Matrix Games Forums

26 Jun 42

Sub War

Down near Efate, an Allied ASW TF caught and sank the RO-67.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

A few days ago I spotted some small TFs around Ndeni (Santa Cruz Islands) and decided to send a raiding force from Truk. They got there today. I decided to use the 4 fast BBs from KB along with the 4 Aobas, Tenryu and Tatsuta and a 4 DD escort (Fubukis). They ran into:

DD Monssen
DE Paul Jones
APD Chew
xAP Idomoneus

Only the Chew limped away burning, but the TF had unloaded any troops they were carrying. A couple BBs were scratched by small shells, but they did get lucky putting a torpedo into the side of the Kirishima. Fortunately, she's a tough old bird. Her damage is 15-31(27)-4(4)-0. She was split off from the main TF with a 2 DD escort. Everyone is heading north to the safety of Truk harbor.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I've completed the 28 June turn but am thinking about what's transpiring in this AO. I think that most of the Commonwealth army is deployed either at Shwebo or a hex east of Cox's Bazaar. Ted is doing his darnedest to put Akyab's port out of commission. Today he sent the following sorties at Akyab:

16 Hurricane I Trop (sweep)
--------
7 P-40E (escort)
13 Blenheim IV
15 Wellington Ic
Port attack
--------
7 Blenheim IV
Port attack
--------
15 Blenheim IV
Port attack
--------
12 Hudson IIIa
Port attack

That's 62 bomber sorties, all port attacks and all at 11k feet. I'm slowly building up the airfields in the area and bringing in more AS to accommodate the large amount of air power I have stuck at Chiang Mai. I want to move the fighters forward to attempt to overwhelm the RAF and pummel his bombers. Here is what I have available in the area to support the Air Force:

Base - (AS) [Airfield level]
Akyab - (24) [3]
Magwe - (48) [3]
Toungoo - (24) [2]
Rangoon - (56) [4]
Chiang Mai - (204) [6]

As you can see, there is a shortage of AS near the front line, as well as airfields. More AS is enroute, but it takes a long time to get there from the Home Islands. As far as the enemy, I see 83 fighters at Chittagong (level 7 airfield) and 17 fighters (he moved some there!), 69 bombers and 37 auxiliary aircraft at Imphal (level 6 airfield). The IJAAF currently has 4 sentai and 3 chutai of fighters totaling 192 aircraft plus spares, a mixture of Ki-43-Ic and Ki-44-IIa. I think the Oscar is marginally better than the Tojo right now. In addition, I have 120 Oscars and 31 Tojos in their pools. I also have >90 trained pilots (70+ exp, 70+ A2A) in the pool. So, I'm ready to start a war of attrition on the RAF. The only other place where IJAAF fighters are engaging the enemy is in China, and no Chinese fighters are engaging. My fighters are escorting bombers and gaining experience that way. There are some Oscars in SE Fleet AO, but they are not engaging the enemy, just flying CAP over airbases.

The Tojo IIb will be better because it carries two accurate 12.7mm MGs, but it doesn't arrive until 9/42. The Oscar IIa arrives in 8/42 and carries the same armament. It'll have to be the workhorse for a while. It looks like it's going to definitely be a war of attrition. Fortunately, it'll take place primarily over territory I control or have troops located which will minimize my pilot losses somewhat.

Those 3 tank regiments are causing mayhem all out of proportion to their size. They trashed the former Chinese Paoshan garrison just up the the road from Paoshan, causing over 2k casualties and killing 146 squads for no loss. Outstanding! They'll rest a day or so and replenish supply then continue the rout.

Shwebo's massive bombardment is causing a definite drain on the Commonwealth troops. Today, 18 Allied squads were destroyed and another 15 disabled. 33 Division has arrived, but I'll bombard again tomorrow.

China

Only minor damage to Chungking's airfield today.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
xAP Teifu Maru
54 JNAF AF Unit - Headed to, you guessed it, Burma.

Remember that you can air transport aerial HQ units . . .

RangerJoe wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 3:43 pm Remember that you can air transport aerial HQ units . . .

Good to remember that, but I'll bet you can't air transport motorized support.

Mike Solli wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 7:24 pm

RangerJoe wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 3:43 pm Remember that you can air transport aerial HQ units . . .

Good to remember that, but I'll bet you can't air transport motorized support.

Not that I know of!

27 Jun 42

Sub War

The Growler managed to put a torpedo into an xAK just off Shanghai. She survived the day just to have Growler put another torpedo into her tomorrow and put her down. I didn't expect her to survive with 30 fires. Also, how the heck did Growler happen to have 2 good torpedoes?! She was part of the convoy that moves resources to Nagasaki and supply to Shanghai.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

There were some interesting things that happened today. The IJA Dinahs on naval search out of Tulagi are doing some seriously good work. Today they spotted a carrier 4 hexes SW of Ndeni. It says the TF has 29 fighters and 33 bombers. That's one carrier, and weak at that. Maybe British? No clue. At any rate, I have some subs in the vicinity and am lining them up to the north in case the TF steams north. My first thought was that Ted was sending them to find Kirishima, who took the torpedo at Ndeni yesterday. She is 15 hexes north and steaming north. She should make another 9 hexes tomorrow. By the way, she must have a crew well trained in damage control. Her flotation damage decreased by 2! Amazing! As you probably recall, I sent Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku to Yokohama for upgrades. (They'll arrive tomorrow.) So, I have only Akagi and Kaga at Truk. I sent them on a full speed steam SE. I can't pass up the chance to pick on a single carrier, no matter who it belongs to! Don't worry, I'll still be cautious. The fast oilers will follow in tow to refuel them should it be necessary. Not much happening today, but it could be interesting in the next couple of days.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I tried a low level Ann attack at Shwebo. The flak there ripped them up. I'm no longer producing any Anns and have only 2 engines remaining to produce the Mary, so my only replacement aircraft additions will be the couple of planes I get with reinforcement sentai. The IJAAF 1 E bomber is now relegated to ASW work. The only place I'll use them as bombers will be in China, where there basically is no flak. I currently have 20 Anns and 27 Marys in the pool. I use Marys in China but will eventually upgrade the sentai/chutai there to either 2E bombers or the Sonia (that's actually a downgrade).

The bombardment of Shwebo did good work again today. Tomorrow, I'll do a deliberate assault. I don't know how big the Commonwealth Army is, but they have about 95k troops on the front line with 66k at Shwebo and 29k just east of Cox's Bazaar. The Shwebo Army includes two Chinese Corps, one over 500 AV, the 1 Burma Division and the 16 Indian Brigade, which is combat ineffective. The Coastal Army includes 70 British Division, 19 Indian Division and 44 Indian Brigade. Both Indian formations are pretty weak. So, there are a lot of troops, but I'm relatively confident that they are not very competent. I have 3 divisions against each enemy army, along with 3 tank regiments on the coast. I think the major difference is terrain. Shwebo is open terrain and the coastal front is jungle, which is definitely helping the Commonwealth out.

Oh yeah, I'm attacking along the coast tomorrow too.

China

The Chungking raid damaged a few enemy bombers, did light damage to the airfield and destroyed some supply. The current damage to Chungking's airfield is 53.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

28 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

So, the one Allied carrier is now 2 Allied carriers with 41 fighters and 78 bombers. I don't want to take that on with only 2 CVs with 36 Zeros, 45 Vals and 54 Kates. The Allied carriers didn't move at all. Interesting. I think Ted brings them out hovering on the fringe of the front to try and catch some of my ships making an attack on one of his outlying posts. I'm going to try and get a couple of Glen subs south of the carriers to try and track where they go. I think he's keeping them at Noumea with a level 6 port but Luganville, with a level 4 port, is a possibility. Unfortunately, my nearest Glen sub is 30 hexes to the north.

My carriers are 22 hexes north and will remain stationary tomorrow. Let's see if any of my subs get a shot (or at least a glimpse.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The Shwebo deliberate assault was very nice, even though I didn't take the base. The base had level 1 forts so the 2:1 attack didn't quite do it. The Brits lost 98 squads(!) with another 174 disabled. My troops lost 3 squads and 102 disabled. In addition, the 16 Indian Brigade was destroyed. Very nice attack! I'll bombard tomorrow allowing my divisions to restock and rest a bit.

The coastal attack didn't fare as well, but it still wasn't too bad. The attack netted only 1:2 odds, but I lost only 6 squads vs. 56 British squads destroyed. On this front, supply is an issue. I'll have to wait until more arrives to continue with the attack.

I'm very pleased with what's going on in this AO. The Brits are definitely being worn down on the ground. They have numbers, but the quality is definitely lacking. I am pissed at what happened with 56 Division though. They had arrived in the coastal army at full strength, but disappeared when I mistakenly rebuilt the reconstituted 146 Regiment, and appeared in Tokyo at about 15% strength. I lost a quarter of my infantry strength there. That's making a big difference.

China

Still maneuvering. It's gonna be awhile.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

29 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Well, the two Allied CVs (46 fighters, 82 bombers) are still sitting in the same hex, 4 hexes SE of Ndeni. One of my subs is sitting in the hex as well, but couldn't find the TF. Figures. Akagi and Kaga are 21 hexes north and will move 3 hexes north of that to refuel with the oilers. I have 2 Glen and 5 fleet subs near KB and are moving south to reinforce the 4 subs that are blanketing the area north of or where the Allied carriers are sitting. We'll see what happens...

SRA

I've been cleaning up all the Allied controlled bases in the SRA. Some have defending units. I can usually clean them up pretty easily, but I'm having an issue at Cebu, where the 81 PA Infantry "Division" and a few other odds and ends are located. I landed the 65 Brigade there thinking they could handle it. Boy do they suck. I've always had problems with this unit. Anyway, they attacked a while ago and took a lot of disablements. So, they sat. Immediately after the debacle attack, Ted attacked them and took heavy losses. So, we sat for quite a while. He attacked me again today. The crappy attacking the crappy. I lost only 1 squad with half a dozen disabled. He lost 5 with 24 disabled. I'm sure he used up a lot of supply. At any rate, there are reinforcements coming. This brigade just plain sucks.

Burma

Shwebo's bombardment killed 12 squads today. There's a rare shortage of supply for the divisions, so bombardment is on the docket again tomorrow.

The chronic supply shortage on the coast is keeping me from attacking again. I have multiple, single ship fast transport TFs bound for Akyab and a couple larger supply TFs headed for Rangoon. If I had sufficient supply, I don't think the Brits could possibly hold.

I'm attempting an air offensive tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. Here are the details:

Ted almost always sweeps Akyab first thing with a squadron (16) of Hurricane I Trops. I looked them up and realized they have practically no range so they're coming from Chittagong with drop tanks. They always come in at 26.3k feet. After that, bombers always hit Akyab's port. There are various numbers of attacks, with ~60-70 2E bombers, Hudson IIIa, Blenheim IV, Wellington Ic. Occasionally, 7 P-40Es escort one of the bomber flights. I currently have 95 trained pilots (70+ exp/70+ A2A) in the pool and 37 Tojos and 117 Oscars in the pool. So, I can afford some attrition. I'm going to try and whittle down the RAF bombers and some fighters too. Here's the plan.

42 Tojos are stationed at Akyab and will fly 100% CAP at 30k ft. Their job is to drive off/kill the Hurricanes. Any still flying after the Hurricane interaction may attack the bombers. We'll see if they dive to intercept the bombers.

There are 54 Oscars at Magwe and 42 Oscars at Toungoo. All 96 are set to LRCAP over Akyab at 15k ft. Not a lot of them will actually perform the mission. A third to half maybe? They may lose some to the Hurricanes, but I hope they shred the bombers. At least that's the plan. I'm not worried about losses. It's all over my territory so my pilot losses will be lower than if it were over enemy territory. Plus, I have planes and pilots to replace the losses. Should be interesting.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The Ki-44-IIb Tojo R&D advanced to 3/43 and is expected to become operational in 9/42.

Reinforcements
246 Sentai - 24 Nates - 51 Air Division - Training in the Home Islands
1 Area Army - Kwangtung Army
2 Area Army - Southern Army - Headed to Burma to the coastal army.
2 Army - 2 Area Army - Headed to Burma to the coastal army.

The turn just arrived. Could be interesting...

How about flying off the dive bombers, bringing more fighters on your carriers, then try for an 8 hex Kate strike? Bring them in at 1k feet to lower the reaction time and to try and slip under the CAP.

RangerJoe wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 10:36 pm How about flying off the dive bombers, bringing more fighters on your carriers, then try for an 8 hex Kate strike? Bring them in at 1k feet to lower the reaction time and to try and slip under the CAP.

As always, really good ideas, but not this time. The 4 CVs that went to Yokohama took their planes with them. They're on the shore training while the carriers upgrade. I probably could have used some land based Zeros, but they would have to come from Rabaul, the only large airfield that can take the Vals. At any rate, I just sent off the turn so it'll have to wait. Unless the Allied CVs do a full speed run north, there won't be any action between them and my CVs tomorrow. He doesn't even know my carriers are there.

30 Jun 42

Sub War

The I-158 took some damage at the NW corner of Australia from some Commonwealth DDs. She's on her way home. Just thinking about it, I may re-base MKB to Soerabaja and possibly go on an excursion out there. Just a thought...

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I pulled the entire 20 Division from Buna by air except for a dozen 70mm field guns, which are too large to put in a transport. I sent some fast transport Ansyus to get the guns out. They're slowly loading them. The division was set to accept replacements and, surprisingly, 18 more guns appeared in Buna! Really? Now I have to pull 30 guns out. This engine is really irritating sometimes.

The Allied bombers are trying to clear out the jungle in SE PNG all by themselves.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The CL Sendai and 4 DDs steamed into Akyab harbor and was surprised by the two irritating MTBs. They blew one out of the water and the sent the other one packing. Clear harbor, for now. They'll hang out a few hexes to the south in case the sole survivor returns.

Remember that ambush at Akyab I set for today? Well, it happened. Here's the blow by blow:

Sortie #1
41 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 3 lost
20 P-40E, 29k, 5 lost
It's interesting that no Tojos flew. They were stationed here on 100% CAP at 30k. When I saw this, I was worried that I somehow forgot to set the Tojos.

Sortie #2 - This happened at the front line a hex east of Cox's Bazaar. Didn't realize LRCAP would leak from its target hex.
42 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 0 lost
6 P-40E, 11k, 3 lost
10 B-25C, 11k, 0 lost
The Warhawks sacrificed themselves to allow the bombers to get through. The bombers were ineffective. Still no Tojos.

Sortie #3 - Back at Akyab. Guess who showed up?
5 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 0 lost
41 Ki-44-IIa, 30k, 0 lost
31 Blenheim IV, 11k, 24 lost
No escorts. Ouch. Only 24 bombers actually attempted to bomb. Seven smart pilots noticed what they were flying into and fled. Nine were shot down before the bombing run and the other 15 on the way home. They did 1 port hit and 2 port fuel hits.

Sortie #4 - Akyab's port.
2 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 0 lost
37 Ki-44-IIa, 30k, 0 lost
4 Blenheim IV, 3 lost
6 Wellington Ic, 4 lost
Only 1 Wellington actually did its bombing run, which was ineffective.

Sortie #5 - Akyab's port.
1 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 0 lost
28 Ki-44-IIa, 30k, 0 lost
11 Wellington Ic, 6 lost
The 5 survivors made a bombing run which was ineffective.

Sortie #6 - Akyab, target ?
1 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 0 lost
25 Ki-44-IIa, 30k, 0 lost
12 Hudson III, 11k?, 1 lost
The survivors fled without bombing.

Sortie #7 - Akyab
1 Ki-43-Ic, 15k, 1 lost
28 Ki-44-IIa, 30k, 0 lost
16 Hurricane I Trop, 29.3k, 2 lost
By this time, many of my fighters were low on fuel and ammunition. They were able to drive off the Hurricanes though.

Total losses:
Japanese
Oscar: 4, 1 KIA, 2 WIA
Tojo: 0

Allied
Fighters: 10 lost, 32 fighters survived, Intel say there are 75 fighters at Chittagong.
Bombers: 38 lost, 36 bombers survived, I believe I cut their bomber strength in half.

Wow! 48 enemy planes shot down for the loss of 8 airframes (4 shot down and 4 op losses) and 1 pilot. I'll take those odds! If the intel screen is accurate, the Allies lost 2 more bombers and 3 more fighters to op losses.

Here's what I have available for tomorrow:
Tojos: 33 serviceable and 9 damaged, 0 op losses
Oscars: 85 serviceable and 10 damaged, 4 op losses

Another 24 AS will land at Rangoon in 1.5 days and is going to Toungoo. There is another AS battalion that is a week out from Rangoon. It can't get there fast enough!

Shwebo was bombarded for a loss to the Allies of 24 squads and another 35 disabled. An attack goes in tomorrow.

The coastal army is still short of supply. I had 16 Division (at Manila) prepping for an assault (along with 16 Army in Java) on Darwin. I decided to send 16 Division to Akyab/Cox's Bazaar. xAPs from Singapore are headed to Manila to pick it up. It'll take over a week to get it to Burma.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

30 Jun 42 - Supplement

SE Fleet

I forgot about the carriers! Actually, nothing happened. The Allied (probably US) carriers are still sitting 4 hexes SE of Ndeni. Now I see 56 fighters and 99 bombers. Three US carriers? I have a sub sitting in the hex (still) and doing nothing (still). Akagi and Kaga are 24 hexes north and just refueled. They're maintaining their position. They are not spotted.

Kirishima will reach Truk tomorrow.

1 Jul 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Lots of bombing of Buna and a little bombing of Milne Bay. My air forces let them get op losses. I'll figure out an ambush when the sentai of Nicks arrives.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Shwebo was liberated today, and it took a chunk out of the Commonwealth:

Ground combat at Shwebo (59,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45660 troops, 744 guns, 286 vehicles, Assault Value = 1287

Defending force 40958 troops, 417 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 854

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 985

Allied adjusted defense: 154

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Shwebo !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
993 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 151 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled

Allied ground losses:
18028 casualties reported
Squads: 182 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 726 destroyed, 68 disabled
Engineers: 178 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 221 (211 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 124 (124 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 7
Units destroyed 5

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
5th Division
33rd Division
15th Ind Engineer Regiment
55th Division
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
23rd AA Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Army
2nd Mortar Battalion
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st Burma Division
5th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps
Burma Corps
103rd RN Base Force
101st RAF Base Force
Upper Burma BAF Battalion
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
106th RAF Base Force
221 Group RAF
103rd RAF Base Force
107th RAF Base Force

I know at least a couple of the Base Forces were destroyed, but I didn't catch them all. I'm resting my troops for a day then will chase after them. Then I'll see who's still left. That had to hurt.

China

Still maneuvering.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

2 Jul 42

Sub War

The I-11 caught and sank an xAK off Karachi.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

In addition to the Dinahs, I have a handful of Betties at Tulagi who go after any shipping that happens to show up at Ndeni. Today, they hit an xAK with a puny 60 kg bomb and left her burning. They'll spot her tomorrow (and miss). She was still burning. The day after, I'll hear sinking sounds. I suspect it was that xAK.

SRA

Miri has 28 oil fields that still need to be repaired. That'll be done by month's end. It's really odd that Ted has yet to try and bomb any of my oil fields. Even Magwe (Burma) is still pumping out 3k oil a day.

Burma

The former Paoshan garrison was hit again by my tanks and shoved closer to Tsuyung. When I first arrived at Paoshan, there were 20k screaming Chinese there. Now, there's little more than 6k left. I don't think there are any Chinese at Tsuyung but I see about 10k at Kunming. That's my goal for these tanks. There's 100 HI and 80 LI there that I'd love to get my hands on.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.