Western Citadel - June 10, 1926

[engineer]

July 17, 1927[/align] [/align]Guam & Bonin Islands:  Guam continues as the forward operating base for the Pacific Fleet.[/align]

• 3rd Marine Brigade seized Iwo Jima against light opposition.  Engineers have developed the air base and five squadrons of planes are now making air-raids against the Bonin Islands.
• 4th Marine Regiment is planning to assault Torishima.
• 2nd Marine Brigade is planning to assault the Bonins.
• Logistics is pacing the advance.  The US needs to push more supplies up to the staging bases so the invasion forces will have some supplies to land with the invasion fleet.
• The USS New Jersey, first of the new 18' main battery Tillman-IV class super-dreadnoughts has joined the Pacific Fleet and reached Guam.  

Central Pacific:[/align]

• Wake Blockade:   US squadrons continue to blockade wake and interdict the arrival of troops, supply, and fuel.
• The Fahrenholt's contact turned out to be a major convoy and more convoys to Truk were threading between Marcus and Guam or passing between Palua and Indonesia.  The carriers, cruiser forces, and battle ship groups sortied and sank literally dozens of transports and merchantmen.  The USS New Mexico, sailing to Guam to join the fleet had a solo night engagement against 15 merchantment.  She sank two and damaged several while being peppered with hits from the freighters' AA armament. 

Philippines:  [/align]

• British troops have been transferred back to Hong Kong to prepare for the Pescadores Invasion.
• Engineers are in transit to Tacloban to build up that base on Leyte to provide air support for the US invasion of Mindanao.  
• The USS Los Angeles and USS Willamette are operating from Batan Island and were routinely spotting and bombing merchant ships in the Formosa Straits.  However, a Japanese fighter badly damaged the USS Willamette while operating in the Straits (had she had hydrogen instead of helium lift gas, the airship would certainly have been lost).  USAFFE have restricted the airships to searching the Luzon Strait until the US can get fighter cover for the longer range missions. 

China:[/align]

• The Combined Fleet ordered over a 100 merchant ships to sortie from Taichung to Tokyo.  The task forces sailed in groups from a couple of ships to over a dozen ships.  The first two convoys were pursued by cruisers to the entrance of Tokyo Bay.  Air strikes with over 50 planes attacked the pursuing British cruisers. The British were unsucessful in running down those merchants (they were eventually sunk above on subsequent operations to Truk), but the Allies put a blanket of subs and cruiser forces from Formosa to Kyushu.  Dozens of merchants were sunk from the subsequent convoys and nothing reached Tokyo and Shanghai served as an operating base.
• The experienced squadrons of British Virginia bombers, carrying 500 lb bombs and operating at low altitude (2000 to 3000 feet) have been very effective in damaging the merchants as they try to transite the Formosa Straight.  
• British ground forces are beginning to disperse to their embarkation ports for the Pescadore invasion planned for latter this summer.   Hong Kong, Canton, and Swatow will be used.
• The USS Akron and USS Winchester are operating naval air search out of Shanghai. 

Marshall Islands:  [/align]

• The 8th Division is concentrating at Eniwetok. 
• Instead of using Pearl as a intermediate depot, US merchants are sailing directly from the West Coast to Eniwetok and building that up as the new primary logistics hub for the western Pacific.  
• Kwajelein and Einwetok are servicing merchant ships

[/align]Western Mandates Campaign:[/align]

• Palua was held in greater strength than anticipated (25,000 troops) and had level 9 fortifications.  Fortunately the four division landing and heavy bombardment (8 dreadnoughts, 6 predreadnoughts, over 100 heavy bombers and more attack planes) inflicted several thousand casualities before troops hit the beach and the island fell in just over a week of fighting.   The invasion started on the 4th of July.
• Fortunately, naval shipping losses were lower than expected in the Palua operation.  One AK was sunk, two AP's were badly damaged, and four destroyers took major damage for coastal artillery fire.
• The planning for the Mindanao invasion is being planned.  The initial idea is a main landing at Dadjangas and then a march on Davao.  A blocking force will take Calbayog and bottle up the Japanese forces at Butuan.   

Guerre de Course:[/align]

• Japanese subs sank the SS Exmoor and SS Lepus.  US ASW TF's swept the waters north of the Marshalls and sank a number of IJN submarines.    
• US subs continue to operate off Honshu, but Japanese airpower is making close blockade of Tokyo increasingly risky.  Japanese merchant traffic is in overall decline so the absolute tonnage sunk is far less than in 1926.  

Reinforcements:[/align]The flow of reinforcements continues.  USS Lexington has sailed from the West Coast to rejoin the fleet.  Three large APs badly damaged from the Mariana's Campaign have reached the West Coast and are getting repairs.       [/align] [/align]Off-Map:  [/align]Although public health measures had eliminated cholera epidemics in Washington DC, summertime before the age of air-conditioning was still miserable and most government higher ups took advantage of the summer recess to leave town.  President Coolidge departed for a ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Consequently, the mining town of Deadwood became the default capitol of the country as military officials and diplomats filled the hotels and shuttled out to the ranch on a regular basis. (Note, Coolidge actually did spend the summer of 1927 in the Black Hills).  The President came into Deadwood on the 4th of July to preside over the Independence Day Parade and make a radio address to the nation.  After announcing the attack on Palua and offering prayers for the safety and victory of those troops in the Pacific, the President contrasted the peace in Europe to the conflict in the Pacific.  He felt the current happy state of Europe was attributable largely to the overthrow of the Junker caste of militaristic noblemen in Germany and announced a war aim, "The constitution of the Japanese Empire must be fundamentally altered to remove the militarists from power and bind the nation of Japan to interact with other nations solely in a peaceful manner."   This was broadly reported as calling for the end of monarchy in Japan.  The Japanese Embassy in Mexico City cabled the whole speech to Tokyo and it was bombshell in the deliberations of the General Staff.  All talk of negotiated peace was silenced as treasonous.  Captain Yamamoto found himself transferred to a remote base in the Kurile Islands.  One of his patrons on the Combined Fleet Staff warned him to take the assignment quickly since assassination would surely result if he remained in Tokyo.  [/align] [/align]Meanwhile, down in Panama, activity around the Scouting Fleet is picking up.  Divers have been scraping the hulls of the warships and gunnery practice has resumed.  Japanese agents being run from the embassy in Costa Rica warn that the locks on the Panama Canal will soon finish repairs.        [/align]

[engineer]

September 2, 1927[/align] [/align]Guam & Bonin Islands:  [/align]

• Battle Fleet HQ has moved to Guam and improved supervision of the dockyard is leading to a reductionin in the backlog of damaged ships awaiting repair of minor damage. 
• 4th Marine Regiment captured Torishima.
• 2nd Marine Brigade captured the Bonins.
• More engineers landed on iwo Jima to help speed up build of out that base.
• The Hawaiian Division is planning to seize Amami in the Ryuku's.  That island will be improved and serve as a airbase to provide cover for the bigger invasion of Okinawa as well as to interdict the sea route between Honshu and Formosa..  
• The Kaga (see China below) made a late July sortie into the Pacific to make a run for Truk, but the Carrier Fleet sortied after the Kaga tripped a submarine picket line off Torishima and she was sunk in a flurry of air strikes east of Guam.  She took over a dozen bomb hits and half dozen torpedos.  
• Following the Voyage of the Hiryu (See below), the Japanese surged out of Truk with a large transport convoy and swarm of subs.  Carrier Fleet spotted the convoy and the subs.  Destroyers sortied to lay a net of ASW patrol areas between Ulithi and Guam while the heavy twin engine bombers were assigned to naval attack missions.  The harvesting of the convoy has started.

Central Pacific:[/align]

• Wake Blockade:   US squadrons continue to blockade wake and interdict the arrival of troops, supply, and fuel.
• US destroyers are conducting ASW sweeps along the Pearl/Guam SLOC and hitting Japanese subs.
• Voyage of the Hiryu:  In late August, a pair of destroyers sortied from Marcus Island to conduct a sweep east of the islands where small convoys were continuing to run down to Wake.  The destroyers were spotted by a search plane and then suffered an attack by torpedo planes.  Another Japanese carrier was on the loose.  Carrier Fleet sortied from Guam and took a position northwest of Wake.  Given the slow speed of the Langley, they couldn't make an intercept before the Japanese reached wake, but the pattern of Japanese operations was to make for Wake then return to Japan via an alternate route.  However, then an outbound tanker convoy for Guam reported being attacked by torpedo bombers southwest of Wake.  The Japanese appeared to be making for Truk and running wild in the Guam/Pearl SLOC.  Halsey put the task force on flank speed and managed to cut the corner on the course so he was within Corsair range.  Fourty sorties later, he had managed to put one bomb hit on the Hiryu, identified an escort of the Haruna, a modern CL, and three destroyers, and seen quite a bit of air to air action between the Corsairs and the defending Mitsubishi's.  In a running battle, Carrier Fleet managed to further damage the Hiryu with bomb hits and slow down the task force, this allowed the Langley to make up enough space that her torpedo bombers were in range.  Before the Japanese could make Truk, both the Hiryu and the Haruna were sent to the bottom. 
• A huge convoy of two dozen transports was spotted by a solitary destroyer on patrol east of Marcus Island.  The transports badly damaged the destroyer, but now the US is sailing their available surface units to intercept.

Philippines:  [/align]

• Engineers arrived at Tacloban to build up that base on Leyte.   Air units and base forces from Yap are beginning to transfer over. 
• The Asiatic Fleet contributed submarines to the Ryuku Turkey Shoot (see below).  

China:[/align]

• The Ryuku Turkey Shoot:  The Combined Fleet ordered the evacuation of merchant shipping from Taichung to Tokyo. This amounted to about 250 merchant ships. The task forces sailed in groups of two to fifty ships with a typical size of about 12 merchants.  The first two convoys were pursued by cruisers to the entrance of Tokyo Bay.  Air strikes with over 50 planes attacked the pursuing British cruisers. The British were unsucessful in running down those merchants (they were eventually sunk above on subsequent operations to Truk), but the Allies put a blanket of subs and cruiser forces from Formosa to Kyushu.  Dozens of merchants were sunk from the subsequent convoys and nothing reached Tokyo and Shanghai served as an operating base.
• The experienced squadrons of British Virginia bombers, carrying 500 lb bombs and operating at low altitude (2000 to 3000 feet) have been very effective in damaging the merchants as they try to transite the Formosa Strait.  
• The USS Akron and USS Winchester are operating naval search out of Shanghai.  During the course of the Turkey Shoot both have scored numerous hits on Japanese merchants.  The Akron managed to shoot down a Mitsubishi and went after the airship near Taichung.   No doubt the embarked airwing surprised the Japanese.
• British ground forces dispersed to their embarkation ports for the Pescadore invasion planned for August.   Hong Kong, Canton, and Swatow will be used.  The merchant shipping dispersed and an invasion force of roughly 100,000 troops supported by dreadnought and battle cruiser gun fire landed on the Pescadores.  In the course of perhaps a week's heavy fighting, the garrison was destroyer but the British suffered heavy ground losses.  One merchant sunk, the Banca, was sunk as a consequence of shore fire.   
• At virtually the same time as the Pescadore Landings, the US landed the 3rd Marine Brigade and the 11th Cavalry on Amami.  The Levees provided some resiliency to the defense but only postponed the inevitable.  Within a week,the island had been secured.  Now the airfield needs to be expanded so the Okinawa landings will have air cover.

Marshall Islands:  This is serving as a staging area for the front lines in the Marianas and the Carolines.  [/align][/align] [/align]Western Mandates Campaign:[/align]

• The troops here are preparing for the upcoming Mindanao campaign.  The USA is planning two initial landings, one at Calboyog to block the Butuan garrison in the hills, and a second at Dadjangas to create a foothold in the south.  The Dadjangas landing will be reinforced and then fall on Davao.  A third landing will take out the garrison at Zamboanga.       

Guerre de Course:[/align]

• US ASW task forces continue to sweep the areas in the Guam/Pearl SLOC and are attriting the Japanese submarine forces.    
• US subs continue to operate off Honshu, but Japanese airpower is making close blockade of Tokyo increasingly risky.  Japanese merchant traffic is in overall decline so the absolute tonnage sunk is far less than in 1926.  

Reinforcements:[/align]The flow of reinforcements continues.  USS United States has sailed from the West Coast to rejoin the fleet.       [/align] [/align]Off-Map:  [/align]Cowboys and Ninjas  Following President Coolidge's July 4th Address in Deadwood, the Japanese military attache to Mexico took it upon himself to invade the USA.  He compromised a clerk in the Chinese Embassy and obtained false passports for himself and three other officers attached to the embassy.  They left Mexico City without informing the Ambassador of their plans and cross into the USA at El Paso.  From there they took a train to Rapid City, South Dakota where they hired a guide for fishing/hunting trip into the Black Hills.  After getting the location of the ranch that the President was visiting from the guide, the Japanese murdered the man and then made their way north towards the ranch.  A local prospector, Potato Creek Johnny, (who would later find the world's largest single gold nugget in a creek near Deadwood) came across the four armed Orientals skulking in the hills outside of Deadwood and let them pass without being detected. He hurried to town and alerted the Sheriff who raised a posse to ride to the President's rescue.  The lawmen arrived just as the assassin's had laid siege to the ranch house and killed one Secret Service agent.  Two of the Japanese were killed and two others were wounded and captured.  The President was unharmed, but was hustled back to Washington, D.C.  American outrage was virtually unlimited and anti-Japanese riots ensued in California. Not a few innocent Chinese were swept up in the violence. Authorities ended up arresting Japanese immigrants and their children for their own protection. Mexico expelled all but a skeleton staff at the Japanese Embassy and recalled her ambassador from Tokyo.  [/align]Panama:  The Japanese Embassy in Costa Rica reported that the USA had established an exclusion zone off the coast of Panama, turning back all merchant shipping.  US troops were operating the Panamanian frontier to prevent people from entering not just the Canal Zone, but even Panama.  Rumors were rampant that at least the Pacific side of the Canal was ready to reopen and release the Atlantic Fleet (8 early dreadnoughts and transitional battleships and three Saratoga Class Capital Cruisers) into the Pacific Ocean.          [/align]

[engineer]

The British Fleet made a run up the Formosa Strait after the Pescadores fell.  The Japanese air power at Taichung managed to torpedo and badly damage the HMNZS New Zealand. 
 
Strategy:
The next phase of the war will look like this: 
Southwest Pacific:  The divisions have just about finished prepping for the assault on Mindanao.
Pacific Department:  These troops are preparing for Okinawa and should be ready by the time Mindanao is done.  The rest of the Ryuku's will also fall by year end. 
South Pacific: I'm concentating these troops at Marcus and will launch them at the Kuriles. 
Southeast Asia:  Colombo will max out to a Level 9 port in September and then all but skeleton forces will move to China.  The Infantry will plan for an assault on Formosa.
 
This will probably run out the clock on 1927.  For 1928, SW Pacific can take Tsushima and Korea.  Pacific can take Hokkaido. The Brits will plan on either Shikoku or Kyushu.  I rather doubt that I'll invest that much more time in it.  With the virtual annihilation of the Japanese Fleet this is now an amphibious campaign. The Japanese AI will send out raiders as new capital ships join the fleet, but I'll have a picket line of subs and then sortie the Carrier Fleet as necessary to hunt down and sink the Japanese raiders.  Who knows, I may turn the Langley into an ASW carrier to help hunt down the Jap Subs that are still lurking in the Pacific once Enterprise and Hornet join the fleet. 
 
Game Notes:  I've found two Indian 5th Divisions so there is a data base edit that needs to happen. I got too fancy with the additional US fighters so the upgrade schedule in this version has some bugs.  I've modified that so there will be a steady stream of new fighter types joining the USAAC but as a practical matter there will typically be about three different varieties of front line fighters at a time.  I'm thinking that I'll add some reserve Philippine formations that will joint the USAFFE in late 1927/1928 as garrison forces.  I'm also going to tweak squad values along the lines of my comments in the WPO Squads thread.  Japanese squads will be at a disadvantage initially, British and Dominion squads will typically be the bestr, US squads will get more high firepower weapons (lots of M1897 Trenchguns and M1923/M1928 Thompson submachineguns) into their TOE by mid-scenario and broadly match the British.  The Japanese aren't idiots - they'll get a mid-scenario upgrade as well that reflects a broader distribution of machine guns down into the TOE as an adaptation to meeting the higher firepower allies on the field of battle, but it will only reduce the disadvantage, not eliminate it.

[engineer]

October 12, 1927[/align] [/align]The Ryuku Islands:[/align]

[color=#000000]
• The Japanese dispatched their two new #13 Battle Cruisers to bombard Amami and got away with it. They inflicted 1300 casualties and destroyed several planes at the airfield. In response, the British moved their carriers to an ambush position and two US battleships with destroyers took a defensive station at the island, but the Japanese didn't opt for a return visit. 
• The US forces on Anami are building up and will soon start carrying out air strikes against nearby Japanese targets. [/color]

Western Carolines, Mariana & Bonin Islands:  [/align]

• Apra is the forward arsenal of the US Navy. Not only the yards, but 8 AR's and several AD's are on hand to repair and refit ships with minor amounts of damage.    
• Following the bombardment of Amami, the Japanese sortied their battle cruisers to Truk, passing west of the Bonin's and threading between Palua and Mindanao.  The sub pickets off Honshu detected the sortie and Carrier Fleet, already on its way north to relieve the British off Amami, altered course to intercept.  The Japanese managed to stay out of range initially, but then Carrier Fleet cut through the western Carolines while the battle cruisers had to sail around, and that allowed them to make an intercept a few hundred miles west of Truk.  The Japanese AA was much improved on these ships and inflicted several losses and damaged many planes from the Allied carriers, but one battle cruiser still went down under an avalanche of bombs and torpedos.  The second limped into Truk with a half-dozen torpedo hits and almost ten bomb hits.  Carrier Fleet lingered off Truk and attacked some task forces that sortied in the immediate aftermath of the arrival of the big cruisers.  One modern light cruiser received several bomb hits and a transport was sunk. Then Carrier Fleet withdrew north to replenish. 
• From Ulithi, Battle Fleet despatched the USS New York, USS Arkansas, and two destroyers to intercept and destroy the light cruiser and her consorts that Carrier Fleet had struck.  They encountered the cruiser and her brood near Palau at night.  The New York quickly gained the range and the cruiser and cruelly pummeled her until a shell hit triggered a magazine explosion that broke the cruiser's back and sent her straight to the bottom.  Meanwhile the Japanese destroyer managed to put four torpedoes into the Arkansas.  Both sides broke off, and the Arkansas sank the following day.  One of the US destroyers was badly damaged and returned home.  The New York and her remaining escort continued hunting.  From Palua, three pre-dreadnoughts and escorts assumed blocking positions in front of the destroyer and transport.  However, the Japanese managed to evade a surface action and proceeded toward the Home Island.
• The remaining #13 battle cruiser made a run for the home islands after taking several days at Truk to repair fire and flotation damage.  However, Halsey's Carrier Fleet was still loitering in the area after it's replenishment and sent her to the bottom at a cost of perhaps a half-dozen aircraft.  Of the original pilots in the Langley's VT-1, only four are still with the squadron, but their experience is in the high 90's and each has over 120 missions.  With the new drafts after the casualities from this voyage, VT-1 will have an experience in the high 70's.  It's not the highest experience air unit in the war, but clearly this unit has seen more action and sunk more tonnage than any other air group in the war.  (VT-2 which transferred from Guam to the Yorktown is probably #2 on the tonnage parade).  Experience is the combination of missions plus low casualties.  The USS Los Angeles, a dirigible, has an experience of 92.  There are several Allied airships, bomber, attack, and pursuit squadrons in the 80's.  The RAF is well represented in this group thanks to their experience in the Ryuku Turkey Shoot. 

Central Pacific:[/align]

• Wake Blockade:   US squadrons continue to blockade wake and interdict the arrival of troops, supply, and fuel.
• US destroyers are conducting ASW sweeps along the Pearl/Guam SLOC and hitting Japanese subs.
• The US has concentrated two divisions from South Pacific at Marcus and two more divisions are in transit.  The US will have the shipping assigned to Marcus to make a reinforced division sized landing.  The plan will be to seize at least Etorofu and Uruppu before winter sets in.  Those forces will embark and sail by month's end.   
• Scouting Fleet intercepted a Truk supply convoy at night .  They quickly put the two merchantmen to the bottom.

Philippines:  [/align]

• Planes from Tacloban are hitting Butuan.   
• The Southwest Pacific offensive to retake Mindanao is at sea.  Bombardment forces with at least 17 pre-dreadnoughts and dreadnoughts are heading for Mindanao. Two invasion forces have finished loading and are enroute.  Follow invasion forces and supply convoys are starting to load. 

China:[/align]

• The Japanese tried to run three destroyes down to Taichu.  They sank the US sub 0-4 that was on patrol, but then the British planes in Wenchow managed sink one of the destroyers at the northern entrance to the Formosa Strait. The destroyers returned to the Home Islands.   
• Viriginia heavy bombers from the Pescadores are bombing Takao night and day.  The two old pre-dreadnoughts in the harbor have taken bomb hits. 

[/align]Marshall Islands:  This is serving as a staging area for the front lines in the Marianas and the Carolines.  [/align][/align] [/align]Guerre de Course:[/align]

• US ASW task forces continue to sweep the areas in the Guam/Pearl SLOC and are attriting the Japanese submarine forces. 
• The Japanese managed to put two torpedos in the new US battleship USS Wisconsin as it approached Guam.  The battleship is commanding top yard priority in Guam.   
• US subs continue to operate off Honshu, but Japanese airpower is making close blockade of Tokyo increasingly risky.  Japanese merchant traffic is in overall decline so the absolute tonnage sunk is far less than in 1926.  

Reinforcements:[/align]The British capital ships Tiger, Benbow, and Princess Royal have completed repairs and are transiting back to rejoin the fleet.  Three large APs badly damaged from the Mariana's Campaign that reached the West Coast have completed repairs.  The Scouting Fleet has arrived in theater. It consists of 8 early and transition dreadnoughts and three capital cruisers.  They are sailing directly from San Diego to Guam to join Battle Fleet.  So far, a total of 16 drydock AR's have joined the US fleet and are located across the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Guam.  Two new destroyers joined the Royal New Zealand Navy. These are new construction destroyers from Britain, with New Zealand crews and a mixed officer contingent of Kiwi and Royal Navy veterans. The first of the new assault transports, the USS Rixey, has been commissioned in the Atlantic and is working up.  This class of ships have a 16 knot top speed and a 2200 point capacity.  Rixey will be joining the Pacific Fleet shortly.  There is also a new purpose built class of medium assault transports that will have a 4400 point capacity that will come onstream in 1928.  By year's end, the new construction Phelps class destroyers will also start joining the fleet.  The Phelps class destroyers have dual purpose 5" guns instead of 4" surface cannon and a 3" AA gun, but otherwise, the hull and machinery are little changed from the Clemson class.  This is one of the deliberate turning points in the Western Citadel scenario.  Stock WPO largely presumes that peace time budgets and builds continue for the Allies, but Western Citadel makes an assumption that international tensions in the mid-1920s lead to greater naval budgets so more ships are in the pipeline when war breaks out and a "WW2-Lite" industrial mobilization following the start of the war will begin pumping ahistorical new construction into the Allied fleets at an increasing rate from roughly mid-1927 onward.  Historically, the USS Pensacola took four years to build in the late 1920s, but in Western Citadel, the laying of the Pensacola's keel is accelerated by a bit and the ship herself joins the fleet near the end of 1927.  She is the first in a series of modern US heavy cruisers that enjoy more WW2-like 24-30 month construction times that will joint the Fleet from mid-scenario onward.        [/align] .          [/align]

[engineer]

December 3, 1927[/align] [/align]The Kuriles:[/align]

• The troops from South Pacific front has taken all of the Kuriles except for Paramushiro and the island closest to Japan.
• Troops will now prep for Sahkhalin and use the bases there to cover 1928 landings in Hokkaido.

The Ryuku Islands:[/align]

[color=#000000]
• The US forces on Amami are built out the base and started a bombing campaign against Kadena.  That was suspended when the top fighter squadrons (veterans of the fight against Tinian and containing the best US pilots) upgraded to the new P-3 fighter that features much greater range and top speed at a cost in maneuverability and rate of climb.  They will now be able to sweep most of Kyushu and all of Okinawa from their base.   Strike Wing HQ has just unloaded at Amami. 
• During the course of the flight operations against Sasebo, Wiley Post scored a two victory mission on the first sweep.  A few days later, "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan repeated that feat and became an ace in his own right.  Brigadier General Eddie Rickenbacker managed to shoot down some Mitsubishi's and become the first American ace in two wars.  Howard Hughes also managed to get a kill.   Squadrons are also sweeping over Kagoshima and Nagasaki.   
• Ousami Island, just off Kagoshima, has been captured.  Engineers are working on improving the air field as a base for sweep operations.  [/color]

Western Carolines, Mariana & Bonin Islands:  [/align]

• Apra is the forward arsenal of the US Navy. Not only the yards, but 8 AR's and several AD's are on hand to repair and refit ships with minor amounts of damage.    
• Iwo Jima and the Bonins are being built out as advance bases for cruisers to harry the residual Japanese shipping that attempts to supply those two enormous self-adminstered POW camps at Wake and Truk.    
• The infantry is prepped for the assault on Okinawa.  The AP shipping is being assembled after the various operations in the Kuriles, Marshalls, and Mindanao.  The invasion will take place before year's end.   
• One of the large US bomber groups as upgraded to the B2 Condor.  The Condors are credited with sinking two IJN subs while on ASW patrols. The Condor's also have enough transfer range that they will be able to transfer to either Amami or bases on Okinawa with a dogleg through Iwo Jima and not have to deal with a sea voyage and then reassembly of their big bombers. 

Central Pacific:[/align]

• Wake Blockade:   US squadrons continue to blockade wake and interdict the arrival of troops, supply, and fuel.
• US destroyers are conducting ASW sweeps along the Pearl/Guam SLOC and hitting Japanese subs.
• The US has concentrated four divisions from South Pacific at Marcus.

Philippines:  [/align]

• The Mindanao campaign was planned to have two landings.  The northern landing at Cayagan would isolate the Japanese garrison (1 1/2 divisions) at Butuan while a frontal assault displaced a brigade sized garrison from Dadjangas.  Reinforcements would pour into both ports and then Davao (1 Japanese divisions) would be overwhelmed, US forces would join foces and then eliminate Butuan.  A four to six week campaign was anticipated.  
• Things didn't work out that way.  The Japanese commanders at Butuan moved quickly to Cayagam and held the port so Allied forces had to continue landing over the beach.  The counter-attack failed to throw the Allies back, but the Allies had a 0-1 odds attack when they assaulted.  Follow-up echelons allowed the Allies to safely dig in (5th Australian Div, 7th Australian Div, 14th US Inf. Brigade, 2nd Army, and assorted artillery).  A follow-up division was landed at Butuan without opposition and then that force, the 21st Cavalry marched against the rear of the Japanese. 
• Meanwhile at Dadjangas, the invasion there went to plan.  The defending brigade retreated towads Cotabato and the 1st Australian Brigade was in pursuit.  The Japanese attacked from Davao, but the Aussies managed to switch from route march to line quickly enough to prevent a Japanese victory.  At the Dadjangas lodgement, 1st Cavalry was sent to take Davao while 1st Infantry, 3rd Infantry, and the armor was sent to rescue the 1st Australians.  The 1st New Zealand is holding the bridgehead and the New Rough Riders have landed. 
• A US brigade landed at Zamboanga and destroyed the base force and SNLF that garrisoned that area.
• The US attack at Cayagan threw the Japanese back on Cotabato and the assault from Dadjangas also threw the Japanese on that port. The US pursued and the ragged Japanese formations were thrown out of Cotabato and retreated into the jungle. Six weeks after the initial landings. the USA has secured all five ports on the island, but 20,000 ragged Japanese are in hills above Cotabato.
• Some units not needed for the mop-up operations will be pulled up to Manila to recoup out of  malaria country. 
• Most of the battleships used to support the invasion have sailed up to Manila for refit of the minor damage suffered during the operations around Mindanao. 

China:[/align]

• British bombers from the Pescadores have been hitting Takao and the two old coastal battleships must be virtual hulks after taking dozens of hits from 230 lb and 500 lb bombs. 

[/align]Marshall Islands:  Once shipping is available, the USA is pulling out all base forces except for Eniwetok and Kwajelin.  These released units will move up and support the occupation of the Ryuku's and building out the Bonin'sThis is serving as a staging area for the front lines in the Marianas and the Carolines.  With the increased air power at US disposal in Western Citadel the additional aviation support is necessary to give the front line airbases enough spare capacity so the aircraft will be supported.  [/align][/align] [/align]Guerre de Course:[/align]

• US ASW task forces continue to sweep the areas in the Guam/Pearl SLOC and are attriting the Japanese submarine forces. 
• The USA is moving up their sub bases from Manila and Saipan to Shanghai and Amami.     
• US subs continue to operate off Honshu.  The new plan is to create a belt from 100 to 300 miles away from Tokyo that is patroled by dozens of subs.  Merchants will typically need a full day to pass through the belt and be subjected to attack at least twice.  Some destroyer squadrons will supplement the sub belt.   
• Many of the Japanese subs continue to patrol the Coral Sea, but the USA simply isn't mobilizing many of the Aussie troops beyond the two divisions and a brigade that are already in the SW Pacific Area. 

Reinforcements:[/align]

• The three Hood-class battle cruisers have arrived at the Pescadores. 
• The first Rixey-class APA has joined the US Fleet.
• Third Fleet and Seventh Fleet HQ's are transiting west to establish at Ulithi and Eniwetok.  That will improve the repair capability of those two developed anchorages.
• US ground reinforcements are primarily engineering units at this time. 

Off-map:
Captain Yamamoto looked back at the small fishing boat that carried him and few dozen survivors from the garrison at Etorofu to Hokkaido. His dispatch pouch contained final messages for Tokyo from the Base Commandant.  On his own, he ordered as many troops in the tiny village around the cove this boat called home to come aboard the fishing boat and avoid slaughter in senseless resistance to the Americans.  The Americans had come to the Kuriles in overwhelmng strength.  He had heard that their fighters were ranging at will over Kyushu.  Mindanao was falling.  The proud navy was reduced to one battle cruiser, a handful of light surface vessels, and a few dozen submarines,  Even if the Americans were repulsed in an assault on Honshu, everything that the Japanese people had worked for in modernizing and learning to exist in a western-dominated world was at risk.  The war was an unmitigated disaster and the cabinet would have to be compelled to see that the war must end.     

[engineer]

The Kuriles:  South Pacific Front is staging up to Etorufu.  The US has opened an alternative convoy path from Astoria to Anchorage to the Kuriles to shorten the supply lines for South Pacific.  As soon as the transport shipping transfers from the Ryuku's a midwinter blitzkrieg will push the Japanese back to Hokkaido.
 
The Ryuku's:  Pacific Front has occupied all of the islands except Naha.  A three division corps will assault overland to finish off Naha.  The US is ferrying short range air units by sea and has almost emptied Guam of infantry and artillery.  Long range air units like the P-3 and twin engine bombers can fly to Iwo and then to the upper Ryuku's.  The P-3 fighters on Amami have been slaughtering the inexperienced pilots over Sasebo.  The Americans have at least four aces and over two dozen pilots with at least one kill. 
 
Itsukishima:  The Hawaiian Division and a Marine Brigade stormed Itsukushima and seized that island at the mouth of the Tsushima Strait.  No Japanese aircraft or surface forces interfered with the landing.  However, the coast defense guns managed to sink four transports, a destroyer, and badly damage six more transports and three more destroyers.   The US is moving up supplies and base forces to put a fighter force on the island that will dominate the straits and set the stage for landings in Korea or Kyushu.
 
The Bonin's:  One of the big US heavy bomber groups has upgraded to the B2 Condor and is based on the Bonin's.  Besides sweeping for subs, the bombers have enough range to interdict the routine shipping routes between Tokyo and Truk.  Merchant ships trying to make the resupply run are being pummeled by the big bombers.  A new battleship, the Owari, sortied solo to break through to Truk and received at least 15 bomb hits from 1000 lbr's.  The battleship's speed has been dramatically reduced and now Carrier Fleet under Mitscher is stalking the battleship northeast of Pagan. 
 
Advanced Operating Bases:  3rd Fleet is moving forward to Ulithi.  7th Fleet is at Eniwetok.  5th Fleet is still at Pearl Harbor.  Battle Fleet is at Guam.  Asiatic Fleet is split between Shanghai and Manila.  Once Naha falls, 7th Fleet will leapfrog forward to that port. 
 
The Phillipines:  All Japanese resistance has ended.  Units are staging north Manila and taking assignments for spring landings in Korea.  The plan will be to take a line from Inchon to Wonsan and have a floating reserve to make landings in northern Korea if the ground forces there move south.  The Shantung garrison will be blockaded. 
 
China:  The British battered the two battleships in Takao so badly that they made a break for the Home Islands.  US squadrons intercepted and sank both.  Once the shipping is available, the British will make a landing on Formosa to occupy that island.  The US is building up airbases in the southern Ryuku's and will start operating fighter sweeps with their P3's over Taichu to weaken the aircraft there. 
 
Guerre de Course:  The Japanese send an occasional doomed convoy towards Truk that is destroyed running by the Marianas. 
 
Reinforcements:  The first Phelps-class destroyers have reached Guam.  Two of the modern British heavy cruisers have reached the Pescadores.  The Illinois, the third Tillman battleship, has joined the US fleet in the western Pacific.  The USS Macon, a second carrier dirigible, has joined the USS Akron, USS Los Angeles, and USS Willamette on the Bonin Islands.  The four dirigibles are scouring the waters off Honshu for subs and surface ships.  USS Enterprise has reached Guam and will soon be able to join Carrier Fleet. 

[engineer]

March 3, 1928[/align] [/align]The North Pacific Front:[/align]

• Shikkla has fallen on Sakhalin.  Winter amphibious assaults result in horrible 60+% casualities on the landing forces of the 35th Division.  This caused in a change of plans and the US brought ashore the Toyohara force (36th Division) for an overland assault down the island.  
• The Paramushiro assault has bogged down.  The Japanese fortifications were too strong for the depleted assault division (5th Division) to take.  A regiment of the 9th Division will make a landing to reinforce the division.  In addition, the six Capital Cruisers, led by the USS Saratoga, have sortied to pitch in with the shore bombardment.  The US has two transitional battleships and six pre-dreadnoughts providing gunfire support. Once a supply convoy arrived and built up the invasion forces, they seized the port.  Now the Japanese are in the hills of the island.  
• Anchorage is the interim entrepot for the new North Pacific Convoy Route that is supplying the US forces in the Kuriles. 
• In a change of plans, 7th Fleet HQ is en route to Shikkla and engineers will expand that Level 6 anchorage to a Level 9 Port. 

The Pacific Front:[/align]

[color=#000000]
• Four US divisions are assaulting Naha on Okinawa and wearing down the defenders.  Thanks to the overland assault, overall casualities will only be a couple thousand instead of a landing bloodbath.  The US finally overthrew the defenders and is requiring some time to fix the massive damage to the port.   
• A Japanese sub encountered a US battle squadron en route to Naha to bombard the Japanese defenders and put a torpedo into the USS Wyoming.  She made for Kadina for emergency repairs and will then proceed to Shanghai for full repairs. 
• The fighters from Itsukishima have been dominating the air over the Tsushima Straights.  However, one of the top aces for the USAAC, Cliff Secord - 9 kills - the "Rocketeer" so named for his slashing attacks, was shot down and lost over Sasebo.  "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan and another pilot are both double aces now. The 19th Pursuit Squadron has a total of 79 kills.   

[/color]The SW Pacific Front:  [/align]

• All ground forces have been transported to Manila for rest and refit in preparation for landings in Korea.
• Air units and engineers are improving bases at Batan and the southern Ryuku's for support of the Formosa landings.  Bombers on Batan are helping to soften up Takao.
• SW Pacific pursuit squadrons have transferred to the Pescadores and are challenging the Japanese squadrons at Taichu.  So far, the losses are running at 5:1 to 8:1 in favor of the US pilots.  
• Transport shipping has moved to Hong Kong and the Pescadores to prepare for the Formosa Landings.   

The SE Asia Front:[/align]

• Planes from Wenchow have started bombing Taipei.  Thanks to the US fighter sweeps over Taichu they seldom face any fighter intercepts. 
• British Battleships are starting to rotate through shore bombardments on Takao as part of the pre-invasion preparation.  The British have been reinforced with three 15" monitors and four 12" first generation dreadnoughts.
• The Takao landings have started.  Over two divisions are ashore with another division and a half ready to disembark.  More troops are loading up in the Pescadores to reinforce.  The Japanese have moved 14th Division from Tainan to Takao to reinforce the garrison that was built around fortress troops and the 3rd Cavalry.  Supply convoys are arriving to stand off Takao and keep the King's men in beans and bullets.   
• In addition to the British Fleet, two squadrons of Battle Fleet dreadnoughts are en route to join the bombardment rotation.   
• Somehow, one of the bombardment squadrons wandered north into the Formosa Straits and the Japanese bombers at Taichu attacked and managed to put a pair of torpedos into HMS Iron Duke.  She's seriously damaged, but safely back in port for repairs.   

[/align]Guerre de Course:[/align]

• The blockade of Japan has fundamentally changed.  With bases in the Tsushima Strait, off Kyushu, the Kuriles, and at Torishima the USA has pulled back it's sub fleets to Amami and Marcus Island.  UK and Dutch subs are at Shanghai.  Aircraft are patrolling the seas and subs are now making sorties for guided intercepts by the scout planes and airships. 
• Japanese subs off Australia managed to sink two merchantmen.

Battle Fleet:  The prolonged pause in major fleet operatons has allowed the battleships to refit at Guam, Shanghai, and Manila.  Naha will be the new forward operating base, and the capital ships will concentrate there.  One squadron of dreadnoughts will also deploy north to support North Pacific Front and the Capital Cruisers in the 7th Fleet Operating Area.  Carrier Fleet will stay with Battle Fleet.[/align] [/align]Rear Areas::  I'm toying with pulling 5th Fleet forward from Pearl.  The big three supply lines will be Astoria/Anchorage/Shikkla, Mare Island/Pearl/Naha, and India/Singapore/Taichu.  Shanghai is a fourth supply head with mostly Chinese generated supply and fuel.    [/align][/align] [/align]1928 Allied Plan:  North Pacific will wrap up Sakhalin and the Kuriles. The British have landed at Takao and will fan out to capture Formosa.  The next set of landings in late spring will lead SW Front to Korea.  Landings at Inchon and Wonsan will split the peninsula. That will eventually reduce the Manchuria garrison below the critical limit and trigger Soviet intervention.  I'm curious what will happen given no Russian navy and no Japanese on mainland Asia except at Port Arthur. (US forces should have the Soviet/Korean border garrisoned by then).  In summer, North Pacific Front will seize Hokkaido and then Pacific Front will land in western Honshu and start marching on Tokyo.  At this point, it appears that Kyushu will be bypassed unless that will become the next target for the UK/Commonwealth forces come autumn.  Wake and Truk will remain enormous self-administrated POW camps.  [/align] [/align]Diplomacy:  The Japanese are belatedly making overtures for a status quo antebellum settlement that are being rejected out of hand (Sweden is serving as an interlocutor).  The initial US position is unconditional surrender and overthrow of the monarchy.  The British are trying to weaken those demands, but assassins didn't try to kill King George and conquer a whole dependency.  The US would settle for a "Little Japan" that is reduced to the four main home islands.  Britain picks up Formosa and the Pescadores, Australia gets Truk and western Carolines, New Zealand gets the most of the Marshalls, the USA gets Sakhalin, the Kuriles, at least Eniwetok if not Kwajelein, too, for mid-ocean anchorages, the Marianas, the Bonin's, the Ryuku's, and Korea becomes a new protectorate ala the Philippines where US tutelage may lead to independence in two or three generations.  Japan is far from tolerating such a humiliating peace.  It may take US 155mm guns bombarding the Imperial Palace to convince them.                [/align] [/align]

[engineer]

April 3, 1928[/align] [/align]The North Pacific Front:[/align]

• Toyohara has fallen on Sakhalin.  An overland assault harried the defenders retreating from Shikkla and then the US force stormed Toyohara with gunfire support provided by pre-dreadnoughts.
• Paramushio has fallen and all resistance has collapsed.  The Capital Cruisers bombarded the hills and eventually the Japanese forces disintegrated.  The US forces are returning to Shikkla.
• 7th Fleet HQ has debarked at Shikkla and North Pacific Front has concentrated its forces at that base.  Etorufu and Urrupu are just occupied by base forces.  The convoys from Anchorage are building up the supplies there and the engineers are expanding the base to its full capablity.  Troops are rebuilding and beginning to prepare for the Hokkaido assault.  
• The freighters, transports, and destroyers significantly damaged in the Paramushiro landings are en-route to the West Coast for repair.

The Pacific Front:[/align]

[color=#000000]
• Naha has fallen.  This is being rebuilt as the main operating base for Battle Fleet (HQ moved forward from Guam) and Pacific Front.  Ground forces are transiting south from Kadina.  Supplies and fuel are moving up.  Currently about 25 US battleships are at anchor in the roadstead. 
• Third Fleet HQ has moved to Guam and most of the supplies at Ulithi have been consolidated at Guam. 
• The top US ace remains "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan with 14 kills.  B. Leech (correction from Archie Leech) has 12 kills.  Both are with the 19th Pursuit Squadron.     

[/color]The SW Pacific Front:  [/align]

• Air units with SW Front have been flying sweeps over Formosa and accrued many kills.  One A-3 pilot even managed to down a pair of Mitsubishi's over Taichu. 
• Ground forces are enroute to China.  In order to carry out the invasion of Korea, the US troops will stage in Shanghai, Suchow, and Tsingtao.  In addition, the air units will move to Tsingtao where the new A-3 and P-3 planes will have range to hit Inchon and Seoul.  
• The assault shipping has completing transferring the Southeast Asia forces to Formosa and has either arrived at or is en-route to Manila for the China Sea-lift.   

The SE Asia Front:[/align]

• The Takao landings were successful but it required weeks to clear the damage from the port due to the heavy bombardments that preceded the landings.  
• After taking Takao, a corps was despatched north to seize the road junction to separate Tainan and Taichu.  The British got there first and repulsed the Japanese counter-attack to dislodge them.  The British eventually reinforced this battle to a total of five divisions plus artillery. The UK forces are pinning down the Japanese there in order to facilitate the seizure of Tainan.  Takao has turned into a massive aerodrome for the RAF and the squadrons there are flying constant raids on the Japanese at the junction. 
• The British launched an assault on Tainan with a force of three infantry divisions and a scratch armor division.  Battleships sailing from Takao were killing thousands of troops per bombardment.  The Japanese had about 60,000 rear area troops holding Tainan, but they had Level 9 fortifications so the British are working through reducing the defenses.     

[/align]Guerre de Course:[/align]

• The Japanese are still patrolling the Coral Sea.  One US freighter was sunk off Torishima.  A merchant convoy ventured too close to Wake and a Japanese scout bomber managed to bomb a freighter.  With the US forces in the Ryuku's, a lot of shipping is transiting the Bonins and the waters immediately "below" Honshu.  The Japanese are routinely putting three to five subs in this area.   Another sub is usually posted to the Luzon Straight, however, US destroyer ASW patrols and lots of ASW patrols from the Batan air units make that a very short and terrifying cruise for the sub. 
• The US blockade of Truk and Wake has been mostly successful.  One merchant ship finally made it through to Wake, but nothing has reached Truk in over six months.  According to the combat results, the Japanese are still trying to transport troops out to these forward bases.

Reinforcements:  The British now have six or seven of their new 8" cruisers in theater. These ships are deadly flak traps with an AA value of over 300, but I took the armament straight out of Conway's with what I understood was their initial armament. The USS Pensacola has just arrived at Guam. The big Commonwealth armed merchant cruisers have no enemies left afloat so they're going to the yards for conversion into large AP's to help move the Allied armies around.  The new A-3 attack planes have started entering the US inventory and are replacing the old Great War DH-4s in a close support role.  P-3 conversions have slowed down dramatically as the Japanese were shooting down some planes over Taichu and the operational losses of the existing fleet slow down the accumulation of enough planes in inventory.  The RAAF somehow ended up with the first full squadron of Wapiti attack planes.  They are attached to Southwest Front, but they're flying combat missions out of Takao in support of the British attack on Formosa.  The first squadron of RAF Hyderabad heavy bombers is in transit to the combat front.  Numerous air units are getting into the 70s for experience and several are into the 80s.  [/align] [/align][/align][/align]Fleet Air vs. Ground Air:  Taichu has a lot of torpedo bombers that have managed to seriously damage four Allied capital ships (New Zealand, Iron Duke, Temeraire, and Maryland) that have ventured too close.  I'm wondering about preparing a bombardment test run for Taipei.  The lead element would be at least three carriers with their decks loaded with fighters on CAP.  I should probably use Yorktown, Enterprise, and the hardiest British CV since they've got better flak than Langley.   Initially, I would use the new British cruisers in two squadrons as the bombardment forces, so their flak could attrit the experienced Japanese TB pilots.  Subsequent missions would introduce battleship bombardment where - hopefully - the depleted and replaced Japanese squadrons would have lower accuracy.   [/align] [/align]

[Rysyonok]

Just a quick question - is this a PBEM or vs ai?

[engineer]

This is set up as vs. AI.  What is entailed in a PBEM conversion?  
 
This is winding down.  By late April, the Brit's are battling for Taichu - a monster land battle, a landing will close the door by seizing Taipei before Taichu falls, the US troops have almost all arrived in China so we're in the final couple of weeks to "dress the lines" and make the invasion fleet assignments for Korea.  My guess is that May will be the big month for Korea and June will see the invasion of Hokkaido. 
 
I don't think the Levee infantry in the Ryuku's changed anything major.  The Japanese might have prolonged their resistance a few days.  Mostly the scouting reports conveyed a large and misleadingly powerful force to the Allies on the islands.  But if you already know it's levee, then you can discount it.  A smart player might ambush the Allies with that, but not the AI. 
 
Design Notes:  minor things to double check and tweak before finalizing:
- Double-check the AA & fuel requirements for the 8" UK cruisers.
- There's another Indian Division that is double entered in the OOB.
- Double-check the scout plane detachments for late-game reinforcements.
- Double-check the reinforcement location for Japanese air units (the AI is leaving things in place so beefing up non-Tokyo sites is a good idea to challenge the invasions more). 
- Double-check the A-3 data.  They seem to be way too nimble in combat. 
- Think about adding some Philippine Divisions to the US OOB for 1928 and 1929 deployment.  These would be weak units with the reservist squads, few mg's and probably nothing heavier than a '75 gun in their artillery with USAFFE assignment.  However, they would parallel the forces raised just before WW2 that were still in training when the Japanese invaded. 
- Scrub the US pilots with their entry dates so the "celebrity" pilots are more dispersed among multiple squadrons instead of being in a "flying circus" squadron. 
- Double check some of the standard merchant reinforcements.  Stuff coming into theater by 1928 should already be upgraded with their wartime kit instead of clogging the yards.  This applies to both sides. 
- Double check US BB AA values.  The Tillmans and the Oklahoma have 250+ AA values, but most of the US dreadnoughts are 50 - 80 for AA.  The Oklahoma is out of line.  The Scouting Fleet reinforcements and the ships in yards at the outbreak of war should have an edge on the ships in the Pacific Fleet at the outset of the war since they have an interval to make some changes based on early experience in the summer of 1926.  Also double check that the in-game refits should exceed historical on AA since the lessons of combat would drive heavier AA just as the WW2 experience did.  (Same for IJN dreadnoughts).  This should also drive more AA on the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign dreadnoughts when they finally arrive.
 

[Rysyonok]

So are you playing versus ai or it's ai vs ai?

[engineer]

I've been playing human vs. AI.  Back in the spring I did some hands free playtesting to valid the opening TF assignments, but I didn't run those much past the first month of the game. 
 

[Rysyonok]

Oh ok =) You're allies, right?

[engineer]

Yes.  Anthropoid started a game playing Human Japan vs. Allied AI, but real life intervened and I haven't heard how that went past the opening phase of the campaign. 

[Rysyonok]

I see So how aggressive is the ai in your game?

[engineer]

It's slightly more aggressive than stock.  The Japanese opening moves and AI unfolds as follows:
[ol][*]Hong Kong and Canton will fall over 90% of the time.   Even if/when the Allies retake the port, then the yards are wrecked and HK is a much less useful forward base.   
[*]Mindanao will fall over 90% of the time.
[*]Multiple lodgments will be made on Luzon, sometimes (less than half) the Japanese will actually move off the beaches and march on Manila.
[*]Wake falls.
[*]Guam will have a strong landing, but a competent defense will leave Guam in US hands and imperilled by a strong IJA beach-head.  This creates an early incentive for the Pacific Fleet to operate very far west with Wake as a hostile base in the rear and Scouting Fleet trapped in the Panama Canal until the 2nd half of 1927.  Logistically, Guam is well-supplied to withstand a siege, but Pearl does not start lavishly supplied (everything's been ferried forward to Guam) and fuel stocks dip quickly when you put the whole Pacific Fleet out there. The Japanese IA tends to abandon the landing force and focus on Wake, even though I re-ordered the base priority in scenario file to make Guam more important than Wake and Midway.  Guam's VP value has been substantially increased for this scenario.   
[*]The IJN will reinforce Truk and Wake.  An aggressive US player will find battle near Wake, a passive US player will find battle near Midway when the AI moves east. 
[*]Often, but not always, the IJN will raid Singapore in the opening moves with their carriers. 
[*]When the USA retains a position on Luzon, then the post-Midway back-up strategy for the IJN was aggressive surface sweeps around the Philippines to intercept supply convoys alternating with sweeps to Wake to ambush the US blockade squadrons.  [/ol]
When Anthropoid put on the Japanese hat, he took Shanghai as well as Hong Kong to eliminate that base in his rear.  (Whenever I'm playing human Allies vs Japanese AI, Shanghai ends up being a pirate nest that just bleeds the Formosa/Home Islands shipping). 

[Rysyonok]

So what is it that you have done to make AI more aggressive than stock?

[engineer]

The two things that would seem to hook in most easily with my understanding of the AI is that I fine tuned the objectives in the Scenario File and then I scrubbed the objectives and preparation levels for the invasion forces that embarked onto the initial invasion fleets.  Guam gets more VP, but I'm not sure if that is a variable that's captured by the AI.   
 
For a second order effect, I accelerated a few merchant reinforcements and there are a few more light forces for reinforcements so the AI has a little more material to work with. 

[engineer]

May 5, 1928
[/align] 
[/align]The North Pacific Front:
[/align]

• Shikkla is built out as Level 9 air base and Level 9 port.  Seabee's are on the march to Toyohara to build out that base.
• Supplies and fuel are building up at Shikkla.  
• The transitional and pre-dreadnought battleships are ready for sea.  Four of the six capital cruisers have 1-2 points of system damage left, but can sortie as required.   

The Pacific Front:

• Little activity here except for some consolidation where troops were split between multiple bases.
• Battleships from Naha supported the Taipei landings below.    
• Attack planes and level bombers will be relocating to Tsushima to support the SW Pacific Front attacks on Korea.   

[/color]The SW Pacific Front:  
[/align]

• Ground forces are staged to China. 
• Tsingtao is a level 4 air base.
• Air units with SW Front have been flying sweeps over Formosa and striking Taichu.  These planes will starting rebasing to Tsingtao soon.
• The assault shipping concentration for Korea is almost complete.  Shipping needs to finish the support for the Taipei landings and move north.    

The SE Asia Front:
[/align]

• Tainan fell to the British.
• The first assault on Taichu was rebuffed.  An armored car company arrived ahead of the rest of the units and was smashed by a 7 division Japanese shock attack.  The following British assault echelons ended up having their progress reset to zero.  I'm not sure if I did that with a command to the 5th Indian Division (that everyone but the armored cars were following), the retreat of the armored cars into the following formations, or an advance by a Japanese armored unit into the Junction hex (a spoiling attack). 
• The second assault on Taichu involved the simultaneous arrival of 3+ divisions and they were quickly reinforced to 10+ divisions.  The Japanese counter-attack was foiled.  The British have mostly been bombarding but are starting to launch deliberate attacks to reduce the fortifications.
• The air war over Taichu is all Allied.  Hundreds of planes were attacking from Takao, Pescadores, Wenchow, and Sakashima with a combination of port, ground, and airfield missions.  The Japanese bombers were trapped on the ground and destroyed.  Hiei and Kirishima are in port but have been heavily damaged by the Allied twin-engined bombers.  Flak managed to shoot down over a dozen planes in the first few days of the raids, but now the AA is mostly ineffective.  This success rendered the Land Air vs. Carrier Air experiment moot.
• Once the TB's were suppressed, the Royal Navy started running multiple bombardment TF's to Taichu.  At least 10,000 casualities have been inflicted by shore bombardment.  
• The Shanghai garrison along with a pair of French Regiments from Indochina went to Wenchow and were embarked for the invasion of Taipei.  US battlewagons from Naha provided gun fire support along with the Dutch squadron that was based at Sakashima.  A USN battle squadron with the latest model battleships and destroyers remained on station off Taipei, just in case the Japanese chose to sortie with their damaged battle cruisers.  The invasion forces over-ran the defenders and given the fighting at Taichu, ground troops there couldn't break free to reinforce Taipei.  
• Once the troops in Taipei regroup, they'll march over the ridge that separates Taipei (which is built in a valley) and Taichu, which is on the coastal plain that covers the NW corner of Taiwan.       
• Carrier Fleet (in this case USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise) are patrolling between Formosa and Kyushu to finish off the IJN battle cruisers if they make a break for the Home Islands.   

[/align]Guerre de Course:  Nothing to report. 
[/align] 
Reinforcements:  The USS Salt Lake City, a Pensacola-class heavy cruiser, has joined the US fleet.  The USS Dayton, another carrier dirigible has joined the airships scouting from Bonin.  A squadron of Handley-Page Hyderabad twin engine bombers have joined the air fleet bombarding Taichu. 
 
Diplomacy:  The US is overflying Kyushu and western Honshu on a regular basis.  A US destroyer squadron penetrated the Inland Sea to hunt for merchant shipping.  Allied merchant shipping is routinely sailing off of Kyushu. (About the only place the Allies don't sail is within 100 miles of Tokyo where the Imperial Air Force can strike Allied shipping). The Imperial government cannot conceal that the war has gone badly.  However, the Army insists in council that they can destroy the Americans on the beaches and force a favorable peace.  The British success in Formosa has put a dent in the cockiness of the Imperial Army. 
 
   
[/align] 

[engineer]

June 5, 1928[/align] [/align]
The SE Asia Front:[/align]

• The Battle for Taichu ended in British victory. The Hiei and the Kirishima were scuttled in the harbor. Heavy bombardments from the Royal Navy and the Allied air forces were killing thousands of troops per day before the British assault carried the city.  However, the Japanese retreated into the hills and the defeated remnants of the Tainan garrison joined them.  The British follow up attacks were typically inflicting a couple of thousand KIA per day, but at a cost of over 1K of friendly KIA,too.  The Britsh dropped back to bombardment atacks to rest up their troops and spell the more badly used up regiments with fresh regiments from China, Singapore, or the Taipei landing.  After a period of time deliberate assaults recommenced and the degraded Japanese units started breaking up en-masse.    
• The 13.5" main battery capital ships are undergoing refit in Takao. 
• Supplies are arriving from Singapore to make sure all occupied bases have at least 20,000 points of supply to get good replacement rates for the depleted ground units. 
• It appears that at least another week or two of fighting remain to eliminate the Japanese forces in the eastern hills.       

The SW Pacific Front:  [/align]

• The invasion of Korea has started.
• Air units of SW Pacific and Pacific Fronts started in Mid-May by bombing targets from Port Arthur to Pusan from bases at Tsingtao and Tsushima.  The Japanese did not move any ground units while the assault started.  (The principal risk to the invasion was a rush to reinforce the landing ports prior to the attack. 
• Battle Fleet has transferred en masse from Naha to Tsingtao and the Royal Navy 15" battle cruisers have moved too.  Having 30+ battleships on hand has led to a dramatic change from the usual WW2 story of largely useless bombardment.  In the landings that came at Seoul and Inchon, the defenders were pounded into virtual ineffectiveness by the bombardment.  It did take time to reduce the fortifications, but very little defending fire was received.  
• The 1st Infantry (Big Red One) and the 5th Australian Infantry assaulted Inchon.  The Japanese had been severely degraded by the Battle Fleet bombardment and resistance collapsed with a few days.  The defenders ran into the 21st Cavalry who had crossed the Han and cut off their retreat so a large number of prisoners were taken. 
• 41st Infantry and 21st Cavalry attacked Seoul in late May.  The fortifications kept the US troops close to the beaches for the first few days, but the bombardments had really gutted the static units that manning the defenses.  After a few days, the US troops broke out and overran Namsan Peak.  From there they commanded the crossings of the Han and poured south into the paddy fields across the river.  This allowed them to cut off and capture the defenders of Inchon who were retreating.    
• Carrier Fleet and a Royal Navy carrier division are flying missions against Pyongyang and bombing the port.  
• The 41st moved north to block the Pyongyang garrison from marching south while the 1st Division seized Wonsan from a weak garrison and split the peninsula.  The 15th Infantry Division and 1st Australian Infantry Brigade pursued the defenders of Seoul south along the rail line and seized Taejon.  
• Air units have started to transfer from Tsingtao to Seoul.  Inchon harbor was totally wrecked and dozens of merchant ships and transports are stacked up outside the harbor slowly off loading troops from Shanghai and Tsingtao.   

The North Pacific Front:  3rd Fleet is beginning to accumulate assault shipping for the Hokkaido landings.  [/align] [/align]The Pacific Front:[/align]

[color=#000000]
• As noted above, Battle Fleet has moved out to support the Korean landings. 
• Several destroyer squadrons have been patrolling around the Ryuku's to suppress patrolling Japanese subs.  The minesweepers have also joined the patrols.  So far one minesweeper has been sunk and another badly damaged by the patrolling IJN subs.  One sub has been lightly damaged in encounters with the minesweepers.  I suspect my tactic there should be to run mixed squadrons with several destroyers and minesweepers.  (unless it's to leave the MSW's in port). 
• Supplies are being ferried forward from Guam.
• A large task force sortied from Tokyo to resupply Truk.  This had three gun boats and a half dozen merchants.  Bombers and destroyers from the Bonin's managed to destroy the task force.
• Ground divisions in this operation are beginning to prepare for Honshu.    
• LB-6 Bombers are continuing to pound ports along the Inland Sea and the old battleship Satsuma has taken several 500 lb bomb hits.
• The British have deployed their first squadron of Hawker Horsely torpedo bombers.  The Horsely has good range and can raid coastal shipping off-shore of southern Honshu if based at Torishima.  A raid on Tokyo's doorstep led to the squadron getting bounced by Mitsubishi's. Only one Hawker was damaged and the attack was pressed home, but I'm going to have to put a P-3 squadron there to fly escort for the Horsely's. 

[/color]Guerre de Course:  NTR[/align] [/align]Reinforcements:  The USA is receiving at least one infantry division, a base force, and several battalions of Seebees each month.  There's enough transport shipping to have vessels standing by to ferry them forward and support large landings in the western Pacific.  Titanic and Olympic are in-transit to Brisbane to pick up another Australian Division to join the fight.   [/align]    [/align]Future Plans:  At Naha, the staff officers are starting to wargame an alternate to the western Honshu landing that is the baseline plan.  The concern is that by landing Pacific Front there and North Pacific Front at the northern tip of Honshu, the defending forces will just end up being pushed back to Tokyo.  The new strategy involves using the freedom of the seas won by the US Navy and Royal Navy to land between Osaka and Tokyo and landing north of Tokyo on the Sea of Japan side.  Then Tokyo will be tightly besieged while the Allied Armies can dig in to repulse any relief expeditions mounted to rescue the Emperor.  It's being dubbed the "Alesia" plan in honor of Julius Caesar.  It's also being considered as the only plausible strategy to force a decision in 1928 (and even then the siege of Tokyo could easily extend into 1929).  Southwest Front and Southeast Asia would be available as floating reserves.  [/align]