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Another busy week...

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942

My first move into the Luganville area was 2 fold:
A. Recon in Force
B. Try to draw the Allies into another Carrier Exchange.

In this first phase, the Recon in Force part was successful
I got fair intel that both Luganville and Noumea were both manned with more than I could take with the small 3 Nav Guard/1 Nav Cont Amphib force I already had onhand.

I did pull the whole group into a tight group to the East of Luganville and presented the Allies with a target to launch some of their bombers. I was counting on Luganville to be crowded as a results.

Air Attacks Apr 5, 1942
Morning Air attack on TF, near Duff Islands at 123,140
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Hosho
CVE Taiyo

Morning Air attack on TF, near Duff Islands at 123,140
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo

Morning Air attack on TF, near Duff Islands at 123,140
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Hosho

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Reef Islands at 122,140
Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
E13A1 Jake x 10

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3
LB-30 Liberator x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
CA Aoba

All of these launched from Noumea

Task Forces orded to close range on Luganville
Air Attacks Apr 6, 1942

Dawn - Strikes launched from the KB - Recon shows at least 1 CA in TF around Luganville
Morning Air attack on TF, near Luganville at 120,150
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 52 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
B5N1 Kate x 7
B5N2 Kate x 30
D3A1 Val x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Dent
DD Talbot, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ward
DD Allen
DD Schley, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Chew
xAK Am. Leader, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAK Coast Farmer, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Talbot

Morning Air attack on TF, near Luganville at 120,150
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 104 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 25
D3A1 Val x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Schley, on fire
DD Chew
DD Dent, Bomb hits 1
DD Allen
DD Ward, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

Morning Air attack on TF, near Luganville at 120,150
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 109 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Am. Leader, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Chew
xAK Eldorado, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Schley, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Am. Leader
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Eldorado
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring an Allied DD

And the Allies Launch CounterAttacks
Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 124,147
Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 26 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 11
F2A-3 Buffalo x 29
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 3 destroyed
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 3 destroyed
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Haruna

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 124,147
Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 12
SBD-3 Dauntless x 16

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu
CV Zuikaku
CV Shokaku
CV Akagi

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 124,147
Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 13

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
CV Zuikaku
CV Akagi

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 124,147
Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Allied aircraft
LB-30 Liberator x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
LB-30 Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hamakaze

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Vanua Lava at 125,148
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 6 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 2

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga

Overall, I felt pretty good about the exchange.
I tried to stay as far back from Luganville to reduce any escorts or fragment his strike packages.

More of the same for Apr 7, 1942
Unfortunately weather cancelled all the KB strikes this turn...

Two Allied Strikes managed to break thru the weather and were beaten down:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Aoba Island at 125,150
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 40
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aoba Island at 125,150
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
E13A1 Jake x 9
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Hosho

At this point I begin to get an itchy feeling I am sitting in one spot too long so I have to move.
Recon accomplished on Luganville and Noumea at this point. The CA I wanted to strike earlier is long long gone.

I decide to spread my recon toward Suva to see if any damaged ships are hanging out there.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (cont)

Apr 8, 1942 - Suva Recon Stikes
Morning Air attack on Suva , at 132,160
Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
B5N2 Kate x 38
D3A1 Val x 62
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 12 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
AMc Gale, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Port hits 4
Port supply hits 1

Pesky Allied 4E Attacks
Morning Air attack on TF, near Yasawa Islands at 130,156
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku

No great results so far.
I need to retreat or at least refuel.
A number of loaded Oilers wait for me south of Nauru Island.

I pull the whole fleet back toward Nauru Island.

Apr 9-11 - Fleets Refuel

Apr 12 - Fleets reform and move back toward Luganville
I am going back for another bite of the apple.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (cont)

"Going back for another bite"
Strategic Considerations

The first assessment has to be on the capability of the Overall Commander and what Japan High Command's goals are.
The targets of this exercise are
A. Lord Howe Island
B. Efate Island
C. Ndeni Island

The purpose of Lord Howe Island would be to establish a base to harrass Allied Communications and possibly launch land based bomber attacks on Australian cities. This would take a massive commitment in troops, ships, planes, supplies, fuel and a bit of skill to pull off without undue losses.

The purpose of Efate Island would be to isolate the Luganville/Lunga Allied bases. I do not have enough forces onhand to protect the landing at Efate until I could pull back to Truk, rearm, refuel and load up another set of transports.

The purpose of the Ndeni Island would be more a battle of interdiction in the Lunga/Luganville/Noumea area and provide a shield as Nauru and Ocean Islands are built up. Another goal would be to draw the Allies into surface and carrier battles in this area.

These were the thoughts as I turned the KB once again toward Luganville.

I'm amazed at the forces the Allies have in Burma. Where did they come from and how did he get them there?

ORIGINAL: jwolf
I'm amazed at the forces the Allies have in Burma. Where did they come from and how did he get them there?

He has concentrated most of his air forces in Mandalay (fighters) and Impala (bombers).
I don't know enough about the Allied Order of Battle to comment on where they came from but I am getting sweeps over Meiktila from 4 different Hurrican IItorp squadrons, a couple of P-40E Warhawks, a P38 squadron, a bunch of P-39 Aircobras and the Flying Tigers.

I am not sure if any Restricted LCUs are in Mandalay.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (cont)

Apr 13, 1942 ** KB in range - launch Dawn Attacks:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Luganville at 120,150
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 114 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 49 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
B5N1 Kate x 6
B5N2 Kate x 46
D3A1 Val x 22
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 34
F2A-3 Buffalo x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed, 8 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Sumatra, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Dent
DD Evertsen, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Vampire, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Enterprise, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Van Ghent
DD Piet Hein
DD Kortenaer
DD Banckert
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Evertsen

Apr 13, 1942 ** Allies Reply - Morning Attacks
Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 67
Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 8
SBD-2 Dauntless x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 2

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 12 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Akagi

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 61
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 12
P-39D Airacobra x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 3 destroyed by flak
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Akagi
CV Shokaku
CV Hiryu

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 58
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15
LB-30 Liberator x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Hosho
CV Akagi
CVE Taiyo
BB Hyuga

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 6

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged (coming in at 1000 ft)

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged (coming in at 1000 ft)

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged (coming in at 1000 ft)
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu

Apr 13, 1942 ** KB Afternoon Attack
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Luganville at 120,150
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 103 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
B5N1 Kate x 5
B5N2 Kate x 29
D3A1 Val x 41
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 22
F2A-3 Buffalo x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CL Sumatra
CL Enterprise, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Dent, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Vendetta
DD Van Ghent
DD Kortenaer
DD Banckert
DD Voyager
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Enterprise
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Dent

Apr 13, 1942 ** Allied Afternoon Counter Attacks
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 123,146
Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
E13A1 Jake x 9
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 11 (coming in at 1000 ft)
P-39D Airacobra x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 2 destroyed by flak
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu
CV Zuikaku
DD Shiratsuyu

CarDiv3 with CS Chiyoda's float planes help out in these low level attacks.
Overall, one of the better days of air combat for the Empire.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (cont)


The fury of the Allied Air attacks are wearing down KB's Air Cap.
Weather interferes again in KB strikes so very little air action here.

Apr 14, 1942 ** BatDiv1 was given orders to Bombard the crowded airfield at Luganville.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Luganville at 120,150, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 1
BB Yamashiro
CL Tenryu
DD Asashio
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 1
DD Yudachi

Allied Ships
CL Sumatra, Shell hits 3
DD Voyager
DD Vendetta, Shell hits 1
DD Banckert
DD Kortenaer
DD Piet Hein, Shell hits 2, on fire
Reduced sighting due to 3% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 3% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 10,000 yards

Night Time Surface Combat, near Luganville at 120,150, Range 4,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Yamashiro
CL Tenryu
DD Asashio
DD Asagumo
DD Yudachi

Allied Ships
PT-36
PT-37, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-38, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-39
PT-40
PT-43, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 0% moonlight: 5,000 yards

Night Naval bombardment of Luganville at 120,150
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 68 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 6 destroyed on ground
B-26 Marauder: 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 7 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 17 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40E Warhawk: 22 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 4 damaged
F2A-3 Buffalo: 6 damaged
F2A-3 Buffalo: 2 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro
BB Mutsu
CL Tenryu

Allied ground losses:
230 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 18 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 19 (5 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Airbase hits 25
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 30

BB Yamashiro firing at Luganville
BB Mutsu firing at Luganville
CL Tenryu firing at Luganville

** I had Night Recon setup but nothing launched? **

This action with a couple of other air battles (Cap Trap on Hudsons out of Port Moresby and Bombers over Burma without escorts) -- makes for another pretty good day for the Empire.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (cont)

Apr 15, 1942 ** Decision Time

Here is the map for orders on Apr 15. I have discounted the Lord Howe Island option as it is too much for this rookie Admiral to pull off. Maybe next campaign...

The decision is basically do I think I can support the deeper invasion of Efate Island, should I instead take Ndeni Island and use it as a base of forward ops, or call the whole thing off.

General Overview Note:
Munda, Buna and Milne Bay have not been invaded at this point.

Situation Southeast Pacific - Updated to Apr 23, 1942 (conclusion)

I want to wrap this up so I can get back to 'real time' reporting ---
The decision was to invade Ndeni.

Soryu and her Amphib force landed in Munda.

I am building up Shortlands and Nauru Island as fast as I can.
Currently (as of the Apr 23rd turn)
25th Air Flotilla is in Rabaul - 144 AvSup
2nd Prov Base Force is in Shortlands - 60 AvSup
15th Base Force is in Munda - working hard to build airfields and forts
Nauru Island has 5 JNAF units - 120 AvSup
Ndeni is still just building forts - AvSup is on the way.

KB is heading toward Truk, Soryu is already there waiting to rejoin.

But last turn, I got an interesting Sub contact just South of Luganville:
Apr 23, 1942 ** ASW attack near Lakatoro at 118,151

Japanese Ships
SS I-10
Allied Ships
DD Ellet
BB Warspite
CA Astoria
CA New Orleans
CL Raleigh
DD Clark
DD Dunlap
DD Balch
DD Fanning

Apr 23, 1942 ** Sub attack near Lakatoro at 118,152[/b]

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
DD Sims
CA Astoria
CA New Orleans
CL Raleigh
DD Clark
DD Dunlap
DD Balch
DD Ellet


Is Allied Command trying to run in a bombardment on Ndeni?

ORIGINAL: DanSez

I am not sure if any Restricted LCUs are in Mandalay.

This (the LCUs) is what I was wondering about. From your reports it seems that he has a heck of a lot of ground troops there and I was wondering how he did that.

Back to your operations in the South Pacific, FWIW I agree that Ndeni was the most sensible of the options you proposed. You've got good carrier supremacy and surface force dominance so it makes sense to cash that in for what gains you can make.

ORIGINAL: jwolf

ORIGINAL: DanSez

I am not sure if any Restricted LCUs are in Mandalay.

This (the LCUs) is what I was wondering about. From your reports it seems that he has a heck of a lot of ground troops there and I was wondering how he did that.

Back to your operations in the South Pacific, FWIW I agree that Ndeni was the most sensible of the options you proposed. You've got good carrier supremacy and surface force dominance so it makes sense to cash that in for what gains you can make.

The air recon numbers seem very high. In a couple of examples, those numbers were much higher than the combat report from the ground troops. I think the recon (mouse) type lumps all bodies into 'troops' including support none-AV bodies, inflating that number. I wonder if the height of the recon flights effect the exaggeration of FOW.

Diplomatic inquiries assure that PPs are being paid for any transferred units.

wow- long time since last posting.
Work, real life and trying to keep up at least 1 turn a day pace made the last 2 weeks fly by.

Game time:
May 13, 1942 files are awaiting Allied High Command.

The butcher's bill on the first skermishes around the Solomons has finally resolved.

Allied Major Ships lost:
CV Enterprise
CV Saratoga
CV Indomitable
CVL Hermes
CA Louisville
CA Minneapolis
CA Northampton

IJN lost:
CA Furutaka
CA Nachi
CL Tatsuta

Given that, the Allies have been more cautious in my lastest cruise around Ndeni.
I stumbled in exposing a combat surface fleet that the 3 remaining carriers ganged up on and sank 2 CAs and 2 DDs, just proving the unbalanced score above maybe due more to luck than skill.

My word to the noobie is to not get too full of yourself and out-think the game.

Current tracker ship-kill total sheet:

In other world news:

Palembang and Soerabaja are both flying the Rising Sun flag.
Palembang came in pretty well intact (surprising)
Soerabaja, unfortunately, is completely trashed. The only think working there is 1 Manpower factory. Everything else, and I mean everything -- requires repair.

Bataan and Singapore are still holding out.

Bataan: I have purchased most of the 28th Inf Div and they are shipping out to reform at Clark Field to provide more muscle there. I am still outnumbered overall AV but the effects of bombing, bombardment and isolation are bound to have reduced the supply stock piles down.

Singapore: I think he has been sneaking in single supply ships. I have posted subs to prevent this, but only have sunk one so far this game. I am beating them down and expect the remains here to be as shattered and desolute as what I found in the streets of Soerabaja.

This is a battle from May 7th at Singapore:

Other News around the horn:

I finally threw the bums out of Wenchow, but China is grinding down to a slug-fest as I am having problems with supplies.

I have an Tank Division on ship heading for Burma to help the push past Mandalay. A lot of heavy bomber activity there until 3 days ago, I am not sure if he is restaging or if attrition on meager numbers of planes is calling a halt.

Which brings up Air Frames:
I am having a hard time keeping my Oscar Sentais fully stocked. The 'go slow' approach of the first 3 months and the 'careful expansion' that followed is leaving me with fighter groups at about 60-70% strength. I am ramping up both frames and engine production the past month, but again -- careful has been my watch word.

I will post more detail on my production and R&D shortly -- speaking of Oscars, looks like my armored Oscars will start rolling off the assembly line in about 10 days.

Burma front - May 13, 1942

Heavy bomber formations from Impala, escorted by large forces in Mandalay were wearing down the units I had outside Mandalay and I couldn't break the cycle with the 4 fighter sentai deployed at Magwe, so I have pulled back, awaiting the Guards Tank Division and others to rally the offensive in this theater.

You've done a great job on the Allied navy, in spite of a few losses of your own. Are Bataan and Singapore the only remaining Allied bases with a garrison in the DEI/PI/Malaya area? It looks like you'll have that whole region cleaned up pretty soon and that will be a big relief I am sure. Do you have plans in the works for the next stage and targets?

R&D -
Keeping those 500+ Ha-35 engines for full bonus has been hard.
Especially since I am depending on my main line fighter (Army and Navy) plus may other frames draw on this engine.

Something I didn't fully comprehend or calculate for in my 'careful expansion'.

A6M5c is cranking along - currently advancing a month every 10 or 11 days. I hope this will improve as more Ha-35 engine factories repair.

As I said earlier, Ki-43-IIb (armored) just advanced to 6/42 - and in 10-11 days, should advance to 5/42.
I have 2 Ki-43-1c factories cranking out 30/60 planes and they will move to the Ki-43-IIb model. The current R&D factories will move on to the Ki-43-IV.

Ki-44-IIa will come online at the end of this month and give some backup for the Oscars.
I have 1 fully repaired Ki-44-IIc factory chipping away at that delivery date.

Ki-49-IIa Helen (armored) will also come online sometime in June 42. I currently have 1 (30) Ki-49-Ia which will transition to the armored model, and one of the R&D factories will remain for Helen production. The other two will either advance to the last Helen model (Ki-49-IIb) or transition to new lines of R&D.
I haven't decided yet.

A6M2 will remain in production past the A6M3 model release. I plan on bypassing this model and moving two fully repaired R&D factories to the A6M3a model. I thought about building a few A6M3s as backups for the land based IJN fighter Sentais but that doesn't make sense given range is one of the zero's strengths at this stage of the war and the A6M3 has less of it than the A6M2.

G5M3a Betty (armored) with 4 fully repaired R&D factories is currently at 7/44 delivery date. I hope to have the Ha-32 engine above the magical 500 bonus line in the next week to help improve the speed of research.

Many other lines under research, but these are the highlights at this stage of the game.

ORIGINAL: jwolf

You've done a great job on the Allied navy, in spite of a few losses of your own. Are Bataan and Singapore the only remaining Allied bases with a garrison in the DEI/PI/Malaya area? It looks like you'll have that whole region cleaned up pretty soon and that will be a big relief I am sure. Do you have plans in the works for the next stage and targets?

Thanks for reading my mediocre reports.
I do have some plans. There is another battle brewing around Ndeni - Luganville at the moment and I am trying some unconvential tactics. Not sure how well it will work, but I will get into that tomorrow.

The Northern part of Sumatra is still in Allied control and Batavia in Java. A few other bases in Borneo also. I will give maps and notes on each theater as I work back across to the Solomons and I hope to get back into posting every day or every other day at least.

Supply for the Allied part of Burma must be horrible because they have no road connection to anywhere. That should (??) speed up your conquest.