Argentina vs. USA: Aurorus (J) vs. Apbarog (A)

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Aurorus
Off topic. Here is a screenshot of a new squadron that just arrived in my game against Opilot. Is the IJN now hiring mercenary commercial airline pilots?

It also happens with allied airgroups sometimes, with highly experienced pilot with no skills in charge. I recon those guys be desk jockeys pressed into service and keep them as exp boosters in training groups

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: Aurorus
Off topic. Here is a screenshot of a new squadron that just arrived in my game against Opilot. Is the IJN now hiring mercenary commercial airline pilots?

It also happens with allied airgroups sometimes, with highly experienced pilot with no skills in charge. I recon those guys be desk jockeys pressed into service and keep them as exp boosters in training groups

Indeed. Mr. Nakajima will make a nice addition to an IJN fighter-training Pete squadron... and once his air skill improves to 65 or so, he will make a nice addition to a CV air-group.

[Aurorus]

Here is the situation in China 5 weeks into the war. Phase 1 is nearly complete, and phase 2 is beginning. The pocketed units in central China have been mostly destroyed. The Japanese army is in fairly good order with minimal casualties and disabled squads recovering every day in numbers. 20k supply has been stockpiled at major bases along the rail-lines and 4 divisions are moving to major bases along the rail-lines to recover their disabled squads. 3 Divisions, which have been garrison units for the first month, are at nearly full strength. These will be replaced by depleted divisions and moved forward, along with artillery to take Wenchow, and then west the reinforce the line in the South.

Apbarog is setting up a defense in depth along the road to Sian and appears to have moved several good corps from the area around Ichang NE to hold that line. Despite his losses, he still has 15-20 good corps between me and Sian. I will take Wenchow for now, reinforce the southern portion of the line, and wait for the brigades to fill out into divisions. Most of these brigades are in north China. I may try a push on Yenan and then along the trail from Yenan to Sian once the reinforcements arrive, or I may make a move in Southern China.

[Aurorus]

Here is the situation in Malaysia. Kuantan and Alor Star are the only bases remaining to the allies. Alor Star has been cut off for weeks, except for a 2-day period. The 15th and 16th Indian Brigades there are low in supply, and the 15th has an AV of 0, but is hanging on, probably for only 1 more day (though I thought this yesterday).

The Imperial Guards and the 5th division have cleared the road and are now packing onto trains to rail south. There they will link up with 2 divisions, artillery, and armor, and make the river crossing into Singapore. The 55th division is divided into regiments and spread out along the peninsula. It will finish taking Alor Star and eliminated the Indian brigades there and then move on Kuantan. In the meantime, a perimeter will form around Kuantan to isolate the scattered British units to the north.

[Aurorus]

Phase 2 in China is underway. Phase 2 will take Wenchow and reinforce the line in South China. 3 Armored regiments, 3 divisions, an HQ, and 5 artillery regiments are on the road to Wenchow. The key to winning any battle decisively and quickly is stacking minuses on the opposing stack. I like to try to isolate units whenever possible. This can be very difficult at supply sources: hexes that contain industry. However, all industry needs resources to produce and resources will only move overland through a valid supply path. Also, resources will not be produced from any hex that contains enemy units. Two hexes in South China produce resources: Wenchow and Chuhsien. What I want to do in South China is prevent resources from flowing to Wenchow to starve the hex. Notice the Japanese unit at Chuhsien that prevents that hex from producing resources to send to Wenchow.

[Aurorus]

In SoPAC, the empire has taken control of the Coral Sea: Rabaul, Morseby, Lae, Buin, and Woodlark Island. Both CV groups are present along with 2 fast BBs and a heavy CA TF. The move on New Caledonia has been delayed by a lack of fuel. Tarakan held out longer than I expected, and I had to reroute oilers from Tarakan to Palembang, which added a week to refueling all these TFs. The CVs will begin refueling again tomorrow, and the amphib group for Espiritu Santo is on stand-by at Rabaul, waiting for the CVs. Two regiments are loaded and en route to New Calednia, but are a week away. The divisional artillery and engineers will begin loading tomorrow and will be 2 days behind them.

I landed a small engineer unit at Ndeni to begin building an airstrip 2 days ago. It appears as though Yorktown and possibly other U.S. CVs were headed in that direction to destroy the 2 AKs and 2 PBs. That is, until this happened today. Yorktown would have ended its move, it seems, in range of the Ndeni TF, but did not launch planes, so I am thinking that there were fires onboard, despite no reports of fires, at least in the AM phase. I am never sure if a single torpedo hit on a U.S. CV in early 1942 is good or bad for Japan. If there was any reluctance to engage the Japanese CVs, that reluctance has been reinforced, and a hit such as this reduces the possibility of a major CV engagement.

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Sub attack near Ambrym at 124,151

Japanese Ships
SS I-171

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1
CA Chicago
CA Portland
CL Trenton
DD Hammann
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Russell
DD Mustin

[Aurorus]

I am off for a vacation, in a manner of speaking, for a week. Both of my games are on hold. I will post an update on the progress of the empire shortly after I return. At the moment, all Japanese fleet CVs and CVLs, covered by the fast BBS, are on the southeastern tip of the Solomons, en route to New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo to support an invasion there. The CVEs are in port at Kamh Ran Bay, refitting, and outfitting their air squadrons with Zeros to cover the move into Burma from the Indian Ocean.

4 reinforced Divisions are moving slowly (so as to recover fatigue en route) to Singapore from Jahore Batu.

Apbarog has set up strongholds in the mountains of Java. I have 4 divisions on Java. I attacked the stronghold at Malang with 3 reinforced divisions initially, hoping to push the allied stack out of the mountains, but failed to get a retreat, despite 2-1 odds. I overstacked the hex for the initial attack, and now I am shuffling around forces on Java to attack again with the 2 freshest divisions. I want to avoid a large number of disabled squads in any one division, because recovering disabled squads will slow down the invasion of Australia. Also, I do not want squads destroyed, because the replacements will reduce the the experience of my divisions and cost me VPs. As I reorganize, I am bombarding Malang each day with heavy CAs, Sallies, and Lillies of the 5th air.

We will be lauching a deliberate attack on Wenchow next turn with 2 reinforced divisions. A third division is an adjacent hex so that I can rotate the units in my attack if I fail to generate a retreat on the first assault. I expect the initial attack to come in at 1-1, and will probably need a fresh division. I do not want to overstack the hex, because I am not certain that a 3rd division will yield 2-1, and I am trying to limit my supply use in China.

I am about one week behind the timetable that I had in mind before the game began, because fuel is in short supply at the tip of the advance. Oilers and Tankers are moving to Rabaul, and toward New Caledonia to refuel the fleet. A large number of PBs and AKs are in the DEI because I used everything available to move troops and supplies there in the initial moves. These PBs and AKs are slowly forming up into small cargo TFs to pick up resources at the various DEI locations and return to Honshu, where they will pick up the slow, 12-knot, TKs for a return trip to the DEI.

[Aurorus]

Back from vacation, and the game is back on. It is January 26th, and the Japanese forces cross the river at Singapore, having cleared the main road and rail-line through Malaysia. Despite an error of moving my armor ahead a day early in my rush to finish a turn before leaving on vacation (and having 70 tanks disabled), the river crossing comes off better than I hoped. Over 200 Japanese bombers support the operation, and Singapore falls as the Japanese cross the river.

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Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 57882 troops, 625 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 1842

Defending force 29915 troops, 302 guns, 206 vehicles, Assault Value = 370

Japanese adjusted assault: 2406

Allied adjusted defense: 551

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Singapore !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2035 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 208 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
40688 casualties reported
Squads: 482 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2555 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 65 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 419 (419 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 257 (257 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 22

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards Division
18th Division
5th Division
14th Tank Regiment
21st Division
23rd Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
25th Army
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
2/17 Dogra Battalion
1st Manchester Battalion
1st Malay Battalion
SSVF Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
2nd Loyal Battalion
2nd Gordons Battalion
2nd Malay Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
Singapore Base Force
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
Malayan Air Wing
224 Group RAF
Malaya Army
Singapore Fortress
III Indian Corps
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
29 Battery/3 HAA
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment

The Malaysian campaign came off very well. There is still a British stronghold at Kuantan and a few dispersed, isolated British units moving to block the rail-lines, but regiments and an armor unit are en route to mop up these units as the divisions recover in Singapore. Only the Imperial Guards took heavy casualties on the river crossing, with about 165 squads disabled. The other 3 divisions all have less than 35 squads disabled and should be fully recovered in 7-10 days. They will then redeploy toward Burma.

The plan in the West will be to take Burma and drive to the river line just inside the Indian border. Once additional forces become available, I hope to invade Ceylon to hinder allied reinforcements to the theater. There will be no full-scale invasion of India, except to establish a forward defensive position in good terrain. At least, that is my thinking currently. I will re-evaluate the situation as the Burma campaign unfolds.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Back from vacation, and the game is back on. It is January 26th, and the Japanese forces cross the river at Singapore, having cleared the main road and rail-line through Malaysia. Despite an error of moving my armor ahead a day early in my rush to finish a turn before leaving on vacation (and having 70 tanks disabled), the river crossing comes off better than I hoped. Over 200 Japanese bombers support the operation, and Singapore falls as the Japanese cross the river.

One of the very best Singers attack outcomes I've ever seen. Congrats! I've never been even close to such a result.

[&o][&o][&o]

[Aurorus]

Southern Army was nearby with Tojo in command for his high inspiration. I moved in rest mode until the last turn, when I switched to combat mode, so all the divisions crossed the river with 0 disruption and 2 fatigue. Of course, disruption went up significantly on the river crossing. There was no question, however, that I was very lucky in the combat die roll.

Here is the 5th division two days after the attack. It was divided yesterday and recovered 25 squads in one day. I know that tests show that administration skill of the unit CO have shown no effect on disabled squad recovery, but I am convinced that local Army and Command HQ leader administration skill affects unit recovery. All of the divisions that participated in the attack recovered over 25 squads the day after. There is no question that base size and local bases with 20K+ supplies also improve squad recovery (as well as the rate at which units receive replacements).

I am very pleased with this Malaysian campaign. The entire British Malaysian army has been destroyed with almost no losses to Japanese forces.

[Aurorus]

Here is the situation on Java. Apbarog has retreated most of his forces to the mountains at Madang and Bandoeng. Airfield damage at both bases is preventing fortification, but Bandoeng has 21 industry in the hex. The initial attack at Madang came in at 2-1 but failed to dislodge the allied position. A fresh division and armor will move into the hex in the next 2 or 3 days for another assault. The position has been reduced by continuous naval, artillery, and aerial bombardment and should fall to the next attack.

Bandoeng will be more of a problem. The stacking limit in the hex is 30K, and he has nearly 25K Dutch troops there. Most of my PBs and and many AKs are in the DEI. A number of PBs and AKs have loaded resources to return to Honshu. I will assemble a large transport group and buy out all of the heavy artillery units in Korea next week with the 1500 PPs that I have stored, as well as some aviation support. The heavy artillery will move to Batavia to reduce the position at Bandoeng and then prepare to support operations in Australia.

Notice on the map that I have used bases and ground units to isolate Oosthaven to prevent the allied units there from retreating. Apbarog is growing wise to my tactics and moved a unit out of Oosthaven several days ago to force me to waste time chasing it down through difficult terrain.

[Aurorus]

Here is the situation as January comes to a close in SoPac. The 56th division is tasked with holding New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo: the eastern approach to Australia from Suva. One regiment of the 56th has landed at Espiritu Santo. It will be replaced with SNLFs as forces become available and shift to New Caledonia. A second regiment will make the initial landing at Koumac tomorrow supported by the 6 fleet CVs, 2 CVLs, and a fast BB cover force. The third regiment and the divisional artillery, recon, and engineers are en route to reinforce New Caledonia from the DEI via the Torres Straits.

Rabaul, Woodlark Island, Lae, Darwin, Horn, and Moresby are all in Japanese hands. The 2nd division is consolidating at Moresby and Rabaul for an eventual move on Cooktown. AA and aviation support are also gathering at Moresby. Further deployment of 2nd division deployment is being hampered by a lack of engineers as DBB reduces Japanese construction engineer capabilities substantially. Both the airfield and port at Moresby will need to be expanded.

The 48th division, with the exception of the engineers, which are in Koepang awaiting fuel for transport, are deployed at Darwin and Katherine in Northeran Australia, along with the 16th army, an armored regiment and additional support units.

[Aurorus]

January 28th and a bold and very clever move by Apbarog. I am treating the Solomon Sea as a Japanese lake, and Apbarog exacted a toll. He sent PoW with Indianopolis, Marblehead, Boise, and 2 DDs far to the north, near the Rossell islands, SE of New Guinea and was able to intercept the amphibious group carrying the follow-up regiment for the 56th division to New Caledonia. The Japanese TF commander and the various ship commanders performed admirably in the engagement and managed to fend off the attack without the complete loss of the troop ships.

Here is the combat report of the surface action. Allied surface radar (if PoW or Indianapolis have radar at this point, I am not sure) did not detect the Japanese ships. The Japanese TF scattered at first sight of the allied ships. PoW pushed forward rapidly and aggressively, but was met by a salvo of torpedos from Natori to start the engagement. One of the torpedos hit. PoW continued to purse the fleeing APs and sunk 2 of my best APs but took a second torpedo from the DD Suzakaze, before turning back. The Natori held both Marblehead and Indianapolis at bay, giving better than she received: even scoring a superstructure hit on Indianapolis that started a fire. Boise sparred with a few DDs and had no impact on the batte. The Argentine Maru survived the engagement with moderate damage and without fires along with about half the regiment. (The casualty numbers below are grossly exaggerated). The regiment had only 4.5K troops and half or more survived on the Argentine Maru or were rescued by the DDs and CLs.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Rossel Island at 106,142, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Natori, Shell hits 3
DD Shiratsuyu
DD Shigure
DD Murasame
DD Samidare
DD Suzukaze
DD Fumizuki
xAP Argentina Maru, Shell hits 6
xAP Koan Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Kobe Maru, Shell hits 27, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 3
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 3
CL Boise
DD Alden, Shell hits 1
DD Parrott, Shell hits 2

Japanese ground losses:
5521 casualties reported
Squads: 182 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 106 destroyed, 108 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 48 (48 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Really, a fine job by Captain Katagi, in command of the Natori and the TF, who rescued me from my own overconfidence. Katagi along with all of the DD commanders had over 70 naval skill. All the AP commanders had over 65 naval skill, and of course, the Argentine Maru, saved half of the regiment... it is the ARGENTINE MARU after all... . This group was escorted by Shiratsyu type DDs, a heavier variety DD, with good anti-surface capabilities. They proved themselves in this engagement. Both allied DDs took penetrating hits resulting in "severe damage."

The fleet CVs are near New Caledonia. I would love to try to intercept PoW as it makes for port. It was already smoking a bit as the engagement began from the torpedo that it took in the DEI, and now it has taken 2 more. It may be only capable of 15 knots or so. The problem is that I am scheduled to land at New Caledonia this turn, and I am not sure that the CVs will be able to cut off the retreat of PoW if it makes directly for the Australian coast.

[Aurorus]

I watched the replay again, and it was the DD Fumizuki that struck the initial blow on the PoW, not the CL Natori. After she hit PoW with a torpedo, Suzukaze engaged Boise for several rounds as Argentina Maru fled, so the Suzukaze really distinguished herself in the battle.

I decided to take a risk. The battle occurred far to the east of where my TF is located. Really a splendid job by Apbarog of finding my TF so far out. This places the battle in closer proximity to the CVs, so I decided to abandon covering the New Caledonia landing and move east with both CV groups in the hopes of catching the allied raiders, or better yet, catch allied CVs trying to escort them to port. If PoW is slowed to 15 knots, or evern 19 knots, there is a chance we can find her. With the amphibious bonus, all of the troops should be ashore on New Caledonia by the AM phase, so I am risking the APs (which I can ill afford to lose). The chance, even remote, of a CV battle, however, is worth the risk in my opinion. Yorktown was seen about 10 days ago steaming west from Suva to Australia, when she took a torpedo. The fast BBs will stay and cover the landing and hope that Apbarog is not so unpredictable as to send his CVs into close proximity of where the full KB was last sighted.

The Japanese player must take risks, and this seems as good an opportunity as any to throw the dice.

[Aurorus]

The hunt for PoW came up empty. It appears as though it may have put into port north of Brisbane for temporary repairs. I have only 2 subs off the southern coast of Australia at the moment, so it seems likely that it will be able to make its way south to better repair facilities. The repair facilities in Australia are too small, however, to fully repair BBs, I believe, so I think that it must return to Pearl or the U.S. at some point. Someone correct me if I am wrong. That may be my only chance to finish her.

That is twice that BB managed to escape. Slippery creature that Prince.

[Aurorus]

February 1

One regiment is ashore in New Caledonia, and aviation support and engineers are now landing. The follow up regiment, which was ambushed en route by PoW, Indianapolis, Marblehead, and Boise, has been withdrawn to Rabaul to be placed on new transports.

All along the Japanese perimeter, fuel and aviation support are in short supply. Fuel is finally being offloaded at Kendari, Koepang, and Ambon to refuel some PBs, cargo ships, and APs, which transferred all their fuel to combat ships several weeks ago. 3 fast AOs with fuel are in the Solomon Sea waiting for the CVs, which will cover the perimeter from the Solomons to New Caledonia for a week or so, while land-based air transfers down and airfields are built up. 4 other fast AOs are en route to Balikpapan from Rabaul to move more fuel into SoPac for the fleet.

Most of the industry and oil in the DEI was taken intact. I have been very fortunate so far in this game. Even Hong Kong with all its industry was captured mostly intact. 4 TK and AO groups have been formed up with appropriate escorts at Palembang, and fuel and oil are flowing out of Palembang. 2 other 15-and-18-knot TK groups have been formed up with appropriate escorts and are running fuel and oil from Korea to the Home Islands. A small TK group is running oil from Salakhin. Two other small TK groups are running oil from Babo to Babeldaob. There are still a few of the slower 12-knot 8,000 barrel TKs awaiting escorts. Supplies are moving into Miri to repair the oil wells there. The economy is shaping up nicely.

The Takao-class CAs along with Maya and Kagero-class escorts are patrolling the New Guinea coast to ward off further allied raiders in that area. The 3 Myoko-class CAs with an escort of Asahio DDs are en-route to Moresby from Ambon. They will replace Chokai's group, and Chokai and the Takao-class group will move to eastern Solomon Sea. The Mogami-class CAs are en-route to Singapore, with Kagero-class escorts and will support action in Burma along with 4 slow BBs. The older CAs, the Furutaka group, is repairing some minor engine damage at Soerabaja and will remain on station in the DEI. The fast BBs are still covering the landing at New Caledonia as the engineers and aviation support offload.

23rd air flotilla HQ is en route to the eastern Coral Sea region, and its aircraft: 45 Zeros, 54 Betties, and recon unit have moved to within transfer range of the eastern Coral Sea. 11th Air HQ is en route to Moresby and will arrive in 4 or 5 days. 21st Air HQ is at Koepang and covering that approach with 28 Zeros and 27 Nells. 22nd Air HQ is loading at Pontinak to redeploy to Port Blair, which was taken by paratroopers two weeks ago. 24th Air HQ is at Truk and will move to Kusaie Island once the airfield there is built to size 3. This deployment should cover the entire perimeter and allow for a concentration of land-based air assets along the NE and eastern coasts of Australia to support action there once the Java campaign ends.

More aviation support is needed everywhere, and I will buy a few JAAF battalions out of the Home Islands once more PBs arrive at Honshu from the DEI. Mukden will become a size 8 airfield tomorrow or the next day, which will double the aviation support there and free up some additional JAAF battalions, which I will buy out and deploy forward once PBs return from the DEI. 15 PBs are inbound to the home islands, mostly as escorts for xAKs returning with resources from the DEI. Nearly two months of resource production from all over the DEI is in transit to the Home islands on the xAKs that were loaded with troops to begin the game: a model of efficiency really. There are a number of advantages to moving quickly into the DEI.

The Mutuki class DDs are all en-route to Singapore for their February upgrades. The Fubukis have all been upgraded on the Home Islands, and 5 newly upgraded Fubukis are escorting the Shoho, which arrived recently in Yokohama to Rabaul to join the other CVs. The Wakatake DDs are arriving at Yokohama for conversion to APDs.

3 of the divisions that assaulted Singapore are completely recovered and will begin the journey north for the Burma campaign. The Imperial Guards will remain at Singapore for 2 or 3 weeks to recover their disabled squads. One heavily reinforced infantry regiment and 1 SNLF will mop up Kuantan. A second infantry regiment from the 55th division is moving to Georgetown to be loaded on xAK-ts for a landing in Northern Sumatra. The Kuantan mop-up force will also redeploy to northern Sumatra once Malaysia has been mopped up entirely. 10 units of heavy artillery are at Port Arthur awaiting escorts of xAks to redeploy to Java.

It is now mostly a matter of completing the Java campaign and waiting for support, supply, and fuel to trickle down to SoPAc to begin the Australian campaign. For the time being, the game is mostly logistic in the Pacific.

[decourcy2]

As a player playing Japan, I am surprised you feel comfortable enough pushing to New Caledonia while the Indies campaign is on going.
In the game I just started with Wargmr I have not even started the second wave of invasion loading for lack of anything like a escort.

Are you concerned about your opponent hitting the home islands or Truk while you are stretched?

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: decourcy2

As a player playing Japan, I am surprised you feel comfortable enough pushing to New Caledonia while the Indies campaign is on going.
In the game I just started with Wargmr I have not even started the second wave of invasion loading for lack of anything like a escort.

Are you concerned about your opponent hitting the home islands or Truk while you are stretched?

I am stretched at this very moment, though that is being rectified. A special base force is en route to Paramushiro Jima. The brigade on Sakhalin is being reinforced by a second restricted brigade airlifted on the (otherwise useless) Theresas, so I will have over 400 AV on Sakhalin. A base force is at Etorofu, along with 2 JNAF battalions. Etorofu has been switched to "General Defense" so a restricted brigade can be airlifted there on Topsies. 11th Air flotilla is at Bihoru on Hokkaidu, along with 12 Zeros and 27 Betties, who have exp. 70 pilots training in naval search. I am not overly worried about the Home Islands or Kuriles at this point, mostly because the Yorktown was spotted in SoPAC two weeks ago and took a torpedo. A raid there by less than 3 CVs would be very dangerous for the allies, as I can fly Vals out of Etorofu or Paramushiru Jima escorted by 36 A5M4s and Betties from Bihoru escorted by Zeros. BBs Mutsu and Nagato, along with some TBs, are at Etorofu as well.

Truk has 3 SNLFs, a base force, and an air HQ with torpedos. I am not much worried about Truk. I am more worried about raids in the Marshalls, where, at the moment, I have little air cover, but I do have 2 small amphib groups, which landed SNLFs at Nauru and Ocean. They are now preparing for landings at Makin and Tarawa, though Jaluit requires additional supplies before it can load an SNLF for Makin.

[Aurorus]

As the war progresses, my plan is not to "defend" the Home Islands. Quite the contrary. I intend to strip the Home islands of most ground forces and defend forward. I will convert, eventually, most of the Kuriles to "General defense" as well as places like Chich Jima, Okinawa, and even Manila and Clark Field, so as to base Home Island restricted air units in these locations.

The object of the late-game for Japan is not to "defend" the home islands from ground invasion in my opinion. The allies do not need to invade the home islands to win the game. They only need to strat bomb the home islands. Therefore the object for Japan must be to try to prevent 4-E bombing of Honshu, not to prevent an invasion of Honshu.

[Aurorus]

In the past 10 days, Apbarog has done a very nice job stationing some SCTFs around the perimeter of my advance. I spotted a Dutch CL group off the northern coast of Australia, hoping to attack an amphibious group moving on that area. He also had 2 British CLs patrolling between Victoria Point and Port Blair. I made a mistake and sent a group of PBs and xAKs into that area without cover, thinking it secure. They were carrying the 23rd Air Flotilla HQ and a JNAF Coy. I lost the HQ (which was purchased and will return in a month), the JNAF Coy, 3 xAKs, and 4 PBs. A very nice move by Apbarog and a very poor move by me. In addition to sending in that convoy unescorted, I also failed to provide a Jake group to search that area. He also struck the amphibious group at Makin the turn after it had disembarked, so he was clearly waiting outside search range and rushed in during the day. He sunk a CL and 2 APs, with approximately 1000 supply on board yet to disembark.

Several very nice hit and runs by Apbarog while my CVs are tied up at New Caledonia, waiting for the engineers to lay down a level 1 airstrip to cover the landing. I am stretched thin and beyond the range of LBA in several areas of SoPac, so I am vulnerable, and Apbarog has down very well anticipating my moves, stationing his forces in advance, and then hitting and running whereever I make an unsupported move.

I got a bit of revenge today, however, February 7th with a good result at Wenchow.

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Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28818 troops, 365 guns, 243 vehicles, Assault Value = 919

Defending force 11210 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 263

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 1390

Allied adjusted defense: 226

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wenchow !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 44 (2 destroyed, 42 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
16142 casualties reported
Squads: 481 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 602 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 35 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 44 (44 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
12th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
6th Division
36th Division
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
13th Army
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
100th Chinese Corps
25th Group Army

The land war is progressing nicely. I have lost 102 VPs of troops to 3700, and most of those 102 were lost at sea. If only I were as adept at the naval war as the ground, I might be a decent player.

The industry at Wenchow was taken intact, so I have been very fortunate so far with no substantial industry or oil losses at any major base including Singapore, Soerabaja, Hong Kong, and now Wenchow. The only loss of any note was at Miri where 20 refineries and 20 oil were destroyed.