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Hi all,

Overall a quietish 3 days.......

SRA -

Main points of note here are the invasion and capture of Dili by IJA 40th Bde and the pre-invasion bombardment of Ambon by Ise and Hyuga.

The Japanese attacked at Buitenzorg on the 16th losing 4300 men to 1000 Dutch. Go boys!

CV Shokaku 'appears' to be south of Java after the last little surface ship (CMc Pro Patria) in the SRA was reportedly sunk by Val's off Lombok. Interesting CV's are here though. I'm beginning to wonder if Australia is a big invasion or just a local northern incursion. Whatever, I've routed all convoys in the Indian Ocean well out of any likely CV path.

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CBI -

With the arrival of 7th ARM and 6th Aussies at Imphal recon reports the IGD as heading back to the SE.....wimps [:'(]. I'll keep these assets in the area spread around Imphal, Kohima and Ledo.

Allied LBA bombs the IGD every day now not causing many casualties but harrasing nonetheless.

In China the Japanese attacked at Pingsiang on the 17th and Chuhsien on the 18th. Both attacks were rebuffed with Japanese losing more than the Chinese.

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Submarine Warfare -

No successful attacks over the past 3 days. Interestingly though 3 of my subs have been forced to return to port due to moderate damage sustained by escorting vessel DC attacks.

Where are the 6th and 7th Aus Divs?

The 6th is currently at Imphal and the Bde's will be used as local garrisons at Imphal, Kohima and Ledo to prevent Japanese attacks in the area.
 
The 7th is about 3 days out of Perth and will be based there as the main defence for Western Australia.
 
As an FYI Prince of Wales is still sitting at Perth and about 3 weeks away from repairing her SYS damage.

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi all,

Hi Chad [:)]

I'm not overly concerned as to what the Japanese do now. It mid-april at the earliest when the bulk of the IJA Divisions will be free (Luzon and Java cleared = 7 divisons + released). By then I hope to have enough assets in place in Australia to prevent a major catastrophe there.

Do you think that once he releases/frees up that many troops that he will commit them all/most to Australia? Certainly would be interesting and might open him up for an early punch somewhere in the central Pacific.

Hi all,

Hi Chad - really hard to say to be honest. Northern Australia may just be a limited occupation with light forces or it could be the pre-cursor to a full invasion. Not goign to really know unless SigInt hints or until I see several divisions in Australia!

I plan to sit tight until at least Wasp comes along, I have TBF's and only then do something if the opportunity arises and/or something critical is threatened/invaded!

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CBI -

The Japanese had fighters on patrol over the IGD retreating from Imphal and a small firefight erupted on the 20th. Numbers of planes were small on both sides (<30) and losses were reckoned to be 3 x Blenheim and 3 x Hurricane for 3 x Oscar and 1 x Zero.

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SRA/Australia -

A few more empty bases were occupied in the SRA.

Further invasions on Australia's north coast have been reported at Port Hedland on the 19th and Broome on the 20th. The CV(S) detected sotuh of Java the other day were present and sank 3 freighters carrying resource out of Port Hedland. They're due NW of Port Hedland at thsi time.

My 'covering forces' are almost in place now with reinforcements beginning to arrive at both Normanton, Cloncurry and Alice Springs.

7th Aus Division is beginning to disembark at Perth. Included in the convoy is the large liner Aquitania. Due in 2 days time is a UK BB TF formed around 'R Class' Battleships. They'll be staying in SE Aus waters for 'local protection'.

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

Submarine Warfare -

SS Permit reportedly left PB Naruto Maru 3 sinking after a torpedo hit south of Cam Ranh Bay.

SS I-164 had a bumper day on the 20th when she sank both AKL Hermod and AK Itaura (both carrying supplies to Calcutta) west of Trivandrum...............

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi all,

Hi Chad - really hard to say to be honest. Northern Australia may just be a limited occupation with light forces or it could be the pre-cursor to a full invasion. Not goign to really know unless SigInt hints or until I see several divisions in Australia!

I plan to sit tight until at least Wasp comes along, I have TBF's and only then do something if the opportunity arises and/or something critical is threatened/invaded!

The pressure for sure eases up a bit once Wasp arrives, but better yet, you start producing TBF's. Wait, what are the TBD's good for? [:D]

How have you F4F supplies been? SBD's?

Hi all,

Hi Chad - F4F's and SBD's are slowly filling up my CV's. All have F4F and SBD variants just not the latest models. By the time Wasp arrives they should all have SBD-3's and F4F-4's [:)]

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

These past 2 days have seen a flurry of Japanese activity...........

SRA -

At long last the bitter struggle for Luzon looks to be nearing it's end. My men, tired and out of supply and still fighting fiercely taking down 4000 Japanese over the past 2 days. In return I've lost 6000 men....the majority of mine have been Dead and POW unlike the Japanese wounded though..........

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CBI -

I'm aiming to try a new limited offensive in China soon but I'll keep it a surprise until it kicks off [;)]

Allied air rules northern Burma at the mo with no Japanese planes in sight.....daily raids occur on either Japanese held Katha or IGD positions.

The Japanese attacked Buitenzorg on 21st taking more defensive positions at the cost of 2200 Japanese to 1200 Dutch (1 fort left but rebuilding).

Port Blair, Andaman Islands was invaded on 22nd. A Japanese Rgt and Eng Rgt stormed ashore. They'll easily take the place against 2 BF's and 11th Hussars. I have ordered CV Indomitable and CVL Hermes set sail from Bombay to try to attack enemy shipping in the area. They'll take a week to get to the area but I don't expect to find major IJN CV units....maybe a CVL or 2.......reason for saying this is:

1. CV units spotted off north Aus.

2. A PBY has spotted a probable IJN CV force east of Midway! There's no Allied shipping in the area at the mo (other than 2 TK's pumping fuel ashore at Midway) so no risk....hope they try to attack PH again as there's over 150 fighters and 140 bombers ssthere....all low experiene of course but [;)]

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Submarine warfare -

On the 22nd SS Sculpin reportedly sank the Aden Class AK Gyoko Maru with 2 torpedoes NW of Sapporo.

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi all,

Hi Chad - F4F's and SBD's are slowly filling up my CV's. All have F4F and SBD variants just not the latest models. By the time Wasp arrives they should all have SBD-3's and F4F-4's [:)]

Sounds good then. I have not made it that far against the AI, but I hear a number of people saying that they are having numerous shortages as the Allied player throughout 1942. Sure makes those production numbers in 1945 look appealing [:D]

Hi all,

Hi Chad - aye. 1942 seems full of shortages but in planes in particular!

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SRA -

Clark Field finally fell to the Japanese on 25th March. 80% of the troops managed to crawl back to Bataan for a quick final stand.....7300 men perished in the attack and the retreat back to Bataan.

At Buitenzorg the Dutch are still resisting giving the Japanese a bloody nose whenever they attack. On the 24th 3100 Japanese were casualties vs 1500 Dutch. Ground was lost though and they're holed up in their final redoubt with 7500 tonnes of supply.

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CBI -

Allied air raids have gone in against Katha and Myitkyina. The only resistance offered was by some Oscar's over Myitkyina. A small air battle ensued with the P40's shooting down 2 Oscar's whilst losing 2 of their comrades.

Port Blair fell easily to the Japanese on 24th March. My CV Force has reached Columbo and will be in attack range in 2-3 days time. CVL Hermes had a lucky escape with a submarine.......

In China the Japanese try again at Chuhsien....despite really bad odds they managed to knock down forts to level 1.

Elsewhere the Japanese have tried to take Pingsiang but failed......

My limited attack will probably begin within 10-14 days time.

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Australia -

Looks as though Faber may want a lot of Australia.....looks as though an invasion force is heading to Carnarvon north of Perth.....I have despatched a DD Force from Perth to 'investigate'.

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Submarine warfare -

SS KXVIII had recently arrived in it's patrol zone SW of Rangoon when she located an unescorted convoy. She surfaced and blew up AK Tokuima Maru.

SS S-38 was detected and heavily damaged off Batavia. She's limped back to Teloekbetoeng with 81 FLT damage. She's in port now though.

CVL Hermes was hit by Dud torpedoes from SS I-164 west of Cochin! Phew[X(]

SigInt tracked SS I-6 to a patrol zone off Johnston Island. I thereofre despatched 4 x DD From Pearl to annihilate her. They foudn her and reportedly got DC hits on her.......

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi all,

As mentioned previously Faber invaded northern Australia at both Derby and Wyndham. The landing forces 'only' consisted of SNLF Detachments with a Bde in tow. My gut feel is that this is just a force to occupy northern Aus down to Alice Springs. No doubt about it that the force landed could never move further south than that.

On the flip side it could be a precursor to a much large landing since all the major IJA Divisions are still bottled up in Java, Luzon and Burma.

For now I hold at Darwin but once the IJA nears Katherine I'll evac south. UII'm not committing a massive amount from the South yet (until I have more US presence in Southern Aus) but the following forces will move as roadblocks to the Japanese incursion:

6th Aus Cavalry Bde - Alice Springs
3rd Motor Bde - Cloncurry
2nd Aus Division - Normanton

If your opponent has not brought a lot of mobile units with him then you should be punching him out. Where are your armor units and your two motorized brigades? I was able to play hell with a full Japanese army of about 3 divisions and support that came ashore at Wyndham with my mobile units. He eventually took Darwin but not before losing about three tank regiments and it took him more than six weeks. Once you cede Darwin then he will have air supiority and Northern OZ is his.

Oh, I see you are only into March. Sorry, that will make your job more difficult as I know your armor has not filled out yet.

Hi all,

Hi crsutton - As you say with it only being the end of March everything that Australia has on ground is both antiquated and Militia standard only. On paper it might look strong but without the modern equipment it's a deck of cards....of course I doubt very much that Faber will take all of Aus. I still quite welcome a full invasion since with a bit of US support in terms of supply, fuel, LCU's, Base Forces and planes it will become quuite the quagmire IMO.

It looks as though 'more of an invasion' is starting now as will be explained below...........

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Australia -

The RN bared it's teeth on the evening of 27th March off the coast near Carnarvon. Despite having tactical and firepower advantage over the Japanese I was quite dissapointed with the reports my commanders fed to me:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Carnarvon at 48,133, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Hakaze
AV Sagara Maru
AK Sakura Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
AK Kaga Maru, Shell hits 4
xAK Asakasan Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
xAK Monji Maru, Shell hits 2
xAK Lisbon Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire
xAK Hokutai Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Kasyu Maru
xAK Shinkyo Maru, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Stronghold
DD Tenedos
DD Electra
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Isis
DD Jupiter

Further to this poor performance Carnarvon fell easily to 113th Infantry Rgt.

As such the Australians have been rushed into action and a Bde along with ARM, ART and Special Forces are being moved to Geraldton further north. In due course more forces will be moved to Western Aus.

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SRA -

Several small unnocupied bases were invaded over the past 2 days along with Ambon by 4th Bde.

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CBI -

Little activity in China except the usual Japanese air raids on my troops.

The small air battles continue over northern Burma. Honours were about even with a reported 2 x Oscar shot down for 2 X Hurri and a Blenheim.

The British CV force should be in range of Port Blair tomorrow to attack any enemy vessels in the area.

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Submarine Warfare -

No successful attacks were reported in the past 2 days.

Despite having tactical and firepower advantage over the Japanese I was quite dissapointed with the reports my commanders fed to me:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Carnarvon at 48,133, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Hakaze
AV Sagara Maru
AK Sakura Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
AK Kaga Maru, Shell hits 4
xAK Asakasan Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
xAK Monji Maru, Shell hits 2
xAK Lisbon Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire
xAK Hokutai Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Kasyu Maru
xAK Shinkyo Maru, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Stronghold
DD Tenedos
DD Electra
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Isis
DD Jupiter

I can't blame you. Zero torpedo hits might be understandable from Anerican DD's, but it's a disgrace to the traditions of the RN! Time to cut the grog rations!

Hi all,

Hi Capt. - good to see you! Indeed. You read my mind. Rum rations have been halved until the ships in question redeem themself.....maybe Tokyo Bay would be a good destination for them? [;)] I meant to mention on torpedoes.....they fired 86% of their alotment and none hit! Sheesh.

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

CBI -

Today's main focus was on CV Indomitable TF NW of Port Blair............rather than the British being the hinter they became the hunted.....the day started ominously when none of the Swordfish or Walrus patrols located any Japanese ships.........late morning Radar detecetd inbound Japanese aircraft from the Rangoon area!

Nell and Betty raids came in and Sea Hurricane's rose to meet them. The first raid of 8 x Zero and 8 x Betty was faught off and the Hurricane's claimed 5 x Betty. A second wave soon followed, however, and with 1/2 the CAP refuelling and re-arming 10 x Nell broke through.....the pilots were clearly Elite since in a matter of minutes a torpedo slammed into the Engine Room of CA Exeter, 1 into the Bow of CV Indomitable and 2 into the Light Carrier Hermes.........

As soon as they came they went! The only other action over the fleet was an Oscar sweep mid afternoon which received 4 x kills........

Damage was not as bad as it could have been (especially on Hermes)....see screenshot below.

Air losses:

8 x Sea Hurricane
8 x Betty (est)
4 x Oscar (est)
3 x Zero (est)
there and I sent Nautilus to intercdpt them)
My fleet will move back to Columbo and then repair yards further north. Main risk now is a nearby Japanese CV fleet and enemy submarines.........

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Submarine warfare -

A couple of missed/dud shots by SS Nautilus at Onnekotan Jima (SigInt tracked a CD Rgt to there and I sent Nautilus to intercept)

being the hinter they became the hunted

Is that basically saying the ass became grass? [:D]

LOL....good ol typo's[;)]

Hi all,

CBI -

A good day for the Allies over Burma. Air raids on Katha caused little damage but my escorts claimed 4 x Oscar's for no loss.

British CV Force is approaching the SE of Ceylon.......

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Australia -

A P39 FG has just arrived at Sydney.....they'll remain there for training until sufficient aviation support is available at forward airfields.

7th Aus Division elements have now arrived at Geraldton.

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Japanese CV moments -

No further spotting of the CV force that was well north of PH. All TF's have been well routed out of the area anyhow.

No further news of Shokaku force thst was off north Aus. She's probably back in Java/Kendari area.

Spotting of a Japanese TF in the south Coral Sea sea east of Australia.....will try to ascertain more.

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Submarine warfare -

SS Sailfish found a big target in her sights....BB Ise south of Makassar.....she hit her!............with Duds.....boo[:(]

SS Sculpin heavily damaged the large AK San Francisco Maru north of Aomori.

SS Searaven damaged AK Celebes Maru with a torpedo north of Toyohara.

Hi all,

The Japanese have been very active over the past 2 days and the defence commander of Northern Australia has been outwitted..........

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Australia -

Out of the blue troops of IJA 5th Division stormed ashore outside of Darwin! The CD units in the area had been on high alert though and exacted a toll on the Japanese shipping as no pre-invasion bombardment had occured...... AKL Kikuryu Maru, AKL Misaki Maru and PB Aso Maru 3 all sustained heavy damage due to Point Emery's guns......

The Japanese co-ordinated well since the IJA 40th Bde, also, unexpectadly stormed into Katherine's defences further south.

In short Darwin's defenders will be cut-off unless they can extricate themselves south ASAP.

The good news is that an attack by 5th Division on Darwin stalled on the 31st:

Ground combat at Darwin (76,124)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13296 troops, 123 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 474

Defending force 8238 troops, 96 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 203

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 175

Allied adjusted defense: 346

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), op mode(-), leaders(+)
Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
543 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
547 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:
5th Division

Defending units:
Sparrow Battalion
19th Australian Battalion
2/2nd Ind Coy
Gull Battalion
A/B Battery Heavy Coastal Artillery Regiment
Emery Point Fortress
2nd RAN Base Force
Darwin RAAF Base Force
Northern Territory
1st Fgtr RAAF Wing

Further west CV Shokaku & co. appeared out of nowhere and launched a raid on Perth.....suspiciously on my part they went straight for the port rather than going for any TF's (there WERE several in the area) or the AF. I say suspiciously since BB POW has been repairing there for the past 2 months. Maybe just coincidence or maybe a viewer is a Faber spy [:'(] Anyhow she only sustained a bomb hit and is fine.

On the 31st Shokaku lingered and sank 4 Motor Launches protecting the harbour. Kittyhawks were on patrol then (piloted by rookies) who claimed 2 x Zeroes for 6 friendlies.

A mass of reinforcements are starting to wind their way to Australia. IF this is the battlefield Faber will be hard pushed to take it all.........

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CBI -

Usual shenanigans over Burma with a few Oscars going down for a couple of Hurri's over Katha.

The Chinese attacked at Sinyang on the 31st....disasterously:

Ground combat at Sinyang (86,48)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 65342 troops, 466 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1808

Defending force 27736 troops, 231 guns, 152 vehicles, Assault Value = 917

Allied adjusted assault: 1204

Japanese adjusted defense: 2353

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
779 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
6935 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 533 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 190 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 28 disabled


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Submarine warfare -

SS Searaven got frisky on the 30th, outside of Shikuka harbour, by probably sinking AK Mikage Maru and then surfacign to duel with AK Ryuko Maru....in this engagement she only landed 6 shells and took 2 in return 1 of which destriyed her forward tubes......she's returning to Seattle to repair and upgrade.

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Upgrades -

April 1942 is upon us and that's a good month for US ship ugrades.....namely AA and Radar assets on CV/CA/DD's and SS's.......

Hi all,

Well it's been 2 month's since I've done an end of summary report so here goes........

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

Points:

Allies: -2163
Japanese: +5245 (main one's here are for taking out Singapore and a lot of troops died from Clark Field as well).


Bases:

Allies: -56 (-3196)
Japanese: +59 (+1442)


Planes:

Allies: +250
Japanese: +280


Troops:

Allies: +3394
Japanese: +456


Ships:

Allies: +38 (+159 points)
Japanese: +37 (+238 points)

I still feel there are a few more Japanese ships I've sunk then this (mainly by subs). Here's the current reading of sub kills from the intel screen (excl. BB Mutsu which I know can't have sunk!)

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

Dutch Boats:

AK - 13
CM - 2
PB - 1
DMS - 3
TB - 1
APD - 1
DD - 4

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

British boats:

DD - 1 (mine)
SC - 1

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

Fleet Boats:

AP - 1
AK - 17
CM - 1
DD - 2
E - 1

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S-Boats:

AK - 4
DMS - 1
CM - 1
PB - 1

Total = 56 ships = 45.52% of reported sunk ships total.

These aren't a bad set of figures and, as I say I feel I'm sinking more than this (but who knows!) The big let down so far is no confirmed AO/TK kills. I've missed/dud about 10 of the buggers!

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Further west CV Shokaku & co. appeared out of nowhere and launched a raid on Perth.....suspiciously on my part they went straight for the port rather than going for any TF's (there WERE several in the area) or the AF. I say suspiciously since BB POW has been repairing there for the past 2 months. Maybe just coincidence or maybe a viewer is a Faber spy [:'(] Anyhow she only sustained a bomb hit and is fine.

Xenobiologists have determined that the feisty Fabertong possesses unpenguin-like intelligence. He may actually be genetically engineered. Be careful out there, Speedy! [:D]

Argh! They're everywhere[;)]