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Welcome everyone to a Japanese perspective AAR of my game against Vaned74. We are playing scenario 1 with a non-historical first turn, and only limited house rules; Chinese, Kwangtung Army and Thai units are not to leave their relevant areas without the associated political points being paid. This will be a Japanese only AAR, although Vaned said that he may be writing one for the allied side.

The war very nearly started off with a catastrophe, as the Kido Butai, on a long distance training and fact-finding mission near Hawaii was suddenly and deliberately attacked by a US submarine on the night of the 6th December. Fortunately all the torpedoes missed the lucky CV Kaga.

As a result of this outrageous provocation, I went with a Pearl Harbour attack, changing a couple of the Kate units from airfield attack to port attack. As far as I can tell due to the fog of war, the American battleline was utterly devastated. The Arizona and Nevada both sunk during the attack, and the West Virginia was reported sunk about 5 days later. All the other battleships took at least three torpedoes each, and so should be out of the war for at least a year.

The KB left after the first day strikes to provide support for invasion of Wake, Tarawa and Rabaul and is currently at Badelbaob (or what I still think of as Palau). There has been no sighting of the American carriers yet.

Attached are the scores on the doors for the war so far.

Vaned has been playing it very conservatively here. As can be seen from the map, he has retreated everything to Bataan, even leaving the rough jungle terrain of Clark Field, which was captured on the last turn. More units are heading towards the area from my main landing base at Vigan, and the 4th division is in strategic mode at Naga waiting for the railway to Clark Field to be cleared. I should have around 1500 AV at Bataan by the 1st of January, with another 600 AV to follow shortly afterwards.

On the first day of the war, the big bad Boise headed east from the Philippines, bumping into the CVL Ryujo group at night, being escorted by three CAs. The combat replay showed the Ryujo being hit three times, but fortunately the damage was not serious, only 5 system damage, and a couple of minor flotation. Still, with this battle and the Kaga being attacked, a very nervous first turn for me. CA Houston was also travelling in the same direction, and was sunk by the Ryujo on the 8th December. Unfortunate Boise ran into the KB near Wake Island, and was sunk by seven bombs from Vals.

The corollary of being able to put together a devastating Pearl Harbour attack is that Force Z can escape destruction by fleeing south from Singapore. I suspect that it is based at Java, but have not seen it yet. The attached map shows that Vaned has retreated most of the Malaysia force back to Singapore. The map shows the number of units based there, and there has been a lot of shipping going in and out of there, presumably evacuating base forces. Most of the fighters have also been evacuated; only a few Buffaloes remain, but there are B-17s, which have been bombing oilfields at Miri, and Japanese occupied but empty airfields at Singkawang and Kuching.

Dutch units have been evacuated from many of the bases of Borneo; Balikpapan, Tarakan and Singkawang. I suspect that Vaned has taken them all to Java. Japanese troops have taken Tarakan, and are close to Balikpapan. A naval battle on the 24th saw three US PT boats being sunk, but with the unfortunate event of the CAs Mogami and Kumano also hitting mines. Both have taken about 30 floatation damage.

With Vaned withdrawing most of his troops to Fortress Singapore, I should be able to get most of my troops (4 divisions worth) to Johore Bahru by early January.

The KB is now placed slightly to the South of Kendari, and has been providing LRCAP to invasion forces moving deep into the Dutch East Indies. There is however no need for the CAP, as most of the Dutch base forces have been evacuated, and there are no air attacks against the transports. At the same time, Allied submarines lurk menacingly around the narrow straits. A patrol boat and a small xAK were sunk near Balikpapan, and a large troop transport, xAP Hakozaki Maru is torpedoed twice but still manages to return to Tarakan and unload the troops it had been carrying. Finally, and most worryingly of all, SS KXVIII puts a fish into the side of the CV Hiryu, causing 16 system damage and 2 flotation.

Aerial recon from planes based at Balikpapan showed that Makassar and even Kendari are empty. Facing little or no opposition, the Japanese are able to simply unload, take the base, plan for another target, reload on transports, move and take another base. I hope to have all of the Dutch East Indies, save for Java and Northern Sumatra occupied by mid January. Kendari and Ambon should fall this turn.

Over at Camranh Bay, a huge invasion force is loading to attack Palembang hopefully around the 4th of January. Escorting it are the two small carriers Zuiho and Hosho, both of which have been upgraded to carry Zeroes and four battleships. Ryujo is undergoing a refit at Hiroshima after being hit by Boise on the first day of the war. Palembang is one of the most important bases for the Japanese due to the huge amount of oil it can produce. I want to have at least 80 fighters based there the day after I take it. Vaned has already shown an interest in strategic bombing. Balikpapan and Miri have been bombed by B-17s, and Chinese bombers have been hitting industry in occupied China.

Vaned has been talking of Fortress Java, and I want to continue the discussion. If the Japanese have bases at Palembang, Bandjerswani and at Timor and Den Pasar, Java can be completely isolated, and bypassed for some more exotic prize.

Finally, on the 30th December, the Japanese launch their first attack against Bataan.

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 41854 troops, 349 guns, 259 vehicles, Assault Value = 1530
Defending force 55139 troops, 908 guns, 667 vehicles, Assault Value = 1800
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 522
Allied adjusted defense: 989
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1710 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 69 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 105 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 46 disabled
Vehicles lost 19 (1 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1592 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 79 disabled
Non Combat: 46 destroyed, 155 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 17 disabled
Vehicles lost 98 (34 destroyed, 64 disabled)

31st Dec 1941 to 4th Jan 1942.
The big news of the 4th of January happens near San Francisco. A task force containing the CV Yorktown puts to sea, and almost immediately encounters two Japanese submarines. The I-17 is encountered first and four escorting destroyers attack, leaving it with around 20 floatation damage. However in the next hex, I-9 is lying in wait and puts two torpedoes into the side of the carrier. Both explode, the graphic shows the ship belching out black smoke, but there is no tell-tale gurgling sound that goes with a sinking ship. The combat report shows heavy damage.

Being only 3 hexes away from San Francisco, with I-9 now out of torpedoes, I-17 damaged and with no other submarines within range, it should not be in danger of sinking but should be out of the war for more than a few months. A tremendous piece of luck on my part, I hadnt even seen the carrier coming.

Malaysia.
Japanese tanks are closing in on Singapore, Johore Bahru is reached on the 4th Jan, and should fall today. The enemy appears to have evacuated the vast majority of troops from Singapore, and only 8 units apparently remain. There are 9 units at Sabang on the tip of Sumatra, and it seems as though the allies have been pulling units out from there towards Sri Lanka or India. Bettys and Nells sortie between the 1st and the 4th, sinking a large number of British and Dutch transport ships.

Japanese bombers have been hitting the airfield at Singapore continually for the past ten days or so, and airfield damage appears to be building up, showing at 58 on the last turn. Hopefully this means that the level of forts there is no higher than 3. With the main Japanese army now being railed into Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, I should be able to start the siege by the 10th or 11th of January

Philippines.
The siege at Bataan is ongoing, and Japanese bombers are again hitting the airfield in an effort to halt fort construction. However, a larger number of units are based at Bataan, and seem to be able to repair all the damage and hence build forts. There are still ships at anchor in Bataan, and I am having trouble getting my Nells and Bettys to fly strikes. In Mindanao, Davao has been captured, but I made a bone-headed mistake, and managed to unload my base forces on an empty hex two hexes south of Davao. The units are marching towards Davao at 3 miles a day.

Dutch East Indies.
The rapid conquest of the Dutch East Indies continues, and there remains only Java, Timor plus Western Sumatra under allied control. Palembang was surrendered by the enemy, being left completely empty, and the oilfields and refineries were captured 99 percent intact. 2 squadrons of Zeroes and 1 squadron of Oscars are flown in to protect from expected allied bombing attacks.

On Borneo, Japanese invasion convoys are heading to the three bases on the South coast of Borneo, and to Timor. Again, all bases are apparently empty. Kendari and Makassar have been occupied, and base forces are being transported there now. The Kido Butai makes a high speed surge along the north coast of Java, sinking numerous small ships in the Java Sea, but not encountering any major British or Dutch warships. It seems as though they too have been withdrawn. From the 1st to the 3rd of January, the KB provided support for the Palembang landings, and is now withdrawing towards Camranh Bay for a chance to take on new planes, resize its flight groups to make the fighter squadrons larger, and to give Hiryu a chance to repair some system damage.

Future plans.
With Java now almost completely surrounded, Singapore apparently weakly defended and one American CV apparently out of the war for a while, I am considering leaving the conquest of Java until much later in the game, and instead attacking Sri Lanka and India. I think that I will be able to land 6 divisions there by mid to late February. Of the four divisions that are currently sieging Bataan, three could be used to attack Java, maybe in April, and another one could be used in a Port Moresby campaign. Other areas that I think are very important for the Japanese to conquer are the North coast of Australia, and the Western section of the Aleutians chain.

Completely by surprise, allied carriers appear 4 hexes from Koepang. Unfortunately, an infantry regiment is due to be landing there on the same turn, and the transports there are pummeled. By my count, 6 xAKs are sunk, along with 3 xAPs, and the CL Kuma is hit by a large bomb but not heavily damaged. The number of planes attacking suggest that all three early war American carriers were involved, and there were also 12 Swordfish, possibly from the Hermes? A very successful attack from Vaned.

The Kido Butai is out of position, at Camranh Bay, taking on new planes and waiting for pilots to be transferred. Additionally, Hiryu and Soryu are stood down at the pierside, repairing damage caused by a torpedo, and general system damage respectively. I won`t try to intercept the enemy, they are simply too far away, but I want to keep a track on which direction it is headed. 17 Mavises at Kendari will try to do this. 150 troops were landed at Koepang, and they have an AV of 1. Maybe they will be able to take the base tomorrow.

Malaysia.
Johore Bahru is occupied and 1000AV of troops are moving into combat formations. Around 900 AV should arrive the next day. I need another day or two to move into combat formation, and then another 2 or 3 days to move the troops to Singapore to start the siege.

Philippines.
The Japanese launch their second deliberate attack at Bataan

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 59834 troops, 571 guns, 464 vehicles, Assault Value = 2077
Defending force 53606 troops, 922 guns, 528 vehicles, Assault Value = 1791
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 821
Allied adjusted defense: 1763
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
4646 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 164 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 294 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 60 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 106 (4 destroyed, 102 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3547 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 183 disabled
Non Combat: 56 destroyed, 260 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 48 (20 destroyed, 28 disabled)

The enemy AV seemed to increase slightly between this attack and the deliberate attack on the 30th December, and the forts had been increased up to level 3 again. Evidently Bataan will not fall before it runs low on supplies. Notably, the allies do not bombard on this turn.

Dutch East Indies.
Palembang is now secure, fighters are based there, and Japanese troops are heading to mop up the smaller bases in South Sumatra. In Palembang harbour, a subchaser hits a mine, part of a new Japanese ritual of hitting the last mine in a minefield with a small ship to celebrate its clearance. This is the third such celebration, having previously been observed at Balikpapan and Hong Kong.

Burma.
The Japanese take an unoccupied Moulmein on the 6th January. A base force is still roughly a week away, and the 33rd Division is following that by a couple of days. I need to wait for these units before I can progress towards Rangoon.

Dutch East Indies.
The allied carriers head eastwards to the hex to the south east of the "or" of "Timor" and sink an already damaged transport that was unloading a bit more of the infantry regiment at Koepang. Koepang does indeed fall, to complete a thoroughly Pyrrhic victory, around two thirds of the regiment is left sunk. 4 Japanese battleships had been based at Kendari, but headed north at high speed and avoid the enemy carriers. The Allied carriers are not spotted on the 8th or on subsequent days. I have a couple of submarines in the Port Moresby area to search for them.

Malaysia.
Japanese troops arrived at Singapore on the 9th and launched a shock attack against the tiny garrison remaining, forts were reduced from level 2 to 0. A second shock attack was launched on the 10th and the base fell easily. 6 minesweepers and a subchaser which is available to be used in any final mine of the minefield explosion ceremony are heading to clear the harbour of mines and should arrive in the next turn.

Philippines.
At Bataan, a deliberate attack was launched on the 10th and the forts were taken down to level 1, another deliberate attack will be launched on the 13th. There is a continual bombing campaign against the airfield at Bataan and airfield damage appears to be increasing, recon on the latest turn showed damage to be 30. There are still occasional transport ships arriving at Bataan harbour with the latest being sunk on the 10th.

Elsewhere.
Japanese troops are fast approaching Moulmein. When the base force arrives a squadron of Nates will be sent forward and Oscars and Sallys will be transferred into Bangkok to launch a bombing campaign against Rangoon airfield.

In the possible event of the allied carriers heading westwards towards Perth or Capetown, the 144th Regiment loaded onto transports at Truk and headed towards Port Moresby. With the allied carriers appearing to head eastwards back towards Port Moresby, the transports were turned around and the troops are now disembarking again.

Already I am beginning to fortify the Kuriles and prepare for a summer landing in the Aleutians. Base forces and engineers are being sent to some of the unoccupied small islands and I already have some floatplane and recon planes searching the Eastern approaches to Hokkaido.

Dutch East Indies.
For the moment, the Japanese are taking the small unoccupied bases around the Dutch East Indies. Denpasar fell to paratroopers and the bases on the Western end of Sumatra should be taken in the next few days. Other bases on Celebes will also be taken, and I shall try to take Dili and Lautem on Timor.

Philippines.
A Japanese deliberate attack on the 13th causes about 3500 casualties on each side and left the AV for the Japanese at 1688 and Allies at 1175. A second deliberate on the 14th causes 2000 Japanese casualties and 3000 Allied casualties and left the assault values at 1546 for the Japanese compared to 999 for the allies. Another deliberate attack will be launched tomorrow.

China.
China has been largely quiet so far. There was a small attack on a Japanese division in the forest hex between Sian and Sinyang. Despite being outnumbered nearly 3 to 1, the Japanese manage to defend the hex. I hope to launch an attack in North China towards the end of the month.

Elsewhere.
I have not spotted the allied carriers in the Port Moresby area despite search planes based at Rabaul and a couple of submarines patrolling the Torres straight area. I think that Vaned has been trying to fool me and has instead sent the allied carriers back towards Perth. After having one invasion force trashed at Koepang, I am not willing to take the risk of losing another one in the environs of Port Moresby.

In a beautiful and moving moment, subchaser Ch23 detonates itself on the final mine in the harbour at Singapore. It fair brought a tear to my eye. 3 minesweepers are now on the move to Georgetown. With no additional small ships at Singapore, maybe one of the valuable DMS minesweepers will be sacrificed.

Dutch East Indies.
The Japanese continue to hoover up the now unoccupied bases. All of the bases on Sumatra have now been taken aside from the small islands in the west and Padang. I have a small engineer unit moving towards Padang to build up some forts. I am trying to take as many of the small islands in the DEI as possible. There are so many of them that start off as small, or even dot bases but which can be built up to a large size that the Japanese player needs to defend that I think that this is the key theatre in AE. Defending them all when it gets to late 1942 will prove a very difficult challenge indeed.

Philippines.
A deliberate attack at Bataan on the 16th fails to get a 1 to 1 ratio, despite the allies suffering some 3000 casualties to the Japanese 2000. I gave the attackers a rest for a couple of days and then tried another deliberate attack on the 20th. AV after that attack was 1316 for the Japanese and 522 for the allies. With any luck the base will fall within the next couple of days.

Burma.
Nates have been brought into Moulmein, and Sallys and Oscars which had fought in Malaysia are staging at Bangkok, the Burma campaign in on! The 55th Division takes Pegu on the 19th and heads north towards Mandalay, recon suggests that this too is empty. Rangoon is reached on the 21st and will be taken tomorrow. I will be sending a few transports to Rangoon both to bring in needed supplies and try to get them spotted so it looks like I am significantly reinforcing my troops in Burma.

Elsewhere.
One of the Japanese merchant cruisers which starts out to the extreme southeast of the map, the Hokoku Maru fights a sharp battle against 4 US destroyers near Savaii and is sunk but does manage to score a couple of hits.
In China, I am launching air attacks against units at Changsha, and at Changsha airfield in a bid to lure units south. A plane from the AVG is destroyed on the ground there.
The BB Maryland was reported to have been sunk on the 10th December at Pearl Harbour. I have no idea whether this is true or not.

Sri Lanka.
A massive number of transports have been converging on Singapore for the previous few days ready to load troops for the invasion of Sri Lanka and Southern India. Allied submarines had previously spotted a lot of these transports, as well as fleet oilers, a couple of heavy cruisers and the battleship Hyuga heading to Singapore from their short term base at Camranh Bay. Loading started on the 19th and was mostly completed by the 22nd, aside from the 38th Division which had previously invaded Palembang.

For the initial landing I should have four full divisions plus additional tanks, artillery and engineers, as well as base forces to operate around 300 aircraft. Aircraft should be able to be staged in from Port Blair or Sabang, both of which have an abundance of supplies and so are able to fly planes with drop tanks. 2 further divisions, the previously mentioned 38th, plus the 19th which has been taken from the Kwangtung army will be arriving a couple of days afterwards and will either be landed on Sri Lanka if resistance appears heavy or on the two southernmost ports in India.

On the 22nd and 23rd allied submarines spotted transport ships and a heavy cruiser heading along the Straits of Singapore, so Vaned has to be at least aware that Japanese ships and troops are heading Westwards. With this in mind, I am working on the assumption that the allied carriers will be in theatre, they were last spotted about 18 days ago south of Timor.

On the 25th, the Kido Butai moves to a position 4 hexes south of Columbo with orders to attack the port and airfield there. They fail to so do, but do manage to sink a Dutch minelayer loitering there. Evidently Vaned had realised that Sri Lanka was to be the next target and withdrew the Royal Navy, possibly to Karachi. The main landing day should be the 27th or 28th January.

Philippines.
A deliberate attack on the 22nd succeeds in taking Bataan!

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 44481 troops, 516 guns, 354 vehicles, Assault Value = 1366
Defending force 27384 troops, 789 guns, 275 vehicles, Assault Value = 518
Japanese adjusted assault: 741
Allied adjusted defense: 223
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Bataan !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
1373 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 89 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (0 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
62699 casualties reported
Squads: 2692 destroyed, 1096 disabled
Non Combat: 4106 destroyed, 1911 disabled
Engineers: 149 destroyed, 24 disabled
Guns lost 1473 (1335 destroyed, 138 disabled)
Vehicles lost 432 (357 destroyed, 75 disabled)
Units destroyed 26

Japanese troops will now head back to Manila and rest for a month or so. I hope to use 1 of the divisions to attack Port Moresby, 2 divisions will land at Darwin. The last of the four divisions currently at Bataan I will land on Java along with the 56th Brigade plus any other troops that I can find lying around. This force will not be able to take Java, but should enable me to base Nells and Bettys on Java, thus tightening the stranglehold.

China.
Japanese troops have moved into position for an attack against the two Chinese cities of Chengting and Loyang. Recon shows 33 Chinese units at Nanyang so I have only a few days to take both cities before I expect a massive Chinese army to arrive.

Dutch East Indies.
Rather amusingly, Merak on the Western tip of Java is occupied by the Japanese overnight. Vaned sends a unit to Merak to take on the "2 soldiers on a rubber dinghy with a flag." I dont understand why the base transfers to Japanese control when I only have 1 small engineer unit occupying Oosthaven.
Java has been under an aerial siege for the past week or so and I have seen no evidence of any enemy shipping approaching the island. If I either fail to take Sri Lanka and a decent chunk of South India, or if I allow substantial reinforcements to reach Java, then I will have committed a massive strategic blunder in my Indian adventure.

Burma.
Japanese troops are rapidly moving up the Burma railway, the 33rd Division reaching the base at Toungoo on the 25th.

27th January.
Sri Lanka.
Japanese ships have arrived at their pre-invasion destination, and the invasion will be started tomorrow. Two divisions will be landing at Trincomallee, which appears to be defended by 4 units of around 3300 men. One division, tanks and artillery should be landing at Koggala, I havent managed to get any recon info on that base so far due to poor weather. A second division is a couple of days behind, and that too will be landing at Koggala. Meanwhile, nearer Sabang are two further divisions, and these might either be landed on Sri Lanka if there are a lot of enemy troops there, or on India. Two tank regiments will land on the south coast of India, one at Trivandrum, and one at Cochin if the landings in Sri Lanka go well tomorrow. So far in this invasion, allied submarines have sunk a large xAP, and B-17s have tried to attack, but have mostly been shot down; 3 were shot down this turn.

As can be seen on the map, the Kido Butai, very near the bottom of the map and 11 hexes west of Little Andaman withdrew towards Sabang to protect the transports last turn. Vaned has already shown a flair with his carriers, and I dont want to have most of a division sitting on the seabed.

China.
The second large Japanese offensive is in China. All of the units have now transferred out of strategic mode and are marching towards their targets. Nearly 5000AV should be arriving at Chengting in the next couple of days. So far, I think the troop buildup has not been spotted due to the Sri Lanka attack providing a significant diversion, certainly no unit has yet left Nanyang.

Burma.
Toungoo is taken and the 33rd Division continues on to Mandalay. Appearing to be unoccupied, that should be taken within a week.

An action packed turn all around Sri Lanka. Overnight, Japanese battleships bombard the two designated landing bases at Koggala and Trincomalee. 4 British MTBs avoid the battleships and try to attack a transport fleet. They launch torpedoes but all miss and one MTB is sunk by an escorting destroyer. The coastal guns at Trincomalee manage to hit a patrol boats and a couple of xAKs as well. A Dutch submarine then manages to torpedo one of the damaged xAKs.

In the morning, Hurricane IIb`s sweep Koggala and perform very well shooting down seven of the Akagi Zero pilots (though fortunately only one of the pilots is killed). 6 Petes providing CAP were shot down instantly, they might as well have not been there. The air losses screen shows 7 Hurricanes destroyed, but I think in reality it is fewer than that. Afterwards Catalinas attack but they come in unescorted and are all turned back with three shot down. Finally, 4 Wapitis attack the Hyuga but all miss.

The major surprise is when the land combat screen popped up. What recon had showed to be 4 units at Trincomallee was actually 12, including an Indian Division. Even more of a surprise there were 27 units at Koggala, the base on the southern most point of Sri Lanka.
AVs at Trincomalee are Japanese 1092, Allied 659. At Koggala it is Allied 555, Japanese 537.

Facing these huge allied garrisons, all units scheduled to land in India will be sent to Sri Lanka. 3 more divisions plus numerous tank regiments, engineers and artillery will be landed.

If I was Vaned, I would be sorely tempted to try for a carrier battle up here in the next few days, it is a tremendously long distance back to Singapore, the nearest safe port, and the Indian Ocean is crawling with allied submarines.

29th January.
Ceylon.
There are 5 separate task forces unloading, 3 at Koggala and 2 at Trincomalee. The allied coastal defence guns continue to do a fine job, as a rough estimate, 8 PBs and 12 xAKs are hit while unloading. Additionally, they manage to hit the CAs Haguro and Nachi which are bombarding the Trincomalee fortress unit.
In the morning air phase, the allies launch only a couple of ground attacks against Japanese units at Trincomalee. Little damage is done. In the PM phase, the KB launches a full strike with all 6 carriers against Trincomalee. Unfortunately, instead of targeting either the Trincomalee Fortress unit which has caused such problems for my unloading ships or the Indian Division, it goes after a anti-aircraft gun unit. 8 Vals are shot down by flak.

The Japanese launch a deliberate attack at Trincomalee and suceed in taking the forts down to level 2. AVs are Japanese 1255, Allied 653. Meanwhile at Koggala, another division is unloaded and the Japanese bombard. AVs are Japanese 1113, Allied 552

30th January.
Ceylon.
A day of absolute carnage.
Overnight there is a lot of naval action. The Ise and Hyuga move to Columbo and sink an allied xAK with troops on, I dont know whether troops were being evacuated or brought in but I suspect the former. Lots of allied PT boats try to attack the Japanese landing forces at Trincomalee but none of them managed to launch any torpedoes and one was sunk by a Japanese destroyer.

I suspected that Vaned would be tempted to try for a carrier battle, and in a way he did. A large number of Dauntlesses, Vindicators and Devastators attacked today from bases in Ceylon and India, having surely been flown in from the US carriers. There were also 3 Albacores in action which could have been from one of the Royal Navy carriers. The KB is too short of fuel to chase after the now strike plane less US carriers and so will continue to provide support to the invasion forces.

There were too many air attacks to be described individually but a look at the number of plane losses should give an indication of what happened. A lot of the US carrier planes went in without escort and were chewed up quite badly by the carrier Zeroes. Despite this, they managed to score a lot of hits against transports containing base forces and AA units. Aditionally, several floatplane carriers were hit. One AV (I think the Kamikawa Maru) was sunk, the CS Mizuho took three torpdeoes and was left with 75 flotation damage. CS Chitose is hit by a 1000lb bomb and has about 40 system damage. There was also an afternoon raid by 7 of the AVG and 14 Dauntlesses against the KB. 8 of the Dauntlesses got through, but fortunately all the bombs missed the Shokaku and Zuikaku. Overall, the Japanese lost 17 ships today, mainly xAKs and mostly lost to the SBDs. Note how many of the AVG planes were lost.

The Japanese launch deliberate attacks at both Trincomalee and Koggala. At Koggala, a third Division unloads and will be ready to attack next turn. At Trincomalee, forts down to 1, 1 to 1 odds attack. AVs J 1205, A 646. At Kogalla, forts down to 1, 2 to 1 odds, AVs J 1517, A 544.

With the threat of the US carriers now much reduced, the Kido Butai is ordered to perform an airfield strike against Columbo, from where I think most of the SBDs launched. Twice before I have had it as their secondary mission but they have failed to perform it. Four of the carriers have a primary mission of airfield strike for their Vals and Kates, meanwhile the Shokaku and Zuikaku are set to naval strike. The Japanese are again ordered to deliberate attack at Trincomalee and Koggala. I hope the latter will fall either tomorrow or the day after. 1 final division remains to be unloaded, it should arrive at Koggala on the 1st February.

Unloading is now completed at Trincomalee, the Haruna and Kongo task force at the base meets a veritable swarm of patrol boats overnight but performs very well sinking 8 of them. In the most worrying section of the battle an American PT launches torpedoes against the Haruna but they all miss. 2 separate PTs launch against the ever popular Hibiki but again all the torpedoes miss. Also at night, a large task force containing the Ise and Hyuga bombards Columbo airfield, destroying a couple of planes on the ground.

More troops and supplies are unloaded at Koggala and the coastal defence guns continue to hit the Japanese cargo ships unloading. By my count, 9 xAKs are hit. The first air action of the day is the strike from the Kido Butai against Columbo airfield. 92 Kates and 68 Vals attack, with 43 Zeroes either escorting or sweeping. There is no CAP over the airfield and it is very heavily damaged, 151 hits are shown on the combat report. I estimate that about 20 planes are destroyed on the ground, amongst them Wildcats, Swordfish and Devastators. Also in the morning phase, there are numerous attacks by the US carrier aircraft from Columbo. Devastators sink a couple of xAKs at Koggala as the Zeroes on CAP are apparently blinded by thunderstorms. 5 Devastators attack the Haruna and Kongo, still just one hex south of Trincomalee due to the night PT boat swatting, but all miss. Tragically, 10 Swordfish also try to attack the Haruna and Kongo but all are shot down in very short order. Next come 8 Albacores, 4 of them survive to see their torpedoes miss. The last air action of the day sees around 30 Blenheims attack a tank unit at Koggala, and Kates from the light carriers attack Trincomalee airfield.

The best news of the day is the Japanese deliberate attack at Koggala. The Japanese deliberate attack, with an AV of 1512 gets 3 to 1 odds against the defenders AV of 407 and Koggala is taken, those murderous coastal gun units all being destroyed.

Ground combat at Koggala (29,50)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 42480 troops, 538 guns, 535 vehicles, Assault Value = 1512
Defending force 12058 troops, 183 guns, 146 vehicles, Assault Value = 407
Japanese adjusted assault: 320
Allied adjusted defense: 95
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Koggala !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
850 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 67 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 128 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 78 (3 destroyed, 75 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
4889 casualties reported
Squads: 318 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 225 destroyed, 97 disabled
Engineers: 52 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 106 (104 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 132 (132 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 22
Units destroyed 4
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

The allied casualties look to be very heavy indeed.
At Trincomalee, the deliberate attack only gets 1 to 2 odds. I will stand down the units for a couple of days before attacking again. AVs J 1129, a 542. With a safe port now available, base forces will be brought in along with engineers and AA guns. 50 fighters have been flown in from Sabang and should be able to provide CAP next turn.

China.
Loyang was abandoned by the Chinese and taken by a single Mixed Brigade unit. Chengchow (or is it Chengting?) is also empty and will be taken next turn.

1st February.
A much quieter day after the chaos of the 30th and 31st January.
In Ceylon, more troops are unloading, at the moment it is headquarters and engineer units. The size one port means that units are being unloaded very slowly, it will likely take over a week to disembark everything. Engineer units are being unloaded and will start to work on the size one airfield. At Trincomalee, the allies make a major effort to disrupt the Japanese infantry, sending about 30 dive bombers and 40 level bombers on ground attack. I will leave the units there on rest for the moment.

The road from Koggala towards Columbo is a slow one, infantry makes only 10 miles a day, and tanks a mere 4. The Kido Butai launches an attack against Dambulla airfield scoring 80 hits and putting it out of action. There were no aircraft at the base, having been withdrawn to Madras. Recon shows the Allies to have 74 units on Ceylon. Evidently they have been building the defenses since the start of the game, and the campaign here will take months.

2nd February.
Another quiet day. The allies are now bringing more troops to Trincomalee, including one portion of the British 18th Division. AVs now at the base are J 1108, A 758. The base will evidently not fall from a direct assault. From Koggala, most of the 19th Division has been unloaded and it will be completed tomorrow. The infantry are progressing at 10 miles per day towards Columbo.

3rd February.
Vaned releases some small cruiser task forces. CAs Penascola and Salt Lake City with 4 destroyers appear near Andaman overnight and fight against a transport task force, escorted by 2 destroyers. Normally I would expect to see the transports destroyed entirely, but thunderstorms and excellent fighting by the 2 destroyers mean that only one is lost. A second cruiser task force meets the Japanese transport force that had carried the unit that took Male. In daytime these ships fare less well, and all 7 are sunk. There is a veritable wolf pack of subs between Singapore and Sumatra, I set some Sally bombers to ASW to at least try to spot them.

There is no air action at all over Sri Lanka, apart from the shooting down of 2 search Vals over Trincomalee. Construction is ongoing at the crucial airbase of Koggala. From level 1, 17 percent on the 2nd it goes to 37 percent on the 3rd, and with more engineers having been brought in I hope to have it at level 2 within three days.

In total, the Japanese have some 3000AV on Sri Lanka, and I estimate the allies to have some 2000AV, 750 AV at Trincomalee, around 100 which which was retreated from Koggala, and I guess at about 500 each at Columbo and Dabulla, with some more units occupying the hex between them.


China.
Chengting is taken and with Japanese control of most of the railways on the mainland I am happy to leave the country as a backwater and merely build up forts. I will move a lot of the units to a strategic reserve based around Peking in the North and Shanghai in the South.

Dutch East Indies.
Vaned cunningly sent the Dutch bombers to attack the Palembang oilfields on the 1st. They do 5 points of damage. I am trying to bring more base forces into Palembang and the surrounding bases to enable a bombing campaign of Batavia to be started.

Ceylon.
The task force of Salt Lake City and Penascola encounter another retreating Japanese task force on the 4th, the previously damaged AV Sagara Maru and CS Mizuho being escorted by a small PB boat and the obsolete DD Nokaze. The Salt Lake City takes the lead in the fighting quickly sinking the PB and then putting more shells into the Sagara Maru. At this point the brave DD Nokaze strikes, torpedoing the enemy CA, but receiving a couple of 5 inch shells in return. Other ships then hit the Mizuho, leaving it at 45 system and 85 flotation damage at the end of the battle. Sagara Maru sinks the next day but CS Mizuho gamely continues on. By the end of the 7th it is 1 hex from Port Blair.

2 Japanese task forces are sent to destroy the enemy cruisers. BBs Ise and Hyuga catch up with the damaged Salt Lake City on the 7th and Hyuga sinks it quickly in a daylight surface battle. The Penascola with its four escorts have reached Calcutta. 9 Nells based at Rangoon make a bombing attack on the Penascola but all miss. Allied transport ships have spent the past couple of days moving individually from presumably Calcutta to the south of Ceylon and then to Karachi or Bombay. Submarines have sunk a couple of them including the Empress of Scotland, Vaned commenting that he was rather sad to see such a pretty ship go under the waves. The Atago and Takao with two destroyers escorting are sent to try to sink a few of them.

On land, three Japanese divisions have reached the hex to the south west of Columbo and destroy some lingering British AA guns on the 7th. A fourth division is about 15 miles further behind. All are ordered to march to Columbo. Koggala airfield is being built up. It is now 48 percent of the way to level 3, and should reach level 3 in three days time.

Philippines.
Four Japanese divisions, plus the 65th Brigade are now at Manila and resting and preparing for their next objectives. Most of the transport ships from the Ceylon invasion are now back at Singapore and are set to travel to Manila to load for the next set of invasions. Where these are to be conducted depends very much on the results from the first attack at Columbo.

Ceylon.
On the 8th February, a Japanese cruiser task force containing the Takao and Atago and 2 destroyers approaches Columbo harbour looking to sink the enemy transports. They encounter however the CA Astoria with three escorting destroyers. The battle that follows is inconclusive. Takao fails to fire a single shot and is hit by the Astoria but Atago manages to hit the Astoria twice. The Japanese then retreat back to Koggala harbour overnight, and then back towards Singapore for repairs.

The 9th and 10th are fairly quiet. SS I-157 hits a mine at Calcutta while looking for the CA Penascola and is almost certain to sink and I-19 puts 3 torpedoes into a British xAP sinking it instantly. The Japanese battleships are back at Singapore to refuel and get more main battery ammunition, and the Kido Butai is heading that way for more planes and fuel. The first Japanese division also reaches Columbo.

All hell breaks loose on the 11th. First, I-164 torpedoes an empty xAK west of Columbo, then I-19 spots the CL Ceres with 5 destroyers just off the coast of India. Next, I-162 torpedoes an enemy CV, apparently the Saratoga with one of its rear torpedoes. The graphic shows an explosion but there is no damage shown in the combat report. Next practically the whole of the Royal Navy in the Pacific bombards the Japanese 5th Division at Columbo. Ships bombarding include CL Colombo, Capetown, Ceres, Dauntless, Emerald, Tromp, Java, Durban, Dragon, Enterprise, Glasgow, Exeter, Marblehead, Danae, Hobart CA Dorsetshire, Chicago, Cornwall, BB Royal Sovereign, BC Repulse and the BB Prince of Wales.

In the day, the allies launch a huge number of air strikes against the poor 5th Division, but Zeroes and Oscars from Koggala are providing LRCAP over the hex. Again there are too many missions flown to describe individually, but attacking planes include 90 Dauntlesses and 6 Vindicators from the US carriers being escorted by 9 Buffaloes. Next come 30 unescorted Devastators apparently from Trincomalee, of which 11 are shot down. British carrier planes attack apparently from a few hexes to the south west (i.e. towards Port Blair), and by this time the Japanese CAP has been worn down to just 1 Oscar and 1 Zero which suffers the indignity of being show down by a Fulmar. Numerous small raids of Lysanders and Audaxes then attack before the big one, 44 B-17s and over 90 medium bombers. The allies then launch a second naval bombardment of the hex.

The deliberate attack result is not pretty. With the 5th Division totally disrupted, and the 38th Division arriving in move mode, the Japanese troops are forced to retreat.

Ground combat at Colombo (29,48)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 65561 troops, 929 guns, 704 vehicles, Assault Value = 2610
Defending force 25348 troops, 225 guns, 117 vehicles, Assault Value = 885
Allied adjusted assault: 1287
Japanese adjusted defense: 224
Allied assault odds: 5 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
fatigue(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
10790 casualties reported
Squads: 239 destroyed, 248 disabled
Non Combat: 284 destroyed, 196 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 52 disabled
Guns lost 27 (15 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 57 (25 destroyed, 32 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Allied ground losses:
4394 casualties reported
Squads: 86 destroyed, 293 disabled
Non Combat: 76 destroyed, 276 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 44 (5 destroyed, 39 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

It is evident that the allies now have over 3000 AV on the island and are bringing more in. Also they have all 3 operational US carriers and the Royal Navy.

With the lack of large ports in the south of India, I think the British need to return to Bombay to replenish, a distance nearly as far as to Singapore. Additionally, there is easily enough fuel at Palembang to refuel my thirsty battleships and carriers. With it being so early in the war, with the Yorktown known to be out of action for months, and with the US carrier airgroups surely serious depleted, this would be an ideal time to try for a decisive battle. I need time to think on my future moves.

Burma.
Japanese troops arrive at the base on the other side of the river from Mandalay (is it Shwebo?) I am uncertain how far north I want to go in Burma. More so even than in WITP, it is a potential death trap for the Japanese.
CS Mizuho is now docked at Port Blair and is on pierside repair mode. Incredibly, it looks like it might survive. Flotation damage has fallen by 4 points in the last 4 turns.

Philippines.
Enough transports are now at Manila to transport 3 of the 4 divsions there plus all of the other units. Transports to carry the other division are around three days away.

Ceylon.
What I discounted in the previous post was that the Allies can also use Colombo as a port and can refill the battleships from there. The allies do this and launch a bombardment attack from the Prince of Wales, Repulse and Royal Sovereign against the airfield at Koggala, destroying 13 Zeroes, 9 Oscars and 15 Bettys on the ground. Fortunately none of the pilots are killed, but the airfield is badly damaged and the Bettys based at Koggala are not able to attack the battleships.

The allies bombard again on the 13th and on the 14th seem to be using fast transport groups to move troops by sea from Columbo to Trincomalee. Also on the 14th, the allies attack the already heavily damaged Koggala airfield with 44 heavy bombers seemingly base at Madras. On the 15th Mavises brought into to North Male spy what appears to be a transport group approaching the occupied island. The Kido Butai, some 18 hexes to the south is waiting to pounce.

The areas around Singapore are absolutely crawling with allied submarines. DD Hagikaze hits the SS Permit with 3 depth charges leaving it with heavy damage but apparently not sinking it. I have brought in the small Val units to provide aerial ASW cover but they are apparently doing little apart from spotting the subs so far. It appears that spotted subs attack far less frequently than do the unspotted ones.

Elsewhere.
With what must be almost every allied combat ship on the map either at or heading towards Ceylon, it gives me a chance to invade other places on the map with little threat of enemy interdiction. In the South Pacific, small naval guard units have been taking islands in the Solomons and the Louisiades. Rossel Island, Woodlark Islands, Lunga and Munda have all been occupied in the last few days.

In Burma, Japanese troops take Shwebo and head further up the railroad to Katha. From reading other AARs, particularly the Q-Ball versus Cuttlefish one, Burma is a theatre I am very worried about indeed. It is entirely possible for the allies to reconquer Burma by late 1942, and hence point a dagger right at the heart of the Japanese player, the area around Singapore, Palembang and Java.

Ceylon.
The KB sprints north to a position 6 hexes west of Columbo on the 16th hoping to find significant enemy forces. Unfortunately nothing is found and the KB merely manages to accumulate a lot of system and engine damage and burn a lot of fuel. Naval search Vals apparently hit a couple of Dutch destroyers.
Three divisions, the 65th Brigade plus tank regiments and support units are loaded and are heading towards Ceylon. At Addu, the lone DD Uranami sinks the previously spotted transport fleet, an xAK and a KV.

South Pacific.
The 4th division which had fought at Bataan has arrived at Rabaul in strategic mode. It will take a few days to unload them, move to combat mode, reload and then head towards their target, Port Moresby.

Ceylon.
The allies have spent the past few turns bringing in more troops to Trincomalee and the Japanese have been repairing the airfield at Koggala. By the 18th all damage has been repaired and construction is now 71 percent of the way to level 4, and being increased by 25 percent a turn. If I am able to get the base to a level 5 airfield, it should be able to dominate the whole of Sri Lanka, and I can base a significant number of Bettys there to deter enemy surface fleets. Overnight a small Japanese force of one light cruiser and one destroyer enters Columbo harbour hoping to find enemy fast transport destroyers, but instead the Isuzu finds a mine and is left with medium damage.

The allies launch a massive aerial and ground attack against the Japanese troops outside Trincomalee. Firstly a squadron of Hurricanes launches a sweep at 34200 feet but the Zeroes on LRCAP manage largely to avoid them by flying at 9000 feet. Next come US carrier 72 dive bombers, 2 are shot down and then some Lysanders, with Lt. Agano claiming two of them to become an ace. Afterwards a huge number of other strikes come in, about 52 heavy bombers, over 100 medium bombers and over 30 assorted Wapitis, Audaxes, Fulmars and Albacores. The allied deliberate attack falters, possibly due to the Jungle terrain. This was an absolutely crucial battle for the Japanese to win.

Ground combat at Trincomalee (31,47)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 51916 troops, 695 guns, 891 vehicles, Assault Value = 2029
Defending force 34012 troops, 276 guns, 243 vehicles, Assault Value = 1191
Allied adjusted assault: 956
Japanese adjusted defense: 1537
Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
962 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 95 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 98 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 33 disabled
Vehicles lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3299 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 332 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 285 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 25 disabled
Vehicles lost 78 (1 destroyed, 77 disabled)