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During the first week of the war, a nice way to speed up airsupport is fly in aviation units,
aviation support is flown in first, then the normal support, so you can operate at once.
 
(shipping in the rest of the unit later, since you'll want Kuching as a major airfield for the coming Java campaign i assume)
 
that way you can save yourself some CV(E/L) expense, since you can start capping invasions from Kuching.
Having a Mini KB around as an offensive weapon, instead of only being on escorting duty is worth the bit of trouble IMO
 
 
combining this with paratroopers is even more efficient, setting up an airbase within 3 days over a range of 10 hexes (in stock game, with Tabby's). In the first stage of the war, where the allies dont have assault value to repulse these landings this is extremely effective.
Used it to great succes in both Birma and the DEI.
(day 1; para-drop,
day 2; fly in aviation,
day 3; operational airfield!!)
 
 
 
Another small thing on flying in the aviation units, something i came across by accident
after i flew the AV sup from Taan into Bankhok i was left with; 
* 35 assault value 
* 200+ support
 
because my opponent invades Vietnam and is fighting in Nanning i shipped the unit over there for quick reinforcements.
Once it arrived i noticed that in this way it is acting like a HQ unit, supplying hard needed support and a little bit of AV.
Might be considered gamey in some way, as the unit is totally out of context this way, but it sure works well [:D]
 
 

[font="Courier New"]December 14th 1941 Combat Report[/font]

A week has passed since the war began. Has definitely been positive for me with virtually no setbacks or bad news.

[font="Courier New"]Burma & China Theaters[/font]

- My Burma invasion force meets up with a British engineer unit south of Tavoy. Will shock attack and pursue towards Tavoy.

- Big bombardment at Changsa causes 600 Chinese casualties. I'm impressed by the damage, it should get even bigger in a few weeks once more guns arrive.

- First elements of my northern army arrive in Yenen and my first bombardment causes 300 Chinese casualties. I'll continue to bombard and disrupt them until my full army arrives to drive them back in force.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia & East Indies theaters
[/font]

Land:

- The 5th Division arrives in Taiping against the mass of British forces that were positioned in northern Malaysia. Will begin bombardment until more reinforcements arrive and to try and slow them down from moving to Singapore.

- The 18th, 55th, and Imperial Guards divisions are several more days away from Taiping. Once they have arrived the sweep down Malaysia can begin.

- The 21st and 23rd Brigades continue their race to the west coast of Malaysia to cut off the Brits. Malacca is their objective.

- Amboina falls as expected and 1,500 allied troops are captured as well as 7 dutch aircraft destroyed. I send in several squadrons of fighters, naval patrols, and bombers to immediately start operating in the area.

- In the southern east indies Kendari becomes the next objective. CA Force 2 moves in to bombard with 2 naval guard units in transports behind them.

Air

- Another good airfield attack on Singapore with 6 Allied planes destroyed and 100 ground casualties. No losses for me.

- The F1 Saesbo Datai on the CVE Taiyo distinguishes itself after shooting down 28 planes from various allied naval attacks on BB Force 1 and transports. No significant damage was sustained to the ships as well as no air losses. The kills spread out across most of the squadron, so surprisingly no aces yet.

Naval

- Two PC Gunboats sink 120 miles west of Saigon after taking heavy damage from an earlier submarine attack. Three naval losses so far.

- Allied ships have disbanded in various ports in Java, but no good sighting on what ships they are. No sign of Force Z, still.

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater[/font]



Land:

- 1 Division lands in Naga as planned without opposition. They'll secure the base and then start moving directly to Manila, which appears to be only lightly defended.

- Tuguegarao falls with only sparse fighting and the division is immediately lifted by transports to start moving to Naga and join the other division, and then march on Manila.

- Jolo island falls and 1,400 allied soldiers are captured.

- A SNLF lands at Cagayan and the final assault will be tomorrow. Once taken Davao will be almost surrounded, and attacks on it can begin.

- First elements of my forces at Lingayen start arriving in San Marcelino without problems. Once gathered they'll start their move on Clark Field. My two divisions on transports will be arriving at San Marcelino in two days to become the backbone to the assault on Clark Field from the north. A third division from the Home Islands is also now on transports and heading to join the fights on the Phillipines.

- Interestingly it seems Bataan and Manila have only been very lightly defended. 1 Unit at Manila and 4 units at Bataan. Probably coastal guns and engineers. Maybe I could land my two divisions at both Bataan and Manila. They would be able to easily sweep away the few forces at these places and secure them. My biggest problem would be the coastal guns ripping up some of my ships, but I should still get my troops ashore. This way I deprive Mikey of both the fortress at Bataan, the urban hex at Manila, most likely a very large number of important supplies, and then the whole Phillipine army is trapped inland at Clark Field. He'll have much fewer supplies and it will not be an ideal location to defend as I swarm in on him with my land and air units. Thoughts?

Air

- Successful airfield attack on Clark Field with 7 US planes destroyed and 50 ground casualties. Only 1 plane lost for me.

- Lingayen almost level 3. Once it reaches level 4 I'll be switching just about all my airfield attacks to ground attacks.

Naval:

- 4 Destroyers returning for refuel intercept 3 US PT boats that have left Manila and sinks 1 of them. These same PT boats make it to one of my landing beaches and threaten my transports--but my ships avoid them. Close call. I'm moving in CA Force 1 to try and destroy them while my transports retire.

- Just about all my amphibious goals in the Phillipines have been accomplished and now my transports and marines move to gather at the major port at Davao, which should be captured soon, to prepare for the eventual invasion of southern Borneo.

[font="Courier New"]Central & Southern Pacific Theaters[/font]

- Bombardment on Rabaul causes 200 allied casualties-- another one scheduled for tomorrow. My first ground units should be landing at Rabaul tomorrow.

- Moving engineers to set up Wake Island and Baker Island as air patrol bases. I doubt he will try any invasions this early. However it's important to set up quickly to be safe and so I can spot Allied shipping as well as warships moving to Australia.



Thanks for the excellent advice laggelant. I didn't think of any of this. It should be useful for the future.

bump

[font="Courier New"]December 15th 1941 Combat Report[/font]

Internet was down. [:@]

We're rolling again.

[font="Courier New"]Burma/Chinese Theaters:
[/font]

- In Burma the 4th Mixed Regiment south of Tavoy smashes the British engineer unit and continues to pursue to Tavoy. The 4th Mixed Brigade has also arrivied and joins the offensive to Rangoon. My third force, the 33rd division, is still a few days behind.

- I now have almost 300 mixed aircraft of fighters, dive bombers, level bombers providing ground attacks across China. The primary concentration is in Canton with almost 200 aircraft providing assaults on Wuchow. About 150 casualties caused from ground attacks today with no loss to me.

- 400 Chinese casualties at Changsa from another bombardment. If I keep it up at this rate I would kill the whole Chinese Army here in 300 days.

- Wuchow is reached by the 104th and 34th divisions--with support units-- of my South China Army. My bombardment causes 250 Chinese casualties and I have almost twice the Assault Value of the defenders. Will start deliberate attacks to beat up the defenders while more reinforcements arrive, then I should be able to quickly take this base if Chinese reinforcements don't arrive.

- 120 miles east of Hanoi the 21st Division and 19th Mixed Brigade has bumped into two Chinese corps of 20,000 troops--part of a larger concentration of Chinese troops massing in the area. I suspected they were planning on moving east to Wuchow but I've blocked the railroad. My units here will simply do a holding action to prevent these Chinese units from flanking me, and start a northward offensive if there is a good opportunity.

- My bombardment at Yenen causes 40 Chinese Casualties. I have about 125,000 troops here at about 2100 AV. Still trying to build up my forces before attempting to attack.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/East Indies Theaters[/font]

Land

- At Taiping amazingly the British try a shock attack--600 British casualties to 100 of mine. My bombardment caused 40 additional British casualties.

- At Singkawang, northwest coast of Borneo, my troops have largely landed and my first attack will begin tomorrow.

Air

- 108 level bombers Ground attack on Taiping causes 100 allied casualties, no loss for me. About 3 squadrons of my dive bombers are currently out of range, so I've based them at Khota Bharu. The airfield is still badly damaged, but they should start launching ground attacks on the Brits in Taiping in a few days.

- Singapore is still causing trouble as over 30 aircraft launch a naval attack on my transports unloading supplies at Khota Bharu. Some significant damage taken, although nothing heavy. My CAP is proving to be ineffective from Phnom Pehn. With the Khota Bharu airfield still inactive my Oscar squadron stationed there are still not providing CAP. Hopefully I'll teach those Brit planes a lesson soon..

- Fortuantely I got another strike on Singapore. 11 allied planes destroyed--5 of them pesky Torpedo Bombers--60 allied ground casualties, good damage to the airfield, and no losses for me. Unfortuantely due to the bad weather I'm not able to get a constant stream of attacks to shut down the Singapore airfield, hoping for another one tomorrow though.

- The F1 Saesbo Datai on the CVE Taiyo shot down 6 more Dutch planes today. This squadron has now totalled 39 overall kills! Their fatigue is starting to show as they shoot down less, but they are still driving away the bombers.



Phillipines Theater

Land

- I called off my idea of landing at Bataan or Manila, not worth it after testing against AI! [X(]--never knew coastal guns could be that effective. My troops continue to manuever to San Marcelino and my 2 divisions also begin unloading there. Once all units are prepared they can move in one formation to Clark Field.

- Naga falls to one of my divisions and a SNLF unit captured Legaspi. My second division for this area will be landing tomorrow, and together they will move to capture Manila. If Manila falls easily then these two divisions will coordinate to attack Clark Field with the forces in the north.

- Cagayan finally falls to a shock attack and I pursue to one of the last South Phillipine bases at Butuan. Now the first attack on Davao will be tomorrow, hopefully the US unit here will be destroyed. When Davao falls Butuan will be the last base to secure in the South Phillipines.

Air

- Airfield attack on Clark Field kills 4 US aircraft and causes 50 ground casualties. However I lost 4 bombers to flak--not a nice trade. I only killed some Catalania's and P-26s so I suspects he's pretty much pulled everything else out. Going to do 1 or 2 more airfield attacks to keep the airfield damage at 100--which prevents him from fort building-- and see if I can catch anymore p-40s. Then I can start large scale air ground attacks to start pounding the allied ground units.

Naval

US PT Boats have disappeared as fast as they appeared, most likely to Manila. Moving CA Force 1 to blockade these ships inside.

[font="Courier New"]South Pacific Theater[/font]

- First of my troop landings at Rabaul. Will give it a few more days of landing reinforcements and bombarding before assaulting. Once Rabaul falls I'll be making it a large staging ground to take the rest of the islands and bases outlying Australia.

- Commiting a small NLF unit to capture the undefended north coast of Guinea. Most likely won't bring any garrison troops to these bases anytime soon since I'll be branching out from Rabaul to take Port Moresby, Guadalcanal, etc.

You may not have experianced it yet, but do not land at Bataan or Manila, there are large guns at Bataan, that fire if you move into the hex. Any landings will result in massive losses. Its essentially a no go.

Same goes for heading to Manila, you have to pass the guns at Bataan and again their fire is deadly!

But you may like to run into the wall to see if its there. But to test, just do a turn 1 vs AI and try to land at Bataan and Manila and you will see the results!

[font="Courier New"]December 16th 1941 Combat Report[/font]

[font="Courier New"]Burma/China Theaters[/font]

- 200 Chinese casualties from my bombardment in Changsa.

- My first attack on Wuchow ends 0 to 1 odds and 400 casualties for me and 200 casualties for him. Not too bad for the first attack at all--especially for only 2 initial divisions--so will continue attacking.

- Made an attack meant to probe the Chinese defenses east of Hanoi. Surprisingly met 1-1 odds and 200 casualties for me, 100 casualties for him. Will attack again to see if I can push out these Chinese units from the railroad crossroad.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia/East Indies Theaters[/font]

Land:

- The offensive on Kendari begins. CA Force 2 bombards and causes 100 allied casualties, 1 destroyed naval plane--not as much as I expected, and more damage to the port/airfield facilities than I wanted--which I will have to repair. However the troops start landing in the day. The garrison is weaker than expected, once more troops land I'll begin my attack to seize this important airfield therefore pretty much securing the southern East Indies from allied ships.

- Troops at Menado have built up enough for me to begin my first attack. Once conquered, my units will rendezvous with my attack on Kendari. Additionaly this will shut down yet another naval recon base for the Allies in the area.

- Singkawang falls easily with 60 Allied casualties and 5 Dutch planes destroyed. Pontianak is now the last base on the North Borneo coast so my troops prepare to amphibiously assault it. From there I'll let my units rest and reinforce while I prepare for the invasion of airfields outlying Java and then the invasion of Java itself.

- The Brits at Taiping try yet another shock attack against the 5th Division. 160 casualties for him, 70 casualties for me. This shows that he isn't retreating to Singapore quite yet, and I'm content with letting him willingly grind his units against mine.

- Meanwhile my two brigades pursuing from Kuantan are making slow going to the west coast. Only one brigade has arrived halfway, but they will begin shock attacking the retreating British units. There's still a chance they can make it fast enough in order to cut off some Brits.

Air:

- A successful airfield attack on Singapore with 7 Allied planes destroyed, 1 loss for me, and even more good damage to the Singapore airfield itself.

- 12 more Dutch planes shot down by the F1 Saesbo Datai. This brings the kill count to 51 for this squadron. Amazingly no aces yet.

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater[/font]

- Airfield attack on Clark Field kills 4 Allied planes with 1 lost bomber for me. Looks like there are still some p-40s still trapped here--killed 2.

- Allied units are pushed out of Davao on the first attack. Very light casualties, and the allied units unexpectedly retreat to Butuan. Pursuing them with my brigade to destroy them.

- Davao becoming a major staging ground for my attack on South Borneo. Transports and troops routing to it and reorganizing, and BB Force 3 now on the way.

- The 16th Division moving to Manila makes quick progress and should arrive in Manila tomorrow. Still only 1 allied unit spotted in Manila.


Here's a look at the colorful strategic map. Red will grow larger. [:)]

Nice chunk of the Rabaul area in Red

[font="Courier New"]December 17 - 23 1941 Week Combat Report[/font]

I didn't have the time to report each day, but here's an update on the situation as another week passes in the early stages of this war.

Overall everything continues smoothly and a lot faster than initially planned. My border expands without many problems at all, and nothing much has been accomplished by the Allies as of yet.

[font="Courier New"]Burma Theater[/font]

My invasion force into Burma consisting of 1 Army HQ, the 5th Regiment, the 5th Brigade, the 33rd Division, and various engineer units add up to approx 700 Assault Value. Tavoy has been conquered as the steady advance to Rangoon continues. No airplane activity on both sides, except for recon / naval patrols. Allied ground units appear to be evacuating the area, so my first objective of Rangoon should fall easily. About 20k supplies are being ferried to Rangoon (most likely to arrive by the time it is captured) to create a major airfield and to supply the offensive to Mandalay once that stage arrives.

Burma will continue to be a diversionary front where I try to pin down Allied units before and during my planned invasion of India.

[font="Courier New"]China Theater[/font]



China has grown into a roaring battle after the last two weeks. Yenen, Homan, and Changsa are major battle points in North and Central China. Yenen has almost crumbled as my huge army designated to conquer North China continues to gather. Homan is a successful diversionary attack which pins down a substantial number of Chinese troops.

Changsa is the major grinding point of the China war-- but with no real losses for me as my bombardments continue to cause heavy Chinese casualties every day. Ichang stays quiet and the Chinese units there stay put while two of my divisions watch it.

In South China the city of Wuchow has fallen, and amazingly the Chinese forces retreat northwards which leaves Kweilin and Hengchow almost completely open for my army to conquer. The Chinese Army near Hanoi has also been successfuly pushed back.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia Theater[/font]

The British units in Northern Malaysia were defeated but my units moving to cut them off at Malacca were too slow, and now all the British units are retreating towards Singapore for the final battle. I'm sweeping down the west coast to Johore Bharu where I'll prepare my large army before moving on Singapore.

The air war in Malaysia is virtually over as the Singapore airfield is shut down by my air strikes and as he appears to be evacuating the remaining squadrons. I have full air superiority so I've begun basing bombers in Malaysia where I am running effective ground attacks across the peninsula-- as well as keeping a close eye for any signs of any allied ships or submarines.

[font="Courier New"]East Indies Theater[/font]

The East Indies invasion is working smoothly and largely uncontested as I conquer more territory, set up more bases, and tighten my grapple to surround the main area of resistance in Java. The Dutch air force has been hit hard and now seems to be standing down, either to evacuate, wait until I show a weak point, or maybe until I begin my invasion of Java. No signs of any significant Allied naval forces in the East Indies. It's very likely at this point that Force Z has retreated to India, or even Australia if he takes the sneakier route along it's west coast.

Resources and oil are already being extracted from my new lands in the East Indies to fuel my industry, mostly in Indochina.

[font="Courier New"]Phillipines Theater[/font]

Manila fell with almost no Allied resistance and the battle of Clark Field begins. Two divisions of 750 AV have arrived so far from Manila while my major army from San Marcelino in the north with 3 divisions, 1 brigade, 3 tank regiments, 4 battery' of artillery and various other units adding up 2000 AV are 2-3 days away from arriving. My air units have begun effective ground attacks on the Allied ground units at Clark Field which will slowly grind them down for the rest of this campaign. Several air units are also bombing the airfield at Bataan to slow down any fortification building.

In the South Phillipines none of my units have quite made progress as they slowly march. My parachute regiment should arrive in Buatuan in 2 days and be able to conquer it. The ##th brigade will cross the river tomorrow north from Davao to engage the major US combat element surviving in this area, and hopefully destroy it.

[font="Courier New"]Central / South Pacific Theaters[/font]

The battle for Rabaul has been raging -- the base is totally surrounded and my last two shock attacks have received 1-1 odds. Hopefully in the next few days I'll force a surrender. Once Rabaul has fallen I can rest my forces, bring in engineers, supplies, fuel, etc and then spread out to capture the rest of the Solomons and Port Moresby.

Further South East I've made it as far as Pago-Pago base. The last major bases to conquer in this area are in Fiji and Noumea and Canton Island. From there I can set up some strong bases to form this part of the outer perimeter. No doubt it will greatly hamper Allied shipping and warships from getting to Australia. Even if I don't destroy US ships that try to go through, at least I'll know what's coming.

Several islands such as Wake Island, Baker Island are already being built up and have naval patrols actively running. Repeating this sweet spot-- if the US tries anything at least I'll know about it.

[font="Courier New"]North Pacific Theater[/font]

My first wave of troops will be landing at Attu Island in 2-3 days. This will become my first base in Aleutians to be built up and from there I'll be able to spring out to other US islands in this area, hopefully fast enough before he can build any of them up.


Meanwhile the KB has been repairing minor damage and refitting air wings in Tokyo. In the next few days they should start moving out to their next mission.

[font="Courier New"]December 24th 1941 Combat Report[/font]

Fairly uninteresting turn, at least to me. Most of my focus has been sorting out convoys of supplies, fuel, resources, oil, engineers, troops to what seems like thousands of destinations across the Pacific.

I hear a "I told you so" coming but my supplies on the homeland are growing lower faster than desired. But do not fear! -- I'm masterly scavenging approx 250k supplies from various bases across my possessions, and best of all it won't affect my front line units at all. [8D]

[font="Courier New"]Land Operations:[/font]

- In Malaysia my army is hot on the tail of the retreating British units and arrives at Kuala Lumpur. There's one minor British unit here which I'll be shock attacking and pursuing, hopefully then I'll be able to catch up to the main retreating Brits.

- I make my first landings at Palembang with several marine units. Will be shock attacking and expect to take it tomorrow. This will be an important base for it's level 4 airfield which is only a little ways north of Batavia.

- In the southern East Indies I've started an early invasion of Timor, which is fairly lightly defended. My landing is only minorly resisted by some Hudson bombers from Darwin who score no hits. Taking Timor and the outlying islands will be fairly insignificant at first other than to simply get them out of Allied hands. Later on I'll be able to build up a few strong airfields to be a strongpoint for the defense of my to-be-Resource Area.

- Land bombardment at Changsa causes 300 Chinese Casualties. I now have 150k soldiers in Changsa while the Chinese have 120k soldiers. The Assault Value is starting to even out every day as I attrition his forces and reinforce mine.

- Bombardment at Homan causes 200 casualties. Not bad. I'm brining over 3 tank regiments and an infantry brigade from Manchuria to reinforce Homan, which will tip the battle in my favor. If I keep up these powerful bombardments in the meantime maybe I'll be able to attack and force a breakthrough.

- I try a deliberate attack on Yenen but achieve 0-1 odds. Nontheless the Chinese took more casualties than me. Another 2 divisions arrived today, so I'm going to keep up this attack. Shock attack and pursue for next turn.

- My bombardment at Clark Field is ineffective with minimal Allied casualties. However, even with only two of my divisions at Clark Field, the battle is practically even. Once my army from San Marcelino arrives it should be quite easy to beat the Allies back. From there I can rest, reinforce, and supply my units -- then the ultimate battle at Bataan can begin.

- My brigade crosses the river north of Davao and engages the US combat unit there. The shock attack was not a success and received 0-1 odds and 100 casualties. Will start bombarding to soften them up and let me brigade rest before I attack again.

- In the South Pacific Rabaul has finally fell to my efforts. 2,300 Allied troops surrender. Now I'm resting my troops and bringing in as many supplies, fuel, and engineers as possible to turn this base into a central hub of operations for the near future, much like the historical Japanese.

- One marine unit will act alone to liberate the rest of the undefended Solomons down to Guadalcanal.


[font="Courier New"]Air Operations:[/font]

- An air ground attack on Clark Field causes 200 allied casualties. 1 Loss for me. I don't want the Allies sleeping for a single day, so from here on out I'll be ground attacking their units to continue diminishing their numbers, fighting power, and morale.

- Air ground attacks on the retreating British units in Malaysia cause 100 Allied casualties. No loss for me.

- I plaster the seemingly deserted airfield at Singapore only doing devastating damage to all facilities and minor allied ground casualties. 1 Loss for me. I'll be running one final airfield attack on Singapore tomorrow for the time. This'll keep it damaged for awhile and prevent fortification building (at least that is what I gather) so I can then switch my bombers to join the ground attacks on the retreating Brits.

- I now have naval patrols running all along my possessions east in the Pacific. From Wake Island to Pago Pago Island I'll hopefully spot any US moves made.

[font="Courier New"]Naval Operations:[/font]

- The KB is almost ready for their next destination. I've been jumping back and forth on where to send them. I don't need the KB in the East Indies-- my light carriers, Land-based aircraft, and BB Forces operating there are sufficient. I don't really need them in the South Pacific, since LBA and BB Force 4 can handle anything the Australians throw at me. At this point the only offensive I believe I would truly need them is India, but that is several months away. The only other place I would need them is to counter any US carriers that enter any of my waters. Therefore I'm thinking I should either keep the KB put to keep Mikey guessing, or send the KB back to the Central Pacific to react to any moves made by the US carriers. Another idea is to make a feint into another theater, like the East Indies, to make it seem like my KB is there, and then quickly send them back east to see if Mikey decides to get trigger-happy with his carriers. Any thoughts?

- SS I-123 sank in the Phillipine sea after taking an unlucky 500lb bomb hit from Dutch aircraft a few days ago. Only one day away from Davao as well..

- Nothing else significant except lotsa transports and their escorts.


Also, just curious, do you like it better when I write the report into theaters or comprised into overall operations. I'm leaning on going back to theaters, but up for opinions. [8D]

gratz on manilla's quick fall, thats a really nice thing going on for you [8D]
 
 
KB is a bit tricky in the east indies, 'cause its hard to hide, with the Dutch Do's flying around they usually have a good image of whats happening,
so i dont think you will be fooling him with that. Besides that it will also be one hell of a run from DEA to CenPac/SoPac, which will impact on systemdamage and loads of fuel spent.
 
Combining these i'd say have them cruising, or in port somewhere where you expect Allied forces to show up. The Triangle Kwajalijn / Tarawa / Shortlands (near guadal) is low on L4 airfields at the start of the game, so he can move over there and go raiding without any major intererence of your bombers (which could reach it, but not under escort)
 
 
 
Yenen is tricky, because of bad supply lines & low support.. if you have supply shortages consider flying it in from Manchuria (that way you'r manchuko's actually do something [:D]). I've been besieging it with about 2700 vs 1500 AV and havent had a breaktrough, because of support & supply.
(will continue over there withing days, so i'll give you an update on support & supply up there)
 
 
happy hunting

ORIGINAL: flaggelant

gratz on manilla's quick fall, thats a really nice thing going on for you [8D]


KB is a bit tricky in the east indies, 'cause its hard to hide, with the Dutch Do's flying around they usually have a good image of whats happening,
so i dont think you will be fooling him with that. Besides that it will also be one hell of a run from DEA to CenPac/SoPac, which will impact on systemdamage and loads of fuel spent.

Combining these i'd say have them cruising, or in port somewhere where you expect Allied forces to show up. The Triangle Kwajalijn / Tarawa / Shortlands (near guadal) is low on L4 airfields at the start of the game, so he can move over there and go raiding without any major intererence of your bombers (which could reach it, but not under escort)



Yenen is tricky, because of bad supply lines & low support.. if you have supply shortages consider flying it in from Manchuria (that way you'r manchuko's actually do something [:D]). I've been besieging it with about 2700 vs 1500 AV and havent had a breaktrough, because of support & supply.
(will continue over there withing days, so i'll give you an update on support & supply up there)


happy hunting

Thanks for the tips. I believe I've decided move the KB to the Central Pacific, it's the best place for them. If I stay out of his radar I may even be able to catch something big.

I've actually been using my transports and level bombers from Manchu to jump forward supplies to my units moving to Yenen since this game began -- it's worked well and my units are in full supply. Support is also decent, largely from the North China Area Army HQ. Some units are only a few points off from full support.

Still, I've only tried one deliberate attack on Yenen and it was decent-- not a success, but not a bad beginning either. Maybe I'll get lucky and (with the dice God's blessing) this battle will end quickly--from Yenen it'll be a highway to secure the rest of North China and dramatically shorten the frontage of China.

Thanks again, and good luck in your endeavor as well [:D]

bump

General Jackson, where are you?

Still waiting for the next turn. Yarg! [>:]

???  bump

Johnny Reb, any update?

Another good AAR wasted on Marky.

Unfortuantely it's been going very slowly. However we've got a few turns in and finally reached January. I'll be reporting in the next day or two.

[font="Courier New"]December 25th 1941 to January 1st 1942 Combat Report[/font]

As mentioned the game has been going slowly, but the action continues. I continue my charge across the Pacific, and in less than a month I've made surprising progress.

Starting with the seperate war theaters and then I'll move on to to a monthly summary and the economy later.

[font="Courier New"]Burma Theater[/font]



The only thing stopping me in Burma have been the bad roads. Allied forces have apparently abandoned everything currently in front of me, including Rangoon. Once I take Rangoon, which should be tomorrow, I'll rest and reorganize my units for the offensive on Mandalay. If resistance continues to be low then I'll also attaack further at Imphal.

[font="Courier New"]China Theater[/font]

In China the fighting is still in my favor, but not as steady as I wished. Yenen is still a battleground and proving harder to capture than I anticipated. Despite this the northern part of China is where I want to make my decisive gains while meatgrinding his forces in the south. The deadlocks at Homan and Changsa continue in their full glory. Big artillery support has almost reached Changsa, even though I'm still doing about 200 casualties a day from my current bombardments.

Further in the south I've captured Kweilin against light resistance and now I have Hengchow in my sights. From my recon it seems like this city is quite a bit more defended, but if I captured it then the Chinese defense of Changsa would very likely be doomed.

I continue air attacks across China to weaken their army and train my pilots. I'm also attacking the airfield at Changsa to slowdown any fortification buildup.

[font="Courier New"]Malaysia Theater[/font]



In Malaysia I have been making excellent progress. Through a series of paratrooper and amphibious attacks I grabbed an undefended Johore Bharu. As a result the battered and surrounded British forces in Malacca have been engaged by my main army and are taking a beating. My assaults are already gaining 1-1 odds and inflicting heavy casualties to the British. Reinforcements continue to stream in. My airforce in the area has full air superiority and is also dedicated to ground attacks and is causing several hundred casualties every day. Even if this devastated British army manages to escape they won't have much fighting ability left by the time I get to Singapore.

Further north in Malaysia a British garrison at Georgetown has been targeted by one of my straggling brigades. There are also several batteries of artillery and more tank regiments coming down the railroad to participate in the inevitable siege of Singapore.

Naval action around Malaysia has continued to be non-existant apart from some unsuccessful Allied submarines. My dive bombers and ASW TFs have been scoring hits so even this minor Allied presence is being beaten away. BB Force 2 has been sitting idle in Saigon for some time now so I'm sending them to add to the battle of Malacca aby providing several bombardments.

East Indies Theater



In the East Indies I have also made some very good progress. Just about all of Borneo, Sulawesi, Timor, and bases across the Banda sea have fallen to my marines. My forces are now resting, reinforcing, and preparing for the battle of Java. I have three staging grounds at Balikpapan, Pontianak, and Palembang. I'll use a combination of paratrooper and amphibious attacks with support from BB Force 1 & 3. The Light Carrier TF will also be nearby to provide air cover and to raid any incoming/outgoing allied ships. There is already total air superiority around Java so I will also have some decent close air support-- although my main bomber forces in the region are still operating in Malaysia.

The light carrier Shoho has already been completed and will be moving to this theater once it's air wings are reinforced.

Phillipines Theater



My army continues to slowly trickle into Clark Field. I'm waiting until they are fully deployed before I begin attacking. Meanwhile my bombardments and air attacks cause several hundred casualties a day.

North of Davao the last of allied resistance in the area has beaten back several of my attacks. My battered brigade now needs to rest and reinforce before I can finish them off.

Nothing else. It's only a matter of time and attrition before the last pockets of resistance in the Phillipines are eliminated.

[font="Courier New"]South Pacific Theater[/font]

Revolving around Rabaul, I'm building up more supplies and units to this theater. Most of New Guinea and the Solomons are conquered as I continue my amphibious assaults with little to no resistance. Port Moresby is my next major target, with it's fall this theater will pretty much be in my hands. BB Force 4 is making an early bombardment run to do some damage to Port Moresby.

After Port Moresby the idea of Australia and New Zealand crossed my mind, since they will be helpless and surrounded from any immediate support. I think I'll need to wait until I see how India goes before considering any intervention in Australia or NZ. I may raid a few of the isolated bases in Northern Australia, however.

[font="Courier New"]South/East Pacific Theater[/font]



Above is a map showing where I have decided to put my planned bases across the East Pacific and parts of the South Pacific. This will be my outer perimiter against the Americans. It'll be a defense in depth with bases supporting each other as much as possible in order to slow down the Americans and cause as many losses as possible.

Major Bases: These bases fit the role of strongholds. Large airfields when required to support significant numbers of aircraft. Large amount of supplies and ground forces to make them hard to conquer. Large ports and fuel storage to accomodate any operating naval forces. They'll also be handy to support, resupply and reinforce beleaguered bases that are nearby.

Bases:These bases will man at least some sort of garrison and attempt to have a level 4 airfield to operate and harass the enemy. It will largely depend on where the Americans are most likely to threaten and which bases are more strategically important to determine their garrison size.

I have captured the majority of the places I want to start building up, except Fiji, Canton island, and Noumea. The battle of Fiji is currently raging as the island is split in two. I've only just started landing on Noumea, and it should fall quickly. I'll need to attack Canton quickly before Mikey decides to reinforce it.

This plan is mainly for the long-term, it could change a bit later especially if the Americans start being aggresive early. Any advice/suggestions on how to handle the defense of the outer perimeter are of course welcome.

[font="Courier New"]North Pacific[/font]

My Recon has determined that most of the US Artic bases, except Dutch Harbour, are still undefended. It's slow going for more units to arrive, but I plan to take as many as these bases as possible and start building up the airfields.


The monthly summary and economy report will come a little later. I'm currently on the road a lot, so not as much time.

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