More Variants - The End of Western Imperialism - No Nomad please (Feb 1944)

[DesertWolf101]

Perfectly normal. Unlike day CAP, fighters on night CAP do not fly until the night after they are moved to a new airbase. They will fly the coming night.

[Xargun]

Perfectly normal. Unlike day CAP, fighters on night CAP do not fly until the night after they are moved to a new airbase. They will fly the coming night.

I did not know that. So basically when you take a new base there is no way to get night cap over the base without using CV-based fighters or LRCAP from another base... I bet not many people know this.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
US DDs found the I-21 patrolling near pearl and did some damage. I forgot to order the sub home so I hope its still around this next turn.


Air Attacks:
As expected the allies returned the next night with like 3% moonlight - I don't think this effects their accuracy much as they still put bombs on target. My Nates flew but didn't bother to engage any bombers and some more oil was damaged

During the day a lot of enemy fighters swept Palembang running into my Zeros. 4 groups of B-339Ds (12 per group) swept in during the morning followed by 25 P-38E I was very surprised by this and figured my zeros would be wiped out, but his pilots must not be very good as my Zeros handled them quite well. At the end of the day 8 P-38Es were listed as shot down (2 more to ops) !! Of the B-339Ds my Zeros mauled them as expected. Not sure what Nomad was thinking, but it cost him 26 fighters (25 shot down). More experience for my pilots. I lost 7 zeros and 4 pilots.

Overall a good day in the air over Palembang. My zeros were at half strength due to losses and damaged aircraft so they needed a little help. I have moved a Sentai of Oscars into the base to back up my zeros incase the allies come again during the day.


Ground Combat:
Well I sent the tanks from Palembang SW to start rounding up the fleeing enemy but then decided to send the SNLF with them so I ordered the SNLF to go and then set all troops to follow them. Well not sure if the tanks didn't get the orders or what but they blazed ahead and arrived in Praboemoelih in one turn in move mode and Shock Attacked - crossed a river.

I was very surprised to see the attack let alone watch the tanks in move mode crush the allies there inflicting nearly 1500 casualties, destroying 1 unit and chasing the rest to the west !! The Tank Rgt has been order to pursue and finish them off.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
B-17s are now flying for Soerabaja instead of Batavia - Soerabaja's AF just got upgraded to level 7 so now they have no penalties. I am thinking of taking Car Div 1 down there to hit the airfield, but for now I am going to try to stick to my schedule.

No damage is done to the oil and the Nates actually engaged !! Reports show 1 B-17 lost to ops so the Nates did some damage - but honestly I don't expect them to shoot any down, just be there to distract them from hitting their targets.

I have switched the zeros to night cap and the nates to day time since no attacks came in during the day. Hoping the higher experienced Zero pilots can make a few kills or at least damage more.



Troops Landing:
Troops come ashore at Sambas on their way to Singkawang


Ground Combat:
IJA Troops at Cagayan attack and capture the base, driving the survivors into the mountains to the south.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
The B-17s showed up again last night and my Zeros rose up to meet them but only engaged with one group it seems like losing a pair of fighters to the overpowered B-17 defensive firepower. But they did their job and no oil was hit this turn.


Naval Combat:
I spotted an enemy TF at Singkep lurking there so I broke off 3 DDs from the combat TF at Palembang and sent them up. near dawn they found the lurker - a single British HDML and sunk it without any effort.


Ground Combat:
Troops at Tsiaotso attack the Chinese again reducing their forts to level 1 and inflicting nearly 3 times the losses upon them. They should crack soon.

At Sambas my troops easily take the base crushing the 3 units there - forcing two of them to surrender. (Both base forces).


So I have two new Destroyers coming out the yards in 12 days or so but they need names... Come on guys here's your chance


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
Allied sub SS Shark attacked a TF hauling resources back from Davao to Babeldaob hitting an xAK with a torpedo.
Another allied sub attacked the same TF a hex later but missed.


Air Attacks:
What a surprise !!! B-17s attack Palembang during the night. My Nates engaged a few but did their job of keeping them away from the oil - no oil was damaged again this turn.


Ground Combat:
Troops moving through the rough terrain of China arrive and attack Pucheng taking it.
The 6th Tank Regiment attack the fleeing troops at Lahat destroying two units and pushing the other three Westward as well as capturing the base.


I am loading up AA to move to Palembang to help with the nightly attacks. This will see if my upgrade purchase actually helped my AA units or not with the better guns. Two Units are loading at Samah for the trip - in all I plan on moving 4-5 units there at least to start and then slowly move them along behind my front to protect new places such as Batavia, Soerabaja.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
Allied subs persistently try to finish off the crippled xAK Shinsei Maru as she limps towards Saigon. After two separate attacks, two torpedoes each, one dude in each attack the Shinsei Maru sinks 40 miles from port

Ground Combat:
IJN troops have finally reach Toboali and capture the undefended base securing the island off the coast of Palembang.

A little surprise this turn. With my tanks chasing down the remnants fleeing Palembang and the SNLF heading for Oosthaven an unidentified allied unit just showed up at Palembang - coming in from the NW. I have no idea what this unit it and if its strong enough it can take Palembang back from the 50 AS or so that I have there. My guess is its a small battalion sized unit from the north that Nomad hid hoping I would leave only a token force at Palembang and he could take it back. We will see.

I have ordered my combat units to return to Palembang - they are days away. I have ordered Car Div 1 back into the area to deliver a heavy air attack with all Vals. I have also ordered all bombers at Johore Bahru to attack the ground unit as well. Fighters at Palembang are staying incase he tries to bomb my troops. I am about 70% confident on this, but what if he dropped off a good-sized combat unit from Malaya early ? It could easily be a regiment or more. Guess we will see.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
A dutch sub is spotted by escorts of Car Div 1 and pursued before she could fire. O21 is reportedly hit 6 times and sustained heavy damage.


Surface Combat:
My combat TF at Palembang bombards the enemy unit now identified as the Tapanoeli Gsn Battalion - my fears are unfounded !!

The bombardment TF at Palembang bombarded again during the day inflicting even more casualties on the enemy force.


Air Attacks:
A bit odd, none of my LBA assigned to attack the enemy at Palembang actually flew Weather did not seem bad but the airfield at Johore Bahru does have too many aircraft so perhaps that affected it - good thing I didn't need them.

Naval Air Attacks:
Car Div 1 moved back into range and 72 Vals hit the enemy battalion inflicting minor damage.


Well it looks like the odds were right and it was only a small battalion of enemy troops - which my defense force at Palembang could handle but with Palembang and over 100 aircraft there I didn't want to take any chances. I have ordered the combat unit at Palembang to attack and they should push the enemy unit back out of the base at least, if not outright destroy it after the beating they took from my cruisers.

Units ordered back to Palembang have been ordered to continue to their original destinations. I am also picking up a regiment from Sambas and will drop it into Palembang in a couple days to end the threat.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
My bombers from Johore Bahru hit the enemy unit at Palembang disabling and destroying squads.

Ground Combat:
My Shock attack at Tsiaotso inflicts over 2000 casualties on the Chinese while suffering only 1500 of my own.

The II/124th Inf battalion at Palembang attacks the crippled enemy unit and routs them. While not destroying them outright they do enough damage that after combat the enemy unit is destroyed by attrition !!


Burma:
A massive airlift is underway up in Burma from Bangkok to Rangoon. I am using over 60 transports (just about all that I have with decent range) to airlift base units into Burma. My offensive here has been halted at Toungoo as I don't want to take Magwe without being able to move fighters into the base on the same turn - and if I keep heading north the bases may start flipping over to my side before I get there. So base forces are being airlifted in and set to strategic mode so they can quickly reach Magwe once I take it.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
After a couple days off the B-17s are back at night again striking the oil at Palembang. My Nates are flying but this time they did not even engage at all leaving the B-17s wide open for their runs adding 11 points of damage to the oil

That was the only action this turn - Night bombing at Palembang. My AA is still several days away from Palembang. Car Div 1 should be making port at CRB tomorrow to refuel / rearm - then it is off to the South Pacific to join back up with Car Div 2 and head to Rabaul.

Troops are loading up at Samah for the invasion of Tarakan - closely followed by Balikpapan. Car Div 3 - CVLs & CVEs will provide cover for these operations as well as some large surface combat fleets.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
The B-17s come again and my Nates and Oscars engage 2 of the 3 attacks but its starting to seem like I am just wasting aircraft. The B-17s come through and deal another 10 damage to the oil. I have lost 50+ oil to bombing since I took the base despite having cap. Not sure what else to do. At this rate I will lose another 100 oil before my AA units arrive. Since when are B-17s so accurate at night?

My Sallies and Lillies bombed the enemy troops at Singapore but did very little damage and didn't seem to affect the river crossing much.

Ground Combat:
My horde of troops crossed into Singapore with their Shock attack and it was devastating. Over 10,000 casualties reports on my side with only 3200 on the allies. The enemy forts are at level 4.

My artillery units will bombard while the rest of the units have a day of rest to attempt to recover some losses.


My troops at Tsiaotso attacked again and lost 1:2.. Looks like I need to bring more men here - he must have reinforced here without me noticing a new unit.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
My Nates and Oscars engaged the B-17s during the night and actually reported damaging a few.


Ground Combat:
Artillery attack at Singapore did minimal damage.


Transports are headed to pick up troops for the second phase of my operations in the South Pacific. Car Div 1 has finished refueling / rearming at CRB and is heading to Truk. In about 10 days I should be ready to launch the invasion of Rabaul and what comes after.

Transports have left Samah with troops bound for Tarakan. They will rendevous with the Kongo battlegroup to the southeast and then head for Tarakan. Car Div 3 will leave Babeldaob tomorrow and meet them off the coast near Jolo.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
Dutch subs were on the attack. Near Lingga they put a torpedo into one of my precious LSDs damaging it.
Another sub hit a DD with a torpedo crippling it near Singkep and then came back and put two more into her sinking the DD.


Air Attacks:
B-17s over Palembang at night again - I think this will be the new norm this game with Nomad targetting my oil throughout the game. Last game he only hit Miri once and then flattened Magwe in late 43 but that was it.

My Nates and Oscars engaged the bombers damaging a couple and losing a few planes, but they did their job and no oil was damaged.

During the day my Naval Bombers from Formosa hit some Chinese troops at Chuhsien in anticipation of the upcoming attack there.

Also Sallies and Lillies hit the Singapore Airfield causing some damage but losing a handful of bombers.


Ground Combat:
The only ground action this turn was an artillery attack at Singapore disabling a few enemy squads.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Air Attacks:
More B-17 attacks at Palembang but my night cap distracted them enough that they missed their targets again.

LR Naval bombers continue to hit the enemy troops at Chuhsien - my ground troops just arrived and will be attacking this next turn.

Sallies and Lillies continue to hit the Singapore Airfield and intel shows the damage is accumulating so I am outpacing his repair efforts. I am switching to night attack to try to minimize the flak effectiveness.


Troop Landings:
Troops come ashore at Singkep.


Ground Combat:
My tank regiment at Butuan crushes the PA Regiment there and captures the base. The remnants of the regiment flee back to Malayabalay.

My first attack at Singkawang is repulsed but forts are reduced to 0 and I inflict more losses on the enemy units. Another attack will come with the next turn.


I have spotted an enemy TF heading NE into the waters between Borneo and Sumatra. No ship intel is available, but it could be anything from a simple Destroyer flotilla to Battleships and Carriers. Car Div 1 is near Brunei and has been given orders to head west to meet this threat. It is probably a couple of old dutch cruisers looking to interrupt my landings so hopefully they will come farther north and into my CV air range.

The surface TF is still at Palembang so if he wants to bombard he will have to fight his way past them first.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
A US sub found in the channel NE of Palembang and is damage with multiple hits. Moments later an E class and PB ship run into mines as they move through the channel into Palembang. Both ships sink But the troop ships they were escorting make it through to land their precious AA units. Not sure if the sub laid the mines or if the ship I spotted moving into the area was a ML on a half suicide mission.

Air Attacks:
My night air strikes against the airfield at Singapore was a waste of bombs. Very low damage was received, but very few hits reported. The planes are just going to have to suck it up and attack during the day and deal with the losses.

B-17s come again and are met by my fighters. The fighters do their job once more and no oil is damaged. Several B-17s are reported damaged.


Ground Combat:

My troops attack Chuhsien only to find the enemy unit there has escaped to the SE - but the base falls and doesn't require any garrison.

Troops at Singkawang perform a Shock attack capturing the base and driving the fleeing allies to the south along the coast.

My troops at Singkep captured the base eliminating the enemy battalion there.


I am kind of anxious to see how my new AA units perform at Palembang. Four units are offloaded and between them they have 42 12.7cm 3YT guns. I believe these guns should have the power to blast the B-17s out of the sky so we will see. The AA units have the crappy 13.5mm guns as well but I believe their ceiling is 6k and the B-17s have been coming in at 10k. With luck we will at least damage a bunch of them if not shoot them down. I would love some sort of air defense.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
A Dutch sub is sighted by Mine Sweepers on their way to Palembang and attacked - no damage was reported.

Near Tawau (Near Tarakan) another allied sub is spotted an attacked but no hits reported.
The SS Porpoise, which was just attacked, surfaces and fires off 4 torpedoes at CL Sendai, but they all miss.



Air Attacks:
Well the B-17 attacks were disappointing. Not sure what I expected, but I guess I was thinking the AA guns would shoot down a bomber or two but they did not. It does seem more were damaged in the attack, but just one attack doesn't give enough information to make that call.

LR Naval Bombers continue to harass the Chinese 3rd War Area unit just northwest of Wenchow. The bombers inflict decent damage to the unit.

My bombers hit Singapore airfields again during the day inflicting a decent amount of damage. A bunch of bombers were damaged and they have been all ordered to stand down for at least a day as replacements and repairs bring them back up to full strength.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Troops Landing:
My men come ashore at Tarakan under fire from CD guns, supported by 1 CL and 2 DDs. Three of the four amphibs take hits, minor damage except for LSD Shinshu which is burning. CL Sendai takes 4 hits but no real damage.


Air Attacks:
Maybe my AA did more damage than I thought - there were no B-17 attacks this turn.

Naval bombers continue to pound the 3rd War Area, actually destroying a squad today.


Ground Combat:
My attack at Singapore lowered the forts while suffering 4600 casualties. Reports indicate 2100 losses amongst the enemy troops holding the fort.

IJN Troops seize Oosthaven destroying the base force there.



Two IJN DMS begin clearing the mines in the channel NE of Palembang.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
SS I-17 attacks an allied DD near Isle of Pines and misses - the two DDs attack back landing a single hit on the sub.

Mine Warfare:
My 2 DMS in the channel NE of Palembang clear the rest of the mines.

Ground Combat:
My troops at Malaybalay are repulsed by the allies behind their mountainous level 2 forts. Need to bring in more troops it seems.

My initial attack at Tarakan is repulsed as the defenders fight from behind level 2 forts. Losses were low on both sides. The troops are calling in some bombardment from the near warships to support their next attack.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sub Warfare:
Another Dutch sub strike again. This time sinking DMS W-11 near Muntok.

Ground Combat:
My combat TF bombarded Tarakan but only seemed to hit base personnel - no combat squads were touched My attack here faltered and was stopped short - though they did destroy the enemy forts.

Northeast of Benkoelen, my tank attacked the fleeing allies again destroying some and pushing them further north. I don't think I'm ever gonna kill these units.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Ground Combat:
My attack at Singapore lowers the forts to 3 and destroys 3 times more enemy squads then we lost.

My attack at Tarakan - even after another bombardment - is repulsed. Looks like I am waiting for reinforcements here. They are on their way leaving Samah this turn.


Xargun