A Lemon rises in the East: SqzMyLemon (J) vs. JocMeister (A)

[SqzMyLemon]

Wanted to add that fuel is becoming an issue, or lack thereof. Tarakan and Balikpapan will have to be captured soon to provide fuel for operations against Northern Australia and Java. I'm currently transporting from the Home Islands, but until I have a local supply available and the submarine threat is reduced in the Celebes, I don't have much choice.

I have a lot of issues to address, Palembang for one, and they need to be taken care of before I can focus on Australia. I need Singapore to fall quickly!

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Unless you are actively searching around the map edges it's not surprising you've not found much. I've already had reports of enemy shipping near the southern most islands (can't recall the name of the specific island) on the map from a Glen equipped submarine. I believe this is where I'll find Jocke's routes.

I'm seriously contemplating an invasion of Fiji now, which would allow me to coordinate air search, submarines and SCTF's in an effort to slow the Allied buildup in Australia. This may become crucial in denying reinforcements arriving in Australia.

I hope I can move quickly enough in SoPAC to establish a semi-blockade with little effort. KB won't be replenishing in Truk anytime soon. As long as I can keep her fueled she'll have to prevent Allied forces reaching any of the key bases west of Pago Pago.

Early on I had several Glen subs, occasionally an AMC or even several times between Oz and Cape Town an AV with DD hunters and still found nothing. Against Dan Nichols I sniffed out the bottom edge and eventually sent the entire KB to Tahiti. It was about to pay off big when the game was stopped due to his illness.

I think Fiji will pay dividends, but I don't think it's possible to slow movement of stuff to OZ. He'll maybe lose a ship or two, but then he'll change it all up. Go off map. There is too much space to cover. I think heavily infesting the entry ports to OZ is more likely to find the convoys. I would guess the deep Southern ports get a lot of business. But he will over-escort everything. At least 3-4 DDs and a CL with anything important.

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Anybody have experience taking on Singapore when all Allied forces in Malaya have been deployed there? I'm suspecting forts to be around level 2-3. I'll have seven divisions, some armour and I'm sending all the artillery I can spare. Do Japanese RF (anti-tank) units have any benefit against Allied armour in an offensive role, or are they only counted in defence?

At Singers Torsten had 1300AV and level 4 forts. Finished it off by about Feb 20.

Here is the report.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 87254 troops, 911 guns, 340 vehicles, Assault Value = 3046

Defending force 48318 troops, 568 guns, 405 vehicles, Assault Value = 1333

Japanese adjusted assault: 1593

Allied adjusted defense: 1257

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
10993 casualties reported
Squads: 117 destroyed, 530 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 117 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 131 disabled
Guns lost 134 (2 destroyed, 132 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3403 casualties reported
Squads: 58 destroyed, 442 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 85 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Guns lost 68 (3 destroyed, 65 disabled)
Vehicles lost 31 (5 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Division
38th Division
Imperial Guards Division
5th Division
21st Division
112th Infantry Regiment
113th Infantry Regiment
2nd Division
5th Mortar Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
11th Indian Division
3rd Cavalry Regiment
1st Malay Battalion
2nd Loyal Battalion
1st Hyderabad Battalion
FMSV Brigade
2nd Gordons Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
2/17 Dogra Battalion
SSVF Brigade
22nd Australian Brigade
1st Manchester Battalion
2nd Malay Battalion
9th Indian Division
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd ISF Base Force
Singapore Fortress
109th RAF Base Force
1st ISF Base Force
3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment
Malaya Army
3rd Heavy AA Regiment
111th RAF Base Force
223 Group RAF
Malayan Air Wing
Singapore Base Force
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
III Indian Corps
110th RAF Base Force
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
112th RAF Base Force
109th RN Base Force

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: obvert

I think Fiji will pay dividends, but I don't think it's possible to slow movement of stuff to OZ. He'll maybe lose a ship or two, but then he'll change it all up. Go off map. There is too much space to cover. I think heavily infesting the entry ports to OZ is more likely to find the convoys. I would guess the deep Southern ports get a lot of business. But he will over-escort everything. At least 3-4 DDs and a CL with anything important.

Hi Erik,

I won't be relying on submarines to do the damage, but KB and SCTF's. My plan is to use submarines and air search to spot, then vector in naval forces to do the damage. I need a base close enough to allow me to interdict these TF's. I want to find these large escorted TF's and engage them in battle, not nibble away at them with submarines.

[John 3rd]

Wrote you back Sir. Plan to read your entire AAR to get a feel for everything.

BANZAI!

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Wrote you back Sir. Plan to read your entire AAR to get a feel for everything.

BANZAI!

Thanks for the response and I appreciate you taking the time to check things out!

I approached John 3rd about the feasibility of an all out attack on Australia. I wasn't aware that the RA mod used the Scenario 1 OOB. I'm going to do some serious thinking/reading over the weekend and determine if I can still attempt something epic in my game.

Is triggering the reinforcements for an invasion of Australia worth it? That's the question I keep asking myself. I can achieve much in Australia without doing so. Destroying as many Allied units as possible, denying Australia as a springboard into the DEI until well into 43 or early 44 and strategic bombing of it's industry to destroy production.

However, the reason I am thinking about a complete invasion is to throw Jocke a complete curveball. I already get the sense from various posts that Jocke believes it's not possible to slow or stop Australia from being supplied and reinforced by conventional Japanese methods. Using off-map movement and routes along the map edges, unloading material in the southern ports of Australia is all that is required. Well, what if Tasmania and Southern Australia were in Japanese hands? What if the entire coast of Australia was in Japanese hands? Being able to eliminate Australia as a base to launch attacks into the DEI must offset the reinforcements the Allies would receive in some way...no?

It would mean a defence could be concentrated in Burma, Malaya and Sumatra, as well as the Central Pacific. It would be a long grueling campaign for the Allies and limit the route of advance to only a few areas of the map. Allowing Japan to concentrate her resources in it's defence.

I said I really wanted to push myself this game and I've always wanted to take a shot at Australia. I am seriously thinking about it now. If I choose to do so, I believe the only way to capture Australia is to land in the south and drive north, otherwise the Allies can simply fall back and gather their strength around Melbourne and Sydney, all the while reinforcing via that impossible to stop map edge route.

So, I'm going to do some research of garrison requirements, timelines, reinforcement queue and logistics over the weekend as well as re-read some AAR's that are dealing with Australia, which there are a few now. It's January 12th and I think I'm still in a good position to move quickly after the fall of Singapore and Palembang. More on this after the weekend, but I'm really leaning towards it now, if it's not already too late.

[SqzMyLemon]

Burma:

An armoured regiment has reached Toungoo. There are two enemy units of unknown strength defending the base.

China:

A slight hiccup in China as Jocke expressed surprise to see some bombing attacks and ground assaults occur on the 12th. Our freeze in China was decided upon after I'd already sent my half of the turn, so I couldn't change my orders. The following two turns have seen the freeze/ceasefire take full effect. I'm not sure how much this hurt me yet. I believe Jocke's large stack trying to escape Tsiaotso might actually get away, unless the movement bug remains.

Java:

Makasaar allows me to recon Soerabaja and low and behold, the Allied DEI Fleet is in port. I've got reports of 10 ships disbanded in port and three strong SCTF's of enemy warships including reports of BB's. This is either force Z or additional British warships. Things are going to get interesting here soon.

Malaya:

Japanese forces consisting of five divisions will assault Singapore next turn on Jan. 15th. Japanese bombers hit the port rather than the airbase on the 13th due to a mistake on my part setting the orders. The bombers got the 14th off while fighters swept. They will be ordered to hit both the airbase and ground troops tomorrow in support of the ground assault. I've got a bad feeling about Singapore for some reason.

Timor:

I'm gathering the Koepang invasion force together and it will land in a few days. The capture of Koepang will mean the start of operations against Northern Australia. The 56th Division is responsible for the capture of Darwin. I intend to brave the CD guns and land directly at the base.

New Guinea & Solomons:

Lae was captured on the 13th while Merauke was captured on the 14th. Japanese troops landed at Shortlands on the 14th. An infantry regiment supported by KB and a strong SCTF will land at Luganville on the 15th. The operations in the Solomons are shoestring right now while there is no sign of Allied interdiction. I want to grab this area as quickly as possible and get logistics in place.

KB:

I've been sailing KB between Australia and New Caledonia to test the Allied air search in the area. I wasn't spotted for days, so I decided to swing east past Noumea and come within range of Suva. A number of AM's have been conducting ASW near the port so I thought I'd take them out and see what was in the area. I didn't expect more than the AM's, but was surprised when Kate's located two Allied xAP's escorted by a PC southwest of Suva on the 13th.

KB's Kate's were ordered to switch to bombs and three AM's were sunk along with the PC. The xAP's took heavy damage and I believe they sunk. They were carrying troops, but I'm not sure if they were heading to/from Suva. KB was then ordered northwest to provide support for the Luganville landing and was spotted by Allied air search on the 14th. The invasion TF hasn't been sighted.

KB's fuel situation is bad, the DD's are low. I've sent a large replenishment TF from Truk carrying 77k worth of fuel. KB's first patrol of the war isn't coming to an end yet and she still has over 100 torpedo sorties available. CV Kaga is still repairing in Japan, five more days to go. Mini-KB is moving to Rabaul, unless I decide to support Darwin, but I'm not keen on running into CV Lexington or CV Enterprise with two CVL's and a CVE.

Suva showed 7 Allied units, so if I'm going to do something about an invasion of Fiji, I best get on it.

Jocke implied he thinks he knows what I'm up to. I haven't exactly been sneaky and most likely telegraphing my intentions to focus on Australia. That's ok, I'm coming in some form regardless. It's just a question of full bore or sticking to my original plan. I think a lot will depend on Singapore, if I get stuck there it may eliminate any chance of a full invasion. Singapore, Palembang and Batavia must fall quickly for me to have a chance.

More to follow...

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: obvert

I think Fiji will pay dividends, but I don't think it's possible to slow movement of stuff to OZ. He'll maybe lose a ship or two, but then he'll change it all up. Go off map. There is too much space to cover. I think heavily infesting the entry ports to OZ is more likely to find the convoys. I would guess the deep Southern ports get a lot of business. But he will over-escort everything. At least 3-4 DDs and a CL with anything important.

Hi Erik,

I won't be relying on submarines to do the damage, but KB and SCTF's. My plan is to use submarines and air search to spot, then vector in naval forces to do the damage. I need a base close enough to allow me to interdict these TF's. I want to find these large escorted TF's and engage them in battle, not nibble away at them with submarines.

Great! I look forward to it. I want to see how you pull it off as I simply couldn't figure it out. Or wasn't sneaky enough. [:)]

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Great! I look forward to it. I want to see how you pull it off as I simply couldn't figure it out. Or wasn't sneaky enough. [:)]

Planning and executing don't quite work out most times, here's hoping!

I do find that I'm enjoying the game right now. It's been fun using KB and actually finding some stuff to sink. Once I get a few bases expanded and air assets in place, I think I'll be able to cause Jocke some problems.

[SqzMyLemon]

I'm starting to save PP's for combat units that will deploy to the Pacific. There are a number of infantry units available that will eventually become smaller divisions. They will deploy to the Solomons and some key atolls.

I've noticed that my R&D repairs have been rather slow and I figure that is from the factory expansions I've carried out. Other than a couple of aircraft factories still expanding, I'm freezing all naval shipyard, vehicle and engine increases at this time.

I've set Kate and Val production to 25 aircraft each, much lower than my last game. I'll probably have to bump this up closer to 30-35, but right now I have enough aircraft in the pools to replenish KB when she makes port.

I've got 100 Nell's in the pools so production has been halted. I plan on having both Betty's and Nell's for most of 42, then eventually switching completely to Betty's. Betty's and Nell's are built at 25 and 22 per month respectively.

Production numbers for some key aircraft:

A6M2 Zero 80/month
Ki-43-Ic Oscar 100/month
Ki-21-IIa Sally 50/month

I've got a serious shortage of naval points, but rather than expand shipyards substantially as I did last game, I'm slowing production of a number of submarines. I have CV Taiho, three Unryu's accelerated as well as the CVL Junyo. This means I'll receive CV Hiyo and Junyo within twenty days of each other and four more CV's in the first quarter of 1943. I like to produce both big BB's, so Musashi will resume once Yamato has been completed. I may need the extra firepower after sinking no enemy BB's at Pearl Harbor.

I am expanding HI at numerous bases in Malaya, Indochina, China and Manchuria. Bangkok, Saigon, Hong Kong, Canton, Shanghai, Port Arthur, Keijo and Wenchow are increasing my industrial base. I'm currently banking 6k of HI daily. I didn't get these kinds of numbers until mid 42 last time, so I'm happy with the improvement. However, I'm already falling behind in fuel/oil, but once the bases are secure and the routes safe from submarines I'll take care of business, providing Palembang doesn't get completely trashed.

PP's are at a premium. The change of a 75 PP cost to convert single engine bomber units to two engines makes a huge difference in my opinion. That's a lot of PP's that could be buying out troops, but I believe it's necessary to provide every two engine bomber possible to make the JAAF somewhat effective in a tactical role. You need quantity to make up the difference in quality.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

I've noticed that my R&D repairs have been rather slow and I figure that is from the factory expansions I've carried out. Other than a couple of aircraft factories still expanding, I'm freezing all naval shipyard, vehicle and engine increases at this time.

Shouldn't be any correlation here ... as long as the base that your R&D is at has the minimum 10K supply present. However, if the a/c you are researching is farther out than 3 months, repairs are slow.

like A7M2 factories ... I know several players who seem to have been able to get a size 30 factory repaired by April 42. I've never gotten close to that though. Usually takes me until the end of '42 before I can get one to repair ... guess I have bad luck on those repair rolls ... [:(]

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Shouldn't be any correlation here ... as long as the base that your R&D is at has the minimum 10K supply present. However, if the a/c you are researching is farther out than 3 months, repairs are slow.

like A7M2 factories ... I know several players who seem to have been able to get a size 30 factory repaired by April 42. I've never gotten close to that though. Usually takes me until the end of '42 before I can get one to repair ... guess I have bad luck on those repair rolls ... [:(]

Hi Pax,

It's actually airframes for 42 that are hardly repairing, Tojo's in particular. The only R&D repairing quickly is the A6M3. I've ensured my R&D factories actually have 20k supply on hand so that isn't the issue. It is early yet, but some frames just seem to be crawling along, heck the George is repairing relatively quickly compared to some 1942 models. Wait...maybe I shouldn't complain about that. [:D]

[PaxMondo]

Yep, looks like you might be having some of my rolls.  SORRY!!!!

[PaxMondo]

Yep, looks like you might be having some of my rolls.  SORRY!!!!

[SqzMyLemon]

011542 Update:


Malaya:

The big news of the day is the assault on Singapore and it doesn't go well. I did not account for fatigue and my adjusted AV was in the toilet. The 38th Division is completely trashed with 235 infantry squads disabled and a combat effectiveness now of 33 AV. Disruption for all units is in the 80-90% range. That's the bad news, the good news is I'll be reinforcing with two fresh divisions, the 18th and 21st, along with armour, engineer and heavy artillery units. I've never faced a full defence of Singapore before, but an adjusted AV of only 357 was rather harsh. AAR follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 68650 troops, 619 guns, 220 vehicles, Assault Value = 2255

Defending force 51719 troops, 496 guns, 329 vehicles, Assault Value = 1309

Japanese adjusted assault: 357

Allied adjusted defense: 1363

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
10976 casualties reported
Squads: 126 destroyed, 624 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 157 disabled
Guns lost 53 (1 destroyed, 52 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3628 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 205 disabled
Non Combat: 68 destroyed, 122 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 62 disabled
Guns lost 62 (9 destroyed, 53 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (2 destroyed, 35 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
38th Division
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
4th Division
Imperial Guards Division
5th Division
33rd Division
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
3rd SSVF Battalion
1st Mysore Battalion
2nd Gordons Battalion
22nd Australian Brigade
1st Hyderabad Battalion
1st Manchester Battalion
5/14th Punjab Battalion
SSVF Brigade
2/17 Dogra Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
1st Malay Battalion
3rd Cavalry Regiment
11th Indian Division
2nd Loyal Battalion
2nd Malay Battalion
9th Indian Division
3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
Malayan Air Wing
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
III Indian Corps
110th RAF Base Force
111th RAF Base Force
Singapore Base Force
112th RAF Base Force
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
109th RAF Base Force
Singapore Fortress
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
2nd ISF Base Force
223 Group RAF
3rd Heavy AA Regiment
1st ISF Base Force
Malaya Army
3rd ISF Base Force
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
109th RN Base Force

Bombing results against the airbase and ground troops was discouraging to say the least. I believe DaBabes has toned done results, but I don't think I'm getting good rolls either considering the number of bombers involved. Rather depressing really. AAR follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 86
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 26 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 8


The Solomons:

Amphibious landing at Tulagi. I'll start to establish base expansions and get troops into the theatre in preparation for Australia.


SoPac:

Amphibious landing at Luganville is unopposed. New Caledonia is next. Support units are weeks out yet, but the priority will be getting a JAAF or JNAF Bn. deployed to allow naval air search.

KB wasn't required for support, but the move brings me a day closer to refueling. Once refuelled the oilers will remain with KB and she'll patrol around Fiji and Pago Pago while I rush troops forward to the Solomons and SoPac. Mini-KB is 2-3 days from Rabaul for additional support.


The Celebes:

I need more troops here as well to support air operations against Soerabaja's port and airbase. I'll be facing substantial numbers of American and Commonwealth aircraft.


Thoughts:

Everything depends on Singapore now. A rough start, but I believe my fresh follow up units will be the difference. They should arrive by the time my disruption recovers and I can resume the assault.

[PaxMondo]

Joseph,
 
Singers: ouch.  that hurt.  They only good news is that as bad as your attack was, it hurt him bad too.  I agree, get rested, get your fatigue down and morale back up.  You should do much better next attack.
 
Sally's: from 13,000 ft in heavy rain, those results look pretty good to me.  Remember, Sally's are med bombers, not heavy bombers.  They are designed as tactical bombers to bomb from 5000 ft or less, not as strategic bombers from 15000.   They didn't have the bombadier auto-pilot, fancy bombsights, heavy armor, etc.  Sure, we JFB's use them in strategic bombing role, but it isn't what they were designed for.
 
IRL, these are the reasons that IJ had to use them in night bombing from '42 on.  Allied AA was simply too strong for them to attempt 5000 ft attacks in daylight, and from 15000 they couldn't hit anything.

[PaxMondo]

PS: are you guys going to upgrade to the new beta?  Lot'sa nice new features and well as fixing your current issue.

[SqzMyLemon]

Good points Pax. I never really thought of the Japanese bomber force in that way before. I totally agree that trying to use them in a strategic role limits their effectiveness, but as you point out the alternatives are just ineffective.

My Ops losses are through the roof again this game. Already over 200 aircraft lost.

I'm ok with Singapore. It hurt, but that's the risk I took splitting my force. I agree though, it wasn't like the Allies didn't suffer.

The beta-patch sounds pretty amazing. There are some serious issues resolved with this one and will improve game play enormously.

[SqzMyLemon]

011642 Update:


Burma:

Quiet


China:

Quiet


Malaya:

Troops recover at Singapore and reinforcements will be arriving over the next week. As mentioned earlier, the 18th and 21st Division's will be arriving shortly. Additional reinforcements are:

25th Army HQ
Southern Army HQ
1st Tank Rgt.
14th Tank Rgt.
1st Heavy Art. Rgt.
2nd Heavy Art. Rgt.
3rd Heavy Art. Rgt.
18th Med. FA Rgt.
15th, 20th and 23rd Eng. Rgt.'s

I'm stepping up the bombing campaign to try to insure forts are not constructed, unfortunately weather prevented an attack today. The 38th Division has recovered 16 AV, only another 400 or so to go. [:D]


SoPac:

KB will be meeting up with the replenishment TF this turn, refueling tomorrow and heading back to Fiji and Pago Pago.

I'm stepping up operations in this theatre. I've decided Port Moresby is lower on the priority list than preventing further strengthening of Fiji or New Caledonia. The 65th Bde. and every combat unit I can spare is heading for SoPac. Support units are being rushed from Takao and Japan. The complete lack of Allied intervention as long as KB is patrolling the area must be exploited. Also, Fiji is key in providing a base for interdicting the LOC to Australia, or forcing the long Cape Town route.

As you can see, I'm once again modifying plans on the run, but one of my strategic goals is interdicting the LOC to Australia. I think effort spent here will pay dividends later when I'm committed to Australia, but it will push back the invasion date.


Timor:

Troops are loading at Lautem for the invasion of Koepang. Once Koepang is taken I sail for Darwin and Horn Island.


Thoughts:

I've run into fuel problems slowing down operations in the Celebes. Jocke is also extremely found of laying minefields so I need to re-route some minesweepers to clear bases I must redeploy troops from. I'm getting my tankers moving while trying to provide adequate escorts. I hate losing tankers so I'm pretty careful about putting them into harms way.

I'm confident Singapore will fall quickly, I just have to rest and apply my full force to crush the defenders, while preventing the fort level increasing.

There are substantial enemy naval and air forces at Soerabaja. I have to admit I'm glad, that is making operations everywhere else much easier for me. Plus, only Batavia really matters in my plans for Java. Once I have Palembang and access to the IO then Australia is vulnerable. I have a plan for dealing with Soerabaja that might net me a ton of Allied ships. More on that later.

I can already see how I should have done things differently, but I'm happy with improvement in my game play to date. Still struggling to move fast enough and I should not have delayed taking Palembang, but at this stage it's not the end of the world, unless I find nothing but burning rigs once it's captured.

[SqzMyLemon]

Someone tell Michael I miss him. [:(]

I understand he wanted to concentrate on one AAR and the Allies are much closer to his heart. That being said, I'm glad to have the posters and followers I do, always excellent suggestions and all around good posts.

Chickenboy hasn't popped in yet either. I think he's waiting for some wow factor, pictures of women or some kind of critter maybe. [:D]

[SqzMyLemon]

011742 Update:


Burma:

Rangoon was abandoned by the Allies and auto-captured. Of course I also lost 1 VP and suffered partisan damage from no garrison. Funny how I have to pay for the Allied withdrawal. [8|]

However, I'm happy to get a key base on the cheap. It also means I can keep advancing with minimal force. I'm also going to transfer all air units to support operations against Sumatra and Java since I face no opposition in Burma.


Timor:

The invasion force for Koepang will leave Lautem today or tomorrow.


The Celebes:

Reinforcements are arriving and I'll begin preparing the Balikpapan invasion force. In the meantime, I'm expanding Makassar's airbase and port.


Java:

Correction! Recon of Batavia today showed 17 Allied units and 100 fighters. It looks like "Fortress Batavia" is in store for me. I may shift my main effort to Soerabaja instead. Either base gives me the access to the IO I need and still threatens Australia. The air war for Java will begin in a week or two, I'm awaiting base expansions and moving air assets in place.


Malaya:

Troops are down to 40% disruption at Singapore and the 38th Division has recovered to 61 AV. The 18th Division and 18th Med. FA Rgt. have arrived. More units will arrive tomorrow. Total AV is back to over 2000 AV and will reach almost 2500 AV upon arrival of the 21st Division. Bombers did far better against the airbase with 28% damage recorded. Four Betty's were lost to FLAK though.


SoPac:

KB is refuelled and heading back to blockade Fiji and Pago Pago. Small Allied xAKL's were spotted at Suva so Jocke is still trying to move stuff in/out of the base [:-]. The replenishment TF still has 66k of fuel so KB can patrol for quite some time now.

I'm going to finish up Canton Island shortly as a few more Naval Guard units will land. Minesweepers and a bombardment TF are en route. KB could always swing by as well.

I'm going to land at Koumac on New Caledonia in a few days. I've decided to land the 65th Bde. on Fiji and reinforce as quickly as possible. The sooner I can deal with Fiji, the sooner an Air HQ and torpedo bombers can replace the need for KB. I can then raid deeper in SoPac or support operations against PM and Horn Island when I'm ready to move.


Thoughts:

This game is paralleling my first AAR somewhat. The Allies melting away before my advance in most areas. Both opponents intending to make a stand at Java. Jocke looks to be committing a fair amount of assets in its defence. I didn't face a mini "Fortress Palembang" though, and I didn't push out as aggressively last game into SoPac at all. It's clear Jocke's not doing a full "Sir Robin" as he is attempting to hold, or make as costly as possible, a number of bases, but I feel there's a certain reluctance to risk any air or naval engagements right now. The primary difference in this game, from the other, is I plan on exploiting Allied weakness and press on. I know I have to dictate the pace and am quite capable of dealing with a quasi "Sir Robin" this time around. Java will be a tough fight, but I'm going to go in hard and heavy, especially with LBA, so it's going to get bloody for Allied shipping once the Allied fighter force is dealt with.

I need to clean up a bunch of areas. Wake Island is still Allied and I need to start putting pressure on Luzon. I haven't gotten forces together for the Aleutians yet, but that is lower on the priority list. I've bought out the 90th Inf. Rgt. and it's prepping for Wake, as are a number of Naval Guard units. If I can buy out some other infantry units soon, I'll start reinforcing Luzon and push for Clark Field and Bataan.

I'm spotting some consistent radio chatter at Midway. Not sure if this is just standard reinforcing or a sign of something more.

I've stalled somewhat, but am preparing for another big push in the DEI and will wait to hit Java with an air hammer rather than driblets at the moment. Shock and Awe Japanese style!

It all comes down to Singapore. That determines how quickly I can deal with Palembang and Java.