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Now that really is evil. I'll have to be on the look out for that. Fortunately, all my convoys are escorted by MSWs.

That's very smart of you - sub minelaying is one of the few things the Allied player can do to consistently "attack" you.. [:'(]

I have three subs constantly mining Kwajalein - Argonaut and two others. It keeps his MSWs busy and even occasionally gets a hit.

Cruft does very well with his minelayer subs (two ships in one day in the DEI a few weeks ago), so I've been encouraged to riposte.

Well, we've updated to 1.60, and no combat report for this turn. It'll be slightly brief, since I'm working from memory.. that's probably a good thing. [:D]

1/17/42

India/Burma: I've moved the 24 B-17s (12 Ds, 12 Es) to Mandalay, which is turning into a nice airbase already. They're going to bomb Hanoi's industry tomorrow, which appears to be unprotected.. After that, they may participate in the daily bombing of his units at Tavoy. Today it didn't go so well, by the way, with several Buffalos shot up by Nates.

China: The shock attack at Kaifeng failed, but disruption and fatigue are still surprisingly low. I'll stay and go back into bombardment mode.

Malaya: Nothing different today.

The Philippines: Again, no change.

DEI: 23rd Brigade AIF began landing at Amboina today, and is already mostly unloaded. 180 assault points there right now. [:)]

SOPAC: Kates ravage Suva airfield, destroying several New Zealand Hudsons and American PBYs on the ground. All aircraft pull out to Auckland, except for the RNZAF Singapores, which are slipping away northwards via Pago Pago.

CENTPAC: Sent out some DMs and ML Oglala to boost the numbers at Johnston.

NORTHPAC: Enough shipping arrived at Seattle this turn for me to dispatch reinforcements to this theatre. 48th Engineer Regiment and 110th USN Base force are going to Attu, while 113th USN Base Force is heading for Umnak Island (new to CHS).

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I wish he'd send some ships into my LBA.. [:'(]

Another day, another several hundred deaths. Yawn.. [;)]

1/18/42

India/Burma: The Hanoi bombing scored a couple of hits - only 2 Oscars are on CAP, I presume due to the AVG threat a la last game - but it wasn't particularly effective. Just my luck, a Japanese ground unit has advanced into range on the northern trail. All bombers in range in Burma will attack it tomorrow.

China: I outnumber him 2-1 at Kaifeng.. bombardments continue.

Malaya: LRCAP over Kuantan didn't catch anything.. trying Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

The Philippines: The first Japanese ground unit arrived in Manila - bombardments will probably start tomorrow or the day after. Forts aren't as high as I'd like.

SIGINT reports that the Kure 1st SNLF is headed for Tacloban aboard an AP, so I've moved a sub into that hex to greet them.

Oh, and most of my PT boats were sunk by Zeroes set to Naval Attack. The two survivors are heading for Butuan.

DEI: Zeroes and Nells/Betties have been installed at Menado - Nells are spotting my ships are far as Amboina. My Hudsons launched and encountered 6 Zeroes over Menado today - they took no losses but only made one hit on the runway.

The last B-25s left Mindanao today. The reformed squadron (12 aircraft) is moving from Bali
to a base in range of Menado.

SWPAC: He made his first attack at Kavieng - held by an Aussie Independent Coy. It held today, but will probably fall tomorrow.

SOPAC: KB still smashing up Suva. No ground combat yet.

CENTPAC: No action.

NORTHPAC: Moved some LB-30s to Kodiak. Nothing happening otherwise.

======

I -still- wish he'd fly into my LBA. [:'(]

Here's a short update for the last few days.. I'm lazy!

1/19/42-1/20/42

India/Burma: 18th UK Div is marching into reserve at Hyderabad. It and tanks stationed there will counterattack any landing on the Indian subcontinent.

China: I still bombard at Kaifeng.. he's brought in an arty unit to reinforce.

Malaya: Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan still hold. My opponent is not pleased. [:D]

The Philippines: Not quite so good. On the 19th, a succesful deliberate attack was given to my troops at Clark. (Now 30,000 facing 70,000 Japanese, most of which are fresh.) Forts have dropped to 1. Although they held on the 20th things are looking rather shaky.

The first bombardment attack was delivered at Manila and things look rather better there. We both have roughly 50,000 troops. I'm sending off about 180 assault points to buck up Clark, but the Manila troops have had a rest and forts are still going up, so I expect Clark to fall first.

DEI: My bombers hit Menado - mostly Hudsons and Mitchells - and got a few planes on the ground. Not very good results but still good. His Zero CAP did nothing, as expected.

Kendari is the only good airbase in range of Menado, but I'm running out of aviation support. Plus the defense unit there is crap. So I'm bringing in the Pamakasan Garrison (40 assault points) and the NEIAF Base Force from the same island. That should improve things considerably.

Prince of Wales and her motley collection of CAs, CLs and DDs also sit at Kendari in Staring Bay, awaiting opportunities.

In the north, near Palembang, my subs have been doing good work again. My aircraft from Palembang also launched last turn against CAs Atago and Takao but scored no hits with torpedoes or bombs. Oh well, good practice, right?

As for reinforcements: British tanks will land at Tjilitjap in a few turns, American artillery units have arrived at Amboina and will soon arrive at Soerabaja, American A-24 Dauntlesses will be available at Soerabaja quite quickly (they're passing Maumere right now), and British Hurricanes are on their way via Formidable. Things are looking pretty excellent.

We are 71% of the way to port size 9 at Soerabaja. Come on...

SWPAC: He has still failed to take Kavieng. The depleted Aussie company there is doing rather well, I'd say. [8D] Wirraways and Hudsons are getting good target practice bombing the NLF.

I've received my first Beaufort V-IXs. I plan to fly them into Rabaul next turn - they're already at PM. I'd just love to catch him with no air cover here.

SOPAC: South Seas Detachment arrived at Suva yesterday. I expect bombardments to begin today..

2nd Marine Div is mostly unloaded at Papaete; the base is pretty much impregnable now.

CENTPAC: Sub minelaying, convoy shepherding.

NORTHPAC: Dispatched another engineer regiment from the West Coast to Attu.. gotta get that base up!

======

I'm really enjoying our game right now. The DEI has always been my favorite theatre, and I can't wait until Cruft discovers my surprises there. His advances in the South Pacific are making things awfully exciting. Cruft is an excellent player - I think he's even better defensively than he is offensively - and with those bases in his hands it'll be a long, hard slog to Japan. I'm eager to get started.

Two questions:

1) Can you move from Manila to Clark now that both hexes are contested?

2) Where did the US units arriving in the DEI come from? And how did they get there? Through the Arufa Sea? They seem to be getting there awfully fast for any other route.

1) Can you move from Manila to Clark now that both hexes are contested?

Yep, I'm still free to move.

2) Where did the US units arriving in the DEI come from? And how did they get there? Through the Arufa Sea? They seem to be getting there awfully fast for any other route.

The US units are from the convoy near Canton Island at the beginning of the game - 3 artillery units. And yes, they came through the Arufa sea on AKs, after stopping at Canton. [:)]

Cruft detected the buildup at Amboina today, so hopefully that'll throw him off a bit. Anyways!

1/21/42

India/Burma: Royal Sovereign arrived at Columbo today. Formidable has already passed Ceylon and will skirt the western edge of Sumatra on its way to Java. I haven't decided if I'll leave Formidable around or not.. maybe I'll stay for one airstrike, but then it's back to Columbo. I want Sea Hurricanes to replace these crap Fulmars..

China: He's moving units to either reinforce Kaifeng or cut me off there. I'll deliberate attack tomorrow - if it succeeds, I stay, if it fails (most likely) I turn tail and run. I'm glad I left a division behind to guard the rail junction.

Oh, another army has arrived at Canton and will start bombarding tomorrow.. if he has too many troops, I'm outta there.

Malaya: Just bombardments.

The Philippines: Again, just bombardments.. I'm leaving Clark the next time he as a successful attack. That could be tomorrow.

I've noticed his Lizzies aren't doing very well over Manila.. the flak is VERY heavy.

DEI: Today's raid on Menado was not a success. Instead of 6 Zeroes, today we had 20, and they blunted the attack. 2 planes were destroyed on the ground in exchange for 13 bombers shot down, including 7 Hudsons.

A convoy of AKs from Balikpapan that was heading for Townsville decided to take the wrong way around Celebes and ran into an I-boat.. grr.

Oh, sub action around Northern Borneo continues to favor me. S-37 delivered two torpedoes to Hukuyo Maru today.. even the Americans are doing well! Silly Yanks with their crap torpedoes [:'(]

SWPAC: Ack! I forgot to move the Beauforts. Will do tomorrow. Other than that, no action.

SOPAC: The South Seas Detachment finished its march to Suva today and bombarded, inflicting no casualties. Troop numbers are 10,000 vs. 8,000 (his favor), so this should last a bit.

======

I received notice of another enemy operation today - Operation Bodyline. The name is just as bland and mysterious to me as "Neck Tie" was. Cruft needs to give his plans more revealing names, like "Operation Canton Island, Fiji and Samoa".

The Philippines: January 21st, 1942



1. Lingayen - IJAAF Airbase
2. Aparri - IJAAF Airbase
3. Bataan - Abandoned; some damaged PBYs.
4. Clark - Level 2 forts, 70,000 IJA vs. 30,000 USAFFE.
5. Manila - Level 2 forts, 50,000 IJA vs 50,000 USAFFE.
6. Legaspi - IJNAF Airbase, Betties and Lizzies.
7. Cagayan - Abandoned USAFFE Airbase, 260 assault point garrison.
8. Butuan - PT boat base (level 3 port); no garrison.
9. Davao - Site of sinking of two IJN Cruisers; IJNAF Airbase, Betties and Zeroes.
10. South of Davao - The last two PT Boats, moving to attack shipping in Davao harbor.

Invasion headed for Tarakan, but China is looking good...

1/22/42

India/Burma: No change here. 33rd Division is still approaching my Burmese at Moulmein..

China: Fair amount of action here!

My deliberate attack at Kaifeng achieved 2-1 odds and brought the forts down to 3! I'm pleased; any successful Chinese attack makes me happy. I'm going back to bombardments, but I may be able to reduce the place.

South at Canton, my army arrived and the Japanese tried to kick me out with a Deliberate Attack, which failed. He incurred 2500 casualties. [:)] I've scheduled my own deliberate attack for tomorrow - hopefully I can catch him disrupted, because my units are fine.

Malaya: Another failed attack for Japan - his Mixed Brigade attacks my Brits and Indians at Kuantan. Forts are level 4 and the units are looking strong. Supply is the only problem (cut off from Singapore), so I have Hudsons bringing it in. Not great but the best I can do.

The Philippines: No deliberate attacks today, but I've decided to pull out of Clark. After 2 days of bombardments and continual fighting for quite some time, my units are mostly spent. I feel that if I stay he'll deliberate attack and force them to retreat, so they've all been given orders to head to Manila.

DEI: High point of today was SS Sculpin enduring five successive ASW attacks by Japanese destroyers and not getting hit by a single depth charge. It was fairly ridiculous.

The DDs in question were escorting CVLs Ryujo and Shoho, plus a transport convoy. It looks like Tarakan is about to fall - I've evacuated the aircraft (two Buffalos, 3 Dorniers) to Samarinda, and moved Sculpin and other subs into position to place some hurt upon the evil Japanese.

Oh yes, his attack at Pontianak fails! 0-1 odds. He must be getting really annoyed with his ground troops, they've not been performing well lately. Even against exhausted Dutch base forces with no supplies whatsoever.

SWPAC: My Beauforts arrive in Rabaul just as a task force appears in range.. excellent. Hopefully they'll attack tomorrow.

SOPAC: His bombardment at Suva actually inflicts some casualties today.. other than that, no action.

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Screenshots
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China:



Tarakan, Invasion Force, and Sculpin the Super-Sub:

Sorry about the paucity of updates lately - Cruft and I have been busy!

Actually, I've made very much progress on my WitP scenario, Iron Storm. I'll attach a part of my changelog at the end of this post so someone out there can see all the crap I've done. [:'(]

Anyways,

1/23/42

India/Burma: 19 Nates capped 33rd Division today, which disrupted my Blenheims and hurt my Buffalos quite a bit. Their morale sucks, now.

China: My deliberate attack at Canton met roughly equal numbers and failed, so I'm pulling the Chinese back. At Kaifeng, however, I got 1-1 odds and brought the forts down to 2. [X(] Much better than I expected. I'm going back to bombardments now, though. Cruft has informed me that one of his divisions trying to reinforce Kaifeng has gotten "lost" - let's hope it stays lost! Maybe I'll be able to take the base...

Oh yes, his bombers (Lilies and Sallies escorted by Oscars at Tojos) have been attacking my base at Wuchow for several turns now. I can't tell if this is a prelude to an attack or not. I want to move an AVG squadron there..

Speaking of the AVG, the sweep over Hankow caught 4 Nates and sent them to the ground. Even small victories are good. [:)]

Malaya: Nothing, not even bombardment attacks. The front in Malaya has reached a standstill.. I believe Cruft may be bringing in reinforcements, or at least giving his troops a rest. His advance has been slow and tortuous thus far.

The Phillippines: I was right - he did Deliberate Attack at Clark today, and it achieved 2-1 odds. Luckily, all of my troops are already in the process of moving to Manila, so they won't be forced to retreat when he knocks down that last fort. Perfect.

DEI: The Japanese start pouring onto the beaches of Tarakan.. Scuplin (yesterday's hero) was eager to put a torpedo into one of those CVLs and so let herself be pulled into shallow water. 3 depth charges brought her FLT up to 90. She may be able to limp into Tarakan harbor for a day and bring it down, but from there we head to Balikpapan.. I doubt the sub will make it.

Others are taking more cautious positions around Tarakan - I'd really love to torpedo a CVL, it's true!

His Nells attack shipping outside Balikpapan again - the two ships in question had been previously damaged and went under quickly.

Finally, his Nells hit Amboina airstrip today - escorting Zeroes knock down a Brewster and several dents are placed on the runway. Rrr.

SWPAC: Shortlands should be mined this turn, and the Beauforts better launch, or I will be most displeased!

SOPAC: Nothing surprising, just bombarding at Suva. The 14th NZ Brigade is fully unloaded at Noumea and an RNZAF Base Force should begin unloading today. Then I can move some P-39s and SBDs in.

At Papaete, the addition of the engineers of the 2nd Marine Division has really jump-started base buildup. Right now I'm focusing on the port and forts.

======

Here's a chunk of the (incomplete) changelog for Iron Storm.

Still busy - out with the family for Independence Day. I should be back around July 5th - expect updates from then on. [:)]

Alright, I'm back! Time for a last-three-days update.

1/24/42-1/26/42

India/Burma: My Blenheims and B-17s have been cheerfully bombing 33rd Division and Rahaeng airfield against no opposition until today. Cruft put 16 Nates up to defend Rahaeng today, and my Blenheims and Buffalos got fairly beat up again. The Fortresses got through okay though, and even took down a few Nates with their wing guns..

China: Interesting action here. 22,000 Japanese have begun to attack an equal number of Chinese at Linfen, on the road to Sian and slightly north of Kaifeng. I believe he is attempting to cut off the attacking units at Kaifeng, but so far he has had no success. A Japanese deliberate attack failed today with heavy casualties. Still, there are a lot of units coming up behind - I'd better finish up at Kaifeng quick.. Linfen needs reinforcements.

Kaifeng looks like it just might be finished quickly. After two days of bombarding, my Chinese deliberate attacked again today. The forts are down to 1 from an original 4. [:)] Tomorrow I shock attack. If it succeeds, I have the base; if it fails, I fall back to cover Sian and Linfen.

In the south, I'm considering using the units at Changsha offensively... we'll see. It's a 3000 assault point army. I just need to pick a target, right?

Malaya: Kuala Lumpur fell. So much for a standstill! Heavy air attacks and consistent bombardments forced my troops to retreat to Malacca, where there are absolutely zero supplies. They've all been badly beat up - down to like 50 assault points - and I expect them to fall at the first shock attack.

Kuantan looks better. My Hudsons are gaining lots of experience flying in supplies to them, actually. [:)] Still, it's not enough. Roughly 150 assault points there - about equivalent to the Mixed Brigade besieging them.

At Johore Bahru is the only strong force left in Malaya - Aussies, Brits, Malayans and Indians equivalent to 280 assault points, behind level 5 forts.

Just today we had our first air action in a while - I had saved two AKs in Singapore harbor to pull out an RAF base force once it arrived. Today 25 Nells and 20 Zeroes from Kuching arrived in an attempt to sink them both.

27 Buffalos and 10 Hurricanes rose up to meet them - the Hurricanes flown in just the turn before from the decks of CV Formidable. The Buffys did okay; the Aussies shot down two Zeroes! Most of the others fled and the Aussies paid for it with several shot down. They're still ready to fight but the morale of my other two squads are in the toilet.

A Hurricane brought down a Nell, and others were destroyed by flak, but they were still able to deliver 3 torpedoes to AK Hermion, which sunk immediately. One hit AK Palawan - roughly 20 sys and 12 float damage, should be okay. Still, he sunk a ship and hurt Singapore's air defence badly.

Speaking of, I won't evacuate the fighters until it's absolutely necessary. I plan to keep them around to fly CAP over my ground troops.

The Philippines: Besides Kuala Lumpur, my other bastion, Clark Field, fell today. [:(] I was heavily outnumbered - 69,000 versus 27,000 - and the troops were exhausted. Even worse, they retreated to Bataan, not Clark!! This means essentially that they are doomed, as Bataan, like Malacaa, has zero supplies. None. He'll be able to clean them out pretty quickly. Manila still looks strong, though.

DEI: Well, things are moving here. Tarakan fell (of course), and his Nells and BEtties are perky and eager, as detailed in the Malaya section. Pontianak was deliberate attacked today, brought the forts down to 1..

Stuff is arriving in-theatre, though. 19th KGVO Tank Regiment, with Valentine IIIs and Humber armored cars, has completed unloading at Tjilitjap and will join the Dutch mobile reserve at Bandoeng for the defence of Java. Soerabaja's A-24 Dauntlesses are repairing quickly, and my P-39 pilots are training up. In addition, Formidable dropped off a squadron of Hurricanes at Palembang before turning back towards Columbo. Palembang's Marines started receving artillery today, as well! Things are going up.

Every day Singapore stands is a day longer before he can launch his offensive against southern Sumatra and Java, so yay. The eastern DEI is much more weak and I feel that he'll take Timor early to prevent me from turning into a "fortress" a la last game (although I don't plan to do this.)

SWPAC: Shortlands has been mined and my Hudsons at Rabaul have actually hit something! An APD, I believe. I think it's the first time a Hudson has actually hit a moving ship in the entire war. [:D] Go Aussies!

Kavieng fell, and the Independent Company defending it is badly beat up. It will succumb to lack of supplies, sadly.

SOPAC: More bombardments at Suva by the South Seas Detachment, supported by the aircraft of the Kido Butai. Yawn.. [;)]

At Noumea my brigade and base force are fully ashore and establishing themselves. I have P-39s in Auckland repairing (after a long trip by boat) which will shortly fly in. PBYs will follow.

Subs have taken a nasty toll in the last few days.. my tankers and transports out of Panama have been mostly unescorted - no DDs were available. So far I've lost one AK, one TK, and one AK badly damaged.

CENTPAC: Minelaying operations, supply shifting.. I want this theatre to be so perfectly defended and glamourously equipped that I don't have to worry about it anymore. [;)]

======

That's it!

1/27/42

India/Burma: Ack. Another half-dozen Buffalos hacked out of the sky over southern Burma. I'm setting the Blenheims to attack Tavoy now.. no airfield icon anywhere near there, hopefully he doesn't have CAP. My Buffys can't do anything against Nates.. sad?

China: The shock attack brings the forts down to 0 but does not take the base. I rescind my promise of yesterday - I'm sticking around. No attacks at Linfeng today though.

Malaya: No action today. Looks like AK Palawan will make it out..

The Philippines: My shock attack at Cagayan achieved a 1-1, but didn't force his troops out. Back to defense!

DEI: 4 B-25s launched at Menado again (I forgot to mess with the range settings on these guys) and 1 came back. Not doing that again - he has nearly two dozen Zeroes on CAP. Tainan Daitais.

Pontianak fell; the resident base forces surrendered. LBA attempted to attack his cruisers (bombardment force) but scored no hits at the cost of several planes damaged.

He also started landing at Manokwari (Dutch New Guinea).. not going to be difficult for him. 3 Buffaloes launched from Amboina on Naval Attack at his transports and, of course, scored no hits.

Finally, Soerabaja is 91% of the way to becoming a Level 9 Port. Heavy mining operations will commence as soon as we reach it.

SWPAC: No action today.

SOPAC: South Seas Detachment deliberate attacks the New Zealanders at Suva! 8th NZ Brigade holds them back, inflicting heavy casualties. But how long can they last with only 1200 supplies?

CENTPAC: Christmas Island is slated to become a massive airbase. A heavily escorted convoy departed for the island from San Fran today, carrying 12th Fighter Squadron (P-39s).

NORTHPAC: My base forces, HQs, et al are finally unloading at Umnak and Adak Islands. P-40Bs fly CAP over Umnak while the airbase at Adak is being built.

======



The Kiwis at Suva. Good commander, good experience - I wonder how long they can hold?

A pretty good day.

1/28/42

India/Burma: Hurricanes begin arriving in theatre, with a squadron of 12 setting up in Madras today. More are destined for Chandpur, Diamond Harbor, Columbo and Ledo.

No real action today, though. Shuffling AKs around - I'm putting the SEAC HQ at Dacca, to facilititate supply runs to China...

China: We experienced some "real action" here. My shock attack at Kaifeng worked even as he reinforced the place - 60,000 Chinese forced 50,000 Japanese southward and captured the base! But uh oh, in the road hex behind Kaifeng - on our line of supply and retreat to Homan - a Japanese division and tank regiment have appeared. I had placed a Chinese corps here to hold them off, but a deliberate attack today failed miserably. I'm going to leave a light garrison at Kaifeng and move back quickly to clear my path to Homan. From Homan, I can reinforce Linfen..

In the south, I've decided to attack Hankow. (Really this time. No foolies. [:'(]) I'm sending half of my Changsha army - that's 1500 assault points - north up the highway, while another ~600-700 assault points descend from Ichang to the north. 12 units are reported but only 7000 troops?!? I've been reconning for a long time, but that must be wrong. Plus the icon is a full, bloody red.

I think I'm bringing enough troops to deal with whatever I see, though..

Malaya: No action this turn at all. AK Palawan has escaped cleanly.

Next turn I'm sending my Hudsons (experience 71) to attack Kota Bharu airfield. My Hurricanes don't have the range to escort, so we'll have to rely on our Buffalos.. we'll see how it goes.

The Phililppines: Nothing right now.. it looks like he's flown most of his aircraft into Clark Field.

His Zeroes strafed my one remaining PT boat, getting 24 shell hits with their 7.7mms, but only brought it up to 10 SYS. It'll attack the enemy ships at Tacloban tomorrow just out of spite. [:'(]

Also at Tacloban, SS Permit hasn't been able to hit said ships, and the same ships haven't hit her either yet. So I'm giving up and leaving the shallow water.

DEI: No action here today. Tomorrow a port attack at Singkawang. According to recon, it looks like he disbanded a damaged AP or AK into the port - there's no CAP yet so my B-17s and Martins will have a go.

SWPAC: A Hudson puts a bomb into CL Kashima, knocks out a 5 inch gun and leaves the ship burning. Pretty good for one hit. [:D]

SOPAC: His Kates and Vals heavily attack both Pago Pago and Suva. BBs, CAs and CLs participate in the bombardment of both bases, as well. Return fire from CD guns is sporadic and ineffective.

CENTPAC: No action.

NORTHPAC: No action.

======

Today was an -extremely- busy day in the air!

1/29/42

India/Burma: Yep, Tavoy has no CAP, as expected. My Blenheims much prefer bombing defenceless ground troops to being shot down in droves by Nates...

China: Some bad turn-ups today. First, he deliberate attacked at the Kaifeng-Honan junction and forced a Chinese corps back to Kaifeng. Now, 6 other Chinese corps (~60,000 troops) are moving forward to replace it but it's still a loss for me.

Secondly, two Corps are now facing two IJA divisions at Linfen. The odds do not look good and
there are no reinforcements available, and if there were they could not get there in time, I think. We'll have to hope that they hold out long and that the troops at Kaifeng clear their way to Honan quickly! Time is the big crunch here. If he breaks through fast at Linfen and makes it to Honan, he could cut off all of the troops I've been talking about.

Malaya: My attack at Kota Bharu was purportedly successful, sort of. 23 Buffalos engaged 7 Oscars (I wondered why the CAP was so small) and cleared the path for 15 Hudsons, though not without taking losses. (1 Oscar for 2 Buffalos, I believe, with several other AC damaged.) The Hudsons made a few dents in the runway and blew up a Dinah. Not really worth it.

I found out where all the Oscars went when suddenly 40 of them, plus 100+ Sallies and Helens, showed up for Cruft's first attack on Singapore of the war. My CAP was depleted - only 15 Buffalos and 8 Hurris - and he shot down most of it, especially the Buffalos. The Australians still managed to bring down a few Oscars, though.

The actual bombing was much more successful than mine of Kota Bharu - 18 airbase hits, 65 runway hits. The base is down to 50 damage and can still fly planes but it's still a blow. Some Videbeests and Catalinas were destroyed on the ground, as well.

I'll have a much higher CAP flying tomorrow.. the Hudsons are going back to supply-ferrying duty.

The Philippines: Heavy bombardments from the ground and the air by Japanese Navy forces cleared the path for Tacloban to fall to an SNLF unit. My sole surviving PT boat, Q112 (already damaged by yesterday's Zero strafing) suicidally charged the bombardment force of 2 CAs, 2 CLs and 6 DDs and was sunk for its impudence.

On the ground, I screwed up at Bataan - several of the units there hadn't had their movement orders reset or something and were trying to get to Manila via Clark. Cruft peremptorily kicked them back into Bataan, which still has no supplies. I think that if he moved in even one division, the troops there would fall after a couple of attacks.

Manila will be much tougher but it's only a matter of time.

DEI: Much action here as well!

First off, Cruft recons Palembang with a navy Babs and then follows it up with a sweep of 36 Zeroes. I have 40 fighters on CAP - 6 Hawks, 14 Hurricanes and 20 Warhawks. The fight is drawn-out and intense - Warhawks, Hawks and (especially) Hurricanes fall in droves, but they exact a toll. 11 Zeroes are shot down over Palembang, along with 10 Warhawks, 3 Hawks and perhaps 6 Hurricane IIs. The Warhawks perform admirably, shooting down the greater portion of the 11.

Further south, he hit Kendari with 12 Nells escorted by 32 Zeroes. The Zeroes overwhelmed and shot down the larger portion of my Buffalo CAP without loss to themsevles, but the bombers did little damage. The attack was an airfield attack, so I don't believe he's aware that I have Prince of Wales and the larger part of my naval strength in the DEI there right now.

My reponse: I've moved another squadron of 8 Warhawks into Palembang, and 17 into Kendari (shuttled most of the bombers there back to Soerabaja to free up aviation support). I moved 18 extra Buffalos into Kendari, as well, so we have a fairly significant CAP. Hopefully he flies into it tomorrow and takes some losses.

SWPAC: No action.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention! Japanese CL Kashima - already damaged yesterday by Wirraways - was attacked full-on by the aircraft at Port Moresby. Results were "CL Kashima, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage". This includes several 500 pounders that crashed through her deck and killed the engines. Hopefully she'll sink. [:D]

SOPAC: More bombarding at Suva and Pago Pago. Papaete is getting stronger and stronger - a base force began unloading today, and SDBs are starting to appear.

CENTPAC: No action.

NORTHPAC: No action.

======

Exciting turn! Losses on both sides. Hopefully I can keep attriting him...

wanna see how long those Kiwis at Suva will last...[:D]

[:D] They're still going Hoepner... but supplies are down to 200! We'll be out soon if the aerial, naval and ground bombardments continue...

A two-day update today.

1/30/42-1/31/42

India/Burma: My Dutch Lodestars have arrived at Ledo and are beginning hump runs to Kunming. Yay supplies!

More aircraft are on the way, and the two British CVs are convering on Columbo.

China: I am having trouble getting the Japanese out of my line of retreat.. at least he hasn't attacked at Linfen for a while. I'm giving them some rest, but I would really rather not lose the whole army...

Oh yes. The Ichang horde is in position.. just have to wait for the Changsha guys and then it's on to Hankow!

Cruft can't be everywhere at once.. I can pin him down with my numbers, force him to curtail his offensives, and eventually take the offensive.

Malaya: His first deliberate attack against Johore Bahru - 85,000 Japanese versus 15,000 assorted British and Commonwealth soldiers - went very well for him. He achieved 4-1 odds and knocked down a fort level, ouch.

Hopefully my guys will grow spines, because after Johore Bahru there is only Singapore. Speaking of, he made another attack on Singers on the 30th and did quite a bit of damage - my air force is in shambles and morale is quite low. Nobody seems to want to take off.

The Hurricanes, especially, are down to two working aircraft from a starting 16. Ouch... gotta take those Oscars seriously, huh?

The Philippines: No change here. His army is arriving in Bataan.

DEI: Hmmm... he's starting to bomb Bankha from Malaya. Maybe he's going to try paratroopers, like in our last game? Not much I can do, either way. Northern Sumatra is his whenever he wants it. Southern Sumatra, on the other hand.. well. [8D]

No action anywhere near that of the 29th, but it feels like things are about to start happening. Lots of enemy ships floating around near Kuching.

Finally, Soerabaja hit port size 9!! Yay! My minelayers are headed for Amboina. Nearly a dozen of them.. we'll have quite a big minefield pretty quickly. Then I'll mine Kendari, and then maybe Balikpapan. Hopefully his Nells don't torpedo them all.

SWPAC: I'm proud of my Aussie aircraft at PM.. put another bomb into a Japanese transport. Excellent.

SOPAC: Papaete hit port size 2, and I have many more engineers on the way.

Regular bombings and bombardments at Fiji and Samoa... yawn, yawn. [;)]

CENTPAC: My subs "are getting annoying", according to Cruft - I've been bagging roughly a ship a day lately, with the latest being a tanker near Kwajalein on the 31st. Good deal. [:)]

No other real action here.. his I-boats are starting to pop up all over the place now (less near the West Coast though).

It's February!

2/1/42

India/Burma: 55th Division IJA advances another 60 miles towards Moulmein and pushes that damn stupid slow RAF base force farther north. Thank you, Japanese Imperialists! At least they're on a rail hex now. Heesh.

China: He hasn't attacked in a few days and it looks like my Chinese may be able to slip past him to Honan. That would be excellent. I'll get a screenshot to illustrate the situation here ASAP..

Malaya: Regular bombardments, yawn yawn. The RAF in Malaya is really a bloody shambles - screenshot below. Supplies aren't looking too hot, either. Hopefully my forts will slow him down some..

The Philippines: No action today, but I have a screenshot of the Bataan situation. It looks miserable...

My subs in the Philippines area are withdrawing to patrol zones farther south (Davao/Palau area). There aren't many targets left farther north.

DEI: Speaking of subs, two Dutch "K"s got depth charged pretty badly today. KVIII (off Kuching) put a 533mm torp into AP Teia Maru before receiving two depth charges from Japanese destroyers. She's now trying to make it to Singapore, but float damage will probably sink her before then. The other, KXVII, took a depth charge hit off Palau, but should make it to Kendari (only 50 float).

The biggest action in the DEI today though was in the air - port attacks were launched against both Soerabaja and Kendari. Thank god I moved Force Z out of Kendari just in time (yesterday) - else they would have been caught in port! Lucky, lucky... They're on their way to Soerabaja as we speak.

As for the raids themselves: Soerabaja was attacked by 36 Zeroes and 37 Nells from Kuching and Singkawang. Only 4 Brewsters were on CAP - probably a good thing, I didn't lose any good fighters - so the Nells had clear runs. Luckily they were bombing from 12,000 feet and hit nearly nothing. One minesweeper ate a bomb - I have 12, ha ha. If he tries it again he'll find about 3 times as many Brewsters, Demons, P-39s and P-40Es waiting for him.

Kendari was attacked by 34 Zeroes, 17 Nells and 41 Betties flying from Menado at the northern corner of Sulawesi. Again, CAP was negligible - my 3 Brewsters and 9 Warhawks were brushed aside by the escorting Zeroes - and this time the Japanese bombers flew at 9,000 feet. AVD Heron, AVD Arend, AK Belawan, AK Liran and PC Canopus were gifted with a bomb hit each. All the other ships in Kendari harbor (AD Black Hawk + many AKs and PCs/PGs) are making a run for Darwin harbor. With the departure of Force Z, there's no need to provide a strong CAP, so the Warhawks are moving to augment Soerabaja's air defence.

SWPAC: Two bomb hits scored on PG Heijo Maru. Other than that, still no action. I expect PM to be invaded as soon as he has air support (Zeroes or the KB) in theatre.

SOPAC: The South Seas Detachment is struggling. Another deliberate attack was launched on the 8th NZ Brigade today and was soundly repulsed by the Kiwis; 0-1 odds. I like!

Auckland and Noumea are building up nicely, and a massive convoy with aircraft destined for India and China is about to pass Papaete (I hope he doesn't spot it).

CENTPAC: SS Gar has been hiding from Japanese PCs south of Kwajalein for days now. Time to jig a bit. Speaking of Kwaj, his MSWs are clearing out Argonaut's mines nicely. I'll have to mine Enwietok or some other place next round.

NORTHPAC: No action.

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Screenshots!


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The RAF in Malaya after the recent and devastating air attacks. Singapore does not have enough engineers to repair the airbase and build the forts effectively.
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Allied forces in Bataan. No supplies and fatigue in the 90s for all units.. it's not looking really great.
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Japanese airstrikes today in the DEI.
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If anyone's interested, I can email you my turn so you can see things in more depth. PM me. [:)]

You ask me (although you didn't), he seems to be moving rather slow. Why do you suppose that is?

I'm not sure. Hoepner's made the same observation before. I think Cruft moves relatively slowly in the SRA, but nearly every attack he makes is strong and his invasions are well protected and covered. Cruft brings up LBA support quickly and makes sure he's prepared a base through bombardments, air attacks or what have you before he hits it. Every base of value has CAP. In short, he's slow but steady and he leaves very few openings for me...

Who knows, it may help him in the long run. My Dutch at Palembang and elsewhere are still stockpiling oil at full capacity. [8|]

Of course I could be wrong and I might be missing opportunities. You can ask him, though..

I am not sure the Japs get all that stockpiled oil. I know the bases I have taken haven't had all that much oil stockpiled. Course, I haven't hit the really big producers yet, except Brunei, and that one I took rather early. I guess I will see, but it seems that some or much of it is destroyed when the base is captured. It may work the same way as supply and fuel.