Once More Over the Cliff! Cribtop(J) v LoneGunman(A) no LG pls

[Cribtop]

China Offensive

A quick screenshot detailing offensives on the northern plains of China by 11th and 12th Armies:




1 - Offensives by 11th Army out of Hankow, Luchow and Pengpu. 4+ Division equivalents plus armor, arty and support troops.

2 - Offensives by 12th Army out of Kaifeng and Soochow. 5+ Division equivalents plus armor, air and support troops.

Intent is to sweep the plains and isolate Chengchow in Phase I while effecting linkup of 11th and 12th Armies. Phase II involves seizure of Chengchow and Loyang. Phase III will be seizure of Nanyang. Phase IV will establish a defensible line along the edge of the rough terrain. Note the unit moving towards the apparently abandoned dot base of Tsiatso (sp?) NE of Loyang. We are reconning this base tomorrow, if truly empty we will try to take it. If not we will abort the move. Cribtop HQ plans to pin/ignore the troops immediately east of Chengchow even though they are somewhat annoyingly blocking the rail line at present. That's three more LCUs not assisting with the defense of Chengchow and we plan to approach from the south anyway.

To support all of this activity we will drop 50K supplies in northern China.

[Cribtop]

Dec 11 & 12, 1941

These two days see little action, but what action there is creates some very interesting wrinkles in this game already.

Subs

Tambor duds on a DD escorting KB's fast Oilers, which have been loitering between Eniwetok and Truk all game. RO-64 shoots at a DD near Makin and misses.

4th Fleet

On the 11th, the Tarawa Invasion fleet is overflown by enemy torpedo bombers in the AM Phase. Uh oh. In the PM Phase, carrier planes from Lexington bomb the TF, sinking CL Katori, 2 xAKs and a CM. Fortunately the troops were already ashore and Tarawa falls. This decision by LG is risky but pays off. He must have sprinted in as we had 18 Mavis (Mavii?) on search from Jaluit and Malaloep. On the 12th, the Lex TF withdraws to the SW, towards Fiji/Noumea. Some of her escorts run into Tarawa overnight but the survivors fled at full speed to Jaluit. KB moved south on the 11th in hopes Lex would head back to Pearl but no such luck. KB will refuel from Oilers in the Marshalls and head to SE Fleet AO to cover invasions of the Solomons and the Papuan Peninsula.

LG's decision, at least for now, to commit a CV alone so early on is interesting, especially because he has chosen to retire SW rather than East. Will he hide the Lexington near Fiji, Noumea, New Zealand or Oz, or is this just a safe escape route before an eventual loop East back to his home waters? Who knows, but the presence of a CV in the South Pacific could create opportunities to divide and conquer LG's carrier forces if he is careless. Is this an example of a JFB too used to carrier operations in the early war period or a clever one-time move to keep us off balance? Only time will tell...

SE Fleet

Presence of the Lex in these waters plus the unfortunate collision of two ships of the Shortlands Invasion TF causes Cribtop HQ to postpone Operation TK. We will wait a few days until KB rearms at Truk and then sortie with plans to take all of the Operation TK targets plus Rabaul. We will buy the 90th Regiment out of Korea and use it to seize Guam and then perhaps Noumea once the Solomons are secure. If we move very quickly Noumea is practically undefended. This move may have the added benefit of drawing out the Lexington.

Hollandia, Aitape, Wewak and Manus are invaded on the 11th and captured on the 12th.

14th Army

The LCTF that missed the PTs yesterday spotted a juicy TF of unescorted merchies fleeing Hong Kong near Iba. We pull off a mid-ocean intercept and sink several big xAKs while severely damaging many more. Banzai! 2nd and 3rd Waves of the Luzon invasion begin to unload at Laoag, whose airfield makes level 3. By the 13th we should begin marching on Clark from the north while the Atimonan invasion hits in the south. A sweep of Clark on the 11th finds only 3 enemy fighters on CAP. Air supremacy has been achieved in Luzon and a small but ineffective raid on Davao by B-17s from Cagayan proves the bombers have withdrawn south. On the 12th, the Zeros and Netties rest a day as we wanted to focus on hitting the Hong Kong refugee fleet, but no launches occur. The 13th will see an attack on Manila as recon shows more planes there than at Clark. The Tainan Air Group already has 57 kills. Banzai! Camiguin is invaded on the 11th and falls on the 12th.

16th Army

The Celebes Sea Sqdn sinks two xAKLs near the Palawan channel. The 13th will see Air HQs beginning to unload at Jolo and Davao. Netties will soon provide cover for the invasions of Manado and Ternate. Conveniently, those invasion fleets and Celebes Sea Sqdn will rendezvous at Jolo on the 13th and should launch for their objectives on the 14th with LBA cover. At Samah, the Tarakan Invasion begins to load. Ambon/Boela will be next up after that, followed by Kendari and Timor (assuming LG does not have a fortress Timor already set up). As soon as Hong Kong falls, 38th Division will descend on Samarinda/Balikpapan and Makassar. We are very pleased with operational sequencing so far. A much more co-ordinated Phase I plan than our last game.

Babeldoab makes level 4 airfield and will now increase port size.

25th Army

The Sambas invasion troops march into their ultimate objective - Sinkawang. We DA the base tomorrow. An FT TF is loading the Air HQ at Saigon for the run in once the base falls. Another home for Ms. Betty opening soon. We at last complete unloading of all TFs at Singora, Pattani and Kota Bharu, and Imperial Guards arrives in Singora by rail. The march on Singapore begins in earnest! In addition, our transport and surface fleets head for Cam Ranh Bay to load invasion troops for Kuching, Miri, Brunei, Kudat, etc.

Buffalos and Blenhiems sweep Kota. Losses are low but about 3:1 in our favor per the intel screen. Not sure why LG is continuing these sweeps against strong opposition.

15th Army

Victoria Point falls and support troops are pouring into Rahaeng and Chiang Mai. By the time reinforcements arrive in theater we will be ready to contest the skies over Rangoon.

China

DA Hong Kong on the 11th achieves 1:1 odds, drops forts to 2, and inflicts casualties of 661(12) vs 1009(1). We BA on the 12th to regain supplies, raw AV is now 742 to 168. The three Canadian battalions were trashed in the first assault. We will DA again on the 13th, Cribtop HQ estimates two more attacks will take the place. Our troops are in excellent shape, and the cannon fodder above 38th Division on the combat list is keeping this necessary unit fresh as a daisy.

Other

On Dec 7, we ordered every merchant in China, Manchukuo, Korea and the Home Islands to Tokyo. The last units arrive tomorrow except for some stragglers from Port Arthur. I hate to lose the time, but want to set up our fastest 18kt transports as troop ferrys to the front and to implement the Mike Solli convoy system to Manchukuo, China and Sakhalin Island. This is easier to do if all the ships are in one port. Reinforcements due to load for the front include 33rd Div for 15th Army, 4th Div and 90th Regt for SE Fleet (along with various support echelon units, including the Combined Fleet HQ), and 1st Raiding Regt for 25th Army. 2nd Div and the Pattani Second Wave TFs, which start the game partially loaded, are already well on their way to Bangkok.

[Cribtop]

Dec 13, 1941

Subs

Permit duds on CL Kinu near Takao. Kinu is flagship of a convoy bearing elements of 25th Army that start in Japan to Pattani or Bankgok. Our subs are in position off San Francisco and should be in position off San Diego within 48 hours. We will see what they catch. Unlike previous games, we are only devoting two groups to CONUS, many more from the initial Pearl Harbor swarm are headed to the SE Fleet and DEI AOs.

4th Fleet

Wake will be invaded tomorrow. KB will refuel in the Marshalls from Oilers and then proceed to Truk to support invasions in the Solomons and New Guinea.

SE Fleet

The Rabaul invasion fleet arrives at Truk.

14th Army

Sweep of Manila finds no CAP, subsequent airfield attacks hit more Allied planes on the ground, including two more B-17s. We are really pleased with B-17 casualties in Luzon.

Atimonan is invaded. The only Allied resistance is ineffectual strikes on our BBs by a few Seagulls and a lone B-10B.

11th Air Fleet HQ begins unloading at Davao and 36 Nells take up residence. Zeros will join them tomorrow.

Tuguegaro is occupied.

16th Army

21st Air Flotilla HQ begins to unload at Jolo and 27 Bettys fly in. Zeros are en route. The Manado and Ternate invasions launch for their targets from Jolo, covered tomorrow by torpedo enabled LBA. At Samah, the Tarakan invasion sorties. KBL is prowling the Celebes Sea for good measure.

25th Army

We sweep Georgetown and Alor Star but nobody's home. Ground attacks by two wings of IJAAF bombers (a wing is two Sally and one Lily Sentai in Cribworld) announce that the Malaya campaign has begun in earnest as the troops move ever closer to the border fort. LG appears to have withdrawn all but a rear guard to Singapore.

DA Sinkawang takes the base with 5:1 odds, casualties 355(41) vs 78(0). 22nd Air HQ is loaded onto an FT TF and will head there asap.

At Cam Ranh Bay, a chain invasion of Miri, Brunei and Kudat loads, and the initial Pattani and Kota Bharu cover forces will join into the powerful China Sea Squadron (2 BB, 4 CA, 1CL, 6 DD).

China

DA Hong Kong barely achieves a 1:1 (Adjusted AV 412 to 397), forts drop to 1, casualties 379(13) vs 439(2). We're encouraged because we got a bad die roll and still made progress. One or two more attacks and the base should fall.

At Hwaiyin, a Brigade of 15th Division SAs the hapless Lusu War Area HQ that starts there. The HQ is pushed out with heavy losses as you might imagine.

We may be on the verge of sneaking into the vacated Tsiatso. Our LCU is only a few miles out and air recon shows the base still unoccupied. We DA tomorrow one hex SE of Chengchow.

Hankow makes level 7 airfield to allow upgrades of air units in China.

Other

We set up the patented Mike Solli method of Home Island resource convoys. In addition, fast transports move out to ferry significant reinforcements to SE Fleet and 15th/25th Armies. Finally, we set up a supply convoy to China and tanker convoys to Truk and Babeldoab.

[Cribtop]

Dec 14, 1941

Not a great turn for the Empire... [:(]

Subs

In a small bit of good news, I-5 stumbles on a big convoy bound for somewhere in the Pacific from San Diego and sinks the big xAK Dorothy Luckenbach. Permit, which has been loitering near Takao, torps and sinks a PB that was part of an ASW TF sent after the sub. [8|]

4th and SE Fleets

Not a lot going on yet. KB refuels at sea and sets course for Truk. Big invasions in the Solomons and Bismarks as soon as she gets on the scene. The Wake Invasion slips through storms to arrive at the island unspotted. We will unload tomorrow to maximize the odds of a successful atoll assault.

14th Army

All the action is here today. First, a large group of PTs slips past both an SCTF and an LCTF to attack transports at Laoag. Even though 3 DDs, 2 DMS, and three PBs are on close escort, the PTs sink two xAKs at the cost of 3 PTs sunk. Frustrating but understandable as PTs could slip in undetected IRL too. During the daytime, however, things get worse. LG unleashes 16 Catalinas on torpedo attack against transports and BBs at Laoag and Atimonan. The AM attacks are dudfests with no damage done, but in the PM phase the Cats draw blood, sinking two xAKs at Laoag and torpedoing the BB Ise at Atimonan. She is not in danger of sinking at 18-24(20)-27(25)-0 damage, but we are a bit concerned about getting her through the enemy subs near Takao. We could head to Babeldoab, but that risks losing her to the long transit. The old BB can still make 14 knots. The Atimonan invasion is done unloading and will retire under cover of Zeros on LRCAP from Batan Island and, in an unusual measure, Petes from CS Chiyoda, which is part of the cover force. The xAKs at Laoag had finished unloading too, we only lose 4 motorized support for one of the tank regts. We are a little squeamish about this move by LG. Admittedly Cribtop HQ got careles about CAP after wiping out much of the Luzon air force so quickly, but it seems a touch ahistorical to send in the Cats like this in daylight raids in the first week of the war. [:-] Still, there is an easy counter to Catalinas of Nav Attack, as they are slaughtered by any form of CAP. In fact, we almost hope LG tries again tomorrow, as 36 Nates LRCAP Laoag while 15 Zeros LRCAP the Atimonan cover force.

In other news, we sweep and bomb the airfield at Manila, casualties are 2:1 in our favor and one more heavy bomber is nailed on the air strip. Enemy fighter strength is basically finished here, with only a few machines rising to oppose us. Atimonan falls, Vigan will fall tomorrow. The bulk of 14th Army is moving off the beaches toward Lingayen. Interestingly, LG's ground dispositions are atypical, with forces remaining in Manila, south of Manila and in Iba. By now many Allied players would have fled to Clark and Bataan with only immobile or token forces manning the Manila airfield. Hmmm.... See the screenie below. Note there are 11 LCUs and 30K troops still in Manila. 2 LCUs are in the hex to the south of the City, while two remain in Iba (although the latter is a bit more understandable as LG is using this as a PT base).



16th Army

Jolo and Davao go "hot," with a datai of Bettys and 15 Zeros at the former base and a hikotai of Nells and 15 Zeros at the latter. Any Allied ships within 14 hexes of either base is in deep trouble. Manado will be invaded tomorrow, covered by Zeros from KBL and the Celebes Sea Sqdn. Ternate will be attacked as soon as we can get there after unloading at Manado. The Tarakan Invasion TF is halfway to Palawan and this base should fall soon, completing Phase 2 of the 16th Army's mission. Phase 3 will be the Island of Ceram (Ambon & Boela), Phase 4 will seize Kendari, Makassar, Samarinda and Balikpapan.

25th Army

The Operation MK force sorties. 22nd Air Flotilla HQ ships out on an FT TF for Samarinda. Our troops have reached the hex SW of Kota Bharu and will assault the defeated garrison tomorrow on the way to Temuloh. Raw AV in the hex is about 300 to 59.

China

We desperately wanted to DA Hong Kong today in hopes the base would fall, but must wait again for supplies to accumulate. If this keeps up we'll ship supplies from Pescadores to a base nearby in China. [:@]

DA in the hex SW of Kaifeng and SE of Chengchow is a rout, 9:1 odds forces two KMT corps to retreat in disarray with casualties 1216(87) vs 83(0). We will assault Kweiteh with two Divisions tomorrow and expect to take the place. More troops are heading toward the plains south of Chengchow post-haste. At Tsiatso (or however you spell it), we have stolen a march on LG. He reinforced the hex directly to the east of Chengchow by moving the garrison there and today we snuck in an independent brigade before his follow on forces could arrive. With luck, a DA tomorrow with take this key bit of terrain. Banzai!

[Cribtop]

Dec 15, 1941

A better day for us... Tokyo Rose makes her first broadcast.

Subs

Nada

4th Fleet

We unload under fire from the tenacious Marine defenders at Wake. Although four transports are fatally shot up by the CD guns, our two SNLF units generate 3:1 odds against level 1 forts and take the place outright in one assault. Banzai! The units are still in good shape. One will be used to seize Nauru and Ocean Islands. TB is also on the list for new management. Tokyo Rose boasts of our victory. We hope to hear from her about Hong Kong soon.

SE Fleet

KB skirts uncomfortably close to a newly spotted USN sub. Just waiting on the CVs to mount big offensives. Cribtop HQ is trying to figure how to lure Lexington out in this AO (if she's still here). Perhaps invading Noumea will be enough, perhaps a fake descent on Fiji. Reader ideas are welcome.

14th Army

The enemy Catalinas are nowhere to be found today. Ise moves unmolested towards safety. LG very cleverly scrapes together 6 P40s to sweep Laoag, no doubt figuring we'd CAP it with Nates, which we do. He shoots down 5 Nates of 23. The enemy PTs return to Laoag, but find only two xAKs and one PB on a suicide mission to unload the rest of two armored regts. One xAK is sunk, the other two ships get away thanks to a spirited defense by the brave PB skipper. A few motorized support squads go down, but the mission is deemed a success. We plan to visit LG's PT base at Iba with two LCTFs soon.

We sweep and bomb Clark. No CAP is left here and the airfield is up to 74 damage.

Vigan falls. Recon reveals LG has moved an LCU into Mauban (hex SE of Manila). What is the enemy up to here? Pursuing a more forward defense in the PI is odd.

16th Army

We invade Manado without incident, supported by Nells from Davao making their first appearance bombing the Dutch defenders in the PM phase. The enemy fleet has cleared out of the Celebes Sea as far as we can tell. Ternate and Tarakan are next.

25th Army

DA SW of Kota smashes the already defeated Kota Bharu garrison, adding 643(83) casualties to their losses. On to Temuloh and Kuantan!

We should be able to assault Alor Star within 72 hours, maybe sooner. The Allied air force appears to have fled to Singers.

Blenheims and 139s raid the airfield at Sinkawang. We need to get the HQ, Zeros and engineers in asap to stop this. 22 runway damage so far.

On a happy note, the brave little Giyu Maru disbands in Cam Ranh Bay to full honors and a commendation from Southern Fleet for her harrowing escape from Sambas in the early days of the war. [&o]

China

Our troops at Hong Kong are re-supplied and will DA tomorrow. 50% chance we take the city, if not we should take it with the next attack.

DA at Kweiteh ejects a Chinese corps with 396:1 odds, casualties 1162(69) vs 39(0).

The best news of the day, however, is that we steal Tsiaotso right out from under LG! His reinforcements fail to arrive at the base and we take it by default along with 100% of the industry! Banzai! This improves our strategic position in front of Loyang/Chengchow and denies him precious supplies. In other news, our troops finally figure out how to spell the name of the place. As a final insult, the troops he moved into the hex east of Chengchow from Tsiaotso which created the gap in the first place now show they are retreating into the city, so this gambit did not go well for LG.

[cookie monster]

Nice AAR I have learnt alot from this and Mike Solli's AAR.

Keep up the writing style.

[Cribtop]

Thanks, Cookie! I see you started an AAR too, I'll check it out.

[Cribtop]

Unfortunately I haven't heard from LG in a couple of days, so no turns to report on. He is starting a second AAR (as Allies again, we are worried he's drifting over to the AFB side [;)]) and is probably working on his first turn.

While we have a break in the action, Cribtop HQ thought we could update our analysis of LG's tactics and style. We previously posted that LG's style appeared to be submerged for the moment in the unfamiliar opening turns from the Allied side (LG usually plays Japan). We suspected the "real" LG would quickly emerge, and the moves by the Lexington against Tarawa and his atypical ground deployments in Luzon tell us this is indeed occurring. The moves we see indicate an aggressive play style with good competence in LCU deployments in China (although we are scratching our heads a bit about his Luzon moves). Like Cribtop HQ, his ground game appears to favor linear formations supported by large stacks, rather than the rather "Napoleonic" manner in which most AE players seem to tromp around the map with large stacks exclusively. We believe the linear style has strong merit in China, a bit less so elsewhere. LG will thus be harder to outflank than other enemies.

His willingness to show his CVs early is interesting. Will he continue this pattern, or was the Tarawa raid just an effort to prove he could come out to play before assuming a more "fleet in being" pattern. Hard to say so far, but we hope to catch the Lex in SOPAC if she opposes our upcoming invasions. He has not used surface forces yet, and we hope our quick deployment of LBA into the DEI keeps him from doing so effectively. Still, it is very early yet, so we rate this area as an unknown rather than as intentional timidity on LG's part.

In the air he has mostly withdrawn out of fighter range and sniped with bombers against safe targets from rear bases in Malaya and Sumatra. This may be an effort to husband his strength or a bit of the shock of being on the other side of the early superiority of the A6M2 flown by elite pilots (LG said he was a bit taken aback by the lopsided battles in the PI in an e-mail). He did spring a nice trap with the Catalinas in Luzon, however, showing he is willing to be aggressive in the air. This may indicate he is the type of player that fights in the air en masse at times and places, and for reasons, of his choosing. Interesting as this is a fairly smart approach for the air frame limited Allies early on.

On the whole, LG is an impressive opponent who will no doubt keep us thinking. We will continue to watch for tendencies, but so far don't really have sufficient data to be certain enough to incorporate these musings into operational planning.

I wonder what he would say about my style if he were to make a similar post in his AAR?

[Cribtop]

December 16, 1942

Subs

We begin deployment of six subs to sweep ahead of our planned invasions in SE Fleet AO to hunt just south of the Solomons and near Milne Bay. They will primarily scout for the Lex or enemy SCTFs that could interfere. Subs released from guarding the Malaya invasion are now in position in the Malacca Strait and Java Sea. What will they find?

4th Fleet

The Wake Invasion fleet is spotted by something per the Ops report and Tracker. Just in case, they will bug out to the West. We hope they can return to finish unloading supplies and pick up one of the Nav Guard units for use in attacking Ocean and Nauru Islands.

SE Fleet

The invasions of New Britain and the Solomons await arrival of KB. We will invade Madang on the 18th with a small force. Transports arrive at Keijo to lift the 90th Regt. This unit will be bought out and loaded on the 17th and used to seize first Guam and then Noumea.

14th Army

We sweep and bomb the Iba airfield, but the P-40s have pulled out. Recon shows most of the enemy planes at Manila, so that is where 23rd Air Flotilla will visit tomorrow.

Ise safely makes Batan Island and is under Zero cover. The BB will spend a few days clearing minor damage and then join 3 DDs to escort her to Pescadores' shipyard. She may shift again to Hong Kong once that base is liberated.

An LCTF will raid LG's PT boat base at Iba tomorrow night. That sentence sets a new record for use of acronyms.

Lucena is occupied and Calayan is invaded by a small SNLF coy on "dot base patrol." In the south of Luzon, our troops will close up with the enemy deployments below Manila. We should be able to take the two bases south of the city but are in no hurry and want to prevent exposing ourselves to a quick counterattack before larger forces north of the city hopefully chase the Americans into the Clark/Bataan redoubt.

16th Army

We decide not to assault Manado until tomorrow to allow the units to finish reducing disruption. The fleet moves on to Ternate and will invade tomorrow. Forces that will complete the liberation of Mindanao load at Babeldoab. Tarakan will be invaded on the 18th.

25th Army

The Allies send a small bombing raid to Sinkawang that achieves little. Tomorrow they will run into Zeros on CAP as 22nd Air Flotilla HQ begins landing by FT TF tonight. Nells from Saigon catch a large convoy of Hong Kong refugees and sink three British merchies very near to Sinkawang. In fact, we are a little worried that this convoy may bump into our FT TF. We ground attack Alor Star again with the IJAAF. Our armies are closing on this base from two directions.

Several big reinforcement convoys have reached the relative safety of the South China Sea (running the sub gauntlet near Formosa).

DA SW of Kota Bharu smashes the defeated former garrison, leaving pursuing armor one hex NE of Temuloh. We will try a DA with just the armor tomorrow in hopes of accelerating the offensive here. The old Kota garrison is now reminiscent of the British Eighth Army joke that "a Brigade Group is a Division that has twice been overrun by tanks."

15th Army

Our troops march for Tavoy as we continue to build airbases. 33rd Division should arrive in Bangkok within the week to reinforce and the invasion of Burma up to Moulmein will commence in earnest. Large IJAAF forces have gathered in Bangkok awaiting forward deployment to Rahaeng, Chiang Mai and Tavoy.

China

The big disappointment today is Hong Kong. We DA and reduce forts to zero, but get an awful die roll to obtain only 1:2 odds by about 10 AV. Casualties are acceptable at 500(8) vs 187(0), but the base could hold another 10 days because of this. We will move an HQ from Canton into range to bump up our AV for the next attack.

DA on two enemy corps and one HQ attempting to escape over the river near Sinyang results in a 1:1, casualties 547(4) vs 313(0). A second IJA unit marched into the hex today and will join the attack tomorrow.

We cross the river in the hex south of Chengchow and smash a KMT corps with 13:1 odds and casualties of 2083(410) vs 240(1). Capture of this hex will allow our main force to threaten the city. We could attack directly, but LG's dispositions may leave many troops between Sinyang and Chengchow vulnerable to a major envelopment by 11th and 12th Armies. Something like 12 enemy LCUs may be subject to destruction if we can pull this off... Hmmmm.

The little 8th Armored Car company bumps into an enemy LCU near Wuhu. LG is no doubt using this unit to cause havoc and test our rear area defenses. Lots of troops are getting ready to move on Chusien and should be able to respond, but the armored cars may take a beating before they can be relieved.

5th Fleet

Bettys out of Bihoro report two Allied ships near Ketoi Jima. This could be a false report as there is no ship icon present and our own merchies are operating near Hokkaido on resource convoy duty, but this could be a probe by USN ships looking for easy targets, so we will take precautions. Need to get an LCTF up here soon to deal with this sort of threat, but we don't want to divert much of the IJN for defense in the first year of the war.

[Cribtop]

Dec 17, 1941

We haven't had updates for a while as LG works in airport security and this is their busiest week of the year, plus that little controversy in the papers over screening and all is making things extra fun for him. I was also out visiting in laws Wednesday through yesterday. We did get two turns run despite all of that, so two quick updates coming today. We hope to push several more turns over the weekend and pick up the pace a bit.

Subs

Shark duds on DD Yukaze near Babeldoab. Permit duds on DD Nenohi, which is escorting a major reinforcement convoy through the Formosa Straits. I-6 is DC'd to no effect by an ASW convoy off CONUS.

The big and bad news is that CL Kinu, escorting reinforcements for 25th Army to Bangkok, is torpedoed three times over two phases by KXV just off Cam Ranh Bay and sinks. [:(]

From the day's events, we conclude that LG is more careful with both his convoy/ASW efforts and his sub ops than our previous opponent. He clearly intends to do his best with the sub campaign. We respond by setting up ASW convoys and air patrols off Cam Ranh Bay and by increasing our existing efforts off Formosa. Passage of additional reinforcement convoys and retirement of Ise from Batan Island to Takao will see unprecedented ASW efforts, with the BB literally traversing over a carpet of ASW convoys stationed in every hex.

4th Fleet

Not a lot, the Wake invasion TFs make for Kwaj without interference by a roundabout route just in case the enemy is lurking. Random spotting of apparently phantom Allied TFs off the Marshalls has 4th Fleet HQ jumpy. We route more nav search and some RO boats to the area but believe it's just nerves. We are trying to decide whether seizing Baker and Canton Islands is worth it. This question may depend on our Phase II decisions as the Line Islands are under consideration. If we go that route, Baker/Canton seem obvious. If not, perhaps they are just a waste. Of course, they could be used for 4E bases someday, so we will continue to study the issue as we await January reinforcements. Current LCU strength in this AO will allow for seizure of TB, Nauru and Ocean Islands, all of which are certainly on the menu.

SE Fleet

Very little today, but we are launching major ops over the coming week as KB pulls into Truk tomorrow.

14th Army

Our LCTF runs into Iba in search of PTs, we find four and sink two for no loss. Not bad, but we hoped for a bigger haul. Three DDs arrive at Batan Island to provide close escort to Ise as she prepares to run the four dangerous hexes to Takao in two days.

Enemy sweeps from Iba again but again we refuse to take the bait with Nates until he brings bombers along. We sweep and bomb Manila but effects are desultory due to lack of enemy CAP and poor weather impeding accuracy. However, we are keeping both Clark and Manila airfields at least partially damaged. We will probably bombard Iba soon in an attempt to catch what appear to be the last 6 P-40s on Luzon.

Calayan is captured by our cleanup company. Laoag makes level 4 airfield and will cease expansion.

16th Army

The Tarakan invasion TF is spotted by Kingfishers. At first Cribtop HQ issues a full alert out of fear they are flying off of USN capital ships that somehow got past our search planes, but we later confirm the planes are PI refugees basing out of Tarakan itself. Whew! This incident causes us to route the invasion fleet around the eastern side of Jolo just in case and will delay the attack by 24 hours.

Elsewhere, Ternate is invaded. Dutch aircraft from Ambon attempt to intervene but most fighters and all bombers of the attacking force are splashed by Zeros and Claudes from KBL on LRCAP. Ternate is very lightly defended and we should get Jakes into the base as soon as it falls to improve nav search in the area.

Basilan is occupied and forces tasked with seizure of Cagayan will land soon at Davao.

25th Army

Other than the disaster with the Kinu, things in this AO go very well. As expected, the Air HQ FT TF bumps into the Hong Kong refugee fleet in the night. To ensure the HQ was unloaded, we made Sinkawang the home port. This move increases risk to the ships as they will be caught at Sinkawang tomorrow, but ensures the strategically vital Air HQ is fully unloaded instead of retreating towards Saigon after the surface encounter. Banzai! Nells and Zeros flew in the night before and begin ops as soon as 22nd Air Flotilla is on the ground. We need to get supplies in asap (subs will make the first drop tomorrow night), but this is a key piece of our DEI strategy and should make the waters around Palembang and Singers uninhabitable over time. We will CAP the base with 18 Zeros tomorrow in hopes LG's unescorted bombers return.

DA Nortwest of Temuloh with only the pursuing armor regiment nets 1:2 odds, casualties are good however at 91(12) vs 0(0). Still, we will have to await arrival of the infantry regiments to finish off the Kota Bharu survivors and take Temuloh. LG has withdrawn to Singapore except for a few border guards at Alor Star, the static fortress unit at Georgetown and about eight LCUs currently at Kuala Lumpur. We close on Alor from two directions and major reinforcements are due at Bangkok for rail deployment forward over the next 10 days.

China

DA near Sinyang routs the two remaining KMT LCUs in the hex, the third unit apparently marched out during the move phase. Odds of 11:1 sweep the enemy over the river with 2506(273) casualties to 62(0). We continue our pincer move with 11th and 12th Armies and hope LG doesn't notice that our target is now his large army in the plains river delta. We hope he assumes we are driving directly on Chengchow, which was the original intention. We could bag Nanyang and a large enemy army if we get away with this. If not, we will still probably seize Chengchow and Nanyang.

[Cribtop]

Dec 18, 1941

Another Tokyo Rose broadcast today!

Subs

Our ASW air patrol off Cam Ranh Bay immediately pays off with a hit reported on an O-19 class Dutch sub. Was this revenge for Kinu's killer? Who knows (well, LG knows but he ain't telling [;)]). Today we route four ASW convoys into the four hexes that form Ise's path back to safety at Takao. Relevant air units in southern Formosa are put on 100% ASW. We have done all we can to get the beast home.

I-6 is harassed again by an ASW TF off the West Coast, but the enemy loses contact before being able to drop depth charges. If the enemy shows up tomorrow we will have to move the sub off her current patrol route and return later when the heat is off.

4th Fleet

[>:]

SE Fleet

KB makes port at Truk, reloads torpedoes and replaces the really nominal a/c and pilot losses from the Pearl Harbor attack. The butcher's bill was about 10 planes and five pilots. Operation TR, the chain invasion of Tulagi, Munda Point, Shortlands, Kavieng and Rabaul, finally launches tomorrow. Supporting elements include KB and Tanaka's South Seas Fleet (3 BB, 4 CA, 1CL, 6 DD). ASW efforts around Truk are spiked to protect the launches as at least one enemy sub has been spotted by air patrols recently.

Madang is invaded by a small force and should fall tomorrow. Most of the ships move off, leaving one PB and one xAKL on kamikaze supply unloading duty in case the ANZAC fleet shows up (the invasion force was spotted by seaplanes out of Rabaul yesterday and today).

14th Army

Itbayat Island is occupied, which saves our dot base patrol the trouble.

As our main force marches from Vigan to San Fernando unopposed, our small flanking unit (Tanaka Detachment) marches into Bayombong to find an enemy LCU with 7500 troops! The base was reconned each of the past two days and found empty, so this unit must have marched in at the same time we did. LG continues a very aggressive land defense of Luzon. We may have to route troops to Bayombong to help hold the hex, fortunately it is jungle rough and even our small LCU (85 AV) should be hard for a single enemy unit to eject. We may have to bring 38th Division to Luzon after all. We consider sending 21st, currently loading for invasions of Ambon and Kendari, but decide against it. We will carefully monitor whether LG is trying some kind of offensive towards our beachheads over the next few days. That said, aerial recon of Clark and Manila appears to show movement of defenders into the Clark hex, so perhaps this is all just a rear guard action.

16th Army

Catalinas attack the Ternate invasion and suffer 50% casualties before missing with bombs. Ternate itself is captured easily and the defenders surrender. Jakes fly in as planned. At Manado, we miss 1:1 odds by one point . Casualties are 174(1) vs 35(0), so perhaps we can grind them down. However, we knew the initial Manado force is sometimes too small to prevail and plan to re-load and use one of the two big SNLFs that will seize Tarakan to reinforce if necessary. Netties will keep pounding the Dutch defenders on their secondary missions each day.

25th Army

We simultaneously invade Miri, Brunei and Kudat today, covered by the China Sea Squadron. The Kingfishers from Tarakan miss BB Haruna with bombs.

Much to our joy, LG gets a beautifully co-ordinated strike of Blenheim Is, Blenheim IVs and Dutch 339s to raid the airfield at Sinkawang. They run smack into a strong Zero CAP and the slaughter commences. 13 bombers are shot down outright, more are surely ops losses on the long flight home. This combat leaves several pilots on the brink of ace status. [&o] We love it when a plan comes together, but also know that Force Z may decide to bombard the base in retaliation. We plan to shuttle the planes back to Miri on occasion once that base falls, probably tomorrow. Of course, the torpedo equipped Nells can smash enemy SCTF provided we spot them coming. What a fun chess match AE is.

China

Hong Kong falls! All facilities, including the precious size 50 shipyard, are captured intact! Tokyo Rose taunts LG! Sakis all around! Six enemy LCUs surrender, our troops suffer 740(4) casualties and are in excellent shape. Most importantly, 38th Division is barely dinged and ready for further operations in either 16th Army AO or Luzon if needed. The big unit will get a few days' rest while we clear the mines, then they will load for fresh conquests.

[Cribtop]

Dec 19, 1941

Damn, sometimes this game can make you feel stupid... [:-]

Subs

Nothing except that I-16, which was intended to drop a mini-sub for bombardment defense at Manado (the monitor role for the little guys is something I'm experimenting with), does so today before we take the base. D'oh! As you might imagine the mini foundered and the whole thing was a waste of gas.

4th & SE Fleets

Nothing really to report except that KB sorties tomorrow from Truk to cover Operation TR under a heavy ASW umbrella. Lots of reinforcements, including troops, HQ/logistic units and support vessels (AD, AS, AG, AR, etc) are getting very close to Truk.

Madang falls.

14th Army

Here's where we hit the stupid button. I forgot to CAP Aparri today, leaving a medium size amphip TF unloading a base force, some AA and supplies, together with a covering force of 3 CA, 1 CL, & 6 DD, exposed to air attack. Naturally, LG chooses to come back with the Catalinas today. [8|] CA Ashigara and CL Natori each eat a torp. Neither is in danger of sinking, but damage is sufficient that they will be joining Ise in the yards for some time. Can't believe we let the same tactic work against us twice. [:@] After the AM Phase raid, itself escorted by 7ish P-40s, 18 more P-40s sweep Aparri.

Why? Simple. Most Allied players don't use their Cats in this manner in the PI. Thus, Luzon is a pretty safe zone for the IJN in most games, as the other trash the USAAF has at Clark Field is just inaccurate level bombers. Cribtop HQ knows LG is using the Cats in this manner, but we got stuck in mental inertia and just didn't think to CAP Aparri even though we had assets in place specifically to do so. Ugh. This shows the power of assumptions, and also the incredible usefulness of catching the enemy making them.

Needless to say, we need to re-evaluate our air tactics in this AO. First, LG is hoarding his planes, using Iba, Clark, Bataan and Manila to stash Cats and P-40s for alpha strikes on high value targets. Our campaign of bombing Clark and Manila is ineffective, in part because our IJNAF bombers aren't destroying enough on the ground, but mostly because LG prevents his fighters from rising to meet our sweeps and raids as he did early in the war to terrible losses. We must fight the enemy where he is willing to give battle. Tomorrow we will give our Bettys a rest from air raids, leaving only 15 Zeros to escort them on Nav Attack. This will leave both the elite Tainan Hikotai and a Sentai of Nates at Aparri on 80 - 100% CAP. We will disband the two damaged cruisers at Aparri until we can organize an Ise-like ASW operation to get them to Takao. Under all that CAP they should be safe. However, we will also leave one xAK loitering undisbanded at Aparri in hopes LG leaves his Cats on nav attack.

Meanwhile, there was some good news. Ise got to Takao safely and LG did not attack Tanaka Detachment at Bayombong. Cribtop Intel suspects the LCU we are facing is the Filipino division that starts the game in Tuguegaro. We are sending the other half of the regiment from which the Tanaka Detachment is drawn plus two armor units just to be sure. The rest of the army will enter San Fernando tomorrow. In the south, we capture Naga with a recon unit. Legaspi is next, as is Cabanatuan. Calapan is occupied. More enemy LCUs appear to be retreating to Clark, but the tea leaves aren't fully clear yet. Either way, LG should be commended for a skillful active defense here. We did mention he seems good at the ground game, didn't we?

16th Army

We begin unloading troops at Davao to seize Cagayan. Tarakan is invaded without incident with two SNLF and one IJAAF battalion. The Allied automatic bombardment attack indicates the base will be overwhelmed when we attack in two days (we are waiting a day to let disruption clear). The seas are empty of Allied shipping, but we are watching carefully for enemy SCTFs. Manado will be bombed and bombarded tomorrow, hoping to soften up the defenders for the DA we have ordered. As mentioned, if the base continues to hold, one of the Tarakan SNLFs will swing by to finish things off.

Lots of reinforcements are steaming to Babeldoab. As with Truk, support vessels and all sorts of LCUs are en route.

25th Army

Miri, Brunei and Kudat all fall today. All facilites are taken intact (Miri's 50% damaged but starts the war that way). Banzai! [&o] The invasion fleets will retire to Cam Ranh Bay and load for Kuching, the last defended target in northern or western Borneo. Our plans for this island have worked out much better than in our last PBEM.

Criptop HQ is still concerned about bombardment at Sinkawang and is doing all we can to counter it, including dropping mines tomorrow and setting all Netties there and at Saigon to 30% nav search. If we can see LG coming, we can react and/or attack his SCTF. He still seems more passive than most Allied players with surface assets in the DEI, but Cribtop Intel warns this cannot last. Finally, three transport chutai fly into Miri and will begin a Berlin airlift to Sinkawang.

In Malaya, we bomb Alor Star and keep marching. Several big reinforcement convoys are making the turn towards Bangkok soon and another is loading at Samah.

15th Army

Our lead elements slog through the jungle towards Tavoy, beginning a new phase in the Burma campaign. Intention is to seize Tavoy and Mergui, then advance on Moulmein only after arrival of 33rd Division. We upgrade one chutai of Nates to Oscar Ic. We hope to have this Chutai, 1 Sentai of Oscars, 1 Sentai of Nates, and the experimental Tojo Chutai available for the advance on Rangoon (together with IJAAF bombers, of course).

China

We march onward. DA tomorrow against an exposed enemy LCU SE of Chengchow (the last enemy unit on the east side of the river). Still unsure whether LG understands our encirclement play here. Time will tell. We finally decide to send a single kamikaze Chinese collaborationist unit into Ichang since LG stubbornly refuses to take it. However, if he expects us to stick anything valuable into that noose he will be disappointed. 11 enemy LCUs loiter to the north and NW of the city. In the south, we launch a small offensive designed at clearing the Chusien/Wenchow region.

Other

The first resource convoys begin unloading in Japan. The flow of resources will increase greatly in the coming weeks. Plans are to engage in some more industrial tweaking on approximately Jan 2, 1942.

Finally, a question for the viewers. With recent patches making it very difficult to supply an Allied force overland, is NW Oz still a must capture for Japan? We believe it is, but are interested in your opinions.

[Cribtop]

Dec 20, 1941

Subs

We spotted what was reported as a CVE near San Diego. Subs attempted an intercept but found nothing. An enemy CV or an over-anxious Glen pilot? Cribtop Intel assumes the latter as only one ship was reported in the TF. Our subs in the Java Sea have been on station for about four days now and nothing. No sightings by Nells out of Sinkawang either. The silence is eerie. Has LG abandoned the usual practice of hauling fuel out of the DEI? We did have SigInt of ships at Tjilatjap so one sub is routed to the Indian Ocean side of the Island.

Other IJN subs are now patrolling off Fiji, New Caledonia, Pago Pago, Canton and Penryn Islands.

Finally, our screen of subs is in position watching approches to the Solomons and Rabaul in support of Operation TS.

4th Fleet & SE Fleet

Not much worth reporting, but it's impressive to watch our fleet sail toward Tulagi with KB in support.

14th Army

Still no attacks by the enemy LCU at Bayombong. We will seize San Fernando tomorrow. Babuyan falls to a shock attack and this concludes our first dot base effort. All islands between Formosa and Luzon are nestled in the gentle embrace of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. The small LCU will rest on Formosa and then resume work in the middle of the Philippine archipelago.

We prepare to extract our damaged cruisers from Aparri and load lots of base forces no longer needed at Takao for use in 16th Army AO.

16th Army

Malabalay is occupied.

Manado is bombed and bombarded prior to a DA. This was our first use of the new bombardment system and I have to say I like it. Selected 16,000 yards and let both the CAs and DDs open up. Results were gratifying as our attack achieved 2:1 odds, forts are dropped a level, casualties 79(0) vs 24(0).

At Tarakan, enemy bomb equipped air attacks miss entirely, but CD guns sink two xAKLs and damage two xAKs, one seriously. She will probably sink. However, all troops and sufficient supplies are now ashore in good order. We order a DA for the 21st and expect to take the place in one or at most two attacks. The fleet will retire rather than undergo more gunfire. The fall of Tarakan and Manado will conclude Phase 2 of 16th Army advances. Phase 3 will commence with the invasion of Ambon and Boela, followed quickly by Kendari once 21st Div is shipped down. Air search from Ternate picks up 8 enemy warships at Ambon and we get the "Main Body sighted" radio message. Is this Force Z?

There will be a very short operational pause here while reinforcements, fuel and supplies are delivered to Babeldoab. This will give us enough time for KBL to support planned landings at Kuching before returning to the Celebes Sea. The Ambon op will also be supported by 2 BB, 6 CA and numerous smaller vessels as Celebes Sea Squadron is gaining muscle originally used for landings in Luzon.

25th Army

The northern Borneo invasion fleet retires to Cam Ranh Bay and will load for Kuching. Reinforcement convoys stream towards Bangkok and the rail line to Malaya. Imperial Guards arrives in the Alor Star hex.

15th Army

An IJAAF Battalion arrives in Victoria Point. This will eventually allow air assault of Port Blair unless LG has reinforced it.

China

We sweep mines in Hong Kong harbor. DA just west of Kweiteh destroys the last enemy LCU east of the river with 379:1 odds. Ouch. Still no sign LG is on to us as we attempt to create a Sinyang pocket. We use Hankow's newly minted level 7 airfield to upgrade some DBs to Lilys to provide at least rudimentary air support in theater.

[Cribtop]

Dec 21, 1941

Subs

Our ASW efforts begin to show fruit as ASW TFs attack both KXV near Cam Ranh Bay and Permit near Takao. No hits are achieved, but finding enemy subs and keeping their heads down is still valuable. Shark duds on an xAKL near Babeldoab. Our subs oceanwide still find nothing. LG is obviously careful with his convoys.

4th & SE Fleets

Not much going on in 4th Fleet, but we occupy Maiana near Tarawa. In SE Fleet, a Kate reports eight enemy ships near Choiseul Bay in the Solomons. This may be a false report as no strikes launch from KB and the hex does not have a TF symbol after the replay. If something is really there they are in grave danger tomorrow from KB. The invasion of Tulagi is about three days out.

14th Army

LG sweeps Aparri with seven P-40s and finds 21 Nates and 20 Zeros on CAP. Losses for each side are 2 planes, but one of our losses is a Nate, and many of the P-40s are damaged and forced to fly home. Tracker puts losses at 3 P-40s total. We salivate that LG's Catalinas will fly into a buzzsaw later in the turn but they don't come out to play. Either bad weather over Clark/Manila stopped them or this was just a probe. If the latter, a good move by LG as our CAP trap has been discovered and we may need to re-adjust tactics yet again.

San Fernando and Legaspi fall. LG still has 7 LCUs in Manila and 4 more in the two bases due south of the city. What is he up to?

16th Army

Lots of ground action today. We seize Manado with a 5:1 attack, casualties 360(76) vs 68(0). This is good news as it obviates the need to bring in reinforcements. An Air HQ will move to Manado asap to extend the LBA umbrella over the next targets, Ambon and Kendari. DA at Tarakan doesn't take the base, but does achieve a 1:1 and knock forts down to zero, casualties 83(1) vs 102(1). This base should fall soon, opening the way to Samarinda, Balikpapan and Makassar. Early Java looks so far to be on the menu, although we anticipate that LG will more tenaciously defend the next wave of targets in this AO.

Search planes out of Ternate again locate the enemy "Main Body" at Ambon, reported as 4 CL and 4 DD. Probably the Dutch fleet or a KNIL/USN amalgamation. Hopefully we can sneak in some Netties if these ships stay at Ambon.

The only bad news of the day is that the second xAK damaged at Tarakan sinks trying to make Jolo. Thus, we lost a total of four merchies at both Wake and Tarakan, a sobering lesson of the efficacy of CD guns.

25th Army

We sweep and bomb Alor Star again with IJAAF bombers while the bulk of 25th Army arrives in the hex. BA there reveals raw AV at 1122 to 214. Much of 25th Army's reinforcements are headed to unload at Bangkok and will move by rail to Alor or even Taiping once those bases fall. Should bring total AV of 25th Army up quite a lot above the 1122 figure. Our armor unit NE of Temuloh tries another DA on the Kota survivors, netting a 1:2, casualties 37(1) vs 0(0). Two regiments of infantry should finally slog into this hex soon to break the stalemate and threaten Temuloh and Kuala Lumpur.

15th Army

[>:]. Waiting on arrival of 33rd Division while the rest of the army hacks its way towards Tavoy.

China

It appears we have finished sweeping mines out of Hong Kong harbor. We'll keep the four DMS there for two more days to make sure, but 38th Division is giving a warning order to prepare to board ship. 21 Division is finally loaded up at Shanghai and will be ordered to Babeldoab.

DA 1 hex east of Sinyang defeats an enemy corps and HQ, 102:1, casualties 1140(231) vs 23(0). Lots of KMT soldiers buying the farm lately.

Other

Resources are now arriving via convoy in the Home Islands in large quantity. Time to start taking a careful look at production and make sure we're optimized.

Per tracker, A2A combat losses for the campaign stand at 133 to 37 in our favor, a very tasty ratio of 3.6 to 1. Obviously our ops losses help to even the playing field some, but so far we are winning the air war in a strategic sense. Most importantly, our light A2A losses help get over this early period when pools of airframes and pilots are low waiting for production to ramp up.

[Cribtop]

December 22, 1941

After a long RL imposed delay (LG working and then me hunting), we are back.

Today is the quietest day of the war so far, which is fine with Cribtop HQ as we are gathering reinforcements for fresh offensives in the DEI and SE Fleet AOs

Subs

The empty ocean. That is how our sub skippers and search pilots describe the Pacific. We see nothing moving other than a few subs. LG is either very careful with convoys or engaging in a serious Sir Robin. We will soon be able to push a few subs down to Oz and into the Indian Ocean. Perhaps that is where the action is.

SE Fleet

Tulagi will be invaded in two days. KB sails through the slot into the Coral Sea to cover.

14th Army

We order the two damaged cruisers at Aparri to head for safety over a carpet of ASW TFs. As our armies draw near, LG finally appears to be moving significant LCUs out of Manila. Tomorrow we resume air attacks on Clark since LG didn't fall for our CAP trap over Aparri. The IJAAF hopefully can begin to shoulder the burden in Luzon as we wish to move 23rd Air Flotilla to Rabaul as soon as that base is captured.

16th Army

Lolobato is occupied. DA at Tarakan returns a rather disappointing 1:1, casualties 79(0) vs 65(0). Bad die roll as forts are down to zero and we had no negative modifiers. We'll try again in a few days' time.

21st Air HQ is loading for Manado to allow Netty coverage of invasions of Boela, Ambon and Kendari.

25th Army

We prepare to invade Kuching. Engineers land by FT TF at Sinkawang to ensure the base is fully repaired and supplies are en route as well. Even on 30% search, our Netties see no targets, however.

Buffalos and Blenheims sweep Kota Bharu and shoot down two Nates. Our Oscars were away escorting a strike on Alor Star that fails to launch from Indochina.

Despite the lack of air support, we take Alor Star with a DA at 15:1 odds, casualties 3297(204) vs 301(2). The enemy base force surrenders but the three combat LCUs annoyingly retreat into the jungle and block the rail line to Kota Bharu. Follow on forces unloading at Bangkok will deal with this nuisance while the bulk of our army pushes on to Singers. Fortunately the rail line to Alor is still open.

Other

Saigon makes level 6 airfield and will go on to 7 to allow upgrades of air units. Hong Kong is confirmed mine free and 38th Div prepares to move on enemy bases in the Makassar Strait.

Sigint shows enemy activity at Rangoon. Is LG reinforcing or evacuating? Time will tell.

[Cribtop]

Dec 23, 1941

Subs

Our subs can't find LG's convoys, but he found ours today. Shark duds on a TK near Babeldoab (forgot to take them off retirement allowed and they sailed without escorts, which had been detached to allow the TKs room at the docks). Salmon then duds on the DMS TF that just finished clearing mines from Hong Kong. Return ASW fire scores two direct hits and we claim our first sub kill of the war. Banzai! She may still be alive but she's surely headed back to the barn. ASW convoys and convoy escorts chase off two Dutch subs near Cam Ranh Bay and Sinkawang, respectively.

4th Fleet

The 4th Fleet HQ departs Truk for Kwajalein. 6th Fleet HQ will move to Truk. We load for the invasion of TB. Subs and three AMCs with Jakes join patrol aircraft to ensure the USN is nowhere near the target.

SE Fleet

A near miss today! Tulagi is invaded a day earlier than expected and KB search planes spot two enemy CAs south of Guadalcanal. Three hits are claimed by search aircraft, but no strikes launch! Must have been bad weather as two CAs should have brought on attacks. The troops are ashore and the invasion TFs will move toward Ontong Java. KB loiters in range and the South Seas Fleet waits at Tulagi in case LG feels like a quick run at the invasion TFs. Per his e-mails he is thankful not to lose two more cruisers and is heading for home, but this could be a deception effort. It also occurs to Cribtop HQ that these cruisers could be the vanguard of a CV TF on the hunt. We position KB with that possibility in mind.

14th Army

Unopposed sweeps at Clark Field are followed by an effective bombing raid that damages numerous float planes (hopefully Cats) and causes 42 runway hits.

Later, Batangas falls to a DA, 23:1 odds. 41st PI Div surrenders and a base force retreats. We are at the gates of Manila, which is quickly being evacuated by the enemy. Casualties are a robust 4450(483) vs 24(1).

Boac is occupied. We love these free occupations as each one is a dot base cleanup op we don't need to undertake.

The two damaged cruisers depart Aparri under heavy guard and make Camiguin. next stop is Batan Island.

25th Army

The IJAAF bombs survivors of Alor Star to good effect. Major reinforcements are unloading at Bangkok and the drive on Singapore will begin in earnest. DA NE of Temuloh clears the hex with 21:1 odds, one unit surrenders, casualties 645(71) vs 49(0).

China

DA near Hangchow easily smashes an enemy HQ with 22:1 odds, casualties 630(53) vs 0(0).

Elsewhere, our offensive on the northern plains is dangerously close to cutting off significant enemy LCUs. If LG doesn't run soon he will be surrounded. We are surprised that LG has made no move to take Ichang and will be ready for counteroffensives from this region once our trap is sprung.

Other

Aparri makes a level 2 airfield.

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Hey, I am a little late for the party but certainly subscribed now [:)]

[Cribtop]

Welcome, GZ. Great to hear from you again!

[Cribtop]

Dec 24, 1941

We're back. LG is starting to emerge from major work induced delays and we have run two turns in 24 hours! Hopefully a sign of things to come.

A frustrating Christmas Eve for KB.

Subs

We at last catch an enemy convoy near Canton Island and I-15 sinks two juicy targets, namely xAKs K.I. Luckenbach and Henry S Grove. Banzai!

4th Fleet

The TB invasion loads at Jaluit. Subs and AMC pickets watch for the USN.

SE Fleet

Yesterday we failed to launch from KB against two enemy CAs. Today, LG stays aggressive and guesses right on KB's location, putting the CA Indianapolis within 2,000 yards of the Akagi! The CV and CA trade a few salvos until our escorts chase off the Indy with no hits to either side. Ugh, what a mess. Worse, the Indianapolis is spotted at 7 hex range in both the AM & PM phases but again KB refuses to launch! Frustrating to say the least, but it could have been worse. Perhaps it's the result of the weirdness in airstrike algorithms when dealing with single ship task forces.

Anyway, Tulagi falls and we will invade Munda and Shortlands over the next 72 hours.

16th Army

21st Air Flotilla will land at Manado tomorrow, allowing LBA to cover the invasions of Ambon and Kendari.

14th Army

Our troops move out from Davao to seize the rest of Mindanao.

In Luzon, LG is rapidly retiring into Clark and Bataan with all mobile forces. The siege should begin soon. The IJAAF is ready to shoulder the burden of air ops here going forward, after reinforcement up to two Sentai of Nates and a bomber wing.

Sweep and port attack on Iba does good damage, but the Allied ships sheltering there were either FoW or bugged out just in time. We resume pounding Clark Field tomorrow. Cribtop HQ is pleased to note airfield damage there is still at 62.

25th Army

The Kuching invasion loads while our kamikaze supply ships successfully unload at Sinkawang. Now our Nettys will be supplied fully and thus have teeth!

Taiping will fall tomorrow to a recon unit while the main body moves on Georgetown. Enormous reinforcements unload at Bangkok. 2nd and 56th Divs board trains for Alor Star while 33rd Div marches on Burma.

China

The pocket is almost closed on the China plains. Either LG is blind to the danger or he would rather trade LCUs for time (see screenshot below):



1 - Japanese armies are one hex away from closing the pocket

2 - 12 or more KMT LCUs probably in the bag

[Cribtop]

Reserved for discussion of cool insight from my wife re interrelationship of tactics, strategy, operational level thinking and doctrine. Did I mention my wife is awesome?

Ok, so we were discussing life decisions unrelated to AE, but I mentioned that wargaming and military history are so ingrained after all these years that I often think in quasi military terms for most things I do generally. This resulted in my explanation of strategic, operational and tactical levels of warfare with doctrine thrown in for good measure. Her comment (proceeding from the experience of a professional counselor, her profession) was that it seems the operational level is meta-tactics and doctrine is meta-strategy. Interesting.

The analogy isn't perfect. For example, I could argue that the operational level is more of a bridge between strategy and tactics than it is only meta-tactical. However, I think on some levels it's an interesting construct and a useful insight from a mind that is coming to military thought unburdened by the baggage many of us grognards inherently carry.

I have another turn to add to the AAR but the weekend kept me from posting. We are definitely picking up the pace.