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Combat Report, Nov 2-11, 1942:

Relatively quiet the last couple days, as the Empire's counteroffensives are moving forward.

Burma: Several days ago we trapped the 18th UK division behind Japanese lines. After kicking it around for over a week, good news and bad news. The Bad News: It got away back to UK lines. The Good News: It did so reduced to about 3,000 troops with no guns or vehicles; in other words, completely wrecked. For a UK Division that's almost as good as surrender, as UK replacement rates are so low it will take forever to rebuild it.

Elsewhere, NW of Magwe, we pushed back a Recon Bn, and are marching 2 1/2 divisions NE toward an Allied stack on the West bank of the Irriwaddy. We have 2 more divisions closing in on the same stack from the east, but an attack on the 7th Arm Bde failed, primarily because of Allied air superiority.

I don't know if I can push the Allies out of the Irriwaddy Valley, they are pushed to the West bank anyway. I don't mind an attrition war on the ground, since the IJA has better replacement rates than the British.

Marshalls: The next step in the counterattack here is shaping up; 2 Divisions, an HQ, and a Tank Regt are loaded up on AKs and headed for Makin, which has about the same garrison as Mili. If that's true it should fall in a couple days. Once Makin falls, that will only leave Tarawa, which figures to be a tougher nut; may take a couple months to put that one together. Without significant CV support, though, the garrison there will continue to be cut-off and just take daily bombing. The last supply ship unloaded at Tarawa in early August, so it's been 3 months.

Northern Australia: I am increasingly convinced that Hemajor will attempt an intial offensive at a spot that has Land-Based air support; that means primarily from Australia. That can mean Port Moresby/Milne Bay/Horn Is., but the initial spot is Exmouth.

Exmouth is not well garrisoned by me, as I don't want to waste units on it. A single Aus Cav Bde is marching overland from Carnarvon. I am bombing the unit to slow it down. We'll see what happens. I do intend to fight for Port Hedland, because I can also use the airbase at Corunna Downs to mutually support.

Slow Play: Play has been slow, few turns from my opponent, and also I am getting ready to move my house. I am not 100% prepped yet for the move, but plan on packing in Amphib mode to make unload easier at the new residence. Anyway, hope folks are still reading.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Combat Report, Nov 2-11, 1942:

Relatively quiet the last couple days, as the Empire's counteroffensives are moving forward.

Burma: Several days ago we trapped the 18th UK division behind Japanese lines. After kicking it around for over a week, good news and bad news. The Bad News: It got away back to UK lines. The Good News: It did so reduced to about 3,000 troops with no guns or vehicles; in other words, completely wrecked. For a UK Division that's almost as good as surrender, as UK replacement rates are so low it will take forever to rebuild it.

Elsewhere, NW of Magwe, we pushed back a Recon Bn, and are marching 2 1/2 divisions NE toward an Allied stack on the West bank of the Irriwaddy. We have 2 more divisions closing in on the same stack from the east, but an attack on the 7th Arm Bde failed, primarily because of Allied air superiority.

I don't know if I can push the Allies out of the Irriwaddy Valley, they are pushed to the West bank anyway. I don't mind an attrition war on the ground, since the IJA has better replacement rates than the British.

Marshalls: The next step in the counterattack here is shaping up; 2 Divisions, an HQ, and a Tank Regt are loaded up on AKs and headed for Makin, which has about the same garrison as Mili. If that's true it should fall in a couple days. Once Makin falls, that will only leave Tarawa, which figures to be a tougher nut; may take a couple months to put that one together. Without significant CV support, though, the garrison there will continue to be cut-off and just take daily bombing. The last supply ship unloaded at Tarawa in early August, so it's been 3 months.

Northern Australia: I am increasingly convinced that Hemajor will attempt an intial offensive at a spot that has Land-Based air support; that means primarily from Australia. That can mean Port Moresby/Milne Bay/Horn Is., but the initial spot is Exmouth.

Exmouth is not well garrisoned by me, as I don't want to waste units on it. A single Aus Cav Bde is marching overland from Carnarvon. I am bombing the unit to slow it down. We'll see what happens. I do intend to fight for Port Hedland, because I can also use the airbase at Corunna Downs to mutually support.

Slow Play: Play has been slow, few turns from my opponent, and also I am getting ready to move my house. I am not 100% prepped yet for the move, but plan on packing in Amphib mode to make unload easier at the new residence. Anyway, hope folks are still reading.

Absolutely, still reading, Q-ball. Your play as the IJ is an important part of my (im)balanced AE diet / addiction. [&o]

Still reading!  Good luck with the move. I hope you do not experience too many, "17 troops from IJA squad lost while unloading" moments.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Combat Report, Nov 2-11, 1942:

Relatively quiet the last couple days, as the Empire's counteroffensives are moving forward.

Burma: Several days ago we trapped the 18th UK division behind Japanese lines. After kicking it around for over a week, good news and bad news. The Bad News: It got away back to UK lines. The Good News: It did so reduced to about 3,000 troops with no guns or vehicles; in other words, completely wrecked. For a UK Division that's almost as good as surrender, as UK replacement rates are so low it will take forever to rebuild it.

I think that this is better than surrender:

1. The unit has been rendered combat incapable.
2. You get the VPs for those squads destroyed or lost through waste during their long slog out of the malarial Burmese jungle towards home.
3. If your opponent wants to reconstitute this Division, it will basically cost him all UK infantry and armor replacements for some time. This weakens other potential offensives for him-more so than liquidation of just this one division by itself.
4. If he does reconstitute the division, it will be with low EXP replacements-making it easier to destroy future squads from THAT 'new' unit too.
5. If he does reconstitute the division it will draw off equipment TOE upgrades from other units, thereby making the other units left with crap equipment for the indeterminate future.

Nice job, Q-ball.

And all it took to do this was deployment of 9-10 IJ divisions! [:D]

Combat Report, Nov 12-13, 1942:

After a couple weeks of not much going on, suddenly a burst of activity on the part of the Allies. This should be interesting!

Tabiteua: A cruiser TF hit Tabiteua, toasting the airfield. This airbase is pretty vulnerable, so I didn't have many planes there. I didn't think much of this.

The next day, though, a TF began to unload! Nice job by Hemajor to sneak that in; I didn't see those transports coming. I have a ton of Glen subs in the area, but they missed it.

The TF didn't unload very fast, though, so the first attack came off 1-7, and didn't touch the forts; not good for the Allies. I have about 100 AV at the Atoll, mostly a Nav Gd unit and the Ichiki Detachment. The invaders are 2 Marine Regts, 1 Tank Bn, and a Combat Engineer Bn.

They will continue to unload overnight, but they won't be unloading anything tommorow morning, when KB will probably plaster anything left. I think the cruisers are gone, leaving the transports unprotected, so the IJN will also be visiting with surface ships.

We are in a race to see if I get there before enough troops unload to take it; we shall see. I think I have a chance to defeat this invasion though.

Makin: Meanwhile, we will be unloading at Makin, covered by lots of warships, shortly. I expect it to fall pretty quickly, as the AV matchup is very similar to Mili; 14K Allies vs. 2 IJA Divisions and Tanks that are fully-prepped.

New Caledonia: He also snuck a TF into New Caledonia! 4Es pretty much toasted Noumea and Koumac a couple days ago, and a BB TF built around HMS VALIANT (which should be withdrawing soon), finished Koumac off. Without airsearch or a way to strike back, some transports started unloading at LaFoa.

I had already withdrawn alot of troops from New Caledonia; it's not worth holding. Between Koumac and Noumea I have 2 Nav Gd units, and base troops, just a tripwire. I want to save the base troops, so flying boats are starting to grab fragments of everyone. I anticipate losing devices, but not units.

I will have a decision to make on the rest of the New Hebrides; without New Caledonia, they are a pain to hold with a thin supply line south from Ndeni. I probably need to evacuate Tanna, and Efate may also need to go. I may hold Luganville just to make him attack it. The first place I can really contest is Lunga, where I have nearby airbases to support.

If I continue to hold and throw him back in the Marshalls, I wonder if the Solomons is the next line of advance. I think it might be, I am already sending a division to Port Moresby, and plan to send another to Lunga (one of the ones that takes Makin).

Burma: I briefly contested vs. the RAF, and though I shot down a bunch of Hurris and Bombers, I came out over 3 days on the losing end, with over 50 Tojos shot down. I withdrew the units, and we will try a different strategy, but I don't have the airpower to really control the skies over Burma. I certainly don't have the bombers.

On the ground, I am dubious as to whether we can acheive anything other than a stalemate; I suppose that's OK for now, the main objective is to keep Magwe pumping, at least into 1943.

Fuel Situation: The Home Islands are in pretty good shape for Fuel, with 150+ days of FUEL on-hand, and 198 days of OIL. Both figures exceed the start amounts (at least FUEL does).

I am very low, though, in the Southeast Area, with Truk down to 65K Fuel, Rabaul completely empty, and the only other fuel a couple small stockpiles, plus another 16K loaded on AOs supporting the fleet. I have had alot of tankers moving to Truk from the SRA to unload, but with all my BBs and CVs there, not to mention large transports, I am burning alot of gas. Not much I can do for now but to keep shipping fuel that way, but I could use a pause at some point to catch up. Don't think I'll get it though. I'm good on supplies though, I have plenty.

I know you are moving, but I am eager to see how the invasion of Tabiteau turns out. So hurry it along! [;)]

Combat Report, Nov 14-15, 1942:

Tabiteua: The transports fled from Tabiteua, so we didn't hit them at the anchorage; they left the fragments onshore.

We pursued with Kido Butai, and caught them 2 days later; most of the transports were sunk, along with 3 DDs.

I am prepping a Nav Gd unit to fly out to Tabiteua, and hopefully get enough AV to counterattack and eliminate the troops onshore.

Makin: 2 Divisions, the 24th and 38th, landed on Makin, along with a Tank Regt. The first shock attack was 1-1 and dropped the forts; we will rest a day or two, and go again, which should eliminate it.

One problem: For the second time, a Tank unit vaporized on an Atoll landing! This time a Tank Regt, so that hurts! I will not be landing Tank units on Atolls anytime soon; have others had this problem? They all seemed to founder in the surf or something.

I notice that you have all your carriers in one TF. I guess it would be hard to tell from you strike on all these various transports, but have you noticed any coordination problems with your air strikes? I am somewhat reluctant to put all my CVs in one TF lest I get a crappy coordination roll.

I'd at least break off Hosho. She's probably 10 knots slower than the others. It makes a sizeable difference.

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

I notice that you have all your carriers in one TF. I guess it would be hard to tell from you strike on all these various transports, but have you noticed any coordination problems with your air strikes? I am somewhat reluctant to put all my CVs in one TF lest I get a crappy coordination roll.

Not sure how that works exactly, I haven't seen a problem, though the Allies have only 2 CVs AT MOST in the Pacific, so I'm not worried about coordination; KB is basically a Death-Star at this point.

I would like to know all the rules on this.

I'd at least break off Hosho. She's probably 10 knots slower than the others. It makes a sizeable difference.

HOSHO has a speed of 25 kts, same as JUNYO; so no harm in putting them together actually. HOSHO isn't much of a CV, but 20 planes is 20 planes. I could take them BOTH out, and I would gain 4 kts doing that.

Combat Report, Nov 16-17, 1942:

Makin Falls: After a 2-day battle, the 13,000 Allied troops on Makin surrender. That's objective #2 in the Marshalls.

Both Mili and Makin fell pretty quickly to a 2-division assault each. I have 2 more divisions prepped for Tarawa: The 2nd Division, and the 37th. I don't dare try landing tanks again. The garrison on Tarawa is about twice as large, so no idea if it's going to be big enough.

I can leave Tarawa alone for now, and hope to destroy anything trying to relieve it. Not sure.

Tabiteua: With much of the Tabiteaua assault troops dead on transports, we started counterattacking to destroy the 4500 troops in the beachhead. The first attack was 2-1, with about equal casualties on both sides. That was encouraging, we are going to keep attacking until either they surrender, or we can't anymore. I think I have these guys though.

New Hebrides: My airbases at Efate, Luganville, Noumea, and Koumac are all closed under the weight of massed 4E attacks. Given this, no chance of an effective defense; we are on a full-scale evacuation. Not sure how we will pull all of this off, but we'll give it a shot. Tanna will be the biggest problem.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

I notice that you have all your carriers in one TF. I guess it would be hard to tell from you strike on all these various transports, but have you noticed any coordination problems with your air strikes? I am somewhat reluctant to put all my CVs in one TF lest I get a crappy coordination roll.

Not sure how that works exactly, I haven't seen a problem, though the Allies have only 2 CVs AT MOST in the Pacific, so I'm not worried about coordination; KB is basically a Death-Star at this point.

I would like to know all the rules on this.

Well you suffer coordination penalties based upon the total number of aircraft in the TF.

According to the manual:

The coordination of air strikes is affected by how many Carrier aircraft are based in the TF launching a strike. The chance of uncoordination is doubled under the following circumstances:

»»Allied TF in 1942 and the number of aircraft in the TF is greater than 100 + rnd (100).


»Allied TF in 1943 and the number of aircraft in the TF is greater than 150 + rnd (150).

»Allied TF in 1944 or later or a Japanese TF at any time and the number of aircraft in the TF is greater than 200 + rnd (200).

So going by the pic you posted, you'd be best coordinated if you separated the KB in 2 with 200 and 190 (or some mix that doesn't exceed 200) aircraft respectively.

Where are the 4E that pounding the New Hebredies and New Caledonia coming from? Fiji I presume?

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

Where are the 4E that pounding the New Hebredies and New Caledonia coming from? Fiji I presume?

They are coming from Fiji, Brisbane, and Norfolk Island. Too many places to shut down!

Combat Report, November 19-22, 1942:

A very busy few days in the Pacific; some setbacks for the Empire, topped off though with a strong tactical victory at Tabiteua.

Burma: The Burma front has quieted; I am still gathering a few divisions around Magwe to hopefully force the action up the Irriwaddy, but the Allies appear to have halted for now, with Shwebo and Akyab still in Allied hands.

Exmouth: Another Brigade is approaching Exmouth overland from Carnarvon. That's a quite a march through the desert! More than likely there is very little naval support available. I am OK with losing Exmouth, an overland march on Port Hedland isn't going to work however.

New Hebrides: I have decided to evacuate the New Hebrides. Had to think about that, because I am generally in the camp of fighting for everything.

Problem with the New Hebrides, is that they are an exposed "finger" into the Allied lines, and it's difficult to have the IJN lurk without being seen. My opponent is very aggressive, so I think I can destroy more ships if he exposes them, but the New Hebrides isn't the place to do that.

So, I am pulling everyone out, as far as Ndeni; I will defend that island. Otherwise, I am buidling a cluster of bases around Lunga, which will be the REAL defense lines

USN Counterstrikes: I lost 12 transports and 2 PBs in 2 separate "engagements" (i.e. Slaughters), at Rossel Is. and Efate. Thankfully, no land units were lost, just supplies. I have lost alot of transports though and it's beginning to bite; I would have liked to turn off production of AKs, but will probably leave it on for now.

Battle of Tabiteua: The Allies are moving in the Marshalls. The strategy seems to be to build airbases in empty dots, to eventually control the air over Tabiteua, and Tarawa, and run a transport convoy into Tarawa and relieve it.

On the ground, we have slowly worn down the troops that landed on Tabituea; a Tank Bn, AA Bn, USN Base Force, and Combat Eng Bn have been wiped out by attrition. Only the 2 Regts remain, and are almost at 0 AV, at which point they will disappear. Of course, with these new islands nearby, a fragment will probably be lifted out, so both Regts will rebuild. So it goes.....

Naval Battle of Tabiteua: USN cruisers bombarded Tabiteua on the 22nd; I think this expended enough ammo though, that they were really handled when they ran into the IJN.....

I had sent a force of 4 CAs and 5 DDs, led by Raizo Tanaka, to attack. They arrived, and a grand battle ensued. Round 1 was inconclusive, but Round 2 was a decisive victory for the IJN. MINNEAPOLIS was hit by many shells, and finished by a Long-Lance from ASASHIO (the only Long-Lance hit in the battle). VINCENNES was pounded, and finished in the morning by I-153. QUINCY was reported with "heavy fires, heavy damage"; if that's true, she will sink, as the nearest port of even size-1 is 12 hexes away. 2 DDs also went down.

The IJN ships were not seriously damaged. Unfortunately, they are completely out of ammo, or we would take-on those nearby unloading transports.

From what I can tell, that leaves SALT LAKE CITY, PORTLAND, and WICHITA as the only USN CAs left. All others are sunk. That is a serious loss!

You need some AKEs at Nauru and one of the shipping engineers. Those two islands he has landed on are a serious threat since their airfields can be built to size 5. Do you have the KB in the area?

I do think your opponent is much too aggressive for his own good.

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

You need some AKEs at Nauru and one of the shipping engineers. Those two islands he has landed on are a serious threat since their airfields can be built to size 5. Do you have the KB in the area?

I do think your opponent is much too aggressive for his own good.

I have been using Kusaie Island; there is a Naval HQ, 2 AKEs, and AOs there. I may need to move it a bit closer, to interdict these new bases.

I agree that these airbases are a problem: They can be built to a very threatening level. What to do?

I have a surface advantage, so I plan to run bombardment TFs to keep the airfields closed. Sooner or later, he'll counter that with CVs, but that's a month or two down the road. In the meantime, we can keep it closed.

Location of KB temporarily classified...it's not sitting in port though.

Chances are, another landing on Tabiteua is at least 60 days out anyway; he probably didn't have more units prepped for it, just the ones that were landed, which are now either fragments or destroyed.

Combat Report, Nov 23-24, 1942:

Interesting sequence in the New Hebrides; sort of a draw overall, as I escaped again with a possible tactical victory. First, the bad....

Day 1: IJN BBs Nailed: I had a BB TF at Efate covering the evacuation of the garrisson. The evac was nearly complete; really dumb on my part though to park those BBs there without aircover for more than 2 days. In AE parking anything in range is an open invitation, and my opponent accepted.

An Allied CV TF, consisting apparently of SARA, LEX, and probably all 4 CVEs, attacked the TF. We put up good flak, and several bombs bounced off YAMATO or it would have been worse. As it is, HARUNA suffered 13 pts of major damage, and YAMATO 41 sys plus another 35 of total Major Damage. She is down to only 13 kts. I think I will get her to safety, but with even moderate damage on YAMATO, that will take several months to fix. Ouch!

Day 2: Revenge!: I had KB steaming to the area to hopefully catch some Allies warships. IF he had pursued YAMATO to finish her off, they would have been in range of my CVs. Alas, he was finally a bit cautious and pulled the CVs back.

Instead, KB found a cruiser TF and sank 2 more CAs, CANBERRA and DORSETSHIRE. Not a great haul normally, but he is getting incredibly low on cruisers.

Overall, losing YAMATO for several months is a blow. She will be back at least, and in the near term, I have BB superiority anyway.

Tabiteua: 1 unit left on Tabiteua; just won't DIE!

Combat Report, Nov. 25-28, 1942:

Been a few days since I updated; most of the action continues to be in the New Hebrides.

Exmouth: The Allies are about to take Exmount. I have only a Nav Gd unit there, and have begun to pull cadres. It's 2 brigades, and it should fall tommorow.

B-17s continue to bomb Port Hedland; though the airbase has problems, we keep putting up CAP. 3 4Es were shot down today. I have an airbase now at Corunna Downs, so it won't be easy to completely shut me down. I intend to fight it out at Port Hedland for now, and delay the inevitable evacuation of Australia.

Speaking of which, the Allies at Tenant Creek are getting weaker; 2 units left. I don't think he is going to make an overland move on Darwin. I am already pulling out the 48th Div. to use as a reserve for this area. The Imperial Gds division is also at Soerbaya, resting from the invasion of Mili (it was very disrupted).

Tarawa: The invasion fleet is sailing for Tarawa, and will land in about 6 days. This will not fall quickly; I anticipate a long siege, as the garrison is large.

New Hebrides: The last two days, each of us has lost transports.

I lose 6 at Tanna, to an Allied surface TF of cruisers. I wish I had brought some, it would have been nice to sink more cruisers.

KB found a huge pile of transports at La Foa, and sank 20+ over two days. Our aircraft losses were moderate. Mostly we sank xAKs, but a few xAPs were mixed in. The main bonus is that they were troop-laden; many squads were destroyed.

We also sank CA HAWKINS, which had limped into Noumea harbor. The Allies are REALLY down in cruisers!