To the Death - Buttsworth versus Son of Heaven

[matt.buttsworth]

The battle goes on.
Units and planes pile up at San Francisco but there are no ships to transport them.
Soon the Americal division will arrive at Panama but who will transport it.
hundreds of ships make their way across the Pacific Ocean.
In China the Japanese break out of their encirclement and begin an attack.
Only Kavieng remains surrounded.

[matt.buttsworth]

January 5th
The mistake of sending supplies to Noumea still rankles in a lack of lifting capacity at San Francisco.
In 19 days the AMerical division lands at Panama but who will lift it.
The SOn of Heaven is now very active in china attacking on many fronts.
China will hold but it will be bloody.
The siege of Nanchang has been abandoned. The divisions are needed elsewhere to defend southern china.
All divisions from the pocket near Shanghai are withdrawn.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

fighting continues in China with a withdrawal from Nanchang underway.
Large Japanese forces are advancing out of Hong Kong. This threat must be met.
At San Francisco a transport fleet is being created to pick up the Americal division.
A transport fleet is nearing Noumea. As soon as it arrives it will be sent to Sydney to pick up an Australian brigade which will be sent to Rabaul to reinforce the troops on the island. Other ships will be sent to New Zealand to pick up the New Zealand brigade. Transport is scarce so priority choices are made and other units and air squadrons have to wait.
But more and more transports are arriving at San Francisco and the US so it is hoped the backlog will soon be tackled.
No offensive action is planned although the carriers have been sent to Rabaul in case the Japanese attack there.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

wrong post.
that was for my other game.
sorry

[matt.buttsworth]

correction correction

It was for this game.

Sorry

[matt.buttsworth]

Bituan falls.
It is hoped to evacuate cadres from two Philippine divisions before the Japanese conquer the area. If the Japanese move to fast then DEI units will be converted.
The island south of Singapore falls.
Paratroops land but it is not known where.
In China warhawks shoot down 6 nicks in a welcome success but in Burma zeros shoot down 2 tomahawks. One air round won by the Allies!

[matt.buttsworth]

Heavy fighting in China but no new invasions.
The 25th division is nearing Noumea.
In an aggressive decision the command has decided to send it to Rabaul to secure New Guinea.
As soon as transport can be found the Australian brigade will be sent to Lae, while the New Zealand brigade will secure shortlands.
the marine division will be held in reserve in Noumea when it arrives.
transport is being sent to Panama to pick up the Americal division as soon as it arrives and deploy it to the Western Pacific.
if the Japanese do not soon attack the DEI it may be deployed to Java but first air power will have to be transferred Westwards.
Should that be successful the Japanese are in big trouble.
How can they seize the oil they need.

[matt.buttsworth]

The dice is rolled.
the 25 division has now been sent direct to Rabaul.
Base forces are being sent on the long trip to the Western pacific.
Philippine base forces will be sent to Lae and Kavieng.
transports have been sent on the long trip from aden to australia to america.
more lifting capacity is needed.
as soon as the transports are sent air units will be sent by ship towards the western pacific.
Rabaul will be made impregnable.
the pacific battleground is set.
all that is needed is time.

[matt.buttsworth]

air power will soon be sent to pearl for fast transfer accross the pacific to be picked up at canton island and sent on from there.
transport is now up to date with only one air hq needing to be transferred.
if this air power reaches western pacific before son of heaven it will change the balance and make rabaul and perhaps Java defendable.
then he will be in real trouble

[matt.buttsworth]

The US moves all pacific air units by ship to australia.
if they reach sydney before Rabaul and Java fall all hell will break loose.
Other units are sent on the long trip to Noumea with ships being directed to Panama to pick up the Americal division.

m

[matt.buttsworth]

little to report.
transport is short but whatever can be moved is sent westwards.
Soon there will be delays.

In China the ground battles are still being fought. Air battles occur in Burma but allied buffaloes are shot down by zeros and are sent to attack other targets.

Son of Heaven's attempt to conquer the philippines slows.
it is hoped that the necessary divisions can be transferred out of there in time.
subs are sent to do the pickups. Air may be used if they are not there next turn.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

16th of January.
Ichang has been captured.
The US 25th division is nearing Rabaul.
Planes are enroute to sydney but one figher has been lost when ship sunk. Will it reappear.
Once they arrrive the US position in New Guinea will be very strong.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

Action.
Son of heaven is attacking Canton.
I am caught with my pants down and must urgently reinforce the line islands and get my carriers back

[matt.buttsworth]

26th January
Canton now seems secure but the Japanese invaders are still there. The 24th infantry division is being moved south from Hawaii and then West to Canton island to help obliterate the invaders. So that it is not destroyed by the KB a screen of pg boats is being sent South so that its presence will not be discovered. Bombardment attacks on the island will be stopped so that Son of Heaven does not know that it is being landed on the island.
The 2nd Marine divison is now at Suva so that island is safe. The 25th division will soon arrive to secure Noumea. The Americal division is still entroute to Palmyra.
It has been discovered that not all military units and base forces landed successfully in India. An attempt to withdraw cadre troops via sumatra to Burma will now be made.
If we can withdraw them from Johore Bahru this will be easy. If we have to withdraw them from Singapore it will be more awkward but possible.
Sea transport of cadres, it has sadly been discovered is not reliable.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

2nd February. Son of Heaven has the big battle fleet at Canton Island. If I reform my battle fleet I can beat him but I do not know if the troops can last that long. It will be touch and go. Interestingly enough my intelligence shows two carriers at Canton island which would cancel the whole operation fleet but no planes are flying. Just in case a patrol boat fleet is being sent to canton island to see if there are planes there.
Does the game fleet identifier (it shows what fleets are at a beseiged base) ever make mistakes? Or am I being tricked into disaster. Caution will be shown even if it means losing the island. It is more important to save the battle fleet.

[matt.buttsworth]

important strategy meeting.

after intense discussion it was decided to use airforce to defend dei as much as possible.
this means shifting all long range bombers from thailand to dei
fighters from china to burma to dei
good fighters avg to sumatra java.
new zealand bombers to pago pago
dive bombers to java from rabaul
air supply with everything that flies to canton island.
air supply singapore with spare transports
use search capacity of bombers.
chinese long distance bombers used to bomb naval ships.
abandon attempt to send troops to canton island because of the precence of carriers.
hope that air supply will work.
everythign will go into action next turn.
java land forces will concentrate to defend soreabaya
supplies will be sent from india to soerobaya.
if son of heaven is to have kb in pacific
he will suffer severe losses trying to get oil in pelembang due to airpower.
if he does not go for oil he will lose.
if he moves kb to attack allied bomber superiority in dei then he will have to move it away from canton island and the troops there can be reinfornced.
now I am feeling more optimistic again.

[matt.buttsworth]

Plan Z is being put into operation.
I forgot to change direction of the CVS but I will do that next turn.
The rest of the plan is being acted on with planes shifted to pelembang and borneo.
all chinese sea divisions are now on their way to Burma.
At Canton island son of heaven attacked but the attack failed and one of his two combat units disappeared due to attrition.
The island now has only 10 supplies but all available planes have been sent to Palmyra to fly in supplies.
The battlefleet has been formed and is on its way.
if the island does not fall next turn and supplies are up marauders and a search squadron will be flown back in.
The big fear is the kb but that will be located fast if it is in the area.
I am confident I can take on the battlefleet.
maruaders on wounded battleships could be deadly.
if canton island holds one turn and the kb is not in the vicinity a full infantry division is only a few turns away.
then I can hold it.
time will tell.

[matt.buttsworth]

5th February 1942

The knife edge battle at canton island continues.
A reinforcement fleet was close to the island but the Japanese responded with a sorty of the KB, a battle fleet, and another transport fleet.
No strikes have been launched yet but the 24th division could be in trouble. The fleet has now been split and is fleeing in three directions. The bulk of the fleet is heading direct back to Palmyra and under the cover of landbased aircraft. Should the division make it back to Palmyra then troops will be airlifted to Canton Island. No attempt will be made to send troops by sea to the island again.
Positively the massive air supply program is working and supplies in Canton Island are steadily increasing.
Divisions on all islands are being pepped to defend their bases.
The extensive bomber fleets in borneo and sumatra and muluccan islands are now in place. They are regularly bombing Japanese supply ships.
The British CVS are close to Java and will be used to attack ships that penetrate the perimeter, as the KB is fully occupied at Canton Island.
The American CVS are on route to the DEI via Aukland but are weeks away from being in position.
The dive bombers that were at Rabaul are now at Adelaide, about to be shipped North to Darwin.
They will add real killing power to the air defences of Dutch East Indies.
In Burma Japanese ground forces are now adjucent to Moulmein.
Attempts to reinforce the base are occurring too late so it may fall in a few turns. Urgent attempts are being made to finish the air transfer of ground units to Borneo in time for their withdrawal to Calcutta and rebuilding.
Further cadre units will be transferred to Darwin and rebuilt there if DEI falls to be used in the reconquest of the DEI and the South Pacific.
When a blow will strike at Rabaul is going to occur is not going but due to the strong Japanese attempt to conquer Canton Island reinforcing Rabaul is no longer a priority.
Noumea, Fiji, Pago Pago, and Christmas Island and Palmyra are now the priorities with the next RCT to appear being allocated to reinforce Hawaii which is currently ungarrisoned.
The new brigade arriving shortly in Aukland will be sent to Pago Pago.
How long will the KB interdict Canton Island.
The survival of our forces there is on a knifedge and air transport of new troops onto the island is urgently needed.
Positively, the longer the KB stays at Canton Island the easier it will be to reinforce and hold DEI.
As soon as the US air carriers arrive in the DEI any invading fleets that dare to enter the waters will be annihilated.
Using airbombers as 20 percent search has been highly effective at locating enemy fleets.
Gentlemen, the battle awaits.

M

[matt.buttsworth]

7th February. A slight heart attack when my opponent announced a successful raid. Was it by sea or by carrier. Fortunately it was not a carrier attack and the carriers are safely withdrawing westward. Very strangely they send off zero attacks but no bombers. Where are they?
Supplies are being sent to canton by ship just to use up a bit more fuel by the carriers.
The 24th division has now safely returned back to Palmyra. Air transport to canton island will commence next turn. Supplies at canton island continue to increase.
In China little to report.
At Moulmein two more brigades are about to arrive with a Chinese division and another brigade a few turns away.
As soon as there are four brigades I think they can resist the single Japanese division sent against them.
I am unsure how long to hold this position as I consider it untenable but if my opponent strikes for Java then few divisions will be available for Burma.
Once Singapore falls a withdrawal to Mandalay will be considered but why not make the Japanese fight every inch without committing additional resources.
air transports will soon be sent to Kunming to airlift in more Chinese troops.
If my opponent strikes for Burma, then I may do a fighting retreat. Every week my opponent does not attack Brunei and Sumatra the more vulnerable he is to running out of oil. He must strike soon.
In the DEI American dive bombers will soon be sent north to Sumatra and Borneo to fight off the coming fleets. Without the carrier fleet I doubt they will be successful, but the British carriers are now coming down the Sumatran coast.
The American Carriers are still heading to Aukland and are weeks away. But they are coming.

[matt.buttsworth]

Canton Island now seems safe.
The air force in Brunei have been deadly bombing the transport fleets of Pedro severely sinking two transports. In particular the albecores from the british carriers have been deadly and will fight on land in this campaign.
Pedro has sent his mini kb south to accompany the landing force so british carriers are safe at Batavia.
More importantly the KB has left Baker island westwards to join the fun.
This means that the blockade of Canton island is now over so transport ships have been sent immediately to canton island with the 24th division to reinforce the garrison there.
The battlefleet is being sent to canton island to sink any more transports he attempts to sent there.
The problem is what to do with the CVs. They could provide air superiority in the South Pacific as the KB steams westward, or to go to java and place divebombers on land to fight the Japanese airforce.
it is tempting to send them in but at all costs no contact between the KB and the cv fleet can be allowed.
they are still dreadfully weak.

Matthew