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The first real success in improving night fighting experience levels substantially.

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

My old Witp-AE axiom is: "If it's worth hitting, it's worth hitting with a lot." [8D]

Why use a little hammer if you can use a big one?

This is absolutely diabolical. One wonders if your opponent thinks these fleeing rabble is worth his time.

Turn is away, Lexington and Enterprise is making a flank speed move to Saipan...recon the three bases there, while the invasion fleet approaches to invasion day on the following turn...so it will most likely get spotted.

I am hoping to be in a position to naval bombard Saipan and Tinian tomorrow, along with perhaps some air action.

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
One wonders if your opponent thinks these fleeing rabble is worth his time.

He has an overall early tactical goal, and is not going to be diverted from that...in all honesty there are very few good ships in the Thundering Herd and I have lost two of them already (Langley and a big AS).

Dec 20th, 1941

The IJA spearhead, 17 units takes Nanyang at 9-1....inflicting heavy losses, but I feel it is a victory for China!

Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 67561 troops, 656 guns, 142 vehicles, Assault Value = 1951

Defending force 26556 troops, 156 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 554

Japanese adjusted assault: 2266

Allied adjusted defense: 244

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Nanyang !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1278 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled

Allied ground losses:
8404 casualties reported
Squads: 230 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 395 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 54 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 52 (35 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Units retreated 4

By putting the 13th Corp into Reserve they managed to extricate themselves from the IJA juggernaut in very good order, keeping their guns. They also gained 4 experience points and didn't suffer a catastrophic morale hit.

I probably should have changed their leader prior, but good leaders are scarce now as they are already spoken for in more serious positions.

Plus we grinded down the IJA 40th Division to 280 AV...

The Ankang and Sian roadblocks to the south will hold for quite a while, in good terrain, digging in, with AA on the Sian block.

The IJA eastern spearhead towards Sian will take Sian, which I don't plan on defending too heavily. The roadblocks to the south will fight and die in place hopefully.

I don't plan on establishing a defense in depth here in the roads south of Sian, simply because once the front line is forced to retreat, the next hex is then robbed of all supply by the disrupted retreating units weakening the defense greatly, causing a snowball of defeat and failure thru the depth of the defense.

Chinese units have cut off the easy shipment of armor to the Nanyang axis, so you have to assume it will be coming on the eastern axis towards Sian...it is the super dangerous axis of advance and fighting it forward I think is a mistake as China simply can't get enough units there early on to stop the advance, or even really slow it for more than a day. Better in my mind to keep the two spearheads from meeting around Sian by blocking south of Sian with sacrificial (but good) units.

East of Kukong we have caught an IJA unit, and today another 350 AV joined the two Corp already there, so we should be able to force it to retreat...

This move has caused the three IJA units to the north change directions and head south. The resource rich base of Pingsiang is strongly held now...

Singers...

Java

Darwin

Originally I was willing to not heavily defend Darwin, but there is 125AV of junky troops at Katherine, and I probably shouldn't give Darwin away to a SNLF landing force...make him come at it with some force and IJN ships bombarding.

Thinking ahead, and assuming an Indian push...this is a theater where small forces can distract.

Haven't really talked about my overall goal in 1942 and that is to put pressure on Japan along her perimeter...turning quiet fronts hot and trying to throw Japan off their game without exposing too much! Easier said than done, I am sure.

Should I send that lone xap (13 knots) to Darwin and hope it can unload without running into an Iboat...or hide for two days till the Dutch destroyers show up?

Marianas Invasion next turn...maybe, we are blind!

Those torp carrying Bettys were from the south.

Ceylon...

I am thinking to defend the two atolls with some troops...Japan can't be coming up here with all that much this early. He needs to grab a base for his tenders to use and it seems to me a decent use of troops (i.e. not much at risk) to put some on the Atolls west of Ceylon. Hopefully this will buy more time. I was thinking of defending them initially with the British Navy hoping for an intel advantage...

Ceylon is pretty much stripped of supplies and fuel, only 10K supply and fuel left and that is being drained out again today.

My guess is that Japan will thirstily go for the gaggle of merchant shipping east of Ceylon...

Butchers Bill for the Day

Since those troops in Malaya can't get to Singapore now, you might want to consider airlifting some of them out with Cats.

My two cents...with the move into the Indian Ocean, that certainly lessens the possibility of an invasion of Australia proper. Given that, I would start marching an Australian Militia Division to Darwin (via Alice Springs). They are not great units, but it would at least force him to use divisions and not SNLF.

Get moving though, because it takes about 6 weeks

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Since those troops in Malaya can't get to Singapore now, you might want to consider airlifting some of them out with Cats.

Once it was closed off, the evacuation of upper Malaya started. I have gotten out portions of an RAF HQ, III HQc, and some troops to prevent the base from being taken by paradrop easily.

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

My two cents...with the move into the Indian Ocean, that certainly lessens the possibility of an invasion of Australia proper. Given that, I would start marching an Australian Militia Division to Darwin (via Alice Springs). They are not great units, but it would at least force him to use divisions and not SNLF.

Get moving though, because it takes about 6 weeks

What do you think of sending some of the Australian Armored units there? Especially once they are upgraded to Matildas? They are rather small units, I was thinking of sending some to Atolls.

I guess the supply of Matilda's also has to go to India too...perhaps not the best idea to use them early.

Lower Oz...the Yanks are coming![:)]

A third squadron of P40s is at Santa Cruz...that will be 75 fighters...plus on a longer route from California Airacobras are coming.