Matrix Games Forums

17 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Twenty Nells hit PM overnight and did a nice job. They destroyed a fighter and damaged another 23 planes, along with moderate damage to the airfield. Not bad.

SRA

The last of the Allied remnants in Borneo have been destroyed.

Miri's oil field is now 257(43). It should be completely repaired by the end of July.

The 6 BBs finally bombarded Darwin. They destroyed a Lodestar and damaged another 7 planes. They damaged an xAKL and sank an xAP, and did a lot of damage to the airfield. They actually damaged a resource center and definitely rung the troops collective bells, causing quite a bit of damage to them. Oh yeah, they caused some port damage and hit supply and fuel too. Very nice.

Burma

There are 5 Allied MTBs sitting at Akyab, where I send single ship Fast Transport TFs. They're a pain in the butt. I'm trying to see if air power can take them out. I have 30 Oscars on Naval Attack at 100' to see if that'll work. I also have 12 Tojos (their debut!) sweeping at 100'. Let's see if either works.

25 Chinese squads were destroyed at Paoshan. The two Chinese Corps defending are just about down to 0 for their raw AV.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

Air Production Update

Let's do it by engine type.

Ha-31: No engines being produced. The size 45 engine factory was never turned on and was recently changed to the Ha-33 and increased to size 60. There are currently 72 in the pool.

Aircraft using this engine:

Ki-46-II - I'll use up the pool on this model producing an additional 36 aircraft.

Ha-32: 120 factories producing. 134 in pool and increasing ~2 per day. Aircraft using this engine:

Sally (30) - Eventually I'll shut this down, but I need all the IJA 2E bombers I can build right now.

Future aircraft:
B6N2 Jill (60) - replaces Kate
E15K1 Norm (30) - replaces Jake
H8K Emily (10) - replaces Mavis
N1K1 Rex (20) - replaces Rufe - built sporadically

Ha-33: 105(45) factories producing. 64 in pool and decreasing ~1 per day. Aircraft using this engine:

D3Y1 Val (30) - will be replaced by the Judy 3/4
E13A1 Jake (30) - will be replaced by the Norm
G3M3 Nell (30) - produced until war's end

Future aircraft:
D4y3/4 Judy (60) - replaces Val
Ki-46-III Dinah (15) - replaces Ki-46-II Dinah

Ha-34: 210 factories producing. 501 in pool and steady. About 3 are used daily in Tojo research. Aircraft using this engine:

Ki-44 Tojo (60) - will increase production to 120 with the Ki-44-IIc and continue to produce until obsolete.
Ki-49 Helen (30) - will increase production to 60 with the Ki-49-IIc and produce until war's end.

Ha-35: 271(29) factories producing and will continue to increase factory size to ~420. 401 in pool and increasing ~4-5 per day. Aircraft using this engine:

A6M Zero (60) - produced until war's end
A6M2-N Rufe (30) - produced off and on, keeping a pool of ~50. Will be replaced by Rex.
B5N2 Kate (30) - replaced by Jill
C5M2 Babs (6) - replaced by Myrt
Ki-43 Oscar (60) - produced until war's end
Ki-45 KAIa Nick (30) - produced until a better bomber killer is produced (Frank probably)
Ki-56 Thalia (15) - produced as needed until war's end

Future aircraft:
Ki-115a Tsurgi (120) - IJA Kamikaze
Toka (120) - IJN Kamikaze

Ha-43: 6x30 R&D factories. Operational July 43. Will increase production to 300.

Future aircraft:
A7M2 Sam (150) - produced until war's end
N1K5 George (150) - produced until war's end

Ha-45: 1x80, 1x40, 4x30 R&D factories. Operational July 42.

Future aircraft:
Ki-84 Frank (150) - produced until war's end
N1K1/2 George (90) - produced until the N1K5 becomes operational
B7A2 Grace (90) - produced until war's end

This is close. I'm sure there will be minor changes here and there.

I would suggest that if you are going to want more engines of a certain type later which is in production now that you increase production now to build up reserves but this can also mean that the expansion won't have to be as large, saving some supplies in the long run. This can also help to build a cushion for the Research Bonus as well.

RangerJoe wrote: Sun Jan 18, 2026 2:00 pm I would suggest that if you are going to want more engines of a certain type later which is in production now that you increase production now to build up reserves but this can also mean that the expansion won't have to be as large, saving some supplies in the long run. This can also help to build a cushion for the Research Bonus as well.

I'm trying to do that, but in some cases, in order to get to that magic 500 engines in the pool, the factories need to be pretty high to build up at a decent rate. It's definitely a game of give and take.

18 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night Nell bombing of PM destroyed a couple of planes on the ground and damaged another 18, along with minor airfield damage. Not bad.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The 8 artillery units bombarding Shwebo caused 200 casualties and killed 6 squads while disabling another couple dozen. This is the typical result each day. The 8 reinforcing artillery units are getting close and 33 Division is moving to reinforce the two divisions already there.

The 56 Division reached the front line just east of Cox's Bazaar reinforcing the other 3 divisions already there. Now if I could only get some supply to the front line to attack...

China

Still maneuvering around.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

19 Jun 42

Sub War

The slow oiler TF was headed to Nagasaki from Babeldaob hauling 80k oil and ran into the SS Haddock in one of the deep water hexes just west of Nagasaki. Fortunately, the torpedoes missed, but so did the escort's DCs. I'm placing some Jakes on naval search and ASW on the island just west of Nagasaki to scour the area of enemy subs. I'm also placing an ASW TF to cover that area. It's composed of 4 Momi class PCs recently upgraded to carry Type 95 Mod 2 DCs.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night bombing Nells did.....nothing.

I had 20 Zeros on LRCAP over Buna a low range to attempt to avoid the enemy sweeps at high altitude. It didn't work. Fourteen Wildcats dove on them shooting down a Zero at a cost of 2 Wildcats. Another Zero was an op loss. My pilot losses were 1 KIA and 1 WIA. The Wildcats were >30k feet and my Zeros were at 4k feet. Later, some Kittyhawks showed up and one was shot down.

Today's bombardment of Shwebo killed 27 squads. Banzai!

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

An Ansyu PB on fast transport entered Akyab to drop its load, but ran into 3 enemy MTBs. The PB managed to sink an MTB but then withdrew. *Sigh* They'll try again tomorrow.

I tried to sweep the MTBs with some fighters from Magwe, but it just isn't working. Grrr...

I tried to do the same at Akyab as at Buna with pretty much the same result. My Tojos and Oscars were at 5k feet and the enemy was at 29k feet and they still spotted me. In multiple enemy sweeps and escorted bombing attacks, I lost a total of 5 Oscars and 4 Tojo IIa. The enemy lost only a single Blenheim. Losses were a total of 2 KIA and 3 WIA, which was actually pretty fortunate. By the way, The Tojo IIa is a pathetic plane. Really looking forward to the IIc.

Paoshan was attacked today killing 450 troops including 50 squads. The base is still in enemy hands, but it is a lot of fun to beat them up.

China

The bombing of Chungking's airfield destroyed another SB-III at a cost of a Lily to flak. More damage was added to the beat up airfield.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
36 Ku T-1 (6 Jakes) - 3 Fleet - this unit's pilots are being filled out with ASW trained pilots and will be stationed at the island due west of Nagasaki as described above. Another unit (20 Jakes) that has been training naval search is the other unit that will provide naval search in that area.

20 Jun 42 - Not much at all...

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Just the usual bombing of my guys on PNG.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

The bombing of Chungking's airfield caused a little more damage to be added to what was already there.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
SS I-31 - Glen sub - headed to SE Fleet AO.

Well, remember the regiment of 56 Division that I was able to bring back after it was destroyed and I rebuilt the 56 Division? I tried to "rebuild" it into a second 56 Division. When the turn ran, the engine made the original one disappear and the second one, very weak, remained in Tokyo. The original one had just arrived on the front line east of Cox's Bazaar and was waiting for some supply to attack with the rest of 15 Army. *Poof* There went 25% of my infantry strength there. Boy am I pissed!

So, I'm sitting here in the path of the storm that seems to be headed directly for us. Fortunately, we're north of all the ice so we're just expecting snow to bury us. As the storm gets closer (expected to arrive in 7 hours), the estimate of snowfall keeps increasing. We're now up to 18" (it was 12" a couple of days ago). At any rate, we'll hunker down. As long as we have power, I'll keep playing and posting. If I vanish for a few day, we lost power. No problem, really. We'll be fine. Just letting you know that if I vanish, it's just Mother Nature rearing her ugly head.

Edit: We're now up to 22" by the end of today. Shoveled a couple of times already but the snow is powdery, so that's a plus. Still have power (obviously). Going to run the next turn now. Still a few turns behind on the AAR.

21 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Just the massive bombing of the Japanese in PNG. He has too many fighters for me to try and counter it. I'm pulling out as much of 20 Division as I can and will pull out some engineers that are not being used anymore.

I just realized that Shokaku and Zuikaku were eligible for upgrades in June. Grrr... I'm sending them back to Yokohama along with Hiryu and Soryu (which can upgrade in July 42). When they return, I'll send Akagi and Kaga back, who also are eligible for upgrades in July 42.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Paoshan was finally liberated! The 3:1 attack chewed on the Chinese with no losses to my tanks! A total of 2660 Chinese casualties and 264 various squads were destroyed. Banzai!

The tanks will rest a day and then pursue the Chinese and move toward the next base. The infrastructure was in pretty good shape:

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 21(19)
LI: 11(9)

At Shwebo, a 9th artillery unit arrived to add to the bombardment with 7 more getting close.

China

The bombing of Chungking was exceptionally good today.

Elsewhere, just maneuvering to surround Chinese armies and also moving 13 Army to attack position, which will still be awhile.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
AMc Kinsui Maru - will convert to ACM
DD Hatsuzuki - Akitsuki class - KB escort

When the Akagi goes back, you can supersize some land based naval air units that you can use for training pilots.

22 Jun 42

Sub War

The I-174 sank an xAK off Unmak.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Some Wildcats went after the night bombing Nells, so I lowered them to 3k feet to avoid the Wildcats, but they got chewed up by flak, losing 2. That ain't working.

More pounding of my "troops" in PNG. Someday I'll figure out how to take Pt. Moresby. Sheesh.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

There are 2 British MTBs that keep harass my fast transports trying to drop supply at Cox's Bazaar and Akyab. They never hit anything and occasionally get hit, today by MG fire.

I tried a long range Nell attack on Imphal's air base at low altitude. That didn't work, losing 3 Nells for just a little bit of damage to the air field.

Ten of the 16 artillery units are at Shwebo and participating in the daily barrage. The 33 Division is still enroute. Today, 201 enemy casualties, 15 squads destroyed and another 19 disabled.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The 17 Std-C TKs just finished converting from xAKs at Hong Kong. They're headed to Singapore where they will be split up between Palembang and Medan freeing up some 11.6 and/or 12.8k TKs currently pulling oil/fuel from those bases.

Reinforcements
Elements needed to create 1 Tank Division (all at Mukden):
1 Recon Battalion
1 Mobile Infantry Regiment
1 Mobile AA Battalion

Elements needed to create 2 Tank Division (all at Mukden):
2 Recon Battalion
2 Mobile Infantry Regiment
2 Mobile FA Regiment
2 Mobile AA Battalion
2 Mobile Engineer Regiment

These elements unfortunately did not arrive at full strength. They're currently resting at Mukden until they are at full strength. (I'd rather they spend the supply here instead of in Burma.) As they complete taking on replacements, they'll rail to Keijo where transports are waiting to take them to Rangoon. There, they'll join up with the remainder of the elements of each division and will constitute the first (and only!) Japanese Panzer Corps. I'm in the process of upgrading the tank regiments (one at a time) of these divisions.

CVE Chuyo - This CVE will probably get 27 Vals that have been training for a long time. They are ready to go:

Experience average: 52
Naval Bombing average: 70
Naval Search average: 57

They're probably going to join MKB. They only have 90 sorties but MKB really doesn't have the ability to fight very long. Also, keep in mind that I use MKB only when I confident there isn't anything that can harm them.

For those of you who are keeping score, I also have CVE Unyo. She's sitting in port at Nagasaki and is carrier training some (formerly) land based Zeros, Kates and Vals for use on Ryuho, which is accelerated and expected to arrive at the end of August 42. (Her air group doesn't arrive until 1 Nov 43, the only Japanese carrier air group that doesn't arrive with the carrier.) The three air groups total 15 Zeros, 9 Vals and 6 Kates and will join MKB.

RangerJoe wrote: Sun Jan 25, 2026 3:32 pm When the Akagi goes back, you can supersize some land based naval air units that you can use for training pilots.

Yeah, I know. I haven't done that in the past and probably won't this game either. It seems kind of gamey to me.

I would rail those units to Keijo and let them take replacements during the process, this would save a little time.

As far as those MTBs are concerned, try low level naval strikes with cannon firing fighters. They may not kill them but they can damage them pretty good. If not, destroyers would be a surprise to the MTBs.

RangerJoe wrote: Sun Jan 25, 2026 11:09 pm I would rail those units to Keijo and let them take replacements during the process, this would save a little time.

As fat as those MTBs are concerned, try low level naval strikes with cannon firing fighters. They may not kill them but they can damage them pretty good. If not, destroyers would be a surprise to the MTBs.

I considered that, but I'm not sure if they'll take replacements in Strat mode. They're heading to Rangoon in Transport TFs, which need them to be in Strat mode. I didn't want to change them to Strat mode, move them to Keijo, then have them come out of Strat mode to take replacements, then change them to Strat mode again. As of 28 June, all but the infantry regiments are at 100% and are in Strat mode or will be in Strat mode in a day. They have orders for Keijo and will begin loading. The infantry will follow on in the fastest xAPs at Keijo so they aren't too far behind.

23 Jun 42

Sub War

The I-158 sank two xAKLs off the west coast of Australia. Not a big deal, but maybe it'll force Ted to send some escorts over there.

The I-154 took a DC off Unmak. Normally, it's not a big deal, but she was caught again in the afternoon and put down. That's the 4th sub I've lost so far.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

Ted dropped some mines at Balikpapan a few days ago. I finally had some AMcs arrive and they cleared them out.

Burma

Some Nells hit Imphal causing light damage to the airbase. This is where Ted stations his bombers. None were hit, but maybe it'll force Ted to move some fighters from Chittagong to a place where they can't do anything offensive.

Now, 13 of the 16 artillery units allocated to Shwebo have arrived and have joined in the bombardment. After they all arrive and bombard for a couple of days, I'll consider an attack.

I attacked the front line just east of Cox's Bazaar. The attack only achieved 1:2 odds, but he lost a couple dozen squads to 9 of mine. I'll attack again when they rest a bit and gain some supply.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

I used up the last of the Nakajima Hikari engines on the B5N1 Kate. The Kate factory converted to the L3Y Tina. By the way, I have 178 N1 Kates in the pool. They are used for MKB and will be used for training units when they appear. They will also be expended at Kamikazes.

24 Jun 42 - Quiet day.

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The enemy bombing of SE PNG is pretty bad. Most of the supply is gone and I'm pulling out engineer units and 20 Division by air. The NG unit will stay and force Ted to take the bases. At this time, he's showing no signs of moving toward the bases. He's content to just bomb.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

More bombardment of Shwebo while I wait for the last 2 artillery units and 33 Division to arrive.

China

Still maneuvering to surround large groups of Chinese and attack weakly held bases.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
xAP Teiko Maru

Mike Solli wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 1:35 am

RangerJoe wrote: Sun Jan 25, 2026 11:09 pm I would rail those units to Keijo and let them take replacements during the process, this would save a little time.

As far as those MTBs are concerned, try low level naval strikes with cannon firing fighters. They may not kill them but they can damage them pretty good. If not, destroyers would be a surprise to the MTBs.

I considered that, but I'm not sure if they'll take replacements in Strat mode. They're heading to Rangoon in Transport TFs, which need them to be in Strat mode. I didn't want to change them to Strat mode, move them to Keijo, then have them come out of Strat mode to take replacements, then change them to Strat mode again. As of 28 June, all but the infantry regiments are at 100% and are in Strat mode or will be in Strat mode in a day. They have orders for Keijo and will begin loading. The infantry will follow on in the fastest xAPs at Keijo so they aren't too far behind.

Units will take replacements in Strat mode as long as they are not loaded onto ships and meet all of the other criteria needed to receive the replacements.

25 Jun 42

Sub War

Rough day in the sub war. The I-32 near Perth and the I-173 at Milne Bay each were hit by a DC. Neither is in danger of sinking, but both need to head home for repairs.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted must have sent some hefty AA to Pt. Moresby. I'm losing 1-2 Nells a night in the bombing raid. It's not worth it anymore. I'm done with that.

All 16 artillery units are blasting away at Shwebo now, but 33 Division is still a few miles away. Still bombarding...

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Chungking's airfield took a little more damage today.

Meanwhile, I'm still maneuvering. Movement is slow in China.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

RangerJoe wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 2:13 am

Mike Solli wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 1:35 am

RangerJoe wrote: Sun Jan 25, 2026 11:09 pm I would rail those units to Keijo and let them take replacements during the process, this would save a little time.

As far as those MTBs are concerned, try low level naval strikes with cannon firing fighters. They may not kill them but they can damage them pretty good. If not, destroyers would be a surprise to the MTBs.

I considered that, but I'm not sure if they'll take replacements in Strat mode. They're heading to Rangoon in Transport TFs, which need them to be in Strat mode. I didn't want to change them to Strat mode, move them to Keijo, then have them come out of Strat mode to take replacements, then change them to Strat mode again. As of 28 June, all but the infantry regiments are at 100% and are in Strat mode or will be in Strat mode in a day. They have orders for Keijo and will begin loading. The infantry will follow on in the fastest xAPs at Keijo so they aren't too far behind.

Units will take replacements in Strat mode as long as they are not loaded onto ships and meet all of the other criteria needed to receive the replacements.

Excellent! Good to know. I'll put the two infantry regiments in Strat mode and move them to Keijo to finish getting their replacements there. Korea HQ is there. Hopefully, that'll expedite the replacement process. I am surprised, though, at how quickly they are gaining replacements at Mukden.

Mike Solli wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 2:23 am

RangerJoe wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 2:13 am

Mike Solli wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 1:35 am

I considered that, but I'm not sure if they'll take replacements in Strat mode. They're heading to Rangoon in Transport TFs, which need them to be in Strat mode. I didn't want to change them to Strat mode, move them to Keijo, then have them come out of Strat mode to take replacements, then change them to Strat mode again. As of 28 June, all but the infantry regiments are at 100% and are in Strat mode or will be in Strat mode in a day. They have orders for Keijo and will begin loading. The infantry will follow on in the fastest xAPs at Keijo so they aren't too far behind.

Units will take replacements in Strat mode as long as they are not loaded onto ships and meet all of the other criteria needed to receive the replacements.

Excellent! Good to know. I'll put the two infantry regiments in Strat mode and move them to Keijo to finish getting their replacements there. Korea HQ is there. Hopefully, that'll expedite the replacement process. I am surprised, though, at how quickly they are gaining replacements at Mukden.

Check and see where the replacements are coming from, there are probably lots of bases with enough supplies available.