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Firstly, lovely graphics JohnReb.

Secondly, ANY Japanese player who wants to get into 1945 in reasonably good form needs to be planning for that from 7th December 1941.
 
Thirdly, The key to all of this is planning your economy and front-line trace 18 months in advance.
 
Fourthly, good luck [8D]

Good Hunting...

December 8th Combat Report

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/East Indies Theater:[/font]

Land:

The last of the landings at Khota Bharu by the 18th Division, but I'm not assaulting British positions until the Brigade assaulting Kuantan, to the south, has arrived. The 5th Division at the northern tip of Malaysia at Songkhla is still landing, once fully arrived they will make a move on Alor Star.

Air:

The airfield attack on Singapore was called off due to bad weather. A large formation of about 120 bomber and 60 fighter escorts bombed the airfield at Alor Star with no success. This force will be retargeting Kuantan where it's confirmed a large British bomber force is located.

British planes made several naval attacks on my naval forces, but scored no good damage. My Battleship force moving to Borneo was hit by several bombs by these attacks but took virtually no damage from them.

Naval:

Transports with DD escorts begin their movement towards northern Borneo without any incident.

BB Force 1 (consisting of 2 BBs, 4 CAs, 1 CL, 6 DDs) took it's position on the western flank of Borneo to cover transports moving in. It's next order is to bombard Kuching to soften up the defenders for the incoming amphibious assault. After this bombardment they will continue their mission to defend transports moving to Borneo.

CA Force 1 will be formed at Saigon which will consist of 3 CAs, 2CLs and 7DDs to provide protection to transports on the eastern Malaysia coast and provide bombardment support.

Japanese submarines are immediately moving to locations around Java and the western Malaysian coast to search and destroy for any allied ships.

No signs at all of any British naval task forces, it seems Singapore has been evacuated of it's ships. None have yet been sighted. No Allied submarines have been encounted yet either.

[font="Courier New"] The China Theater [/font]

Land:

Japanese forces assault and drive out Chinese units in Nanchang with about 250 losses on both sides.

Japanese forces also shock attack Hong Kong for a second time, with another 1-1 odds. Combat report:

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4
Japanese max assault: 502 - adjusted assault: 244
Allied max defense: 220 - adjusted defense: 191
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese ground losses:
392 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
131 casualties reported
Guns lost 9

Another division arrives for the siege of Hong Kong so the shock attacks will continue, at this rate the fortress should fall quickly.

Yenen becomes a primary objective for upcoming Japanese offensive, many units are moving to the city's outskirts.

Air:

Japanese dive bombers report 40 chinese casualties and 1 gun lost after attacking Wuchow.

[font="Courier New"]The Phillipines Theater:[/font]



Land:

The 65th Brigade captures Vigan and the 48th Division captures Aparri. Both fall with little resistance, and both forces now move southwards towards Clark Field. A SNLF from Bataan Island moves in to capture Laoag and is expected to take it next turn. A parachute SNLF assaults and secures Lingayen. Another parachute SNLF will also be flown in to hold this base until more units arrive. Once units are ready they will push west to San Marcelino and then begin their attack on Clark Field.

In Legaspi an allied division reinforced the area while the Kure 1st SNLF shock attacked. It turned into a disaster and 600 Japanese men became casualties with almost no loss to the enemy, the SNLF is now being evacuated and will join the smaller island grabbing campaign around the Phillipines.

The 1st Parachute Regiment lands its first wave of troops and shock attacks Cagayen. Good headway is already made with 1-1 odds and 20 casualties on both sides. Once more troops land this base should fall quickly.

Air

Another airfield attack is made on Clark Field with excellent success:

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 80
G3M Nell x 31
G4M1 Betty x 81
Ki-21 Sally x 18

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 8 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed
P-35A: 2 destroyed
B-17C Fortress: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 63

Bomber forces will continue to airfield attack Clark field as long as significant numbers of allied aircraft remain there.

Land based bombers also joined the attack against allied ships in the Phillipines, but no hits were scored.

Naval

STFs move quickly to their waypoints and CA Force 3 has already made contact with dozens of allied ships, mainly transports or auxiliary. Two attacks were made with good destruction to the allied ships and no losses on our side.

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo
DD Asagumo
DD Murasame
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare

Allied Ships
PG Isabel, Shell hits 1
PG Asheville, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Tulsa, Shell hits 1
AS Holland
AS Otus, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AS Canopus, Shell hits 4, on fire
AVD Childs, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AV Langley
MSW Finch, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
MSW Bittern
MSW Tanager
MSW Quail, Shell hits 1
MSW Lark
MSW Whippoorwill
AO Pecos, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AO Trinity
TK Mindanao
AP President Madison, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AK Don Jose
AK Sagoland
AK Paz
TK Gertrude Kellogg
AK Anakan
AK Bisayas
AK Capillo
AK Compagnia Filipinas
AK Corregidor
AK Ethel Edwards
AK Palawan
AK Princess of Negros

----

CL Natori, Shell hits 3
DD Satsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Minazuki, Shell hits 1
DD Fumizuki
DD Nagatsuki
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Hatakaze

Allied Ships
PG Isabel, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AS Holland, Shell hits 17, on fire, heavy damage
AS Canopus, on fire
AV Langley, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW Bittern
MSW Tanager, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Quail, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Lark, Shell hits 1
MSW Whippoorwill
AO Trinity
TK Mindanao, Shell hits 6, on fire
AK Don Jose
AK Sagoland
AK Paz
TK Gertrude Kellogg
AK Anakan
AK Bisayas
AK Capillo
AK Compagnia Filipinas
AK Corregidor
AK Ethel Edwards
AK Palawan
AK Princess of Negros

Both CA Force 2 and 3 will continue their pursuit of these Allied transports.

The Light Carrier TF also got out a sortie and found the USN CA Houston with 3 DD escorts. Sunk 2 DDs.

2 Japanese submarines are also in the area and will also try to pursue allied transports.

Transports from Siam are beginning their approach against the Phillipine islands with no incident. A large TF of 30,000 troops from Taiwan also begins it's approach to Lingayen to set up an airfield and major staging ground of supplies and support units.

Two more divisions are loaded and start moving to the Phillipines from the home islands to make landings on currently unspecified targets.

[font="Courier New"]The Central and Eastern Pacific Theater[/font]

Guam is captured without any losses. The South Seas Department of 140 Assault Value will now move out to Truk and then join the assault on the South Pacific.

10 submarines located in the Central pacific are moving to Truk and will then move to operate around the south pacific and Australia.

13 submarines are moving to the US West Coast for ship spotting and convoy raiding purposes.

15 submarines near Hawaii will set up a picket line along the south west of Hawaii to spot and destroy any ships moving along this area. Check picture.



A second air attack is made on the port of Pearl Harbour with excellent success.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 92
D3A Val x 98
B5N Kate x 120

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 2
P-26A x 3
P-40B Tomahawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
D3A Val: 4 destroyed, 32 damaged
B5N Kate: 10 destroyed, 27 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
P-26A: 3 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DM Preble, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
AP U.S. Grant, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 6, on fire
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DMS Chandler, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PT PT-24, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DM Gamble, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AD Dobbin, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
79 casualties reported

Port hits 15

Very satisfying damage to more American ships with only 14 losses on my part. The BB WEST VIRGINIA also SINKS! Woo! Also some damage done to the port.

Due to this success and the low losses I see nothing wrong with doing one more strike before retiring to Tokyo. US Carriers could be nearby.. in case they are foolish enough to attack fighter CAP is increased to 50%

Impressive overall results at Pearl JonReb especially considering the relatively low cost in aircraft so far..... Hope your 3rd day of strikes on Pear doesn't over do it.

Interesting results from the sea battle off Manila.  Seems that Marky has opted to get everything out in one mega fleet and hope for the best.  Unless you can quickly hunt down a good portion of those merchants he stands a good chance of getting most of them away.  Do you have any surface action task forces covering the bottle necks where those ships can be expected to run?

Hi there Jon
 
Firstly, love the style of the AAR.  All the detail of someone clealy suffering from WITP OCD. 
 
I notice that the Aleutians do not really figure in any of your plans.  IMHO these absolutely must be secured and early to avoid Allied players deciding to avoid all the defences to the south and just go sttraight round the top into Japan.

ORIGINAL: Yakface

Hi there Jon

Firstly, love the style of the AAR.  All the detail of someone clealy suffering from WITP OCD. 

I notice that the Aleutians do not really figure in any of your plans.  IMHO these absolutely must be secured and early to avoid Allied players deciding to avoid all the defences to the south and just go sttraight round the top into Japan.

I agree on both points. Also intersted on the 3rd days raid on pearl

December 9th Combat Report

There's a strange bug that randomly stops any combat reports from being made once the combat save is run.. proving to be a big nuisance.

Honestly things are getting complicated as I'm coordinating over 200 naval task forces across the Pacific, and it's only been 3 days! Although there's something nice about knowing so many ships and troops are moving all at once to expand the glorious Japanese empire...

[font="Courier New"]Burma/Chinese Theater[/font]

My units moving to Burma are going rather slowly and mostly still in Indochina. Several small british engineer units begin evacuating bases towards Rangoon. Some headway should hopefully be made in the coming weeks..

In China the siege on Hong Kong is almost over as two divisions assault it with 3-1 odds. I expect it to fall in a few days. My units in mainland China have targeted Wuchow, Changsa, Homan, and Yenen as my first objectives.

Wuchow: Important base to push China into it's interior and also decent amount of Industry and Resources. Units are still moving along the south China coast towards Canton, where my forces are organzing. I'm also waiting for the siege of Hong Kong to end to free up the two divisions for the coming attack on Wuchow.

Changsa: Important base to push China into it's interior and very good amount of industry and resources. Most of my units around cental China are converging on this point for, no doubt, a big battle. Several of my divisions of about 1400 Assault Value have already arrived here and will begin bombardment attacks. This will probably be a big deadlock battle since Mikey can move a lot of forces to this city.

Homan: First city of two linked along the west of the Hwang river, and will be important in pushing China into it's interior. About 5 divisions from various locations in central and northern China will moving towards this city, with 2 divisions coming from Manchuria to reinforce.

Yenen: Good industry and resources at this base and the first stepping stone towards the main link of norther Chinese bases. Almost all units in the north China area will be joining in this assault as well as all mongolian cavalry divisions currently scattered around Manchuria.

Air units around China begin ground attacks and cause several dozen casualties. They will continue indefinitely since there is practically total air superiority.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/East Indies Theater[/font]

Land:

Units are still moving to their positions before a general offensive is started in Malaysia. My brigade moving to amphibiously assault Kuantan is one more day away from it's first landings-- however the British have reinforced it! Immediately another brigade is loaded onto transports in Saigon and will proceed to Kuantan. The pleasant manuvering is now over and the offensive will begin by next turn, I'm going to start smashing the Brits with all haste. Two divisions are still moving by rail into Malaysia and should join the fight within a week. Meanwhile the 55th division in Songkhla has been fully unloaded and will start moving to assault Alor Star. The 18th division in Khota Bharu will start it's first deliberate attack to test defenses and then mostly likely proceed with shock & pursue attacks. The 21st mixed brigade landing in Kuantuan next turn will probe the British defenses until the 23rd mixed brigade also lands and joins the fight. Once both brigades are together they'll make their assault to push back the brits and capture the base.

Meanwhile transports en route to Borneo are making good progress with a few ships likely to arrive at their objectives next turn and unload the troops.

Air:

Once again bad weather prevents an airfield strike on Singapore.. this isn't good. I want to start knocking out this airfield ASAP in case Mikey decides to reinforce it. An airfield strike was made on Kuantuan with 7 British bombers destroyed with no losses on my part. I'll do another airfield attack on Kuantuan to see if I can catch anymore.

Several more british naval attacks were made. No major damage was sustained except a torpedo in the hull of the CL Kushii-- damage is light with 12 SYS and 27 Flooding. I'll still retreat it to Saigon to stabilize before returning back to the STF. I'll start providing a fighter CAP of 27 A6M2s over CA Force 1 to kill off any more naval attacks on these ships.

Naval:

Still no signs of any British ships--at all-- .. not even any signs of evacuations along the western Malaysian coast. I'm starting to suspect Force Z made a dash southwards, but to where? He could be heading to the Phillipines to safeguard transports for all I know.

I decided to call off the BB Force 1 bombardment on Kuching at the last moment and instead dashed it to refuel and rearm before moving back to the flank of the Borneo invasions. From then on they'll be solely safeguarding the invasions as surface combat, I can't risk wasting ammo on bombardments when the Force Z could pop out at any momnent.

CA Force 1 continues to guard Kutantuan as two brigades move to land there. It's currently most useful to act as a barrier against air attacks but if Force Z decides to raid them this force should be able to put up a good fight and then my Bettys will make short work of the British ships.

Finally the CVE Taiyo will be moving to this theater with 27 A6M2 fighters on it's decks. It'll be useful as a mobile CAP for my units as I operate around this theater. I decided to detach it from the Light Carrier TF due to it's rather slow speed (21)

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater:[/font]

Land:

Not much action as units are moving to their objectives or being transported. Laoag is captured by my SNLF force. A division coming from the Home Islands is moving in to assault Naga, and surround the allied forces in Legaspi. They should arrive in about 3 days. 2 more divisions from the Home Islands are loaded on transports and are also on their way to currently unspecified targets most likely in the northern Phillipines. The 1st Parachute Regiment in Cagayen makes another shock attack with less fortunate results at 0-1 odds and 20 casualties. More troops are flying in and they'll try it again. The brigade moving to amphibiously assault Davao is also still 2-3 days away.

Air:

Another airfield attack is made on Clark Field with good success. 5 allied planes are destroyed as well as further destruction to the airfield itself with no losses for me. Except for a few scattered CAP no missions have been run by the allied air units in this area. Either they are evacuating or I am really bashing them.

Naval:

My STFs just missed the allied transports for another surface combat, but my CA Forces are now immediately moving to intercept and block them off from moving to the East Indies(their apparent destination). A lot of destruction should follow next turn if all goes well... My two BBs(and escorts) moving to this theater are still a few days off and might not be able to arrive in time for the allied transports. However once they arrive they'll add to the swing around south Borneo and be a counter against any Force Z surprises. Air naval attacks by my light carriers brought down several ships and did heavy damage to others. One of my submarines also got 2 torpedoes into the hull of a TK. Here's a lineup of the ships sunk so far in the Phillipines:



Central-East Pacific Theater

Two BBs and escorts are moving to Truk to support operations in the South Pacific. No action yet as transports continue to their destinations.

Almost all my submarines south west of Pearl Harbour are in position.

And finally, the 3rd and final air attack on Pearl Harbour is a moderate success:



Few losses once again for my planes, but this time a lot more operational losses... damage to ships was a lot less, only a handful of bombs and torpdoes made it through. 7 more damage done to the port, 1 port supply and 1 port fuel destroyed, pretty nice. I wonder if the 22 damage(15+7) done to port will affect the survival of his ships..

I think I've outstayed my visit to this lovely part of the Pacific, so I'm now retiring. I came here with 432 planes and leave with 385 planes. 1 sunk US battleship (and 1 pt boat, but who cares?), along with heavy damage to 7 others and various damage to many escorts. 105 allied planes were also destroyed. Time to go home and refit and then draw up another objective for my carriers..

ORIGINAL: SierraJuliet

Impressive overall results at Pearl JonReb especially considering the relatively low cost in aircraft so far..... Hope your 3rd day of strikes on Pear doesn't over do it.

Interesting results from the sea battle off Manila.  Seems that Marky has opted to get everything out in one mega fleet and hope for the best.  Unless you can quickly hunt down a good portion of those merchants he stands a good chance of getting most of them away.  Do you have any surface action task forces covering the bottle necks where those ships can be expected to run?

I woulda liked to seen 5 battleships sink, but unfortuantely the game won't grant that. However, I've done quite a bit of damage which will keep those ships crippled for a long time, at least.

He's started to split up his mega fleet into several smaller "mega" fleets. As shown in my previous post I'm immediately moving to intercept him and block off the bottleneck, he won't be leaving quietly if at all. My CVL's Kates have also been quite useful in blowing ships out of the water, somehow I doubt many allied ships will survive in the next few turns if he makes a mass escape attempt through the one exit in the south west. Like shooting at a hundred sheep trying to run out of one gate..

ORIGINAL: Yakface

Hi there Jon

Firstly, love the style of the AAR.  All the detail of someone clealy suffering from WITP OCD. 

I notice that the Aleutians do not really figure in any of your plans.  IMHO these absolutely must be secured and early to avoid Allied players deciding to avoid all the defences to the south and just go sttraight round the top into Japan.

Thanks-- but WITP OCD.. ME? ..no.. never. [8|][:'(]

Somehow, to me, the Aleutians looks like a backwater fight with terrible weather and limited bases. If he does decide to make a mass push from the north directly into Japan's backyard I certainly intend to notice the build up before it happens and put up a very stubborn fight. Maybe you are making a good point though, so I may make a limited assault to secure some of the most forward bases.

ORIGINAL: Hornblower

I agree on both points. Also intersted on the 3rd days raid on pearl

As can be seen it wasn't terribly successful with only a handful more bombs and torpedoes getting through, but I didn't take any really heavy hits so it was a fair attempt.

Progressive Flooding might well be your friend...

Have run two turns with some good results. Will follow with reports later, for now I want to amp up the taste a little.

December 11th, 1941

Aboard the flagship CV Kaga
Location: 600 miles north west of Pearl Harbour.
Course: Due North West to Tokyo.
Attached to: Kido Butai 1st Air Fleet
Orders: Return to Tokyo for refit and further orders.

--In the Kaga command bridge--

Nagumo: No, we will not attack Pearl Harbour a fourth time! We've done all the damage we can, and the US carriers could be in the area by now. We've stayed long enough.
Fuchida:We could have sunk several more battleships, we could have destroyed the repair facilities, and we could have destroyed a large amount of fuel making the Americans almost useless--I saw it myself, an entire warehouse went up in flames--
Nagumo:Enough! Fuchida, you've earned great distinction with your contribution here at Pearl Harbour, but I'm in command and I have direct orders from Yamamoto to return to Tokyo; they need us elsewhere. Even if I agreed to the mad idea of staying even longer, I am bound to follow orders and make haste to Tokyo.
Fuchida:This will be our undoing, the Americans only have two carriers, what are you afraid--
Officer: SIR! --Our float planes and submarines report one Heavy Cruiser and escorts 300 miles south west of our position!
...
Nagumo:Fine officer, return to your post.
Officer: Hai!
Nagumo:This is exactly as I feared--
Fuchida:Sir, this is a perfect opportunity, if this is the location of the US Carriers we outnumber and outmatch them, we can destroy them!
Nagumo:We have no choice, get to your unit and lead the way, I'll coordinate the attack.
**Fuchida rushes out of the bridge**

Tetsuzo Iwamoto:Sake has never tasted so good.
Susumu Izumi:Well, I wasn't in the attacks.. but I know what you mean.
Tetsuzo Iwamoto:That's fine, you are a good engineer. After all, if it wasn't for you my plane would be falling apart by now!
Susumu Izumi:I'm glad I was here to serve the emperor.. but what were the attacks like? It must have been fascinating..
Tetsuzo Iwamoto:It was, but I'm just glad we are finally going home--
Officer: Up! UP! Fall into your planes and prepare to launch!
Tetsuzo Iwamoto:Crap.
Officer:Hurry up, the Americans don't have all day!
**Tetsuzo rushes to his A6M2 Zero**
Fuchida:Well done Tetsuzo, we'll show those Americans! You'll be escorting me, don't worry, it won't be hard.
Tetsuzo Iwamoto:Yes sir!
**Fuchida takes a position in front of all the pilots who have lined up in front of their planes**
Fuchida:We are moving rapidly to make a coordinated assault against American ships spotted south west of us. We'll be the lead squadron, and I'll be leading you. For the emperor!
**Banzai BANzai BANZAI!!**

--Tetsuzo Iwamoto, in a A6M2 Zero Fighter at 10,000 altitude moving South west at 300 MPH.--

I think we're almost there, Fuchida is speeding up -oh when will this end, these last few days have taken years.

**Fuchida signals to drop to 2,000 altitude and begin attack against US ships**

The A6M2 roars as the rapid alltitude descent is made through the clouds, and quickly the silhouettes of 3 American ships widely spread across the ocean become clear.

Fuchida*radio*: The US Carriers aren't here!.. No matter, all dive bomber units --Attack that Heavy Cruiser!

Almost immediately after the transmission the sound of machine guns and flak guns opening up from the American ships is heard, but they're undershooting. Tetsuzo continues to escort the dive bombers at 6,000 feet alltitude with no signs of enemy air presence. Tetsuzo watches the battle unravel-- Tuchida goes in alone against the Heavy Cruiser and drops his load-- the bomb explodes directly inside the ship's command room and an enormous firey explosion creeks out of the windows. Soon after approximately 50-70 dive bombers screech down to the lonely Heavy Cruiser and 1 boom..2 booms..3..4..5.. the endless bombardment on the Heavy Cruiser commence and the smoke begins to build up--all flak fire ceises and Tetsuzo can't imagine the destruction occuring on the Cruiser. Tetsuzo loses count of the bomb hits as internal ship explosions begin to erupt across the heavy cruiser. As Tetsuzo makes a swing around to the other side of the heavy cruiser he sees the huge water it's taking as the entire front begins to slowly flood.

Fuchida*radio*:All units fall back into formation and return to base, we're running out of fuel. Good work!

**Another huge explosion echoes from the US Heavy Cruiser as the planes begin leaving**

--Back on the CV Kaga after the attack--

Susumu Izumi: Tetsuzo! What happened?
Tetsuzo Iwamoto: It was amazing, a US Heavy Cruiser took dozens of bomb hits. I lost count at 40. I've never seen anything like that, not even at Pearl Harbour.
Susumu Izumi:Wow! That must be the Heavy Cruiser that sunk, one of our submarines confirmed that a US Heavy Cruiser sank soon before you got back.
Tetsuzo Iwamoto: Good...good.

--The CV Kaga Command Bridge--

Nagumo:Well done Fuchida, another excellent attack. No losses and only two planes damaged. Listen-- we are moving south tomorrow to see if we can locate the American Carriers. Our submarines located some more escort ships. If we can't find the American carriers, well, at least we can destroy their seperated escorts with no loss to us. I think you deserve at least that much, one day of hunting. Then we'll return to Tokyo.
Fuchida:Sir! Thank you, I'm happy for your decision. For the emperor!
Nagumo:For the emperor.

Only 47 planes lost (just 18 more than RL).  Not too bad with the possibility of a couple of more BBs on the way out or at least out for a long time.  Hmmm 5 battleships, you aim high JohReb.[:D]

Kaga as flagship.... I like as she is my favourite Japanese carrier.  Did anyone work out the identity of the lost US cruiser?

Looking forward to seeing you keep the cork in the bottle at the Philippines.

Enjoyable. I like the maps. After studying various AARs, it does seem to pay some dividends if the Japanese player expends some assets right from the beginning to defend the Northern route. It has more to do with the way the stock map works than anything else, but I do believe that some time spent aquiring a few bases, fortifying , maybe expanding a few ports and airfields will help slow down the Allies. At least give it some thought.

December 10th Combat Report

A fairly good and active turn with some more destruction.

Combat reports are STILL not being written??! All my settings are fine.. yet everytime the combat save is running no combat animations come through and no combat reports are being written. Due to this I've not been making maps, since I don't want to keep going in to watch the combat save over and over again or write my own report.

I'm starting to use Anti-Sub task forces of small gunboats (PG/PC) and they are already meeting some success with some hits against several allied subs.

[font="Courier New"]China Theater[/font]



Here's a look at my first destination objectives as well as my longer-term objectives to push China into it's interior, as well as grab me some more industry and resources. No hexes also looks so much sexier! Will post the unit Assault Value being dedicated to these objectives once my units are more allocated, a lot are still marching around.

Troops are building up in Changsa with approx 70,000 on both sides. I've also been getting artillery here already. Started doing bombardment attacks, and caused 100 casualties today.

Hong Kong Falls! Lost 300 in the assault but bagged 17,000 POWs. The 2 divisions in Hong Kong will now move to Canton in prepartion to attack Wuchow.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/East Indies front[/font]

Land

Deliberate attack at Khota Bharu, already 3-1 odds. Will shock attack next turn and most likely push them out so I can start moving southwards with this division.

Landings at Kuantuan were delayed, I think because of destroyers refueling.. arg. Both brigades moving to this base will now be arriving tomorrow to start their landings.

The 55th division arrives in Alor Star and will capture it then start attacking southwards. Base was apparently evacuated, and I think I trapped some planes here when I airfield attacked it a few turns ago--that's good.

Large numbers of support units, most importantly 2 tank regiments, will be arriving in Saigon soon originaly from Hainan

Light landings begin to take place in undefended places across Borneo and the far southern part of the East Indies. It should start heating up tomorrow as more units reach their destinations.

Air

Not much happened, much fewer British air naval attacks and all failed.

3 more Allied bombers were killed at Kuantan from my airfield attacks.

My planned airfield attack on Singapore was called off AGAIN due to MORE bad weather-- irritating.. I haven't been able to hit this airfield since December 7th because of this damned weather.

Naval

2 more BBs and escorts will arrive at Saigon tomorrow. I'll join them up with my CA Force 1 and dub it BB Force 2 consisting of 2 BBs, 3 CAs, 3 CLs, and 11 DDs. It'll provide bombardment support on Kuantan once formed and safeguard the transports.

For some clarity--Each BB Force has 2 battleships and 2-4 heavy cruisers as well as various light cruisers/destroyers. Here are my current BB forces and where they are located:

BB Force 1: Operating off North Borneo.

BB Force 2: To be formed in Saigon and will operate off the east coast of Malaysia

BB Force 3: Moving to the Phillipines to support any leftover missions.

BB Force 4: To be formed in Truk, still moving.

CVE Taiyo will be arriving on the north east coast of Borneo tomorrow. Her final destination is north west Borneo to work alongside BB Force 1 and provide fighter CAP.

My submarines that were concentrating on the west Malaysian coast are ordered to start dispering around the East Indies to locate allied ships and, of course, try to destroy them.

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater
[/font]

Land:

Some landings on a few undefended Phillipine islands, with more to follow tomorrow.

Allied shock attack at Lingayen! Looks like some form of (understrength)US division tried to make an attack here, but my brigade that landed at Vigan was already there. They got slaughtered, 400 casualties for them 100 casualties for me. This is probably the worst place he could attempt a counter-attack.. I have 40-50k troops moving in to land within the next few days. Not exactly main combat brigade/division units but such a huge number of SNLF, combat engineer regiments, engineers, tank regiments, and artillery really adds up.

Another shock attack by the 1st parachute regiment at Cagayan fails with 23 casualties, despite 31 Assault value vs 1. Not looking too bright for them, I was hoping they'd be successful faster. I'll let them rest for now while I land in more troops and supplies.

Air:

Virtually no land-based air due to bad weather.. will hopefully attack clark field tomorrow.

Naval:

My Surface Combat TFs intercepted the fleeing allied ships and corked the exit. Following were some big naval battles (well, not really battles) sinking quite a few more allied ships and heavily damaging many many more. The allied ships are still trapped and I'll continue to pursue them while clogging the exit. Here's a look at one of the "battles":



BB Force 3 is also almost in the area, looks like they might make it in time to do some action..

More air naval strikes from Light Carrier Force putting torpedoes in more transports.

Here's a sum of allied ships sunk today at Phillipines:
1TK, 1PG, 3MSW, 2AK, 1AS
Once again, the majority of damage here was putting dozens of shells and torpedoes into a large number of ships therefore heavily damaging most of them, if they don't sink of their wounds they must be so very slow that I could catch them without even trying. Plus I pushed them away from the exit, none have escaped yet (if ever).

[font="Courier New"]Central/East/South Pacific Theaters:[/font]

South Pacific starting to heat up with units beginning to reach their destinations. In the Solomons, units are isolating Rabaul and waiting for more support before assaulting Rabaul itself.

BB Force 4 will be arriving and forming at Truk within the next few days and will begin by providing bombardment on Rabaul to soften them up for the..

South Seas Department(seriously, what a cool name for a combat unit[8|])-- who will arrive at Truk within two days. They'll spearheard the attack on Rabaul along with some other units.

I'm also dedicating 27 G3Ms to start knocking out bombers on the airfield at Rabaul, don't want them doing any damage to my transports.

Further east I'm starting to make landings at the Gilbert Islands as well as outlying islands. Makin Island becomes Japanese.

Aaand my sub picket line south west of Hawaii is already being useful. 3 allied ships were spotted by one of my subs, including a CA. This is more than likely the escorts for one of the Carriers, and who knows, maybe the carrier is still with them. I can't avoid a chance to kill a rather hopeless and lone US carrier so I'm moving to intercept and destroy it. If the carrier happens not to be among them, at least I'll bag some escorts-- and cruisers are always juicy.

ORIGINAL: SierraJuliet

Only 47 planes lost (just 18 more than RL).  Not too bad with the possibility of a couple of more BBs on the way out or at least out for a long time.  Hmmm 5 battleships, you aim high JohReb.[:D]

Kaga as flagship.... I like as she is my favourite Japanese carrier.  Did anyone work out the identity of the lost US cruiser?

Looking forward to seeing you keep the cork in the bottle at the Philippines.

Yes, the losses weren't too bad at all for the exchange. Once I return to Tokyo I'll get back to full numbers and up any lost experience quickly against targets less formidable than Pearl Harbour. Also 5 Battleships is what was sunk historically at Pearl Harbour! Granted, many of them were raised from the dead and put back into service.. but still. [:(]

Indeed, I like the Kaga, plus it is the flagship for my current Kido Butai. The Cruiser sunk was confirmed by float planes and submarines as the CA Northhampton .

As can be seen my cork is working quite well, I'm optimistic that no living allied ships will get out of the Phillipines (well, except for the submarines--arg.)

ORIGINAL: stuman

Enjoyable. I like the maps. After studying various AARs, it does seem to pay some dividends if the Japanese player expends some assets right from the beginning to defend the Northern route. It has more to do with the way the stock map works than anything else, but I do believe that some time spent aquiring a few bases, fortifying , maybe expanding a few ports and airfields will help slow down the Allies. At least give it some thought.

Thanks for the sound advice. In light of all this new information on the North Pacific I'll do some surveying and draw up a plan.

[font="Courier New"]December 11th Combat Report:[/font]

Another good and active turn. I'm really pushing Mikey while taking very few losses.

PG/PC ASW forces continue hunting for Allied submarines along Borneo. Malaysia and Phillipines-- even if they don't do much damage it's been working well to disrupting them from targeting any of my transports. Amazingly none of my ships have been hit from enemy submarines yet since the start of the war. In fact.. I haven't even lost any ships at all.

[font="Courier New"]Burma & China Theaters[/font]

The nice sounds of soldiers marching and trains whistling as my units continue shifting to their positiong across China and Burma. Only current place of activity is in Changsa where my bombardments caused another 100 casualties. My planes also continue their ground attacks, causing light casualties across the front.

Malaysia/Northern East Indies Theater

Land:

One brigade finally lands in Kuantan, slightly heavy casualties at the landing. Second brigade to land tomorrow , then they can make their attack. BB Force 2 also moving in to bombard.

The 18th Division's attack on Khota Bharu, for some reason, reverted to a deliberate attack and only achieved 1-1 odds with 100 casualties on both sides-- and a fortification reduction. No matter.. I'll try a shock attack again tomorrow.

Alor Star fell to the 5th Division and 3 British planes were destroyed- nice. They'll continue southwards against the scurrying British soldiers.

Yet more landings made in north Borneo and two bases fall easily. The two bases of Kuching and Brunei are fairly defended but should fall in a few days, then I can turn them into nice Japanese airfields to base some planes in.

Several regiments of combat engineers and tanks arrive in Saigon today-- going to start moving them all to Malaysia where they'll be important for the final battle at Singapore.

Air:

Japanese airfield attack on Taiping was successful with 3 British planes destroyed, none for us. Tomorrow Japanese bombers will target the large concentration of British troops apparently retreating from Taiping.

Singapore strike was called off YET AGAIN. I'm going to keep trying until I can at least get one attack in to see what he has. For all I know he could have filtered in all fighters from the area by now, so I'm expecting the worst.

Several more allied air naval attacks, but all are completely ineffective. Interestingly he's even got a lot of his fighters running naval attacks from Singapore-- Buffalo's bombs don't even manage to do much scratching to my PG boats.

This will actually be very good for me--if a lot of his fighters are set to naval attacks and not much CAP then I'll easily do a lot of damage to Singapore and catch them on the ground. Not that I'm scared at all at Buffalos, especially with 50 or so zero escorts. IF this damn weather clears up.

Naval:

CVE Taiyo is now in position and should provide some fighter CAP tomorrow for my forces around Kuching.

BB Force 2 moving in to bombard Kuantan to support the offensive forming there.

Force Z continues to be a mystery. There are many posibilities, such as going around the west side of Sumatra to avoid attacks and detection, but my best bet is he is sitting in someplace like Batavia waiting to find a weak point or for me to make a mistake.

Southern East Indies Theater:

This part of the Pacific is starting to heat up as my units begin landing onto the islands. This area has several important (level 4) airfields that I want to plant some bombers and naval patrols on-- this will help prevent any evacuations to Australia from further north.

Here's a look at the situation and my main objectives:



Amboina:Level 4 airfield that can provision naval patrols and air naval attacks in the region. Will become a less priority field once Kendari is taken, but easier and faster to capture.

Kendari:Important Level 4 airfield that will be used primarily for airpower once taken due to it's position overlooking most of this region.

Menado:Not the best position and only a level 3 airfield but can be built up and be used as a back up.

This is a weaker and more vulnerable area for me with only 3 CAs, 2 CLs, and 11 DDs operating. I'll need to keep a watch out for any Allied naval attacks, especially from Force Z(who I still have not located).

[font="Courier New"]Phillipine Theater:[/font]

Land:

Lingayen is becoming a major base of operations as I start building up an airfield and ferry in many tons of supplies for the upcoming battles. I chose this site because it has a railroad link to Clark Field, and therefore the rest of northern Phillipines, to quickly send supplies from. I have about 40,000 troops staged here at 600 Assault Value so far with more on the way.

I don't want to attack across the river to Clark Field so I'll be moving westwards to San Marcelino with my forces and then attack Clark Field from there. Importantly I also have 2 full and ferocious divisions from the home islands-- which will create the backbone of the offensive-- coming in by transport in a few days; they'll be landing directly into San Marcelino. The Allies have apparently evacuated San Marcelino so I'll be rushing it with two armored regiments to capture it before the divisions arrive-- this will avoid casualties and disruption. Then the rest of my army will march over and I can begin my massive attack.

I also have a division being transported to Naga, which is a bit further south of Clark Field/Manila. I lost Legaspi early to a quick allied counter offensive so I'm landing this powerful force behind them to surround them, if they are still there. I won't dedicate just one division to all this though-- I have one division mopping up in far northeast Phillipines which is moving to capture Tuguegarao. Once captured I have another transport force ready to move them down to Naga as well. They can then together push in to destroy whatever troops are surrounded at Legaspi and then make a thrust to Manila, which is in the rear of Clark Field.

I'll provide a map in 1-2 turns to display this whole strategy.

Meanwhile.. US Troops made ANOTHER attack on Lingayen. Not sure (still don't have combat animations..) but I think it's another understrength division from Clark Field. A slaughter of 600 allied troops to none of mine. They cross the river bordering Lingayen from Clark Field which automatically results in a shock attack against my huge army building up in Lingayen.. not sure why Mikey decided to send more troops after the previous attack, especially across a river, against such a huge force. I'm going to start bombarding the pathetic allied troops that are here in Lingayen to hell while more troops are unloading then I'll kick them away before jump starting my offensive.

A few small Phillipine islands were captured and more transports continue to other islands with virtually nothing opposing them.

Air:

Airfield attack on Clark Field was successful with 5 more US planes destroyed, none for me. It seems he's massed all his remaining planes into Clark Field and it is very likely he is evacuating squadrons. However I think I've trapped quite a few planes in Clark Field that can't repair so I'll continue to hammer it.

Once my main ground offensive begins my bombers will switch over to ground attacks, which should prove very useful. Also when my airfield in Lingayen is built up to level 4 I can stage very close support bombers.

Naval:

The rope tightens.. and the victim has almost choked to death.

14 more allied ships in the Phillipines fall prey to the huge mass of Japanese ships in the area -- and BB Force 3 finally makes it presence heard when it's big guns sink a poor allied gun boat.

The Phillipine sea has literaly become a Japanese lake with ships scurrying everywhere-- there are almost no allied ships remaining and I expect what's left of them to also join the bottom of the ocean. None shall escape...

Once my surface combat missions are done in the Phillipines I'll gather and reorganize all my ships, refuel and rearm, and start moving to operate in south Borneo for the coming offensive.

[font="Courier New"]Solomons Theater[/font]

The Solomons are continuing to heat up with landings being made on undefended islands. One BB and 3 CAs as well as escorts are ready at Truk so I'm going to run a bombardment on Rabaul. One more BB coming to the region as well.

Several air naval attacks by Australian air forces but all ineffective, my DDs seem to be keeping them checked.

The G3M airfield attacks on Rabaul are proving ineffective and somewhat costly so I may call it off depending on next turn. Not many bombers are coming out of Rabaul anyways.

[font="Courier New"]Central/South/East Pacific Theater[/font]

An AK unloading at Wake is almost sunk after taking some heavy damage to the coastal guns on Wake on Dec 7th. I expect it to sink next turn.. it'll be my first lost ship since the war started.

Campaign against the Gilbert Islands continues nicely-- I intend to continue down to Fiji, Noumea and Pago islands with these forces and capture all other islands along the way. Once I capture all these islands in the south pacific--and if I act fast to build them up-- they should prove to make it much harder for US ships and planes to make it to Australia.

I was able to catch the spotted ships near Pearl Harbour and send several formidable strikes against them-- Heavy Cruiser Northhampton took 45!bomb hits and sank shortly after. The DD Craven took I think about a dozen bomb hits from various strikes and also sank. DD Gridley also took some hits from several strikes, but is still floating heavily damaged.

I spotted yet another force of escorts further south, so I'm going to try and catch them as well. They might make it to Pearl Harbour before I can strike them-- don't want my planes attacking even outside the harbour since it's risky, i've lost enough pilots. No signs of US Carriers, they were either already fleeng or decided to flee when they saw I had not totally left. Not sure why he sent his ships forwards when he knew I wasn't completely gone from the area.

Aand.. *dum dum da dum* a new theater is planned to be opened

[font="Courier New"]North Pacific Theater[/font]

I'm dedicating 1 Coastal Gun unit, 1 AA unit, 2 base force units, and 1 SNLF unit to capture and build up some outlyng bases on the Aleutian islands. Just need to organize the troops and transports. The initial targets will be Kiska and Attu islands, then I'll do some recon on the other American bases. If they aren't too heavily defended I'll bring up some more units and conquer and fortify them as well-- perhaps even as far as Dutch Harbour. For this purpose I'm also bringing up a few more engineer and SNLF units as reserves to exploit any of these opportunities.

Also, I switched up some things in my economy, most actively aircraft production. I'll show it off when I've organized an economic report for January.

Another turn just received, and there are more good results. Will report it later today.

[font="Courier New"]December 12 Combat Report:[/font]

The war continues to go well and swiftly with virtually no bad news.

[font="Courier New"]China/Burma Theaters[/font]

My offensive into Burma is getting close with several units 120 miles from Tavoy.

The battle of Changsa is getting big, and my latest bombardment causes 350 Chinese casualties. My heavy 150mm Howtizers and Mortars are showing their effect.

A division moving east from Hanoi to engage some nearby Chinese forces shock attacks an equally large force and comes to an unwelcome slaughter -- over 1,300 imperial soldiers becomes casualties with only a dozen Chinese casualties. My troops hunker down and wait for reinforcements.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/Northern East Indies Theaters[/font]

Land:

The second Japanese brigade lands in Kuantan without a hitch. BB Force 2 will be providing a devastating bombardment on the British positions tomorrow and my two brigades will follow with a shock and pursue attack.

Japanese bombardments at Kuching and Brunei meet very little success. Nontheless shock attacks will commence tomorrow.

Shock attack on Khota Bharu comes to 2-1 odds but a breakthrough isn't made, we'll try again tomorrow. 500 Japanese casualties to 150 Allied casualties.

It seems he's building up his army in Taiping since they aren't moving down the rail. Doubt he'll keep with that strategy now that I'll most likely smash through Kuantan and start moving west--where I can cut off all his forces from Singapore.

Air:

Very large British air naval attack from Singapore on one of my ASW formations which landed some hits and heavily damaged one PC. Hopefully I can get an airfield in Khota Bharu established soon to provide more fighter CAP.

CVE Taiyo in northwest Borneo makes it's presence known as it's CAP begins shooting down enemy air naval attacks. 3 Blenheim bombers splash into the ocean.

An airfield attack on Singapore is FINALLY pulled off by 71 G3M Nells and over 50 escorts. There was absolutely no allied CAP.. as I expected (since the fighters were making pathetic naval attacks across Malaysia). I would have actually prefered a CAP.. my zeroes are getting itchy. 11 British planes were destroyed and some good damage was done to the airfield -- 24 airbase hits, 3 airbase supply hits, 45 runway hits. Absolutely no losses on my part, just some damaged planes from flak. Will try to get in even more airfield strikes to shut down this airfield and trap, as well as destroy, the allied squadrons there.

I've also noticed some airpower build up in Taiping and strikes from there, will try to run another strike on it to knock it out.

Naval:

BB Force 2 should do an effective night bombardment on Kuantan tomorrow.

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater[/font]

Land:

First landings of my brigade in Davao, south Phillipines. They'll bombard the allied presence here until Cagayan is secured.

The paratroopers on Cagayan, unfortuantely, aren't able to accomplish their objective. Two more deliberate attacks left dozens more dead Japanese with no progress-- a SNLF is routing to help finish the job. Sad for the paratroopers--hopefully they'll do better in the future when I can manage to supply them properly. Plus in the future I need to let them rest a few turns to tone down the disruption before attacking.

My huge bombardment on Lingayen comes up short with only 5 allied casualties. Too bad. I'll be shock attacking tomorrow to kick out these allied forces and then the offensive will start.

One division will be landing at Naga in 2 days. My second division will follow a few days after that.

More landings and successes on the outlying Phillipine Islands. Every islands, except Cebu and Illoilo(being avoided till later) should be secured in the next few days and then they can start organizing for an attack on southern Borneo.

Air:

7 US planes on Clark Field are destroyed from another strike, and over 100 ground casualties. Only 1 bomber lost on my part. Clark Field's airfield is in total ruins with 97 percent airfield damage.

Lingayen is building up nicely and will reach level 2 next turn. Flying in some recon and naval patrol planes for starters.

Naval:

Another 7 allied ships sunk. The naval pursuit in the Phillipines comes to an end as float planes from every task force, including over 30 from the Light Carrier Force, report no allied ships spotted. From what I've seen none of the US transports/auxiliary ships based on the Phillipines made it out, and a number of combat ships were also knocked out -- a great success. Now BB Force 3 and CA Force 1 return to Taiwan for ammunition and fuel before the campaign in south Borneo begins. The Light Carrier Force is still in good shape and will continue to watch over the transports in the area--mainly ASW patrol with planes-- until new operations begin.

My ASW formations continue to land hits on allied submarines and supress them. No unfavorable incidents from allied submarines yet..

[font="Courier New"]Central/Southern/Eastern Pacific Theaters[/font]

More islands and connecting bases outlying Rabaul are being landed on and taken without problems. BB Force 4 will be bombarding Rabaul tomorrow and my large invasion force will follow in a few days.

Nell airfield attack on Rabaul meets zero success with 1 bomber shot down. Calling off these attacks since they are futile-- I'll have Rabaul conquedred in the very near future anyways.

The escorts south west of Pearl Harbour made it to safety with no damage unfortuantely. I finished off the DD Gridley from yesterday, and now I go home for sure.

The AK Kongo Maru goes down at Wake Island-- the first Japanese ship loss of the war.

[font="Courier New"]North Pacific Theater[/font]

Transports almost in position to bring the first engineer base force, and CD guns to Attu island. 4 DDs for protection and a CS ship to recon other US bases are also moving to this theater.

Johnny, very good.  i like the idea of moving into the aleutians...

ORIGINAL: Hornblower

Johnny, very good.  i like the idea of moving into the aleutians...

Yes, the more I thought about it the more I saw how it could become an important theater. At the least it is a necessary and strong defense point for my northern flank. The more I can grab the better.



Meanwhile another turn has come in, more good results. Will report soon.

And I've been thinking about India.. I'm becoming more interested in keeping up my momentum and prepare an early invasion of it. Burma is just a meatgrinder(and in fact a good diversion). Settings some things in motion to prepare for it, such as dedicating 8 armored regiments.. but I won't go into detail yet.

JonReb, you're off to a great start, which is gratifying since you are a Rebel!  If you're invading India, be sure to read two AARs:

1)  The First Team - this game is in July '42 with an ongoing and successful Japanese invasion.  You'll learn a great deal (and I suspect you've already been following this one, but I mention it "just in case.")
2)  Speedy vs. Admiral Dadman - this AAR shut down a year or more ago and it may be on page six or thererabouts.  This was a fairly late and very intense invasion with everything hanging in the balance when the two players had to quit; read this just because it'll entertain you and whet your appetite for engaging in something so bold and entertaining.

Good luck! 

Your new song:  "You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb; you fought all the way, Johnny Reb!"

[font="Courier New"]December 13th 1941 Combat Report[/font]

Turns are getting so much longer and more active. Things continue to move smoothly.

[font="Courier New"]Burma/China Theaters[/font]

- 150 Chinese casualties from another bombardment at Changsa-- and the numbers continue to grow. 150,000 Chinese forces to my 100,000. This could actually prove to be an excellent meatgrinder for the Chinese armies and reserves. I've got a lot of artillery guns moving from Manchuria just for this purpose--including some formidable 240mm bad boys. Meanwhile my other armies will secure the North and South China, and then all converge into Central China.

- North China will be a lot easier to capture, and the faster the better. Yenen will fall first against an overwhelming number of my troops. My army attacking Homan is a diversionary battle, for now, to pin down Chinese reinforcements while my other army mops up the other North China bases.

- Lotsa transports moving around to supply several heavy industry areas with resources and/or oil, particuarily the newly captured Hong Kong.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/Northern East Indies Theater[/font]

About time we got another look at this theater:



Land:

- 250 casualties are caused by the bombardment of BB Force 2 on Kuantan which softens them up. My shock attack is a breakthrough--with 150 casualties on both sides-- and the Brits are retreating westwards--the exact direction I want to go. I'm pursuing, and if I can make it to the west coast fast enough I may catch some Brits in northern Malaysia.

- Khota Bharu is finally conquered as the Brits retreat to Taiping--200 casualties for me, 100 for him. We are pursuing. 5th Division is also moving there from Alor star and should arrive tomorrow to pin them down. Army HQ is also almost in the area and my two other divisions a few more days away on the railroad. The sweep will be down the west coast of Malaysia-- I'll try to kill off as many Brits as possible before the inevitable siege of Singapore.

- Brunei and Kuching went A LOT better than planned. Shock attacks capture both bases on the first try. Now gathering my forces back onto the transports, a little over 10,000 troops, to invade the last two bases in the north west corner of Borneo. It's getting awfully close to allied airpower and a potential counterattack by Force Z, but my BB Force 1 and CVE Taiyo Zeroes are ready.

Air:

- Kuching will be turned into a major forward airfield to operate around Borneo and Java for the upcoming battles. A base force is moving in as quickly as possible.

- Some of my Nells actually tried naval attacks as far as Soerabaja! Probably from my submarine recon. They didn't land any hits, probably because it was cloudly, but did confirm the CL Dragon(British) was there.

- Another good day for the CVE Taiyo. 5 Dutch planes shot down when attempting to attack my ships. No losses for me.

- Some ground attacks from my planes at Taiping, but only minor result.

- Singapore strike called off due to bad weather. Praying for tomorrow.

Naval:

- BB Force 2 returning to Saigon as a reserve STF to respond to threats or until needed for escort.

- BB Force 1 and CVE Taiyo escorting the invasion on NW Borneo.

- Submarine I-156 operating at Soerabaja makes contact with a lot of AKs and MSWs and also spotted a about a dozen other small task forces. No attacks successful, but good recon. I wonder what Mikey is doing here.. I'd put my money on Force Z also being here.

[font="Courier New"]Southern East Indies[/font]

- Final stages on Amboina- bombardment causes 150 casualties and deliberate attack reaches 1-1 odds on first try. The Shock attack tomorrow should suceed, and I'll capture this base. I'm glad I was able to get to this important airfield so quickly. I'll be running planes out of it in no time.

- Still building up my forces in Menado before attempting an attack, should fall in a few days.

- Once Amboina falls Kendari will be the next target. With support from CA Force 2 it shouldn't be too difficult.

Phillipines Theater

Will have a map next turn.

Land:

- Shock attack on Lingayen pushes back the American incursion. Looks like he had 2 Tank Battalions and 2 US infantry regiments. 300 casualties on both sides, but more importantly, 20 US vehicles were destroyed! That's 20 less tanks to worry about. Time to move on San Marcelino and then the battle of Clark Field can begin.

- Invasion of Naga will be tomorrow, but it looks like all allied units have evacuated. Probably spotted me. No matter, I'll move straight to Manila with these two divisions and open up a second front.

- The rest of my island objectives in the Phillipines will fall by tomorrow. Then I can gather and start preparing for south Borneo.

Air:

- Lingayen reaches a level 2 airfield. I've based some recon planes and fighters. At this rate it should reach level 3 in 2 more days, I'll have bombers here very soon.

- Managed two airfield attacks on Clark Field. 9 US planes destroyed, and 140 ground casualties. 1 Nell lost for me.

Naval:

-Light Carrier Force and a new CA Force 1 babysit my transports until BB Force 3 refuels at Taiwan.

- Bringing in more supplies to Lingayen to increase it to 50k supplies. Should last for awhile for the upcoming battles in Clark Field-Bataan-Manila.

- Organizing about 10k supplies, 30k fuel and a base force to be dropped off at Balikpapan once captured. Will become a major forward base for my ships and planes with it's level 4 port and airfield.


The rest is A LOT of my ships moving for endless purposes. Picking up tens of thousands of supplies on some pointless islands around Japan to be used for my economic buildup and my offensives. Sending TKs to Pick up the first of my oil from northern Borneo. Moving base forces and naval patrols to Wake and Baker islands. Going to move a lot of the CD guns on my home islands to important bases, for example the Aleutians. On the US West coast my submarines have almost arrived to set up a picket line. Kido Butai continues it's journey home.



Thanks for the advice and encouragement Canoerebel [:)]

Yes, I am reading the First Team AAR and it's proving very educational. I'll check out that second one as well.

And my god that song always puts chills in my bones. Fighting all the way!