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Still no allied ships between India and Australia.

Hitting his supply lines only works when there are supply lines to strike!

He might be moving at the map edge, I would. Some say it is gamey for the japanese to hunt at the mapedges, maybe it is. Or maybe he is supplying oz from the west coast, a shipping lane that is much harder to interdict. If you know where the allied carriers are at you could try to sneak into the triangle betwen Noumea, Sidney/Brisbane and Aukland.
Could be hard to get through the allied search patern though.

Q

Still no sign of Allied convoys. It's been 6 days in game time now without contacts in this area.

Carrier Division One arrives at Batavia tomorrow. I am withdrawing Division Three to Batavia for refuelling and rendevous with Division One. At that point we will re-assess our options. A carrier raid on Darwin and/or Derby may be in the offing. There are apparently no allied bombers in this area and only minimal CAP.

Division Four will remain on interdiction patrol for now.

Results from the recent US raid on Tokyo.

We lost three ML that were refuelling in Tokyo harbor. 25 docked merchant vessels were damaged, some severely, in the air raid, but only one sank and the rest can be repaired. We lost a large number of fighters....in excess of 100.

Our counterstrikes on the Allied fleet by Bettys and Judys resulted in the sinking of three US fleet oilers and damage to two others when a replenishment group was caught without CAP.

In terms of ships lost, it wasn't that bad.....I'll exchange the three small ML for the big AO any time, and the merchant losses were not a big deal. But I lost a lot of valuable aircraft and pilots.

My opponent made some ominous pronouncements regarding a nasty surprise for the most recent turn, but aside from a heavy air raid on Makin, nothing out of the ordinary occured.

Could be bluff. Could be a mission got scrubbed by weather.

Still no action on the sea lanes. It appears he isn't shipping anything from India to/from Australia. My carrier divisions are regrouping at Batavia to consider our next move.

January 1, 1944

Carrier Divisions One and Three launch successful raid on Australian base of Derby. At least 10 Allied fighters on CAP destroyed, one Dutch submarine confirmed sunk, several other ships and submarines damaged including an allied submarine tender. Japanese losses minimal, less than ten aircraft lost. Both carrier divisions successfully returned to Batavia without reprisal from allied air.

Not a decisive stroke, but I can't get in a decisive stroke at this point. I wanted to at least make my presence known that KB still has some bite, force him to spread out his LBA a bit or risk further such raids. The attempt to interdict sea lanes wasn't working as there are apparently no sea lanes in interdict between Australia and India.

The enemy is becoming increasingly bold with his submarines....a submarine was just sighted in the Sea of Japan!

We have had fair success lately re-routing important convoys around known submarine areas. But the Emperor demands that something be done to protect the Sea of Japan!

Any ideas, other than just "Japanese ASW sucks so you're stuck with it."?

Yeah just form large ASW TFs. ( under 1.8+ since ASW is much more reasonable than pre-1.8 large ASW TFs are reasonable) and begin hunting. At first you will suck BUT over time your units will get better and begin damaging and destroying Allied subs. Be aggressive and when you find a contact cover it with airpower and bring an ASW TF in. As the sub becomes damaged it becomes easier and easier to hunt so remember not to prosecute to drive off. You must prosecute to kill!!!

I have used ASW TFs of between 10 to 12 PCs and ASWs to good effect. Overall in 4 months of game time some 25 Allied subs have been sunk. Allied sub losses are more than double mine. Of course I have dedicated roughly 100 escorts and over 100 floatplanes to this mission but I think the end result is well worth it.

This is exactly what I started to do last turn, forming large ASW hunter-killer groups. For each group, I use a fleet destroyer as "flagship," one or two of the old APDs or refitted WW1 DDs, and a large bushel of MSW, PC, PG, etc. I had hoardes of floatplanes and dive bombers doing ASW missions already around the home islands, which is how I was avoiding his subs much of the time, but he can't be allowed into the Sea of Japan.

About a month ago in game-time, I accellerated a large group of PCs on the build queue. The first of these entered action in the recent turns and already had some success with its A/S mortar.

Update:

ASW task groups have had some success. Although US submarines are everywhere, extensive air recon and hunting groups have limited losses to semi-acceptable levels over the last few turns.

Nasty ground combat in Burma! He is making a big push for Mandalay, so far without success. I have a lot of supply built up this area and continue to ship more in via Rangoon, using the huge stockpiles that my predecessors had amassed at various points throughout the DEI. So far he has made no attempt to interdict my shipping to Rangoon....I'm not even sure he knows about it, he doesnt' seem to have much air recon going in this area.

He recently invaded and seized Akyab. I tried to interdict this with aircraft from Rangoon, but 4 straight days of rain prevented my bombers fron launching! Very annoying!!

Increasing numbers of George fighters are coming into service and are filling out some of our remaining high-experience datais. I would prefer it if PDU was on, but alas I am stuck with the normal upgrade paths.

Bloody invasion of Tarawa. My predecessors did not have the troops there prepped properly and I am sub-50 on prep points for the garrison. . .I didn't check it until it was too late. Still he seems to be having trouble with the garrison nonetheless, pounding it constantly with air and naval bombardment.

I no longer consider Kwajalein tenable as a forward base and have begun evacuating command and submarine repair units to Truk. I am expecting a massive carrier raid to be coming my way soon, either hitting Kwajalein or perhaps the Wake/Marcus Area. My submarines have detected a fleet buildup in the Midway vicinity.

We have several hundred fighters busily training in Japan. The air defense of the home islands is no longer neglected.

Battleship Ise has returned to service after conversion to "seaplane battleship" configuration. I normally don't do this but my predecessor had her converted, so I went ahead and finished the job. She will provide additional ASW cover for the battlefleet. Battleship Musashi is scheduled to complete in 17 days.

KB is back in home waters, refitting and training after the Derby Operation. Next move is highly uncertain.

Air Raid Kwajalein!

His forces slaughtered an empty transport task force....I don't like losing the APs but at least they were empty. Remaining submarines in Kwajalein Anchorage have sortied to meet the aggressor. Aircraft at Kwajalein are insufficient to make a dent against his CAP and have therefore withdrawn to Truk, except for small number of search floatplanes.

It appears that the enemy may be neglecting aerial recon along the margins of the theatre....no searches that we can tell in the Indian Ocean, no aircraft at Dutch Harbor, etc. Tentative probes with submarines reveal little patrol activity in these areas. Admiral Yamamoto is now considering a bold move to try and turn the tide of the war with one stroke: an air raid on Seattle. A suicide mission, for certain. . .but the whole war is suicide for the Japanese, and I'd like to commit suicide on my own terms.

Allied fleet nears Truk.

Stupid Betty units! I had over 100 Bettys and Sallys at Truk, 70+ experience units, with over 100+ fighters with 60-70 experience set to escort. I hoped that at least a few bombers would get through the CAP considernig the amount of fighter escort.

The stupid Bettys and Sallys flew to attack WITHOUT FIGHTER ESCORT.....no fighters at all launched. Weather good, plenty of supply, aggressive commanders, airfield maxed out, plenty of air support. Half of the entire bomber force was wiped out by American CAP while my fighters sat at Truk and watched.

We have had good ASW results in recent turns, with more American subs sunk and fewer merchant victims of the submarine pirates. Reasons for the good results:
 
We've been replacing destroyer and escort skippers with more aggressive commanders.
 
We accellerated construction of escorts armed with the 3-inch AS mortar, which is a much more effective weapon than standard depth charges. These ships are now coming into service and have been more effective than the older PGs and PCs.
 
We have tripled ASW air coverage, shifting some Betty groups that were on naval attack missions in the outer islands and moving them back to the Home Islands for additional training and ASW duty. Although the aircraft have seldom scored hits themselves, every submarine they spot is one my convoys can avoid, and my hunter-killer groups seek out.
 
The Allies have gotten aggressive about probing the Sea of Japan, but there are certain "choke point" entrances that his subs have to get through. We are patrolling these choke points strongly and will start mining them as well.

How is your pilot training programme coming along? Those are key units now that he is beginning to probe so aggressively.

Pilots....well, my bombers are in pretty good shape, but most of my fighter units are still in the 50s. There are no really convenient places to train them in China, considering the amount of good allied airpower he has concentrated around Chungking. Plus he has shown the willingness to hit Japan directly, forcing me to keep a lot of my pilots at home. I've been using training, escort, and LR Cap missions but it takes a long time to train fighter pilots apparently.

Perhaps you could use 1.801 to shift the bomber pilots to your fighters? Some find it a bit gamey etc etc but given the in extremis situation you've inherited I think it is a reasonable thing to allow.

I've already done that a little bit, shifting some pilots around. I have been hessitant to do this extensively for fear of being too gamey, plus there is apparently something of a bug in the routine somewhere where you can lose units if you do this too much.
 
 

Allies land at Moulmein.
 
Risky but potentially brilliant stroke on the part of the Allied commander, landing a large force of troops and tanks at Moulmein, outflanking my Burma position in one stroke. Classic example of the "indirect approach." Well played by the Allied commander!
 
Troops will fall back from Mandalay immediately. Main factor now is to save the Burma Army if at all possible. Three carrier divisions will arrive at Singapore tomorrow, as well as the main battle line under Admiral Toyoda in his flagship Yamato. The Allied commander does not appear to have any major fleet units supporting his landing, relying on land-based air. If I can get there in time, perhaps I can slaughter his supply ships and cut off his landing force from their own supplies.

If anyone is still reading this, I'd really like some input.
 
The Allies have landed a strong force including several armor units at Moulmein, to cut off my Burma army and lift the stalemate at Mandalay. This worked, I have pulled my Mandalay troops back. The point now is to SAVE the Burma Army...there are a lot of high experience troops that I cannot just let die.
 
The ONLY allied fleet units I have seen in the area is a small force of cruisers and destroyers. Otherwise there appears to be nothing but merchant shipping and amphibious forces. It appears that most of the British navy is supporting US operations in the Central and South Pacific.
 
I want to save the Burma Army.....so I am going to land troops myself at Moulmein. He has already pushed westward from Moulmein towards Rangoon, leaving smaller forces to hold the beachhead. If I can smash the beachhead at Moulmein, I can reverse the tide, cut off HIS troops, and save the Burma Army....note I know i cant' save Burma itself, but I can at least withdraw my forces in good order on my own terms.
 
I have my entire battleline minus Fuso and Mutso (repairing from recent bombing damage) plus four carrier divisions steaming towards Moulmein escorting the troop convoy. I have already shut down the airfield there through bombing. He has a lot of LBA air around, but most of it is busy harrassing my supply lines. So far, it does not appear that he has spotted my carriers. . .I don't think he knows they are in the area.
 
Anyway, I don't know if it is a good idea or not, but it is what i am going to do, try and prevent him from resupplying Moulmein by sinking as much shipping as possible with my carriers. KB's pilots and aircraft are simply too weak to go up against the USN in the Central Pacific....he has his entire carrier force concentrated in one group. But I can do some major damage here (I hope), and withdraw the crack Burma troops for use closer to Japan.

 
Sounds like a good reaction. Should make for some interesting turns and give him something he has to react to. I look forward to hearing the results.
 
Good hunting.