IN HARM'S WAY...AE VERSION: STONEAGE(IJ) VS SPRUANCE(A)

[racndoc]

witpqs.....yes, I will load up the troops on Queen Elizabeth for quick transport to Australia and load up the equipment on slower AKs to be delivered later.



12/27-12/28/41


CHINA

Japan immediately attempts to evict the Chinese from Hankow in a large counterattack with nearly 50,000 troops:



Ground combat at Hankow (85,50)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 49097 troops, 473 guns, 168 vehicles, Assault Value = 1424

Defending force 95316 troops, 502 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2441

Japanese adjusted assault: 627

Allied adjusted defense: 2405

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3

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

Japanese ground losses:
7803 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 198 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 234 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 38 disabled
Vehicles lost 23 (2 destroyed, 21 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1938 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 95 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 77 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
14th Ind.Mixed Brigade...
34th Division...
58th Infantry Regiment...
13th Tank Regiment...
13th Division...
11th RGC Temp. Division...
9th Armored Car Co ...
13th RGC Temp. Division...
11th Army...
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment...
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
1st Mortar Battalion...
2nd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
Hankow Special Base Force...
51st Road Const Co ...
22nd AA Regiment...
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion...
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion...
8th Ind. Engineer Regiment...
54th JAAF AF Bn ...
...
Defending units:...
2nd Chinese Corps...
67th Chinese Corps...
32nd Chinese Corps...
68th Chinese Corps...
18th Chinese Corps...
59th Chinese Corps...
45th Chinese Corps...
8th Chinese Corps...
75th Chinese Corps...
26th Group Army...
33rd Group Army...

Unfortunately it looks like we dont get the 4x terrain bonus just by occupying the hex without owning the base....but Japan still suffers huge casualties.

Japan reinforces their attack at Kweisui but its still not nearly enough:


Ground combat at Kweisui (92,35)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14065 troops, 90 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 509

Defending force 18310 troops, 118 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 410

Japanese adjusted assault: 94

Allied adjusted defense: 307

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
970 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
436 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:...
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment...
2nd Ching An Tui Brigade...
1st Ching An Tui Brigade...
12th Indpt Infantry Regiment...
3rd Ching An Tui Brigade...
13th Indpt Infantry Regiment...
26th Engineer Regiment...
21st AA Regiment...
...
Defending units:...
35th Chinese/C Corps...
3rd Prov Chinese/A Corps...
3rd Prov Chinese/B Corps...
35th Chinese/B Corps...
35th Chinese/A Corps...
3rd Prov Chinese/C Corps...
13th Group Army...



MALAYA

The defenders of Georgetown, heavily outnumbered, surrenders today.

No Japanese assaults on our defensive line in central Malaya.

Bettys attack our AKLs unloading supplies in Singapore but their lack of escorts allow our battered Buffaloes to put up an effective CAP:


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

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 10



Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged


Allied Ships
DD Isis
DD Vendetta



Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Singapore at 50,84

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 3



Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses






DEI


Japan captures Jesselton and Balabac today.



PHILIPPINES


In southern Luzon, Batangus is captured leaving the Japanese just outside of Manila.


In northern Luzon, Stoneage pounds our defensive position at Bayombong with consective 1:1 shock attacks:


Ground combat at Bayombong (80,75)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14928 troops, 108 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 400

Defending force 7513 troops, 96 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 272

Japanese adjusted assault: 357

Allied adjusted defense: 352

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
687 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
574 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
65th Brigade...
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment...
Tanaka Detachment...
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
Sasebo 1st SNLF ...
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion...
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
14th Army...
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion...
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team...
31st Infantry Regiment...
194th Tank Battalion...



Ground combat at Bayombong (80,75)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14393 troops, 108 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 378

Defending force 6966 troops, 96 guns, 132 vehicles, Assault Value = 239

Japanese adjusted assault: 257

Allied adjusted defense: 238

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1228 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 25 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 43 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
336 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
65th Brigade...
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment...
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
Tanaka Detachment...
Sasebo 1st SNLF ...
14th Army...
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion...
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion...
31st Infantry Regiment...
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team...
194th Tank Battalion...

Im a bit surprised that the rough/jungle terrain doesnt give the Allies a higher AV here. In retrospect I should have moved another Philippino division or 2 here if I wanted to hold out for awhile. It looks like Stoneage might be able to throw my troops out of here as early as next turn. The order is given for all troops in Bayombong and San Fernando to conduct a fighting withdrawal back to Clark/Manila.



CENTPAC

An IJN SAG suddenly shows up at Wake to sink AKL Nebraskan which had been re-supplying the island:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 27, 41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Wake Island at 136,98, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Katori
CL Tenryu
DD Mutsuki
DD Kisaragi
DD Yayoi
DD Mochizuki
DD Oite

Allied Ships
xAKL Nebraskan, Shell hits 12, and is sunk


SS Tambor, patroling just SW of Wake, sights an invasion force and torpedoes AK Yosyu Maru:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Wake Island at 135,99

Japanese Ships
xAK Yosyu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Shonon Maru #11
PB Takuna Maru #7
PB Takuna Maru #6

Allied Ships
SS Tambor

Japanese ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


As a bonus, SS Tambor IDs CV Soryu escorting the invasion forces:

Sub attack near Wake Island at 135,99

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma
CL Abukuma
DD Tanikaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Urakaze

Allied Ships
SS Tambor

Looks like at least 3 CVs are escorting the Wake operation:

[racndoc]

12/29-12/30/41


CENTPAC

The IJN SAG bombards Wake but the determined Marines fire back with good accuracy:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu
CL Katori, Shell hits 2, on fire



CL Tenryu firing at Wake Island ...
CL Katori firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Wake Island

3 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Yosyu Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PB Takuna Maru #7
PB Takuna Maru #6
PB Shonon Maru #11
PB Kyo Maru #7
PB Kyo Maru #6

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Amphibious Assault at Wake Island

TF 16 troops unloading over beach at Wake Island, 136,98

Japanese ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



17 troops of a SNLF Squad lost overboard during unload of Maizuru 2nd SNLF...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Wake Island

1 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Terushima Maru
PB Takuna Maru #7, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Takuna Maru #6, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Shonon Maru #11
PB Kyo Maru #7
PB Kyo Maru #6



5in CD Gun Coastal Battery engaging xAK Terushima Maru at 12,000 yards...
PB Takuna Maru #7 fires to suppress enemy guns at 12,000 yards...
PB Takuna Maru #7 firing at enemy troops...
5in CD Gun Coastal Battery engaging PB Takuna Maru #7 at 2,000 yards...
PB Takuna Maru #6 firing at enemy troops...
5in CD Gun Coastal Battery engaging PB Takuna Maru #6 at 2,000 yards...
PB Shonon Maru #11 firing at enemy guns...
PB Kyo Maru #7 firing at enemy guns...
PB Kyo Maru #6 firing at enemy troops...



It looks as if SS Tambor and the USMC artillery fire has disrupted the Japanese landings at Wake....not enough troops or supply and the Japanese attackers now appear to be on the ropes:


Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 849 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 24

Defending force 1502 troops, 26 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Japanese adjusted assault: 0

Allied adjusted defense: 15

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1073 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Assaulting units:...
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /2...
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /1...
...
Defending units:...
Wake USN CPNAB ...
1st Marine Defense Battalion...



If AKL Nebraskan had been able to unload all its supply Id seriously consider counterattacking on Wake...as it is, we will just continue to entranch and stay on the defensive.


On another note, VP-21 at Midway has lost 8 of its original 12 Catalinas to ops in only 3 weeks of the war. After VP-21 lost 2 Cats I cut back the search range to normal...only 15 hexes but still they crash and burn on their own. So far in 3 weeks the Allies have lost 9 PBY-5s and 8 PBY-4s to ops....that amortizes to 21 Catalinas lost/mo to ops with a replacement rate of 8 PBY-5s and 9 PBY-5as/mo. I hope this gets fixed in a patch or the Allies will end up with no search planes by June 1942. What I have done across most of the Pacific has been to do long range naval search with B-17s and ASW with Cats.....only patrol at half their range...but still have unsustainable losses.



WEST COAST


CV Yorktown arrives in San Diego today. I was a bit concerned that with replacements set to plus/minus 60 days that we might not see Yorktown until March 1942. She arrives right on schedule and forms a carrier division with CV Saratoga. The Broadway Street Pier was abuzz with activity as the CVs topped off with stores and munitions. They departed from San Diego after fully building out all their air groups at the North Island NAS. The bars in the Gaslamp District will quiet down now as much of the Pacific fleet sails out past Cabrillo Point into the vast Pacific. They will rendezvous with the other 2 USN CVs as soon as CV Lexington completes the repairs of the system/engine damage she incurred on her high speed getaway from Wake Island on 12/11/41.




PHILIPPINES

The CL Nagara SAG bombards Dadjangas.....was probably trying to destroy one of our PT boast squadrons that was based in the area.

USN DDs score 2 depth charge hits on SS I-121 off Tawi Tawi.

Japan launches another shock attack at Bayombong but is repulsed with heavy casualties in a 1:2 attack:

Ground combat at Bayombong (80,75)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14407 troops, 121 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 331

Defending force 6324 troops, 96 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 203

Japanese adjusted assault: 143

Allied adjusted defense: 229

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
854 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
557 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (0 destroyed, 11 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment...
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
65th Brigade...
Tanaka Detachment...
Sasebo 1st SNLF ...
14th Army...
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion...
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team...
31st Infantry Regiment...
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion...
194th Tank Battalion...


Philippine and American ground forces continue their withdrawal from Bayombong and San Fernando in central Luzon. I have a feeling that Stoneage wont shock attack at Bayombong next turn but will only bombard since he only got 1:2 odds this turn...that should give us enough time to safely withdraw from the town.


Japan occupies Banggi.



CHINA

Stoneage now has a telephone pole of 27 units at Hankow and is starting the inevitable WWI style bombardments...we are now down to 2250 AV there. Nanyang has been reinforced to 2200 AV wioth another 300 AV on the way. I think that Sian is pretty safe now so probably the 1800 AV at Sian can be used on the northern highway through Mongolia(its inner Mongolia BTW, not outer Mongolia.

Plenty of supply at Changsha(20,000) and Chungking(31,000) so repairs have been turned on for LI only. Also with the plentiful supply, replacements have been turned on for the smaller corps.

The other exposed front line city in clear terrain....Wuchow...now has over 1100 AV with 300 more on the way. The defenses in China appear to be stabilizing.

I dont think Stoneage will conduct any serious offensives until he takes Hankow back and this should give the Chinese time to dig in. everywhere.

[racndoc]

12/31-1/3/42


CENTPAC

At Wake Island, the remnants of the Japanese invaders conduct a final banzai attack before dying to a man:

Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 53 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Defending force 1502 troops, 26 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Assault collapses, attacking force wiped out

Japanese ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Assaulting units:...
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /1...
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /1...
...
Defending units:...
Wake USN CPNAB ...
1st Marine Defense Battalion...


The Marines stage a magnificient defense here but are very low on supply. Additional AKLs are being loaded at Oahu now for a major resupply effort.

SS Triton torpedoes AKL Kiahuku Maru in the Marshalls.




BURMA

Japan captures Pegu.

The Burma army safely withdraws to the north and is now digging in in the jungle at Toungoo.



DEI

Japan invades and captures Sambas.

AVP Poolsrer tries to escape frpm Sambas port but is detected and run down by IJN DDs:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 55,88, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Fubuki
DD Usugumo
DD Shirayuki
DD Hatsuyuki

Allied Ships
AVP Poolster, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk


SS Saury torpedoes and sinks AK Kanko Maru off Morotai.



CHINA

Japan captures Wenchow in a series of costly shock attacks:

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

Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 29105 troops, 253 guns, 111 vehicles, Assault Value = 1265

Defending force 15259 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 424

Japanese adjusted assault: 827

Allied adjusted defense: 361

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1981 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 107 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 153 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Vehicles lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
745 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled


Assaulting units:...
15th Division...
17th Division...
22nd Division...
13th Army...
4th Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
100th Chinese Corps...
16th Construction Regiment...
25th Group Army...
14th Chinese Base Force...



Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 27321 troops, 253 guns, 110 vehicles, Assault Value = 1170

Defending force 14564 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 381

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 640

Allied adjusted defense: 259

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wenchow !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1354 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 69 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units pursuing 1


Allied ground losses:
6092 casualties reported
Squads: 97 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 156 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 59 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:...
15th Division...
17th Division...
22nd Division...
13th Army...
4th Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
100th Chinese Corps...
16th Construction Regiment...
25th Group Army...
14th Chinese Base Force...




The capture of Wenchow causes China to lose a huge supply source(bigger than the Burma Road) and gives Japan more supply and HI...Wenchow is just too extended and remote for China to conduct a proper defense here.

IJA troops continue to hammer Chinese guerillas cutting rail line and roads in their rear areas.

SS S-36 surfaces off Shaohing to shell and sink AKL Oridono Maru.

SS Salmon torpedoes AK Chitose Maru off the China coast.



PHILIPPINES

Japan captures Bayombong and San Fernando as the American and Philippino troops pull back to Manila and Clark.

AS Canopus sinks in Cavite as Japan heavily bombs the port of Manila.

Japanese troops storm ashore at Dadjangas in the initial invasion of Mindanao. Dutch 139WH-3 bombers flying out of Menado attampt to bomb the IJN transports but are fought off by A6M2s.

Special A6M2s. A6M2s from Akagi-1 and Kaga-1 squadrons. Japan has detached a CV division to cover his landings on Mindanao. That means we now have CV parity with KB in the central Pacific....four against four.



MALAYA

Japan invades behind Allied lines at Mersing.....Yokasaka SNLF, 2nd Sasebo SNLF, 81st Naval Guards and 124th Battalion.The Aussie brigade defending at Mersing is hit by 2 naval bombardments and over half a dozen aerial bombardments:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Mersing at 51,82

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CL Jintsu
DD Arashio
DD Michishio
DD Oshio


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


Port hits 3
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 1

CA Atago firing at 22nd Australian Brigade...
CL Jintsu firing at Mersing ...
DD Arashio firing at Mersing ...
DD Michishio firing at Mersing ...
DD Oshio firing at 22nd Australian Brigade...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Mersing at 51,82

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
DD Hagikaze
DD Arashi
DD Maikaze


Allied ground losses:
92 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Port hits 15
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 2


Stoneage is trying to cut off our armies in central Malaya. Japan has moved up a lot more troops on the western railine.....over 29,000 now including the previously "missing" 5th Infantry Division. Still no sign of the Imperial Guards however.

I cant put my armies in "move" mode in central Malaya as Stoneage will undoubtably shock attack both armies next turn to pin them in place. I had been concerned about a Japanese invasion in my rear and had put a lot of air here on naval search....still there was no detection of a transport TF until it was too late. The 2 IJN CVLs are providing air cover for the Mersing invasion but are staying well to the north....out of fighter escort range from Singapore as Stoneage is rightly concerned about Allied torpedo bombers. The torpedo bombers are, in fact, all staged from Batavia into Singapore today but they will be targeting the transports...not the CVLs.

The shattered 8th Indian Brigade and FSMV brigades from Kota Bharu are loaded up into APs today at Singapore....they are too beat up to provide any defensive assistance at Singapore so will be withdrawn to India to be rebuilt.

RN DDs score 10 depth charge hits on SS I-153 off Singapore:

ASW attack near Lingga at 51,88

Japanese Ships
SS I-153, hits 10, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Jupiter
DD Isis


SS I-158 surfaces off Muntok to shell and sink AKL Siaca.



With the invasion at Mersing, Malaya just got a whole lot more interesting.

[racndoc]

1/4-1/7/42


BURMA

Rangoon is captured.

We are able to ID both the Imperial Guards and 55th Division in Burma so all SAA divisions have been accounted for. No surprises here, with 2 full divisions plus support troops in Burma the Allies will be crushed here and will just fall back on India. Im just not very interested in Burma in AE and dont want any of my major reinforcements to get sucked into the garbage disposal here. 18th UK Division was sent to reinforce northern Australia and most of the other major British/Aussie reinforcements will be sent to India and Ceylon.

Burma will just be a bomber training ground for the Allies and I want the Japanese garrison units here to wither away from malaria for a couple of years before we even consider a reconquista here.



CENTPAC

SS I-9 sinks AKLs Susana and Mexican off Midway.



PHILIPPINES

Japan captures Busuanga, Dadjangas, Cabanatuan, Mauban, Lingayen and Culion.

SS I-121 sinks AG Albatross attempting to resupply Luzon.



MALAYA


Japan captures Mersing in the first assault but it almost doesnt matter. StoneAge's 29,000 strong army on the western rail line spearheaded by 5th Division cut through our defenses like butter:


Ground combat at 49,77

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 23112 troops, 173 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 769

Defending force 9736 troops, 65 guns, 39 vehicles, Assault Value = 341

Japanese adjusted assault: 839

Allied adjusted defense: 151

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1074 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 57 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1971 casualties reported
Squads: 98 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 124 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 22 (10 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Units retreated 4


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:...
41st Infantry Regiment...
11th Infantry Regiment...
5th Recon Regiment...
1st Tank Regiment...
5th Engineer Regiment...
148th Infantry Regiment...
113th Infantry Regiment...
56th Recon Regiment...
91st Naval Guard Unit...
5th Field Artillery Regiment...
25th Army...
56th Field Artillery Regiment...
...
Defending units:...
5/14th Punjab Battalion...
3rd SSVF Battalion...
15th Indian Brigade...
6th Indian Brigade...
1st Mysore Battalion...
28th Gurkha Brigade...
137/1

I had over 360 AV supposedly tripled but when it mattered I only had 151 AV at the time of the assault.....and now the former 360 AV are worth maybe 100 AV...half the units are disorganized and cant be given op mode orders. My eastern army still holds with over 400 AV intact but the daily assaults/bombardments kick me out of "move" mode and my units are basically pinned. The IJA troops at Mersing advance west and cut the main highway/railroad into Singapore.... the Malayan army is basically cut off and is incapable of movement...Singapore lays wide open to assault.

For future reference, dont try anything cute like fighting withdrawals when you dont have air superiority. Trying to create a "forward defense" doesnt work...just pull back to your defensive bastions at Singapore and Clark/Manila and dig in.

Japan will have Malaya completely overrun by the 3rd week of January....some 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

I put over 50 British and Dutch level bombers and nearly 30 torpedo bombers on naval attack around Mersing....only APD Hagi is sunk.

[Wirraway_Ace]

I had over 360 AV supposedly tripled but when it mattered I only had 151 AV at the time of the assault.....and now the former 360 AV are worth maybe 100 AV...half the units are disorganized and cant be given op mode orders. My eastern army still holds with over 400 AV intact but the daily assaults/bombardments kick me out of "move" mode and my units are basically pinned. The IJA troops at Mersing advance west and cut the main highway/railroad into Singapore.... the Malayan army is basically cut off and is incapable of movement...Singapore lays wide open to assault.

For future reference, dont try anything cute like fighting withdrawals when you dont have air superiority. Trying to create a "forward defense" doesnt work...just pull back to your defensive bastions at Singapore and Clark/Manila and dig in.

Japan will have Malaya completely overrun by the 3rd week of January....some 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

I put over 50 British and Dutch level bombers and nearly 30 torpedo bombers on naval attack around Mersing....only APD Hagi is sunk.

I am having similiar troubles in Malaya. The experience differential of the forces involved gives me some sympathy for Percival.

[racndoc]

Wirraway Ace....I just finished reading your thread....looks like you've done a nice job of extricating your forces to Singapore. You are right about the poor Allied experience levels in Malaya.....I will need to pay more attention to this next time.



1/8-1/11/42


PHILIPPINES

Im playing it safe here after the debacle in Malaya....Allied troops in Manila are withdrawn to Clark before Japan can concentrate its army here.

Japan invades Boac and Tabalas and captures Iba.

SS S-39 gets a 2 for 1.....first she torpedoes and sinks AKL Indus Maru and then she surfaces to pump 20 shells into Kakuya Maru and sink her off Cataduanes.


DEI

Japan invades in the Celebes at Sidate.

The Allies evacaute their transports from Balikpappan and Kendari as IJN surface forces draw near. No sign of CV Akagi and Kaga though...havent seen them around for nearly a week.

AUSTRALIA

SS I-16 torpedoes CL Adelaide in in Brisbane harbor but she immediately disbands to begin repairs on her 70 flotation damage.

SS I-18 also pokes her nose into Brisbane harbor only to strike a mine.....thats the 9th sunken Jap sub of the war.....5 of the subs to mines.


A USN troop convoy completes unloading UK 18th Division at Darwin. Darwin has also been reinforced with the Cavite Base Force withdrawn from Manila and over 30,000 supply and 100,000 fuel pulled out of the DEI.


CHINA

Japan captures undefended Kanhsien. At Hankow the 29 IJA units continue to bombard us every turn....casualties arent too bad with the favorable terrain.

At Kweisui, the city in the mountains at the beginning of the road to inner Mongolia/northern China, Stoneage has moved up 20,000 troops and has attacked our 18,000 troops every day for a week.....usually at 1:1 or 1:2 odds and casualties are mounting for both sides. Looks like we both have reinforcements on the way there. Japan evacuated Paotow in order to concentrate on Kweisui so last turn the Chinese liberated Paotow....I increased the supply draw here so hopefully we can get more supplies forward here for this critical battle.

SS Permit is depth charged and sunk off Soc Trang by DDs.....the first Allied sub casualty of the war.


BURMA

IJA spearheads enter Toungoo and Bassein is captured. With both the IJA 55th and Imperial Guards divisions in the mix here Im probably just going to withdraw back past Schwebo into the jungle around Myitkina.....if I stay and defend at Taungoo the Burma army will suffer the same fate as the Malaya army.

Intel informs us that the AK Kinugasa Maru has loaded 33rd ID in transit to Bangkok....dont know what StoneAge needs the 33rd ID here for with the fat lady about to sing in Malaya and Burma.....maybe he is looking further west towards India.


MALAYA

Big battle for control of the railroad one hex west of Mersing. After 4 days of battle its still a stalemate...but the rail line is still open. A British battalion counterattacked back into Mersing but was quickly evicted.

StoneAge emailed me this turn and said that the Allied retreat to Singapore was going to go "down to the wire". A couple of shattered brigades and the remnants of the Indian 6th ID from my western blocking force should be able to railroad into Singapore before the rail line is cut but their combat effectiveness is almost nil. For the eastern blocking force, the Allies have about 250 AV engaged NE of Temuloh with 3 IJA regiments....they will withdraw to Temuloh next turn but I dont think that the railroad will be held long enough for them to make Singapore. The 27th Aussie Brigade(our strongest remaining formation in Malaya) finally withdrew to Temuloh and is loading up today on the last train to Singapore but Im not sure they will make it....yes that one is definitely going "down to the wire". The only good thing about the Malaya situation is that the IJA 21st, 42nd and 56th IR's have suffered extremely heavy casualties from shock attacking us NE of Temuloh every turn trying to pin us in place....they will need a lot of time to recover before they can be used in offensive combat again.

Its been pretty exciting though. I finally started withdrawing the British and Dutch airforces after they were shot up attacking the IJN fleets. The British air force units are withdrawing through Port Blair to India while the Dutch are falling back on Java. The once mighty Singapore aerodrome is down to a single damaged recon plane. With the end in sight, Allied transport and recon AC have been pulling out all the unrestricted units from Malaya...so far we have completely evacuated all of shattered 8th Indian and FMSV brigades along with the 2 air HQs.

Ive attached a map of Malaya....there are a lot of Allied subs east of Mersing hunting for the IJN CVLs and transports.

[racndoc]

1/12-1/13/42


MALAYA


Japan's 35,000 strong western army shock attacks the demoralized and disoganized remnants of the Allies western army in Kuala Lampur and easily captures the city while causing another 2000 casualties....but the defeated Allied defenders of Kuala Lampur do not retreat south towards Singapore...they retreat NE into Temuloh. The 28th Gurkha Brigade surrenders but the disorganized 15th Indian Brigade and the 6th Indian Division make it into Temuloh with no ability to assign op mode orders and no AV left but still have a considerable 100 disorganized squads between them...all of the Allied transport AC in the area are tasked with transporting as much of these 2 Indian formations out of Malaya as possible.

The IJA troops from the Mersing invasion attempt 2 more times to take the railroad hex just west of Mersing....but the 22nd Aussie Brigade, 2nd Malay Battalion and the 3/16 Punjab Battalion are just enough to force Japan into unsuccessful 1:1 assaults and the Allies still hold the rail line from Temuloh to Singapore. In addition, virtually all of the Allied troops in the eastern army NE of Temuloh that have been pinned for 6 days are finally able to withdraw from the Japanese attackers into Temuloh. Now most of the remaining functional fighting units left in Malaya are able to be put on strategic mode in Temuloh and board the trains to Singapore.

If the Allied defenders just west of Mersing can only hold off the Japanese for 2 more days....the trains from Temuloh will make it through...this will be a very close run thing.



SE ASIA

Lots of sub activity here.

SS KIX torpedoes and sinks AK Kusuyama Maru off Soc Trang. SS KIX then surfaces and puts 2 torpedoes in AK Seisyo Maru but takes 3 hits in return and is set afire....now has 70% flotation damage and is trying to make it back to port at Singapore(if we still hold it) or Batavia.

SS O-24 puts a torpedo in AK Gohuku Maru and then SS KXVIII shows up to pump 2 more torpedoes into the hapless freightor off Kompang Trach.


PHILIPPINES

Japan captures Manila, Boac and Tablas.

The Allies now have over 2114 AV stacked at Clark vs IJA 367 AV....while Japan has about 295 AV at Manila.....the Manila prepped Philippino troops and the American armor at Clark are ordered back out to Manila to try to recapture the city.



SOPAC


WE have established an early warning search plane line with AVs and base forces that extend west to east from Koumac-Luganville-Funafuti-Canton-Palmyra.

Around Oahu, we have establied early warning search plane bases at french Frigate Shoals and Kauai.


Noumea is humming with activity as multiple TFs unload both on the beach and at the small port. The Allies will draw a line in the sand at New Caledonia and attempt to hold off Japan here at all costs...backed by the full weight and authority of the US Navy.

Troops from the 161st IR and the 34th IR wade ashore from amphibious TFs while transport TFs unload base forces, construction engineers, CD guns and supplies at the overcrowded port. We intend to construct a series of mutually supporting airfields on New Caledonia and then ferry in some VMF and VSB squadrons to combine with our 4 fleet carriers to be able to take on KB in an even fight.

Farther east, we have reinforced Pago Pago with the 8th Marine IR, 3 artillery regiments and a Marine defense battalion so we should be able to put up some firepower if IJN transports show up on the beaches. A construction unit was also dropped off to help build some fortifications. Canton and Palmyra both received Marine defense battalions and supplies and are considered more "expendable" than the others. Our basic strategy here is to heavily fortify the small islands but leave the ports undeveloped so as to not provide the japanese any additional reason to expand here.

Our first Transpacific convoy should reach the east coast of OZ in 3-4 days and will deliver 100,000 supplies, 200,000 fuel and a dozen sorely needed fighter and medium bomber squadrons. Our 2nd major Transpacific convoy just left the US west coast 4 days ago while a 3rd Transpacific convoy...made up of the 91 ships pulled out of Oz in early December plus many ships transferred from Capetown will begin to load next turn in SF and LA.


CHINA

Japan captures undefended Kwangchowan.

In the far north China is able to reinforce Kweisui and now has over 500 AV there facing off against some 450 IJA AV.

Farther south, Japan is beginning to probe our defenses east of Sian but the terrain here is so favorable for defense that we are not too worried about a Japanese breakthrough. In fact, some of the 1200 AV at Sian is being sent towards Lanchow to help with the defense of northern China and inner Mongolia.

1700 IJA AV is locked in a stalemate with 2200 Chinese AV at Hankow. The Chinese now have 1500 AV resting at Sinyang with another 2700 AV resting at Nanyang. Instead of just forming large defensive garrisons while Japan masses all its mobile forces on the railroads to knock off our positions one by one, Im tempted to use the 4200 AV at Nanyang and Sinyang as a manuever force to either threaten Kaifeng directly or flank it or maybe attempt to flank Hankow while the some 1800 AV from Changsha area threaten Wuchang.

Ive attached a China map....notice all the Japanese LCUs on anti-partisan duty on the Kaifeng/Haichow railroad while the Chinese guerillas continue to operate in their rear.

[racndoc]

1/14-1/15/42


THE SUB WAR

There seems to have been a lot more sub action in this game than in some of the other AARs so I thought that Id break up the format and give the subs their own section. At the start of the war with all the Dutch subs in the SRA and the USN subs at Manila its natural to flood the South China Sea, the PI and the DEI with subs. In fact in this game there were times you could almost step from sub to sub from China to the PI without getting your feet wet with all the Allied subs that were patrolling in the South China Sea. The USN subs around Hawaii at the start were sent to Japan's home waters, Gilberts, Marshalls and the waters south of Truk. By far most of the Allied sub kills have occurred in the South China Sea and in the PI/DEI.

Today was no different.

SS O24 sank AK Seisyo Maru off Soc Trang.

SS S-38 sank SC Ch 17 off Batangus.

SS KXVIII was hit by a DC near Soc Trang but received minor damage.

SS O19 puts a torpedo in AK Giyu Maru near Soc Trang.

SS KXIV sinks PB Shonan Maru#6 off Saigon.

SS Swordfish is hit by 2 depth charges off Batagus but suffers minor damage.

Finally an Allied sub scores outside the SRA as SS Pompano(one of my favorites....you can take a tour of SS Pompano at Fisherman's Wharf in SF) puts a torpedo in AK Kokuyo Maru off Torishima. The funny thing about this sinking was that 2 of my subs torpedoed AK Kokoyu Maru off Soc Trang last turn...must be FoW again.

For their part, most of Japan's sub kills have been concentrated from just south of Singapore through the Java Sea to Soerabaja plus Allied bases on east coast of Oz and South Pacific....although there was an exception to the rule today as an IJN sub was spotted NW of Victoria and 3 IJN subs were spotted off Johnston Island(might preclude a larger operation in the Central Pacific I suspect).

Today Jap sub SS I-166 sank AKL Bust near Oosthaven.

SS I-154 sank HDML 1062 also near Oosthaven.

SS I-1 sinks PC Kimball near Hoorn Island in the South Pacific.


The Allies have lost one sub so far in the war and that was to DDs on ASW in the South China Sea.

Japan has lost 8 subs(2 turns ago it was 9) so far...5 to mines and 3 to ASW...2 by British ASW and one by USN ASW.

Subs are very easy to use in AE...for 90% of them I just slect a patrol zone....5% I delineate a patrol path(usually some narrow passageway between adjacent bodies of land) and 5% are given specific hex locations but these are the ones that get hit the most by enemy ASW so they have to be fairly critical hexes...like invasion hexes or under CV TFs etc.



INTELLIGENCE SCREEN

For sunken ships, the game reports that Japan has lost 23 ships worth 178 points vs Allied losses of 42 ships worth 120 points. The game still lists BB Kongo and BB Haruna as sunk(not possible point wise) but now lists CA Mogami as being sunk off Kuantan during the Mersing invasion (possible point wise). You just never know how much damage you have caused with the FoW.

In the air, the allies have lost 653 AC vs 447 Jap. The losses were close for a while but as Allied Buffaloes and P-40s ran out of replacements and got worn down by maintenance/damage Japan has just overwhelmed us. Normally in stock AE I kill many more Jap AC on the ground than Japan destroys of the Allies...even in the early war. Here in AE, most of my air groups have been long grounded on Luzon where they are helplessly killed every turn and now the score is 65 Allied AC destroyed on the ground vs 2 Japanese. In A2A the losses are 449 Allied AC vs 252 Jap.

Ouch.


MALAYA

Japan finally defeats our forces defending the rail line west of Mersing and cuts the Temuloh/Singapore railroad. A couple of our demoralized units were able to be railed into Singapore before the railroad was cut but the majority of the Malaya army is now trapped in Temuloh.

Transports continue to pull out as many troops from Temuloh as possible every day.

At least we roughed up 3 IJA regiments here and it will still take until early February to complete the mop up.



BURMA

Our Burma forces are currently blocking the 3 main north/south highways in Burma but so far StoneAge has only advanced 65 AV into Toungoo vs our 155 AV.

No sign of the Imperial Guards or the 55th Divison on the front lines but I know they are there.

Our intel reports that 33rd Division is loaded on AKs moving to Saigon....a couple days ago intel said 33rd was in transit to Bangkok...did Stoneage re-route them? Are they heading to Burma?

I dont want a repeat of Malaya so most of the Burma army has been withdrawn behind the blocking forces to Mandalay/Schwebo. No matter where we defend we will lose so I want to make sure that my defeated units can withdraw towards India to be rebuilt...dont want them to be surrounded and killed like at Temuloh.

The other reason for withdrawal is time...I will lose here anyway but if I withdraw as far as possible towards Myitkina and Japan pursues it could tie up 55th and Imperial Guards for an extra 3-4 weeks(as opposed to getting destroyed in southern or central Burma).

[racndoc]

1/16-1/19/42


DEI


Japan appeared to have a lot of shipping activity on the north shore of Borneo for the last week....especially off Miri. Japan controls all of the northern coast of Borneo save Brunei and Beaufort.

Seagulls were staged into Brunei and one landed a torpedo hit on TK Fujisan Maru....must have already loaded up fuel or oil at Miri because she lit up like a Roman candle.

USN and Dutch PT boats were staged to the north coast of Borneo from the PI and Tarakan respectively...the PTs refueled at Beaufort and then sortied to Miri. The first Allied PT boat kills of the war were scored by the Dutch against a transport TF....TB Otori and TK Mitu Maru were both torpedoed and sunk.

Japan captures Menado and Pontianak.



MALAYA

Japan captures Malacca and Johore Bharu.

Now the Allies have been forced back into their final 2 positions on the Malay peninsula....Temuloh and Singapore.

In an aerial version of Dunkirk, Allied transport AC continue to evacuate the disorganized, surrounded troops out of Temuloh while the IJA air force pummels away with multiple ground strikes.



BURMA

Our old friend, 14th Tank Regiment, evicts our troops out of Prome.

Prome had been a major staging base for the evacuation of Allied AC out of Malaya back to India. Thankfully that operation has been nearly completed.



PHILIPPINES


As in Malaya, the Allies have been forced back to their final two positions on Luzon....Clark and Bataan.

I had tried to counterattack Japan at Manila a few days ago when recon showed only 295 AV there. I ordered all the Manila prepped LCUs back to Manila...nearly 900 AV.... but constant Japanese aerial bombardments at Clark changed the Op modes of several of the LCUs to "combat " from "move" and only a few made it to Manila. With the element of surprise gone the LCUs retreated back to Clark...and next turn Japan had over 500 AV at Manila so the opportunity was gone.

Now we dig in at the the 3x terrain at Clark and the 2x terrain at Bataan....2200 Allied AV here with soon to be constructed level 4 forts and nearly 30,000 supply between the two bases.

Just a little south of there, Japan has been a _LOT_ of naval activity occurring at Batangas. Our PT boats refuse to investigate there and our subs are usually greeted by depth charges. It looks like either Japan is DEBARKING additional troops to conquer Luzon, or they are EMBARKING troops for deployment elsewhere.....or StoneAge has disbanded some TKs there to refuel his fleets.

South of Luzon, Japan invades at Catbalogan.

On Mindanao, Japan invaded and captured Dadjangas about a week ago. Now it appears as those troops are marching north towards Davao and Cotabato.

This seems to be StoneAge's modus operandi...he invades at smaller undefended bases and drops off troops and supplies to march overland to take their larger neighbors....no amphibious assaults at our more heavily defended bases. This reduces losses of both men and ships but it does slow the Japanese expansion down...especially in the DEI.

[racndoc]

1/20-1/23/42


SUB WAR


SS KXIV torpedoes and sinks AK Sangetsu Maru off Balabec.

HDMLs get 5 DC hits on SS I-166 off Oosthaven.

MLs 310 & 423 get 3 DC hits on SS I-162 off Oosthaven.

SS Trout sinks AK Taman Maru off Ulithi.

SS Trout sinks PB Hirotama Maru off Ulithi.

DD Hibiki gets 9 DC hits on SS O19 off Mersing.

SS I-9 sinks AKL Absarokan near Kure Island

SS Salmon receives 2 DC hits from DD Nenohi near Ningpo.



PHILIPPINES

Japan captures Catbalagan on Samar and Cotabatu on Mindanao.





CHINA

China.....its always China. The war is unraveling just fine for the Allies except China. Most of the AARs deal with Japan running amok in the north...breaking out to capture/threaten Lanchow/Sian/Hamu etc. In this game...China is fine in the north. Chinese reinforcements have arrived in the north to help support the roadhead at Kweisui when the time comes.

But my opponent doesnt care about the extrreme north.

Or Sian.

He is ALL OUT attacking me in the south. I put large garrisons in the south in the front line cities at Kukong, Wuchow and Nanning. But my opponent isnt attacking the main cities...he has 7 divisions clearing out all my blocking forces in 2x/3x terrain. Just conducts multiple bombing attacks...has most of the Japanese air force here and the Allied air forces in the region are destroyed....then land bombardments and after 3-4 days of 1;1 shock attacks eventually gets a 2:1 and my forces are 50% destroyed and have to retreat.

We have no HR on this....looks like Erstad is doing some testing but the way this is going southern China will be lost in just a few short months.

Farther north, we had moved 1500 AV to invest/flank Kaifeng but this offensive has been cancelled. These troops will be sent to the south to support Changsha.

The best move we have made as China was to invest Hankow with 2200 AV....it forces Japan to commit 1700 AV there that could have been used to whack our forces on the rail lines one at a time.

We will however continue our offensive to isolate Hankow/invest Wuchang...hopefully this will draw off some Japanese troops from the southern offensives.

[SuluSea]

Any plans on garrisoning  these places so he can't slip in paratroops behind you?

As far as moving the larger LCUs on the larger APs, they will need to go from LA to either Auckland or Sydney and then will be transferred to smaller APs for the trip out to the smaller islands. The Queen Elizabeth was sent to SF from Australia....Im hoping I can get enough PPs to buy the 41st ID eventually and then the QE will ship it Sydney where it will be transferred to smaller APs.

QE always seems to pick up a fair share of damage running between Sydney-Frisco

I decided to use Melbourne- Capetown-East Coast for the QE

I'm pretty positive QE doesn't pick up damage off map and shes plenty safe from subs till she gets back on the map. It's a longer trek but I think I save time by keeping her out of the shipyard.

[erstad]

I would at least garrison Katha, twere I playing allies.

[racndoc]

Sulu Sea....thanks for the comments. I agree that sending QE on the eastern route from US-Capetown-Australia is probably safer than sending her across the Pacific. I hope to purchase 41st Division and then ship the troops on QE west across the Pacific to OZ before withdrawing her from the game. With the 4/42 withdrawal Im not too worried about damage...its gonna be one lap across the Pacific and she is done.

Erstad...yes I might garrison Katha...for a few days....most of my troops are on the trains now heading towards Myitkina.




1/24-1/25/42



CENTPAC

StoneAge intercepts my resupply effort to Wake Island with CV Shokaku, CV Zuikaku and CV Hiryu:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 18
D3A1 Val x 9



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DMS Wasmuth, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Florence D., Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Laida, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x D3A1 Val diving from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
18 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Florence D. caught transferring cargo ......



Not a good way to start the morning. Afternoon was just as bad:



Morning Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 18
D3A1 Val x 9



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DMS Wasmuth, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Florence D., Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Laida, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x D3A1 Val diving from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
18 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Florence D. caught transferring cargo ......


DMS Wasmuth, AK Laida and AK Florence are caught unloading supplies and all are sunk.

Interesting thing here....2nd appearance by KB at Wake and StoneAge appears to be operating KB in two 3 carrier divisions. No sighting of the other carrier division since Akagi and Kaga were spotted in the DEI a couple of weeks ago.



MALAYA

Japan invests Singapore with some 25 LCUs.....Malaya army here will probably surrender tomorrow. Allied transport AC work around the clock to pull out as much of the SSFV Brigade as possible.

Farther north at Temuloh, Japan assaults our surrounded troops but is repulsed at 1:2 odds. With supplies and level 3 forts these guys should be able to hold out for another week at least.



CHINA

Things go from bad to worse for the Allies in southern China. Japan concentrated on 4 Chinese defense positions ....all in 2x or 3x terrain....daily aerial bombardments and ground bombardments..then a few days of 1:1 attacks that eventually morphed into 2:1 attacks....7 Chinese corps are retreated and HALVED....and most are disorganized.

Changsha itself is threatened. All of southern China south of the southern branch of the Yangtze River is now Japanese controlled except Pucheng.

On top of that, in north central China at Tsiatao 62,000 IJA troops continue their 1:2 and 1:1 attacks....and the Chinese always suffer more casualties even at 1:2 odds. We are trying to bring in reinforcements but the terrain is very inhospitable...crossing the river from Loyang to the south to reinforce makes the Chinese conduct a shock attack and that virtually destroyed 2 corps that were attempting to reinforce. Tsiatao is the key to north central China....if Tsiatao goes then Loyang and Chengchow will soon follow.

Allied attempts to resist Japanese airpower in China in December 1941 resulted in the decimation of 2 AVG squadrons and most of the Chinese air force. Now the Allies are staging in all 3 AVG groups and 3 Hurricane IIb Trops from India. Japan isnt using any air in Burma now and the land war there is virtually hopeless so most Allied air in India will be staged into China including 2 Blenheim bomber groups and one Hudson 3a.
The 4 B-17 groups from the PI are also staged to China. Hopefully the Allied air forces can slow down the red menace in China.



DEI

Things are going quite well here for the Allies. Japanese gains have been limited to Manado and the northern coast of Burma. The Dutch have been able to pull most of their garrisons out of Borneo and the Celebes to reinforce Java and Sumatra....as far as I can tell its SAIEW in the DEI as far as moving Dutch units around. WE have 500 Dutch AV in southern Sumatra and 1300 AV in Java.

I had trained the Dutch 139WH-3 bombers for almost a month before committing them against the Japanese invasion of Mersing.....the Dutch bombers took heavy losses and scored not even 1 hit....even after a month of training. Now the Allies have staged 3 squadrons of A-24s to the DEI and they are training daily...however their experience is still in the 20s-40s range.



BURMA

There are 3 main north/south highways in Burma. We put most of our troops on the central highway defending Toungoo but StoneAge decided to advance up the western highway....now the Japanese 14th Tank Regiment has advanced to the outskirts of Magwe and our 5 battalions at Toungoo are in danger of being cut off. Im sure that Japan will also bypass Meiktila and head straight for Manaday Bay. Nearly every unit in Burma is in full retreat today....most on fast trains to Myitkina.

[racndoc]

1/26-1/27/42


MALAYA

Japan conducts two 2:1 attacks at Singapore:


Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 42966 troops, 383 guns, 307 vehicles, Assault Value = 1232

Defending force 28269 troops, 325 guns, 220 vehicles, Assault Value = 141

Japanese adjusted assault: 669

Allied adjusted defense: 297

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1311 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 64 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 91 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (0 destroyed, 12 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
4725 casualties reported
Squads: 87 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 106 destroyed, 351 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 34 disabled
Guns lost 27 (5 destroyed, 22 disabled)
Vehicles lost 60 (7 destroyed, 53 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment...
148th Infantry Regiment...
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
55th Infantry Regiment...
41st Infantry Regiment...
91st Naval Guard Unit...
113th Infantry Regiment...
114th Infantry Regiment...
III/81st Naval Guard Unit...
6th Tank Regiment...
1st Tank Regiment...
5th Engineer Regiment...
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment...
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF...
II./124th Infantry Battalion...
56th Recon Regiment...
11th Infantry Regiment...
2nd Sasebo SNLF Coy ...
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
56th Field Artillery Regiment...
5th Field Artillery Regiment...
25th Army...
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment...
3rd Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
Singapore Fortress...
SSVF Brigade...
22nd Australian Brigade...
2nd Malay Battalion...
2/17 Dogra Battalion...
3/16th Punjab Battalion...
Malaya Army...
III Indian Corps...
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment...
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment...
Singapore Base Force...
29 Battery/3 HAA ...
3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment...
11 Battery/3 HAA ...
109th RN Base Force...
AHQ Far East ...
111th RAF Base Force...
1st ISF Base Force...
30 Battery/3 HAA ...
112th RAF Base Force...
24th NZ Pioneer Coy ...
Malayan Air Wing ...
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment...
110th RAF Base Force...
2nd ISF Base Force...
137/155th Field Regiment...



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

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 42002 troops, 383 guns, 307 vehicles, Assault Value = 1188

Defending force 24208 troops, 320 guns, 214 vehicles, Assault Value = 86

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 464

Allied adjusted defense: 205

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
731 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1095 casualties reported
Squads: 42 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 73 destroyed, 218 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 30 (9 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 44 (14 destroyed, 30 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
II./124th Infantry Battalion...
91st Naval Guard Unit...
41st Infantry Regiment...
148th Infantry Regiment...
55th Infantry Regiment...
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment...
1st Tank Regiment...
113th Infantry Regiment...
6th Tank Regiment...
III/81st Naval Guard Unit...
11th Infantry Regiment...
114th Infantry Regiment...
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF...
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment...
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment...
56th Recon Regiment...
5th Engineer Regiment...
2nd Sasebo SNLF Coy ...
56th Field Artillery Regiment...
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
25th Army...
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment...
5th Field Artillery Regiment...
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
3rd Mortar Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
2/17 Dogra Battalion...
Singapore Fortress...
2nd Malay Battalion...
22nd Australian Brigade...
SSVF Brigade...
3/16th Punjab Battalion...
112th RAF Base Force...
29 Battery/3 HAA ...
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment...
III Indian Corps...
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment...
AHQ Far East ...
109th RN Base Force...
110th RAF Base Force...
Singapore Base Force...
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment...
Malaya Army...
111th RAF Base Force...
24th NZ Pioneer Coy ...
30 Battery/3 HAA ...
11 Battery/3 HAA ...
2nd ISF Base Force...
1st ISF Base Force...
3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment...
Malayan Air Wing ...
137/155th Field Regiment...


When the smoke clears the Allies still hold on to Singapore with 1 fort level remaining.

Normally I fight to the bitter end in Singapore but in a situation this FUBAR Im trying to extricate as many Allied troops as possible to fight another day. Today we complete withdrawal of the SSVF Brigade from Singapore. 8th Indian Brigade is already on the way back to India as are cadres of every Indian III Corps LCUs.

Farther north at Temuloh, transport AC continue to withdraw 15th and 22nd Indian Brigades.




BURMA

Japan captures Toungoo and in the process rough ups an Allied base unit....the 5 Allied battalions here withdrew just before the assault.

The trains in Burma are busy carrying troops to the north and I finally garrison Katha.



PAULAUS/CAROLINES

Babeldaob had been teaming with Japanese shipping only a week ago. Now the TFs are all gone and only 8 ships remain in the harbor.

Perhaps not coincidentally, USN subs report a heavy increase in shipping traffic near Truk....maybe the long awaited thrust south from Truk towards the Admiralties/Bismarks/New Britain is about to commence.



CHINA:

Chinese troops at Hankow are bombarded by E Hashiadte nearly 400 miles inland from the sea:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Hankow at 85,50

Japanese Ships
E Hashidate



E Hashidate firing at 59th Chinese Corps...


The Chinese feverishly prepare a new defensive line south and east of Changsha.


IJA troops have no respect for their Chinese counterparts. Two days ago, the IJA 138th IR tried to take on 3 Chinese corps NE of Hankow...the shock attack failed miserably and 138th IR was severely disrupted. Today the Allies get a measure of retribution as they launch their first ground attack of the entire war:


Ground combat at 85,49

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 27419 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 628

Defending force 3101 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Allied adjusted assault: 799

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 799 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2724 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Allied ground losses:
700 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 29 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:...
7th Chinese Corps...
29th Chinese Corps...
30th Chinese Corps...
...
Defending units:...
138th Infantry Regiment...

Nice seeing the IJA troops taking 80% casualties for once. The hapless IJA 138th IR then retreated on top of 2 other Chinese corps E of Hankow that were manuevering to isolate Wuchang/Hankow.....these 2 fresh corps will administer the coup de grace on 138th IR tomorrow.

[racndoc]

1/28-1/29/42



MALAYA


The Allied base engineers are very busy at Singapore. Japan conducts a 1:1 deliberate attack on the 28th and knocks the forts down to zero... but by the end of the day the engineers have rebuilt forts to level one.

Then Japan launches a 2:1 deliberate attack on the 29th and again reduces the forts to zero....but by the end of the day the engineers have rebuilt to level one forts. Singapore will now make it until the end of January.

Farther north at Temuloh, Japan conducts a 1:1 shock attack and then a 1:2 shock attack on the surrounded defenders...Japan suffers heavy losses and the Allies complete the evacuation of 15th Indian Brigade. Now all transport AC are tasked with pulling out the remainder of 22nd Indian Brigade.



PHILIPPINES

Japan captures Guiuan on Samar.


On Mindanao, Japanese troops march north towards Cayagan.


On Luzon, Japan continues their daily artillery bombardments at Clark. About half of our AV on Luzon.....over 1000... is withdrawn out of fire to Bataan where they will concentrate on undisrupting their squads.




CHINA


The Allied defensive line in southern China south and east of Changsha begins to stabilize....as the Chinese withdraw their line becomes shorter and unlike northern China the Allies have the advantage of rail lines while IJA troops must move through the bush.

The IJA 138th Brigade is again routed and down to maybe 1000 personel just east of Wuchang....now 3 Chinese corps will attempt to complete the isolation of Hankow/Wuchang to the E and SE.

B-17s, Hudsons and Blenheims staged to China pound the IJA troops at Tsiatao....need to keep these guys disrupted until reinforcements can arrive. AVG squadrons begin to catch either unescorted or Nate escorted bomber attacks and Japanese AC losses begin to mount.

Today the first 2 Hurricane IIb Trop squadrons are activated in China...I am anxious to see these so called "armored buzzsaws" in action.



SOPAC


We are beginning to see the first signs of Japanese activity south of Truk.

SS Plunger surfaces near Manus to sink AKL Vjigawa Maru...it appeared to be loaded with assault troops.

Our first renforcement convoys to Oz/SOPAC dropped off their men and materiel and are headed back to west coast US.

Allied defense in SOPAC will revolve around New Caledonia/Fiji/Pago Pago with the primary focus on New Caledonia. Palmyra and Canton Islands have been lightly reinforced and are considered "more expendable".

On New Caledonia we have dropped off 2 US Army infantry regiments and 2 Aussie Coy units. 2nd USMC Regiment is also on the way and should arrive in Noumea within a couple weeks. On New Caledonia we want to establish a series of mutually supporting airfields that are resistant to being suppressed by IJN air and capable of causing considerable damage to KB. To this end we have enlarged Noumea to a level 3 airfield with 2 base units. Engineers have just moved to La Foa where we will begin building our 2nd airfield on New Caledonia.

On New Zealand we have enlarged the port at Auckland to level 6 to help support transport operations in the area.

[racndoc]

1/30-1/31/42



MALAYA


Japan finally captures Singapore....29,000 British/Commonwealth troops are marched off into captivity.

The final Allied stronghold in Malaya.....Temuloh....defiantly holds out as transport AC continue to pull out the 22nd Indian Brigade.



CHINA

Japan faces off at Pucheng with 17,000 troops opposing 16,000 Chinese in 2x terrain.....Japan manages a 2:1 attack here and causes 6000 Chinese casualties vs 1500 Japanese casualties.

92 miles north of Pucheng in a wooded hex, 14,000 IJA troops face off against 10,000 Chinese in 2x terrain but this time Japan only manages a 1:3 attack and 2500 IJA troops are casualties vs 380 Chinese. Sure the Chinese had slightly better supply in this battle than the last but they were 100% prepped at Pucheng.

Farther north at the continuing slugfest at Tsiatao Allied B-17s, Hudsons and Blenheims hammer the IJA attackers...Japan manages a 1:2 shock attack and loses 1750 troops vs 1500 Chinese.



SOPAC

Looks like SOPAC will be the next focus of Japanese activity. The 81st Naval Guards invade at both Manus in the Admiralties and at Wewak on New Guinea.

A very interesting IJN Air Combat TF is escorting these invasions....28 fighters and over 100 bombers...a CV with CVEs and Cs's...

[racndoc]

2/1/42


Now that we have reached 2/1/42, StoneAge has asked me to post some Allied screenshots of ship and plane losses. Evidently he posted Japanese screenshots of ship and plane losses as of 2/1/42 and asked me to do the same so readers could compare with FoW on.

I will start with the front page of Intelligence screen. With the capture of Singapore last turn Japan has nearly pulled even with the Allies in VPs:

[racndoc]

2/1/42


Next we have a screen shot of IJN losses. The game is only giving the Allies 194 ponts for sinking 27 ships so as of now there is no confirmation of sinking BB Haruna, BB Kongo and CA Mogami. In addition to the losses pictured in the screen shot Japan has also lost another 4 subs, 4 AKs, 1 AKL, 5 PBs, 2 DMSs and an AMC.

[racndoc]

2/1/42


Here are Allied ship losses. Combatant ship losses are very light at this juncture of the war as Japan sank no ships at Pearl Harbor and the Allies have missed on half a dozen surface interceptions in the PI/DEI. Ships not shown on the screen shot include 12 MLs(most destroyed while under construction, 10 HDMLs(scuttled in port), 8 MTBs, 3 CMs, 2 AGs, 1 DMS, 1 AS, 1 AVD, 1 AVP, 1 AM and 1 CMc.

[racndoc]

2/1/42


And here are Japanese plane losses to date: