8
MSW Rikusen Maru
MSW Mejima Maru

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon, hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 31
Ki-30 Ann x 35
Ki-51 Sonia x 39
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-15 Babs: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 75
G4M1 Betty x 45
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 33
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 3 destroyed
Blenheim I: 2 destroyed
Swordfish: 2 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 83

It appears that this number of Nells and Bettys will be sufficient to close Singapore airbase and keep it closed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported

Runway hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 41
Ki-21 Sally x 341
Ki-48 Lily x 42
Ki-49 Helen x 86
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7
Ki-15 Babs x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
TK Gertrude Kellogg, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Peary, Bomb hits 21, on fire, heavy damage
AO Pecos, Bomb hits 17, on fire, heavy damage
DD Pillsbury, Bomb hits 25, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Lark, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AS Canopus, Bomb hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
AS Otus, Bomb hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
TK Mindanao, Bomb hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
AP President Madison, Bomb hits 12, on fire, heavy damage
AK Ethel Edwards, Bomb hits 14, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Whippoorwill, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Tanager, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
AK Sagoland, Bomb hits 12, on fire, heavy damage
AK Princess of Negros, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Anakan, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Bisayas, Bomb hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
AK Palawan, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
AS Holland, Bomb hits 21, on fire, heavy damage
AO Trinity, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Finch, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
465 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
Vehicles lost 1

Port hits 38
Port fuel hits 7
Port supply hits 10


My only losses here came from a single Betty Daitai which insisted on making torpedo runs on the damaged enemy shipping. Overall though a 0.2% loss rate is very encouraging. I am wondering if this low loss rate might mean the Manilan AAA is running out of supply? About 6 enemy ships were immediately noted to have sunk and I'm sure most of the ships hit in this raid have sunk even if I haven't been immediately informed of their sinking. Allied shipping losses now top 215 for a total of 2400 points and for the first time my points score tops 12,000. Not that points are going to determine this game at all but I'm glad to be thinning out the Allied shipping herd a little.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,54

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 10

Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 2 destroyed

My LRCAP finally works and kills something.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,54

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 7

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 3
Blenheim I x 2
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 2
Hudson I x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 damaged
Blenheim I: 1 damaged
Martin 139: 1 damaged
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Shinonome
AP Koryu Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported

But not well enough to save Koryu Maru. It looks like that's a real hard luck ship.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 94,103

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N Kate x 24

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Diamond head, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


A small strike kills another of the AKs running from Canton Island. I count two more left with another couple of AKs seeming to be making for Pearl Harbour about 1200 miles south-east of Palmyra... They're a long way from nowhere and I can only assume they were heading for Canton Island also but have diverted due to my carrier strikes. A submarine in the area is diverted to intercept the AKs. I will see how I do with the lessons I've learnt over the past few days of play as regards submarine vectoring.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 20,59

Japanese Ships
MSW Rokko Maru
MSW Toshi Maru #2
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Choun Maru #21
MSW Choun Maru #7
MSW Choun Maru #6
MSW Banshu Maru #56
MSW Banshu Maru #52
MSW W.5

Allied Ships
SS O20

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 118,67

Japanese Ships
SS I-174

Allied Ships
PC Tiger
PC Reliance


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 140980 troops, 1323 guns, 105 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2381

Defending force 33248 troops, 177 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 993

Japanese max assault: 2207 - adjusted assault: 1193

Allied max defense: 922 - adjusted defense: 839

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1025 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
778 casualties reported
Guns lost 20


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 43563 troops, 480 guns, 2 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 704

Defending force 99246 troops, 594 guns, 67 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2965



Allied ground losses:
171 casualties reported
Guns lost 11


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweilin

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 67941 troops, 735 guns, 11 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1295

Defending force 20853 troops, 123 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 620

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese max assault: 1148 - adjusted assault: 453

Allied max defense: 565 - adjusted defense: 91

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kweilin base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
510 casualties reported
Guns lost 17

Allied ground losses:
486 casualties reported
Guns lost 18


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Kweilin falls. The forces at Hengchow ( 20 units comprising approximately 150,000 men) are almost entirely cut off from all other Chinese forces and another 20 units north of Hengchow are cut off as well. With a little luck the 4 encirclements I have going could spell the end of the Chinese resistance if the pocketed forces can be anihilated quickly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sining

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8779 troops, 163 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 177

Defending force 350 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 304 - adjusted assault: 147

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 147 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sining base !!!



Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

With this the northern sector to Sian is pretty much cleared of enemy resistance. 3 Corps are still holding out north of Yenen but they are out of supply and out of luck. At most they will provide training for some of my pilots.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3576 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 77

Defending force 1334 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 100 - adjusted assault: 28

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kweiyang base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Kweiyang falls to my paratroopers. 2 Base Forces, an NLF, a naval guard unit and up to 2 Independent Brigades are waiting to be flown in to Kweiyang to help bolster it against the inevitale chinese counter-attack. With a little luck it should hold.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 45572 troops, 215 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 591

Defending force 26197 troops, 226 guns, 247 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 549



Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported

I found it fascinating going through the combat reports. What was the final tally in Allied ships, planes destroyed, and bases captured within the first week?

If I played the Japanese (I haven't yet) I'd have an operation along these lines. There were just a couple of things I'd change, but overall it was right along with my strategy of "hit hard, hit fast, hit often". The Japanese need to send the Allies reeling fast. It may be an overextension of forces at times...but it has to be done. It buys time...which the Japanese need desperately.

Bravo Zulu!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/18/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 112,68

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 15
P-40B Tomahawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

Airbase hits 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Canton Island, at 98,99 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

60 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 8
CA Tone
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei, Shell hits 2


Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

This is the last bombardment of Canton. I am moving to Baker Island to resupply and will then run the BBs and CAs to Midway where a few destroyers are waiting for them.... As I took Laysan Island today I expect Trey to decide he needs to stop the encroachment on Midway before it gets much further.

His options are to go for either:
i) Laysan Island. With the capability to expand to only a Level 3 airfield this is pointless for him to take. I am working frantically to bring it up to Size 1 so any planes which cannot land on damaged carriers involved in battles around Midway will have somewhere to land. A small blocking move at French Frigate Shoals putting an RCT there in order to force me to come in force if I want it is much more likely.


ii) Johnson Island... I think he has taken the bait here. I think this is the most likely of his 3 options. A Base Force and over a thousand tons of supply are almost finished unloading. The 2 x AAA Regiments, the CD Regiment and the Engineer Bn are on their way from Midway and should begin landing within the week. I am also taking the opportunity to load a fragment of South Seas Detachment onto a sub to preserve it "just in case". There are 400 mines in place already and every minelayer I have is committed to Johnson. Again, most are about 1 week to 10 days out... For some reason when I order them to Johnson Island they are NOT stating that they will conduct mining operations. I am ordering them to it mid-ocean so maybe that's the thing and I have to issue their target to them while they are on one of my base hexes?

I am also flying my Tina Daitai to Midway and it will begin flying 2 Naval Guard units to Johnson Island. By the time this is done another 2 Naval Guard units will have reached Midway and I can continue to reinforce Johnson or hold off as required. I have 1 additional CD unit at Midway and another on the way. When the 2nd arrives I will FT the one currently at Midway to Johnson.


iii) Palmyra + Christmas Island... This has the advantage of breaking my hold on the southern routes to Australia. That is pretty much its only attraction as it isn't really an offensive move IMO.



So, by the end of the month I should have :

2 Naval Guard units and the South Seas Detachment, 2 X AAA Regiments, 2 x CD Units, 1 x Base Force, 1 x Engineer Bn as well as slightly over 1,000 mines at Johnson.

The Palmyra force currently comprises 2 x NG units, 1 x CD Unit, 1 x Base Force and a size 4 airfield with a very experienced Betty Daitai at it. In addition a little over 1600 mines have been sowed in the waters around the island. In short since I knew I wouldn't be able to push as much force into Palmyra as Johnson I compensated by putting more mines around it.


The BBs and CAs will refuel at Baker and then make their way to Midway. Since Manila looks like it is going to take a lot longer to fall I plan to move KB to Midway to refuel and replenish ( and take on more Zeroes, Vals and Kates) before moving it into a holding station mid-way between Palmyra and Johnson but out of range of Allied land-based patrols. To support this manoeuvre I am making sure that KBs movement west from Canton Island past Fiji is HIGHLY visible. Once out of his land-based patrol range I will sprint northward, meet up with the replenishment TF and then sprint for Midway. The idea is to make him think KB has gone to rest and refit for the Indian operation, entice him out and then clobber him so hard that when KB DOES leave he doesn't have the strength to exploit it much.


Overall I do not expect to be able to hold either Johnson or Palmyra but with several betty Daitai in range of Johnson, my carriers nearby to provide escort and my surface fleet to mop up the transports ( if I win the carrier battle) or just bombard the troops he lands on Johnson I expect to make the price he pays far, far higher than he would prefer.

This is a deviation from my previous plan but I think that with the loss of so many men at Canton and my bombardment runs ( and the growing noose of Level 4 airfields within range) making it unlikely the base will ever recover trey will look for ways to hit back sooner rather than later and with my previous deception efforts seeming to convince him KB remained at Midway as it was moving south I think there's a good chance that my current efforts will lead him to think it is continuing to move west to help with the invasion of India ( which I am certain he is now expecting as soon as Manila falls) and rush his invasion.

Obviously though the worst of both worlds would be if he refuses to engage me until being absolutely certain that KB is in India. if that happens then all I will have gained is a lot of system damage to no avail... Still it wll be worth it if I can whittle down the US carriers and thus prevent them taking as much advantage when KB is in India as they otherwise would.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 38
Ki-30 Ann x 29
Ki-51 Sonia x 56
Ki-15 Babs x 8

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 63

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 72
G4M1 Betty x 43
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 69
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 3
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 16 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 2 destroyed
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 64

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 13


No Allied losses

Manpower hits 1

The first allied strategic raids occur...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 335
Ki-48 Lily x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 69
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7
Ki-15 Babs x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Sagoland, Bomb hits 16, on fire, heavy damage
AO Trinity, Bomb hits 18, on fire, heavy damage
AS Canopus, Bomb hits 21, on fire, heavy damage
TK Mindanao, Bomb hits 22, on fire, heavy damage
AK Anakan, Bomb hits 18, on fire, heavy damage
AP President Madison, Bomb hits 26, on fire, heavy damage
AK Palawan, Bomb hits 23, on fire, heavy damage
TK Gertrude Kellogg, Bomb hits 22, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
481 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Port hits 22
Port fuel hits 6
Port supply hits 3


I am continuing to port attack at Manila in an effort to remove as many of the CD guns as possible. The battleline is due to strike tomorrow and I really do want to minimise the damage the CD guns can do... I am prepared for this to be a bit of a disaster but, hopefully, with the overwhelming force I am bringing to bear and the amount of softening up my air force has done things should go well. I have 24 recon aircraft dedicated to reconning Manila so my Detection Levels should be very high and this should guarantee extremely high enemy casualties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 4th USMC Regiment, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 16
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
37 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 19

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 91,105

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
D3A Val x 20
B5N Kate x 24

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Arkansan, Bomb hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
AK Ohioan, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage


These ships have served a useful purpose in fleeing westward, thus allowing me to continue giving Trey information as to KBs, seemingly inexorable, westward progress.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 91,105

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
D3A Val x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Susana, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 91,105

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
D3A Val x 14

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Susana, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 33
LB-30 Liberator x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed


Japanese ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 18

Training or preparation? THAT is the question. I was convinced that it was training only but after chatting with Trey a bit more and trying to convince him that I wanted Rangoon I think he has decided that striking back hard before I can consolidate will yield dividends. The two places he can hit in this manner are Johnson and Palmyra. My gut says Johnson because Palmyra only really becomes attractive if it forms part of a convoy protection scheme. As he isn't, yet, aware tha I'm gunning for his Australian convoys the main attraction in going for Palmyra does not exist yet for Trey.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PT PT-40, Shell hits 8, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x A6M2 Zero attacking at 100 feet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Pago Pago

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1219 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 12

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 20 - adjusted assault: 12

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Pago Pago base !!!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 138689 troops, 1288 guns, 96 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2261

Defending force 32006 troops, 149 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 915

Japanese max assault: 214 - adjusted assault: 82

Allied max defense: 825 - adjusted defense: 611

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
803 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
322 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Hmm, I think this might be a bug. I cancelled this deliberate attack last turn and yet it went in again this turn. Weird... I've cancelled it again. If it happens a third day in a row I'm going to call it a bug and see if it can be looked into.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 43786 troops, 488 guns, 2 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 712

Defending force 98866 troops, 585 guns, 69 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2957


Allied ground losses:
307 casualties reported
Guns lost 5


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 45734 troops, 220 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 599

Defending force 26212 troops, 227 guns, 247 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 553



Allied ground losses:
39 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5352 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 4547 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 19



Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Laysan Island

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 652 troops, 13 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 0 - adjusted assault: 2

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Laysan Island base !!!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/19/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 108 encounters mine field at Manila (43,52)

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Mine hits 1, on fire

It looks like I can expect one of my ships to hit a mine every time I try a bombardment run.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Manila, at 43,52 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed

25 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Kako, Shell hits 2
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 3
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 4
CA Aoba, Shell hits 2
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
12250 casualties reported
Guns lost 103
Vehicles lost 5

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 195
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1


The damage to the CAs is negligible ( excepting Myoko which will obviously have to dock to repair its flotation damage. It would appear from the result that my answer to the Allied bomber offensive will lie in my battleline. Over 12,000 casualties are inflicted among enemy support troops. This should help to prevent them recovering fatigue and repairing disabled squads. I am unsure as to how much disruption this will cause the Allied combat units but I'm willing to bet that given a couple of days for the effects of the lack of support and continued air attacks to take hold that they will suffer a massive loss in combat potential. I would dearly love to send in another deliberate attack on the 21st but given the fact that at the last round of combat my adjusted combat potential was only 1/3rd of the Allied adjusted combat potential I feel I must gamble on a Shock Attack on the 21st. If I don't get 1:1 odds on the 21st there is absolutely no chance for Manila to be taken by the end of January ( as it will take until at least the 28th to recover my disruption and fatigue and be ready to attack again) so, again, I will trade casualties for time.

Basically the last time I attacked the Allied defenders mustered some 69,000 men. After this bombardment run and taking into account other recent losses they should be mustering no more than 50,000 men. By the time my attack goes in, assuming a 75% reduction in casualties caused by further bombardment runs ( which seems to be reasonable given the Batavian and Soerabajan bombardments) I can reasonably expect to be facing no more than 40,000 defenders so what was roughly 170,000 vs 70,000 should be more along the lines of 200,000 vs 40,000.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 20,59

Japanese Ships
MSW Toshi Maru #2
MSW Rokko Maru
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Choun Maru #21
MSW Choun Maru #7
MSW Choun Maru #6
MSW Banshu Maru #56
MSW Banshu Maru #52
MSW W.5

Allied Ships
SS O20, hits 3, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 10 encounters mine field at Bataan (42,51)

Japanese Ships
MSW W.19
MSW W.14

Allied Ships
AK Arkansan, and is sunk

This is evidently a bug. Arkansan was in the Pacific just north of Fiji. As bugs go though it is minor. I have sent two minesweepers to Bataan to sweep the mines there to protect my battleline. Tomorrow they will sweep off Manila as the battleline should have suppressed the CD guns sufficiently to allow them to survive. If not then I'm down two good minesweepers but war is risk and the return here is high while the risk is low.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 119,69

Japanese Ships
SS I-24

Allied Ships
AP Tasker H. Bliss, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP President Adams
DD Cassin
DD Tucker


Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 118,69

Japanese Ships
SS I-2

Allied Ships
AP Harris
AP Mount McKinley
AP Barnett
DD Cassin
DD Tucker


Well, well. It looks like we have a troop convoy heading for Pearl. Tasker H Bliss later succumbs to its wounds and men from the 2nd USMC Division are picked up from the sea. So, marines are now in Pearl eh? He knows I don't have any intention of going for Pearl now... In August yes but not now so any reinforcement of Pearl can only be justified on offensive grounds and I know he wants to hit back.

He knows I am picketing the approaches to Hawaii and therefore risked losses bringing these troops into Hawaii. If he was going for Palmyra it was therefore operationally superior to make straight for Palmyra from CONUSA and Trey is more than capable of performing the operational analysis which would lead to that conclusion. Therefore, in my opinion, the 2nd USMC's transit to Pearl Harbour represents the movement of troops to be used in a counter-attack using Pearl as a base.

The options are Johnson and Midway. The conventional wisdom would probably be to retake Midway but given my strategic plan Johnson Island is actually the more crippling target for me if I wish to maintain my hold on my eastern posessions. Knowing that I think Trey will go for Johnson. Of course since I actually only took these eastern posessions to give my position some depth during the invasion of India the loss of Johnson will not discomfit me greatly and I am only committing that I am happy to lose but Trey can't know that.

So I'm more convinced then ever that he's going to take the bait and go for Johnson. Given one more week to double the minefields and other defences I believe Johnson Island will be able to wreck one of his divisions and much of his assault transportation. If we reach the 1st February without it being attacked I will detail my defensive plan. Suffice it to say that I'm also shifting Betty Daitais and by the beginning of February I expect to have an additional 100 Zeroes and 150 Bettys within fighter and torpedo range of Johnson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 39
Ki-30 Ann x 30
Ki-51 Sonia x 50
Ki-15 Babs x 8

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 40

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 61
Ki-21 Sally x 331
Ki-48 Lily x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 92
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7
Ki-15 Babs x 6

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
166 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 27
Port fuel hits 6
Port supply hits 13

Between the naval bombardment and continuous air attacks I think the defence of Manila would turn into something of a war crime on the part of whoever ordered it.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 26th USA FA Brigade, at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 56th USA Coastal Artillery Regiment, at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 6000 feet


VERY interesting results. Aerial attacks on Canton Island show that the strongest ground combat units there are actually a CD unit and a field artillery regiment. Perhaps I really did cause the drowning of the entire Regimental Combat Team. I had just assumed that was a little exaggeration when some of the transports survived long enough to reach Canton Island. OUCH!!! Trey must be really unhappy with that result. Level 4 airfields are being built up in the area and soon they will be strong enough that nothing will reach Canton without being spotted and intercepted by Bettys. For that reason I will leave Canton in operation for some time to come. With supplies and combat potential low it will represent an interesting test from which I can confirm my estimation of Trey's basic instincts. Will he abandon it, run supplies in in single ship TFs or try to fight his way in with a major convoy with extensive carrier support?

I don't think he'll abandon it but will wait to reinforce it significantly until the outcome of his initial offensive ( Johnson/Palmyra/Midway) is known. If that goes poorly for him then I would imagine Canton will be left for me to pluck at a time of my choosing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55

Johore Bahru was closed by cloud today and so the airfield at Singapore was sufficiently repaired to let airplanes fly again.

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Shinonome

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 90,106

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N Kate x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Susana, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 38
LB-30 Liberator x 20


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
58 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 34

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,53


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 5
Hudson I x 2


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Shingo Maru
DD Fubuki
AK Yubari Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
2 x Hudson I bombing at 5000 feet
2 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,30

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1320 troops, 0 guns, 94 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 57

Defending force 5103 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 128

Japanese max assault: 102 - adjusted assault: 0

Allied max defense: 122 - adjusted defense: 196

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
186 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 16

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

I have been unable to move this tank regiment from its blocking position north-east of Chungking despite ordering it to move to Japanese-controlled zones each day over the last week. So I've come up with the cunning plan of Shock Attacking in order to show how weak I am. My hope is that this will tempt Trey into attacking and forcing my unit to auto-retreat into another Japanese-controlled hex.

When it does this it will remove the "block" behind the Chinese forces holding the Sian/Chungking crossroads and I will Shock Attack them, driving them into Chungking and releasing my tank regiments to exploit north-west of Chungking. I have already achieved more than 1:1 odds on this Chinese stack so Shock Attacking should move them. Only the presence of this Tank Regiment along their path of retreat kept them in position after my last attack.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Teloekbetoeng

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6181 troops, 55 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 153

Defending force 3735 troops, 49 guns, 4 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 79

Japanese max assault: 149 - adjusted assault: 57

Allied max defense: 66 - adjusted defense: 11

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Teloekbetoeng base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
122 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
102 casualties reported
Guns lost 6


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

The DEI is, to all intents and purposes, mine. Some remains to be captured but once I rest a few SNLFs in Soerabaja I will form a small TF and conduct the appropriate landings. This will occur sometime after my invasion of India. There is no rush, whatever resources the untaken areas are producing will simply be stockpiled until I take the areas so my net loss from waiting will be negligible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 45872 troops, 227 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 607

Defending force 26473 troops, 228 guns, 253 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 565



Allied ground losses:
53 casualties reported

The good news here is that the two divisions I managed to wreck in the initial Shock Attacks on Rangoon are regaining their strength and gaining experience. The 2nd division in Malaysia is heading for Rangoon and should arrive in the first few days in February. I will put in a deliberate attack at that time, fail miserably BUT having reconfirmed Trey's belief that I will divert my resources to the Malaysian campaign before pulling two divisions from the Rangoon siege, loading them on transports and using them on the Southern Indian coast after my initial landings go in. Obviously if Manilla holds for a while I will use them to clear Taung Giyi so that when the transports are available to move them I won't need to garrison the Burmese hinterland with my 4 Tank Regiments and can bring these to India with me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 98059 troops, 568 guns, 71 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2910

Defending force 44091 troops, 494 guns, 2 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 722

Allied max assault: 2545 - adjusted assault: 1452

Japanese max defense: 740 - adjusted defense: 1743

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1199 casualties reported
Guns lost 41
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
862 casualties reported
Guns lost 46
Vehicles lost 1

This is a nasty but necessary fight for me as it is keeping Chinese forces from breaking the siege of Hengchow. I'm being more aggressive than initially planned in this area but the combined pressure of the paradrop on Kweiyang and Canton Force really ruptured the southern flank and it would be foolish not to take full advantage of this.



I've also found a few of his convoys heading for Australia. Unfortunately Noumea is about a week from being a Level 4 Airfield and my 2 x CVE TFs are absolutely out of fuel and paddling for home. I have 2 CSes, a couple of CL-led DD TFs and about 6 AVs at sea on blockade missions and will vector them onto the convoys and see how they do.

Below is a picture of the 3 convoy locations and directions. The 3 Allied TFs around Noumea are just subs. An ASW TF is about 3 days out and will then go hunting.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/20/42

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TF 10 encounters mine field at Manila (43,52)

Japanese Ships
MSW W.19
MSW W.14

They survived. I must admit. I had expected them to die but had felt it was an acceptable cost to pay for the learning involved.

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Naval bombardment of Manila, at 43,52 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

1 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Kako
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
3743 casualties reported
Guns lost 46
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 143
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

Only 1 CD fired in defence. Interesting.... That speaks of massive disruption to combat units... I may be wrong but that's what it seems like to me. In any case tomorrow I shock attack.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Muntok at 21,55

Japanese Ships
AK Hiyama Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
MSW W.17

Allied Ships
SS KXV

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 60,86

Japanese Ships
PG Chosa Maru

Allied Ships
SS Grayling

Hmm, Trey is good at staking out likely convoy routes. Still, I believe that with my plans for India and Australia attrition on the submarine/ASW front will favour the Japanese.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kweiyang , at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 4
I-153c x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
I-153c: 5 destroyed

Too few Zeros flew as I have not land LOC to Kweiyang as of yet and therefore its supply level is extremely low. By the 25th this should be rectified. Over 100 AV is currently based at Kweiyang as about half of the Naval Guard unit has already been flown in. Soon I will begin pulling my paratroops out of Kweiyang and back into Burma. Akyab is poorly defended and I will take it and put a Base Force there to provide fighter cover to my maskirovka amphibious TFs when I invade India.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 57
G4M1 Betty x 32
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 69
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 2
Buffalo I x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 5 destroyed, 32 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 17 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 4 destroyed
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 86


Well, it looks like bombing at 6,000 feet over Singapore is lethal... to my crews [:D] Back to 16,000 feet for them... I wonder if the difference in lethality at the same altitude between Singapore and Manila could be because Manila is running out of supply? I'll find out tomorrow one way or the other.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 12


No Allied losses

A pattern. In quite a pavlovian manner I'll respond with a AAA Regiment.

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Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 37,26


Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 6


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1


Ah, Wellingtons. From my point of view Trey shouldn't have done this as now that I know he has Wellingtons I will factor their presence into my invasion plans. I'm not the sort of player to count air force arrival times etc. CVs and divisions is about as deep as I care to go. Anything beyond that is not likely to be strategically decisive.

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Day Air attack on 31st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 41
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Ki-49 Helen x 13
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 62
Ki-48 Lily x 6
Ki-49 Helen x 17
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 177
Ki-48 Lily x 15
Ki-49 Helen x 50
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
214 casualties reported
Guns lost 11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Muntok at 21,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Sugiyama Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet

That's two of the AKs going to Palembang pretty much lost in just one day. Still the ship loss ratio is 4 to 1 in my favour, 240something vs 61 so I can't really complain too much. As it is I have more than enough transports to move my entire Phillipine force in 1 go and so many AKs I literally don't know what to do with them all. I'm converting over 40 to ARs, ASes, ADes and MLEs and I've stopped all AP and AK production and still I have over 200 just sitting in port because I have sufficient for all the convoys I want to run.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 89,108

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
B5N Kate x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Ohioan, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage

This is the last of the "see me, I'm moving west I am" air attacks. I have taken care to route my CVs through hexes containing coastwatchers so Trey cannot help but be aware that they are heading towards Truk... Time for them to sprint northward, refuel and then eastward into the hole behind Palmyra and Johnson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 30
LB-30 Liberator x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 2
Hudson I x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Yamakisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Teia Maru

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

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Ground combat at 45,35

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 42865 troops, 438 guns, 3 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 708

Defending force 96737 troops, 519 guns, 69 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2824



Allied ground losses:
274 casualties reported
Guns lost 4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2994 troops, 107 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3901

Defending force 44711 troops, 258 guns, 179 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1321


Allied ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

3 to 1 non-adjusted combat values. Since my adjusted combat value was normally about 1/3rd of my initial combat value and the defenders tended to slightly more than double their combat value a shock attack now should, taking into account the massive disruption from the bombardment, have a fair shot of achieving 1:1 odds, taking down a fort level ( and about 20% of the defensive bonus) and allowing me to Shock Attack again in 3 or 4 days, keeping close enough to my timetable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 96301 troops, 512 guns, 69 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2800

Defending force 42865 troops, 438 guns, 3 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 708

Allied max assault: 952 - adjusted assault: 148

Japanese max defense: 667 - adjusted defense: 593

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
823 casualties reported
Guns lost 39

Allied ground losses:
785 casualties reported
Guns lost 20
Vehicles lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,30

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5095 troops, 48 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 132

Defending force 1090 troops, 0 guns, 71 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 34

Allied max assault: 114 - adjusted assault: 49

Japanese max defense: 20 - adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 12 to 1



Allied ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating! Excellent. The road to Chungking is now clear and the crossroads should be cleared once I re-establish my supply line northward ( which a cut-off Chinese unit has managed to cut)...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/21/42

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TF 108 encounters mine field at Manila (43,52)

Japanese Ships
MSW W.19
CA Kako, Mine hits 1, on fire

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Naval bombardment of Manila, at 43,52

Japanese Ships
CA Kako, on fire
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
1814 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 2

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 57
Port hits 4
Port supply hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 75,138

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Julia Luckenbach

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 73,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Polk, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP Ruth Alexander
AP President Monroe
DD Perkins

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
3 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
3 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 73,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Ruth Alexander
AP President Monroe, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kweiyang , at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 3
I-153c x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed
I-153c: 2 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 31

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 2
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15
LB-30 Liberator x 19


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
9 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 15000 feet
4 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 15000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 15000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,54


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AO Shiriya
AO Shiretoko

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet


LRCAP fails again as the bombers assigned to Singapore fail to fly due to bad weather.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 75,138

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Alaskan, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 73,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AP President Monroe
AP President Garfield, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 73,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Wharton, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet


Not a bad result. I'm sure this won't destroy these ships but it will slow them and allow follow-on strikes to hit them a bit more. Again, not a decisive result but when combined to the fact that these ships arrived just as the AVs and CSes which were due to form the majority of the cordon were also arriving I think it is a creditable result. Getting these ships out again is going to prove a lot tougher for the Allies as my cordon will be properly formed for the return journey.

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ASW attack at 66,44

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 29
PC Ch 12
PC Ch 11
PC Ch 10
PC Ch 6
PC Ch 4
PC Takunan Maru #5
PC Shonan Maru #17
PC Shonan Maru #2
PC Shonan Maru #1

Allied Ships
SS Gar, hits 5


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Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 208942 troops, 1956 guns, 548 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3940

Defending force 42430 troops, 247 guns, 179 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1306

Japanese max assault: 7762 - adjusted assault: 5220

Allied max defense: 907 - adjusted defense: 2349

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0


Japanese ground losses:
4128 casualties reported
Guns lost 89
Vehicles lost 33

Allied ground losses:
621 casualties reported
Guns lost 26
Vehicles lost 3


A surprising outcome but a welcome one. With a bit of time to rest and recuperate it looks like another Shock Attack should force Manila's fall. I will then have to let the divisions committed here rest and recuperate for a week at Soerabaja (non-malarial) and should then be able to send them be able to enact my plan for the invasion of India. It will be delayed by 2 weeks by the unexpectedly tough resistance at Manila but that shouldn't be too disastrous so long as the New Zealand operation can occur concomittantly ( and I think it can).

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Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 138914 troops, 1309 guns, 95 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2246

Defending force 52070 troops, 215 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1211

Japanese max assault: 4246 - adjusted assault: 1468

Allied max defense: 1175 - adjusted defense: 607

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
2968 casualties reported
Guns lost 68
Vehicles lost 9

Allied ground losses:
407 casualties reported
Guns lost 7


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

And no sooner do these guys retreat than another 4 Corps arrive to reinforce the Chinese position here turning this move into another stalemate ( at least for another couple of days anyways ). Trey really is just throwing whatever is available into the fray at the moment in order to try and stall me. I also see some evidence that he has evacuated Wuchow in order to save the 15 to 20 units which are now gathered in that area for the defence of the rump he'll be left with by mid-February ( Chungking, Yunan, Chengtu, Kunming and possibly Nanning).

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Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 27080 troops, 312 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 678

Defending force 18959 troops, 134 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 540



Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported


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Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 46184 troops, 240 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 621

Defending force 27091 troops, 232 guns, 257 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 579



Allied ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


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Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5352 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 4421 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 13



Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


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Ground combat at 45,35

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7029 troops, 29 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2753

Defending force 41854 troops, 391 guns, 3 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 702

Allied max assault: 65 - adjusted assault: 2

Japanese max defense: 634 - adjusted defense: 339

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
187 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/22/42

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ASW attack at 69,114

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #5
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #15
PC Nichi Maru #1
PC Gamitsu Maru #1
PG Saiko Maru
PG Kantori Maru
PG Fukui Maru
MSW Tama Maru #3
MSW Shonan Maru #8
MSW Wa 19

Allied Ships
SS Porpoise

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ASW attack at 20,59

Japanese Ships
APD APD-46

Allied Ships
SS O20

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Night Time Surface Combat at 71,129

Japanese Ships
CS Chiyoda

Allied Ships
DD Perkins
DD Smith
AP President Fillmore
AP President Garfield
AP President Johnson
AP Henry T. Allen
AP President Monroe
AP Wharton
AP Henderson
AP Ruth Alexander

LOL! After seeing the results of the other battles with this convoy I am very glad that Chiyoda didn't engage. It's loss would have made my blockade of Australia much less effective. After considering the logistics of this series of engagements and the results gained by the various forces committed I think that the best way to proceed will be to run massive air searches from Noumea with a couple of Emily Chutai acked by two Betty Daitai. The regions which cannot be patrolled by plane will be picketed by AVs with a DD escort. My CVEs and CSes will remain in port as much as possible and will only sortie when a convoy has been detected. Once this is done they will sprint out and engage. I am stationing 2 x AOs at Noumea which will be responsible for refilling the tanks of the CVEs, CSes, CLs and DDs which sortie. The lack of fuel for my CVEs and in my DD tanks massively limited my ability to employ them effectively for this series of battles and since my AOs are still filling their tanks at Truk I was unable to replenish them sufficiently to let them participate.

The next group of convoys won't be so lucky and I anticipate that the committment of so many AVs, CSes and CVEs may well tempt Trey to seek a quick victory by deploying a couple of his CVs to the area in the next month to six weeks. That would certainly make things interesting.

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Night Time Surface Combat at 70,129

Japanese Ships
DD Mochizuki, Shell hits 21, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Perkins
DD Smith, Shell hits 1
AP President Fillmore
AP President Garfield
AP President Johnson
AP Henry T. Allen
AP President Monroe
AP Wharton, on fire
AP Henderson
AP Ruth Alexander

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Day Time Surface Combat at 70,128

Japanese Ships
DD Satsuki, Shell hits 24, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Perkins, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Smith
AP President Fillmore, on fire
AP President Garfield
AP President Johnson
AP Henry T. Allen
AP President Monroe
AP Henderson
AP Ruth Alexander

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Day Time Surface Combat at 69,126

Japanese Ships
DD Mutsuki

Allied Ships
AP President Polk, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

So, no more single DDs vs lightly escorted convoys. I had thought that a single DD might be able to slip in and hit a few APs slowing them down for my seaplanes to finish off later. It looks like this was an error on my part. President Polk should sink.

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Sub attack at 67,106

Japanese Ships
TK Gen'yo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
PG Seikai Maru

Allied Ships
SS S-28

The allied submarines seem to be peculiarly effective at hitting the few tankers I have at sea. I wonder if Trey is actively targetting them or is just getting lucky? I will wait another month or so to see if a pattern establishes itself more clearly and then boost my escorts for TK convoys if it appears to be required.

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Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 9
Ki-30 Ann x 13
Ki-51 Sonia x 15
Ki-15 Babs x 7

No Japanese losses

Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 25

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Day Air attack on Kweiyang , at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-27 Nate x 15

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

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Day Air attack on Amboina , at 39,73


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11


No Allied losses

Manpower hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 10


No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
4 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet

Two squadrons of B-17s continue to hit my resources. This is actually quite welcome from my point of view as the losses they inflict over the next few months ( while I take care of India) can be used to justify my invasion of Northern Australia as I transfer my Infantry Divisions to Pearl after India falls. It may even convince Trey that I don't intend to take South-Eastern Australia.

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Day Air attack on Yokosuka 3rd SNLF, at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-27 Nate x 14

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 8
SB-2c x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
SB-2c: 3 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported

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Day Air attack on 120th IJA Base Force, at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-27 Nate x 14

Allied aircraft
SB-2c x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
SB-2c: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported

He must be fairly desparate to burn supplies like this on relatively ineffectual air raids. I transferred in a Nate squadron just to see how they would do against the Chinese air force. They were largely ineffectual but, at least, didn't take heavy losses. It may be possible to gain some experience here at little cost over the next few weeks.

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Day Air attack on TF at 25,56


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 2
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Kumakawa Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Teiyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tatsuho Maru

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported

Cloud cover, again, prevents planes flying from Johore and allows Singapore to mount some more painful air raids.

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Day Air attack on TF at 72,140

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 7 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Steel Navigator
AK Steel Seafarer, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Alaskan, Bomb hits 1
AK Steel Exporter, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Air attack on TF at 70,128

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Garfield
AP President Fillmore

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 70,128

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Fillmore, Bomb hits 1, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 70,128

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Wharton, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 70,128

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Wharton, on fire


Not a bad showing. Another four allied cargo ships take hits. It is nothing major but every bit helps.

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 1
Buffalo I x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed

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Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 29
LB-30 Liberator x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
167 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 26

Today I managed to figure out just what I'd been doing wrong with my minelayers. It seems that they have to be set on RETIREMENT ALLOWED in order to lay mines. So, Johnston Island now boasts over 1200 mines with about 1,000 more due over the next week. With the way the defences are building up I think that if Johnson Island survives into February I may just decide to invest enough to actually hold it. I figure 400 AV backed by 2 to 4 CD Units, 4 to 6 AAA units and a steady state of at least 3,000 mines should be enough to do that and engage in attritional warfare favourable to the Japanese ( in short I can replace infantry and guns more easily than even the allies can replace their 4-engined bombers).

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Day Air attack on TF, near Toboali at 22,57


Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AO Notoro

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 72,140

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Canadian
AK Nebraskan, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
3 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 70,128

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Smith
AP President Fillmore, on fire
AP President Garfield

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
2 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
2 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
4 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 117,63

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64

Allied Ships
AK Nightingale, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Dewey
DD Farragut

The sub cordon around Pearl seems to be claiming a ship a week. Good, that's a suitable return on investment.

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Ground combat at Biak

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 670 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 13

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 9 - adjusted assault: 3

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Biak base !!!



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Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 130014 troops, 1215 guns, 86 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2003

Defending force 31309 troops, 131 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 900

Japanese max assault: 2954 - adjusted assault: 1550

Allied max defense: 879 - adjusted defense: 259

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
2747 casualties reported
Guns lost 36
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
759 casualties reported
Guns lost 22


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

The advance on Chungking begins.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sian

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 109825 troops, 1275 guns, 11 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2131

Defending force 25711 troops, 201 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 605

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese max assault: 3768 - adjusted assault: 2348

Allied max defense: 631 - adjusted defense: 331

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sian base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
2129 casualties reported
Guns lost 44
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
791 casualties reported
Guns lost 25


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Sian falls into my hands more than 90% intact. I will continue attacking to clear the rail-line from Homan and then send this force west to Chungking.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 27079 troops, 315 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 677

Defending force 18904 troops, 135 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 539


Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 46362 troops, 241 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 631

Defending force 27531 troops, 232 guns, 263 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 594


Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Just waiting for the 18th Division to arrive. It is about 1 week out.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5372 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 4383 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 10


Allied ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kragen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6701 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 20

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 20 - adjusted assault: 21

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 21 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kragen base !!!


Below you can see the situation east of New Zealand. With the absence of Kates from my CVEs these convoys will get through. Of course the lessons learned from this abortive battle will be used to help shape future battles to my favour.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/23/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Noumea at 68,113

Japanese Ships
AP Gotake Maru, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Seawolf

Japanese ground losses:
54 casualties reported

Hmm, it appears that the Allies are concentrating significant submarine assets around Noumea. This is the 3rd attempted attack in recent days and the 4th submarine spotted in that time. Fortunately one of my nodal ASW forces was recently formed at Truk and moved to Noumea in anticipation of this attempt to interdict my SLOCs. Today it hit S-40 with 5 depth charges including one direct hit which was noted to penetrate the belt armour, cause severe damage and flooding. I think S-40 will sink before it reaches base.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 69,113

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #5
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #15
PC Nichi Maru #1
PC Gamitsu Maru #1
PG Saiko Maru
PG Kantori Maru
PG Fukui Maru
MSW Tama Maru #3
MSW Shonan Maru #8

Allied Ships
SS S-40, hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Manila, at 43,52


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
1258 casualties reported
Guns lost 37
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 110
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Tomorrow I will Shock Attack again at Manila. While fatigue for my units is in the 40s I believe the defenders will be at least as fatigued and disrupted and will yield to a Shock Attack. Once Manila falls the 100+ transports I have gathered at Lingayen will move to Manila, load up my infantry divisions and move to Soerabaja where these troops will make every effort to recover disruption and fatigue, replace their losses and then combat-load for the invasion. Unfortunately the invasion will have to go in 2 weeks late and I don't expect to make landfall in Southern India until the end of February. This is deeply disappointing but as I had never actually experienced combat against defenders entrenched in an urban hex before I did not realise the importance of preventing the Allied forces from retreating to Manila in good order. I have learnt from this costly error and it has informed the last 2 weeks of the fighting in China where I have begun taking every effort to limit the number of enemy units which can actually reach Chungking before my besieging forces arrive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kweiyang , at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
Ki-27 Nate x 5

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 7
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Quite good training AND burning of more Chinese supplies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 96
G4M1 Betty x 46
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 67
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 22 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 8 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
104 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 58

These losses to my navy bombers are unsustainable. I will increase their altitude to 16,000 feet tomorrow. Once Manila falls my army bombers will be transferred to cover Rangoon and Singapore and pound them to dust relieving my naval bombers for action in the eastern pacific where they, together with 100 Zeroes, will stand by to repel invasions of Johnson, Midway and Palmyra/Christmas Island.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bulla , at 40,75


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 13


No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 6


No Allied losses

Manpower hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 71st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 88
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
114 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 47
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 131
Ki-48 Lily x 20
Ki-49 Helen x 50
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
132 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 27,54


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 5
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 4
Hudson I x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Jinshu Maru
AP Yamato Maru
PG Keiko Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP Syoka Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire


LRCAP again fails completely despite the fact that over 100 Oscars are allocated to that mission. Still, the losses are an annoyance but not, at all, decisive. Once my army bombers arrive on the scene Singapore will close quickly enough.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,51


Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 3
Blenheim IV x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Kinugawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Kansai Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
2 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 69,127

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Ruth Alexander

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 69,127

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Henderson, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Ruth Alexander

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
3 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 69,127

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Henry T. Allen

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x F1M2 Pete attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 68,127

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Wharton

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
1 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
4 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 28
LB-30 Liberator x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 18

The first of the AAA regiments committed to Johnson Island have begun arriving and their effect is immediate. 2 B-17s and 1 LB-30 were lost to operational causes. I would imagine that the damage done by the AAA had something to do with that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 69,139

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Julia Luckenbach, Bomb hits 1
AK Steel Trader
AK Steel Navigator

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
1 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 67,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AP President Polk, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 70,140

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Alaskan

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet

Today was a test day for my Alfs. It would seem that 100 feet is not a good altitude for them. They hit almost nothing at that altitude compared to the raids which, earlier, went in at 1000 feet. I estimate that some 20 allied transports ran the gauntlet and about 1/3rd of them suffered relatively significant damage. I think only 1 or 2 are in any danger of sinking but it will tend to serve notice to Trey that if he wishes to make this run again he had either commit a strong surface force ( and hope my CVEs aren't in the area) or commit 1 or 2 of his CVs as a covering force. I imagine he will choose not to make the run again until after his attacks against Midway/Johnson/Palmyra/Christmas Islands are completed and he can more effectively screen the convoys.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wuchow

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21564 troops, 266 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 637

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 485 - adjusted assault: 442

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 442 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wuchow base !!!

Wuchow had been abandoned by the defenders who are retreating to Kweiyang as quickly as their feet can carry them. This is a good choice on Trey's part as staying in Wuchow only to be pursued out of it with the resultant casualties would only ensure the fall of Kunming. Withdrawal now preserves these forces for the coming fight at Kunming.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 33406 troops, 399 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 673

Defending force 18914 troops, 135 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 537

Japanese max assault: 687 - adjusted assault: 380

Allied max defense: 558 - adjusted defense: 382

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)


Japanese ground losses:
779 casualties reported
Guns lost 32

Allied ground losses:
593 casualties reported
Guns lost 28

Close, oh so very close. 380 vs 382

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,35

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2216 troops, 6 guns, 149 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 81

Defending force 13086 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 197

Japanese max assault: 72 - adjusted assault: 72

Allied max defense: 196 - adjusted defense: 46

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1


Allied ground losses:
105 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

I'll keep the pressure up here and in a few more days may do a Shock Attack. I don't plan to push an advance here to any great degree at the moment but it'll complicate Trey's position and might make him think I am prematurely moving against Chungking so it'll be worth accepting a few losses in a needless shock attack to achieve those objectives.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 46607 troops, 246 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 640

Defending force 27709 troops, 233 guns, 264 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 604



Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,30

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 51476 troops, 342 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1471

Defending force 1240 troops, 0 guns, 78 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 33

Allied max assault: 1226 - adjusted assault: 861

Japanese max defense: 26 - adjusted defense: 22

Allied assault odds: 39 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 8

Allied ground losses:
118 casualties reported
Guns lost 4


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

A tank regiment which had moved to a hex merely to prevent allied movement gets thrown back out of the hex.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,35

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9615 troops, 35 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 197

Defending force 2216 troops, 6 guns, 149 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 81

Allied max assault: 174 - adjusted assault: 5

Japanese max defense: 78 - adjusted defense: 39

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,31

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8877 troops, 61 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 524

Defending force 20152 troops, 252 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 444

Allied max assault: 268 - adjusted assault: 4

Japanese max defense: 444 - adjusted defense: 225

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
448 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

The pattern here is of the Chinese trying to break the growing number of encirclements I have created. Everywhere of importance they fail.


The picture below shows the situation in China. As you can see from the yellow hatched boxes I have managed to trap a bit over 70 units in 4 encirclements.
i) North of Yenen - 5 units.
ii) Homan/Sian - 25+ units.
iii) Hengchow - 20 units.
iv) South of Chungking - 20+ units.

The rest of China is actually weakly held. I will close these pockets and then move to take Chungking before these units respawn in 90 days. So far I've been very careful not to destroy any Chinese units as I didn't want them to respawn during the siege but I am now in a position where I can guarantee Chungking falling within 3 months of the first pocket being annihilated.

My losses in China have been quite light when compared with my achievements and , in any case, my army is the one place where I do have quite deep pockets so with a couple of months to rest and recuperate and gain prep points for the Soviet Union these forces will be, once again, good to go. My timetable for the Soviet invasion is still on schedule.

Hi Nemo could you send me the password to ouer game so i could see how did i mauled the KB??[:D]

Any way i just noticed this topic i should see it sooner... im Nemo first opponent and we played the NiK mod... When i first Saw Nemo moves i was totaly shocked and thought "what the hell is goeing on around here" but i got a little light in the tunnel as Nemo changed hex from with KB would strike Pearl and got unlucku bad weather prevented him from attacking Pearl and one of my SBD's put a 1000 pounder into Akagi[:D] then i started to think what to do... most of the pacific islands were invaded Midway hold on for about a week but then i rembered that in Nik Mod KB is not a Death Star with could be defeted so i bunch my CV in three different TF's add 2 BB to each of those TF's and created a BB surface combat to further draw enemy fire...[:)] as Nemo closed in to Johnston i moved in... in the Result of the Battle my ship AAA put up a good show and only West Wirginia was hit by 5 Torp's and Enterprise with a bomb and a torp i do not rember it correctly what was the KB damage but it was substential and withou his CV to cover his shipping lanes i would the just starve Nemo troops on those islands to death[:D] any way good luck with your game Nemo and please send me the password[:)] Such gamy actions are only possible in the stock game as under NiK mod they becouming veary sticky stuff to play with[:D]

Przemcio,

Well you have your view of NikMod and I have mine. Mine is that in December of 1941 any combat result in which Japanese planes which actually make it through the CAP and attack enemy surface combatants hit only 20% of the time the Allies do is hosed. This is why I won't play NikMod. From some tests I've run it seems that the number of leakers IS higher but the extra disruption due to AAA completely hobbles the Japanese ability to get a historic strike rate. You are welcome to NikMod but I think he has unintentionally messed up the modelling of strikes against surface shipping. I'll note that the surface combat TF etc you formed were irrelevant to our game and your retelling misses many crucial points. In short under NikMod you got just over 100 planes through my CAP and they scored about 35 hits. I got 160+ through your CAP and scored 7 hits. With experienced pilots with no fatigue etc that sort of strike results is pretty hosed. In addition no planes were distracted by your surface TF.

As to the damage... Only 3 out of 8 CVs in my TF were rendered unable to carry out flight ops. The other 5 were still in the fight so it wasn't quite as catastrophic as you believe.

As to sending the password. Unfortunately I am using the same password for this game so I don't think I'll be sharing it until this game is over and to be honest I think you could have communicated all of this in a PM without coming on here and getting into labelling me etc. I think that was very poor form to be honest.

In real life I'm a psychiatrist and it really is interesting to see the pathology evinced in what some people say/are driven to say here. Instead of any maturity being shown in a live and let live attitude we have people insisting their version of "reality" is what should be implemented and complaining when others choose not to join them in their world. If it isn't that then we see a modern-day version of chest-beating to fulfill egodystonic needs.

I'll continue the AAR until the end of January as I have previously undertaken to do and then stop it. I can enjoy the game just fine without having every tom, dick and harry decide he has to vent his personal issues by publicly engaging in labelling and ego-driven commentary.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/24/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 69,113

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #5
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #15
PC Nichi Maru #1
PC Gamitsu Maru #1
PG Saiko Maru
PG Kantori Maru
PG Fukui Maru
MSW Tama Maru #3
MSW Shonan Maru #8
MSW Wa 19

Allied Ships
SS S-40, hits 5

When I saw this I thought I'd loaded the wrong turn. It began with an attack on the exact same sub as last time. That's a total of 10 hits over 2 days. I'm sure S-40 won't make it now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 115,62

Japanese Ships
SS RO-63

Allied Ships
AK Vincent, Torpedo hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 116,62

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68, hits 1

Allied Ships
AK San Bernadino
AK San Anselmo
DD Flusser
DD Reid

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 115,61

Japanese Ships
SS RO-62

Allied Ships
AK Columbian, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 115,61

Japanese Ships
SS RO-62

Allied Ships
AK Columbian, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported

2 hits and sunk with another ship damaged. RO-68 is only very lightly damaged. I got a message that some troops from a Base Force were being rescued by the rest of the convoy. This submarine cordon ( now running out of Palmyra and Midway and supported by several AS ships in each port) seems to be proving very effective and is netting a couple of ships a week at this time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Manila, at 43,52

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
1045 casualties reported
Guns lost 35

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 54
Port hits 10
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 115,62

Japanese Ships
SS RO-63

Allied Ships
AK Mauna Ala, Torpedo hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported

Anotehr victim of the sub cordon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 29
Ki-30 Ann x 27
Ki-51 Sonia x 29
Ki-15 Babs x 6

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged


Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 37

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kweiyang , at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-27 Nate x 7

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

A good result again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 81
G4M1 Betty x 45
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 33
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 8 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Swordfish: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 44

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bulla , at 40,75


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9


No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 9


No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 9


No Allied losses


Significant resources are being committed to ineffectual bombardment of Sorong. With the fall of Manila a half-dozen AAA units will be freed up and I will move them to Sorong, Amboina, Kendari and Koepang to faciliate attrition of the LBA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Yokosuka 3rd SNLF, at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-27 Nate x 7

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 4
SB-2c x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 1 damaged
SB-2c: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 120th IJA Base Force, at 41,35

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-27 Nate x 7

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
SB-2c x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 2 destroyed
SB-2c: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported


Another half-dozen Chinese bombers bite the dust. With most of my combat units now flown into Kweiyang my transports have taken to flying in supply and soon Kweiyang should be sufficiently supplied to withstand attack. At that point in time I will begin airlifting my paratroops out and into their new staging areas for the invasion of India. I have identified 3 bases which should fall to surprise paratroop attacks and cripple the enemy ability to mount an effective defence.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 66,126

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 3
E13A1 Jake x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Monroe, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
3 x F1M2 Pete bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 66,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Smith, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 66,126

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Perkins, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Sydney Island at 100,102


Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 7


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Tatuharu Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 15000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 65,139

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Steel Navigator, Bomb hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet

Basically the Alfs are getting their last licks in. I'm particularly pleased o see some of the DDs getting hit as those DDs really hurt my surface combatants. It would also appear another B26 squadron is operating out of Fiji.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 204829 troops, 1862 guns, 527 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3723

Defending force 38997 troops, 161 guns, 177 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1200

Japanese max assault: 7220 - adjusted assault: 4304

Allied max defense: 831 - adjusted defense: 1841

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
4484 casualties reported
Guns lost 91
Vehicles lost 15

Allied ground losses:
69730 casualties reported
Guns lost 276
Vehicles lost 77

Manila finally falls. It cost me but it seems like Manila is a temperate zone so that should help my troops recover their fatigue and disruption.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 44,35

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2151 troops, 5 guns, 146 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 81

Defending force 12827 troops, 34 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 193

Japanese max assault: 71 - adjusted assault: 71

Allied max defense: 115 - adjusted defense: 15

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1



Allied ground losses:
189 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 46683 troops, 250 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 644

Defending force 27994 troops, 236 guns, 268 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 613



Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5372 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 4292 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 4



Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported