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Scen 1 full camp.

Well this is not a real AAR - but may be a kind of notebook/logbook for the Allied campaign vs. the Imp. Japanese ruled by Emperor AI. Also to compile thoughts and tactics etc. People can read and comment, but I guess the style may be too "dry" as an AAR.

Settings: We use so called "historic" setting - also historic torps and damage control. The only thing which I really cannot care for are the unit withdrawals. It was a hassle for me in the 1st game to find these units, then pull them back etc. If they would dissolve themselfes ok, but even more micromanagement - no. So I realize this gives me some more stuff, not good of course. But the Japs therefore get huge (more than twice as historc) aircraft production, so. I won´t use "restricted units" as far as possible, cause they were in reality not available so they shouldn´t for me.

PH:The Japs strike Pearl Harbour twice, also Hilo and Lahaina get their share. US carriers assemble at a point near Johnson to wait untill KB leaves. On their way home they also attack Midway, which is badly damaged. We decide not to use the carriers at the moment, but rather go sure they are away. We set the usual repair and reeinforcement ops in and to PH.

The landings in the beginning are "Normal", speak Burma, Phillipines etc. We decided to send out some DDs to harrass the enemy with mixed results, they sank/damage some transports but can not always run if confronted with CA/BBs. Subs do usual patrols around the area. The Dutch ones actually even sink something. US torps sometimes hit, but seldom explode [:@] With the knowleadge from 1st game we manage (I played it untill May 42 then decided to restart) to make a quite good withdrawal action in Malaya and Phils. Means most units go the the major cities and build forts there. They are now awaiting the JAP in Manila, Bataan, Clark Field, Singapore and the major Dutch cities. We sometimes leave small garrisons for airfields (support planes). The small fragment units cannot stop the JAP and will be destroyed piecemeal - so better pull them back in time.

- 1 British DD ran into a massive force of 30 JAP ships, transport + escorts: some hits on both sides but nothing decisive.

- Most ships are drawn back, some manage it some not. But Mr. KB has so far not appeared untill christmas time and so I got to bold and even sent out a CL + DD force to harrass landings and bombard. They ran into 1 BB, 2 CA + escorts and were all sunk [X(] 1 off em was finished off later by carrier aircraft. However they also sunk 2 JAP AKs before. The Jap carriers come NOW suddenly in direction Balikpapan, they sank anything in their way. Which was luckily not too much cause of my withdrawal. Also they operate a CVL force 1 near the Phils and 1 near New Guinea (so far identified by plane type and search planes)

- Manila was able to fend off some/most air attacks, but now the fighters numbers dwindle down. There only 3-5 battle worthy left per sqdr. The old fighters (P35 etc) are like this: 1 ready, 2 damaged or so. Means the attrition has worked and the JAP should be able to operate in this area soon without much interference from air. The B17s tried some shipbombing however they did not hit much, but there is 1 flight of float planes (only 4 in number), which scored severall 250kg bombs on Jap AKs. Also a Brit unit which escaped from Hongkong (Vildebeests?) made 2-3 bombing runs with small success. Better than nothing.

- Singapore is waiting for the land attack, it was attacked by air, but even if at first the results were only soso, the Brits now got their act together. They don´t shoot down Zeros or so, but manage to fight long enough to get through to the bombers. Sallys were shot down in numbers, as well some Betties. We plan 2 more resistance pockets north of Singapore to slow the JAP a bit. Otherwise all "in".

- Rangoon - bad. Heavy damage - could not defend anything and in Rangoon is only 1 FS. I pulled the rest of the out as well some Blenheims. Airfield damage 80% + [:o] Means Rangoon is already finished off as useful base. But I keep some troops there to fullfill Garrison duty the JAP should not come the next days there. But he WILL come soon enough and he WILL have not much probs with the city.

- New Guinea BAD. Japs already took Rabaul, they sank also ALL ships of my evacuation force I sent there. They ran into a BBs force [:(] JAP has already established Rabaul as air base and is flying regulary from there. PM is targetted and shipping. Seems the same nighmarish situation like in game no. 1 develops again only earlier. But this time I learned that I need to bring in support from the US - most important fighters. I can only hope the Bettys with torps come later to Rabaul [:(] And my fighters and air support arrives aerly enough to contest the arra.

- US bombardement fleet (1 CA, 2DDs) targetted the wrong island (means me) and got mauled by CD guns plus as soon the morning rose JAP torp bombers appear. They put 2 torps in the CA and damage all DDs. However the CA still swims, 1 DD is sent to speed back, the other one assigned as escort to the CA. Even if the DD needs escort himselfes. This CA is a good one - losing it would be sad. Well my mistake.

Heavy JAP sub activity at the west coast. Luckily they sink "only" ASW/patrol ships so far. I also should have damaged or sunk 1-2 of these pesty vessels. One of my SS was sunk by other JAP SS near NG. [:o]

China - no reports we just try to hold their and I report only from there if something BIG happens.

It is now 27.12.1941 - more to come maybe also some battle reports [>:]

-

Small update:

We build some ports + airfields in India/OZ and USA. Also we do now pump supplies + fuel EARLY into PH and Colombo, better earlier ! The first fighters are loaded and underway from USA/PH to Fiji/NZ/OZ - guess the most need is in P.Moresby so they go there probably, first they might go to Sidney or Brisbay to be safe and they should be able to fly over from Cairns or Townsville (I hope).

RANGOON: This one is still bombed to death, also evacuated now 2 base forces, as the engs don´t seem to make any sense - they are more then overworked with the damage repair and can not build any forts meanwhile. But those would be needed to defend the city. So I pretty much gave it up now.

SINGAPORE/MALAYA: Jap has reached Mersing/J. Baru - he pushed 1 Ind. Div back - but it was able to retreat to J. Baru (cause I build up a garison there, other then in the first try where much ofg my units were cut off). We hold: Mersing, J.Baru + Sing of course. In first game the JAP landed at Mersing also, let´s see if he does here, too. It might be he plans a 2 pronged attack from land + sea [:-] Well I have 2 quite good OZ units there they should hold a while. Also the SING fighters were still able to defend quite good, so the damage is not huge in all these 3 cities. Fort building still goes good.

PHILIPINES: Japs have reached Clark + Manila. Their first assault on Clark failed however. He does now only bombardement. We await a general new assault in the next 3 days. Air resistance there has cheased for the most, but some lonely fighters are still flying.

No landing still on Java or Sumatra. Jap has taken most of Borneo, except Balikpapan + a small British colony in the north (Brunei). But there are only base forces, if attacked seriously they should be dead. In the south (Balikpapan) we have assembled the Dutch troops from around the area. They just sit and wait and build. Mindanao is gone for the most part.

SEA WAR

We encounted yesterday a small JAP convoi (1 AK + 1SC) at the west coat of AUSTRALIA !!. Seems they planned a landing somewhere there (Carnavon probably cause it is empty) to distract my forces. Luckily he ran in 2 destroyers that retreated from DEI on their way the Perth (1 Dutch, 1 Brit I think) - They did good work there and sank them.

1 big tanker was sunk by sub NE of Darwin. Also a patrol ship. Guess there is a big dent in allied air umbrella, so the JAP subs can attack more freely. Must do something there in the future. Meanwhile I transfered most ships I needed. I will supply Darwin from perth, seems to be safer.

Also some subs attack at the US coast, but they sank only small vessels. My big convois go mostly through without much quarrels. The air umbrella there was tightened with the use of some old B18 Bolo bombers.

My own subs have not much to report, guess 1 or 2 torp hits on small freighters [8|]

3 US CVs are on the way in the direction SUVA + BORA BORA - we decide what we do with them later. But we don´t wait this time untill we do SOMETHING.

The Jap has landed on and taken Canton and some smaller islands (Nauru etc). I wonder if he takes Baker Isl. also. If he wants he can come - I positioned a SF TF there - 1CA + severall DDs. Also I bombard Canton regulary, cause I need to take this one back ASAP. It is an important outpost and can not be allowed to stay in their hands - if they build airfields and position TORP BETTYS there it will be a serious thread.

His CARRIERS seem all to be busy near the Dutch lands and bomb the s.... out of the small bases, Soerabaja was also hit. We will see what his next step will be. The good thing is, I should be free to use my CVs at another place. If I stay out of Betty range somehow. Or WILL THE AI teleport them near my CVs ??? [:'(]


MORE LATER [:)]

Okay here are the AA battle reports from December 41 - tried to select some more interesting and representive of the action:


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 1941 - selection
----------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kuching at 58,88, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Azuma Maru
xAK Katuragi Maru
xAK Arimasan Maru
xAK Imizu Maru
xAK Asahisan Maru
xAK Seian Maru
xAK Tamashima Maru
xAK Okuyo Maru
xAK Seikai Maru
xAK Keihuku Maru
xAK Tohuku Maru
xAK Hokumai Maru
xAK Hokutai Maru
xAK Hukuzyu Maru
xAK Argun Maru
xAK Ryuun Maru
xAK Sugiyama Maru
xAK Tyoko Maru
xAK Hakusika Maru
xAK Kinryu Maru
xAK Hiyama Maru
xAK Chojun Maru
xAK Hokutatsu Maru
xAK Izumo Maru
xAKL Koyu Maru
xAK Yamura Maru
xAK Yamakuni Maru
xAKL Bokuyo Maru
xAKL Buyo Maru
xAKL Kamishima Maru
xAKL Keizan Maru
xAKL Taiyo Maru
xAKL Tama Maru
xAKL Suez Maru
xAKL Gyokurei Maru
xAK Kinrei Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire
xAKL Tientsin Maru
xAKL Shun Yuan

Allied Ships
DD Pillsbury


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kuching at 58,88, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Tensin Maru, Shell hits 17, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC CHa-14, Shell hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Pillsbury

Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kuching at 58,88, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Tensin Maru, Shell hits 6, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Express

Japanese ground losses:
844 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 70 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kuching at 58,88, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Nanpo Maru, Shell hits 30, and is sunk
xAK Toyohasi Maru, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Express

Japanese ground losses:
389 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
G3M2 Nell x 22
G4M1 Betty x 12



Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
HDML 1104, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk



Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 7000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
12 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 7000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Madang at 97,123

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
Catalina I x 6


Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Taihei Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Nittai Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Catalina I bombing from 4000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
3 x Catalina I bombing from 4000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Nittai Maru...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 14
Ki-27b Nate x 7



Allied aircraft
P-35A x 1
P-40B Warhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 2 destroyed
Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 51,75, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Jintsu
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio
DD Arashio
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 2
DD Hibiki

Allied Ships
DD Vampire, Shell hits 2, on fire
------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Victoria at 207,52

Japanese Ships
SS I-2, hits 16, and is sunk

Allied Ships
AM Ungava



I-2 diving deep .......
AM Ungava attacking submerged sub .......
SS I-2 forced to surface!...
AM Ungava firing on surfaced sub .......
Sub slips beneath the waves...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ternate at 78,102, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAP Taizan Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAP Naminoue Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Naruto Maru #3, Shell hits 20, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 1
DD Barker
DD Bulmer

Japanese ground losses:
1235 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 54 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 22 destroyed, 32 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 51,75, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Jintsu
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio
DD Arashio
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki

Allied Ships
DD Express, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage

---------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Gorontalo at 72,97, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Suzuya
DD Yukikaze
DD Mikazuki

Allied Ships
DD Stewart, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
-----------------------------------------------------

Day Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 76,99, Range 26,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 2
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 5
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Barker, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
----------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Taliaboe at 73,104, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Suzuya
DD Yukikaze
DD Mikazuki

Allied Ships
DD Parrott, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

------------------------------------------------

Sub vs Sub: SS I-159 attacking SS Pike at 100,125 - near Umboi Island

Japanese Ships
SS I-159

Allied Ships
SS Pike, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage



SS I-159 launches 8 torpedoes at 4,000 yards...

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Majuro at 141,119

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
G4M1 Betty x 15



Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis, Torpedo hits 3, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
-----------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud


Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N2 Kate x 21
D3A1 Val x 34



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 5 damaged
D3A1 Val: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Tenedos, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMc Djombang, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AG Gemma, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
AMc Djember, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Hinsang, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMc Slamat, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk



Port hits 8
------------------------------------------------------------

Aces:

1LT Sheppard, W.A. of 35th PG/21st PS is credited with kill number 7
CPT Irvin, B.S. of 35th PG/21st PS is credited with kill number 8
---------------------------------------------------

Good:

CV Yorktown arrives at San Diego
--------------------------------------


Liars, their planes don´t carry bombs :::

O-47A from 2nd OS has spotted xAP Argentina Maru at 79,89
:::::::: xAP Argentina Maru is reported HIT
-------------------------------------------------------

15. January 42 update:

Timor, Java + Borneo are not assaulted yet.

Malaysia: Johore Balu has fallen - a bit too early cause now 4-5 units are cut off in Mersing. But their movement was slower than that of the Japs. There should be enough supply for 1 week or so. Jap troops now stand near Singapore. We have fortified the city and rested some troops. POW and Repulse were in repair at Sing but they left now together with 1 DD escort. They were attacked by a small Betty force, luckily they scored no hit. Course is direction Batavia for now.

Borneo: Brunei is still in our hands, as well Balikpapan. But the Jap landed there already. The small coastal battery scored severall 75 + 120mm hits on Jap Es and AKs.

Phils: Mindanao has 2 small pockets still in our hands, otherwise is occupied. We beat back severall attacks on Clark Field. At Manila the Jap did not attack seriously he only bombards and bombs. All airforce is disbanded or has tried to fly to another base (for unrestricted units). Severall pilots became aces there, I hope they got back to the pool when I disbanded the unit. Only the Flak is now defending the whole area from air attacks. Bataan is fortified.

Celebes: We only own Makassar now, the rest has fallen. 4-5 Dutch units have retreated to inland bases. However there is not much supply. Mollucas are in Jap hands.

NG: The Jap has taken every base from Madang to Buna. PM is still attacked from air, but only comparable weakly. We should have there some fighters in the next 2-3 days (we got some new ones in OZ). I have a much better hope to hold there as in the 1st game, cause we could stock suplies and air sup in PM. But it is not enough to station a relevenant number of planes, so we need some more support. But from where ? Only the USA has them at the moment in a bigger number...

OZ: 2 DDs that fled from DEI ( 1 Brit + 1 Dutch ) stumbled in a small landing force of 1 AK + 1 SC near Carnavon. Seems they noted that this town is empty and wanted to try a landing there ? However I wonder how they could get there without being detected earlier. Maybe AI teleporting. Most ships that fled from DEI are now in Adelaide and Melbourne - 2 Dutch cruisers also. We build up Perth as a fuel transportation hub.

Pacific islands: As soon we pulled back our small surface fleet at Baker (we waited there quite a time if the Jap appears, but then decided that the ships have better use elsewhere - we are short on cruisers especially as CV escort). But the Jap seems to have a 6th sense and 2 days after the ships left, landed there. We laid a minefield there and on Canton - he should hit some of them. Canton still in enemy hands, we had no time and resources to take it back. Later. A French DD and a US CA collided while escorting 2 CVs. Damn frogs I need to send the 2 ship to Aukland for repair, they were slowed down and had quite a bit of damage. Means 2 ships missing. As well the Jap landed at Koumac and is probably marching on Noumea. We don´t have anything to stop him, but we will try to cut his supply ( Mines at Koumac ? ). Noumea was heavily bombed by planes from at least 2 JAP carriers, this fleet appeared there suddenly. This spoiled our plan to build up Fiji and Bora Bora. The danger was that they come over to Jiji and attack all the ship traffic there. So we suspendeoperations - but after 3 bombings of Noumea the Jap CVs dissapared....We decided to assemble our 3 carriers at Aukland, there 2 Australian ships will join the escort, as well some small repairs can be made. Yorktown was on the way to join them, but I diverted her for some air attack in the Canton and Baker area. We hope there is no Jap air. We also send some DDs for bombardement missions and turned around the CA/DD force in direction Baker to harrass their landing ships. However Baker has already surrendered cause there were no troops anyway.

Subs: Only small success by our force, I think 1 torp in a troop ship was the best. But the JAP subs really are annoying at the US coast, they sink 1 sub hunter after the other. Severalll AMs and KVs have fallen prey to them - but they are not succesful to sink any troop ship or tanker (which would be worse of course, but I am running out of anti sub assets, so I will cancel to ASW patrols for a while and see what only the air can do). Our patrol planes have high OP losses, I hope this gets better if they have collectes some EXP.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 1942 up to 15.01.1942 - selection (only this one seemed interesting enough)
----------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near !! Carnarvon !! (west OZ) at 47,134, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Oregon Maru, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
SC CHa-1, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Piet Hein
DD Thracian

Japanese ground losses:
1833 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 71 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (5 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Afternoon Air attack on Makassar , at 65,106


It is now the night from 15. to 16. January 1942

AI sems to be giving you an ok game so far

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

AI sems to be giving you an ok game so far

Better then the 1st one I tried, they were just to strong and I am too new and too weak to the game. This time I chose the 1st scen not the 6th. Guess the 1st one should be the one for a "normal" AI. Not strong, not weak. This is my 2nd game and I should do much better now. (I hope at least) [:)]

11. Febr update:

Timor ..... is not assaulted yet.

Malaysia: Is gone, Singapore + Mersing surrendered.

Burma: The Jap stands at Rangoon, he took 2-3 empty towns already in Burma. Weak garrison at Rangoon will be no hinderance for the JAP I guess anyway.

Borneo: Balikpapan and Tarakan taken by Japs. As well most smaller towns and ports.

DEI: Landings on Merak + Palembang. The 1st Palembang landing could be pushed back and they embarked and left. But now they are back, they are bombarding only. Probably waiting for more troops before the assault. Our air attacks from the quite numerous Dutch airforce on the landed troops (mostly TANKS) at Merak were useless. He lost only 5-6 disabled vehicles. Dutch DO 24s and Cats hit some AK/AP with bombs therefore. We scored a torp hit on a Jap CVE as well sunk a CL (may be that the CVE is sunk and the CL only damaged - FOW on). These good deeds were done by British old torpedo planes. As they seemed to be quite good also in experience I send them in direction India to be saved for future more useful use than be wittled away at Java. The Dutch fighters tried to resist as best they could but are now mostly gone, eaten by Zeros. This means the airbases will soon be heavily damaged as Flak can not protect them alone. We lost some small vessels still in the area. We also sortied a Dutch CL and a Brit destroyer to harrass landings. This was succesful, we sank 2 AKs + troops. But the CL was sunk by air on the way home, luckily the destroyer could escape. The men of this DD ("Tenedos") have very good experience so this one can be of good use in the future. She has fled to Benkoelen for now.

Phils: Clark Field and Manila taken, only Bataan still in our hands, but supplies run out. Jap ships (barges and transports) ran into our mines and coastal arty there (twice now)....

Celebes: Makassar has fallen. The Dutch still own 2 small towns (without supplies), but major ports are gone.

NG: Jap tried to attack PM from air severall times, but we now have some P40s there. Even if the unit is not the best, it could prevent the attacks. Seems the Jap has no long range escort in the area. We plan some more air support for a 2nd fighter unit. We also stationed some A24 Banshees there, however they need still training before can be commited to serious missions. Otherwise nothing special. The Durch AKs and APs do good service there, cause their small fuel cap is not hindering ops in this area.

OZ: Lost 1 AK + 1 or 2 escorts to subs. But we also damaged or even sank 1-2 subs. Otherwise only consolidation and building in AU for 1-2 weeks in the future. We assemble a surface fleet which will have Dutch, Australian and British ships. The only prob is that the Dutch have too short range. Guess they better get their own fleet for near coast usage.

Pacific islands: Meanwhile took back Canton island with combat eng regiment. There was NO resistance - the JAP evacuated the island ! So all the bombardements before where useless only damged the facilities which I want to use now. But they repair quite quickly. Now there are landing a base force and an AA unit. I don´t plan anything big there, but island needed to be denied from the JAP cause it threatened the shipping lines. It seems our bombardement ships and subs sank some of the ships that evacuated the troops from there. We first thought they bring reeinforcements. Also some carrier planes sank 2-3 AKs there (this was the diverted Yorktown). Yorktown joined the main CV force at Aukland later. We than used 2 CV TFs (2 CVs each) to sortie in direction Guadalcanal and Shortlands, but we hardly encountered anything there, we sank transport near Koumac however. Fuel ran out fast and all fuel was eaten quickly at Aukland, Bora Bora and Suva - also the ships meanwhile had some OP damages so we sent them all back to PH. They should arrive in 1-2 days. We must stock fuel in the area before we send bigger ships there - as well do a better planning regarding the use of AOs. A Jap division I think sits near Noemea but does not attack, maybe he is frightened by the HUGE French garrison there Koumac was mined by the Allies, but should normally allow him to supply this unit, if the port is build up I mean.

Subs: 1 bigger AK lost at west coast USA, together with an air unit on board. As well 1 or 2 ships lost near OZ. But nothing too serious. Our subs scored some hits on JAP freighters - they do also attack on the surface now. Seems I used a wrong patrol setting or so before. The big US cruiser subs are effective with their big guns, so they can do something even when the torps are duds. As usual mostly the Dutch sub torps hit and explode.


Only a FEW reports this time:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Baker Island at 149,136

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 6
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PB Shinko Maru #3, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Koei Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless diving from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
9 x SBD-3 Dauntless diving from 10000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Koei Maru caught transferring cargo ......
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Koei Maru...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 153,143

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes


Allied aircraft
TBD-1 Devastator x 15


Allied aircraft losses
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAKL Tokiwasan Maru, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Ryoyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
901 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x TBD-1 Devastator launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo

Ryoyo Maru caught transferring cargo ......
Tokiwasan Maru caught transferring cargo ......
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day Time Surface Combat, near Midway Island at 158,91, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Kako, Shell hits 2
CL Kinu
DD Oshio, Shell hits 3
DD Michishio, Shell hits 2, heavy fires

Allied Ships
DD Shaw, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DMS Boggs, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
-----------------------------------------------------------
round combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 68271 troops, 728 guns, 144 vehicles, Assault Value = 2403

Defending force 32832 troops, 389 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 257

Japanese adjusted assault: 1538

Allied adjusted defense: 469

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Singapore !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

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

Japanese ground losses:
2111 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 120 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 79 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
59752 casualties reported
Squads: 1011 destroyed, 444 disabled
Non Combat: 4766 destroyed, 1288 disabled
Engineers: 186 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 765 (755 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 244 (216 destroyed, 28 disabled)
Units destroyed 32
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Mersing (51,82)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4751 troops, 34 guns, 101 vehicles, Assault Value = 161

Defending force 4213 troops, 49 guns, 39 vehicles, Assault Value = 95

Japanese adjusted assault: 93

Allied adjusted defense: 23

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Mersing !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
378 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
8898 casualties reported
Squads: 273 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 524 destroyed, 73 disabled
Engineers: 56 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 86 (84 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 59 (57 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 5
------------------------------------------------------------

Only short update:

I "FAST FORWARDED"some turns (did only the most neccesary work) to advance in game time a bit more........


Timor: Landing at Koepang, however this is not the strongest unit, so maybe our weak garrison can hold some days longer. Guess we damaged also 1 or 2 transports per air attack from patrol planes (Do24+Cat). Yesterday Jap also landed at the other end from the island and took Lauterm, there was only a weak base unit left anyway.

Burma: Is mostly in the hands of Jap. He blitzed the rail+road networks northwards like the German tanks in France 40. Not much to do. Held Mandalay for 1-2 days - also later Swebo, but most of the weak units surrendered (I hoped a bit more would retreat ?). Luckily the Burma Div (was recombined from smaller units) escaped to the north and is now marching a long way toward Mytikna (SP??) and then through the jungle to India as there is not much to hold anyway. The Burma road should be gone also by now. 1 J Div landed at Akyab, we damaged severall transports with help of the biggest air effort to date, Blenheim IV, Hudsons, Lysanders etc. were not really effective in Nav attack, but nonetheless scored some bombs. Later a surface force from Colombo with BB ROYAL SOVEREIGN, severall crusisers + 2DDs were able to intercept the landing force. They sank all of them (2 DD, 2 AK). The British gunnery was very good in this case. Later I sent them again to bombard Akyb and they suffered some air attacks. But only the Betty torpedo strike hit the BB, LUCKILY the trop was a DUD [X(] This happens not so often on Jap side. The force was ordered back to Chittagong under air cover from Hurricans.

Borneo: Last report from there, only some scattered Dutch men marching trough the junge, to find a place to stay left. Also Brunei is still ours. Seems to be forgotten by Jap.

DEI: Jap landed strongly on Sumatra/Java. He took Palembang finally. The rest of the defenders march towards Benkoelen. Also Java is now mostly in Jap hands, but we still hold the main 2 main cities. The fighting around Batavia is hard, we still hold (huge garrison assembled there+forts). Soerabaja was only attacked heavily by air. Most airforce gone.

Phils: Gone, only scattered remains without supply.

Celebes: dito.

NG: Jap landed on some more places. A24 Banshees from PM even sank and hit some transport, as well scored 6-7 bombs at a Jap CVE. No idea if it is sunk though. Later we blundered there with a too complex attack (for these untrained units) on Lae. The Jap has an airfield and fighters there, we figured out. Sadly the A24 strike arrived in 2 pakets without escort and were torn apart. A P40 sweep arrived after the strike, managed to kill 1 (!) Oscar and lost 1 themselfes. Airfield was not really damaged, most planes shot down before could throw bombs. This was enough to rest + train the planes there a bit more. Only fighters fly CAP. I send a 3rd A24 over from OZ and combined the rest of the other 2 to 1.

OZ: Not much to report, AFAIR. The occasional asw/sub action.


Pacific islands: Another British BB suffered torp hit, this time no DUD. Small bombardement force was send to Baker, just to do something and train the crews. As well the BB was damaged before near Midway in surface action vs. Jap cruiser force. But they 2 14cm hits only destroyed some AA weapons, could not be repaired cause ship has no other damage. Now with the torp damage it should work, ship is limping back to PH and also ran out of fuel cause of fuel speed for a time to escape air threat. Another action not very nicely done by the allies [8|] Otherwise we only build up strength did not much mostly transport + training duty AFAIR.


Subs: Dutch subs scored, Us subs hit severall AKs on the surface with MGs and guns. But needed to dive mostly cause somehow the transport gunners are quite good in hitting small subs.

China: Jap took some cities, we took 1 of em back, as well destroyed 1-2 brigades in the clear terrain eastwards. Air action heats up, we send everything to the front, they are doing quite good. Probably because the Japs have mostly only old Nate fighters there.
We plan to take back Wuchow (hope the correct name). This will be a bigger op, so may take some time. If Jap does not interfere - we will see.

It is now 06.03.1942 in April and May we should be more active again. Depends on my time.... [:)]

Combat reports untill middle of March: (always only a selection!):


afternoon Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45
 
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
 
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Blenheim I x 3
      Blenheim IV x 48
      Hudson IIIa x 5
 
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
      Hudson IIIa: 1 damaged
 
Japanese ground losses:
      65 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
 
 
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 21
-----------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 25,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Hibiki, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
      DD Asagiri, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
      xAK Atlantic Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
      xAK Nagato Maru, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
 
Allied Ships
      BB Royal Sovereign
      CA Cornwall
      CA Exeter
      CL Hobart
      CL Enterprise
      DD Electra
      DD Jupiter
 
 -----------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 31036 troops, 223 guns, 138 vehicles, Assault Value = 989
 
Defending force 34596 troops, 351 guns, 213 vehicles, Assault Value = 795
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 301
 
Allied adjusted defense: 745
 
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:
 
Japanese ground losses:
      1163 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 51 disabled
         Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 87 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
      Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 28 (2 destroyed, 26 disabled)
 
 
Allied ground losses:
      1639 casualties reported
         Squads: 8 destroyed, 86 disabled
         Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 138 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
      Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disable
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 1524 troops, 0 guns, 144 vehicles, Assault Value = 158
 
Defending force 4766 troops, 28 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 123
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 116
 
Allied adjusted defense: 32
 
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)
 
Japanese forces CAPTURE Mandalay !!!
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      Vehicles lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)
 
 
Allied ground losses:
      3622 casualties reported
         Squads: 195 destroyed, 150 disabled
         Non Combat: 197 destroyed, 69 disabled
         Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 29 (28 destroyed, 1 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 6
      Units destroyed 1
 
 ---------------------------------------------------
ub attack near Wake Island  at 136,98
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Sinno Maru, Shell hits 27, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
 
Allied Ships
      SS Trout, hits 3
 
 
 
SS Trout attacking xAK Sinno Maru on the surface...
 ----------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104
 
Weather in hex: Light rain
 
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 33
      B5N2 Kate x 68
      D3A1 Val x 38
 
 
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
      D3A1 Val: 16 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
      139WH-3: 1 destroyed on ground
 
 
Allied ground losses:
      30 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
      Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
 
 
Repair Shipyard hits 1
Manpower hits 2
Fires 1344
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 20
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 1

-----------------------------------------------
 Sub attack near Phuket  at 46,69
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Shikano Maru, Torpedo hits 2,  heavy damage
      xAKL Katsura Maru
      SC CHa-7
 
Allied Ships
      SS O16
--------------------------------------------




 

Timor: Jap has taken meanwhile the small 2 bases there on the east. We sent PT boats that always flee the battle. We even changed the commander it doesn´t help. The flee and return and flee again. Well they are now in the middle of the ocean ran out of fuel, cause at last they fled to Darwin even if I don´t gave any order. Seems they have there own logic in thwe game. Guess they sink, but this will be better for me so I don´t need to care anymore about those small boats that achive nothing but only give you headaches. We intercepted with patrols, Hudsons and B17Ds from Koepnang and Darwin even hit 3-4 transports. But the subs also did no harm to the enemy. Sadly we have no surface ships to speak of in the area, I remember int he 1st game I had some success there with a CL and DDs. But in this game the major ships are farther back in the rear cause I know how dangerous the KB and the Bettys are now. Small Dutch garrison at Kopepnang still holds btw. Maybe 2-3 days longer - would be good to deny the airfield there.

Burma: Some small units were chased back by huge Jap units and armor. 1 base force might survive and maches to India. The Burma Div also could escape. It has now made some distance to the Japs so will escape and needs later als march through the heavy terrain into India. HEAVY fleet actions there, we were determined to stop reeinforcement and supply flow at Akyab so send almost everything the Brit has, severall BBs + 1 CV + 1 CVKL as strongest unoits. They were able to sink some transports by air. But Jap still is there - seems to come in at night. So surface forces needed and sent in, 2 mine hits (these are my OWN mines I laid at Akyab!!), hard fighting, severall ships badly damaged, 2 DDs sunk (one of em a American APD which as diverted to help the British out), CLV Hermes also, the CV fleet was raided by crusiers at night. Jap did a good fight against supporior forces, seems there reputation in cruiser and DD war comes not out of nothing. But we sank 2 CAs, if the report is correct. Also we encircled the Jap div which marched to Cox Bazar. They lost almost all their heavy weapons it seems on the sunk transports, mostly only infantry left. So chance to kill these is there. Please see the combat reports for all the nerve shattering action there. Most of the ships should be out of action for a time, with Hermes and a CL being the ships with hugest damage, so looooong repair for them. Btw. Prince Of Wales was back in action there, but hit a own mine at Akyab, so directly back to yard. Repulse is still repairing at Colombo should ready in 1 week or so. Interestingly and luckily the light cruiser guns from Jap CL (14cm) do not much to BBs and CAs, 1 BB was hit severall times, but only 3-4 points damage at all. In contrast the 20cm of Jap CAs and their DD guns are better. I noted this already at a fight near Midway, 2 hits only disabled some AA guns.

Borneo: Brunei still forgotten by Jap, 3 base forces are there - starving.
 
DEI: Medan still is ours, but the terrain there is not good for defensive don´t espect to hold long. The Jap chased survivers from Benkoelen - they are now somewhere in the jungle. Next step of Jap will be Medan which is already bombed to the ground anyway. Still heavy fighting around Batavia (city terrain, forts, strong Dutch units), stupidly the Jap send more landing forces instead using another already captured port to land, so we scored numbers of hits on small combatants and AKs by CD guns. They do a good job generally (mostly Dutch till now). Seems their 75mm+120mm CD guns are quite capable. Soerabaja is also attacked by 1 Div+ 1st attack held, 2nd attack was bombard. Terrain + strength there not so good, guess will not hold long. 97,7% of the Netherlands airforce is grounded, airfields + ports done. Also fires in city area of Soerabaya.... We lost also some small ships and 2-3 subs to air. Now there are only some PTs and minesweepers left. All the fuel there would be valuable in OZ, but in a not to far future the JAP will have it all

Phils: Well we still have some scattered bases + starving units on some islands there, also Puerto Princessa still American. The Jap has no hurry to take them, they can do nothing to him anyway.
 
NG: Jap took some more small ports on the east coast - Hollandia etc. As our A24 strikes were more or less a disaster, except the hits on a CVE + some transports 2 weeks or so ago I set them to train some more. 2 units are there - as well these fighters: 2x P40, 1x freshly arrived Kittyhawk (which is a version from P40 anyway I guess??). The Kittyhawks should do a bit better - pilots more experience. I tried some fighter sweeps which worked to a degree as I shot down 4-5 Oscars on the cost of 2-3 P40s, maybe the bad pilots are "sorted out" by combat slowly and the better ones survive so the units will improve. I know this would be evil thinking in reality but luckily it is only a game. Also there was surface action, Australia command sent a force of some cruiser+e´s to intercept landings at Milne Bay + area, but was surprised by Jap cruiser force in the night. Dorsetshire got 2x 20cm hits, 2-3 other ships were hit also. Japs weren´t hit at all. We retired fleet for repairs of course. A Jap sub was unlucky as it launched 3 torps at one of the damaged CLs but all missed PHEEW.
 
OZ: Lost one valuable AKE to sub attack near Sidney The sub however was hit 4 times by DD Norman and sent home for sure (I hope that report is correct at least).  Nothing more I remember outside the air action from Darwin - Timor area. FUEL problem in OZ of course which sucks, we need to bring in everything. Also transport per ship as the rail from Perth/Adelaide to the east does not work at all. One of the most annoying things in game.

Pacific islands: 2 Jap raiding forces scored on transports. One of em in the middle of the ocean the other at Canton . I normally know that Jap raids at night, and wanted to send always more surface ships (up to CAs) with transport fleets, but there are not enough ships and the workload for command (=me) is also more. Another reason I send only ASW escort is that the Jap did not raid for a long time. But now he hits, at Canton 2 AKs+1 DD sunk. In the middle of ocean action 2 bigger ships (1 AP, 1 AK) were sunk by only 1 Jap DD. However some B18s got a fix on the 2 raiders at Canton and luckily I sortied a 3 CV TF in this direction, so we went after them at full speed. Recon of carier planes still got a fix on the ships and they were sunk by 30 SBDs (1 DD,1TB). This felt very good, first time succesful revenge of Jap raids. Otherwise we strengthen NZ,Fiji and Bora Bora as bases. We need to do something about Noemea I guess, still a Jap unit sitting there. Normally I would not care, but it denies the base to us. If we send reeinforcements piecemeal to Noumea and they attack, these may be all lost. So there are 2 ways: a) Just leave them sitting there, if they eventually take Noumea I should be able to prevent a strong presence of Jap air, cause I have meanwhile some better bombers and masses of fighters on Fiji + Bora Bora. b) A massive effort to kill the unit. This should be a Jap div these are quite strong at the first 1-2 years I learned. I can think about it some days more also wait and see what the 3CV TF and another strong BB+CA TF can achive or learn about Jap intentions using "recon by force".
 
Subs: Nothing out of the ordinary except sinkings I reported in area sections above. (the AKE hurt most). Our subs don´t hit with torps or they are dud, but attack on the surface (the US ones) but only do damage and get damaged themselfes by good gunners on merchant ships. Maybe I try to use automatic sub option, cause the mircomanagement of subs annoys me more and more. For little return I mean....

This is the report from about 20. march I guess .... and following the COMBAT REPORTS belonging to the article:


ht Time Surface Combat, near Milne Bay at 101,134, Range 7,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Tone
      CA Chikuma
      DD Isokaze
      DD Mutsuki
 
Allied Ships
      CA Houston, Shell hits 1
      CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 2
      CL Adelaide
      CL Boise, Shell hits 1
      DD Voyager
      DD Scout
      DD Thracian
 -----------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Milne Bay  at 101,134
 
Japanese Ships
      SS RO-66
 
Allied Ships
      CL Boise
      CA Houston
      DD Voyager
      DD Thracian
      DD Scout
 
 
 
SS RO-66 launches 2 torpedoes at CL Boise...
---------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Batavia
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft
 
21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
 
Japanese Ships
      xAKL Aoi Maru, Shell hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      E Susuki,  heavy damage
      PB Choko Maru #5,  on fire
 
 
 ----------------------------------------------
TF 442 encounters mine field at Akyab (54,45)
 
Allied Ships
      CL Enterprise, Mine hits 1
 
 
 OWN MINES !
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Akyab at 54,45
 
Allied Ships
      BB Royal Sovereign
      CA Exeter
      CA Cornwall
      CL Enterprise
      CL Hobart
 
 
 
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 1
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 1
---------------------------------------
Sub attack near Sydney  at 92,168
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-172, hits 4
 
Allied Ships
      AKE Mobile City, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
      DD Norman
  
 
SS I-172 launches 2 torpedoes at AKE Mobile City...
I-172 diving deep .......
-----------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ramree Island at 53,48
 
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
 
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      Ki-27b Nate x 2
 
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Fulmar II x 2
      Sea Hurricane Ib x 3
      Swordfish I x 11
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Swordfish I: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Yugure, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
 
 ---------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Truk  at 109,114
 
Japanese Ships
      xAKL Tama Maru, Shell hits 13,  on fire
 
Allied Ships
      SS Grayback
 
 
 
xAKL Tama Maru is sighted by SS Grayback...
SS Grayback attacking xAKL Tama Maru on the surface...
SS Grayback low on gun ammo, Saunders, W.A. breaks off surface engagement and submerges...
 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tulagi  at 114,137
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Shofuku Maru, Shell hits 4
 
Allied Ships
      SS Gudgeon, hits 2
 
 
 
SS Gudgeon attacking xAK Shofuku Maru on the surface...
Grenfell, E.W. decides to submerge SS Gudgeon due to damage...
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ramree Island at 53,49
 
Weather in hex: Severe storms
 
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      Ki-27b Nate x 2
 
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Albacore I x 17
      Fulmar II x 2
      Sea Hurricane Ib x 2
      Swordfish I x 11
 
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Albacore I: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged
      Swordfish I: 2 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Mikuma
      CA Nachi
      CL Kinu
 
 
 ----------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 1,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Nachi, Shell hits 7,  heavy fires
      CA Mikuma, Shell hits 4
      CL Kinu, Shell hits 3
      DD Asakaze
      DD Namikaze
      DD Numakaze
 
Allied Ships
      CV Indomitable
      CVL Hermes, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 1
      BB Prince of Wales
      CL Dauntless, Shell hits 5
      CL Glasgow, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      CLAA Van Heemskerck, Shell hits 3,  on fire
      DD Tjerk Hiddes
      DD Tenedos
      DD Nizam
---------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,46, Range 28,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Mikuma, Shell hits 1
      CL Kinu
      DD Asakaze
      DD Namikaze
 
Allied Ships
      BB Revenge
      BB Royal Sovereign
      BB Ramillies
      BB Resolution
      CA Cornwall
      CA Exeter
      CL Hobart
      APD Pillsbury, Shell hits 1,  on fire
      DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1,  on fire
      DD Electra
      DD Jupiter
 -------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,46, Range 28,000 Yards
 
Japanese aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Nachi, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
      DD Numakaze, Shell hits 4,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
 
Allied Ships
      BB Revenge
      BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 1
      BB Ramillies, Shell hits 1
      BB Resolution, Shell hits 1
      CA Cornwall
      CA Exeter
      CL Hobart
      APD Pillsbury, Shell hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1,  heavy fires
      DD Electra
      DD Jupiter
-----------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Ramree Island at 54,47, Range 24,000 Yards
 
Japanese aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
 
Japanese Ships
      CA Mikuma, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
      CL Kinu, Shell hits 7,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      DD Asakaze
      DD Namikaze
 
Allied Ships
      BB Revenge, Shell hits 1
      BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1
      BB Ramillies, Shell hits 1
      BB Resolution, Shell hits 1
      CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
      CA Exeter
      CL Hobart, Shell hits 3
      DD Electra
      DD Jupiter
 -----------------------------------------------------------
ight Time Surface Combat, near Canton Island at 153,143, Range 4,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1,  on fire
      TB Kiji, Shell hits 2,  on fire
 
Allied Ships
      DD Hull, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
      DMS Zane
      xAKL Manini, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
      xAKL Hirondelle, Shell hits 17, and is sunk
 
 ------------------------------------------
orning Air attack on TF, near Baker Island at 145,137
 
Weather in hex: Light rain
 
Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
 
 
Allied aircraft
      F4F-3A Wildcat x 5
      F4F-3 Wildcat x 3
      SBD-3 Dauntless x 30
 
 
Allied aircraft losses
      SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Oyashio, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
      TB Kiji, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
 
 ------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 

A LOT OF ACTION as you can read, well I noted I need more time for the turns cause without time and concentration the early Allied will be soon more a dead one [;)] Nonetheless I did some fast turns, cause I want some better and more stuff. And finally we have enough Hurricans to make a stand in India (only in the air I mean). The US still has only P39s and P40s, which are normally no match for Zeros and better Oscar models.


So what happened the last few turns:

PRINCE OF WALES - Alomost sunk a 2nd time - unlucky ship ?


MUTSU - MAGAZINE EXPLODES
 
 
MISSISIPPI - TORPEDO MAGNET ?



Jap took Medan, Batavia (which he paid something for, cause he landed more and more troops and got more and more hits on the landing ships from coastal guns) but our losses HUGE, every Dutchmen is now building the Japanese rail line at the river Quwai or rotting in Bamboo cages, JAP took Noumea finally, still fighting at Timor, in NG the Japs now brought their BETTY TORPS in and promtly sank 1 AP which brought troops to PM - so this will be a new danger - we concentrate fighters all along the coast, but guess the range is too short too protect the shipping, heavy actions till around Akyb as you can read in the report, POW caught 2 NELL torpedoes (or even 3??) she was in Diamond harbour so could be rescued before sinking a 2nd time, well after literallys 100s of air strikes on the Japs with no effect (1 small bomb hit from a Hudson on a BB was the only result) - a BRITISH TORPEDO PLANE from CV Indimitable finally scored 2 torps on MUTSU - 1 of em reached the magazine which exploded - this was huge - the Behemoth just appeared from sight - US BB Misissippi also got a fish this time from a destroyer - as you can see the Allied fleet was 100 times stronger or so than the lone Jap DD but still they managed to hit and escape. [:@]
 
 
--------------------------------------------
TF 442 encounters mine field at Akyab (54,45)
 
Allied Ships
      CL Enterprise, Mine hits 1
 
 
 OWN MINES !
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Akyab at 54,45
 
Allied Ships
      BB Royal Sovereign
      CA Exeter
      CA Cornwall
      CL Enterprise
      CL Hobart
 
 
 
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 1
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 1
---------------------------------------
Sub attack near Sydney  at 92,168
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-172, hits 4
 
Allied Ships
      AKE Mobile City, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
      DD Norman
 
 
 
SS I-172 launches 2 torpedoes at AKE Mobile City...
I-172 diving deep .......
-----------------------------------------------
 
 
 
 
 

Night Time Surface Combat, near Culion at 75,80, Range 1,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      PB Shotoku Maru, Shell hits 8
      xAK Kamoi Maru, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
 
Allied Ships
      PT-31
      PT-32
      PT-33
 -------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Cox's Bazar , at 54,43
 
Weather in hex: Overcast
 
Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G4M1 Betty x 19
 
 BETTYs dawn.............1
 
Allied aircraft
      Fulmar II x 4
      Sea Hurricane Ib x 3
      Hurricane IIa Trop x 7
      Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G4M1 Betty: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged
 
 
Airbase hits 1
 -------------------------------------------
orning Air attack on Loyang , at 87,43
 
Weather in hex: Light rain
 
Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G4M1 Betty x 14
 
 BETTYs dawn.............2
 
Allied aircraft
      I-16-III x 5
      I-15-III x 2
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed
 -----------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ambon , at 76,109
 
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
 
Raid detected at 23 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 12
 
 
 
Allied aircraft
      B-17D Fortress x 6  ( 3 planes lost on the way home and at landing)
 
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
      B-17D Fortress: 5 damaged
 
  Runway hits 1
---------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Diamond Harbour at 52,38
 
Weather in hex: Overcast
 
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G3M2 Nell x 20
 
POW heavily hit the 2nd time !
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Hurricane IIb Trop x 6
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G3M2 Nell: 5 destroyed, 11 damaged
 
 
Allied Ships
      CL Dauntless
      BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 3,  on fire,  heavy damage
 
 -----------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Akyab at 54,45
 
Weather in hex: Light rain
 
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      no flights
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Albacore I x 4
      Fulmar II x 2
 REVENGE
 
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Albacore I: 2 damaged
      Fulmar II: 1 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      CL Isuzu, Shell hits 12
      BB Mutsu, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Canton Island at 153,143, Range 6,000 Yards
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Hasu   ( 1 ship !!!)
 
Allied Ships
      BB Idaho
      BB New Mexico
      BB Mississippi, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1      (LOL!)
      CA Chester
      CA Louisville
      CA Chicago
      CA Pensacola
      CA New Orleans
      CA Astoria
      CA Minneapolis
      CL Phoenix
      CL Honolulu
      DD Sims
      DD Hughes
      DD Hammann
      DD Russell
      DD Ralph Talbot
      DD Patterson
      DD McCall
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Chittagong at 55,41
 
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
 
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G3M2 Nell x 8
      Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 25
 
 
 
Allied aircraft
      Hurricane I Trop x 10
      Hurricane IIa Trop x 10
      Hurricane IIb Trop x 19
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed
      Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 8 destroyed
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Hurricane I Trop: 1 destroyed
      Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
-------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 76484 troops, 716 guns, 236 vehicles, Assault Value = 2174
 
Defending force 29704 troops, 348 guns, 190 vehicles, Assault Value = 577
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 1339
 
Allied adjusted defense: 507
 
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
 
Japanese forces CAPTURE Batavia !!!
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      2909 casualties reported
         Squads: 5 destroyed, 109 disabled
         Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 97 disabled
         Engineers: 11 destroyed, 16 disabled
      Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)
 
 
Allied ground losses:
      70086 casualties reported  (OMG!)
         Squads: 1145 destroyed, 119 disabled
         Non Combat: 3082 destroyed, 591 disabled
         Engineers: 162 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 766 (757 destroyed, 9 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 350 (325 destroyed, 25 disabled)
      Units destroyed 22
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Horn Island at 92,129
 
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
 
Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G4M1 Betty x 9
 
 
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged
 
Allied Ships
      xAP Le Maire, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
 --------------------------------------------------

Just a bit info:
 
I have no internet access at the computer where the game is installed, but I save the notes on notepad and will them paste later here........

DEI: There are only some straglers left, most towns, bases and ports in Jap hands.

TIMOR: Koepnag STILL ours, but is now under air attack from Zeros and Bettys from Ambon (i guess), so won´t hold long - I hesitate to send fighters there, as Darwin is also attacked now. Use the Kittyhawks better there. Our bombers flew some missions vs. Dili and Lautem, those count more as harrassing actions though.

OZ: Strong enemy sub presence on the east coast, but they achive not much, probably since our air umbrella is now quite strong. Interestingy the SF ASW forces also have almost no encounters the last days, command wonders if the JAP has some new weapons or warning devices to avoid encounters with ASW ships installed on their subs ?? We got the first GOOD bomber units in OZ also, these are one unit Dutch B25s, DB7s (seem also from the Dutch, very fast med bombers - version of A20?) and also now 2 US 4E squdrs.

NG: Seems the Jap realizes that we have now a strong fighter presence in PM, so he does not attack the town anymore directly. However he still interdicts our ships and convois running from Cairs or Townsville. 1 light cruiser was heavily damaged by Betty torp. Pure luck that she made it back to port in fact. But we have now long range fighters in the form of Beaufighters, as well the allied command learned how to use LR cap above task forces. Also we noted that floatplanes on ships can be set to CAP. They can not do much of course, but distract unescorted bombers a bit. And every bit counts vs. the deadly Jap torp planes with long range and most modern Radar it seems, cause they even find smallest vessels moving near the coast. However the employment of LR cap from Beaufighters and P40s with drop tanks for near the coast work should help to bring convois a bit more savely to PM and back.

INDIA: Japs have taken anything in Burma, except Lashio. Burma div and some stragglers escaped from Mytkinia and are still wandering through the jungle northwards. In Lashio we have 1 base force and 1 weaker Chin div. Let´s see how long they can hold, Jap quite strong there. We send our bombers for troops attacks, but these are not distracting the Jap much. Guess these attacks are not very effective in this terrain anyway, but we have all these Blenheims and Hudsons and even Lysanders are employed as bombers. So they can do something as we cannot reach the Jap airfields anyway. We could reach one of the bases our recon found Jap planes on max range and without fighter escort however. Maybe we try this one day, would be good to reduce Jap air strength as he has now good fighters and quite much bombers there also. The usual build up in India with more Indian troops arriving continues. We have 3 quite good units now, 1 British div (the best one), 1 Indian which we trained quite long and reinforced and also 1 Australian was diverted to India (the rest of AU 1st corps is one the way to their home country in case the Jap tries something surprising there)

CHINA: Took back Wuchow, we also siege Canton but cannot take it. Pakhoi was lost finally. The unit retreated and will be used to siege Canton a bit more Kaifeng and Kwaiteh were taken vs. weak resistance. But the Jap is moving stronger forces in on that front. Kwaith is only diverting action needs not to be hold. In Kaifeng we build forts and will try to hold it longer. We chased some Jap armored cars away from the city gates there which tried to snoop on our troops.

PAC: Heavy action. As the Brits accused the Americans of cowardice (they did not much till now, but Brits were engaged heavily near Akyab). Amerikkans say, well we could be called dumb, ignorant, arrogant but not cowardly so they send some carriers and almost all SF ships left in PH. They also sorty some LR bombing missions to Noumea, only minor damage if anything. Dutch, AU and US ships bombard Noumea,Koumac and Luganville. Turns out the last 2 bases are empty, so also landed some troops there. To cover all this a 3 CV TF was sent in direction Guadalcanal/Shortlands. Several hits on Jap AKs, escorts and also a Jap surface fleet was in the area, which lost 1 DD, as well got severall bomb hits on BB Kongo and a CL. Kongo later even got a torp which exploded from a sub, so should be out of action for a while. As we sailed deeper into Jap territory he sends LBA from Rabaul - also some fighters from Shortlands supported this action. Luckily our CAP was able to shoot enough of them down so they caused no harm. Except 1 DD was lost to Betty torp, but in the SF fleet not the CV TF. The Jap also sent a CV TF to the area which hit our CVs with a weaker strike, but achived not much except some losses to our fighters. Turns out that this were 1 or 2 CVLs, our counter strike hits 1 CVL severall times with bombs, but did not sink it. A torpedo plane strike which went in unescorted was shot up badly by Zeros almost all Devastators lost. This Jap force later retired, but as our losses of fighters and torp planes were huge, we also ended the action instead going deeper in. Guesswe came out as winner, with the sinking of 6-7 AKs, 2-3 escorts,1 CVL, 1 BB damaged. Also the main mission was fullfilled - keeping the Jap away from the landings at Koumac and Luganville. We suffered 2-3 damaged ships and 1 DD sunk and masses of planes shot down however. Update: We just spotted a Jap fleet directly west of New Caledonia, maybe a supply mission for Noumea ?
We also lost 1 escort and 1 AK to another Jap raid at one of the island (Midway, Canton?). There was 1 DD to at least trying to distract weaker JAP raiders, but after some shots swapped the cowards retreated and left the merchant ships+escort alone. From these 1 lone IJN DD sank 1 AK and the escort (a DM or DMS). The heavy fleet of ours achived not much, so we send it to protect landings, later they should go back to PH for repairs and updating weapons - we hope that the ships now in the yards for updates will be ready at this point. We need escorts badly.

SUBS: Our subs sank some landing barges with surface fire, in the middle of the ocean near Truk. Also 1 or 2 merchants were hit. Not to forget the torp (which worked!) for the already damaged Kongo. Japs achived not much that is worth to mention right now.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 95,136

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
     Beaufighter Ic x 2
     Kittyhawk IA x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
     G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged


Allied Ships
     CA Houston
     CL Adelaide, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage

----------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 18
     G4M1 Betty x 8



Allied aircraft
     Kittyhawk IA x 12
     P-40E Warhawk x 35
     SOC-1 Seagull x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
     A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
     G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
     Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed
     P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
     SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
     DD Scout
     DD Stuart
---------------------------------------
fternoon Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
     F4F-3A Wildcat x 5
     SBD-2 Dauntless x 15
     SBD-3 Dauntless x 13
     TBD-1 Devastator x 15


Allied aircraft losses
     SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged
     SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged
     TBD-1 Devastator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
     xAK Yamamiya Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
     xAK Cheribon Maru, Bomb hits 5,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     xAK Eizan Maru, Bomb hits 4,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     PB Yahada Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
     PB Showa Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
-----------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 114,137

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
     F4F-3 Wildcat x 8
     SBD-2 Dauntless x 18
     SBD-3 Dauntless x 16


Allied aircraft losses
     SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
     xAK Hokumai Maru, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
     CA Furutaka, Bomb hits 4,  heavy fires,  heavy damage

--------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 114,132

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
     F4F-3 Wildcat x 8
     SBD-2 Dauntless x 33
     SBD-3 Dauntless x 13


Allied aircraft losses
     SBD-2 Dauntless: 7 damaged
     SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
     BB Kongo, Bomb hits 6,  heavy fires


---------------------------------
orning Air attack on TF, near Vella Lavella at 109,133

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 68 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 8
     B5N2 Kate x 19



Allied aircraft
     F4F-3A Wildcat x 19
     F4F-3 Wildcat x 38


Japanese aircraft losses
     A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
     B5N2 Kate: 9 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
     F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     Ki-49-Ia Helen x 17



Allied aircraft
     Kittyhawk IA x 7
     P-40E Warhawk x 21


Japanese aircraft losses
     Ki-49-Ia Helen: 9 destroyed


Allied Ships
     xAKL Pelton Bank

--------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Choiseul Bay at 113,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 20



Allied aircraft
     F4F-3 Wildcat x 16
     SBC-4 Helldiver x 15
     SBD-3 Dauntless x 45


Japanese aircraft losses
     A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
     F4F-3 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
     SBC-4 Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
     SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 18 damaged

Japanese Ships
     CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     DD Ikazuchi, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
     DD Yugumo
     DD Asagumo, Bomb hits 1
---------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 114,132

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
     F4F-3A Wildcat x 8
     SBD-2 Dauntless x 17


Allied aircraft losses
     SBD-2 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
     BB Kongo, Bomb hits 6,  heavy fires



------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 109,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     Ki-27b Nate x 1



Allied aircraft
     SBD-2 Dauntless x 18
     TBD-1 Devastator x 15


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
     TBD-1 Devastator: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
     xAK Daido Maru, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     xAK Natisan Maru, Bomb hits 1
     xAK Mikasa Maru, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires
     xAK Aso Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
     PB Rokko Maru #2
     xAK Asahisan Maru
----------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Choiseul Bay at 113,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 8



Allied aircraft
     TBD-1 Devastator x 15


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
     TBD-1 Devastator: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
     CVL Ryujo,  heavy fires,  heavy damage

-----------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Vella Lavella at 109,133

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 27
     G4M1 Betty x 3
     Ki-27b Nate x 8



Allied aircraft
     F4F-3A Wildcat x 16
     F4F-3 Wildcat x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
     A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
     G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
     F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
     F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed


--------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Ontong Java  at 115,127

Japanese Ships
     BB Kongo, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
     DD Hagikaze

Allied Ships
     SS Salmon
-----------------------------------------

Some more fast turns, only important work done. So we are already in the beginning of MAY now. Means slowly we gain a better force in quantity but also quality (more Hurricans a pity that Brit units are so small btw, first Wellington unit, US ship updates, masses of support, arty, AA, engs and even some marines)....

I still found no use for US med bombers, vs. shipping they do not much and to bomb any bases or troops we lack LR escort and range. US B17s did some raids, but these can not even be called distracting the enemy. The best US plane is the SBD 3 Dauntless dive bomber IMHO. The torp carrier planes are pretty useless, but sometimes score 500lb bomb hits. B24s are in short supply and they also are more in maintenance than flying.


INDIA: Jap took Lashio without probs (armored shock attack), seems his tanks are very effective in this terrain which is normally "not tank terrain". The Indians, Brits and Aussies realize that some offensives vs. the strong tank forces are futile.So they fortify Akyab and Cox Bazar and build a defensive near those bases and behind a river. Seems we need some 6 or 17 pounder guns which were normally diverted to Europe to fight German Mark IV + Tigers. But you learn every day and if this game is historical it seems that Jap tanks are much better than the general opinion and books say - also the Jap can blitz in Jungle terrain. Jap also has now airforce in Mandalay . We learned it the hard way as masses of Blenheims were slaughtered by Oscars. So we set them to train or rest untill we can do something against the IJA fighters. Probably a massive effort with better bombers and long range escort is needed. After his losses near Akyab there is no surface ship activity in the area anymore - at least we don´t note it. We destroyed the Div that landed there earlier (the one which lost almost all heavy weapons on ships), as always severall attacks were needed to bring them to their knees, even without them having much guns, supplies or vehicles anymore.

DEI: Jap still bombed Dutch left over garrisons and landed on severall more small bases. His med bombers can hit some lone men in the middle of swamps and jungles. Seems he his running out of targets in the area soon.

TIMOR: In Jap hands - Koepnag fell after JAP brought some reeinforcements in.

OZ: Jap bombs Darwin and/or Catherine. We have only 1 Fighter squdr. in Darwin, so he bombs Catherine atm. He knows quite well which of the bases have fighters there. While in India his intel isn´t as good, there masses of bombers were shot down by Hurricans. But he has enough of em, so the numbers dwindle not really. Allies hope that at least his trained pilots pool isn´t as large as the aircraft one. We have now bigger reserves of fuel in Perth and Adelaide, the rail network does not work to dstribute bigger portions to the eastern cities, so we need to use ship transport which are seldom disturbed by subs luckily.

PM: IJN sent some SF forces (incl. 1 or 2 BBs) to bombard PM and/or sink supply ships. Luckily we have stocked supplies in PM so don´t need to send ships there atm. The A24 Banshees left in PM scored one lousy bomb on a BB, otherwise they were not able to do something to the task force. However they damaged (sank?) an AK near Buna. Air still contested over the JAP bases, but JAP does not attack PM anymore directly - to much fighters. He still raids shipping of course with the magic eye and very effective radar/targeting systems for his torps carried by med bombers with long ranges.

PAC: Jap raids the Fiji/Noumea/Nadi/Suva area with carriers. We stocked masses of fighters in Bora Bora and Suva, we lost massive numbers but also his losses were huge. The Zero still rules, but our masses also. The Jap had some losses in planes before I guess, so their units were not at 100%. We threw then everything we have there in the fray, also old NZ bombers. They got shot down but his numbers twindled even more. So we could send in the carriers then the next day, we had a 3 CV TF near Bora Bora (which was engaged before and also was not on 100%), also another 2 CV TF from PH arrived. This one completed refitting just in time for the battle. We lost masses of fighters, also torp bombers were treated badly. But the SBD squdr. did good work also their losses were acceptable. We damaged 2-3 fleet carriers of the Jap, one of em might be sunk. However FOW might lie. It was enough at least to send them home for mother hugging. Also some escorts were damaged or even sunk (2 DDs probably). Our carriers only got 1 or 2 small hits afair. No torp hits. However a JAp sub tried his luck on Lexington, all torps missed. Luck is also needed in war. We chased the Jap ships a bit but only encountered stragled escorts so 1-2 CVs somehow have escaped. We also encountered severall AKs on this chase (near Guadalcanal again) also some sunk. The Jap seemed not to know of the presence of the US carriers so - he wittled away his numbers with ground attacks on Navi/Suva, so that the USN CVs had only to fight an already weakened air complement. Also the US navy has some really good pilots on these carriers.

So we can continue to strengthen our landed troops at Koumac and Luganville. Noumea can not be retaken, the Jap is to strong (guess 1 Div + 1 Brig). Also the AI might sneak in supplies for them, as it is mostly not possible to cut of AI garrisons completly. But we will see, they might be a thread for the landed troops at Koumac of course. But we experiment with this - if he still can attack in good supply then the AI might also "cheat". Normally not much should reach Noumea with all the air nearby at Fijy and 2 CVs in the area. The other 3 need to go back to PH for refit, repair etc. We also have severall cruiser fleets there and 5-6 subs. Ah, the Jap also send raider near the hawain islands (quite bold), but 1 CL probably sunk and 1-2 DDs damaged and/or sunk. He then retired.


CHINA: Big JAP counteroffensive he takes back the 2 cities we captured in the open terrain (Kwaiteh+Kaifeng). Bad losses for the Chinese some units heavily damaged........ However the CHINESE captured Canton finally , defenders fled. Seems Jap has weaker troops there so maybe we can hold and even pursuit the fleeing...


SUBS: Not much on JAP side. He is more inclined to sink AMs and DDs, he mostly misses the faster ASW DDs but sank some AMs and KVs on west coast US and OZ. We do now better with subs, especially the DUTCH ones seem now to be the prowlers of the seas. Jap also lost a fair amount of DDs and other escorts since the beginning of the war maybe that is showing now ?? So the subs get more shots on AKs and stuff. Interestingly the merchant gunners are very good to hit small target in the darkness (=subs).



------------------------------------------------
afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 7
A-24 Banshee x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Banshee: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 2, on fire
---------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Moala at 133,163

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
B5N2 Kate x 24
D3A1 Val x 57



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 25
P-40E Warhawk x 21


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 5 destroyed, 13 damaged
D3A1 Val: 11 destroyed, 12 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
CA Australia
AS Otus
--------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kandavu Island at 131,165

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
B5N2 Kate x 27



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 8 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Voyager
xAKL Coolana, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Wear, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Hetton Bank
------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Niihau at 174,107

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-2 Dauntless x 14
SBD-3 Dauntless x 25


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yakaze, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
CL Oi, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
DD Asakaze, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

------------------------------------------------
fternoon Air attack on TF, near Moala at 133,163

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 44 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 24



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 24
P-40E Warhawk x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 8 destroyed
------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Nadi , at 131,160

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
B5N2 Kate x 25
D3A1 Val x 16



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 28
P-40E Warhawk x 32


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 7 destroyed
-----------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Nadi , at 131,160

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N2 Kate x 10



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
-------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Suva , at 132,160

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N2 Kate x 21
D3A1 Val x 25



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 21
P-40E Warhawk x 41


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 15 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 18 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

-----------------------------------------
Sub attack near Wallis Island at 143,158

Japanese Ships
SS I-19, hits 3

Allied Ships
CV Lexington
DD Jarvis
DD Clark
DD Porter



SS I-19 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Lexington...
-------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Gau Island at 133,162

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 19
D3A1 Val x 10



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 11 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CV Hornet
CL St. Louis
CV Yorktown
-----------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31



Allied aircraft
P-40B Warhawk x 2
F4F-3A Wildcat x 8
F4F-3 Wildcat x 10
SBC-4 Helldiver x 18
SBD-2 Dauntless x 35
SBD-3 Dauntless x 40
TBD-1 Devastator x 36


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBC-4 Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 3 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 18 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Akagi, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
CV Zuikaku
DD Wakaba
DD Yudachi, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16



Allied aircraft
Vincent I x 9
B-26 Marauder x 12
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-40B Warhawk x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 20


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Vincent I: 2 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 2 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku
------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10



Allied aircraft
P-40B Warhawk x 2
F4F-3A Wildcat x 5
F4F-3 Wildcat x 7
SBC-4 Helldiver x 17
SBD-2 Dauntless x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 38
TBD-1 Devastator x 29


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBC-4 Helldiver: 2 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 2 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 10 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yudachi, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hatsuharu
DD Yamakaze
DD Nenohi, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Maikaze
DD Hatsukaze
DD Wakaba
DD Yugumo, Bomb hits 1
-----------------------------------------------------

It is 07.May.1942 now

We fast forwarded another few turns into AUGUST, we also don´t micromanage so much anymore. Put pilots to general training for bombers and a mix of escort and general for fighters. However we did all ship updates that were possible. The Japanese BETTY TORP bomber is still very deadly and is not easily distracted or destroyed by ship AA it seems. Land AA seems to work better (for Allies at least). Japs now show some signs of weakness, so it seems the DEVS were right in giving the AI some "bonuses" (or cheats [;)])... However I still would rather want more reasonable and historic playing by the AI side........Esp. that the AI does not need to garrison anything, so it is also not possible to change sides for example, as I tried this just for fun, but the Soviets attacked immediatly and I got "hundreds" messages of partisan attacks. So back to the Allies.......

INDIA: The Jap took one contested hex just east of Akyab, 2 of our units were hit hard. However they held out long enough, to give the Brits time to fortify Akyab and build up strength there. It is not longer a cakewalk for the Jap, cause we have now better and more units (land and air). The Indians trained a bit and seem now to be battleworthy. Also they at least get some 2pdr AT guns. Some armor was also upgraded to Grants (or Lees?)...We also sucked up alomost every 25pdr. gun that was produced, so the arty is quite good now also. Jap is now in in front of Akyab - he had no luck with the attacks so far. Hope it stays that way, this are 3-4 Divs + smaller units + armor. Therefore there is no other land action in the area. Good, we prepare behind a river, and just gave the order for some units to cross it and hide in the jungle. We plan an offensive for October or so. If the Jap is heavily engaged at Akyab he must leave other areas perhaps more open. We will see. The airwar raged hard, we hit Mandalay severall times, but the Oscars keep coming back. We also use sweeps now there also the other major airfield is Swebo, we hit this one also (longer range bombers: Wellingtons, some Mitchels and Hudson LR). However the Hudsons had huge losses due to escort not flying or flying to late, so we needed to dissolve a complete unit. The Blenheims are used for ground attacks and on Mandalay. The also lost, but cause of shorter distance the escort was mostly in place.

TIMOR/OZ: : We flew some LR bombing missions to Koepnag and Dili, but hit not much, seems Jap has no planes there anyway. The Bettys are flying from longer distance, they hit Catherine airfields, but damage is mostly repaired fast. We lost a few Hudsons on ground. Now we send a weak "det" P39 unit to Catherine, they shoot down 1-2 Bettys per raid. Also they mostly lose 1 more to Flak. He has enough Bettys (and other planes) but has he also enough trained pilots ? Aussies set the B17 and Hudsons now to Naval, but seems there is not much to attack, or it is nothing detected. Oh well.

PM/NG: We sent a US CV force as air escorts for the seaway to PM. In this way we could bring supplies and reeinforcements to PM. We could beat the Japs back at PM (he mrached there through the jungle and also tried to land, but most transports were sunk by carrier air). He sits now in the jungle and seems undersupplied. So we march on Buna as our recon (YEAHHH we have now some useable recon planes) only saw 1 unit there. A understrength OZ div beat a kind of armor unit back and took Buna. We send baseforces and ENGs there, they should arrive the next days. The air is ours so to speak, we have now 1 B17, 1 B25 + 1DB7 (Dutch) there. The Banshees were spent and disbanded. Our fighters (2xP40,1xKittyhawk,1xP38) flew severall sweeps and managed to shoot down some Oscars. So we sent in the bombers, Buna and Lae were hit hard. Some Jap planes destroyed on ground. There seems not much left there now, so we targeted Gasmata, with help of P38 (LONG range!) Jap has Nicks and Bombers there, also some of them damaged, destroyed. We lost also of course, but we have now better supply of planes. A long range strike by B17s even hit Rabaul port as we got a message that there were ca. 30 ships, we hit some of them (mostly Merchants).

PAC: Noumea + La Foa (small dot base) were finally retaken by US and NZ forces with the help of massive bombardements from air and sea. Also we brought much arty units (105mm + 4.5 inch mostly). The Jap sits still near Noumea but guess even with AI supply bonus he should be no danger anymore. Otherwise we just build bases up at Suva, Koumac, Luganville, Nadi.

CHINA: We took some small bases, but were on 2 places hit hard by Jap divs. Still we manage to hold (??? name of city forgotten) in the east, Jap has the most massive forces there, but we also. We try to encircle them, but takes some days to see of this will work.
The JAP has upgraded and/or reeinforced his airforce in China and is now flying Zeros there, so we had to abadon most air activity. Ah we took a Vietnamese city also. Ah not sure if I already wrote it, we took Canton. The Jap landed a massive force there to take it back, but so far we hold. I did notrealize that Canton is a port to be honest [:'(]

SUBS: Our subs get better with every day it seems. Also the torps maybe have fewer duds now (?). The Jap hits the ocassional freighter and escort but no major ship.

Islands: The Jap landed on severall more places which is quite distracting and more an annoyance than real danger. But it takes time and effort. First thought was, to just ignore these landings (Midway, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Kiska, Attu, Cocos is. etc.). but if he can somehow build up some of these bases and station Bettys there they would be a danger. So we contested Cocos Is in the Indian ocean, a African brigade with help of some Brits kicked the Jap out. He lands again and sits now near the base doing nothing. However some ships were hit by LR Betty torps there (flying from Java). Bora Bora also retaken that was only a fractional unit there. On Midway he sits and bombards - on Attu we sit and bombard but are to weak to assault. Even on Dutch Harbour are some Japs now [8|]


We also damaged a Jap BB heavily or even sank it by carrier air near the Guadalcanal area. 2 of our BBs caught Betty torps the carrier CAP wasn´t flying and AA did not help either. We lost a CA in surface combat in the north pacific near Attu but also sank and/or damaged some of them. Otherwise I think only small unit action and losses.....


Ah again... Jap did also carrier raids direction Brisbane and Sidney earlier. We jugled with fighters that we had there to provide the best protection als send useless bombers to them (most shot down). But we hoped that everything might weaken them even if it is only spent AA ammo. Well, we sank or damaged 1 CV combined by US CV air and a sub put a torp into it. They retired then. Later we discovered even a CVL near Mebourne (!!!). They sailed a long way hidden [X(]... IIRC this one was also sunk later (or heavily damaged)......

We stumbled in a surface TF with 2 BBs (one of em was the YAMATO!!!!!), several cruisers and 3-4 DDs, our force were 2 CLs and 2 DDs. The Jap empoyed this mighty fleet in the Northpacific around Kiska/Dutch Harbour. Well we got lucky only 1 DD sunk 1 CL heaviloy damaged. We scored 15 hits or so on Yamato. But is was a clever move of the Jap cause we have no air assets there that can threaten ships.
 
CV Wasp was hit by torpedo near Port Moresby, our CAP could fight off the first attack by Bettys, the 2nd wave from a carrier with Zero escort however reached their target with 4 or 5 Kates, of course our mighty FLAK was not able to shoot down this lousy low number of planes and they scored on the Wasp. She should be out of action for whgile if I get her savely into yard. Well fighters shot down most of the Kates, but AFTER they had hit...


Just 2 remarkable actions [;)]

Another torp hit: This time on Maryland class BB, it was just sailing out of Seattle shipyard... Bang. Back to yard [:(]  But we hit the sub also...........this BB was destined to North Pacific, cause of the huge Jap surface fleet that appeared there. Together with severall DDs and 2 CLs (also freshly repaired).  So the northern front need to cope without a BB. We destroyed the small Yap unit at Dutch harbour meanwhile and landed one regiment + arty on KISKA. But the Yap still holds there, it is not very important - but we want to keep him away from Dutch harbour/Kodiak if possible.

Also lost 2 or 3 transports + escort near Dutch harbour to surface raiders. Of course we also sunk and damaged a number of Yaps merchants mostly by SUBS this time (as I already reported they get better, this is now confirmed)
 
We also landed some forces on Midway to get rid of the Yaps there, as well on Baker. Both also not that important I but Allied command decided to get rid of this forces near our inner lines.

Also encountered some bugs, the worst one, was the 1st Marine Div just dissapeared. We recombined the unit, loaded on fleet and unloaded at Lahaina. It was gone, never to be seen again. We loaded an older turn and loaded the single regiments. But one of the regiments suddenly appeared on a transport on the way to ADEN [X(][:D]
The other 2 should be unloaded at Noumea, one of the components is suddenly named 14th Indian div or so [8|][X(][:(][:D][;)] So a SERIOUS bug, but I don´t care, I still have the 2nd Marine div+ 4 Inf. divs + severall regiments meanwhile. And the threat to OZ seems to be gone now anyway so we can use the OZ 1st corps also. Other bug was the teleporting of some ships to another off board port.
 
 
We took back:
- Buna, Samaua... on NG.
- Swebo, Mytkinya, Mandalay, Lashio... in India
- severall smaller cities on China coast and Hanoi.

We trapped:
-  4-5 Jap Divs + smaller support + armor at Akyab and a Chinese city which name I forgot.

We bombed:
- 1 CV (severall 1000lb hits)
- Rabaul (with B17s only minor damage to airfields, but we lost B17s cause he has now Tojos there [:(])

Mh, not played much the last weeks. I´m going to write some remarks from memory as my game is on another comp in another flat........

BURMA: Actually the offensive there goes quite well, there some left over Jap units scattered over the area, but they are pretty much isolated (AI weakness ? Does not pull back units fast enough, otherwise our action was well planned and done with rested troops, so it could not do soooo much)... Jap still has the largest force at Akyab, we tried to attack severall times, but to avail even if Jap losses now are larger. Considering they are cut off they are doing pretty well, but their position should be hopeless. Or the Jap does a large maritime action with all his leftover carriers + support to somehow evacuate them - but I don´t believe the AI is able to pull this off. Let´s see...... Indian, Aussies (i have left 1 oz div in Burma), Brits and even some Chinese are closing in to cut off Rangoon now. Jap has much planes there, so we don´t send in the RAF yet. Their ground attacks are not really dangerous however they huge numbers of fighters there, so my grunts need to suffer a bit without fighter cover. We also need to set up some airfields in Mandalay, Prome etc. to get in reach of Rangoon anyway.

CHINA: Our offensive largely stopped as JAP sends in huge numbers from the Russian border region (AI does need to maintain garrison there). Still some Chinese units gathered some good EXP and are also reeinforced (even if they can´t get supplies, but we must live with that). We captured severall small cities, but are now going in the defensive and pull back a bit as the JAPs now have too large numbers over there, even if the garrison troops he sent in should not be 100% combat worthy. We still try to seal of some of his troops and also send some small Chinese units out to the open as baits and to conceal our real intensions....ahh we also DESTROYED 2-3 Yap divisions+a number of smaller units at the Chinese city which was sieged by them, encircle, cut off, destroy.....takes a while but works. Chinese losses are huge, but who cares as we cannot supply all the masses there anyway. We also have quite huge number of chinese squads in the pool, but will not go in the field mostly cause well supply issues in China..

NEW GUINEA: We are in the outskiorts of LAE now, the Aussies did a brilliant job, also all the air in PM and Buna now shows their worthyness and evem bombs Rabaul. We lost some small APs together with the troops while trying to bring in soemthing from Darwin. But JAP has now Zeros + Bettys at Timor, so this route is not practicable anymore. He also does bomb Darwin from time to time, but does not much - we brought in soem more dismal fighters like P39s and Kittyhawks while waiting for the first Spitfires to arrive and trained for home defense.

SOUPAC: Americans can not do much atm as WASP is still in yard, 2 more CVs in upgrade. Also the torp damage on 2 BBs is not yet repaired. However they assembled a quite large cruiser+DD fleet at Fiji and Luganville. Those locations are heavily guarded by masses of now better planes+pilots (even some P38s), so JAp suffered quite much Bettys. Also the transports are assembled for amphib action, B17+B24 are doing some smaller raids direction Guadalcanal fields. They did not do much damage, but with help of P38s destroyed some Jap planes there. We have a feeling we need to weaken the Betty strength some more before going into action. Direction of action not decided yet, but probably not historic to Guadalcanal. Maybe a bold raid on Rabaul ? Well we need the CVs for that so waiting......

NOPAC: Not much to report, but all islands where the Jap landed are now enemy free, except the one closest to Japan (Kiska or Attu?).... seems also he has retired his BB+CA fleet as we saw and heard nothing more from it. We will send 2 CVEs + escorts we got the last weeks as reeinforcements there to do recon, fighter cover and/or even the occasional shipping attack. If we do not find much there we might try to also liberate the other island but do not plan anymore actions there. These CVEs should later be worth gold for fighter cover on other areas.....

SUBS: Cannot remember, but nothing big for sure.....

Game put to rest for while......[:@][:(]

Not so much time, but will continue this one in 2 weeks or so [;)]

Ok.

Burma: Our offensive reached Rangoon, we just surrounded it cause there are still some 12000 troops (+/- 1000) in it. Other fast forces reached Moulmein using the coastal roads. There are still 2 big pockets of Jap units now stranded at Akyab (2 divs that are already weak and 1 more which seems to be still a stronger one) and near Mytkina (2 Divs + Arty?). We have the aquelivent of 4-5 Divs at Akyab so these Japs will eventually be atritted away.

China/Thailand: Chinese captured some more cities and towns in the east. There are also still "stranded" Japs in masses, but they are all "pinpointed" by as strong or stronger Chinese units. The Japs took Hanoi+Haipong back for some turns, but are now thrown out again. They retreated in direction Vinh - we also siege Hue btw. but the enemy is too strong there. So we need to bring in reeinforcements. Means first take Vinh and move on the coastal road to Hue. The air situation is bad, except that we formed a strongpoint with 3 fighter sqdrs at some point, but the Jap does not attack that stronger opposition at the moment. Otherwise he happily bombs with all kinds of planes at all kinds of targets. Luckilythe Jap pilots don´t want to risk that much and bomb from bigger heights, but also they of course do not cause that much destruction this way. Well the Chinese AA isn´t the best, so we wonder why the Jap flyboys in this theater are so "careful"...

New Guinea: The Aussies still wait at Lae for more friends to arrive that plow through the terrible terrain coming from PM and Buna. This takes forever so on this front there will be kind of forced peace for a while. We prepare some landing (maybe Hollandia?) - but that should come after we see how our plans to assault the New Britain group with Gasmata (damaged by air attacks) and Rabaul (recon says still very strong) works out. The Jap airforce has also got a new unit in form of Tojo fighters whichs seem to be better than the older model P38s we can use for escort - so the air attacks on Rabaul have been cancelled even of we sank some AKs/AKls in the harbour the last turns. Instead we bomb Lae, Finschhafe and Gasmata. Fighter opposition there mostly weak. P40e should slowly leave that area however when more Tojos should arrive. P40Ks seem to able at least to deal with Zeros + Oscars quite good. There was also some weak operation from a small fleet near Finschhafen with 1 CV or CVL - they dissapeared after ca. the half of the attacking Kates were slaughtered by K40ks + P38s (with the loss of 2-3 machines on our side, while the Zeros were not able to defend the bombers)

Sub war: We just lost a British DD near Ceylon to a sub torp, bad luck. Otherwise we happily damage + sink Jap AKs - mostly on the surface by gun fire also the Dutch subs still bring the one or other odd fish into the target. We wonder where all the Jap TKs are as we have not sank or encountered them the last months....

General: Lae should be taken or pocketed in 1 month or so (the movement rate there is too slow to plan for a sooner time). Depending how the planned US operation in direction Rabaul + Gasmata will work, we should consider the next steps in 2-3 weeks of game time. This operation will use forces assembled at Noumea, Luganville and Suva. Also thinking about a landing on Tarawa using the forces assembled at PH.