A Wench in the Logistics Machine: Mike Solli (J) vs. USS Mike (A)

[USSAmerica]

JAN 16, 1942
Today was another "Harbormaster in the Pacific" day for me. Lots of coordination to load LCU's onboard their designated shipping at SF and Aden. I bit of time was also dedicated to shifting ships in and out of the limited docks at Suva and Noumea as more ships are trying to unload there than the ports can handle at one time.

Halsey's CV TF is heading for Pearl and Mike asked if I was bored up in the Aleutians since I didn't stick around as long as last time. In my email reply I mentioned he may see just how bored I am up there. Hopefully this will keep him expecting my CV's there for the next several turns, maybe even get him to allocate some of his CV's to the area while I continue to steam South.

Mike captured the vacant base at Saumlaki today after landing there yesterday. Only 7 hexes from Darwin, with no airfield yet and only a Lvl 1 port means it's time for my two squadrons of B-17D's to see their first action. They evacuated the PI to Darwin and have done nothing but train for the first month of the war. The D's are a bit more fragile than the E's that are training at Sydney so an exposed target with no air cover like Saumlaki is a fine place to get the pilots some more experience. I'd like to make this a place where Mike can't get his base building even started and maybe even egg him on into invading Darwin, after the Aussie 6th and 7th Divisions arrive, of course.

Honorable mention for today again goes to the Dutch bombers at Batavia who scored two big 300kg bomb hits on xAK Pacific Maru at Merak. The bombers slipped past a small number of Zero's that were flying (likely long range) CAP without being engaged. 1000 ft attack altitude scores again!

Over in Burma, Mike landed Paras at Toungoo and cut the rail line a couple of weeks ago. Mouse recon says he has 2 units there, but I'm sure they can't be too large as they can only get there via Paradrop for now. 3 of my severely understrength Chinese divisions took a left turn at Mandalay while on their way to fill out in India, and they arrived at Toungoo today. I've ordered them to do bombardment recon tomorrow and if the odds are in my favor, a deliberate attack will follow the next day. I'd love to clear the railroad for a few more days to see if I can get more of the 37k supplies still sitting in Rangoon to draw up to Mandalay and on to China before Mike's marching troops get there to cut it again.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 17, 1942
Only a little bit to report today. My Chinese troops at Toungoo in Burma bombarded the Japanese troops holding the base on the rail line. There is at least part (40av) of a Raiding Rgt and a Construction Company there. I outnumber his troops by more than 3-1, so a deliberate attack is ordered for tomorrow to try to temporarily clear the rail line.

The first handful of my APD conversions completed today with more finishing up over the next few days. Some will escort the big troop convoy leaving SF soon for SoPac and a few will escort BB's Warspite and Colorado, who finishes her first upgrade in a couple more days, from Seattle to Pearl. BB Nevada will be completely repaired from her light damage on Dec 7th in a couple more days also, so I will have 3 BB's to center my defensive SC TF around at Pearl.

I have a fuel convoy from Abadan that is bound for Perth and is currently a few hexes off the NW corner of Oz near Exmouth. I'm going to reroute it and try to slip a decent amount of fuel into Darwin before the area gets too hot. It may be a risk to the tankers, but Mike's moves so far make me "feel" like it will be ok. We'll see.

[BBfanboy]

Sometimes a good 'feel' is all you need ...

[USSAmerica]

JAN 18, 1942

Well, my Chinese troops tried their deliberate attack at Toungoo and didn't do too badly, almost scoring 1-1 odds, but Mike's Raiders held the base. The bad news is that the troops I spotted crossing the river onto the rail line one hex NE of Pegu easily swept away the ragtag group of defenders I was able to throw into the destination hex. The Burma Road is now closed. There is still about 23k of supply at Rangoon that will now likely sit there until Mike captures the base. I do have around 50k supplies at Mandalay and Lashio. I'll start dropping their supply requirements and hopefully release most of that excess supply into China rather than into India or even worse, back to Rangoon.

The turn went back to Mike this evening after a very long "short" work week. I've had it since last Saturday.

[btd64]

I hate those really long short work weeks ....GP

[USSAmerica]

JAN 19, 1942

The only real event of note today was Mike extending his sub operations as far as Colombo. I-166 picked off an xAK carrying half of an AA unit bound for Colombo. The encounter was 1 hex from the base, and right under the nose of an ASW TF, but it only included Motor Launches. 3 experienced DD's will head to the hex tomorrow to try to hunt down the sub. Another cautionary lesson to always split LCU's across multiple ships whenever possible.

Mike did make a push at Clark AFB today, with poor results. He shock attacked but only managed 1-6 odds. I only have a small force here, but anchored by the two US Tank Bn's, they more than held their own. This theater is really only a holding force for Mike right now as he expands in the SRA and pushes into Burma. He knows he will eventually starve me out and overrun my forces, but until then I continue to have a small amount of float plane Naval Search active from Bataan. I'm hoping their spotting some Japanese shipping will allow my subs in the area a chance to pick off a few more ships.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 20, 1942
Mike's Japanese troops had a pretty good day on the ground today, and my guys pretty much didn't. LOL There were a few small skirmishes around the map, but the 3 that were of significance are at Pegu, Georgetown, and Batavia.

At Pegu, the ragtag collection of defenders I had in place were completely blown away by at RTA Division reinforced by a Japanese Tank Rgt. I had at least hoped to cause a few casualties here as Mike had to Shock Attack across the river, but my guys had other ideas. All in all, not an unexpected result and now Rangoon is quite cut off from the rest of Burma. A few engineer units will attempt to get to safety up the road toward Magwe, if they can make their way around occupied Prome, and the 1st Burma Division will make their stand in Rangoon. Since all the roads and rails to Rangoon are now cut, I'll drop the supply spinners at Myitkyina, Mandalay, and Lashio with the hope that it will flow into China.

Georgetown was more of a disappointment. I had hoped to make it more of a speedbump for Mike after his early Mersing landings cut off so many units from making it into Singapore. Nah. The Imperial Guards Division and another RTA Division knocked on the door and my guys folded like a cheap tent.

Most disappointing was the Deliberate attack at Batavia. My defenders held, but Mike's attack brought 2 Divisions and 5 Infantry Rgts. My forts had only increased to Lvl 3. Mike did a good job of bombing and bombarding to keep them from building more. He scored a 1-1 result and dropped the forts to Lvl 2. Both sides took close to 2000 casualties, but he can afford that much more than I can. I hoped it would take a couple of 1-2 attacks and more losses for Mike's guys before he started to chip away at my forts, but it was not meant to be. I still hold the base, and have plenty of supply there, but it looks like Mike plans to storm the base rather than besieging it. The prospects of the last bastion on Java holding out until the end of January don't look too good.

Mike also made amphibious landings at Lautem and Koepang on Timor. The Koepang TF consisted of only 2 TB's and a single AK. I know this because my lone Dutch PT intercepted them in a surface engagement. The PT missed with his torpedoes and then skedaddled. I have been pulling Dutch troops from the various scattered islands into Koepang to make a bit of a last stand here. The auto bombardment attack on the landing showed it is the Sasebo 2nd SNLF that is attempting to take Koepang on the cheap. I'm going to move 4 squadrons of B-17E's that had been training at Sydney up to Darwin to join the 2 B-17D squadrons that were harassing the base at Saumlaki. These boys will try to hit the SNLF before they can launch their attack tomorrow and maybe blunt the attack. I have also ordered the two PBY-4 squadrons at Darwin, who now have Torpedoes available thanks to the arrival of an Air HQ, onto Naval Attack. They were set to Naval Attack yesterday to try to hit the ships at Saumlaki, but storms prevented them from flying.

[USSAmerica]

It's a 2 for 1 day on AAR updates! Mike flipped the turn back to me already after I just sent it to him last night.

JAN 21, 1942
A bit of a better showing for my guys today.

Dutch SS O20 hit an xAKL off Balikpapan and it showed up on the sunk list. There were a few non-combat troops reported in the water.

A few Catalinas from Darwin also hit the lone AK that landed troops at Koepang twice and sunk it. No troops reported in the water, but there won't be any immediate resupply for the Sasebo 2nd SNLF that is ashore. In two waves the B-17s from Darwin bombed the SNLF, disabling 8 combat squads and 9 non-combat squads. It probably did make a difference as the SNLF launched a deliberate attack but only scored a 1-2 result. 11 more combat squads were disabled for only 4 of my defending squads. My guys also have support and supply, while his are hung out on a wire. It looks like my bomber guys will get some live fire target practice as Mike will have to round up and ship in some more guys before he can take the base. At least I've been able to resist his advance a little bit. Over at Lautem, the Kure 2nd SNLF got a 2-1 result against my handful of defenders, knocking down the single level of forts I had managed there. They will likely take the base next turn.

Over in Burma, about 12k supply did flow into China from the inland bases that had been drawing it up from Rangoon. There is still around 30k at those 3 bases and I hope at least half of that will also make it into China before the door is shut. Rangoon still has about 22k supply that was unable to be pulled inland before the rails and road were cut. Unfortunately, Mike will eventually capture a good bit of it. He will also capture a lot of oil at Rangoon, but no fuel. The refinery has been turned off for a long time now. He'll have to do that work for himself.

Some arrivals showed up in the US today. A bunch of engineers will start their transcontinental trek to SF, following the last 2 Rgts that will form up the Americal Division. I'm saving up PP's now to change the HQ of the first Rgt by the time they all arrive at SF. The reformed Americal Division will then be heading to Noumea. BB Colorado finished her upgrade at Seattle and will join Warspite and head for Pearl. BB's New Mexico and Mississippi also arrived today at SF. And, BB Tennessee became the first battle wagon to complete her post Pearl Harbor attack damage. None of these guys could stand up to the KB, of course, but perhaps I can find an out of the way, unexpected place to exercise their big guns.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 22, 1942
The 2nd SNLF that is currently stranded ashore at Kuching weathered another hail of 500lb bombs again today. In 2 waves the B-17's from Darwin disabled another 9 squads and 2 more non-combat squads. I'm sure they are not repairing many of these disablements while they are hugging the beach. Between my bombing and Mike's failed deliberate attack a total of 28 squads have been disabled. Who can tell me what the full TOE number of squads would be for the 2nd SNLF? If I keep adding up the disablements I may be tempted into a counter attack to try to eliminate the SNLF. Tomorrow the 4 B-17E squadrons will keep up the pressure while the 2 B-17D squadrons will shift back to hitting the port at Saumlaki. It's mouse intel damage was down to 2 points, so time to add some more there to make it hard for Mike to get the base expanded.

A third day of deliberate attacks at Batavia saw the enemy combat engineers drop the forts to 0. Despite this, Mike only scored a 1-2 result, 575 to my 601 adjusted AV. His losses here were about twice mine on the day with a significant 99 destroyed squads. The forts immediately built back up to Lvl 1 at the end of the day. My boys here may not hold out as long as I had hoped, but they are at least making some noise on the way out.

At sea today, one of two subs patrolling between Yap and Babeldoab caught a transport TF and put a Mk-14 into an xAK that actually exploded! No report of the ship sinking yet.

Despite the small delaying successes I am managing, I still cringe when I see how much Mike has already conquered and it's only January. Other than the PI, where he is deliberately (I'm sure) only keeping my guys pinned in Manila, Clark, and Bataan, he is far ahead of the historical advance timeline. His very early Mersing landing really put him ahead of the curve when it resulted in Singapore falling so quickly. I'm sure he will be at least another month with cleaning up in Burma, DEI, New Guinea, and the Solomons. Sometime around March 1st I have to expect a significant advance beyond the historical perimeter with 2 months of the Japanese Amphibious Bonus still to go. The question is where.

I'm pretty sure from Mike's past games that he will want to attack Darwin as a delaying tactic to keep my bombers off his DEI bases longer. I think he would be planning to capture it, along with a few nearby bases, then pull out the bulk of the forces and leave a holding force in place. I really hope he does try this! In another 3-4 weeks the Aus 6th Division will be in place to join the British 18th Div, one of the Aussie home guard divisions (2nd maybe), and lots of supporting engineers and armor units. I'll also have enough supply in place to maintain combat way longer than he would be able to. 4 weeks behind the 6th, the Aussie 7th Div will be arriving home and will march here if they can't safely land at Darwin. Unless Mike lands with 4+ crack Japanese divisions with lots of support and tons of supply, he will be in for a rough time. I am and will be ready for a landing here.

I am also pretty well set to face a landing on Ceylon. All of the unrestricted Indian Rgts are here as well as the bulk of the RN's Eastern Fleet. Mike could also push into mainland India overland from Burma, but I don't expect that to be more than a spoiling attack to disrupt the airlift operations at Ledo.

Mike could also push farther east in the Pacific, hitting Midway, etc, but that wouldn't be more than an inconvenience for me. He can't realistically keep enough ground forces at Midway to prevent me from taking it back when ever I feel like it.

What other options might Mike consider? My money is on Noumea. As I mentioned a few days ago, the Americal Div will be departing SF for Noumea in around 2 weeks. They will join a LOT of engineers and base forces, along with 2 Sep Inf Rgts and a Tank Bn. Along with a bunch of air groups, these guys are all already on the way or ashore at Noumea. This force will be plenty to stop a "casual" invasion in it's tracks. I don't expect anything casual about any potential move on Noumea that Mike might make. If he goes there, he will go with the intention of winning the battle. So, I'm planning to get more USMC fighters and dive bombers moving toward Noumea soon, and I'll be buying out the two restricted Rgts of either the 24th or 25th Division at Pearl Harbor and getting one of those divisions loaded for Noumea as well. I should have all of these forces in place by mid to late Feb and the base expansion and fortification will be well along by then. For the next 75 days or so these are most of the significant US ground forces I'll have available. At that point, around April 1, I'll get two more Sep Inf Rgts followed by the 32nd Div around April 15.

[USSAmerica]

JAN 23, 1942

Not much to report for today. The B-17's hitting the SNLF at Kuching only disabled 1 more squad today, along with 2 non-combat squads. Not time to try a counter attack for a while yet.

At Batavia, Mike only bombarded today to little effect after receiving a minor bloody nose yesterday. One more day of only Bombardment attacks here and my boys will have the forts back up to Lvl 2.

Turns are moving slowly right now, even compared to our usual slow pace. Mike was on a week long trip and is heading out on another one this coming weekend, while I'm also heading out of town for a week on Monday. We may get one more turn in this week before we each hit the road.

[USSAmerica]

Double post. I think it's the mouse I'm using on this computer, but the forum software should be better at disabling the Submit button after receiving one click. (My software QA profession showing )

[btd64]

We're you heading....GP

[USSAmerica]

We're you heading....GP

Colorado to visit my step son and the Colorado Model Railroad Museum.

[btd64]

We're you heading....GP

Colorado to visit my step son and the Colorado Model Railroad Museum.

Well have fun....GP

[USSAmerica]

Jan 24, 1942
Slowly getting back in the saddle after both of our vacations. This turn didn't have too much excitement.

Batavia saw another bombardment attack, so the forts were increased to Lvl 2. After getting a bit of a bloody nose, I think Mike is being very patient here as his troops recover disablements.

7 more combat squads of the SNLF stuck on the beaches at Koepang were disabled today. Chipping away at them.

Mike captured Christmas Island in the IO today, expanding his air search bubble. I'll need to be more cautious with convoys from Abadan and Capetown to Perth going forward.

[USSAmerica]

Jan 25, 1942
Yes, two turns of updates as I just sent this turn back to Mike late last night.

Koepang's visiting SNLF had 2 more combat squads and 4 non combat squads disabled today. It would be nice to get these guys beat down enough that my "not so strong" Dutch defenders could attack and really gain the upper hand. I'd love to push these guys back into the sea before Mike can get reinforcements ashore. There are currently no transports within a day of reaching Koepang so I can be a little more patient.

In Burma, a combined force of 2 weak divisions and a tank regiment attacked at Rangoon. Engineers dropped the forts to Lvl 2 and the poor 1st Burma Division was kicked out. Mouse intel indicates that no damage was sustained to the industry. The 1st Burma Division will attempt to follow the previously evacuated engineer groups toward Mandalay.

Mike also made an airborne landing at Lashio today. Flak from my base force there as well as a Chinese unit that was packing up into Strategic Mode for rail transport damaged over a dozen of the transports and shot down 4 of them. The resulting Shock Attack from the Yokosuka 3rd SNLF led to a 1-2 result and 6 combat squads disabled. I ordered the 6th Chinese Corps (well under strength) back into Combat mode and they will stay put for now. I expect more reinforcements to be flown in if Mike still has adequate transports operational here. This was a good move on Mike's part, but unlucky that I had the Chinese Corps there instead of only my base force.

The first 100k supply convoy from Capetown reached Darwin today. Some tankers are finishing unloading fuel at the docks and then the supply will start coming ashore in quantity. Two more convoys with around 100k supply each have recently made it on map from Capetown and I want to get these guys unloaded and the docks cleared for the follow up convoys. As it is, those two will arrive about a day apart, so there will be some congestion for a time.

The only other notable item from today was Dutch SS KXIV picking off one of 3 PB escorts for a transport convoy a little north of Miri. I have to celebrate any chipping away of Mike's shipping at this point of the war!