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We have reached June 29

DEI: Kendari was invaded early today. Theres a nearly 100% chance that the defenders will be routed tomorrow, casualties were very low and the Dutchmen seem to be out of supplies. Interesting though the base is, however, still operating some patrol aircraft.

Burma: Overnight, the Allies have moved over 50 fighters to Chittacong(level 1 airfield). This was probably a failed CAP trap attempt. Aerial recce also reports nearly 80 fighters at Calcutta that must have arrived to the front yesterday. Magwe's fighters are ordered to sweep Chittacong tomorrow, Ki-21s are temporarily moved back to Rangoon while Ki-45s will fly CAP with Ki-43s, just in case.

Atlantic: Far near the antarctic waters a submarine borne E14Y finally sights an Allied convoy! The bastards are really sailing 1 hex off the map edge. The convoy routes Smeulders uses must take weeks longer than the shorter(if slightly less safe due to the "threat" of Japanese submarines) ones.

June 30

Burma:

Allied cap trap is tested. 50 Ki-44 and 30 A6M3s fought over 80 Allied fighters, a mixture of Hurricanes and P-40s, over Chittacong today. Unfortunately the not that stellar A6M3s went in first and suffered against the radar guided CAP. Losses are

10 A6M3 with 8 pilot KIA or MIA (2 ops)
4 Ki-44s with 3 pilots KIA or MIA (1 ops)

Enemy losses are estimated 14 Hurricanes and 7 P-40s. 11 Hurricanes and 5 P-40s were confirmed. That means the day went approximately 14-20. Not well enough, but at least the Ki-44s did fairly well. Depending on how well Smeulders thinks the day went to him(and how much he fears my Ki-21s) he might keep his CAP up tomorrow. We'll try again, but this time without the Zeros.

DEI: Kendarli falls, Ambon invasion force sets sail at Makassar. ETA 2 days.

Submarines: IJN sub force makes contact with the enemy near Fiji and near Pearl, but both attacks on the escorting DDs miss and the subs are driven away. An Allied submarine is sighted near Timor, probably reacting to our Kendari operation?

A quick update.

The date is now July 1st


Ambon invaded in the DEI. Invasion force is just some destroyers, minesweeper-destroyers, an old CL and the transports unloading a single regiment. Ambon defenders are outnumbered roughly 2:1 but the jungle and fortifications should delay the base's fall by a week or so.

In the Philippines, a regiment is unloading on Panay(I think, the island right in the middle with 3 bases). At Malaybalay(on Mindanao), the reinforced Japanese forces attack and achieve 1:1 odds against the fortified mountain, dropping forts to 0. Casualties are 1:1. We should have these last 3 bases still in Allied control secured in 10 days!

Allied CVs have been reported at Los Angeles. At least 2 of them are there, with their massive escorts. A submarine sighted their escorts but was attacked and has to get itself repaired at Tokyo for the 2nd time. The CVs probably came from AUS via Fiji or Xmas/Canton, as they would have probably been sighted near Hawaii. Their current location leaves me with opportunity to hit northern Australia with an invasion force or 2. Troops are nearly ready, we'll just need some more ships and fuel, and especially more supplies! I have some 80,000 tons on its way and half of that unloading at Batavia, but we'll need more. I estimate the operation to begin in 6 days.

ORIGINAL: Erkki

June 30

Burma:

Allied cap trap is tested. 50 Ki-44 and 30 A6M3s fought over 80 Allied fighters, a mixture of Hurricanes and P-40s, over Chittacong today. Unfortunately the not that stellar A6M3s went in first and suffered against the radar guided CAP. Losses are

10 A6M3 with 8 pilot KIA or MIA (2 ops)
4 Ki-44s with 3 pilots KIA or MIA (1 ops)

Looking forward to the Ki-44 myself. The A6M3 hasn't proven stellar in attack, although it's done fairly well in defense. Zeros and Oscars have been overwhelmed by P-38s in my game. Have you seen those monsters and have you found any success against them?

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Erkki

June 30

Burma:

Allied cap trap is tested. 50 Ki-44 and 30 A6M3s fought over 80 Allied fighters, a mixture of Hurricanes and P-40s, over Chittacong today. Unfortunately the not that stellar A6M3s went in first and suffered against the radar guided CAP. Losses are

10 A6M3 with 8 pilot KIA or MIA (2 ops)
4 Ki-44s with 3 pilots KIA or MIA (1 ops)

Looking forward to the Ki-44 myself. The A6M3 hasn't proven stellar in attack, although it's done fairly well in defense. Zeros and Oscars have been overwhelmed by P-38s in my game. Have you seen those monsters and have you found any success against them?

Havent seen one yet. I'm pretty sure they're less useful in Da Babes than they are in the stock game as there are less engineers and aviation support available to both sides; even the Allies. [;)]

The date is now July 5th


Philippines: Malaybalay and Iloilo fall! The last base in the Philippines still in Allied hands is San Jose. The 10th Garrison Regiment will conquer it in 3 days.

DEI: Ambon repels another attack. The 16th Regiment is getting tired so I'm letting the boys rest a week or so.


Everywhere else its quiet. SigInt has reported radio and heavy volume radio transmissions all across the South Pacific for the last week. The Allies might or might not be up to something. I'm pretty sure the USN CVs are in Los Angeles or nearby, so the radio activity might mean there are plenty of fat targets sailing about... But Japanese submarines keep seeing nothing, and I dont want to commit KB after ghosts, especially as it'd probably get sighted early again, and at best probably only get a couple of transports any way.

And heres the naval production... I think I'll need to either stop accelerating one of the CVs or stop some submarines for a couple of days before the Hiyo is completed(one CV is laid and will start taking 3x the points before Hiyo is completed).

While waiting for the turn file, I noticed, to much of my shame, that the H8K has been available for 6 days already but I havent yet created a factory for it. [:D]


My Seaplane production is currently

H6K5 (10/40 engines)
H6K2-L (5/20 engines)

These use 60 Ha-33 engines a month. Ha-33 engine production is now at 150 a month. Other Ha-33 users:

D3A1 (30)
E13A (30)
G3M3 (22/44 engines, stopped)

If G3M3 production is continued and H6K5 factories converted to H8K(I dont see a reason not to do that), the monthly Ha-33 use would be 124. I think I'm OK with that. In the future first Ki-46-III will also need that engine type(at 30 engines a month). D3A1 production will stop by the end of 1942 so that still leaves me with some extra engines(about 35 a month) until the Ki-100 arrives far in the future. I guess I might as well stockpile 300 or so Ha-33s, its not like they'll go bad, will they?

H8K uses the Ha-32 engine. This engine is also produced 150 a month. These 150 are being used by factories as follows:

G4M1 (40/80 engines)
Ki-21-IIa(35/70 engines)

These use up the 150 monthly engines pretty nicely. However I'd need some of these for the H8K production, and in Spring of 1943 I'll be needing for the J2M Raidens.


I think what I'll do is turn off G4M1 production, turn on G3M3 production again and convert the H6K5 factory to H8K and expand it to size 10 again. That leaves me with somewhat reduced Navy bomber production(which I dont mind, I have good pools of both G3M and G4M and the Allies are likely to be passive for another 3 to 4 months any way. 140 + 183 IJN bombers in the pool, 211 + 191 in groups so I can already replace 100% losses), a better patrol plane in the H8K and some extra Ha-33s I may always use later.

ORIGINAL: Erkki


If G3M3 production is continued and H6K5 factories converted to H8K(I dont see a reason not to do that), the monthly Ha-33 use would be 124. I think I'm OK with that. In the future first Ki-46-III will also need that engine type(at 30 engines a month). D3A1 production will stop by the end of 1942 so that still leaves me with some extra engines(about 35 a month) until the Ki-100 arrives far in the future. I guess I might as well stockpile 300 or so Ha-33s, its not like they'll go bad, will they?

If your pools go over 500 you also get some R n D boost on planes that use that engine, apparently. Not sure how much it is, but could help with those in the distant future.

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Erkki


If G3M3 production is continued and H6K5 factories converted to H8K(I dont see a reason not to do that), the monthly Ha-33 use would be 124. I think I'm OK with that. In the future first Ki-46-III will also need that engine type(at 30 engines a month). D3A1 production will stop by the end of 1942 so that still leaves me with some extra engines(about 35 a month) until the Ki-100 arrives far in the future. I guess I might as well stockpile 300 or so Ha-33s, its not like they'll go bad, will they?

If your pools go over 500 you also get some R n D boost on planes that use that engine, apparently. Not sure how much it is, but could help with those in the distant future.

I've planned to do exactly that with the Ha-45 and planes that use it(P1Y1, Ki-84, N1K and such). Ha-45 will be available in 25 days after which I'll be building it about 150 a month, to have 500 in the pool by the end of 1942.

Possibly a little gamey but OTOH we do have some R&D rules in use, for example I may only research the next plane of a series coming online and swap the R&D plants to the next model only when the first one arrives. This means that I'm not going to waste those 5 Zero R&D factories but will switch them to A7M once the A6M5 is about to come available, hopefully by early December.

I have also agreed to not powerplay but keep things somewhat plausible, this is why I keep Ki-43 in production. Bart is unlikely to like seeing N1K, Ki-44-IIc and Ki-100 as early as I've intended to field them but players as bad as me need every bit of help they can have. [;)]

ORIGINAL: Erkki


I have also agreed to not powerplay but keep things somewhat plausible, this is why I keep Ki-43 in production. Bart is unlikely to like seeing N1K, Ki-44-IIc and Ki-100 as early as I've intended to field them but players as bad as me need every bit of help they can have. [;)]

I'm thinking on these lines as well. Some may come a bit sooner, but I won't suddenly b building 200 a month of them. As this is really my first lasting PBEM I want to try them all out as well. See what works. I'm researching a little bit of all of them.

If you were wondering about the Ki-100, I have 6 size 30 R&D plants researching the Hien line. 3 of them are fully repaired already for Ki-61-Ia and 3 others are about 50% repaired for Ki-61-Ic. I'm going to field the Ki-61-Ic because its the first Army single engine fighter with a cannon and Ki-61-Id because its service rating 2 and has the 2 CT cannons. Also Ia and Ib will get built in small numbers just to make use of the engines(+ its got to be better vs. bombers than either Ki-44-IIa and Ki-43s). Ki-100 is has bad speed, MVR and climb but it is heavily armed with 2 cannons, armored and uses an engine no other plane besides E13A needs by the time Ki-100 becomes available. Plus its semi easy to research quickly. I intend to R&D the Ki-61 all the way to Ki-100-II which with our altitude rules can CAP and sweep higher than any other Japanese single engine fighter, together with the Ki-84r(not the a). I know I need the high performance machines(Ki-84, N1K, J2M) but low service rating and firepower are also needed, and the Ki-44-IIc has just the other and Zero is way too slow and fragile even if its cannon armed SR1.

I hope to be able to start replacing Ki-45s with Ki-61-Ics for my anti-bomber fighter by March of 1943.

July 6


DEI: The North Australia invasion force is ready, waiting for the go signal before they start to load troops. However, I'm hesitating: I'm almost sure that the Allies are aware of what I'm doing. 2 days ago they moved patrol aircraft on one of the last islands they still hold, and have(despite the large CAP) been monitoring the Japanese at Soerebaja. Before we go in I want some of my CVs available nearby, the submarine screens in position and the xAKL picket line on station. Those should take another week or so. The main body of the KB will not be committed, but is in the reserve and ready to counter any Allied attacks in the Pacific.

Submarines: A 8000-ton tanker is sunk by an Allied submarine South of Kyushu. My mistake in believing the 40+ planes that fly ASW and naval search in the area that there were no submarines present, and let that TK sail without escorts...

War Economy: This turn I spent a long time optimizing convoys and their routes, creating new ones and adjusting a number of factories. Japanese merchant navy has been able to bring in as much as fuel and oil as the Home Islands' industry and shipping need, but now Japan needs to start stocking as much as as possible. Not one ton of fuel and oil produced can be wasted. Also I have been unable to deliver quite enough resources to the home islands, so I created a couple of new convoys from Singapore and Luzon. Multiple unoptimized(as in route, used ports and ship types and numbers) convoys were also adjusted. I hope these fixes will help the economy a lot, but theres still a lot to do.

Also, as in preparation for the future air war over Burma, I'm sending many AAA units there. Many. Many many! Magwe alone already has over 100 heavy guns, and I'll move almost every gun Japan used to have in Formosa to Burma. There are also 3 full division's worth of troops and some tank battalions on their way to Rangoon.

Regarding Pearl Harbor: This turn was the 210th after the 3rd strike on PH. Now its your turn, dear reader, to guess how many ships we have confirmed sunk there, and which ones. We attacked PH 3 times with full Kido Butai, also losing about 110 planes in the process.

ORIGINAL: Erkki

If you were wondering about the Ki-100, I have 6 size 30 R&D plants researching the Hien line. 3 of them are fully repaired already for Ki-61-Ia and 3 others are about 50% repaired for Ki-61-Ic. I'm going to field the Ki-61-Ic because its the first Army single engine fighter with a cannon and Ki-61-Id because its service rating 2 and has the 2 CT cannons. Also Ia and Ib will get built in small numbers just to make use of the engines(+ its got to be better vs. bombers than either Ki-44-IIa and Ki-43s). Ki-100 is has bad speed, MVR and climb but it is heavily armed with 2 cannons, armored and uses an engine no other plane besides E13A needs by the time Ki-100 becomes available. Plus its semi easy to research quickly. I intend to R&D the Ki-61 all the way to Ki-100-II which with our altitude rules can CAP and sweep higher than any other Japanese single engine fighter, together with the Ki-84r(not the a). I know I need the high performance machines(Ki-84, N1K, J2M) but low service rating and firepower are also needed, and the Ki-44-IIc has just the other and Zero is way too slow and fragile even if its cannon armed SR1.

I hope to be able to start replacing Ki-45s with Ki-61-Ics for my anti-bomber fighter by March of 1943.

I don't have as many factories, but I'm thinking on the same lines. I'll add one more factory closer to the due date of the Tony Ia. Then use that to build some and push the others ahead.

It's odd that in the game the Ki-100 doesn't come close to the Frank, but pilots in the war thought it the best fighter Japan put in the air. Not sure where the disconnect is with that one. But I'll build it as you say because it's service rating 1 and still not too bad.

July 7

Today I continued adjusting the convoy routes. I created approximately 30 new task forces and convoys and adjusted some existing ones. Lets see if its possible to move all the resources produced in the Philippines, Malaya, Borneo etc. to the Home Islands. Many of the convoys will be running without escorts, as I think I have maybe 1 escort per each task force I'd need to protect, so I'll prioritize them to escort tankers and the few most important resource-supply convoys.

Philippines: San Jose's defenders surrender without firing a shot, 8000 Philippinean Army men are taken as POWs. Situation in the Philippines: All your base are belong to us!

July 8

Not much to report. Ships sailing, a couple more convoy adjustments. I'm also sending more troops to Milne Bay, New Guinea. That one is potentially number 1 on the Allies' to-invade list.



I've now been waiting 211 turns for a SigInt report on something having sunk at Pearl Harbor. During all the campaign we havent had even false reports, and I believe I'm the most unlucky Japanese player to ever attack Pearl: 0, ZERO, ships sunk in 3 attacks. Only vessels that sunk there were the Japanese mini submarines, one of which put a torpedo into West Virginia. Banzai for that!

Just in the case someone wants to reanalyze the attack, here are the combat reports. Notice only half of the TBs flying on day 1. Also, out of 15 TB group sorties, only 3 used torpedoes. All 8 BBs were still spotted during the last attack.

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 118 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 64
B5N2 Kate x 54
D3A1 Val x 126



Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 21 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 17 destroyed by flak
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 14 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 3 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed on ground
B-18A Bolo: 1 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
CM Oglala, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DM Preble
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 1
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 3
AV Curtiss
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
DM Montgomery
AS Pelias, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
xAP St. Mihel
DM Pruitt
AV Tangier, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 8, on fire
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1
DM Ramsay, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AG Antares, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DMS Trevor, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Selfridge, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Helm, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Tucker, Bomb hits 1


Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Repair Shipyard hits 1
Manpower hits 11
Fires 5774
Airbase hits 30
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 61
Port hits 10
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1


Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46
B5N2 Kate x 141
D3A1 Val x 115



Allied aircraft
P-26A x 1
P-36A Mohawk x 6
P-40B Warhawk x 12
F4F-3 Wildcat x 2
SNJ-3 Texan x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
D3A1 Val: 10 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 1 destroyed
P-26A: 2 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 3 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
PBY-5 Catalina: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 1
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 7, on fire
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 3
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 3
AVD Hulbert, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Allen, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires


Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Repair Shipyard hits 1
Manpower hits 2
Fires 2204
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 26
Port hits 5
Port fuel hits 1

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
B5N2 Kate x 113
D3A1 Val x 89



Allied aircraft
P-36A Mohawk x 16
P-40B Warhawk x 44
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed, 8 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed, 13 damaged
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
BB Maryland, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 3
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
BB West Virginia, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 1
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD MacDonough, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 1


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


Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 6

I just read Cuttlefish's AAR, where he had 1,4MHI points in reserve by the time DEI was cut off from Japan. And he lost that in half a month. At the moment, I have 450,000 and have a daily surplus of 3400 points(will not break 1 million until at earliest Spring 1943). I think I will have to reconsider my HI uses. The naval yards I want to keep producing, but I'm currently also using some 1,000 HI points every day to build planes. Reserves of some of the more important types are as follows:

Zero: 120 + 300
B5N: almost 300
D3A: 80
G4M and G3M: 400
Ki-43: 250
Ki-21 and Ki-49: 80

I believe I have more than enough of some of these types for the rest of 1942, and many are also bad in the kamikaze role. All non-training air units are already upgraded to modern types, minus 2/3 of Army fighters that still fly the Ki-43(Ki-44-IIa production is 110/month).

Halving the Zero and CV strike aircraft production from 130-30-30 to 65-15-15 alone would save 114 HI points/day. Shutting down the Netty production that isnt shut down yet would save 53 points. I also have over 150 Army transports in the pools so I can shut down the transport plane lines, for now(72 a day). I want to keep using Ha-32s but the Ki-21 production could also be halved, saving another 86.

That'd be 325 HI points a day saved, of course halved to 160 as I want to keep engine production on. 160 would make 4800/month or almost 30,000 for 6 months. And whenever needed I could just turn those factories back on. Hmm..

Decisions, decisions! [;)]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I just read Cuttlefish's AAR, where he had 1,4MHI points in reserve by the time DEI was cut off from Japan. And he lost that in half a month. At the moment, I have 450,000 and have a daily surplus of 3400 points(will not break 1 million until at earliest Spring 1943). I think I will have to reconsider my HI uses. The naval yards I want to keep producing, but I'm currently also using some 1,000 HI points every day to build planes. Reserves of some of the more important types are as follows:

What are your armament pools looking like? You could scale that production way back. Same with Merchant shipping yards, they can be reduced drastically as well, depending on what you prefer to produce. Engine production can be turned off periodically. I used to think having huge stockpiles of engines was a good thing too, but then Nemo pointed out in Greyjoy's AAR that if the aircraft factories are bombed over the engine factories, that stockpile of engines may never even be used. I expanded HI in Java, Malaya, Indochina, China and Manchuria. Right now just starting March of 1943 I have 900k in the pool and adding 6k to the pool daily. Not enough either as I got a slow start, but I'm trying to make up for it now. Pilot cost seems to be the achilles's heel for Japan the later the game progresses. I wish there was a way to reduce the numbers.