Hunter from the Sky (FJ) vs the Kiwi Emu (DivPac88)

[Fallschirmjager]

A battle of the Mid South vs the South West Pacific.
A battle of 18 time zones difference
A battle so titanic that if one was to hop on a plane you would arrive at the other 32 hours and 30 minutes removed and having traveled 9,000 miles and spent $3,300 one way

Besides all that, this will be my first serious AAR on this forum. I am going to be the Allies powers and DivPac88 is going to be the forces of the Imperial Japanese Empire.

We selected scenario 2 since I am apparently crazy. [;)]
I am maybe crazy, but I think we both are committed long term players who are going to be looking for a long grinding struggle.
I think scen 2 keeps things a bit more even heading into 43 and turns the game into an action packed bloodbath.


This AAR is going to be a bit creative in style until I find my voice. I don't plan on posting combat summaries since those are boring. I will probably do a mixture of screenshots, strategy, planning, talking out loud, pleading for help and making fun of myself.

As the Allies there is not much to do on the first turn besides get stuff the hell out of Dodge. I of course cannot move things that are in port or unhistorical moves. But I can move my few task forces that are at sea to safer water so that my admiraship can get them sunk at a later time.
This includes my handful of carriers and TF Z

The poor soul who wonder into this thread will find my overall playstyle and excruciatingly careful. I turtle myself up the first 12 months. Content to gather supplies and build a few key supply dumps. If I can sink ships its ok. But it does not really matter since by the second and third year of the war I will have better weapons to use.
And Japan does not get replacements for things like light cruisers and battleships. So I am not one to foolishly throw away point early on.
I find that pre war ships are useful even in 44 after upgrades. They get nice shiny AA guns and radar and make good escorts ASW ships.
Or I can covert them.

I am also from the school of 'firepower is king' I am by no means a finesse player. I will usually only have one offensive on at a time and a max of two.
I shell and shell and bomb and bomb and flatten and then roll in with 3 extra divisions anyways. The Allies allow you to play like that and it works well with my play style.

I really really hate losing ships too. So I like to win in detail by going for broke in massive offensives at the sake of only having 1-2 theaters open.

Of course a lot can change in a PBEM and right now I don't know which route I am going to go. I fully expect to get smashed in every possible area for 12-18 months. It might even be the fall of 43 before I launch my first offensive.

Skill wise I am intermediate. So this should be an interesting game. I do consider myself careful and conservative which I think alot of Allied players aren't and it leads to their downfall.
I think I am good at using subs which is the Allies #2 greatest strength
I think I am good at using even old pre war ships. In games where my opponent changes his opening attack and goes after Manila instead of PH always puts a smile on my face.
I love those old girls. Early game they make good escorts on that long long road to Aussie land when you are building up supply. They have good AA after the spring of 42 and take damage well. In a surface scrape they arn't bad.
You can even conduct the occasional surprise raid with them and nip at the outer edges of the Japanese Empire with bombardments that do good damage.
Then once the war turns and you can go on the offensive they really shine. Sailing them together in bombardment groups and letting them use their 40 odd 14" and 16" guns over the course of 2 weeks makes invasion prep easier.
We will see what happens in this game.

[Fallschirmjager]

I promised a picture so this is the first. If I had to sum up my naval talent level, this would be it [;)]

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

I promised a picture so this is the first. If I had to sum up my naval talent level, this would be it [;)]

[:D]

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Good luck. I dont want to nitpick but Japan does indeed get BB and CL replacments[:'(]

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: Gräfin Zeppelin

Good luck. I dont want to nitpick but Japan does indeed get BB and CL replacments[:'(]

Yeah I know, but not enough to cover their losses and each time a Japanese player loses a ship they lose a little bit of their soul

I mentioned the second best thing the Allied player is the sub war. The #1 thing is the factory lines. They just keep rolling out everything in unending waves. As long as you sit back and play it nice and safe the first 12-18 months you can then butcher your way to victory grinding down your opponent.

[Fallschirmjager]

One screen from the prewar. Here is Dec 6

The Allied Pacific fleet at anchor in happier times

The next day would bring fire and death and five years of unending, relentless war

[Fallschirmjager]

Turn 1 is complete and I got off pretty easily. I only lost 5 ships overall and two worth caring about.

There was a surface combat six hexes south of Hong Kong which I have never seen before. I had the British MTB squadron moving at cruising speed trying to make the PI so they could fight among the cover of the islands.
They ran into a Japanese TF of one CA and one DD.
Combat got as close as 5,000 yards but the damn things would not fire a torpedo! Three got hit with 20 cm fire and sank.
The rest fled. Not big losses but annoying that they would not launch a torpedo volley. That would have been a nice early war gift to score a hit.
Rain and the MTB have high speed. They should have closed! Where is the spirit of Nelson?

Day Time Surface Combat, near Hong Kong at 77,65, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
MTB 7
MTB 8
MTB 9
MTB 10
MTB 11
MTB 12, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 26, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 27, Shell hits 1, and is sunk



Low visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 6,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 6,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 6,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 26 at 6,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
MTB 27 sunk by CA Chokai at 5,000 yards
MTB 12 sunk by CA Chokai at 5,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 8 at 5,000 yards
Range increases to 8,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 26 at 8,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 8 at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 26 at 12,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 9 at 12,000 yards
Range increases to 13,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 26 at 13,000 yards
DD Sagiri engages MTB 26 at 13,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 9 at 13,000 yards
Range increases to 14,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 26 at 14,000 yards
DD Sagiri engages MTB 26 at 14,000 yards
DD Sagiri engages MTB 7 at 14,000 yards
Range increases to 16,000 yards
MTB 26 sunk by CA Chokai at 16,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 9 at 16,000 yards
CA Chokai engages MTB 7 at 16,000 yards
Task forces break off...

The British is Malaya gave a good account of themselves with their AA work. They shot down a few bombers. Every bomber shot down brings the end of the struggle a little closer.

My usual strategy in the peninsula is to retreat everything down to Singapore and the hex just north of Singapore. This concentration can make the city hold a few months. Getting strung up and down Malaya is never good. A general retreat is going to be be issued to march down to the fortress city.
If I can last until Feb 1st 1942 I will be happy. That will give me time to shift supplies and what few troops I have to the India/Burma border

In the DEI there was no activity. I am going to put up a screen of subs at chokepoints and begin marching troops to the major cities of the DEI. These few hardpoints I hope can hold on for a few months.
I may load up some cargo ships with some supplies and resource/oil and sail it to Singapore. Not sure yet. Is that a good idea?
One major piece and the only agressive action I am going to take at the early stage, is to form two powerful surface fleets in the DEI.
It is going to be a hodge podge of ships from the Royal navy, USN and Royal Dutch Navy. The Prince of Wales and Repulse have fled south from Sing to the DEI. With them went every CL and DD that does not begin the game with systems damage.
The POW will lead one surface group and the Repulse the other. One will be stationed on the north face of Java and the other on the east coast of Borneo.
The idea is that if DivePac has transport fleets uncovered by air I might be able to initiate a surface contest and do damage. The 15" and 16" guns means I can damage battleships too. If KB or any part of it shows up then I will break up the group and flee. The Dutch and USN ships will head south to Aus and the RN ships will use the edge of the map to skirt around the west end of Malacca and back up to Ceylon.

Finally, in PH the attack got off for DivePac but I think I had some serious luck. While there were a lot of hits, it was fairly spread around and not much serious damage. In fact I think all my BBs should survive and not face any serious repair time. Of course DP could hang around a few more days and do more serious damage.
One ship, the DD Chew, was hit by a torpedo and sank. There was also an odd attack on Lahaina.
It sank the SS Gudgeon
That made me mad. I hate losing subs early war [:@]
Much less a valuable fleet sub.
She is one of the newest fleet boats in the Navy and very valuable. She was hit by two 800 KG bombs and had no chance.

Other than that I think I got off pretty light. Still a shame I lost a fleet boat on the opening turn [:(]


Afternoon Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 130 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
B5N2 Kate x 45
D3A1 Val x 108



Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 11 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 3 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 3 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 1 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 1
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 3, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 3, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 5, on fire
DD Chew, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DMS Trevor, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 1
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Raleigh, Torpedo hits 1
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 1
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
PT-20, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CM Oglala, Bomb hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 46
Port hits 4
Port fuel hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
14 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
13 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
11 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-211 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes

Training flight from VMF-211 has been caught up in attack


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Lahaina , at 182,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 57 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
B5N2 Kate x 45



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAP Etolin, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Gudgeon, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk


Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb

[Fallschirmjager]

I hate that second turn as the Allies. It takes forever.

I got about 85% of what I wanted done. Over the next few turns I will finish it out. Mostly moving all of those transports from where they are to more useful ports. I have my key airgroups set to wartime settings and most importantly I have every sub on a mission now.
I moved a half dozen to Formosa, two to the coast of Vietnam, 20 or so to the coast of Japan and all of the Dutch subs to choke points in the DEI.

I issued order in the Philippines, Malaysia and the DEI to move troops to key cities. I retreated everything I have in Malaya down to Khola and Singapore. It is going to be a lot of marching but hopefully I can get there before the Japanese and fortify the city so that I can hold it longer.

I fully expect DivePac to hang around PH for another day or possibly even two days. He had an extremely disappointing attacks and must be frustrated.
When he does attack again he will face a gauntlet of American fighters and a wall of flak. He destroyed very few planes. I have about 75 fighters I can throw up and hundreds of AA guns.
I don't think I will lose any of my BBs. They took very little damage and have put out all of their fires. As long as I can avoid a critical hit then I should be able to keep them all.
If I can keep them all that would be huge! They would deny him VPs and allow me to use them later as AA platforms and as a powerful bombardment fleet.

Besides my sub fleet I am not taking the offensive at all. I am trying to avoid losing ships and keep as much afloat as I can.

December should be interesting

[stuman]

Good luck !

Btw, spent some time in your town last summer. Had a good time.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: stuman

Good luck !

Btw, spent some time in your town last summer. Had a good time.

Hey thanks!
I found myself in Memphis over this past summer on a work related trip and really enjoyed it. It was about 95 and we stayed right on the water but other than that is was a fine trip.
We had dinner at Rendezvous Ribs which was outstanding. Memphis definitely has it over St. Louis in pork BBQ.
I think Kansas City has the edge in Beef BBQ.

[Fallschirmjager]

I probably should have shut up
This turn really hurt. Every battleship got hammered and I lost two of them. DivePacs Zeros easily brushed aside my PH Cap with few losses and he got a 200+ bomber force through in an afternoon attack from long range.
His Vals hit the airfield and even conducted a city attack (evil bastard [;)], at least now I have provocation for late game B-29 attacks)
All of his Kates went after my ships.

I lost the Pennsylvania from a magazine explosion. The Arizona simply took too many torpedoes and went to the bottom. The rest of my ships took varying amounts of damage and all are now moderately to heavily damaged.

If I was DivePac I would hang around another turn and attacks again. My flak and fighters have proven that they are totally unable to stop his attacks.

Elsewhere things are kind of quite. He still has not landed in the PI and I am moving air assets and troops to strong points.

On the Malay peninsula he has landed at the top and fought off the defenders and is going to start moving south. Hopefully my troops hurry it up and march down the peninsula ahead of his attackers.

In the good news department all of my subs have cleared Manilla harbor and are headed out to various choke points. Hopefully they start getting some attacks in.

Still only the one landing and Bataan Island taken. Wake has no signs at all of activity, the PI have no landings, the DEI has no landings.

What is DP up too? I do not mind too much. Every turn brings me closer to the full might of the Allies being brought to bear through the assembly line.

[ny59giants]

I'm a transplant (raised in upstate NY) living in NE Tenn (just outside of Johnson City). [;)]

Port Blair - be careful about allowing your opponent to take this early and closing off your retreat route of LBA to India/Burma. You can send one of the brigades already at sea or land them at Chittagong and use the PBY-4 from Luzon to fly the troops in. Once you get the planes out of Malaya and/or Java you can pick them up. Don't know if your opponent will be that aggressive, but losing Port Blair early can hurt.

Pearl - he should stay around and hit it again. I've seen poor percentage of torpedoes being launched, so I would stay.

[Fallschirmjager]

I am never all that good in Burma. I am a naturally timid player as the Allies and I hate to let myself get cut off in Rangoon and lose half of the British army. I usually end up losing all of Burma and the enemy gets to about Calcutta before I get enough reinforcements to drive them back to the border.

My biggest fear in every Allied game that I play is that my opponent will make a strong push and take Noumea or Suva or both.
This cuts off the supply line to Australia and really really makes it hard until 1943 when you get enough carriers to drive him back out.

And as the Japanese it does not take much to take and hold it. I usually take it with a regiment and then reinforce it with a SNLF batallion and a single base force. Then I keep about 25 Zeros and 30-40 Betties.
A seaplane tender is nice too since that frees up all your Betties for anti shipping.
Have the seaplanes on 80% search and you can detect convoys and then the Betties can do their grim work of sinking them.
It virtually cuts off the entire southwest pacific for the Allies.
Hopefully DP does not do this

[Fallschirmjager]

Two turns have happened since my last update.

I lost three French transports to two converted merchant ships. DP set them lose around Fiji and they used 8.8 cm and 4.7 inch shells to tear apart the transports.
I lost a British transport to a sub east of Singapore.

The worst loss was a modified passenger liner I lost in Hawaii from DPs bombing of Lahinna it was worth 16 points and fire overtook it and I lost it.

My subs have began to fight back but encountered stiff resistence. Two were depth charged and took damage. One was an S class boat and another was a Dutch sub. Both should be able to be repaired quickly.
The USS Seawolf hit a mine in Cam Rahn Bay and took heavy damage. I don't think I will lose it, but it is going to be touch and go. It was stupid of me to use it in a port hex with swallow water and mines. My fault but it will still hurt if I lose it.

Dec 10th will be the day that the destruction of the IJN officially began. Even if it begins in the smallest way. One of my subs torpedoed a sub chaser and sunk it. It is 430 tons and only worth 2 points. But it is my first ship sunk and a start to a slow game from the Allied side.

Before hitting the mine, the Seawolf did put a torpedo into a transport. I was surprised the torpedo worked!
It took heavy fire but since it was just off the coast I think it will survive.

In the PI DP finally lands troops on the northern coast. They land unopposed since I am falling back to three strongpoints. Hopefully I can collect supplies and build forts. Otherwise my tactics and going to look really stupid.

[Fallschirmjager]

December 13th 1941

Two more turns have past and my turns now mainly consist of housekeeping. Moving the ever endless list of transports to useful spots and begining to plan out the massive logistical nightmare that is playing the Allies.
Sydney has over 200 ships in the harbor now and I have sent 8 DDs from PH to serve as escorts. Once they arrive I will begin the long, long and perilous journey to San Francisco to load up supply and move it back to Sydney.
I have a smaller transport fleet at Los Angeles loading supply and fuel for New Zealand.
Those Clemson and Wickes destroyers make good escorts early in the war.

The Allies are short everywhere! The only thing you have enough of early on is cargo ships. You are short everything else. It is a humbling and painful experience to wait on the war machine to ramp up.

I have still only sunk one pitiful ship. I have been very slow getting out of the gate. Part of this is that DivePac is a very skilled and cautious player.
He protects everything with ample escorts and surfance vessels and his pace so far has been slow and deliberate. He may not cover as much ground as the typical Japanese player, but he loses far fewer ships to silly overexercise and impatience. That will serve him well later on when escorts and transports are in short supply.
It is frustrating me do far that my subs are depth charged with every attack and my planes never find a transport group without air cover.

He has landed a lot of troops in the Malay peninsula and is bombing everything as they march towards Singapore.
In the PI he has landed a lot of troops on the north island but my troops were fleeing ahead of this and there has been no combat. He is also bombing Manila and Clark field daily with 50 bomber raids.
More disturbingly he has also landed on New Guiana taking Hollandia and Wewak.
I have nothing to defend Rabaul and Port Moresby with and should he wish, he will take them easily.
I am more worried at this point of him taking New Caledonia and Fiji and severing my supply line to the South Pacific.

He has not made any moves in the DEI yet.

[Blackhorse]

Interesting AAR. Good luck!

Combat got as close as 5,000 yards but the damn things would not fire a torpedo! Three got hit with 20 cm fire and sank.

British MTBs have to be within 2,000 yards to fire torpedos. American PTs have a range of 6,000.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

Interesting AAR. Good luck!

Combat got as close as 5,000 yards but the damn things would not fire a torpedo! Three got hit with 20 cm fire and sank.

British MTBs have to be within 2,000 yards to fire torpedos. American PTs have a range of 6,000.

That surface action really made me mad I was cursing the damn RN to hell for not firing.
There have been some PT actions in the PI as I have tried to do some damage but it has all been for naught. He keeps his TFs so well escorted and covered by other surface fleets that my PTs simply flee from combat.

It has been really frustrating so far. I have not found any opportunities to do damage.

[Fallschirmjager]

Slow turn. Not much in the way of combat. Two subs got depth charged but took no damage. There is a lot troops ashore in the PI and I fear the hammer is about to fall here. I have three strongpoints at Clark Field, Manila and Bataan. Supplies are not much in any area and I don't expect there areas to hold out for very long.
In the south PI I have everyone marching on Davao but DP has made no landings yet.

In Malaya the concentration at Singapore is going well and I have 70,000 supplies stockpiled and new troops are marching in every day. The Japanese are fast on there heels. I am never good at estimates so I am not even going to make a guess at when combat will commence.
I have every unit in Malaya marching here and I have level 2 forts already constructed. If I can get them to maybe level 4 and get 90,000 supply in then perhaps I can hold on until March or so.
I hope DP begins flying some air missions here soon. I have a lot of AA guns concentrated here so I think I have a chance of shooting down a lot of bombers.

There is one really funny surface combat I want to share. It happened in the north of the PI between my PT boats and a huge Japanese transport TF with some escorts.
It was a bad day for PT boats, clear weather and unlimited visibility. My PT boats were in the hands of an aggressive officer. He charged anyways and got within 8,000 yards and took some long range fire. I thought he really was going to charge down the transports and get in an attack. But his nerve failed and he broke off the engagement.
Meanwhile, wholesale panic took hold in the Japanese fleet and the ships began to take evasive maneuvers. Two transports ran into one another. Hopefully they both took heavy damage and sink [;)]
One thing I did notice is that the TF is one hex away from land so I think I caused them to break off landing troops and supplies and get back out to sea [:D]
In the great course of things it means very little. But I suppose every delay no matter how small is a victory.
Here is the combat report.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Vigan at 80,73, Range 13,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Tachikaze
PC Kaki
PC Sumire
TB Chidori
TB Manazuru
TB Hatsukari
TB Tomozuru
DMS W-17
DMS W-18
DMS W-19
PB Bisan Maru #3
AMc Choun Maru #7
PB Choun Maru #18
SC Ch 16
SC Ch 17
SC Ch 18
AMC Asaka Maru
xAK Sydney Maru
xAK Anyo Maru
xAK Kumagawa Maru
xAK Tatukami Maru
xAK Okiyu Maru
xAK Kosei Maru
xAK Kotoku Maru
xAK Keisho Maru
xAK Hokuan Maru
xAK Maya Maru
xAK Lima Maru
xAK Maebasi Maru
xAK Mito Maru
xAK Takaoka Maru
xAK Tarayasu Maru
xAK Atlas Maru
xAK Kamoi Maru
xAK Shinyubari Maru
xAK Shirogane Maru
xAK Tenzan Maru
xAK Yamadori Maru
xAK Karachi Maru
xAK Pacific Maru
xAK Kuwayama Maru
xAK Siraha Maru
xAK Chuko Maru
xAP Kokuryu Maru
xAP Kongo Maru

Allied Ships
PT-31
PT-32
PT-33
PT-34
PT-35
PT-41
PT Q-111
PT Q-112
PT Q-113
MTB 8
MTB 10
MTB 11



Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 13,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 13,000 yards
TB Hatsukari engages PT Q-113 at 13,000 yards
PT Q-113 engages PC Kaki at 13,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards
xAP Kongo Maru , xAP Kokuryu Maru , xAK Chuko Maru ,
xAK Siraha Maru , xAK Kuwayama Maru , xAK Pacific Maru ,
xAK Karachi Maru , xAK Yamadori Maru , xAK Tenzan Maru ,
xAK Shirogane Maru , xAK Shinyubari Maru , xAK Kamoi Maru ,
xAK Atlas Maru , xAK Tarayasu Maru , xAK Takaoka Maru ,
xAK Mito Maru , xAK Maebasi Maru screened from combat
- escorted by DD Tachikaze , PC Sumire , PC Kaki ,
PB Choun Maru #18 , SC Ch 18
TB Tomozuru engages PT Q-112 at 11,000 yards
DMS W-17 engages PT Q-113 at 11,000 yards
PT Q-113 engages xAK Kumagawa Maru at 11,000 yards
Gamboa D. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 8,000 yards
DD Tachikaze engages MTB 8 at 8,000 yards
DMS W-17 engages PT-41 at 8,000 yards
TB Chidori engages MTB 8 at 8,000 yards
PT-34 engages DMS W-18 at 8,000 yards
PB Bisan Maru #3 engages PT Q-113 at 8,000 yards
SC Ch 18 engages PT Q-113 at 8,000 yards
PT Q-113 engages xAK Maya Maru at 8,000 yards
PT Q-113 engages xAK Anyo Maru at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 15,000 yards
xAK Yamadori Maru collides with xAK Kuwayama Maru at 80 , 73
DD Tachikaze engages PT Q-113 at 15,000 yards
TB Tomozuru engages PT Q-112 at 15,000 yards
TB Hatsukari engages PT-34 at 15,000 yards
Range increases to 21,000 yards
xAP Kongo Maru , xAP Kokuryu Maru , xAK Chuko Maru ,
xAK Siraha Maru , xAK Kuwayama Maru , xAK Pacific Maru ,
xAK Karachi Maru , xAK Yamadori Maru , xAK Tenzan Maru ,
xAK Shirogane Maru , xAK Shinyubari Maru , xAK Kamoi Maru ,
xAK Atlas Maru , xAK Tarayasu Maru , xAK Takaoka Maru ,
xAK Mito Maru screened from combat
- escorted by PC Sumire , PC Kaki , PB Choun Maru #18 ,
SC Ch 17
Task forces break off...

[Fallschirmjager]

Today was a good turn. It started out badly as two S-Boats missed attacks on escorts. The Tarpon was depth charged outside of Naha and took moderate damage. It then stupidly made a auto move for the Chinese coast. I changed it to PH and hopefully it will make it and get repaired. DPs ASW has been deadly so far.

The good part came off the coast of PI as DP tried landing at Lingayan. I had a coastal gun unit stationed there sporting the very outdated 155mm 1918 GPF gun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_de_155mm_GPF

It did good work though hitting two transports hard in one landing. It then hit two destroyers and another transports.
The two transports in the first attack took a lot of shells and are blazing wrecks. I hope the damn things sink. It would be nice for a change to actually do some damage.
The two destroyers will be out of combat for a few weeks but should be ok. The third transport is probably the same.

Elsewhere the war rolls on like normal. Guam actually withstood an attack after being heavily pounded in the air and through naval guns. It will probably fall in the next day or so. I am amazed that it held on a turn and a deliberate attack.

I did lose two useful ships to my own stupidity. Two AVDs. I sailed them from PH, the Holbert and Thornton, towards Wake Island. I stupidly thought I could save the Wildcats at Wake. DP must be sailing KB in that direction. Val's struck and sunk both ships. 10 easy points handed to DP.
Dumb on my part. Live and learn.

Here is the combat reports for the action off Lingayan.


Pre-Invasion action off Lingayen

61 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DD Hokaze
DD Yakaze
xAKL Turusima Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Taiko Maru
xAKL Kofuku Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tatsukaze
PB Nanpo Maru
PB Kamitsu Maru
SC Ch 6
SC Ch 5
SC Ch 4
SC Ch 3
SC Ch 2
SC Ch 1
xAP Kamo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled



DD Hokaze firing at 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
DD Yakaze firing at 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
155mm M1918 GPF Battery engaging xAKL Turusima Maru at 5,000 yards
155mm M1918 GPF Battery engaging xAKL Kofuku Maru at 5,000 yards
PB Taiko Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Nanpo Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Kamitsu Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 4,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Lingayen

TF 119 troops unloading over beach at Lingayen, 79,75

Japanese ground losses:
525 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)



18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 48th Engr Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 48th Engr Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 48th Engr Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost overboard during unload of 48th Engr Rgt
10 Support troops lost in surf during unload of 48th Engr Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 9th Infantry Rgt
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 9th Infantry Rgt
20 troops of a IJA HMG Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
20 troops of a IJA HMG Squad lost overboard during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
10 Support troops accidentally lost during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
10 Support troops accidentally lost during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt
20 troops of a IJA HMG Squad lost in surf during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt
10 Support troops lost in surf during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad accidentally lost during unload of 47th Infantry Rgt
10 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 47th Infantry Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad accidentally lost during unload of 16th Engr Rgt
10cm T91 Howitzer lost in surf during unload of 48th FA Rgt
Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 7th Tank Rgt
16 troops of a IJA Cavalry Squad lost overboard during unload of 48th Recon Rgt
20 troops of a IJA HMG Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 47th Infantry Rgt /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 47th Infantry Rgt /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 47th Infantry Rgt /3
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad accidentally lost during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt /2
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 1st Formosa Inf. Rgt /2
Motorized Support damaged beyond repair during unload of 16th Recon Rgt /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 20th Infantry Rgt /5

Invasion Support action off Lingayen - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

54 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DD Tatsukaze, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hokaze
DD Yakaze, Shell hits 1
PB Taiko Maru
PB Nanpo Maru
PB Kamitsu Maru
SC Ch 6
SC Ch 5
SC Ch 4
SC Ch 3
SC Ch 2
SC Ch 1
xAP Kamo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



DD Tatsukaze firing at 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DD Tatsukaze
DD Hokaze firing at 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DD Hokaze
DD Yakaze firing at 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DD Yakaze
PB Taiko Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Nanpo Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Kamitsu Maru fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 6 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 5 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 4 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 3 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 2 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 1 fired at enemy troops
DD Hokaze fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

Invasion Support action off Lingayen

31 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAKL Nanko Maru, Shell hits 2
PB Taiko Maru
DD Yakaze
PB Nanpo Maru
PB Kamitsu Maru
SC Ch 6
SC Ch 5
SC Ch 4
SC Ch 3
SC Ch 2
SC Ch 1
xAP Kamo Maru
DD Tatsukaze

Japanese ground losses:
26 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



155mm M1918 GPF Battery engaging xAKL Nanko Maru at 10,000 yards
DD Yakaze firing to suppress enemy battery at 10,000 yards
PB Taiko Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Nanpo Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Kamitsu Maru fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 6 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 5 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 4 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 3 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 2 fired at enemy troops
SC Ch 1 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

DP lost a lot of troops in the landing. I would have to think they landed with a lot of fatigue and disruption after dodging 155mm shells on the ride in. That slow slow up the pace of operations a bit.

[Fallschirmjager]

I have been lazy and I need to update this. I can't even remember how many turns have passed since my last update. 2 or 3
Anyways...the forces of DP continue to claw there way forward in the PI. His leading forces now sit at Clark field having arrived there at our current turn. I only have a fort level of 1 there and not much supply. I have a ton of units there but most of them are next to useless. I expect him to mow right over and sever Manila from Bataan and Clark Field.
Once that happens I will hurry everyone back to Bataan and try to hold on as long as possible. Bataan does not have much supply either. Manila is in the best shape but still only has a fort level of 1.
I don't expect the entire PI to last much longer than the middle of January. DP has a ton of units and they have moved fast.

Malaya is looking better. His units are not moving all that quickly and my units are easily falling back to Singapore. I have 54% done on my third fort level and 66,000 supply
A transport TF with the 44th and 45th Indian Brigades recently landed along with about 4,000 supply.
I have a second TF with some British units and a lot of supply 1 day off map. I hope I can land it before he closes down the area.

Hong Kong has seen two deliberate attacks. I have caused about 1,000 Japanese casualties. I don't expect HK to hold on any longer than Christmas. But my forces there have done better than I expected.

Guam fell a few days ago as expected.

KB has struck Wake Island and my Wildcats there were devastated as expected. No landings yet but I expect them in the next few days.

DP has made no other moves there. He has extended as far south as the north coast of New Guinea.

I have cargo fleets up and going now and my logistics machine is starting to get going.

I did make one really stupid error. I sent a TF of 8 USN DDs from PH to Sydney to help escort cargo TFs. They had the fuel to reach Sydney on cruise speed. Well I accidentally put them on full speed. Then I made the idiot move of not checking on them for several turns. They burnt through their fuel and then started taking damage. All of them have system damage between 5-25 and rising. There are about 14 hexes out of Palmyra and in serious trouble. I have a tanker and escort loading fuel and I am going to sail it towards the TF and refuel it at sea.
If I lose even one of those ships I am going to break something on my desk. I can't afford to lose precious ships like those in the early going. Dumb stupid error on my part.

Two other notable events in our game. My PT boats out of Manila were annihilated two turns ago. They ran into a TF containing BBs and I lost two MTBs and one PT
The rest fled back to Manila and I am only going to try using them when the weather is bad.

The second event is the current turn I finally had good luck with my subs. I have most of my fleet boats in position around the Home Islands. This turn they made three successful attacks. I sunk one AKL and damaged two AKs heavily. To date I still have sunk only two ships. But I finally this turn got in some good licks.