Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Mike Solli]

I just got back from church to find the turn. Off to run it!

[Chickenboy]

Here's to the shooting war!

Finally! [:'(]

[Crackaces]

In case I play the IJ PBEM someday .. I am most interested in the Malay strategy and invading Mersing early to cut off support. ...

[Dan Nichols]

Banzai!!!!

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Banzai

[Mike Solli]

7 Dec 41
Just a few comments before I head off to work. More details tonight. Definitely a different strategy from both sides....

Pearl Harbor

Here's a rare clip of the combat report (I don't like doing this):

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 100 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 90
B5N2 Kate x 117
D3A1 Val x 108

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 9 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
O-47A: 6 damaged
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
B-18A Bolo: 41 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 4 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 33 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 57 damaged
P-40B Warhawk: 4 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 25 damaged
SBD-1 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 2 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 20 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 2 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 19 damaged
A-20A Havoc: 3 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 15 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 10 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
C-33: 2 damaged
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB Maryland, Torpedo hits 3
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 4, on fire
DM Ramsay, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Helena, Torpedo hits 1
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 3
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

The Arizona had a magazine explosion and went down. [X(]
I also see the DM Ramsey as sunk. Overall, not so hot. No DDs hit at all but a CA & 4 CLs damaged. That's nice. All that for a cost of 4 Kates (2 pilots) and 4 Vals (4 pilots). I haven't decided whether or not to hit Pearl again. Not much damage to the air force either. The mouse over shows 38 airfield damage. I may run. The losses to my planes may not warrant the additional damage caused. Gotta ponder that today.

Malaya

Very interesting. I made my first substantial mistake and the AI caused another. I moved my invasion force to within 2 hexes of both Kuantan and Mersing. My cruiser force was supposed to also move there for cover. The amphibs all made it but the cruisers didn't. [8|] The bad part was that I used the Yamada det Zeros as LRCAP and had them follow the cruisers. [:(] That meant no LRCAP over the amphibs. That meant a couple thousand soldiers went swimming and I lost a Yusen S, Aden, Ehime, 2 Kyushus and 2 Yusen Ns. Also, the one and only LSD will go down tomorrow. It's damage is 43-15(9)-18(4)-91. I liked that ship. Ah well, it's soon to be a fish resort.

Here's the kicker. Ted decided to send in Force Z! [X(] Fortunately, it didn't quite make it to the amphibs. It was 1 hex away. Ted told me later he meant to send the Repulse to Mersing to ambush me (!) and send PoW as a sacrificial lamb. The Repulse apparently reacted and they ended up together one hex to the SW of the amphib force. At a cost of 6 Nells and 2 Bettys (6 pilots) they both went down. Banzai!!! That's a relief.

Next issue is the remnants of Force Z which is scattered in two hexes (1 hex SW & 1 hex W of the amphibs). Do I send them into Mersing tomorrow or withdraw a hex or two and wait for Kaga (1-2 days out) currently at Cam Ranh Bay? Not sure. If I go in tomorrow, there's a good chance they will be hit by Force Z(-). The 4 CAs will arrive, but I'm still concerned. Gotta ponder that as well...

[PaxMondo]

Eeesh ... Mersing is 50:50 for me at best which is why it is always a tough call for me.  Good job on Force Z, but bad news that Ted smelled your attack out.  He had the right defense up.  If his land moves were consistent with his naval and air moves... agreed, need to sit back and think this through a bit ...
 

[ny59giants]

You need to wait until you have LRCAP over your Amphib TF. Whether it comes from carriers or Kota Bharu, it makes no difference. His Swordfish and those 'damn' Vildebeest ([:@] or [:)] - depends what side your playing [:D]) will wreck havoc among your transports if given a chance. That is why I move the Mersing transports to about 4 to 6 hexes from Saigon with 1st turn bonus. Give you a chance to capture Kota Bharu and get CV Kaga over before you get to Mersing.

I would send the Vals from Kaga over to Malaya to go after his fleeing ships and add additional Zero to Kaga to help with your CAP/LRCAP.

[Olorin]

That's why I think Kuantan is a better choice for a first turn landing. Almost the same result (cutting the allied Malayan army in half) is achieved with much less risk.

As things stand now, I agree that waiting for Kaga is the best choice.

[Mike Solli]

I think I'm going to back off the amphibs for a turn or two and soften the place up. It's not worth trashing a couple of divisions. I have over 100k troops on those amphibs.

Here's the rest of the turn comment:

7 Dec 41 (cont)

Subs

No action on my part. I did lay a minefield at Bataan and 1 hex to the west of Singapore. Two Dutch subs west of Manila found one of my amphib TFs moving into position and attacked (and was DCed) unsuccessfully.

Most of my subs are headed toward their patrol zones. Here’s a quick breakout of where they will patrol:

2 Glen: Off US West coast
2 Glen: Along US-Hawaii SLOC
3 Fleet, 1 Glen: East of Hawaii
3 Fleet, 1 Glen: SW of Hawaii
4 Fleet: Aleutians
3 Ro: South of Rabaul
3 Ro: South of Pt. Moresby
3 Fleet, 1 Glen: NE of Fiji
3 Fleet, 1 Glen: N of New Zealand
6 Fleet, 2 Ro: SRA

The rest are headed to various ports and will replace those on patrol as necessary.

Pearl Harbor

Not much more to add. The combat report is above. I still haven’t decided whether or not to attack again. I’m leaning toward moving on. The goal has been accomplished. The US Surface fleet is out of commission for a time. The bonus is that 1 CA and 4 CLs are also damaged. That’s less AA escort for the CVs for awhile. Just a note – all of the bomb hits on ships were 800 kg bombs.

The next destination for KB (whether or not they stick around PH another day) is to support the Wake landing. I combined the Tarawa NG and Wake SNLF into one TF and will slowly wander toward Wake. The 4 Aobas are headed there as a bombardment force. Once KB arrives, I’ll move in. The eventual garrison will include some engineers (temporarily, until the fort level is maxed), a small base force, and 1 or both of the infantry units. An eventual reinforcement is a CD unit, which will arrive there. The only air unit I’ll send there is the 2 plane Betty unit starting at Kwajalein, to be used as a recon unit. I may send a small floatplane unit to augment the recon or perform ASW.

After Wake is successfully liberated, KB will head to Truk to rearm and then will move south to support the Rabaul-Pt. Moresby campaign.

4 Fleet

Most of what is going on has been discussed above. The Makin Invasion Force is moving out and a NG based at Jaluit is loading to take Tarawa.

SE Fleet

The 144 Regiment is headed to Truk. In 3 days, I’ll have enough PPs to buy out the Gds Bde for SE Fleet. These two infantry units will take Rabaul and then Pt. Moresby, with the support of the 4 Aobas and KB. Once those two bases are liberated, KB will most likely move on, but the Aobas will stay. KB may raid the SE coast of Australia if it appears that there are some good targets of opportunity there. I plan on snooping around with some subs. KB may move into the SRA if needed or it may just disappear for a bit. We’ll see if the US carriers show up anywhere. By the way, Ted is ecstatic that the Enterprise hasn’t been spotted. If you recall, on 8 Dec in our last game, the I-169 ran across her (accidentally) and put 3 torpedoes into her. The next day the I-7 put 2 more torpedoes into her, sealing her fate. We’ll see what happens this time. I suspect Ted didn’t aim her at Pearl, but we’ll see.

About 8-9 days after I buy the Gds Bde, I’ll have enough points to buy the 90 Inf Reg, also for SE Fleet. For those of you who aren’t aware, the 90 Reg is a very nice 90 exp/90 morale unit from Manchuoko. It’s a part of a division (can’t remember which one off hand) but the rest of the division doesn’t arrive for a year or two. It just screams for redeployment elsewhere. It’ll support the Pt. Moresby invasion if needed. After Pt. Moresby is secured, the 144 Regiment will move to the SRA to marry up with the rest of its division (55?).

5 Fleet

I’ve decided to invade Adak early. I spent quite a bit of time trying to find a small infantry unit that I could use from the SRA. Instead, I decided on the 7 Base Force, a 5 Fleet unit that starts in Ominato. It has infantry to take the place as well as all the supporting stuff that will be needed later. I’ll reinforce it with some NG units later, or maybe a regiment or brigade from Manchuoko if I can spare the PPs (which is doubtful).

I think this is a risky operation, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Burma

Nothing to tell here. The historical 15 Army is strat moving north then will begin the slow crawl toward Burma. The 15 Army will eventually receive a lot of air support units and all of the armor from 25 Army, as well as more infantry from 25 Army (or possibly Southern Area Army infantry). Most of the 3 Air Division is destined to end up in Burma. The 22 Air Flotilla will end up in Pt. Blair.

Malaya

Ahh, the best for last. Well, the most exciting anyway. I already told you most of what is going on, but a few more details are in order.

Now that I look at the ships that I’ve lost, only 2 are critical ships. Here are the details:

1x Yusen S – This is an AK. There are only 10, excuse me, 9 of this class. They are nice, 18 kt AKs. Oh well, I can live with this.

2x Kyushu – There are 30 of these left. Nice, 18 kt ships with 300 liquid capacity. They are tasked with hauling resources and oil from Singapore to Japan. Oh well…

2x Yusen N – There are 54 of these left. They are the 15 kt version of the Kyushu. They will be used in a variety of locations, hauling resources and oil. No biggy.

1x Aden – This is the workhorse of the IJN merchant fleet. There are 188 of these 12 kt ships left. I expect to lose a lot more of them (mainly because there are a lot of them to lose).

1x Ehime – I converted some of these to AGs. 11 to be exact. That leaves 46 for other missions. No big deal here either.

Finally, the LSD. This ship hasn’t sunk –yet– but her fate is inevitable with 91 fires. I think there is a second in the reinforcement queue, but this 18 kt ship could haul 2200 troops and 1100 cargo. She’ll be missed.

I ended up losing ~3700 troops. Ouch. If I can take Singapore in Dec or even early Jan, it’ll be worth it. I lost parts of the following:

25 Army HQ
5 Rcn Reg (5 Div)
15 Ind Eng Reg
34 AA Bn
84 JAAF AF Bn
5 FA Reg (5 Div)
41 Inf Reg (? Div)

In addition, I lost a complete AA unit. It’ll cost all of 1 PP to buy back. I’ll buy it eventually.

Most of the hits were caused by the Vildebeests and Swordfish. Damn stringbags. If that Zero LRCAP had been where it was supposed to be, those planes would be matchsticks right now and most of my lost xAKs (and troops) would be fine.

I lied to you earlier. The remnants of Force Z are all in 1 hex to the SW of the amphib TFs. I can probably use waypoints to get them to Mersing tomorrow but it’s still iffy. The 4 CAs are charging straight down but are several hexes north of the amphibs right now. I need to ponder this more. What I don’t want to happen is to have the amphibs run into these guys. Those DDs could run amok. I don’t need that.

I converted my first Nate chutai to the Oscar Ic. It’s the 77 Sentai det that begins just north of Malaya with the two Nate Sentai. The Oscar pool is back to 0.

I’m going to swap out those two Nate Sentai for the Oscar Ia and Ib Sentai. Hopefully, they will do a bit better (even though the Ia doesn’t have a decent MG).

Philippines

I dropped off an IJAAF AF Bn at Vigan and will take it tomorrow. I’ll station some Zeros and Nates there the day after. The rest of the invasion force is wandering south and will reach San Fernando in a few days. I did use one of my paratroopers to take Cabanatuan unopposed, in the center of the island. I’ll fly some supply then air support to station more fighters there. It’s really there to give Ted another problem to think about. Two beachheads are more headaches than one. Oh yeah, I got a B-10 in the process.

China

Not a lot happening here either. I have a unique goal here. Yeah, I’ll take important cities. Sian comes to mind because of its oil, which is always attractive to the Japanese player. My major goal here is to kill at least 400 squads per month. The Chinese can rebuild 350 per month. If I can keep up 400 squad kills per month, they will get continually weaker. The only attack (other than a few air attacks, was against Pengpu, killing 40 squads, along with another squad killed in an air attack. 10% of this month’s goal!

Manchuoko

The 20 Div will prepare for movement to the SRA from Keijo. It will be bought out by regiment (infantry first, then engineer, then the rest) as PPs become available, but after the 90 Reg. The xAPs needed to move it are already on their way to Keijo.

I am moving all independent engineer regiments to Pt. Arthur for eventual movement to the 4 Fleet area (primarily). This is to happen after the 20 Division is bought.

I am also moving all units (tanks and 1 artillery unit) belonging to the 1 and 2 Tank Divisions to Pt. Arthur. They will be bought out, probably in June 42, when the rest of the units for those divisions arrive. Their fate is to die in Burma. I will use them to form the 1st Imperial Japanese Guards Panzer Army. (How’s that for an interesting name?! Too bad it’s nothing like a real Panzer Army.) My thought (at this early point) is to team them up with the IG Division. That should be fun.

Odds & Ends

My Nates have performs rather poorly today. Over Kota Bahru, 34 of them tangled with 6 Buffalos, for a loss of one each. I should have enough Oscars in the pool to upgrade another Chutai in a week. *Sigh* If I hold off for a Sentai, I’ll have to wait until 27 Dec. I think I’ll go with the chutai for awhile to get the Oscars in action sooner.

The 3 Brit DDs that start in Hong Kong (Thanet, Thracian and Scout) made a mad dash due west. I think Ted wanted to sacrifice them hoping to catch an amphib TF. Fortunately, I had sent some surface TFs east, west and south of Hong Kong, just in case. Of course they found the smallest TF, DDs Ikazuchi and Inazuma. I think both sides emptied out their torpedo tubes to no avail, but Thanet caught 5x 5” shells and the Thracian caught 1 shell. In return, Ikazuchi took one hit. Her damage is slight at 8-0-5-0. I’ll still send her into port for repairs. Thanet doesn’t look too good. Later in the day, a LOT of sorties flew out of Formosa trying to hit them. A total of 91 sorties flew (Vals, Bettys, Anns and Lilys) doing nothing but killing fish. Fortunately, I didn’t take any losses either. The 3 DDs are still alive, but unless they go back to Hong Kong, I should catch them with a surface force and finish them off.

I did a very cursory look at the production increases. Looks like they are building like they should. I’ll take a closer look at it tonight.

Now to get back to pondering about what to do with KB and the Mersing invasion force...

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

My Nates have performs rather poorly today. Over Kota Bahru, 34 of them tangled with 6 Buffalos, for a loss of one each. I should have enough Oscars in the pool to upgrade another Chutai in a week.

Not sure how much difference ... Nates and Oscars have similar performance, just the Nate has REALLY lousy range. The 1c Oscar gets a little heavier MG. Still pretty light weight.

Point being, if the Nates did badly, likely just bad rolls ....

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I’ve decided to invade Adak early. I spent quite a bit of time trying to find a small infantry unit that I could use from the SRA. Instead, I decided on the 7 Base Force, a 5 Fleet unit that starts in Ominato. It has infantry to take the place as well as all the supporting stuff that will be needed later. I’ll reinforce it with some NG units later, or maybe a regiment or brigade from Manchuoko if I can spare the PPs (which is doubtful).

I think this is a risky operation, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Always a fan of an early Adak. 7th BF is a real good choice to start. Get some Netties up there ASAP with it, and figure out a Rgmt by Feb. If you can get a Rgmt there, you can hold off about anything the allies can throw at you for '42. And to do so, they have to commit a lot of resources .... things that you can bring the KB to and make them go "boom". [;)] If he doesn't come out to play, fine, your back door is closed with a guard dog on patrol.

Then in early '43 the 7th gets some DP guns ... again, keeps this a viable station for a long time .... expensive for him to come after.

[Mike Solli]

Thanks for the info and advice Pax.

I learned something new. You can't put a PB in a replenishment fleet. [:@]

[ny59giants]

Mersing - You can form a few small SC TF and order them to meet your Amphib TF and then "Merge" with it. You might but a few BB/CAs in it to be bomb magnets. They can also be the target of any of the escorts from Force Z that Ted sends into trouble. They can take the punishment better than those transports. Beef up your Amphib!!

Rabaul - Make sure you are moving Patrol planes and/or Ms Nell and Ms Betty over to Truk area to see if you can spot any potential move by the 2 American CVs into this area. He can easily get there before KB

[Richard III]

Mike

Thanks from a new, aspiring ( more like perspiring with that GC 1st. turn setup[X(]) Empire of the Rising Sun player.

Just started a GC PBEM and the time, effort and detail you put into your AAR is sincerely appreciated !

Banzai !

Rich

[Mike Solli]

Thanks Rich. I appreciate it.

Just ran the 8 Dec replay. Interesting turn. The LSD sank, which was expected. [:(] I'm working the turn and will give the details after I get it back off to Ted.

[Mike Solli]

Just a quick note before I head off to work. Having played a whopping 2 turns of the beta, there definitely is a different flavor to the game. Things seem more fragile now, which is as it should be. I haven't played much but the feel is different and, in my opinion, nicer. I like it. I'll write the 8 Dec summary at lunch and post it tonight. There should be a turn waiting for me so I expect to pump out at least a turn a day. Fun stuff. Thanks for reading and participating.

[Mike Solli]

I've noticed that there is a lot more FOW concerning damage to ships. My ships that are taking damage are either taking massive damage or no damage. It happened a couple times again last turn but I'll save the details for the discussion to come later. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

8 Dec 41

Subs

Well, my intel was already proved to be faulty. Yesterday, I saw the Repulse and PoW showing up as sunk. They had taken 6 and 3 aerial torpedoes respectively. Right off the bat, The PoW was spotted by the I-155, who was headed south to her assigned station. She launched a spread of 6 torpedoes and had the satisfaction of seeing 3 of them hit. Now I’m certain the PoW is gone for good.

Further to the east, the I-124 had dropped a load of mines at Bataan on 7 Dec and then remained there just to see what would flee. She was not to be disappointed. Out came the AS Holland. I-124 successfully put a torpedo into her side. I doubt that she sank, but it’ll definitely slow her down for IJN air or naval power to seek out. Immediately after this successful attack, the I-124 had the satisfaction of seeing the Langley hit one of her newly laid mines and reported seeing her go down.

There was another sub attack but I’ll discuss it below because it needs to be chronological.

Overall, subs are looking pretty good, and 90% of them aren’t at their assigned area yet.

Malaya

I’ll start with the most critical area first. I had 4 amphibious TFs and the CA TF together four hexes away from Mersing with another 3-4 TFs on their way a day or two out. Kaga was about 8 or so hexes to the east. My initial thought was to move the 4 TFs 2 hexes due east and have everyone else congregate there then go in en masse. Then I realized that Ted moved the Aussie Bde out of Mersing. I took a risk and formed an amphib TF with the 4 CAs and several ground units to get a bridgehead. Everyone else will move 2 hexes east to congregate. They will have LRCAP from Kaga’s Zeros (18 planes) and the Yamada daitai (16 Zeros) who replaced Kaga’s Vals. The Yamada det was upgraded to 9 Zeros as well this turn so soon they will be available to fly off of Kaga to boost fighter strength even more.

The RAF came out to play again today, but was much less effective. They ended up spending most of their energy on the CAs. Mogami was hit by a 500 lb bomb which destroyed an AA gun but only caused 5 sys damage. Then, Kumano was hit by 2x 500 lb bombs but they were FOW. No damage at all. Banzai!

Today, Kaga’s and Yamada’s Zeros were tasked with LRCAP over the Amphibs but it didn’t work as planned again as described below.

After the PoW was dispatched, the Brit DD Express found one of the amphib TFs. She took three 5” shells and hit 3 of the escorts and one xAK , primarily with 2 pounders. No major damage there. Two of my xAKs collided causing most of the damage incurred and then that TF bolted, heading several hexes east. Of course, that was the convoy that the Zeros all decided to LRCAP. Later, 3 Hudsons arrived over that convoy and all were shot down. If Ted reviews the combat replay closely, he’ll see that Kaga’s Zeros participated in the battle. Otherwise, he still will not have a clue that Kaga is there.

Immediately after that minor skirmish, the I-156, transiting the area south to its designated patrol zone, came across the Express and put a torpedo into her. If she didn’t go down, she’s in bad shape.

Overall, for the cost of 1 Sally, fighters and flak destroyed an estimated 7 planes, all bombers, and the only damage they caused were the bomb “hits” on the CAs. Ted is pulling out of Kuantan, Alor Star and Mersing, but staying put elsewhere. Pretty odd. There is the possibility that I just don’t see the units moving. Not sure but time will tell.

Also, he pulled his air power out of Alor Star and Kuantan. There are still some Buffalos in Georgetown and a few other airfields out of range of my air power. He’s in a nice position to attack my soon to be bridgehead at Mersing while his airfields are out of range of my air force.

Tomorrow I’m going to see if there is a small infantry unit handy to grab Kuantan. Then I can ship in some air support and get that airfield going with some fighters and 1E bombers. Time for those bombers to get into the war!

An infantry regiment, construction unit and some air support finished landing at the base just east of Victoria Point. They’re headed to Victoria Point to take it. That will be my staging area (as it was last game) for my paradrop on Pt. Blair. I’m staging the Yokosuka 3 SNLF (paratroopers) and transports to Bangkok and will stage the whole lot to Victoria Point once it’s liberated. I’ll go in with the paratroopers and then follow it up with the construction troops and air support. Eventually, I’ll withdraw the paratroopers and replace them with the 91 NG as a garrison. The 22 Air Flotilla HQ, along with most of the 22 Air Flotilla air units, will be stationed there along with some more substantial ground forces and a few AA units.

Burma

The 15 Army forces in French Indo China are moving by rail north.

China

The Hong Kong force has reached Hong Kong and will deliberate assault (DA) next turn.

Elsewhere in that theater, the normal garrison shuffle continues.

Just off the coast of China, the 3 Brit DDs are still causing problems. Two of them, Scout and the damaged Thanet, ran across the 4 Tomozurus. We put a shell into the Scout and sank the Thanet in return for minor damage to the Hatsukari. Ted reinforced the air complement at Hong Kong (I think). 5x Walrus and 3x of the dreaded Vildebeest attacked the Tomozurus and put a 500 lb bomb into the damaged Hatsukari. Her damage is more severe and she has ~40 fires. I’m concerned for her survival. She’s headed to Formosa in an attempt to save her. The only consolation is that one of the Vildebeests was destroyed.

Manchuoko

Air support and engineer forces are moving to Jehol. They will prepare the airfield for 3x Sally and 1x Lily Sentai to be used for operations against Chinese forces within their range. (Ted doesn’t mind me using them for that purpose.) I suspect he’ll try to ambush them, so I’ll need to find a way to escort them. I’ll look at ranges between targets and the Chinese airfields to see if it’s needed.

Philippines

I took Vigen today. I stationed 2x Zero and one IJN Babs chutai there. The main invasion force will begin landing at San Fernando tomorrow. One Zero chutai is providing LRCAP over San Fernando and the other is providing general CAP.

I noticed that the Allied forces in Manila are heading for Clark Field. I guess he’s going to make a stand there.

In the air war, my sweep of Clark Field was opposed by USAAF fighters. For the loss of 1 Zero I shot down a P-26 and 9 P-40Es.

The paradrop at Cabanatuan received some supplies today. Tomorrow, it’s scheduled to get more (hopefully all) of the SNLF and then will receive some air support the day after that so I can station a fighter chutai there. It’s pretty weak with only 17 SNLF squads plus a handful of other squads. My fear is that Ted will send 1 or both of his tank battalions to oust the unit. If I see anything headed that way, I won’t send in the fighters.

I haven’t seen any PT boats or had any Allied bombers rear their ugly heads in this area yet. Hmm…

Mindinao

I changed plans here. I originally had planned for a major invasion of Surigao and a small invasion of Davao. I changed the destination of everyone today to Davao. I know that Boise starts somewhere in the vicinity of Surigao and I haven’t seen any ships move out of that area. I fear that the Boise is hiding out waiting to ambush someone. It’s not worth the risk. Anyway, the force that just landed at Davao will DA it tomorrow.

Borneo

The Miri invasion force is one day out and consists of an infantry battalion and some air support and engineers. I like to take this base early to get started on repairing the oil. That will take a minimum of 5 months. Once it is liberated, I’ll station a chutai of Nates there for support. There is a TF of 50k supply enroute from Japan. That’s the start of a minimum of 150k supply (assuming no additional damage to the facility) needed for repairs.

4 Fleet

KB, the Aobas and the invasion fleet will all arrive at Wake in 3 days. I expect it to be a short battle.

I took Makin and am loading the Tarawa Invasion force. Nothing else to report.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion force is about a week out. Keeping fingers crossed here.

Japan

Shipping is beginning to arrive at its destination for resource/oil hauling and some of those TFs are beginning to form.

Odds & Ends

I finally took a look at ship production. There are 9 points in the naval pool. The only thing I did was to shut off Shinano. I’ll see how points accumulate over the next 2 turns and then start accelerating some ships. My intent is to accelerate CVs and DDs.

As far as the merchant shipping is concerned, I will do the same thing I did last game. I will not accelerate anything and will accumulate the merchant points for later in the war when they are needed. I will convert all Std-A, B and C to TKs. I still haven’t decided whether or not to convert any of the Std-D, E or F. Not sure if the Std-F can be converted.

Ryujo (30 Zeros & 18 Kates) is NW of the Philippines and headed to Cam Ranh Bay to top off before catching up with Kaga. Hosho (14 Zeros & 6 Kates) and Zuiho (18 Claudes and 12 Kates) are near Okinawa. They will top of at Takao and then catch up with the Kaga and Ryujo. Once they are together, they will have 78 Zeros, 18 Claudes and 84 Kates with Kaga’s 27 Vals on the beach. Once I get an airfield in Malaya, I’ll most likely move the Yamada daitai off Kaga and onto that airfield and move the Vals back onto Kaga. Hopefully by then I’ll have enough Zeros in the pool to upgrade the Zuiho’s air group. I’m forming a replenishment group at Saigon (currently 3x 8k AOs) to keep these guys in fuel.

The Tatsuta and Tenryu are currently with the Wake Invasion TF. After that mission is complete, they will work their way back to Truk and then eventually to the Home Islands where they will be converted to CLAAs and become a part of KB.

I have an AV working its way to Saipan to resize the float planes there. It’ll then head out to Truk to do the same there. Its final mission in this area will be to haul one of the floatplane units at Truk to Wake for additional naval search out there.

The Taiyo is headed to the Pescadores to resize the training Val unit there from 3 to 27 planes. It’ll then move to Shanghai to do the same with the China Fleet TB training unit. It’ll eventually work its way back to Japan and resize any IJN training units that have the ability to transfer from a restricted HQ.

[ny59giants]

Further to the east, the I-124 had dropped a load of mines at Bataan on 7 Dec and then remained there just to see what would flee. She was not to be disappointed. Out came the AS Holland. I-124 successfully put a torpedo into her side. I doubt that she sank, but it’ll definitely slow her down for IJN air or naval power to seek out. Immediately after this successful attack, the I-124 had the satisfaction of seeing the Langley hit one of her newly laid mines and reported seeing her go down.

The key to leaving Manila successfully for the Allies is the first TFs formed has to be minesweepers. The AI still moves the lower number TFs first. Afterwards, form TFs with the smaller, slower xAKLs or xAKs so if there are still some mines not swept, they get to be used as one time only minesweepers. [:D]

Malaya - You should be able to divide up all your Recon air units and be able to cover just about every base here.

Hong Kong - I usually send another infantry unit from Canton down to HK because if this base is able to withstand the first attacks, you will need the extra combat power.

Yamato only - I halt the building of Mushasi until Yamato is completed. I can use those 233 Naval Points to accelerate some CVs.

Hosho & Zuiho - I would have sent them to the eastern SRA to cover invasions until at least your Air HQs get down there. CA Houston, CL Boise, and some of the British cruisers can cause you trouble if there is no aircraft in the area. I upgrade to the Dutch PBYs on turn one or two and then they can be used in various roles including anti-shipping.