Enthusiastically Sailing With Jerry (Reluctant Admiral)

[Prydwen]

Hi,

So this is an AAR covering the Japanese side in the Reluctant Admiral mod version 4.1. It is me as Japan and PaulvonHindenburg playing the Allies. This is closed to the Allied commander so, Fredrik, if you're reading please stop here.

House Rules are:
FOW ON
Advanced weather ON
Allied DMG Control ON
PDU ON
Historical 1st turn OFF
Dec 7th surprise ON
Reliable torps OFF
Realistic RD ON
No unit withdrawals ON
Variable reinforcements +/- 60 days
Facility expansion OFF
Auto upgrade and replacements OFF
No strategic bombing before 2/1943 (4E attack on ships, troops, ports and airfields is OK)
No strategic bombing in/from China untill Allies has a lvl 7+ port in Vietnam or China
Allies may move any at sea naval TF’s on turn 1
No invasions in non-base or dot hexes.
Must pay PP’s for all restricted units crossing borders, exept if Japanese or Chinese

I think that covers all of them. The last one is interesting. Basically what it means is if a restricted Japanese or Chinese unit can march there it's allowed. I'm still not 100% sure about that one but I'm willing to give it a shot. Potentially we could see Chinese in India and Burma and we will see Manchuko units in China.

I'm working on turn 1 right now. I expect it to take a few more days. I haven't played a PBEM in a long long time but I have lurked here off and on for years. I'd appreciate any advice and/or suggestions at any time throughout the game.

I had best get back to working on my turn.

Joe

[John 3rd]

Go GET 'EM!

Hope you have a blast.

My sister lives in Wichita and it has been a nice place to visit.

[Prydwen]

Since I need a break from Turn 1 (will it ever end?!?) I'll put another post here. I suppose we can go over a little of my thoughts, plans, and dreams. But first, thank you, John. I'm really looking forward to trying out your mod. I haven't played it before so it may not have been the best idea to come into my first PBEM in 6+ years playing a scenario I've never seen before but whatever. I too like Wichita. I'm stationed at McConnell AFB. Been there 5 years now! Where did the time go?

We'll start with my plans for my second least favorite place to be locked into a land war: China. Russia is number one by the way. Mainly because I hate to be cold and they're more technologically advanced than China so a tougher fight. Anyway, the China plan is don't screw up too bad. That's number 1. I also hope to utilize Manchukuo units and units already in China to cut off, encircle, and then destroy as many Chinese as I can. There's a couple areas in particular I'm thinking of but I'll go in further detail later when I post a map.

For the PI I want to get them pushed into Bataan as soon as possible and get the siege going so I can push harder and faster on the SRA. We'll have typical invasions at Aparri and Vigan should start us off nicely.

Down south it's interesting because I have the paratroopers on Peleliu. I have a feeling these guys will come in very handy in this area. There's several important locations in range. The question is how much I can send in one turn. Certainly Ternate and Manado are in range. Maybe even Kendari or Ambon. If they aren't they can be soon. To start I plan to use them to get a beach head on Mindanao. I'm leaning towards Davao. Any thoughts or suggestions on the best place to use these guys?

Moving to Malaya, I intend to do something of a Mersing Gambit. It won't be a magic move to Mersing on turn 1 because that's gamey imo. I'm going to form the fleet up around Soc Trang and use the Akagi/Kaga TF (KB2) to cover them on the way in. KB 2 is positioned a couple hexes south of the invasion fleet for now so should be able to intercept the RN if they stick their noses out too far.

My main goal for the beginning is to get the resources in my control and moving safely to Japan. So I do the Mersing Gambit for a couple reasons. One, if he smells it and retreats to Singapore I take the rest of the peninsula that much quicker and Singapore is under siege. If he doesn't Singapore is still under siege and falls that much quicker. The emphasis is on the speed of the operation. I want the resources before fortresses start popping up ie Fortress Palembang. Palembang should be safer and faster to take with Singapore under siege sooner so... I'm going to attempt the gambit.

Pearl Harbor. I've always attacked PH. I don't know how it'll go with just 4 CV's attacking and I do want CV's in the Pacific to cover Wake and Rabaul and such. I'm leaving this for last because I'm still up in the air. I lean towards PH but am considering using KB 1 on Manilla. It should assist in my stated goal of getting at the resources quicker by getting the sieges started sooner. I'll have to weigh this one. I'm not convinced one way or the other. Anyone have any thoughts? Experiences either way?

That's all the time I have right now, it's time to get ready for work. That darn job keeps getting in the way of my game time!

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

I just sent turn 1. I'm excited and a bit nervous! I haven't done a PBEM in a long long time. I wonder what I forgot to do on turn 1. I need to write up a checklist or something.

Turn 1 should see the standard invasions in PI and Malaya. There will be a para-drop on Davao with follow up troops on the way to unload once the port is taken. I also have a small force set to invade Dadjangas so I can focus in one less direction. I decided to go with the 4 CV strike on Pearl. The other 2 are headed to the Soc Trang area. The mini KB is going to cover the Mindanao ops. The CVE's will assist around Luzon.

Now to bite my nails until the turn arrives...

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

Well, I'm overall pleased with turn 1.

Pearl Harbor: The PH strike went well. Two of the Kate units carried torpedoes. Of course I hoped for all. We showed hits on all BB's including a magazine explosion on Tennessee.

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1
BB California, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Helena, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AVD Thornton, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AE Pyro, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AO Ramapo, Bomb hits 1

Looks like 18 torpedo hits (Banzai!) on the BB's along with numerous bomb hits. Some of them were 250kg from the Vals but most were 800kg. I'm sure I've done worse with the full 6 CV's.

Malaya Landed at Kota Bharu and ordered the troops to attack.

The RAF came out to play and attacked my shipping in this area. The replay showed two 500lb hits on Fuso (I think) and they turned out to be FOW! Praise be to FOW! The RN looks to be playing Sir Robin. I'll have to watch for Force Z.

Philipines: We landed at Vigan. Should take it tomorrow. The attacks on Clark went well. My Zeros did great work. On the day P40E losses were 12, P40B 8, P26 7. All for the loss of 1 Zero on the day.

The para-drop took Davao as planned. Follow on forces are on the way.

The wheels are all in motion. I'm hoping to get another turn tonight. I'll certainly have time. I'm over in Europe at the moment, btw and I work the night shift. I don't have to work tonight so I'll have all night to work on it.

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

Ever find yourself re-learning lessons? I do. Two air raids in particular taught me lessons. Rather the same one just two times. The first was an attack of 27 Nells escorted by 27 Betties. Right into every P40 in the PI. The second was just 50 betties. Grrrrr!!!! The cherry on top was 40 Zeros showing up to sweep and running into the 4 P40s that hadn't used all their ammo on the Betties. Basically I lost a months production of Betties on day 2. Sigh. Lesson re-learned.

The naval arm of the navy did ok for me though. Some PT's sortied in the Phillipines. One was sunk for no losses.

Some PBY's managed to get through my cap and sink a transport at Vigan. It was already unloaded so not a major loss.

My subs did some good work. An xAP near Rangoon was attacked on the surface by I-126 and sunk. Another sub took a shot at CA Houston but the torpedoes didn't explode.

As expected Makin, Batan Island, Vigan, and Kota Bharu fell.

Nothing much else happened.

Joe

[John 3rd]

Good PH Strike using just 4 CV. I think four is enough to do what is needed and free-up two heavies for useful work elsewhere.

Too bad about the Betty/Nell.

[Prydwen]

Hi,

I was certainly pleased with the Pearl Harbor results. Tennessee showed up on the sunk ships list. I figure that's an accurate report. Based on the replay it took some tough shots. My Netties did a decent job of making up for going in unescorted. Nells out of the IndoChina area sortied against 6 or 8 xAK's. The first attack sunk 4 outright. The next sunk one, showed heavy damage on another, and completely missed the last. 5 for sure. I'll take it. And if they keep running that way eventually they'll run into KB 2.

PI: I sent a CL/4 DD force to go after the PT's that attacked my invasion fleets. Missed the PT's but ran into to PG's and sunk both. They still have plenty of ammo so are staying around to see what other trouble they can get in. 6 or 8 more PBY's attacked. A couple got damaged and the rest turned back. Laoag was picked up by the rowboat corps. They did quick work. The landings at Aparri were delayed. They've begun now. Should fall tomorrow.

Down in Mindanao the Dadjanges invasion is one or two days out. Davao follow on forces are three or four. I've ordered the paratroops at Peleliu to attack Ternate. I'll see if I can't get some float planes headed out there to keep an eye on things down that way. Forces are prepping for several bases in the area. Manado, Ambon, etc. I'd like to see if I can't push far enough to get in range and coordinate a para-drop for the same day I attack around Oosthaven or Palembang.

Malaya: It's looking like a Sir Robin. That's fine. It just makes it that much easier. I'll be landing at Mersing in two to three days. I doubt I'll catch too many Brits there. They have the pointer showing they're leaving.

I'll have to allocate some aviation support types to Kuantan so I'll have a level 4 AF closer to Singapore. I want to start sweeping with Zeros as soon as I can.

Speaking of Mersing, I have the cruiser force that starts up around Singora or Patani following a large invasion fleet along with the BB force that begins up there, Fuso and Yamashiro, I think. Additionally the Kaga and Akagi TF is with them. They have the Akagi Vals on ASW. Dutch and Brit subs are surely in the area and I don't want their working torpedoes catching one of my CV's. The rest are on naval attack. I don't expect much in the area that would survive contact with all that.

Subs: The hero of the day was I 160. It's first of two attacks was the TK Iris. One torpedo hit and the "sinking ship sound" afterwards. It's second attack of the day bagged the xAK Kedah with 2 torpedo hits.

Additionally the RO 64 got a torpedo hit on xAK Macdhui, also followed by the "sinking ship sound."

Banzai gentlemen!

I got an email from Fredrik and he's working on the turn so hopefully one more before I go to bed.

Joe

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: ItsAMadhouse

Must pay PP’s for all restricted units crossing borders, exept if Japanese or Chinese

I think that covers all of them. The last one is interesting. Basically what it means is if a restricted Japanese or Chinese unit can march there it's allowed. I'm still not 100% sure about that one but I'm willing to give it a shot. Potentially we could see Chinese in India and Burma and we will see Manchuko units in China.

Welcome!

Potentially? Uhm yeah, I think you can count on seeing a lot of Chinese units in Burma. If I were the allies, I would simply move ALL of my units there to keep them in supply. So, you need to plug that dike and quickly. Those units trained and with supply would be murderous. The typical Chinese Corps is about 780 AV when fully constituted, almost 50% over an IJ division.

[Cribtop]

Good luck!

Definitely agree with Pax. Keep the Chinese in China. Then use your Manchurian forces to put China in a box.

I have a secret method to avoid the sweep problem. I'll PM you tomorrow.

BANZAI!!!

[Prydwen]

Cribtop:

I appreciate the advive. Good gravy. Who has been in teh militaryh and been in a dreinking contest. I have.


Joe

[Prydwen]

Man, what a night! Promotion parties! [:D]

Well, back to the game. We've advanced a few more days since the last update. There has been good and bad luck on both sides.

We all knew it was a risk getting that close to Singapore before attrition could wear down the RAF. I think it was only three or four Swordfish that got through but they lined up on Kaga and put a torpedo in her. She can still make pretty good pace and I hope to avoid the pack of subs sitting outside Saigon. Damage is 21 sys and 41 float. [X(] I think she should make it though. Unless a sub gets to her. I have 4 ASW TF's with her as well as 5 DD's in the escort TF. Additionally ~100 Netties are flying ASW out of Saigon and all the Vals and Kates on Akagi.

But, the troops are on the peninsula and it has been cut in two. We shall see what we've cut off and find out whether it was worth it or not.

Meanwhile out in the pacific, an Allied CV paid a passing visit to my invasion fleets around Tarawa and Ocean Island. It's an interesting situation because KB is in the area so we'll see if we can catch it and maybe get a little vengeance for the Kaga! We need to gas up so we're going to stop and Jaluit and see which way he heads.

[Prydwen]

Pacific: Looks like the Allied CV will get away. KB must have distributed fuel amongst it's ships because it ended one hex short of Jaluit and didn't get any gas. Meanwhile the CV steamed further to the SW. Bummer but we will get another shot sooner or later. KB will gas at Kwajalein now and move N to cover the Wake invasion.

Speaking of Wake Island, in my Air Force travels I scored a trip out there! It was a gorgeous island and was one of my favorite trips I've ever been on. The island is covered with bunkers, an 8" coastal gun still in it's mount, a couple memorial sites, and the POW rock. It was a great place to visit. Only military and contractors go to the island so it isn't easy to get to but if you ever get the chance, I'd take it.

PI: The conquests in the PI are moving along. He saved me the trouble of running down one of his units on Mindanao by marching it to Davao. All my follow on forces landed there so I feel pretty secure. By pretty secure I mean 100%. We're going to shock attack and crush them.

Malaya: Tanks are moving up the peninsula and I have some infantry and armor moving down the other direction. 4 divisions are in strat move and following along as quickly as bases are taken.

The Kaga actually repaired 1 point of flotation damage. That puts it at 21 system 40 flood and 15 engine. I decided to send her to Cam Ranh Bay instead of Saigon. It's a bit further but doesn't have half a dozen subs parked in front of it. Kaga should make it there day after tomorrow I'm guessing.

The future: We are going to begin some of the next phase of invasions. I want to get moving into S. Borneo and Celebes. Specifically Tarakan and Manado. Next turn I'll start loading for both invasions. They will be covered by mini KB. If I have enough shipping handy we'll load up the Balikpapan invasion too.

Additionally I want to get to Singkawang. Having Kaga taken out of the fight will slow us down a bit here. I'm going to wait for the CVE's to arrive. They're a day or two out from Cam Ranh Bay and they'll join Akagi. We'll load up some extra fighters. This time I really don't want any Swordfish getting through.

Once KB is done up at Wake she'll head to the south pacific to cover the invasions at Kavieng and Rabaul. We'll possibly run forward and snag Lae while we're out there.

I have one of the IJN Assault Divisions prepping for Port Moresby but that will come later.

Based on the direction his CV is going I expect he's going to gather them up in Australia (Brisbane or Sydney) or more likely IMO they'll transit the Torres strait and make for the DEI.

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

So, where to start?

Pacific: Wake will be invaded next turn. KB plastered the runway. Looks like no acft there. Unless a naval target comes along we'll hit the ground troops tomorrow in support of the invasion. Afterwards KB will head down south to take care of the Rabaul invasion. I'm really weak in airpower down that way. It needs fixed next turn. I should have taken care of that awhile ago. Extra units will probably be pulled from the PI theater.

PI: That unit at Davao turned out to be a battalion. It was destroyed in the attack. Another unit seems to be headed that way as well. They'll find about 80-120 AV waiting if they get there before my units can march to Malaybalay. Cotabato was picked up by the rowboat corps.

Up on Luzon a PI division was crushed at Lingayen. The combat report showed over 200 squads destroyed for 1 squad destroyed! Banzai!

Sweeps over Manila and Clark found no cap. His P40's and P26's have been escorting in the neighborhood of 25-30 PBY's to attack my transports and surface groups unloading at Vigan. Now that I have some decent aviation support there I moved in 60 zeros and 30 Nates. The cap trap drove off all of his escorts and damaged some of the PBY's. roughly 20 attacked but scored no hits on the Cl/DD force I left as bait.

China: We saw Hong Kong fall today! I've been attacking forces along the roads and railroads, trying to clear them and cut off enemy units. I have an army of mostly Manchurian units totaling around 2400 AV (~400 AV is armor) working to encircle Loyang and Chengchow. It looks as if he may be pulling out. If so I'll take the easy win and move on. 1 hex NE of that stack is a 1000 AV army moving in the same direction just down the other rail line.

Malaya: About 50 Zeros out of Kota Bharu swept Singapore. They ran into the AVG flying a mix of H81-A3 x 19, P-39D Airacobra x 13, and P-400B X 19. The Zeros did excellent work driving off the entire group. Losses showed 3 Zeros and 5 Allied fighters with an unknown but, according to the combat replay, several additional Allied fighters damaged in the attack. Total losses for Zeros on the day (Malaya and PI) were 9 Zeros vs 17 P40's, 5 P39's, and 4 P400's.

A tank Rgt shock attacked 3 unknown units at Malacca. It was a bit of a gamble, not knowing what the units were but it turned out that it was 3 Bn's. They were driven off taking 685 casualties versus no Japanese losses. Two bases down south and one up north and the rail line will be clear. Then we see how the Singers invasion goes...

Joe

[Prydwen]

Quick update because I have to leave for work in ten minutes.

Last turn was a pretty slow one. Not much went on. My big stack of Manchurian units is about to attack 2 units around Loyang. I have my tanks set to pursue so if they retreat away from the bases they're done for. If they go into Loyang or the other one, I can't think of the name at the moment I'll consider an attack with the tanks. Any suggestions there? Roughly 400 AV of tanks against about 10 unknown Chinese units. AV unknown. If we can circle around the two bases there we should cut off 20 or so units. I looked back in the combat reports and since the war began roughly 700 Chinese squads have been destroyed.

The landing at Wake will start next turn. KB has softened it up nicely. I expect it to fall.

I mentioned getting some airpower to Truk. Some Nells arrived and I set some of them to search. At least I have some eyes in the area now. I didn't realize how bare I was down there. Some Claudes were upgraded in Japan the other day and have all repaired. They're island hopping out to Truk. Should be there in one or two turns. I feel much better about the area now.

I forgot to mention a couple turns ago one of my subs torpedoed the CL Dragon and scored 2 hits. She shows up as sunk which is good news. Other than Pearl Harbor BB's that CL is the biggest warship sunk. He's done a massive Sir Robin with his surface forces.

The Menado invasion fleet is under way. Two to three days and they'll arrive. I'll move my Mavis unit there so I'll have eyes on the whole area. Should see anything coming all the way out to Java.

And that's the news for Dec 17th.

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

So another turn down. Where to begin? Let us start with our submarine arm.

Subs: It was a good day for our subs. I-159 sunk the AVP Arend near Java.

The unfortunately empty of troops AP Hugh L. Scott was hit with 2 torpedoes near Pearl Harbor by I-21. Two wasn't enough for the 21's commander (Kawakami or something is his name) so he attacked again and scored two more hits. Nice work. A valuable AP is gone.

I-164 scored 1 hit on the xAP Dunera near Rangoon. Hopefully she'll sink. Although she was also empty of troops. Too bad. I much prefer to drown the enemy army over fight them fairly.

Malaya: Troops are moving, trying to get the entire railroad so we can strat move all the way down to the gates of singapore! Tomorrow we sweep Singapore. We haven't in a couple days.

In the area, the Singkawang invasion is about a day out. Both CVE's and Akagi are covering. We've added 36 extra Zeros so hope to be safe from air attack. Surface cover is provided by the Fuso and Yamashiro TF that begins around Singora.

No enemy ships have been seen in the area or anywhere really. Like I said in the last post, only the CL Dragon has been sunk around the Makassar straight. It seems Fredrik is pulled back for the defense of Java or perhaps as far as Oz and India? I have never played Fredrik. In fact he's from Sweden and I live in Kansas. I have no idea how he will act or react. We're still in the figuring each other out phase.

PI: The past couple turns I forgot to turn my Nates off of sweep over Clark. So, 10 to 15 Nates would show up to no opposition. I remembered to turn them off of sweep but, since his PBY's had stopped their naval attacks, I decided to give my Zeros something to do and had them sweep Clark. 30 showed up and did a pretty good job of knocking down the cap that had been absent for the past few days. They were followed by a further 27 Zeros. On the day we lost 7 Zeros air to air with a further 6 ops losses. His totals for P40B/E were 28 including ops losses. Also we shot down 2 P26's. Tomorrow we sweep with the Zeros and Nates.

China: We saw one battle here today. Two Chinese Corps were attacked by 4 Divisions and a Mixed Bde. They lost an amazing 250 squads in one day! 3200+ casualties to our 500. As anticipated but not hoped for they retreated into Loyang. I did not order my tanks to attack. We're waiting for the 4 divisions and mixed Bde. Once they arrive we'll attack again and let the tanks pursue like they did in the last battle. Unless. If he looks to be retreating out of Loyang we'll send him on his way. I'd rather wear him down with my infantry and destroy him with my tanks on the second day.

I'll add a map. The red arrows show the planned axis of attack so we can cut off everybody in the red oval. Everybody in the blue oval is cut off already. The blue arrows are what will completely seal them off.

Further north is the purple arrow that is the infantry moving to attack Loyang. Just far enough north of there to be cut out of the picture is another 1000 AV moving west. They're going to try to complete the encirclement and reduce the 20 units that should end up trapped in Loyang and Chengchow. The note in white should read 500 AV of tanks vs 11 Chinese units. It's open terrain and two of those units just lost 250 squads so I'm seriously considering an attack with the armor without waiting on the rest. If that's 11 corps we could be looking at 9 at approx 200 AV each totaling 1800 AV. That's worst case but can Japanese tanks take on Chinese infantry at 3-1 odds? My tanks in Malaya were outnumbered roughly 1.5 to 1 as far as raw AV numbers were concerned and they smashed three battalions of British troops. I'll weigh my options and any input anyone else wants to add. I've never played with the Manchurian troops available right off the bat like this so I've never really concentrated my tanks like this. I should think they would do well. I think we'll attack tomorrow.

CV Kaga: Fredrik went hunting for her. He sent B17's in a port attack on Saigon (Kaga is safely sitting an Cam Ranh Bay) that hit a couple of TK's that start the war in the area. None sank but will need some repair time. I don't need them just yet but it'll hurt if they get in again. He also sent PBY's to attack Pescadores. Some xAK's were hit with 500 pounders. Kaga is looking at 15 more days according to the estimate. She's already down to 20 system, 28 flood (all minor damage repaired) and 10 engine (7 major).

And that brings us to 730ish in the morning with me having been up all night. It's about time I get some sleep.

Stay vigilant!

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

I haven't updated in what feels like a week. It's been a busy couple days for me. I love being on call 24 hours, 7 days a week.

So, where to begin?

How about China? Why not China? It is December orders phase for Dec 24th, by the way.

China: I am continually amazed by the number of troops there are here. I can't be the only one. We had an attack in the last turn that inflicted just under 13,000 casualties on the Chinese. It included 405 squads and 405 non-combat squads. Actually I'll just post the combat replay.

Japanese ground losses:
127 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 43 (2 destroyed, 41 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
12899 casualties reported
Squads: 405 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 405 destroyed, 164 disabled
Engineers: 55 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 41 (41 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Units destroyed 2

What is that? 100-1 loss ratio. Keep it up!

We have 22 Chinese units trapped in Chengchow. 9-10 of them were just in the battle I just quoted so they're pretty much done.

Lets go to... Malaya.

Malaya: One more hex and the rail line will be clear all the way down to Singapore. We're marching that direction and should have it clear in a day or two. I made some mistakes here. I should have had the siege started at least a week ago. I played it more cautious than I should have. I should have been more aggressive than I was. I sent too much up to Singora to come down the rail line. If I'd dropped more at Mersing I would be clearing the rails at my leisure and Singapore would be under siege. Live and learn.

Speaking of this area, we landed at Singkawang. Took the base and flew in some fighters to cover the base. It was all good until we found Force Z. They came in, along with some Dutch and American forces, and bombarded the place. The following day all the air forces that he's been conserving in the area plastered the air base. It is officially closed.

Pacific: Not a lot has gone on here since his CV came through and wrecked me at Tarawa and Ocean Island. We've spotted a force showing six ships. The only type that shows up on the mouse over are xAP. They're on a course due West that heads right for Ocean Island. I have 4 PB's that were left over from the invasion force that was destroyed. They're covering Ocean and a force of 3 CL's and 8 DD's is the only force of note, except my Netties which haven't flown the entire war... sigh...

I'd like to pay him back for what he did at Hollandia and Aitape. My patrols missed it completely. He outplayed me here. I hate showing just combat replays in AAR's but here's what he did to me:

Japanese Ships
PB Toshi Maru #3, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
PB Tama Maru #8, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
AV Kamoi, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Muko Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAKL Kanaiyama Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAKL Shoyu Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Honan Maru, Shell hits 6, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis
CA Northampton
CA Louisville
CA Chicago
CA Minneapolis
CA Australia
CL Achilles
CL Trenton
CL Concord
DD Perkins
DD Smith
DD Preston
DD Flusser
DD Alden
DD La Triomphant

Japanese Ships
PB Takunan Maru #5, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Indus Maru, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
xAK Kotobuki Maru #5, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Shoan Maru, Shell hits 30, and is sunk
xAKL Konsan Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
PB Sento Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis
CA Northampton
CA Louisville
CA Chicago
CA Minneapolis
CA Australia
CL Achilles
CL Trenton
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
DD Perkins
DD Smith
DD Preston, Shell hits 1
DD Flusser
DD Alden
DD La Triomphant

All I can say is, at least they were mostly unloaded. It will take forever but we'll march overland to the neighboring bases and take them that way. It is all part of my devious plot to force him into submission by running him out of ammunition! If he's out of bullets he can't shoot me!!!

Plus KB is at Truk. Maybe we can intercept and sink the lot! That would be nice. I'll look on the bad side and assume we won't but you never know...

Additionally we've finally landed at Menado. I tried to send a TF that way almost a week ago. I have no idea why but they seem to have refused to get on the way. In fact, I think they still haven't left. Somebody else I decided to send was up to it. We'll take Menado tomorrow and a follow on force with some aviation support will land. Fritos are good. Even stale, eating them from the chow hall in Spain Fritos are good. I should quit drinking...

Covered by mini-KB and a CL/DD force is an invasion fleet headed for Tarakan. They're 1-2 days out.

Philippines:

He's doing fortress Clark. Manilla fell. Whatever. Most of his guys are in Clark. Hell, all of them probably are. We'll get him sooner or later.

I got nothing else.

Joe

[Prydwen]

Merry Christmas to me! I mentioned KB was at Truk and going to try for an intercept. Well, it worked out. The results went like this:

CA Louisville 6 Bombs No Torpedoes
CA Northampton 3 Bombs No Torpedoes
CA Minneapolis 2 Bombs 2 Torpedoes magazine explosion showing up as sunk
CA Chicago 5 Bombs No torpedoes
CA Indianapolis 9 Bombs 2 Torpedoes massive explosion showing up as CA Portland but presumed sunk
CA Australia 2 Bombs 4 Torpedoes showing up sunk
CL Achilles No Bombs 1 Torpedo
CL Concord No Bombs 1 Torpedo
CL Trenton 2 Bombs 2 Torpedoes showing up sunk
Additionally 2 DD's were hit with 1 bomb each. One had a magazine explosion and shows up sunk.
All bomb hits were 250 kg.

Nice!

Joe

[Prydwen]

Hi,

So, I haven't been updating because I've been busy with work. They've been running me all over. Waking me up in the middle of the day when I'm trying to sleep. Sending me all over the country to go fix jets at other locations.

Alright, so I exaggerate slightly. They did send me out to fix a plane though. And I was trying to sleep when they told me I was going.

Malaya theater: I've just sent off the orders for the 31st of December. Overall I'm disappointed with myself. I had intended/hoped to be much further along. We have yet to start the siege at Singapore. I tried to do Mersing and play it safe at the same time, especially after Kaga took a torpedo. One or the other. Not both.

Kaga is doing ok, by the way. Almost all minor damage repaired and will be going to Hong Kong to use the shipyard in about 3 days.

Singkawang still gets plastered every day by his bombers. It's shut down. There isn't much I'll do until we expand our bases in that area.

I don't feel that Akagi and the CVE's are enough to cover further invasions in the area so mini KB is coming up from covering the invasion at Tarakan. They'll be along in a few days and we'll start back-filling North Borneo area and prepping for Palembang which I wanted to have at least a week ago. That's why I took Singkawang so I would have a little air power in the area to help out.

PI: We're almost done on Mindanao. We're down to taking Cagayen and then mopping up some isolated bases and one unit that's floating around.

Luzon has the siege begun at clark. We've achieved air superiority and begun the bombing campaign. I want to close the airfield if possible. If not at least keep forts down and burn supply/cause disruptions. I made a mistake and ordered a deliberate attack. Bad move. Losses were about 6k on my side, mostly disrupted, to 500 on his. If he has the supply he could maybe push me out. I don't think he will though.

Celebes area: We've taken Manado and have Mavis based there. I have enough av support there but they don't seem to be repairing. I'll run in some more. We took Ternate in a para drop. I sent in transports to pull the para's out and he sent in a huge force of CA's and CL's. There goes 1/3rd of that air assault division. Sigh. Tarakan should fall in a few days at most.

We'll be shifting KB to this area to take the place of mini KB which is headed up to Cam Ranh Bay to join KB 2.

Pacific: We've moved a bit slowly here too. I've had issues with transports not leaving for no apparent (to me anyway) reason. They're moving now. Kavieng is first, then Rabaul, and then Shortlands. KB will, as previously mentioned, move up to the Celebes area for the push down the Makassar straight. If those cruisers show up again we want to trash them like the ones at New Guinea at Christmas.

China: We've taken Loyang and Chengchow. 17 units got out of the hex before we could finish them. I was one day too late! We're pursuing with almost 3000 AV. Another stack of 1000 AV is in position to assist if necessary. We'll be in attack position in 2-3 days. The infantry will attack and tanks will pursue. I want to wipe them all out. 6 have surrendered or been destroyed already in that area.

Nopac: I haven't done anything up here yet. I'm siphoning forces to the area to get some guys moving in this direction. We have had little indication of his forces so he could be hiding something up here. I'll try to take some bases on the cheap. If we meet major resistance we won't be able to. So we'll get everybody loaded and use our surface forces to cover them one after another. This time I do want to move quickly.

That should cover it for now...

Joe

[Prydwen]

Ok, I haven't updated in quite awhile. I've traveled back to the states and it's good to be home! All the other military or former military know that there's a lot of things that take up your time when you get home. While deployed I just worried about work, eating, and sleeping. I've been busy with all the stuff that I haven't been able to do since I got home.

I'll just give a quick update because of the aforementioned time constraints and not that many people were reading anyway. [:'(]

It's now late Jan. My timetable is wrecked but i've learned a lot in this game and I'm sure next time I'll play better. One thing I've learned is when in doubt, bring the hammer. And, always doubt. [:'(]

PI is slowly being worn down. We're in full siege mode here. We hit Clark every day with approx 100 Netties. His airpower has been broken here and we're just waiting for the end. Mindanao is finally broken. We're pursuing the broken troops to the ends of the island so we can finish them off. We're also picking off unoccupied islands with a few TF's that have small SNLF units on them.

Pacific hasn't seen much lately except around PNG. We're taking the bases along the north coast and slowly running support into Rabaul and Shortlands. This whole area is basically on hold until we capture the DEI.

Malaya has us in siege mode as well. We've finally gotten the upper hand in the air war. We loaded up extra zeros on our carriers and came in to sweep Singapore. Some of our bombers went in and got shredded a bit but they got a torpedo in BB PoW. That comes into play later. All it cost was some CV air and one bomb hit on Zuiho. She should make it. Fires are out and float is around 12. She's almost back to Cam Ranh Bay to fix all that she can then off to the yards. Kaga is still repairing btw. Will be for awhile yet.

I haven't been keeping track of subs but they've done a great job for me. Especially a turn or two ago. I-169, I think, put two fish into PoW and then another into a CL. We heard the sinking ship sound and two Walrus showed up on as destroyed on the ground so I think we got her. Great work by the sub arm. I'm proud of those guys.

Palembang still hasn't fallen. Or even been attacked. With all my functional CV's and 8 BB's in the area I'm ready to make my move. Recon shows 14 units there. Troop count is low for that many units. I have a division, brigade, and regiment prepped and loaded. I'm thinking we may go for Oosthaven and march overland. We shall see. I want to try to plaster the airfield at Palembang because he's using it as a big air base. Hopefully that means those 14 units are mostly base forces and such. Either way I want his air power wrecked. He likes to bomb Singkawang every day so KB is moving to LRCAP. Last turn they went in unescorted. Hopefully they do again and we can see what 100 or so zeros can do to those bombers.

Burma. You know how karate movies are in slow motion for about half the movie? Burma is like watching a karate movie in slow motion. It's really really sloooooowwwwwwwww...

I probably ought to get going. Until next time, I'm your host, and this is everyone's favorite show about drinking your way through AE!

Joe