More Variants - The End of Western Imperialism - No Nomad please (Feb 1944)

[Xargun]

Allied AMs cleared all my mines at Balikpapan, but one hit a mine and sunk quickly.

Sub Warfare:
I-10, off the coast of Suva put two torps into AGP Niagara sinking her.


Surface Action:
A Cruiser-heavy TF of mine ran into a pair of allied xAKLs and sunk them during the night.
The CL Adelaide appeared out of nowhere at Manus and sunk the two xAKLs that had just finished unloading the last of the supplies to Manus.

Air Action:
Nells and Betties from Saigon located and attacked a group of fleeing merchant ships. Six xAKs were sunk with torpedoes.

Borneo:
B-17s attack the oil wells at Miri and luckily did no damage. I completely forgot to move fighters there after taking the base last turn. This has been corrected and a Sentai of Zeros are flying CAP there now.

Hong Kong:
With continued heavy air support my troops at Hong Kong finally capture the base !!! Nearly six thousand allied troops were lost. The facilities there were in perfect shape except the Repair Yard that I damaged by bombing the port. Minesweepers have been standing by and have been ordered in to clear the mines.

Guam:
My troops here took the base and are starting on expanding the airfield.

Hollandia:
Troops here captured the base without trouble.

Manus:
Troops here took the base and will await engineers to help expand the airfield here.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
I-164 attacks a pair of allied DDs off the coast from Soerabaja. Same ones she attacked last turn and luckily enough she evaded their ASW efforts - they must not be decent ASW platforms yet. So I have move the sub off for a turn or two before bringing her back.

I-156 near Toboali, damaged an allied xAK with a single torpedo hit.


Mines:
Three IJN DMSs swept Hong Kong harbor of mines throughout the turn reporting a total of 162 mines cleared.

Borneo:
Allied B-17s came back to Miri and ran into my Zeros. In before and after attacks, the Zeros report 6 B-17s shot down.

CV-based attacks:
My baby KB is chasing down fleeing merchants from the Philippine Islands. They caught up with a couple more sinking an xAKL.

Landings:
My troops finally wade ashore at Naga - they were delayed with a bunch of unidentified enemy ships in the area, so I played it safe incase the Boise or Houston was one of them. Reinforcements from Japan will land tomorrow as well.


Turns are speeding up as there is not tons to do while my troops march around in Malaya, Burma and Luzon. I have ships heading to Truk to prepare for the Rabaul invasion and troops for this will be loading onto ships as soon as they get off the rails at Tokyo.

I am monitoring factory expansions and despite the huge loss of supply each day, I am keeping the factories expanding. I especially need the Armament, Vehicle, Engine and Aircraft factories up and running as soon as possible so I can feed the expansion and upgrade units.

I have every carrier in the build queue except one late arriving CVL accelerated - all CVs, CVLs and CVEs. I checked tracker and the last CV to arrive will be the Onoshi arriving Oct 6th, 1943 - these late CVs were purchased as 1945 arrivals. It will be 108 days until I can accelerate the last CVL.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Surface Action:
The Chokai and a lone DD escort attacked an enemy TF of 2 CLs - Dragon and Durban at Miri. In a nice night battle, the Chokai nearly single handedly sunk CL Durban and damaged CL Dragon. She took 5 shells in return, but they all bounced off her armor !!

Another cruiser heavy TF ran into a lone enemy xAKL. You can guess the outcome.

In a surprise, a lone enemy xAKL encounter Car Div 1 !! I thought for sure one of my escorting DDs or BBs would make quick work of the enemy merchant, but both TFs fled from each other.


Hong Kong:
Mines have all been removed from the harbor opening it up for full use.

Naval Air Attacks:
Kates flying from the mini KB attacked and sunk 1 xAKL.
Kates flying from Car Div 1 attacked and sunk two enemy xAKLs.

Nells flying from Saigon, attacked and sunk an xAKL and xAK near Miri.


IJA Troops attacked and captured San Fernando on Luzon destroying the Philippine Infantry Division there.
IJA Troops also captured Naga.


Xargun

[BananaConvention]

Are you guys not playing with China in the picture?

[Xargun]

Are you guys not playing with China in the picture?

We are - It usually takes me a few turns before I turn attention to China and get everything moving there. This weekend will probably be a lot of work for me in china - just not sure how much post-worthy it will be though.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Luzon:
Naval bombers attack Manila port but only manage to hit 1 sub there with two bombs.

Paratroopers land at Atimonan, opening up the rail. troops at Naga are already loaded and now enroute.


China:
East of Lang Son, my troops there smash the 52nd Chinese Corps forcing it to retreat to the east out into the open.

Most air attacks are happening in China now as I wait for base forces to move into position in Luzon and Malaya to support bombers.



Malaya:
My Shock attack in the jungles SW of Kota Bharu destroys the 3rd ISF Base Force blocking the trail and opening it up for further advancement.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
I had a great opportunity but I-10 missed it's chance for Glory...

Sub attack near Nadi at 128,161

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
CA Northampton
DD Gridley
DD Balch
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap

SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Enterprise

Grrrr... All six torpedoes missed the Enterprise. If half would have hit she may have sunk, or at least be out of the war for 6-12 months.


Naval Air Ops:
Betties from Formosa attacked Manila port again, landing a 60 kg bomb on SS Pickerel and SS Seawolf.
Near Babeldaob, my mini KB which is returning to Babeldaob to replenish torpedo stocks, found an allied xAKL and sunk her.


Not much else happened this turn other than a few air attacks on ground troops in China and Luzon.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Luzon:
Betties attacked Manila harbor again, hitting the SS Seawolf with another baby 60kg bomb.

Air attacks at Bayombong and Lingayen both inflict minor casualties. The attack at Lingayen was a success, capturing the base and crushing the defenders pushing them back to Clark Field.


My Naval Troops capture Talaud-einlanden as well as Makin.


Xargun

[BananaConvention]

Sub Warfare:
I had a great opportunity but I-10 missed it's chance for Glory...

Sub attack near Nadi at 128,161

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
CA Northampton
DD Gridley
DD Balch
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap

SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Enterprise

Grrrr... All six torpedoes missed the Enterprise. If half would have hit she may have sunk, or at least be out of the war for 6-12 months.


Naval Air Ops:
Betties from Formosa attacked Manila port again, landing a 60 kg bomb on SS Pickerel and SS Seawolf.
Near Babeldaob, my mini KB which is returning to Babeldaob to replenish torpedo stocks, found an allied xAKL and sunk her.


Not much else happened this turn other than a few air attacks on ground troops in China and Luzon.


Xargun

That’s shocking! I don’t have a map in front of me, where is Nadi in relation to a larger place I may know? Interesting to see his CVs out and about so early in the campaign.

[Xargun]

That’s shocking! I don’t have a map in front of me, where is Nadi in relation to a larger place I may know? Interesting to see his CVs out and about so early in the campaign.

Nadi is 1 hex west of Suva. I spotted another CV hanging around Wake - looking for the invasion fleet I am guessing - and picking up the fighters there, and then it headed into the South Pacific . I lost track of it around the Gilbert Islands. My guess is he is sending his CVs to New Zealand - East coast of OZ.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
Some sub attacks and ASW action but nothing hit nor amounted to anything much.

Naval Air Action:
Betties from Formosa attacked Manila port and hit the SS Seawolf with another bitty 60kg bomb and the SS Pickerel with two of them.

Car Div 1 has moved into the South China Sea just north of Kuching where it found some enemy ships. I spotted some heavy enemy ships previously hanging around Kuching - obviously waiting to pounce on my invasion TF, so I brought the CVs around and I am glad I did. The first strike left me sad as the attempt was weak and barely did any damage. But then I got a much larger afternoon strike.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Singkawang at 56,87

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
B5N2 Kate x 21
D3A1 Val x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 7 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
BC Repulse
DD Tenedos
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
===
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Singkawang at 56,87

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
B5N2 Kate x 69
D3A1 Val x 67

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 6 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Torpedo hits 1
BB Prince of Wales, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Express


With the PoW sunk and the Repulse damaged this has opened up the floodgates for invasions in the SRA.


Air Action:
Bombing attacks against enemy troops near Tavoy, as well as at Wuchow, Temuloh, Pakhoi, Chuhsien, Bayombong, Chengchow

Ground Combat:
An artillery strike at Bayombong gave me good intel on the strength of the enemy units there.
My para-assault on Johore Bahru failed Recon showed no units there so I airlifted in a bare minimum to take the base and there was an enemy AA unit there that resisted.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
A failed attack by a Dutch sub is making feel better about them - but there is at least 6 enemy subs along the coast near CRB and Saigon.

Air Attacks:
Bombing attacks against enemy units near Moulmein as well as at Bayombong, Wuchow, Pakhoi, Chuhsien, Temuloh,

At Wuchow part of the AVG flying P-40Bs showed up but my Tojo escorts shot all 5 of them down.


Naval Air Attacks:
Betties attack Manila port again striking the Seawolf yet again with a baby 60kg bomb.


Ground Combat:
IJA troops at Bayombong failed to get a good roll and are repulsed.
In Malaya, IJA take control of an undefended Taiping. The order is given for troops massing at Alor Star to come on down via rail.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
More bombers have been switched to these attacks and altitude has been lowered as AA fire from troops in Luzon is much lower than expected.

Today we bomb enemy troops at Bayombong, Chengchow, Wuchow, Johore Bahru, Pakhoi as well as fleeing troops near Moulmein.


Naval Air Attacks:
Tired of only the little bombs from the Betties hitting, I switched out the Betties for some Nells - which only carry 250kg bombs. They attacked Manila port and landed 2 bombs on the SS Seawolf sinking her.

Troops Landings:
Troops come ashore at Dadjangas, as the first Japanese troops land on Mindanao.

Ground Combat:
The allies move troops into Johore Bahru and attack my paratroopers who manage to hold out.
More paratroopers assault Kuala Lumpur and take the base.

The paratrooper attacks are not hard attacks, but are simply trying to stop / slow down the evacuations of mid-Malaya into Singapore while my troops march. With the capture of Kuala Lumpur I thought I would open the rail to Taiping, but there is an enemy battalion one hex NW of Kuala Lumpur still blocking the rail

Car Div 1 makes port at CRB to refuel, and reload torpedoes. I am also taking the moment to balance the aircraft loadout on the CVs and fill out the units. Once done, they will move back to Borneo to support the invasion of Kuching and Singkawang.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
Bombers strike enemy troops near Moulmein, as well as at Bayombong, Chengchow, Kuala Lumpur, Pakhoi, Chuhsien and Wuchow.

Ground Combat:
IJA Troops storm Bayombong capturing the base and forcing the Philippino troops into Cabantuan.
IJN Troops capture Dadjangas pushing the enemy troops N towards Davao.
Indian Troops attack my paratroopers and overwhelm them at Johore Bahru.
Chinese Troops attack at Kweisui and get 1:11 odds against level 4 forts and lose 5 to 1 troops.
More paratroopers land at Malacca capturing the base.

The enemy unit blocking the rail south near Kuala Lumpur moved into the base and is the 1st Mysore Battalion. I am airlifting regular troops into the base to hold it and will push them out opening up the rail line before more enemy troops arrive.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Troop Landings:
Troops come ashore at Brunei, Canton Island, Baker Island, Vanimo, Tabiteuea and Kuching.

Air Attacks:
Bombers strike at enemy units near Moulmein, as well as at Cabanatuan, Wuchow, Kuala Lumpur, Pakhoi and Chengchow.

Ground Combat:
A simply artillery attack at Clark Field lets me know how many enemy units are there and their relative strengths. There is roughly 500 AS of troops here. I don't have the strength to attack yet.

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9185 troops, 145 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 409

Defending force 26709 troops, 371 guns, 361 vehicles, Assault Value = 601

Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
47th Infantry Regiment
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
48th Recon Regiment
Kanno Det
4th Tank Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
31st PA Infantry Division
194th Tank Battalion
14th PS Engineer Regiment
21st PA Infantry Division
26th PS Cavalry Regiment
91st PA Infantry Division
31st Infantry Regiment
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
Subic Bay Defenses
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
Clark Field USAAF Base Force
Asiatic Fleet
1st PI Base Force
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
USAFFE
Far East USAAF
North Luzon Force
1st USMC AA Battalion

IJA Troops shock attack enemy troops in the jungles NE of Temuloh pushing them back.
IJN Troops capture Canton Island, Baker Island and Tabiteuea - no enemy troops at any of them. I thought a small base force started at Canton, but maybe I am wrong or he already picked it up.

Carrier Status:
Car Div 1 has left CRB and is heading back to the northern coast of Borneo to run interference for the landings there.
Car Div 2 is safely at Truk, refuelling, repairing some damage and taking on ordnance and replacement planes / pilots. They are preparing for operations in the Bismarck Sea.

Baby KB - CVLs Zuiho and Ryujo and CVE Hosho are sitting in the Celebes Sea keeping the are under control while troops prep for the invasions of Tarakan and Balikpapan, as well as Mindanao.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
Everything within range of Kuala Lumpur is hitting the 1st Mysore Battalion to open up the rail line before another (larger) enemy unit moves to block it.

In Luzon, my Naval Bombers have switched to airfield suppression at Clark and Manila to prevent the building of forts as my troops close in on these locations.

Other bombers hit enemy troops near Victoria Point as well as at Cabanatuan, Wuchow, Pakhoi, Chuhsien, Moulmein and Chengchow.


Ground Combat:
My troops attack hard at Kuching and capture the base, pushing the enemy troops to the west.
IJN Troops take Vanimo unopposed.
RTA Troops attack Georgetown, destroying the forts.
IJA Troops at Kuala Lumpur hammer the 1st Mysore Battalion but it survives the assault only to be destroyed by attrition !!!


The rail to Kuala Lumpur and Malacca is open and nearly everything at Alor Star is given orders to go. When the Mysore Battalion survived my attack at Kuala Lumpur I was all upset only to see the 1st Mysore Battalion Wiped Out at Kuala Lumpur by attrition!!! message pop up after the combat.

This will save me probably a week of having units march down the roads from Alor Star to Kuala Lumpur and beyond. Plus there are still allied troops at Temuloh which are now cut off from reaching Singapore.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
More air attacks in China, Luzon and Malaya. The enemy unit at Malacca is the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and my bombers are disabling and destroyed vehicles with each attack - I hope its enough to prevent them from kicking out my paratroopers. I forgot to airlift in reinforcements so I am worried.

Ground Combat:
IJA Troops at Cabanatuan take the base destroying what was left of the 3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion. The road to Manila is open !!
IJN Troops push hard at Brunei again and this time are successful and capture the base pushing the retreating allies eastward. The oil is over 50% damage with only 7 functioning wells out of 20. More supplies needed.
RTA Troops attack Georgetown again, but fail to take the base.
British troops at Malacca attack my paratroopers pushing then out of the base to the north. The escape route to Singapore is open again
Paratroopers land and capture the undefended base at Kuantan.

I am not happy with myself. If I could have airlifted in 20 AS to Malacca I probably would have held it. I sent two Rgts via rail to Malacca, but they didn't make it - they are 1 hex short. They have been ordered to disembark the trains and march the rest of the way. Figure 3-5 days before they reach the base.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
I spot a Dutch sub near Soc Trang and on the second attempt a PB manages to damage its fuel tanks.

Air Attacks:
Attacks against Manila and Clark Field airfields continue with minimal flak.
Bombing runs against enemy troops continue in Luzon, Malaya, China and Burma.

Ground Combat:
My RTA Division finally cracks Georgetown and takes the base !!
Paratroopers land and secure Mersing.


These turns are fairly quick with not much going on - they are the normal grinding turns that are boring, but have to be done to secure bases for future endeavors.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
Same as before - just bombing units I can reach and aiding attacks and preventing fort building.

Ground Attacks:
Artillery attack at Batangas to scope out the enemy units there - 2 PA Inf Divisions and an Aviation unit.
55th Cavalry Rgt takes Tavoy after a long ride through the jungle.
IJN Troops north of Dadjangas attack and force the allied unit to retreat into Davao.
Aitape falls.
Groot Natoena falls.
Mauban falls to paratroopers.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
Well B-17s showed up at night over Miri attempting to bomb the oil - luckily they scored no hits. So I have moved a unit of Nates to Miri to fly night CAP for a while.

Air attacks at Malacca disable a bunch of squads - both combat and non.
It looks like my air attacks on the 108th/2 Base Force has destroyed it. Not sure if thats a fragment or the actual unit. Hoping its the latter.

I sent Betties and Nells against the Singapore Airfield - they scored a few hits but the flak claimed a few. Either need to raise the altitude or stop the attacks.

Troop Landings:
An IJA Regiment made landing at Davao today. They are about half ashore and an attack has been ordered.
IJN Troops make a landing at Manado with minimal losses. An attack is ordered here as well.
And to make the trifecta, IJN Troops landed at Ternate as well. An attack has been ordered there as well.

In a couple days I'll get a dozen or so new combat units - most (if not all) are base forces at specific bases - several in the Marshalls. I am not sure if I want to defend the Marshalls or not - or maybe just two or three of the islands and not all. I can consolidate the engineers to build up forts on whichever islands I decide on defending.


Xargun