End of month Review
It has been a very interesting introduction to PBEM for me.
I play a very historical type of game. I have just had my first ship carrying american replacement aircraft arrive from Aden. Since it is only an AK cap 4900, I am guessing that she has about 7 B17s and eight P40s aboard. I could be very off on those numbers (either way), but that seems reasonable to me, so that's all the replacements I can take with this shipment. I have had one slightly larger Tf already arrive in Batavia from Ceylon, so the Commonwealth squadrons have already received some replacements with more on the way (reading about the Malayan campaign, it appears that the replacements did come through the NEI).
Chez has been quite methodical in his invasions, leaving me few openings for counterstrikes. Every invasion that expects resistance has been overwhelming in scope. He had something like 30,000 men ashore on the first day at Khota Bahru and 20,000 at Mersing (or was it the other way around?). Every invasion within reach of either Force Z or the Houston/Boise TF has been covered by at least two battleships and multiple cruisers.
I had Force Z sixty miles away, intending to attack when Kuching fell. I did not feel it worth risking those two ships after the base fell, especially as there really is little hope of holding it against a human player playing under the restrictions I give myself.
I am not conducting a wholesale evacuation of the PI, but have pulled out Asiatic Fleet, the Marine AA Bttn and a portion of one USAAF Base Force, All three of these units have been sent to Darwin to create a center of rsistance. I have had the 6th Aus Cav Bde, 3d Aus Bde (Inf) and 3d Aus Div (Inf) marching up the rail/road route via Alice Springs since the 8th or 9th of December. They are slightly north of Alice Springs right now, spread over 180 miles.
I mainly hope to hold Darwin, Broome and Koepang in this area (I'm not willing to sacrifice the others for Derby and Wyndham, but will probably put in an Independant Company in each of them once the big units are ensconced at Darwin and Broome).
In the Solomons area, I saw that he had battleships with the Rabaul invasion, so I declined to send in the ANZAC cruisers. I know, chicken.. bwaak, bwaak, bwaak...
I was sending the 7th Aus Bde to Milne Bay, but overreacted when I saw those unidentified rt transmissions northeast of Rabaul. Remember, this was just after Halsey had caught those minesweepers trying to deliver in invasion force to either Baker or Canton Is. Instead, I sent the 7th Aus Bde to Luganville, and an Ind Coy to Noumea. In the long run I think that this was a better move than sending them to Milne Bay, as Luganville is far more important IMO.
It was fun catching the MLs laden with troops, and good experience for Halsey's flyers. Again I was chicken when he finally did grab Baker Is, but it had been long enough that he could have had the KB operating nearby waiting to pounce. I really do not want to risk the USN CVs in a battle with the KB unless I can whittle it down somewhat with LBA, or I am sure that he has split it up.
The British ships that start in Hong Kong were slaughtered. The scenario starts with all the freighters having orders to leave port, but all the naval vessels disbanded in port. I had stated that I would not create any new TFs on turn 1, so the PTS in Hong Kong lost any ability to travel long distance. They did have range to reach northern Luzon, but there was only one port with any fule within range - Lingayen. Sure enough, Chez had a nice reception committee waiting and every one of the MTBs was sunk, as well as a few of the British freighters and the ML from Hong Kong.
I have had better luck with the US/PI PTs. A filipino PT put a fish into a Japanese destroyer off Cagayan in mid Dec and a US one did the same to Ise a couple of days ago. Chez tells me that this one caused more damage than he originally thought, and she's bound for a repair yard.
The only capital ship to have been sunk in our war so far has been the heavy cruiser Maya, which swallowed a single torpedo from an S-boat off Bataan. My guess is that it must have hit a magazine as she sank upon reaching Takao.
Basically, in the South Pacific I am hoping to hold a Palmyra, Canton, Pago Pago, Luganville line, but am preparing a Christmas, Penhryn, Bora Bora, Auckland line as well.
In the SW Pacific, I am hoping to hold Luganville, New Caledonia, Lunga, Milne Bay and Port Moresby, but none of these are vital.
I have been rearranging the Dutch defense, building up Java and Koepang. I don't believe that any of the rest can be truly held, especially agaisnt an opponent as sharp as Chez has proven to be. I don't think that I can hold Java, but I intend to make it more expensive than usual. I do not plan to bring any Commonwealth forces into Java, though possibly I will send some to Koepang.
Malaya was lost as soon as he landed at Mersing on day one. I didn't realize that he was going to be so deliberate in his advance, so I never tried to withdraw all troops into Singapore - figuring that those from way up north were going to be cut off. I suppose that had I started the troops at Alor Star marching the first day, they might have made it into Singapore. Then again, if he had seen me running for the fort, he might have moved more quickly as well. As the situation lies, the Malayan army is split into three groups. It's not a pretty sight...
I will not fight for Rangoon, but will use the Moulmein Brigades to try to hold the Salween River crossing long enough to withdraw the Rangoon garrison. I will fight hard for Mandalay and Lashio. I have all the SEAC Chinese divisions headed for these locations, split among the two. All Commonwealth troops in Burma are destined for Mandalay.
I figure to garrison all the important ports on the Bay of Bengal and Ceylon, and then try to hold the line at Cox's Bazaar, Imphal/Dimapur/Ledo. I do not know if I have the troops to garrison the northern Indian ports as well as those on the Bay of Bengal, so I have to concentrate first on those I figure are the more likely targets. The 18th British Division just landed at Colombo, allowing me to send the Ceylon Bde to Trincomalee.
Here is the intel screen on Jan 1, 1942
