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Turn 21 - Japanese Side - June 25th 1942



The 1st Army captures the Datong Coal Mines and closes in on Datong.
Due to a Decision Event, I receive an additional HQ.

As soon as I have taken Datong, I will add the army in Kalgan to my Army Group and attack Communist China from two directions.



In the south, my forces destroy the Chinese unit that occupied the fortifications.
But I cannot enter it.. not enough Action Points.



More infantry arrives.
But I would prefer two more units.

Turn 22 - Allied Turn - July 5th 1942



More Chinese units arrive, esp. two HQs.
This will improve the Readiness of the Chinese units.
Does not make it easier for me.



American subs start raiding Japanese convoy lines.
Fortunately, I have a few DDs nearby.

Turn 23 - Japanese Side - July 15th 1942



In the North, my forces destroy the defenders of Datong.
Now I will march to Yulin and take it as well.
It is an Alternate Capital, so I need to take it anyway.



In the south, more Chinese units appear.



All available vessels hunt the American Sub.
It takes damage, but it will flee during the AI turn.
It has 18 Action Points, so the chance that I will find it are very low.

I have purchased two Maritime Bombers in the last turns, and once these are placed at certain strategic points, I might be able to discover a sub before it arrives at the convoy lanes.

Turn 24 - Allied Side - July 25th 1942



Actually I wanted to advance in the direction of Guiyang, but the Chinese advance in my direction.
Not what I wanted.

Turn 25 - Japanese Side - August 4th 1942



In the north, my troops get a bit of time to recover.



Another attack on the fortification near Changsha fails.
Near Guiyang, a Chinese corps takes heavy losses and retreats.
Does not help much, it will be reinforced during the AI turn.



A US Maritime Bomber in Naura is destroyed by my carriers.
It is vital to locate and destroy as many Maritime Bomber as possible.
Without them, the Allies are half blind.



At the end of the turn, Advanced Fighters Level 2 are developed.
This will help a lot when it comes to the first carriers battles.

Turn 26 - Allied Side - August 14th 1942



The Chinese advance continues.
Usually the AI does this when it has numerical superiority.

I need to stop this advance, the enemy gets to close to Nanning.

Turn 27 - Japanese Turn - August 24th 1942



In the north, the assault on Yulin starts.
At the moment, some of my units have bad supply, but this will get better in Turn 31.

South of Yanan, a Chinese army is severely damage.
It will be refreshed during the AI turn, but this will cost MPPs.



In the south, I make a big step ahead.

Near Yichang, my forces destroy a Chinese army that threatened the city.

Changsha is encircled, and finally the Chinese army that occupied the fortification is destroyed.
The rail connection to Chongqing is interrupted, so the supply will drop from 10 to 5 in Changsha.
I can attack from four sides next turn, so Changsha should be mine next turn.

Also, the Chinese advance on Nanning has been driven back.

So far, so good.



All carriers enter ports to receive Advanced Aircraft 2 in Turn 29.

Turn 28 - Allied Turn - September 3rd 1942



British subs raid the convoys from Burma to Japan.
Some of my DDs are still damaged, but I should be able to chase the subs away.



Time for statistics.

The Allies have 30 vessels on the board, I have 29.

I have 77 ground units, but 35 of these are garrion units and AA.
Just 42 are combat units.

The Allies have 87 ground units, and they do not need garrisons, because they do not have partisans like me.
Does not look healthy.

In the Air, the relation is 9:7 for me, but since I haven*t developed Ground Attack Weapons 1, it does not help much.
I will receive 2 Maritime Bombers in the next months, this will help.

In general there is just one question: where will the Allies strike?

Turn 29 - Japanese Side - September 13th 1942



The defenders of Yulin survive at strength 1.

South of Yanan, a Chinese army is destroyed.



Changsha is under Japanese control.
A combination of artillery, bombers, infantry and paras was necessary.
Unfortunately, the city has supply 2 at the moment, so it will take 3 turns until the rail connection will work.

This game is still in the Beta phase, and Changsha was a really tough nut to crack.
Well designed in my eyes.

The Chinese offense to Hechi and Nanning has been driven back.



All carriers have been upgraded to Advanced Fighters Level 2.

Yes, well spotted: I use my engineers to build a fortification south of Kukum.

Turn 30 - Allied Side - September 23rd 1942



British troops enter Burma.



US troops land in Kwajalein.
Obviously this is the disadvantage of troop concentration at the Solomons.



A US Maritime Bomber tries to recon the Coral Sea from Cairns.
It is intercepted by 2nd Army Air Fighter from Kukum and takes 5 strength points losses.
I need to counterattack in my turn, and another Maritime bomber will be gone.

And I think this is the first sign something is going to happen.

I am under the impression that ships are immobile in the ocean since several turns. Is it indeed the case or are you rotating them each turn for refueling? Nice AAR.

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Hi ncc1701e,

indeed many of these ships haven*t been moved a lot.
I am changing formations from turn to turn, but in general the Kido Butei remains in the north of the Solomons.
It is more or less the preparation for an ambush.
Since Strategic Command is turn based, the one who does the first attack has a major advantage.
So I gather all ships at one place and hope that I have the first turn.
I can use my subs as spotters, but at the moment I hesitate to do so.. they would only pull DDs and Cls.
But I want to locate the enemy carriers.



The supply system for Naval vessels is as follows:

- every unit has a supply of 10
- Naval Cruise reduces the supply by one
- Carrier attacks also reduce the supply be one
- normal movement does not reduce the supply

So a ship can do normal movement for quite a long time... no refueling necessary.

Turn 31 - Japanese Turn - October 3rd 1942



My forces capture Yulin.

I have operated the Artillery unit from Changsha up to the north.
Yanan is a Capital, and its Entrenchment value is 5 at the moment.
So an artillery with two shots will help a lot.



Without any supply, it is easy to destroy the remaining Chinese units.



In Burma, my troops stop the British advance.
Or maybe I should call it Combat Recon.

The British have brought a lot of bombers and fighters.
From this turn onwards, I can expect intense battles in the Air.
This is why I have so many Air units over there.
From time to time I cann kill a damaged fighter with my bombers.



I have done quite a lot Recon flight in the past turns.
Now I have a result: the US Navy is approaching.
I have spotted two carriers, and I think a lot of BBs are also around.



At the end of the turn, my scientist develop Infantry Weapons 2.
This will help a lot.

I did not notice any Allied Actions during the AI tunr, so there won`t be a Turn 32-Post.

Turn 33 - Japanese Turn - October 23 1942



My troops around Yulin receive Upgrades.

The first attack on Yanan reduces the entrenchment to 1, so it will be 2 at the beginning of Turn 35.
I should be able to destroy the defenders, but I might not have enough Action Points to take the city.



Most units receive Infantry Weapons 2.
This will make a huge difference.



My bombers destroy a British fighter in Kohima.
I cannot advance on this front, but this reduces the Allied pressure.



No sign of the US fleet.
Unfortunately my Maritime bombers have Strength 5, so I need to refresh them.
And bad weather prevents passive Naval Spotting.

I wonder what the AI is planning.

Turn 34 - Allied Turn - November 2nd 1942

photo sharing

During the AI Turn, I noticed a lot of enemy Action.

A DD and a CL attack my subs south of Guadalcanal.
And two carriers attack the 1st Kure SNLF in the hex south of Henderson Field.
To me, these actions appear to be combat recon.
The AI has checked my positions and decided not to attack.

I think the AI has gathered 10 to 15 ships down there.

Turn 35 - Japanese Turn - Novemver 12th 1942



Yanan is occupied by the 6th Army.
Next stop will be Sian.



At the end of the turn, Communist China surrenders.
One enemy less.



The AI is good in choosing defensive positions.
I inflict high losses, but I do not get a single step ahead.
Maybe I need to use the Paras to jump into a free hex.



The Battle of the Solomons has started.

Unfortunately, it is raining over Guadalcanal.
This means my Maritime Bombers have less effect.

And I need to let my carriers attack from rainy hexes, so their attacks also have less effect.
This is why I did concuct a full scale attack.. I just moved on maximum attack range and then withdraw.

The results are satisfying: USS Hornet and Enterprise are sunk, as well as another CA, a CL and a DD.
Two DDs have been severly damaged.

There is one thing I should describe a bit.
When a Naval unit takes damage, it might happen that it tries to flee to the next port.
The USS Hornet did that after the second attack, and I had to hunt it down with a sub.
At the beginning of my attack, it was south of GUadalcanal, and it was sunk close to where the sub it.

Funny feature.. when planning an attack, the human player need to make sure he can react when a Naval unit flees.

Turn 36 - Allied Turn - November 22nd 1942



Another British attack begins.



The US Fleet seems to gather in the south San Cristobal.

An a Maritime Bomber in Cairns tries to raid my convoy routes.

Turn 37 - Japanese Turn - December 2nd 1942



My forces destroy a Chinese Cavalry unit.

The next thing I need to do is to conquer Sian.
After this, Lanzhou is the next target.
The terrain is impassable, so it will not be a picnic to get there.



In the south, my troops advance very slowly.
The Chinese suffer heavy losses, but they seem to have unlimited manpower.



The attacking British corps is driven back.
The 25th Army marches into the breach and destroys a British Tac bomber.



The Battle of the Solomons continues.

My carriers sink the USS Saratoga, a BB, a CA and a CL.
Of course this is a Strategic Victory.
Bit I need to send the carriers Junyo and Shokaku back to Japan.
Their Air Groups need a refresh.

There is one reason why I do not use my BBs:
The US Navy still has 23 vessels on the board, and I do not know where they are.
I expect they still have 4-6 BBs, and I do not want to get caught on opnen sea.

I know my strategy is quite conservative, but I do not like high losses.
I prefer to sink a couple of ships per turn instead of one huge battery.
And of course the weather has an infliuence.
There was a lot of rain and storms in the past turns, and this make attacks more difficult.
It took 5 attacks to sink the Saratoga, and I just have 8 attacks by carriers in total.

Turn 38 - Allied Turn - December 12th 1942



American Units start a landing at Rabaul.
I think there are a lot of units hidden between Port Moresby and Bougainville.
My Maritime Bombers are damaged, so I need to find a way to recon this area.

Turn 39 - Japanese Turn - December 22nd 1942



Snow prevents major actions in the north.
This will likely be the case during the next months, so I decide to give my troops a bit of rest.
And of course they will receive upgrades.



In the south, the Chines Forces suffers heavy losses.
They loose a Tac Bomber, an army and a corps.
I should be able to capture Tongren next turn.



Two slightly damaged BBs sink the Eichelberger HQ south of Rabaul.

Altogether, 2 carriers, 4 BBs and 2 subs head to Japan to get repaired.
So for the moment, the Kido Butai is at half strength.
This is why I will remain passive for the time being.