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Nomad and I have been pounding out 3-4 turns a day - a very good pace for me. Working from home has really made this possible on my end.

Not a whole lot has been going on - the sea lanes and skies have been pretty clear of allied ships and planes for a almost two weeks now - since the defeats in the Celebes Sea mostly. Japanese troops have been pushing along on the ground and making one after another amphib invasion as well.

Malaya:

All of my troops are gathered at Johore Bahru and have disembarked from their rail cars. They are simply waiting for the order to march to Singapore. I am resting my bombers to support the big push.


Luzon:

Manila has fallen and the troops there have marched to Clark Field after a brief rest. The force there will probably just sit there for a while waiting for reinforcements once Singapore falls.


Sumatra:

I have just landed a sizable force at Palembang this past turn and will attempt to take the base and the precious oil supplies this coming turn. KB is providing air cover for the invasion as well as a pair of heavy cruiser led combat TFs.



Burma:

Nomad is not fighting at all here. Everything has been retreating and bases empty. I just took Rangoon without a shot being fired !


China:
While not my strong area of the game its been a cakewalk so far. Nomad has been retreating since the first couple days of the war leaving bases empty. It seems he has been retreating to the rail and has a considerable force at Changsha where I just arrived with 3 DIVs and a dozen artillery units. I am bringing in all my artillery here and will bombard for a week or two to weaken him, while I move units around to entrap the enemy units there.


Xargun

With the high level of retreating by the allies I was worried he spent some points to beef up Palembang with supplies and forts. I personally feel that is crooked as that single base is probably the most important in the game for the Japanese and a destroyed Palembang oil means little chance for the Japanese to do anything. But my fears were unfounded.

Ground combat at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12597 troops, 157 guns, 118 vehicles, Assault Value = 390

Defending force 1407 troops, 19 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Japanese adjusted assault: 326

Allied adjusted defense: 7

Japanese assault odds: 46 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Palembang !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
595 casualties reported
Squads: 24 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 10 (8 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (5 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 2


My landing force smashed the Palembang defenders capturing the base with roughly 15% damage to oil / refineries. The base is beat to hell and I will be repairing it for many days before I can actually start building anything. I will probably build forts up to 4 and then leave the base alone.


China:

My assault on Changsha has also begun with artillery bombardments.
Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 44979 troops, 750 guns, 460 vehicles, Assault Value = 1431

Defending force 90956 troops, 459 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2495

Japanese ground losses:
58 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
188 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

My troops have crossed into Singapore !! The initial shock attack went badly I feel with a ton of casualties on my side.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 112179 troops, 1225 guns, 642 vehicles, Assault Value = 3803

Defending force 56214 troops, 691 guns, 551 vehicles, Assault Value = 1284

Japanese adjusted assault: 2165

Allied adjusted defense: 2713

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
17333 casualties reported
Squads: 300 destroyed, 1437 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 170 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 79 disabled
Guns lost 135 (22 destroyed, 113 disabled)
Vehicles lost 94 (46 destroyed, 48 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
3985 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 117 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 211 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 71 disabled
Guns lost 89 (15 destroyed, 74 disabled)
Vehicles lost 121 (21 destroyed, 100 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Five of my units were decimated in the attack plus 1 small tank unit completely destroyed - had to buy him back. 17k losses is a lot. The disruption for everyone is in the 90's - it will be many days before they are fit to attack again.

So I spotted an enemy TF near Muntok and waited for my bombers to crush it, but after two days of no flights against it I sent in my Cruiser TF guarding Palembang. At first I thought it might have been Force Z so I didn't want to engage with my cruisers but after two days of no bombing runs against the enemy TF I risked the cruisers. After the battle I felt a little silly too.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Muntok at 50,90, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Atago
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Asashio
DD Oshio

Allied Ships
ML No. 432, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
ML No. 423, Shell hits 1, and is sunk


I am a bit perplexed as to why those two MLs just sat there for days doing nothing. I wonder if they were ordered to lay mines at Palembang but my covering force of cruisers kept them at bay?

My troops at Singapore rested up and their disruption was way down so I attacked. Not a great attack - did not even lower the forts

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 89592 troops, 1107 guns, 597 vehicles, Assault Value = 2819

Defending force 54778 troops, 690 guns, 547 vehicles, Assault Value = 1098

Japanese adjusted assault: 1514

Allied adjusted defense: 2765

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
7606 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 545 disabled
Non Combat: 30 destroyed, 73 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 89 disabled
Guns lost 39 (6 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Vehicles lost 75 (44 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1544 casualties reported
Squads: 66 destroyed, 124 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 66 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 51 disabled
Guns lost 45 (10 destroyed, 35 disabled)
Vehicles lost 64 (30 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

The only high point was the destruction of two enemy units.


The bombardment at Changsha went well this turn though..

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 44948 troops, 752 guns, 466 vehicles, Assault Value = 1418

Defending force 101163 troops, 492 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2793

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

Allied ground losses:
414 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)


After bombarding last turn at Clark I decided to attack...

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35889 troops, 396 guns, 464 vehicles, Assault Value = 1283

Defending force 16994 troops, 266 guns, 220 vehicles, Assault Value = 399

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 788

Allied adjusted defense: 676

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
2004 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 218 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1689 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 122 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 54 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 42 (4 destroyed, 38 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (10 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Despite losing more men I feel that attack was successful - plus I lowered the forts there.

Xargun

Turns keep moving fast as the initial conquests slow down.

Malaya & Sumatra


The fight revolves around Singapore now. I have 7 Divisions worth of men there, but all of the non-division sized units are taking a beating in the fighting. My last attack lowered the forts by one by I paid a heavy toll in losses. One more day of rest before I attack again - hopefully I can lower the forts some more. I am supporting my ground attacks with about 6 Sentai of Sallies and Lillies based in Malaya, but they don't do much damage to the defenders -- mostly going for the disruption.

On Sumatra the fight goes well - nothing I run into is able to resist. I just landed troops at Muntok to take the two bases there to secure the entrance to the harbor.

Burma


So far no real contact with fleeing British troops. I am moving north along both roads with a Guards Regiment on each. Not sure if Nomad will fight for these southern bases, or it he simply retreated back into China or India to save the units. Only time will tell. I am struggling to get air support / power into Burma and may have to start air lifting in base units.

China


Most of Southern China - except for Wenchow - has fallen while most Chinese units have simply been retreating. Seems like he is basing a defensive line along the southern half of the main rail line anchored at Changsha. I have no doubt that I will knock Changsha down, just it will be slow going.

The rail spur to the north east of Sian has turned into a nasty fight between 100k Chinese and 4 Divs, 2 Bdes of mine. I have one more Div almost there, but not sure its enough firepower to dislodge them. Main goal here was to capture the dot bases along the spur line and threaten Sian.

Yenan has fallen and I have 2 Rgts chasing the small fleeing Chinese unit to the west. They will chase all the way to Sian possibly cutting off the 100k+ Chinese on the spur line to the south.

Right now I am bombarding Changsha daily and scouting the Chinese held bases on the southern rail line to find the weakest one - just not sure I have much to throw at it with all of my artillery and several divisions at Changsha.

Wenchow is the only Chinese base left in southern china. 8 enemy units (50k troops) hold it. I am trying to figure out how I can surround and crush them as I don't want to chase them all across china in a running battle. I have 1 last division heading there, that I will break in Rgts and enter the hex from the 'open' sides locking him in.

DEI


Not much to say here as its not an area of much importance - I have allocated minimal forces to it but they should be enough to take it. I am preparing for the push against Ambon and the nice airfield there, once I find some combat units to take it.

South Pacific



The next hot spot. KB just arrived at Truk after supporting the invasion of Palembang and needs a week to repair wear and tear. I will use the time to refuel and rearm them as well. I have over 400 AS sitting at Truk, including the Guards Mixed Bde that I bought out of Japan (280 AS) preparing for the Rabaul invasion. I have 4 BBs, several cruisers and a dozen DDs to escort the invasion force, while KB provides cover. I don't expect any trouble with the invasion, unless the US CVs are in the area -- which is why I am doing this with KB and not baby KB just in case.

With Rabaul in my hands I can land more troops on Papua/New Guinea and gobble up the bases on the eastern side of the island -- then decide if I want Port Moresby. This will also open up the Solomons - I will definitely take them, but not sure how heavy I want to invest so far from home.

Economic Matters

Every so often I plan on posting an update on my economic situation and plans so you can all laugh when I thoroughly screw it up [:D]

Currently both the A7M2 Sam and Ki-84r Frank have advanced one month thanks to my Variant Factories !! I am producing the Rufe float fighter with a single size 30 factory until I have 50 or so. I like the idea of later in the game replacing some of the float planes on capital ships with their own fighters. Won't matter a whole lot, but every fighter in the air helps.

Both the Ha-45 and Ha-43 have advanced one month to 7/43 and 7/45 respectively. The rate of that should improve now that all the factories are repaired up to size 30 for those engines.

I am usually in the positive supply on a daily basis now that the bulk of the new factories have been repaired -- the rest will be in small chunks as R&D allows.

My empire stockpiles are below, including the + / - before my usage. So this map seems to have a lot more Resources which I like as it makes hauling them home easier. I currently have 1 small TF hauling from Korea and 3 large TFs hauling from Port Arthur. These are running constantly and the resource storage in Port Arthur seems to be still increasing. It won't be enough long term, but until I take Singapore its about all I can safely haul. Once Singapore falls, fuel / oil / resources will start flowing from there as well.


Current Empire Wide Stockpiles:
Supply: 3.638.086 (Producing 27,157 per day; daily surplus varies)
Resources: 8,578,434 (Producing 319,780 per day; daily surplus +19,255)
Oil: 2,846,504 (Producing 16,040 per day; daily surplus -5,860)
Fuel: 4,979,705 (Producing 19,710 per day; daily surplus +5,478)


Aircraft R&D:
A6M3 Zero: 4 months away (6/42) - path to A6M5c Zeros
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 7 months away (9/42) - path to IIc Tojo
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 2 months away (4/42) - path to IIb Helen

Xargun

If you build up the LI in Fusan, it will increase the resource draw there so you can haul more from there with xAKLs. If you dump a small load of oil there, you can also start small tankers hauling oil in CS convoys. Just stockpile the oil and the resources there.

You can haul oil from the Chinese interior ports and when you end up capturing the Chines oil fields, then the oil should start to flow to that port.

Xargun,

Just found the AAR. Nice.

Thanks.
T Rav

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

If you build up the LI in Fusan, it will increase the resource draw there so you can haul more from there with xAKLs. If you dump a small load of oil there, you can also start small tankers hauling oil in CS convoys. Just stockpile the oil and the resources there.

You can haul oil from the Chinese interior ports and when you end up capturing the Chines oil fields, then the oil should start to flow to that port.

I am already hauling from Fusan with a few xAKLs. Problem is I don't like increasing LI anywhere and with the plethora of LI all over the place on this map I feel like I really need to look at the cost of expansion. Right now I am pulling 40k Resources out of Port Arthur everyone couple days and the amount there still increases - I will probably need to add a 4th TF hauling from there soon.

Once I capture some Chinese oil production I will look at ways to haul it out.

Xargun

ORIGINAL: T Rav

Xargun,

Just found the AAR. Nice.

Thanks.
T Rav

Thanks and welcome.

Xargun

ORIGINAL: Xargun

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

If you build up the LI in Fusan, it will increase the resource draw there so you can haul more from there with xAKLs. If you dump a small load of oil there, you can also start small tankers hauling oil in CS convoys. Just stockpile the oil and the resources there.

You can haul oil from the Chinese interior ports and when you end up capturing the Chines oil fields, then the oil should start to flow to that port.

I am already hauling from Fusan with a few xAKLs. Problem is I don't like increasing LI anywhere and with the plethora of LI all over the place on this map I feel like I really need to look at the cost of expansion. Right now I am pulling 40k Resources out of Port Arthur everyone couple days and the amount there still increases - I will probably need to add a 4th TF hauling from there soon.

Once I capture some Chinese oil production I will look at ways to haul it out.

Xargun

In the long term, you will save fuel by being able to haul more from Fusan. many small CS convoys can load in one turn and empty the next. Determine how much Fusan needs and will retain, the see how much is usually there, and try to load the entire difference in one day and then haul it out. You can keep it all coastal with local ASW TFs and protected by minefields with Air coverage as well.

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: Xargun

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

If you build up the LI in Fusan, it will increase the resource draw there so you can haul more from there with xAKLs. If you dump a small load of oil there, you can also start small tankers hauling oil in CS convoys. Just stockpile the oil and the resources there.

You can haul oil from the Chinese interior ports and when you end up capturing the Chines oil fields, then the oil should start to flow to that port.

I am already hauling from Fusan with a few xAKLs. Problem is I don't like increasing LI anywhere and with the plethora of LI all over the place on this map I feel like I really need to look at the cost of expansion. Right now I am pulling 40k Resources out of Port Arthur everyone couple days and the amount there still increases - I will probably need to add a 4th TF hauling from there soon.

Once I capture some Chinese oil production I will look at ways to haul it out.

Xargun

In the long term, you will save fuel by being able to haul more from Fusan. many small CS convoys can load in one turn and empty the next. Determine how much Fusan needs and will retain, the see how much is usually there, and try to load the entire difference in one day and then haul it out. You can keep it all coastal with local ASW TFs and protected by minefields with Air coverage as well.

I will check it out and look it over. Saving fuel is good as is protecting the convoys. Thanks for the idea.

Xargun

Its been over a month in game since I last posted and I am going to try to be better about this. I am going to aim for at least one post a day talking about the turns since last post. So here is a big update - just major highlights hit. If you are following Nomad's AAR from the post counts I'm guessing he posts every turn so you have some info on whats going on.


Malaya:


Malaya has fallen except for Singapore and its on the brink. My troops are exhausted and heavily disrupted, but if I keep stopping for a rest his troops are not only resting too, but building up damn forts. Here is the last attack below.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 99180 troops, 1258 guns, 518 vehicles, Assault Value = 2573

Defending force 42001 troops, 567 guns, 460 vehicles, Assault Value = 288

Japanese adjusted assault: 1540

Allied adjusted defense: 977

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
2172 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 173 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 18 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3027 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 45 destroyed, 188 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 50 disabled
Guns lost 54 (34 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 49 (19 destroyed, 30 disabled)

I am finally inflicting more losses than I'm taking. My air attacks are meeting limited AA fire, so I'm guessing the month of fighting has run his supply to near 0 on his units. During the fight, the only enemy unit holding the line is the damn 27th Australian Brigade (if I remember right). The rest are providing 0 or 1 combat strength. I am resting one turn as my disruption was approaching the 80s on my divisions before I attack again. Intel reports approx 30 damage to airfields so he should not be building any more forts for at least a day or two.


Sumatra:

Southern Sumatra is conquered and my one Tank Rgt moving north is smashing all resistance by themselves with Shock attacks. I have expanded the AF at Palembang to size 5 and now I won't be lossing thousands of fuel a day due to spoilage. Over 300k fuel sits in Palembang waiting for Singapore to fall so I can start heavily suppressing the subs in the area and begin hauling out fuel and oil.


Java

I have taken Merak and Buitenzorg on Java and have 2 Inf Rgt landed between them. I am landing a Tank unit this next turn and am moving eastward from Buitenzorg to cut off the reported 13 enemy units at Batavia. I have a Guards Division on its way, but it has to come all the way around Borneo from the recent invasion of Balikpapan to be safe.

Luzon:


Luzon is all mine except for Bataan. I have 800 strength there pinning the enemy there while I away reinforcements from the battle at Singapore. Not sure how long this will be, but my bombers are hitting the enemy daily and the return AA fire has diminished. Not sure if he's low on supplies already or if he is just resting his AA units to save supply.

Xargun

DEI:


The DEI is going good with Celebes completely occupied. I am leaving Babeldoab with the Ambon invasion force escorted by the Baby KB. Once Ambon falls, I will clean up the bases around them - especially the two baby oil producers and then look south.

Xargun