Matrix Games Forums

Good to see that you're still going [:)]

Congrats on your victory over the American carriers! You've bought enough time to destroy the 24th division at your leisure [8D]

Hope you master your difficulties.

ta mate

appreciate the comments

(you havent found my 2 divisions in your universe have you?[:D])

13/7/42
tabpub is still crying into his beer over the baker battle, i have to remind him about

Phillipines -out fought
derby, caught by surprise
slapped in burma
and stopped at soerabaya

aint i entitled to a few crumbs?[8|]
101 bombers hit soerabaya - lots of casos though
betties are hitting baker
His heavies continue to pound at mandalaby -for liitle effect
his attack -spring rain 2 has some air support
its all going to pot at derby -subs are getting out some remnants

KB departs for home, KB2 begins the blockade.
Not a good turn at all.

14/7/42
area 1
Im probably paranoid, but I have the feeling that this whole front is in peril.
today rangoon got hit for the 1st time, 27 liberators -very little effect.
35 brigade is hit again by the mitchells
he tries the 1st deliberate atack against 35 brigade -its on a mile a day retreat -but holds easily
Awaiting troops from the phillipines to make me feel a bit more comfortable
I have lots of air, but am reluctant to use it -the ;onger he picks away at troops -the better.
I dread an airfield, air war.

Area2
A bad day on the convoy route -2 tankers hit -and 1 lost by subs
Ironically recieved 3 new one s today as well.
Well, i tried to be clever -someone said if you drop paras, the enemy defence is cut in half (don't ask) so I tried to do this at soerabaya.

Fiasco[:@][:@][:@]
The army shock attacked -totally wrecked all the minor units -again[:(], and the paras were blown out of the sky.

25th Army HQ commander commits hari kari -is replaced with Lgen Sanada
high command, in a panic has ordered the withdrawel of all the minor units to singapore -for refit and repair
I need the 2 divisions from darwin -it'll take weeks -far too long, those 2 divisions lost are killing me
Cursed emperor!!!!

Area 3
trying to get out of aust
Going to lose 4 minor units out of this -a failed defence, the derby thing really got me.

Area4
Some good news, all the supplies are out of the pink -not nearly enough to fight with, but at least not critical anymore

Just cannot get truk above 20000 - a disaster.

Area5
Mitchells from canton hit a dd near baker, poo
She will live
KB -5 CVs ordered home for refit, the rest settle in near baker, and begin the death watch over his units there

Area6
Spring rain 2 swings south down the railway towards hsinyang, 15 units are attacking -but are spreading out
Good
We attack - the huge army i had ready for changsa is ordered to attack, this is a good chance to get him good.

15/7/42
sub attack south of truk - miss
Asw -tori shima - miss
12 betty hit baker
35 mitchell -35 brigade
we naval bombard baker -for poor results
asw truk -miss

Fighting south of darwin - the defence falls apart
I attack south of changsa -a skirmish - its spring rain 2 that is the coming battle
South near wuchow I push some units north -a diversion
His attacks near mandalaby fail -badly

the baker troops still to reach tarwana - lesson for next battle - get reaction force loaded -leave it loaded -place closer to the likely target .

yes -Im already looking down the trck to the next counter - probably the solomons.

16/7/42
A lot of troops pull outof soerabaya - he rejoices[:@]
I lose a tanker today -in the macassar straight -oil filled as well[:@][:@][:@]
106 hits delivered to soerabaya by my bombers

And a unique event - a glenn from one of my subs attacks one of his subs!

Overall here is the situation

Burma front -Im hanging on -extra troops soon to unload at bangkok - will they get there in time

Soerabaya - a mess, all the disrupted units run away -Im now sailing another division from darwin -if a ghost takes it -Im quitting[:@]
Another is loading at darwin

BBs yammato and Co -with 3CVes are going to escort them to malan?, and a awful lot of betties ect are going to wait to strike in sumutra/ java ect -in case he tries to use his CVs here -I suspect they are still in the Indian ocean -where did the swordfish come from that are in soerabaya now[:)]

baker island - its a race -can i get the troops in, before i run out of fuel in the area

KB is at Kwelajien -enroute for home.

I am going to have to assess closely where I want to make my next big stand -it wont be baker thats for sure.[:D]

17/7/42
A sub attacks the hiei off darwin -miss -phew!
betties hit baker
47 hurricanes and 10 spitfires attacked 35 brigade - its up to 30 disruption, and seems to be lost in the forest -progress south is so slow!
Then even more planes pound the 35th -ouch -250 casos

tabpub is really punding away here

I shock attack east of Changsa with a single division -against one of his, and suffer a bad defeat
I smell a rat in china - there is more going on here than I can see
My main army marches north up the railroad

Troops unloading at bangkok, more enroute
21st division is about 2 days from malang -lots of effort and thought going into covering this convoy
The Darwin experiment I give a 50% mark -Im getting out with the loss of 2 NLFs and 1 naval guard unit, a bit much, but Ill live with it

I would do it again if I had the chance.

18/7/42
I need to do a weekly or monthly stocktake, things are getting messy

I just checked all the oil fields, not one has a tanker load available, and I have plenty of tankers waiting.
This shows what happens when palembang is captured totally brocken.

Lots osub attacks -3 of his miss, 1 of my asw misses (and sub warfare is overpowered[8|])

The retreat at soerabaya goes well, and the new divisions will arrive tomorrow
darwin evac is almost finished, and the same at wyndham -Im going to get away

Some ships have been given the task of pounding derby, he has exposed some B17s there today

The rat appears south of Changsa -35 division is thrown back as 6 units appear from no where
North of hysing on the railway I will shock tomorrow, and continue the pursuit

Losses so far ;
me
1cve, 1 cs,5cl, 13 dd,8 apd,26msw, 2 ao, 3 tankers, 15 pcs and pgs
Him
2cv,2bb,2ca,9cl,18dd

19/7/42
OK, the sub debate is exploding again

Again -here is todays sub action -each of my ASW groups have 6 escorts
ASW action tarwana - miss
ASW action tarwana - miss
sub attack on AK near darwin - miss
sub attack on AK timor straight -miss
another go - miss
sub attack near darwin on a troop carrying ship -miss
7 actions, and the sub misses -but so did all the counter attacks

We hit baker island with betties
Poor 35th brigade is pounded in burma

In china 9 zeros go for a training flight (exp 43) and run into the AVG -it aint pretty
I have a very big problem here -lots of people say train in china -but they have conquered half the place, and have exposed chinese units to pound away at.
here tabpub has them covered, I cannot seem to find any soft targets.

Must solve this

At baker Mitchells at canton try to interfere -missing CA's on blockade duty

Area1
65th brigade begins marching to the front
Area2
21st division unloading at malang -here I hope no ghosting will happen
tarakan actually supplies some supplies to the front
area3
Kupang -2 BB await word to strike awaiting good weather
18 div passing timor to malang
Darwin is being stripped of supplies
area4
Supplies -anymore coming?
Area5
the invasion ships get closer to baker
Area6
China -is very fluid -I march up the railroad -he appears to be trying to attack south of wuchow

Overall i feel stretched -and I really , really do not feel happy not having a reserve

20/7/42
sub attack of japan cripples a AK
Wyndaham -a disaster -somehow his troops overtake mine on the road -and enter the city 1st -a very wierd movement.

It dooms a tank unit and a Naval guard unit

NOT IMPRESSED
Bombers from derby hit my ships in Wyndham -they load up, and creep out, crippled
BB Hiei and Kirishima sail from kupung -target derby -lets see how they go.

Area1
the front is the irawddy river

To the west of pagan 4th mixed reg, 1st tank and 15th HQ and a base force are holding on, the 4th needs relief

At pagan 55 div, 23rd mixed are secure
to the east 33rd div is secure
poor 35th brigade is east of mandalaby, on the road to lashio -and crawling home

facing me -lashio -some 3 chinese units, and 6000 men pursue the 35th
at mandalaby 13 units -35000men threaten
Akyab is mine, and construction troops are enroute
Overall, we do not have enough troops, but the reinforcements will help, Tabpub is emptying India I feel,
he controls the air here at the moment -I have 1 nate, 1 oscar, 1 zero, no bombers at rangoon, its defend the oil at the moment -just got 20000 out!
naval forces -2cl, and 4dd only available

Area2
has been revised -only sumutra and java now, and timor
large numbers of small units are retiring to tijilitjap -buggard all of them
At malang 21st div unloading, and 18th is enroute, passing to arae 2 command today. They will join 18th,5th, 2nd at soerabaya.

Timor is a mess, but troops from darwin are settling in

3BB,1cvl, 2cve 1cl,6dd make one naval task force
Hiei battle group is at kupung
and two CL groups are in the area

I have a heavy naval bomber prescence, 100 zeros as well
The army bombers are stood down -6 groups, until the divisions arrive at soerabaya

Area3
darwinis empty -and stripped
area3 is reformed -SULAWESI, BORNEO, PHILLIPINES, North of holliandia

the main base is kendari.
I have 5 ASW groups , but need more.
The phillipines are empty of troops - scattered base forces all over the place

Area4
The solomons
This area is nearly all size 4 bases or above
No where nearly enough men, but the idea is the ready reaction force -it though is busy at baker
1 division is in reserve at Truk
100 bombers, 50 zeros defend this area

Area5
No more troops will be committed here- after baker is re -evacuated, defence will be a matter of sharp naval strikes, and air, the army will fight and die , all attempts to evac will be taken.

I would like to be still fighting here in mid 43 -but doubt it


China -AAAAARRRGH, who knows whats going to happen.
I don't have a clue

Overall, I am feeling very stretched, supplies are low everywhere, no spare troops at all, tired ships.

Only bright spark -the naval air force is in fine mettle almost untouched.

lets see what happens
we land at baker tomorrow.

21/7/42

Mines in port moresby harbour -the sneak, as a supply convoy slips in

The bombardments of baker begin
Multiple sub attacks miss at baker
The invasion begins - and the casualties are frightening -3600!!!![:@][X(][X(][X(]

4th and 16th division shock attack -1 to 1 odds, 19000 more men to unload yet, this is going to be bloody, but I think its not in doubt, he has 13000 men to my 23000 so far

Down near derby BB Hieie dodges bombs galore, and retires, a bust .
Near Lashio he deliberate attacks -and 35th brigade is shoved out , back over the river
At wyndaham I order the trapped units to fix bayonets[8|]

I have another ghost unit a SNLF -this one a bit different -it can still be given orders, but is not on the map?
Wierd

I hope Matrix has a fix for this, I have 5 divisions now with fragments due to sinkings, failing to load ect, scattered all over the map, lose another one to the tardis and this game is in trouble.

The battle for baker continues
KB is at Wake -giving moral support as it heads home to refit.

China is confused, a clearer picture by weeks end -its all movement, and bluff I feel, on both sides.

22/7/42
The baker island invasion continues
Sub attack in the area -miss
At Akyab 5 british DDs and the exeter bombard the rock -and surprise a PT boat left there -sinking her

But the main action is at baker -naval bombardments galore, and sub action.
he has B17s trying to evac? i think, and the mitchells at canton try a last feeble effort to interfere
The CV a/c go on a very rare attck on ground troops -no AA at all.
The shock attack goes in, 3 divisions are involved here -and the enemy is destroyed
24 USA Div
804 Eng
5th sea bee
34th USA eng

losses today, 1432, to 15,405

In Australia the last evac continues , and the shock attack by MY troops at Wyndham bring brief glory as the aussies are forced out

In Burma his LBA rules supreme, hammering my ground troops
And the AVG in china chews up my planes.

23/6/42
9 -yes 9 seperate ASW actions or attacks near baker island, 1 AP sunk
Pagan is hammered today

And a massive effort, if it floats, take troops from baker back to Truk

I now have to work out what next, recover, and sort out this war

At soerabaya the 2 extra div are getting there

Thinking about establishing a DEI fleet, although the 2 BC Hiei and kirishima are very tired -they too need refit.

I have ordered all CVs to japan, for some sort of recuperation, re organisation

24/7/42

I deliberate attack the chinese near homan, 1 to 1, 2937 casos to 1644
In china the front is settled again down south, here i have 174000 men to his 76000, I order a shock attack for tomorrow

Soerabaya the 2 nd div arrives malang

I order the yammato and co towards kupang- derby B17's stick out like a sore thumb

25/7/42
full of elation from destroying 15000 allies at baker, we shock attack in China -and suffer 7300 casos- full on OH Crap!!!

This is a terrible result

back into the shell in china, Im at a loss now, what to do.

Area1
His LBA is now doing serious damage, and because of soerabaya, I cannot counter yet
Lots and lots of troops marching up from bangkok, which makes me happier, but beside rangoon, the air situation is grim
The seas are green with subs off rangoon as well.
Its a bit grim jim!

Area2
Unloading at malang continues
Every day a single squadron of sallies bombs
Sumutra is full of planes in case he approaches ,and a picket line of AKs is out to the west
The navy is going to try for Derby.
After this, not sure, will await the end of month imperial conference for the strategy, way ahead

Area3
Convoys are now area 3 responsibility
so far so good
Plenty of ASW units, ASW air
have built a nice net of bases about the celebes and north PNG, have been promised some more base forces to populate varuious bases, especially the phillipines

Area4
The solomons remain quiet, won't be happy until the fleet and the divisions come back.
Supplies are getting better every day

Area5
baker is empty -we leave the enemies bones to bleach -the island is a place of death
tarwana gets a lot of supplies

Area6
Full scale retreat back into our box.
I hate land combat, I really do.

Combined fleet
OK
Lots of tired ships
All the CVs are going to Japan, as are a lot of the BBs
Most CA groups are still OK.
Again I must concentrate the fleet as quickly as possible, the question is where?
Thought twice about hitting derby, pull the fleet back out.

I have absolutely no idea of a strategy at this point, what to do?

26/7/42
Sub attack off victoria point - We lose a troop carrying AP.
Still suffering some ghosting of units -they come back once you have marched the unit back together.
I hope this gets fixed, I have no confidence every time I move a unit at the moment that it will stay on the map.

daily bombing soerabaya -, he bombards wyndham

Area1
Its march, march, march -soon to start rotating some units
Area2
Unloading at malang, marching to soerabaya

The main focus is at Kupong
yammato and co, are enroute, he is blockading the troops trapped near derby.
He thinks its a blockade -I see a target
Moving in extra zeros to kupong, and a tanker arrives with fuel for yammato

darwin the final ships leave -no fuel, but they are going!
High command reports all beer from Darwin now drunk, the place is totally plundered.

Area3
The convoys are going well
Inbound - java -miri -jolo -legaspi -tori shima- home
Outbound -tori shima -legaspi -then
biak -down coast to lea and onwards
or jolo -DEI areas

Area4
1 division at Truk, 3 old BBs, 2BC, 4 CA TFs are gathering.
The baker island troops are headed back to truk -they will need at least 2 months restoration I reckon

Area5
baker has 10 deserters, 1 vehcile left behind

Area6
The army is in retreat -again
That was a very stupid attack!

27/7/42
A very quiet turn
Whole map is storms

4 sub attacks -all missed today

In china near he attacks near Honman -and he suffers 6000 casos.
81st NG, 14the tank destroyed at Wyndham

yammato op needs two days -to fuel, to get close -then strike
2cve,1cvl will provide CAP, plus 50 zeros at Kupong

Lots of enemy ships near derby, and his B17s sitting on a lovely exposed airfield

(Now this is realistic -during the eighties on was on HMAS SWAN -and during a skippy exercise we "Tokyo expressed " this place -and "wiped out" the australian air farce on the ground.

Such was the efffect of the attack (total surprise achieved) we ruined the entire exercise.
And this with a single destroyer escort armed with 2 4.5 inch guns[:D]
derby sticks out like a pimple on Elle Mcphersons bum[X(]

28/7/42
Area1

Akyab troops hit today
I load a fast transport -adaman island needs food
The plan is to simply rotate the troops as the naval guard units come into play
Intend to move the divisions and brigades behind the screen of small units, i also will split them -need his recon to read lots and lots of units in each hex.

Area 2
38 div all but unloaded
soon 5 divisions for soerabaya -the 3rd attempt to achieve this[:@]
The main focus -BB yammato has fuelled in Timor, ordered 2 hexes south of the place -in strike range
Lots of CAP, and betties ready if he does have CVs about
I do intend to pound derby
the troops near there survive one more day, and I see PT boats today in blockade

I HATE PT BOATS -lost 2 BBs to them so far in other games.

Area3
Convoys, convoys, half the day spent chasing convoys

Area4
re organised the air
have moved most of the gilbert air into the area -and taken up the clasic herbiesan UV defence posture.
It is working against wobbly in that universe, why not here?

Area5
Stripping the air for a while
Do not intend to expend excessive forces here now -if he offers another baker opportunity in 2 months time -fine, but he needs a few more CVs I think[:'(]

Area6
A betty attacks a sub way north -a warning, the north pacaific is not a cheap entry point
In china we retreat, back to the start line -and so is he it appears

We have stymied ourselves.

The fleet trickles home , time for refit and rest.
Mushia in a month.
Not much else though for a long time.

If there are only PT boats there then send in a light surface group of old CL's and DD's, they're excellent for that kind of work

29/7/42
Quietest turn of the game ever
One raid against Akyab.

I agonised over the action to take against derby, all I can see now are PT boats, I'm well and truly spotted, nagato and Mutsu are too slow for this work.

Wieghed up potential gain -3 or 4 PT boats sunk -a couple of holes in an airfield, to the potential cost -1 or 2 BBs crippled.
I would love to have a spare CL or DD group, its crawling to ambonia looking for fuel at the moment, having got out of darwin by the skin of its teeth.

Operation is cancelled, the DEI fleet is ordered back to singapore
The Admiral orders a survey of the fleet -who needs refit, who needs a rest.
There is a definate need for more AR ships, this will have to be attended to.

Bought the 1/3 strength 70th div from the china front today -now to get it to a well stocked base (not many of these[8|]) and start building to a full TOE

dispatched 4 tank regiments from soerabaya battles towards burma, and the rest of the minor units to a deep reserve position.

I always remember Churchill to the french in May 1940, as the germans crossed the muese river
"Where is the reserve?"
"there is none"

Not having even a small one at the moment makes me very, very nervous