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Can your P-38s LRCAP your CVs while a small part of your CV fighters LRCAP your transports??

Your screen shot seems to indicate a secondary landing at VP. Is that going to happen?? It will be hard for him to reinforce from the RR near by and makes a nice mid-point to Medan.

Your 4e bombers should start hitting his most modern fighter plants in Japan asap. Look to hit some of his R&D plants for fighters. Force him to keep fighters further back in Japan and not on the front lines. Whatever fighter is the most effective against your Hellcats and Lightnings is priority #1.

Be careful with your orders on the transports.

With all those land hexes around, it would suck if they started offloading in the wrong hex.

Good points and suggestions, Gents.  Thanks.

1.  DW, thanks for the warning.  So far I've managed to avoid unintentionally landing my troops in some vacant beach hex.  I have my transports set to "Do Not Unload" too.  I had this problem frequently in Uncommon Valor, and recently had it happen in this game.  After I invaded Hokkaido and had to set my surviving ships to "flee" to Sikhalin Island, I sent a few on a roundoubt course - circumnavigating Siklahin by sailing up the west coast, rounding the northern cape, and heading back down to Shikuka.  Unfortunately, I chose the hex with the northern tip of the island as my waypoint, and some of my transports unloaded there.  So I currently have a small detachment of 25 U.S. Army division occupying Russian territory...

2.  NY Giants:  (a) I'm probably going to postpone the invasion temporarily.  John just landed reinforcements at Medan increasing the garrison from 6k to 16k; so it's no longer a quick and easy conquest.  Had I gone in, I would have set one squadron of carrier fighters to provide LRCAP with the carriers taking station closer to Port Blair under LRCAP from P-38s (just as you suggested).  I think the immediate plan will be to proceed with the invasion of Sabang.  That's much closer to Port Blair and I have boukoups troops prepped for the base (many already at Port Blair or loading on transports at Rangoon).  (b) As for secondary invasion targets, lots of troops are prepping for bases on the Malay Peninsula including Victoria Point and Georgetown. (c)  I don't have the ability to hit John's airplane factories in big numbers over a sustained period of time quite yet - I don't want to draw down my supplies at Iwo and Sikhalin Island too much until the situation is stabalized and I have my supply system up and running.  I might do a few B-24 raids just to elevate John's concerns in this regard; but I hope to be able to initiate a sustained campaign when B-29s begin arriving in April.

01/07/44 and 01/08/44
 
North Pacific:  Several developments:  (1)  The Japs are counter-invading Onnekotan Shima, a small island just south of Paramushiro Jima.  The garrison consists of a small detachment of 158th RCT with an AV of just 3.  The invasion force is about 1500 strong (as of D-Day) and will have been badly disrupted by Arctic winter conditions.  Right now, Onnekotan is a level 0 airfield, but can be built up.  I don't want to lose it, so I'm going to air transfer some of 24th Army Division via Coronado (just three are operational at the moment) and send more via fast transport that won't arrive until day after tomorrow; (2) Nearly all Dunkirked troops are ashore on Sikhalin Island now.  The Toyohara garrison has an AV of 400 while Shikuka has about 900.  I'll transfer a fair number of the Shikuka troops down to the more exposed Toyohara; (3)   A Mini-KB is patrolling the North Pacific again and damaged two TKs.
 
Australia:  Most of my army has arrived 60 miles east of Broken Hill now.  I'll wait one more day for stragglers to catch up before moving into the city.  I'm going to try sending some armor units around Broken Hill to see if I can outflank the Jap garrison or create enough concern to prod John into pulling back.
 
CBI:  It still looks like the Japs have pulled all strike aircraft out of the forward bases (Sabang, Georgetown, Victoria Point in particular).  Since there doesn't appear to be a huge threat from LBA, I've decided to proceed with my invasion of Medan.  An RN bombardment TF will head in tonight followed by three TFs carrying three Chinese units and a base force.  The Jap garrison is 3 units some 16k strong.  Even if I don't have enough to take this base in the short term, having units here will pose a threat to the line of retreat to John's units further west (including Sabang).  Meanwhile, the huge Sabang invasion fleet is moving toward Port Blair to join the TFs already there.  This invasion fleet should be ready to move on Sabang in three or four days.  The RN carriers sent out Avengers over two days that managed to cripple or sink a handful of APs caught in the Malacca Straits and in ports like Khota Bharu.

Canorebel, what do you get out of stranding 3 units at Medan? Seems like if you don't take it in teh first week, he'll jsut reinforce and you'll have stranded your strike force there for him to use as pilot training.

Far from being a threat to him, I'd think it'd be a threat to you b/c you'd either have to abandon it entirely (lost units) or sortie at some later date to D-Day it, and that'll mean fighting your way in there again just to evac.

Seems like if he reinforced before you got there and the target is not doable, best thing to do is go home. Preserve your strike force.

I'm in agreement with Pat.Casey's analysis.

Unless you think you're strong enough to actually take the base, Medan or any other base you might choose to strike, it would be a mistake to make the landing.

John can hang on and wait until your fleet is forced to withdrawal through logistical considerations.

With your land forces committed, John would then be able to thin his land forces in other nearby bases and concentrate his combat power at the base under attack.

Your ability to interfere with John's concentration of force would be limited.

Once he's ready, he'll simply destroy your landing force, then redeploy his forces back to their defensive position.

You'll have gained nothing and lost a good number of troops in doing so.

Your positions on Sakhalin Island, especially in conjunction with your possession of Iwo Jima, is a war winner for you.

John has to know that he can't allow you to stay there, so an attempt at reconquest is almost a dead certainty.

Once John has destroyed the land power that you have available commitment to offensive operations in the Indian Ocean , he'll know that he's safe from further invasions in that theater for a time.

This will allow him to transfer the surface and air forces he has in the Indian Ocean area up to Northern Japan, maximizing his concentration of force for the upcoming battle.

While getting a foothold on the lower Malay peninsula or Sumatra is desirable, if that goal appears unattainable then I would think that maintaining your threating posture in the Indian Ocean, and forcing John to keep strong forces in the area, is the next best thing.

Your both wrong! (But I mean that good naturedly and with my fingers crossed while carressing my rabbit's foot).
 
It isn't 1942 or 1943 any more.  The Allies have the initiative and can bring overwhelming force to bear in the IO (unless the Japs commit the KB that way; but while that would result in a spanking to the RN, it would leave the North Pacific wide open so that I could reinforce Sikhalin Island, which would be a mortal blow to the Japs, so I'll take the risk).
 
The Jap position in western Sumatra is rather attenuated and exposed.  There is a good road connecting Medan (to the east) with Sabang (at the western tip), but I don't think there's a road leading east from Medan, so Jap troops in that region can be cut off and destroyed.  The Allies are about to land a huge army at Sabang and I'd like to create a blocking position at Medan.  The Japs will have trouble reinforcing or extracting from Medan, and the Allies will have the full RN available to protect the beach (as long as the KB doesn't show up).  I think the Allies can bring overwhelming force to bear in Western Sumatra, but even if I lost the units at Medan it would be a small loss.
 
I think it's worth doing.  I also think it will create serious pressure on John (nobody likes facing a threat that an army is isolated and threatened with destruction) so that he might act rashly and innadvisedly.  So it may create more opportunites.
 
Anyhow, it's too late to cancel the invasion.  The transports were ordered in prior to my last post.  John has the turn now.  So we'll see if I'm right over the next week or so.

Ahhhhhh...

I see.

I must have lost track of your battle plan.

I didn't realize you had a big landing going in at Sabang, and that the Medan landing was a subsidiary operation.

I was under the impression that Medan was your main landing, and that you were going in too weak to take the base.

Yea... Go for it.

I withdrawal my objection.

1/9/44 and 1/10/44
 
Sumatra:  The invasion force hit the beach at Medan in good order on the 9th.  The bombardment TF came in first, followed by the transports, which encountered minimal opposition from shore guns.  Most of three Chinese units unloaded, but the shore parties didn't manage to bring supplies.  The opposition consists of three units including 19th Division.  This was a surprise - John had recently reinforced the garrison of two units (some 6,000 strong) with a sizeable force, but I figured it was probably a mixed brigade.  There was no appearance by the Jap airforce or navy on the 9th, so I decided to risk allowing the transports to unload without protection (I was getting nervous having combat ships in such an advanced position).  So I ordered the bombardment TF and a few transports to pull out and rendezvous with the carriers, which were to take station closer to Sabang where they were within range of Port Blair's P-38s.  Well, the Jap airforce took advantage of the situation - large strikes came in from airfields at Khota Bharu and Singapore, sinking five merchants, damaging others, and also sinking CA Dorsetshire (my bad; I had her embedded in a transport TF as protection against shore guns and forgot to detach her and send her away with the other combat ships).  Before the transports got hit, though, they unloaded plenty of supplies, so my three units are in good shape.  They have an AV of about 350 against something like 200 for the Japs.  The landing seems to have resulted in confusion and consternation in the Japanese HQ, as units have been sighted moving east toward Medan from bases further west.  This will help when the Allies invade Sabang - the transports leave Port Blair tonight.  D-Day should be in about three days.

North Pacific:  The Japanese invasion of Onnekotan Maru (the island south of Paramushiro) fizzled.  John tried a shock attack and his unit "evaporated."  Contested landings in Arctic zones in winter just don't fare well.  In the meantime, another Jap invasion force arrived at Kinashire, the western-most of the Kuriles.  Fortunately, that island has the stoutest garrison of any of the Kuriles - about 60 AV.  I'll send some reinforcements, and a combat TF will arrive tonight to try to drive away the transports.  I think John will quickly conclude that winter invasions in the Arctic require a major commitment; whether he's willing to make such a commitment with Allied bases and carriers close by is doubtful.  I've finished distributing the Hokkaido troops between the two bases on Sikhalin Island - Toyohara's AV is about 700, while Shikuka has about 800.  The units at both bases have significant disruption and disablement, so as these troops rest and replenish the AVs will increase considerably.

Iwo Jima:  B-24s and PBY Liberators targeted the aircraft factories at Gumma, the first strategic mission of the game.  The bombers scored six hits against the Frank factory (48 strategic points).  I hope this will give John a taste of things to come and force him to consider whether he will have to place CAP over every Jap base that has strategic targets. I know it's got to trouble him that the Allies have big airfields at Iwo and Sikhalin Island.  The question is:  will he try to retake any of these bases?

Australia:  The Japs are pulling out of Broken Hill.  I think this will force them to abandon Adelaide and the base to the west too, because they will soon be cut off.  The next likely "bump" in the road will be at Alice Springs.  The Aussies are beginning in earnest the campaign to reclaim their continent.

1/12/44
 
Sabang, Sumatra:  The invasion TFs rendezvoused two hexes NW of Sabang.  Yesterday, recon reported some CVs in the Gulf of Siam in an odd position (east of Khota Bharu).  I am worried about the appearance of the KB, because my Sumatra invasion plan has been very slow in developing and John seems to have a good feel for my intentions.  He has had a LONG time to plan a counterattack if he is so inclinded.  However, on reviewing the map I didn't detect any signs of John loading up his forward airfields.  I believe he would do so (trying for a massed attack) if the KB was heading in tomorrow.  So after mulling over a withdawal back to the safety of Port Blair, I have decided to proceed with the invasion.  The transports and a bombardment TF will head in tonight.  The CVs will remain in place and commit one squadron of Corsairs and one of Hellcats to LRCAP, with Port Blair P-38s providing LRCAP to the CVs.  Meanwhile, to the east, John is still reacting strongly to the Medan invasion force.  Singapore-based bombers hit the Chinese troops and it appears that more land units are heading that way.  I believe, however, that the force is strong enough to hold for quite awhile, and I I'm thankful that it seems to have diverted some troops that way so that Sabang is a little weaker.
 
North Pacific:  The Mini-KB is patrolling further to the NW than previous as though John were "taunting" me or hoping to draw the American carriers out of Shikuka (which won't happen any time soon).  The Japs finished off a crippled Tanker south of Kiska Island.  Nate Kamikazes from Wakkanai hit Shikuka, but didn't accomplish anything other than giving the Allies points (a single hit against BB Pennsylvania didn't do any damage).
 
Iwo:  The big bombers are set to strike Gumma again tomorrow.
 
Australia:  The retreat/route is on (although it's not really fair to call it a route - this is a planned and well-thought-out pull back orchestrated by John; but it has a least some of the characteristics of a route because the Japs don't have a good defensive position until they reach Alice Springs, so the Aussies are going to reclaim alot of territory.  The Aussies took Broken Hill and have based some B-25s and Liberator IIIs there.

P.S.  Just saw the title of one of John's posts:  "Bring it to Sabang BABY."  Man, I hate seeing something like that.

1/13/44
 
A good day, but I need just one more without John springing a nasty surprise attack.  If I get it, things will settle down nicely.

Sumatra:  This was where I feared a Jap surprise attack in the form of the KB descending upon my carriers and transports, but nothing of the sort happened.  The bombardment TF went in, sank an AR, AS, and AK, and shelled the beaches.  The transports encountered mines and a dozen or so suffered damage, but it was insignificant given the massive size of this fleet.  Then the troops began landing in good shape, fully supplied, and reported that the defenses are pretty light - one mixed brigade, two SNLF, and a few engineer units.  The AV ashore already exceeds 1500 while the defense appears to be in the 300 range.  John may be able to rapidly move some reinforcements in from the bases to the east, but things look good.  My transports need one more good day of unloading, so I'm crossing my fingers.  Recon sighted Jap ships moving west from Singapore and I'm worried about them, but the forward airfields are still mostly vacant, so I don't think the KB will arrive.  I've moved my CVs one hex further west (toward the LRCAP provided by Port Blair) "just in case."  John has alot of barge traffic and AKs moving between Malaya and some of the Sumatra ports like Medan.  At first I figured he was hastily reinforcing Sumatra, but there are some signs he could even be pulling out.  I'll know more tomorrow.  At Sabang, my troops will shock attack.  I assume the base will have 9 forts, so it probably won't fall for awhile, but once it does the Brits will be in great position.  For the rest of the year and as far as I can foresee, every Brit operaiton will then have the advantage of nearby fighter protection (as I move down the coast of Sumatra and/or invade southern Malaya).  This was the last "unprotected" jump the Brits should have to make.  So give me just one more day of peaceful unopposed unloading!

Burma:  4E bombers from Rangoon hit the big Jap airbase at Khota Bharu and destroyed alot of aircraft.  John took the opportunity to move some of his aircraft forward to Victoria Point where they can sortie against my invasion TFs.  We'll see what happens.

China/SE Asia:  I forgot to mention in my previous post that I had ordered a shock attack at Haiphong.  My troops have been "marooned" there for months, but to my surprise have been drawing supplies over-land.  Recently all the units (5100 AV) went to 100% prep for the base, so I waited until the stack drew more supply, which happened yesterday.  I figured this was a long-shot even though the defenders have half the AV, but the attack came in at 2:1 (I'll bet that gave John heartburn) and dropped forts from 9 to 7.  The Japs lost 4864/224 and the Allies 4485/33.  I'll try another shock attack tomorrow, but I assume John will send a unit or two from Hanoi.  If he doesn't have reinforcements available, I could take Haiphong, but I doubt that's going to happen.  At least it might give John yet another thing to worry about.

Iwo Jima:  4E bombers made another strike against the aircraft factories at Gumma, scoring two hits for 12 strategic points.

Northern Pacific:  30 Zeke kamikazes from Wakkanai went after some PT boats at Toyohara and scored nary a hit with all aircraft lost.  I'll bet John loved that too.  Bombers from Umchitka Island sortied against Allied transports at Adak Island, but P-38s and Hellcats turned them back with a dozen Jap aircraft downed.

Australia:  The Jap pullout from Adelaide and Broken Hill continues.  The Aussies are pursuing down as fast as they can.  Next stop should be Alice Springs.

Aircraft:  On the day, the Japs lost 107 (23 a2a, 49 field, 24 flak, 10 ops) to 19 for the Allies.  These are the kinds of results I need for a long time to come.

Reinforcements:  The Allies are beginning to get important reinforcements at Panama City (CVEs, BBs, DDs), Aden (troops), and San Francisco (troops).  It will take awhile until I can control all the sea lanes to allow massive transfers of troops, but that day will arrive.  The key is gathering enough carriers at Pearl Harbor to allow a big convoy to head North, with the Northern Fleet carriers meeting them halfway to escort the ships up to Sikhalin Island, the Kuriles, and the Aleutians.

I know this is a side show to the main events going on, but any plans to invade the Samoan and Fiji Island groups to re-establish a LOC to Australia?? You may be able to use P-38s to cover future invasions and roll up a considerable amount of real estate quickly and push him further back. 

Interesting question, NY.  Right now I have no idea how strongly these islands are held.  I suspect Papete has a decent garrison, and I'd be shocked if Suva, Pago Pago, and Noumea don't, but I've had no ships go near them recently.  I think the sea lanes are essentially open between the US and Down Under because I think all or nearly all Jap ships capable of imposing a blockade are long gone to more hotly contested areas.  If I'm reading things correctly, the Societies and most of the rest of SoPac are now backwaters of little importance to the Allies and even less to the Japs.  I could send transports to Australia now if I wanted to, but I don't.  I need everything I have to handle troop and supply transportation between the West Coast, Hawaii, Iwo, the Aleutians, and Sikhalin Island.  I don't have anything to spare for other areas.  That's why I left Australia to the Aussies.  I think they can retake most or all of their continent simply because John will prefer to use his troops elsewhere.  Eventually the Aussies and Kiwis will engage in amphibious operations, but they'll need some help from carriers and combat ships first, and it will be awhile before I can spare those from NoPac and CenPac.  Or, it's possible the Brits will be able to spare ships once they have a good base or two on Sumatra (since from then on LBA will be able to provide cover for Brit operations in that area, freeing up ships to head to Australia).
 
 

I have to leave town for half a day for an appointment in Atlanta (yuck!).  As I depart, I'm still awaiting the turn from John.  Here was his emailed message to me last night:   "...doubt if I can get anything to you until the afternoon tomorrow.  The combat replay will probably show about 500 Japanese planes being shot down over Sabang so we'll see..."
 
This, of course, has me sitting on the edge of my seat.  Did John spring the very trap I feared?  Is the KB steaming in at full speed?  Or is my imagination running away with me?  I should find out this evening.  But you, dear reader, may be able to find out first from John's AAR.
 
 

1/14/44
 
The KB didn't spring an ambush as I had feared might happen, so it was a good day for the Allies.

Sumatra:  The transports again dealt with mines and shore guns, but continued to unload in good order.  Jap LBA from a variety of bases sortied in moderate numbers, but chose as their targets the British carriers and combat TF.  The CAP over the carriers easily handled each strike, and the combat TF didn't suffer any hits.  Meanwhile, the Jap aircraft mainly ignored the vulnerable transports at Sabang.  John moved in another mixed brigade (almost doubling Sabang's defenses), but it was too little too late.  The Allied ground forces launched a 7:1 shock attack that found low forts (2 according to the replay, 0 according to the report).  This was a surprise as I had expected 9 forts and a week-long seige, but the base fell on the first attack; so the Allies have their base on Sumatra.  I've ordered the transports to dock and continue unloading; the RN combat TF will dock there; the carriers will return to Port Blair to refuel and replenish; and I've transferred in 70 fighters and one B-25 squadron.  The troops at Sabang have been ordered to move east and have changed their prep to Kuala.  The Sabang-prepped reinforcements at Rangoon have changed their prep objectives to Padang and Victoria Point.

China/SE Asia:  The second consecutive Chinese shock attack came in at 1:1, dropped forts to 6, and cost the Japs 3086/126/1 to 4875/12.  The Japs moved in a division from Hanoi, so I don't think the Chinese have a real shot, but I'll try another attack tomorrow since my troops are still at moderate disruption levels.

North Pacific:  The Japs are landing reinforcements (an NLF) at Kunashiri and I'll respond by sending in more of 24th Division via fast transport.  The Allied AV here is only about 60, but with Arctic conditions a little goes a very long way.  I think the Japs will have a tough time here unless John commits to a major operation and that would risk an encounter with the Allied carriers based just to the north at Shikuka.  That city, in turn, is 94% to level 5 airfield.  Once it reaches that level, the engineers will also begin working on the port facilities (Shikuka is a level 4 and can be expanded to 9).

Iwo:  Tomorrow, the big bombers will strike Tokyo's resources.

Australia:  The Japs have abandoned Adelaide.  Now John has a choice to make - does he send his troops west to Perth or northwest to Alice Springs?  My focus will be on Alice Springs, and my troops have been prepping for it since taking Broken Hill.

Aircraft:  On the day, the Japs lost 115 (95 a2a, 2 field, 8 flak, 10 ops) to 25 for the Allies.

Situation: The British are in good shape now in Sumatra and will make steady progress.  Soon, the RAF will have airfields within range of important Jap bses in southern Malaya.  I'll continue to exert pressure here.  The Aussies will also make progress toward reclaiming their continent.  But the real focal point is the Pacific.  At the moment, the Allies are in good shape, but I'm anxious to begin moving more troops and supplies forward to Iwo, the Aleutians, and Sikhalin Island.  In the not too distant future, the Allies will have enough new carriers to handle convoy duty, assuming something doesn't come up that forces me to move sooner.  I'd love nothing more than to leave the fleet carriers "up north" to dissuade John from any big plans to attack Sikhalin, the Kuriles, or the Aleutians.

Gents,
 
I'm pretty disappointed in my opponent.  John has been unusually slow in getting back turns for several weeks now.  Of late, he has taken extended sabaticals without the courtesy of an email to explain that he would be away for however long.  Over the past few days I've sent several emails and a PM to him and he hasn't replied, but I have seen him in the forums during that time.  He has time to work on an mod to WitP, and he apparently has several games (and AARs) going in the Battleground Series, but he seems to be ignoring our game and he isn't doing the courtesy of giving me a heads-up.
 
This has happened before.  A few years ago, we were deep into a game of Uncommon Valor.  When the initiative swung to the Allies, John's turns became less and less frequent, he devoted more and more time to WitP, and eventually he just walked away from the game.  At the time, I attributed it to his preference for WitP.  But now it seems like more of a pattern.  (So, what happened with John is his game with Cap Mandrake?)
 
I'm pretty ticked off about this for two reasons.  First, it is common courtesy to alert an opponent when you will be away from the game for awhile, or when something comes up that will result in a major shift in your gaming schedule.  John hasn't done either.  Second, I really got clobbered in this game for a LONG time.  No matter how bad it got (and it got BAD), I forced myself to keep going and get back turns to John as fast as I could.  I knew he was counting on me.  Now, just as we've reached the stage where the Allies can do things, John goes into a four-corner defense or he has walked off the court.
 
Grrr.
 
  

your game is very intense, and he probably needs some time.....
and he is also playing several other PBEMs ( not only WitP )

Without commenting about John, I do think your opponent Miller seemed incredibly reliable in your other game, the prototype of what you need for a long game. He had every right to throw in the towel a good 3 months before he actually did, but he faithfully sent turns even when he was taking a beating (which he was). He only quit when it was totally hopeless, and his navy was sunk.

Good opponents seem VERY hard to find, I am glad I have a good one now.

1/15/44 to 1/17/44

In recent emails, John referred very specifically to some of the points I made in my last post, so somebody copied and pasted (or summarized) and sent it to him.  Thank you to whoever did so, because it got us back on track a bit.  John assures me that he hasn't lost interest in the game, and he truly has some real life matters that are occupying his attention, but given prior experience he also loses interest in a game when the Japanese lose the initiative.  So I'm pretty sure game turns will remain sporadic and eventually taper off.  I hope I'm wrong.

Sumatra:  I can't tell whether John is evacuating or reinforcing troops from his remaining bases on the northwest coast of Sumatra.  The Allies are advancing from Sabang to Kuala, where John has a number of transports.  We should know in another day or two whether he intends to stay and fight or to withdraw.  He tried another attack at Medan, but lost badly (the Japs suffered about 1500 casualties to about 300 for the Chinese).  All the Allied transports have finished unloading at Sabang.  They can return to Rangoon for reinforcements if John is reinforcing, or they can make preparations for the next amphibious assault elsewhere if it looks like the Allied force on Sumatra is sufficient.  Jap bombers in scattered numbers tried to hit the Allied transports at Sabang, but the P-38, Spitfire, and Thunderbolt CAP was more than adequate. The RN carriers have finished refueling at Port Blair and will head back toward Sabang.

Vietnam:  After getting Haiphong forts down to six, the Chinese ran out of steam and are resting.  I would need reinforcements plus a concerted bombing campaign to really threaten this base, and I'm not sure yet that I want to divert aircraft from Sumatra and Siam.

North Pacific:  The Japs have bogged down at Kunashiri (western-most of the Kuriles).  John will have to bring in reinforcements.  A big Jap air raid on Toyohara on the 17th.   Right now I'm dedicating most of my fighters at Shikuka to protect that base since it holds my carriers, but eventually Shikuka will be able to base enough fighters to allow a large LRCAP program to defend Toyohara.  Scattered Jap kamikaze raids do nothing but give the Allies points.  Jap air raids from Amchitka to Adak Island haven't accomplished anything either.  An Allied counterstrike destroyed ten aircraft on the ground. 

Australia:  Both sides are moving as fast as possible on the road from Adelaide to Alice Springs.  It will be a week or ten days before the Aussie troops make it to Alice and give battle. 

Aircraft:  On the 17th, the Japs lost 187 aircraft (162 a2a, 11 field, 6 flak, 8 ops) to 48 for the Allies.

Points: Japs 49,583; Allies 33814.  The Allies have a long way to go, but I'm optimistic.