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Next turn arrived and ill keep this brief as not much happened of note.

China

First air battle for the AVG in Changsha .. encountered nates , killed 2 for one P40 damaged . not like the vanilla game at all ! seriously even nates with good pilots are scary. all quiet elsewhere.

Pacific

any ship damaged in PH that can do 15+ knots sent back to the west coast. No BB's included as they are badly damaged. this TF is several CA's CL'a and DD's inc one DM that got bombed by an 800kg monster. hopefully this will free up some yards to deal with the BB's 1st repair stage.

South pacific .. still quiet no sign of jap advance. all 3 US CV's now in Pago and hidden i think, supply fuel and troops en route to canton and pago as first stage in the supply chain to australia.

Rabaul fell to jap banzai attacks , local subs sent to try and rescue survivors.

Japanese landings in the DEI .. east sulawesi being the most important. 5 CL's sent out for a night raid from kendari .. fingers crossed. the DD's had been on ASW and caught and sank another I boat .. nice .

3 Sub attacks today all vs full troops transports . Sboat hit a jap ship east of the philipines and 2 dutch hit more ships heading to malaysia. all helps !

The brits and allies have arrived safely in johore baru and singapore. the AA guns at singers also set to get replacements .. will probably need them soon . also the rested RAF is set for naval attack with 24 P40's AVG for escort.

Made one cock up in the DEI .. moved out the base force before moving the a/c .. oops .. several Dorniers and Bombers are now left to rot .. rats ..

i finished the turn before i could do losses .. also still cant get a screen shot .. where does the print screen save them ? what folder please .. I have a freebie image manipulation program to resize etc but just cant find them [&:]

Print screen doesn't save the pic anyway, just keeps it in a clipboard. You press "print screen" in-game when you have the screen up you want to copy. Then hit the Windows symbol button to minimize the WitP application. Open paint and click on the main paint screen. Then hit CTRL-V to paste the clipboarded picture onto it. You can then edit and save the picture to a file.

27th and 28th December 1941

Relatively quiet once again. main action being an RAF raid on jap supply ships unloading at Kuantan on the malasian coast.

Day Air attack on TF, near Kuantan at 24,47

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 5

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 4
Buffalo I x 35
Blenheim I x 4
Blenheim IV x 6
Hudson I x 3
P-40B Tomahawk x 19
B-17C Fortress x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 12 destroyed, 11 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 8 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Akikaze
AP Shinyo Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tacoma Maru
MSW Eguchi Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Takunan Maru, Bomb hits 1
MSW Kongo Maru #2, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Borneo Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Heavy losses on both sides , but i am very pleased with the Zero kills. Although the AVG did take a battering the bombers got through and were moderately effective.

would do a acreenie but still cant get it to work ! .. did print screen and something is in the clipboard however paint.net will not recognise the format. ??? [&:] I am a confused bunny.

Amboina was hevily hit by a substantial enemy surface action group ..example below


Naval bombardment of Amboina, at 39,73

Japanese Ships
DD Uzuki
DD Shiokaze
DD Kikuzuki
DD Sawakaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yukikaze
CL Kiso
CA Kako
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Nachi
BB Fuso

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 19
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 5

Looks like i moved my tanker out of here in the nick of time ! 6000 oil heading to Brisbane .

Over 2 days several bombardments wrecked the place. fortunately noting was there except for a broken hudson and one old Dornier. the troops and base force are long gone ! . The CL raid on Menado in east sulawesi failed to find any transports as is returning to kendari. With the presence of such a heavy japanese TF in the area I will move force Z down from balikpapan to amboina to strengthen the area. However that will have to wait a turn as force Z's destroyers were out hunting subs and caught and sank the I164

ASW attack at 31,66

Japanese Ships
SS I-164, hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Parrott
DD Bulmer
DD Jupiter
DD Express
DD Barker
DD Piet Hein

I have to admit to being happy with my ASW efforts of late .. seems like one kill every 2-3 days .

SS triton picked up some survivors from Lark force retreating from Rabaul. heading back to townsville. More subs are heading this was but only slowly. still very early for a decent allied submarine presence in the SW Pacific.

In sigapore more supply and resources are delivered. supply levels at 45k with 15k in johore baru. while the jap subs sem to have been scared off more is coming in small single (hard to spot) ships.

Major overhaul of leadership in the theatre happened today with winston replacing Percival with the more capable wavell. Nimitz has charge of the central pacific while Halsey has command of south pacific HQ.

The RAF in singapore stood down and set to recive replcaments for the first time as supply levels are high enough now. dutch minelaying subs o19 and 020 almost at kuantan and between them will sow around 100 mines the main japanese port for malaya ( fingers crossed )

As promised ships sunk so far list .. intel may be behind with a few , but these are confirmed

BB's

Arizona
Pannsylvania
Tenesee

All PH casulaties

CA's + CL's

CA Houston .. at Jolo
CL De Reuter .. off S Borneo

DD's

11 Allied
1 Japanese not a good ratio at all but its early days

Transports

17 allied merchantmen all AK's
8 Japanese Troop ships .. All AP's . some quite large too .. and mostly sub sinkings

I suspect many japanese merchants are heavily damaged and unusable in the near future. Athough japan has a LOT of merchant shipping at start. the mod reduces capacity heavily so both players do need to be much more careful than usual.

Also 4 ALiied Tankers and one aux oiler .. no biggie

Submarines

2 Allied , both old S-boats off the PI
5 japanese .. all big I boats .. nice .. my ASW is paying off handsomely even with the mods new improved sub survival stats. Using big boats in shallow seas really does hurt.

aux vessels .. inc MSW ML PG PC etc

allied 17 .. mostly runners from manilla
japan 4 minesweepers .. sure i hit more than this ! .. maybe they will show up later. the less jap escorts the better.

Overall losses favour the japanese not suprisingly . but i like the trend on sub kills and targetting japanese troop ships as well. all little pin pricks but it is v early

overall scores

japan 3869
allies 7639

planes lost is interesting

allied 408
japan 292

only about 100 differance .. and this includes the hordes lost on the runways at PH.

TOP 5 a/c lost

P40B 99 .. with 78 on runways !
VAL 78 .. nice
Kate 69 ooh good
Zero 59 good too
Buffalo 46

KB did get badly hurt after all .. thats 200 elite pilots so far ! guess the enlarged japanese pools will deplete soon if this continues ..

all for now

Rob

29th and 30th

2 Allied AK's slipping away through N new guinea the were caught by baby KB and sent to the bottom with multiple torpedo hits.

the presence of japanese torpedo bombers has changed myplans for fore Z . its heading to Timor instead of sulawesi. 4CL's and 4DD's remain in sulawesi.

Japan seems to be heavily attacking Northern New guinea . I suspect they will drive west toward timor early . which is a real problem. the australian airforce such as it is is heading north to derby and Darwin. timor is still only lightly defended right now. some more substantial units are on the way (dutch garrisons)or heading overland( 2 austrlian brigades) to north australia while planning for koepang.

Political points are a precious resource right now. also the reduced ship capacty has impacted on the DEI rearrangemant and evacuation of supply and fuel/oil from sumatra and java.

RAF are set to attack again from singapore. unfortunately japanese ASW has intensified between saigon and malaya 2 dutch subs damaged in 2 days. (only slightly but out of combat for a while). they are heading to singapore to control flooding then upto india for repairs .

SW pacific is a big hole in allied defences , and there isnt a thing i can do about it right now . If he drives fast for PM and maybe even noumea im in trouble. imo SW pacific cant be defended untill the S pacific is established . IE Canton/Pago and Suva . possibly baker if i can hang onto it.

No japanese advances in the 'triangle' in the PI. Betties had a got at manilla harbour at 22k feet. 1 shot down and 10 damaged for no return . the AS in port along with the PT forces remains intact.

PH is still rebuilding after the heavy japanese attacks. the bomber groups in paticular are taking ages to re-build. the fighters arent rebuilding as i need the airframes elsewhere.

N Pac is sleepy .. not much happening here. just a few anchorage -sanfran supply trips to fill up anchorage before the engineers head out to the outlying bases in the aleutians.

the first reinforcements from america are in range of Canton .. I aim to build up here in a big way. The 3 US CV's are lurking in pago pago for opportunities.

KB has vanished .. i assume she had to return to japan for replacements but as to the next moves i really have no clue.

Well not much happened but 1942 is just around the corner. Let us wee what is going to happen.

You seem to be doing fine my friend [;)]

It might be quiet at the moment but that is what you need in order to achieve victory [:)]

I have been busy with IRL so I haven't had that many chances to visit the forums but rest assured that I will keep an eye on this one [:)]

Thanks for the words of support Aztez , i had noticed your AAR being quiet for a few days , glad your back !

Well January is here and the action has again been more sniping, the best allied attacks left 2 japanese tankers burning in brunei ! .. nice start .

here is the meat and potatoes from the last 2 days

Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 32,57


Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
MSW Choun Maru #8, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage ANOTHER MSW HIT

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 32,57

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
TK Daishin Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage BURNING BADLY

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet


Hope she'll sink !


Baby KB hit east sulawesi for no good results , only some dornier flying boats .. got another kate too !

Day Air attack on Menado , at 39,67

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
B5N Kate x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 7

More attacks on the TF's at brunei !

Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 32,57

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
MSW Himejima Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
MSW Mejima Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


2MORE MSW hits .. one reported sunk .. I do like sinking escort vessels . especially MSW as i do like using sub minelayers early on as a real nusiance factor.

ALERT JAPANESE SUBS SIGHTED IN THE PACIFIC .. phew missed .. this is a bit troop convoy

Sub attack at 129,62

Japanese Ships
SS I-26

Allied Ships
AO Guadalupe
DD Fox
DD Brooks
DD Gilmer
AVD Williamson
DD Lawrence
DD Hatfield
DD Kane
DD Rathburne
PG Dawson
MSW Nipigon
MSW Outarde
MSW Ungava
MSW Wasaga
MSW Bellechasse
PG Charleston
AP President Monroe
AP Tasker H. Bliss

Ground combat was the usual bombardment attacks in china .. BUT an allied counter attack vs one jap NLF unit that was overstretched ! ..

Ground combat at Menado

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1335 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 818 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 11 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
24 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/01/42 January .. at last 1st month down

ASW attack at 128,64

Japanese Ships
SS I-23, hits 12, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Fox
DD Brooks
DD Gilmer
AVD Williamson
DD Lawrence
DD Hatfield

GOTCHA ! .. middle of the pacific .. doubt it will make it home

Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 32,57


Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
MSW Musashi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

More Brunei attacks and yet another MSW hit !

The RAF flew again en masse agains japanese convoys unloading along the coast of malaysia .. Zeros were reduced from the previous attacks but easily broke though and gt a few bombers this time. the attacks worked though .. nowt reported sunk though.

Day Air attack on TF, near Kuantan at 24,47

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 10
Buffalo I x 17
Vildebeest IV x 16
Blenheim I x 5
Blenheim IV x 6
P-40B Tomahawk x 18
B-17C Fortress x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim I: 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed
B-17C Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Shinyu Maru
AP Akashisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Unkai Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PG Yoshida Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Nikki Maru
AP Baikal Maru
AP Tatuwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Nichibi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PG Magan Maru
AP Chicago Maru
AP Ural Maru
AP Kenzan Maru
AP Senkai Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Yoshino Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

More sniping attacks from dutch bases in borneo ! huzzah

Day Air attack on TF, near Kuching at 28,56

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Kashi Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Brunei at 32,57


Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
TK Amatsu Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire BURNING .. yay .. 1st attempt to get some oil back to japan heavily damaged if not thwarted .. !

Ground combat at Menado

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1320 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 805 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
64 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported


Godo old dutch defence units .. any small kill helps in the long term . he will need more troops to take this base.


Well thats the reports from the front.

Force Z is almost at timor .. and a 1/2 decent dutch regiment has landed at koepang, almost doubling the defences here. I'll have to scout about for some coastal defence guns or even artillery for this place .

singapore defences not set up , Miller thinks i have evacuated malaysia too early ?? im not sure as the risk of being defeated in detail is very real after kuching falls on the east malaysian coast.Maybe i should have held at kuala lumpur BUT .. jorhat is another vulnerable base once japan has decent aircraft in malaysia ( which he has ) .. To repeat, advanced defence in Johore baru while singapore churns out supply and build up the fortifications.

The japanese advance into a now empty rangoon .. might have sacrificed a base force in an attempt to hirt the oil , BUT i like the added aviation support and engineers in Mandalay. especially with the shock attack river crossing rule. mandalay now has longer to get improved and more engineers will accelerate the fortifications.

Well thats it for today ..

Lol....you seem to be having as good of luck against subs as Speedy is having bad luck against my subs. [:D]

he keeps sending his (A)ll (P)eon's (D)epartment boats after my subs and they keep laughing as they evade them. (well assuming i'm cognant enough to move them after a unsuccessful two day hunt.

HEHE .. yeah nik he was unlucky hitting that TF .. i do guard my troops convoys very heavily . there are several unescorted supply groups moving about in 'non-standard' runs i.e set to mid ocean target and return to various bases .. It makes the AK's and AK escorted tankers take longer but imo its a safer bet.

Ta for the comments nik .. odd how each game can be so very differant even under the same mod . guess that makes what you did rather balanced after all . However we are finding AA a bit too effective so far. might calm down in a few days .. but singapore is almost invulnerable, and even manilla is hurting nells and 25k feet.

overall it been a good start for both sides i think , certainly not a dull game ! .. [:D][:D]

I'm watching flak closely. Keep the feedback coming.

Manila and Singapore become a challenge because all the retreating ENG units concenetrate, repair and become flak cities. (in game terms) Vs. the more fragile Japanese bombers it does create problems.

Speedy has managed to get around the problem for the most part. His flak losses are not bad considering. Lol....myself...i just major'ly f'd up in a PBEM turn vs. Bombur. (my poor dive bombers!)

Yes Manila and Sing are killers if everything moves back there. The only option is to bomb from 22-25K and even then you'll lose planes. Nik's an Allied fanboy Rob so be careful.......[;)]

Nik - I haven't sent out ASW TF's for 4 days now = no sightings or attacks[8|]

Nik - I haven't sent out ASW TF's for 4 days now = no sightings or attacks

Having taken all the mocking they could, delivered by messages in bottles blasted out of the torpedo tubes that said things like "Missed.....again!" and "Com'on, try again.....we love the ride and gentle popping sounds of distant DC explosions", the (A)ll (P)eons (D)ept closed up shop and scuttled back into port having lost much face, not to mention the local betting pool of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[:D]

How much do you want to bet that I will sink a sub within 2 weeks if you keep your subs in the region? Buttmunch

[:D]

STOP HIJACKING MY THREAD ! [:D][:D]

Damn wrote this twice already and accidently closed it before posting DOH ..

So i'll be brief as i cant be arsed to do it 3 Times ..

RAF out of singapore badly hit japanese troops ships near malaya but paid a heavy price after 2 days of running battles .. got an AO burning as a bonus !

Rangoon fell

San marcelano repulsed 2 attacks well !

Manilla is under siege

indian div heading to akyab

120 P40's in Mandalay !

yenen is going to be surrounded unless i can do something

Canton got more troops .. also a small detachment sent from PH to baker is. ( see if i can hold it ) .

END

6+7th Jan 1942

Only a few highlights and comments today , as not a lot happened of note .

Menado in East sulawesi falls to a new japanese SNLF unit landed last turn , did hold longer than expected though and diverted a small but useful invasion force.

Ground combat at Menado

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3308 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 2037 troops, 15 guns, 2 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Menado base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
4095 casualties reported
Guns lost 21
Vehicles lost 1


Dutch prompty surrendered here.

Better news happened in China . the northern city of yenen held beautifully against a japansese shock attack. I had moved 2 corps back to cover the supply road as he is trying to flank me here . maybe he thought i was evacuating ? wrong

round combat at Yenen

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 115697 troops, 1448 guns, 23 vehicles

Defending force 46268 troops, 325 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)


Japanese ground losses:
6431 casualties reported YAY
Guns lost 148
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
382 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

The replaced commanders really do seem to make a huge differance here . I have also sent u some spare corps from homan to cover the flanks at yenen and possibly try and cut the japs off if possible ( unlikely though). china imo should be defensive in nature and supply does not dictate constant attacks.

Brits back into mandalay now and the P40s to harass the advancing japanese . wildebeast at akyab will join in too. the first Hurricanes arrive in ceylon today ! .. with the new improved range these will ba far more useful than the stock version. now 4/5 range , spits will be improved too.

Range 4 in burma is great , makes imphal and kohima far more useful bases than before.

SS truant finished off the AO making for safety in Vietnam

Sub attack at 26,47

Japanese Ships
AO Naruto, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Batavia Maru
PG Zuiko Maru
PG Yoshida Maru
PG Shinko Maru #2
PG Magan Maru

Allied Ships
SS Truant

Balikpapan PT boat force drove off a japanese invasion group ! amazing

Japanese Ships
CL Kashii
DD Kasasagi, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kari
MSW W.3
MSW Ranzan Maru
PG Hashidate
PG Saga
PG Eifuku Maru
AK Akita Maru
AK Aobasan Maru
AK Asakasan Maru
AK Atago Maru
AP Awa Maru
AP Enju Maru
AP Hakozake Maru
AP Heiyo Maru
AP Hinko Maru
AP Kashiwara Maru
AP Kyushu Maru
AP Meisho Maru
AP Mikage Maru #2
AP Ryugi Maru
AP Iburi Maru

Allied Ships
PT TM-4
PT TM-7, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
PT TM-8

I've send in a surface raider group up from kendari at full speed 5 cl's and 5 dd's . given his escorts this group may be able to rip some troopships apart. I set thier homebase as balikpapan and made sure some fighters are flying over the hex. also the commander while not having great stats is very agressive .. might force through to the transporst etc.

Im not risking force Z as the threat is sometimes more useful than its actual use. ( its in timor)

CVL hermes moved from batavia as im getting a bit nervous about a port attack here.

Weather overall was awful with almost no a/c flying apart from search a/c

Day Air attack on TF at 34,51

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Tjikandi, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

finished off the last AK heading to the PI with supply . .. 4 sank for no gain .. well i had to try . maybe again in a month after the bombers have been moved forward.

Well that concludes the score from the british jury .. six points for far [:D].. would like an ambush opportunity. toying with moving a big P40 unit to sumatra/java ..

supply and troops building in the south pacific .. Canton looking ok with 3 CD 3 AA 3 Arty and 2 basfe forces + the 2nd USMC para batallion. ( need more infantry i know ) .. fuel is slowly pooling here and at Pago Pago (where the CV;'s are ) . Once i get an american inf division established at canton i'll move the carriers to australia then round 'under' to perth as another suprise against a timor attack . of course this all depends on japanese moves in the next month or so, but as allies i am predominately reacting.

Bye

You seem to be doing great Rob [:D]

Oh, and what you said about Chinese commanders is more than true... they actually can make a huge diffrence in battles in my experience too [:D]

CVL Hermes was in DEI... You planning to put up some fireworks here???

I'am actually obsessed too with the tiny Canton Island... more than pleased to hear that you are fortifying it... That base can serve as forward base along with critical base in line of supplies [:)]

As ever good luck and eherm... I'll be reading this one [:D]

wow...a shock attack against a level 9 fortified city. Those crazy Japanese and their banzais [;)]

Aztez .. ta for your words .. and yes i moved the hermes and the slow R class BB to batavia quite early on. its a second slower force Z . am assuming that its presence will be completely unexpected too.

I plan on being quite agressive with the royal navy where possible , but i still run from japanese Cv's .. even though im sure betties are operating out of N borneo if the BB revenge IIRC can shred a jap CA and a few transports the loss will be worth it. sinking ja CA's is very very saisfying.

NIK .. yup odd choice i know .. but if i was leaving and had just a few units there . would be a fast collapse. Unfortunately for him i have no plans to retire from here and i 'think' i can prevent an encirclement. Damn wish i could get some screenines.

AH yes canton .. holy of holies .. more spiritual than jerusalem for me ! [:D][:D]

Hello Rob.Yes it`s Tacitus back again under a new guise!
Keep going,yes we are reading your posts.
As I think I mentioned to you reviewing your commanders is a good idea.Routing out the rubbish has got to help.Why give an unnessary edge to the opposition. I believe the best tactic for the Allies early on is to withdraw and wait,but if an opportunity presents itself try it but dont risk anything important.

Current playtesting a new 42A scenario with the 4.5(5.0) adjustments and further improvements. As Japan (to start at least) i'm playing in China....going after Yennen myself, the AI of course hasn't moved the northern units to reinforce yet. First attack was a delib and i reduced a fort at cost of 3000+ casualties. Tried a shock for attack two....no fort reduction and 7700 casualties later. ouch. [:D] Going to be a hard dirty fight...even with almost 10 divisions attacking and 300,000 men and 2000 guns

HI augustus ( Bro [:D])..

Well just as well i didnt risk anything too important at balikpapan today .. it was a complete disaster ! First off the 2 remaining PT boats again drove back the invaders ..good news.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 31,64

Japanese Ships
CL Kashii
DD Kasasagi, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kari
MSW W.3
MSW Ranzan Maru
PG Hashidate, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Saga
PG Eifuku Maru
AK Akita Maru
AK Aobasan Maru
AK Asakasan Maru
AK Atago Maru
AP Awa Maru
AP Enju Maru
AP Hakozake Maru
AP Heiyo Maru
AP Hinko Maru
AP Kashiwara Maru
AP Kyushu Maru
AP Meisho Maru
AP Mikage Maru #2
AP Ryugi Maru
AP Iburi Maru

Allied Ships
PT TM-4
PT TM-8, Shell hits 21, and is sunk

Dead PG as a bonus.

Then come morning the Dutch torpedo planes scored a hit on a japanese CL ! I was feeling pretty good at this stage of the combat replay .

Day Air attack on TF at 30,65


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 2
T.IVa x 7


Allied aircraft losses
T.IVa: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Kashii, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Aobasan Maru

THEN .. baby KB showed up 120 miles off shore and the kates came a calling , i got off lightly i think.

Day Air attack on TF, near Balikpapan at 31,64

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 9
A6M2 Zero x 14
B5N Kate x 28

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Boise
CL Marblehead, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Tromp
DD Pillsbury

Over the course of 2 days baby KB hit several transports as well sinking an AP [:@]

Well i still though this surface group could face off the transports then i could run like heck back to the safety of java. Especially as the PM air phase the TIV's again hit the limping CL . and evaded some zeros on CAP too.

Day Air attack on TF at 30,65

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 2
T.IVa x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
T.IVa: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Heiyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1
CL Kashii, Torpedo hits 1, on fire HOPE SHE SINKS

Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported (good news .. full transports )

During the ground phase Cebu is. fell to the japs who diverted a full brigade to deal with the troublesome PI semi-division.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6466 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 3463 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cebu Island base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
182 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Allied ground losses:
6818 casualties reported
Guns lost 46

Thie was always inevitable but i hate seeing so many men surrender .

Both moulmein and tuang gui in burma fell .. japanese now have 2 confirmed divisions in burma. not enough to take mandalay imo. lets hope so anyway . The wildebest from akyab and the p40's from mandalay succesfully attacked both divisions causing minor casualties. more importanty this is a nice training excercise. I do suspect that he will put some LR CAP over them from rangoon . if he's airlifted in a base force.

He has also reached johore baru with 2 divs and 2 heavy artilleys detachments. too many for me to try a counterattack. i wonder how long this place will hold on for ? supply here and in singapore is excellent however allowing the RAF to operate out of here without fear of draining too much supply. RAF bombers and the US B17's hit what i suspect was a japanese ASW group patrolling 60 miles east of malaya. sinking one APD and torpedoing another. As there are the best japanese ASW vessels im very pleased with the results. also shot down 2 oscars for the loss of 4 buffalos.

However the main event was the suprise advent of heavy japanese surface forces off balikpapan.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 31,64

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Shell hits 1
CA Nachi, Shell hits 2
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 1
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 2
CA Kako
CL Kiso
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Sawakaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
CL Tromp
CL Danae, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Durban, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Peary, Shell hits 17, and is sunk
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Vampire
DD Banckert, Shell hits 1
DD Witte de With

OOPS ! .. wasnt expecting this .. not good at all

See screenie ! yes i got a demo version of summat to work finally .. lets see if it embeds properly.

after 4 naval battles the allied cruiser force is basically no more .. also killed off was the already damaged marblehead and the last PT boat. Japanese invasion occured overnight.

TF 44 encounters mine field at Balikpapan (31,64)

TF 44 troops unloading over beach at Balikpapan, 31,64


Japanese Ships
MSW Ranzan Maru
MSW W.3
PG Saga
PG Hashidate, on fire, heavy damage
AK Akita Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Eifuku Maru
DD Kari
DD Kasasagi, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
34 casualties reported

Coastal Guns at Balikpapan, 31,64, firing at TF 44
116 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Eifuku Maru, Shell hits 6
DD Kari

Japanese ground losses:
934 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

116 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Eifuku Maru, Shell hits 6
DD Kari

Japanese ground losses:
934 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

one mine hit ! oohh thats a bit disapointing . large jap inf unit ( div i think) unloading fast. even after 1 day 12k men ashore and the auto allied arty bombardment was worse than useless . im out numbered 4-1 at least .. the place will fall tomorrow . must evac as many planes as i can.

About the only good thing that happened was an american S class boat catching a lone barge north of the PI

Japanese Ships
AG AG-352, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-38

Hardly compares to the losses in borneo though.

One final TIV run got my blood pumping .. ooh please hit !

Day Air attack on TF at 34,62


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 2
T.IVa x 5


Allied aircraft losses
T.IVa: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
CA Furutaka

nah .. missed as usual .. also all damaged .. hope some are ready to fly out tomorrow.