Quisling! An AFB does Japan (No PanzerKat)

[John B.]

More quiet. The KB is in Soerabja for some R&R. I have fighter cover up since the last time I tried this B-24s put holes in a few of my carriers. As you can see, I did put a few British AKs at the bottom plus two sweet British DDs at Ramree. Just because the KB is in Java does not mean that the entire Japanese navy is there.

It's been awhile since I've seen the American Carriers. Scott has had time to refuel and replenish from either Hollandia or Rabual where ever he is going. I'm not sure how long I can keep all of the airbases down but I must keep trying.

Manila is at level 9 fortifications. It's just too bad that it's in x2 terrain. IMHO it does not make sense to defend Clark field since if I were the allies and there were Japanese there I'd leave them alone. Manila is the big points. I'm also going to move the 5th division there so there will be 4 divisions and lots of artillery and AA. Hopefully it takes Scott a long long time to take it. The sad thing is how fast his bombing will reduce my supply levels there once he gets started.

More supply to Saipan and it will soon have level 8 forts and Guam is about half way to level 8. It needs more supply as well.

[John B.]

Scratch one flattop! [:D] Alas no planes lost but it did take six torpedoes, a fuel explosion and an ammo explosion plus I heard sinking sounds. This ship was damaged in the carrier battle two months ago in the DEI and must have been heading back to San Fran. for yard time. Hard to see how it could survive.

[John B.]

The SS I-16 gets all sorts of medals! [&o] It should make it back to port and I"m glad I"m keeping up sub patrols off of the West Coast of CONUS.

Scott gets so many CVs that this won't have any real repercussions (and he's only lost 2-3 other CVs) but it's always nice VP wise to get one of those big boys.

Not too much else going one. He raided Rangoon and sank an SC but lost a B-24. The KB is in Soerebaja but only one CV is in port do if he sends his heavies he'll have to hit my CVs at sea. In 2-3 turns I'll go out for whack a mole again and use the cover to suck some oil out of Balikpapan.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: John B.
Scratch one flattop! [:D] Alas no planes lost but it did take six torpedoes, a fuel explosion and an ammo explosion plus I heard sinking sounds. This ship was damaged in the carrier battle two months ago in the DEI and must have been heading back to San Fran. for yard time. Hard to see how it could survive.

Oh, I remember (see below) [:D] Congratulations on a very effective sub war!

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: John B.
In better news, looks like we can scratch one flattop! Three torpedo hits, ammo explosion, and sinking sounds right away plus . . .

Wow, talk about scary subs. Sara damaged last month, now Wasp sunk. Congrats!

[John B.]

My subs also finished off a British CV that was damaged in the surprise carrier battle near Rangoon in 1942. So, I can't complain at all about their effectiveness.

[John B.]

A tip of the hat to the brace pixelcaptain and crew of the I-37. Having put a torpedo into one DD they were forced to the surface and, although badly damaged, they put a torpedo into a second DD before going to join their brethren at the Yasukuni shrine. This is the fighting spirit that is the Empire's impenetrable wall! [&o] [&o][&o]

In other news, a big allied fleet is heading towards Uthili (sp?) and my carriers are near Talud. Something may happen, we shall see!

[John B.]

Back in action and a couple of nice turns in the air for the Empire of Japan. As you can see, my bombardment of Talud seems to have caught Scott preparing an ambush for my carriers in the area. And, I caught him flat footed. I think he was trying to ambush me as his CVs were near Babledoab.

[John B.]

The next day saw another round of bombardments and then a nice air combat over Ramree Island. Good to see the p_38s take high losses. I want to keep Ramree down as long as possible as that airbase, once active, gets him into Prome and then Rangoon etc...

[John B.]

No exciting (or boring) aerial victories to report. Scott has cleared out Yap and it appears that his invasion fleet is returning to Manus/Rabual to refuel.

Guam has run short of supplies while building up to fort level 8 mainly because I've been lazy. But, I've been getting resupply convoys through and have managed to start to restock it. Let's see how long Scott lets me get away with that.

The KB has parked off of Kendari to help keep it down as it had repaired its airfield. Scott also dumped a whole bunch of mines in there! I lost a sub and 4 DDs have been hit on two separate nights (and a CA earlier). None have gone down but one is looking bad. I haven't minded too much since the damaged DD's will head into dry dock for upgrades in about two weeks but its annoying.

I am setting up to retake Talud. I have a regiment and an SNLF preparing in Batavia. When the KB heads back to port it will restock, take the BBs and the LSD/AMC/AP TFs and see if I can't reclaim some real estate!

[John B.]

After a few quiet turns things seem to be heating up again. The bad news is that Scott launched a massive raid against Balikpapan and seems to have cut oil production in half in just one raid!

[John B.]

The better news is that his heavies took some (wait for it) heavy losses in the raid. I count up 23 four engine bombers so, even though we lost and equal number of planes I got double the VPs. And, I figure most of my pilots lived since it was over my airbase.

Still, this is why I am using the entire IJN to keep his offensive in the DEI at bay. Once he gets in range of the oil fields he can shut them down fast. He is still far away from the big one at Palembang but it's only November 1944. I'm glad I've been able to hold him off as long as I have been able to do so. And, I'm glad I had fighters over Balikpapap.

[John B.]

I'm also getting the KB ready for my operation to invade Talud and try to wrest it back from the Allies. Scott has two TFs that are out there just handing out. The one to the south has reports of BBs in it so I'm not sure what's going on there. Is he trying to bait me? I'm going to focus on getting to Talud and then trying to bombard Kendari again. That's the base from which he can send out fighters over Balikpapan (and perhaps Soerebaja) so it's important to keep it useless to him.

[John B.]

Scott did not return for another series of raids over Balikpapan. Instead, today he invaded Pelieu. This may be his easiest opposed invasion since my units were out of supply and were blown away by the preliminary bombardment so he shock attacked empty air. I wonder if the troops were disorganized running into smoking empty craters? His mystery TFs disappeared and he has a major convoy in Kendari. All is quiet in Burma. I'm 1-2 days away from launching the strike at Talud. I want his Pelieu TFs to head back home before I strike.

[John B.]

It's December 1st and by the looks of things, Scott is heading to Ternate to clean up that base behind his lines. These boys have some supply and a level 4 fort so they should hold out for a few turns, or at least I hope so. I see that he has moved his main KB here into the DEI. As long as it's here I won't be able to shut down Kendari. The more interesting immediate problem is that I have my invasion fleet off to Talud and the IJN has lifted anchor and will be following it up the Borneo Strait. In other words, we'll have two fleets just a few hexes apart in just a few turns. It could get interesting!

[John B.]

It's December 1943 and it's time for the monthly update! As you can see, I still have a hefty VP lead and a nice reservoir of PP points to rebuild units as they die in the next year. till the days are passing much more slowly now than in those heady days of 1942. The navy is fully engaged in holding back the Americans but they keep pressing and I can't be everywhere.

[John B.]

Here is the lastest production screen. I've never been Japan before so I have no idea if this is good or bad. But, there are a lot of HI points saved up and Tokyo is sitting on 2,000,000 supply points so I'm feeling a little bit flush now. My main goal is to keep the oil flowing from the DEI for as long as possible. With the American carriers in the DEI, however, that will be tough as I won't be able to shut down the airfields anymore so there will be more raids on the oil wells.

[John B.]

Speaking of the DEI, here is the latest. The KB is just off of Balikpappan along with lots of surface ships and the invasion TF is right next to it. The American KB is on Ternate right now. As long as it's there I don't think I'll risk my invasion. I'm going to hang back near Tarakan and see what develops. Scott does have a surface TF at Babledaob probably primed to run in and intercept any invasion TF.

[John B.]

It's December 4, 1943 and there have just been two very satisfying days of raids on Ramree Island. I'm trying to keep the airfield there down for as long as possible since it's close enough to Prome to help Scott unlock Bruma. Yesterday I shot down 20 Hurricane IIc and today's haul was even better! Nice to see those P-40Ks and even nicer to see the P-38H's go down. The George seems to be a pretty good fighter. I'm also just about to upgrade to the Tojo IIIc. The armor point will be a nice gain but I'll be sorry to lose the two cannon.

[John B.]

Meanwhile, down in the DEI, the Japanese navy is just off of Talud. Scott was sneaky and dumped a whole bunch of mines in there. I lost an ss and a DD so I'm going to wait at least one more day before I send in the landing troops. My recon by bombing did not do too much damage to his ground forces but all I saw was AA and a base force. Scott's carriers are somewhere so I really don't like lingering around especially in sub infested waters.

Ternate is likely to fall this turn. Scott got the fort level down and I don't have any significant infantry there. I did sneak a PB with 1,000 supply into Darwin thus helping that bastion hold out longer.

[John B.]

The Reconquista has begun! I went ahead and landed the regiment and SNLF force yesterday on Talaud after a BB bombardment. I don't think that Scott has any combat troops on the island. The BB only killed guns and non-combat troops. Two days of recon by bombing only showed AA units and base forces being attacked but, again, no causalities to any combat squads. So, since I don't have a lot of time with the US Navy lurking nearby, I have scheduled another BB bombardment and then a shock attack. My units are in pretty good shape (25 fatigue 3-4 disruption) but there was no bombardment from Scott's forces (indicating to me no artillery) so I have no idea what shape he's in.

Scott did managed to blast more of the oil fields at Balikpapan. This time my fighters only shot down 4 of his planes and Balikpapan is now down to 98 functioning oil wells. I'll keep rebuilding them with indigenous supply but this does not bode well for the future. It's almost 1944 and the game ends then, right?