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My first AAR and my second time playing the Empire. I borrowed the title from Vol I of H.P. Willmot`s great trilogy on the Pacific War, "Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942", but against a player like Francois I`ll never last until April 1942[;)]

Stock Scenario 2

Settings are:

REALISM OPTIONS
FOW ON
Advanced weather OFF
Allied damage control ON
PDU: On
Historical first turn OFF *** (otherwise Force Z is sunk at T1)...I`m sure I`ll regret this one...[8D]
Dec 7 surprise ON
Reliable USN torps OFF
Realistic R&D ON
No unit withdrawals OFF
Reinforcements Fixed

GAME OPTIONS
Combat reports ON
Auto sub ops OFF
TF move radius ON
Plane move radius ON
Facilities expand OFF
Auto upgrade ships and air groups OFF
Air and ground replacements On
Turn cycle 1 TURN

House rules:
Full PP`s to buy out each unit from one theater.
No 4 E naval bombing below 10,000ft. ( still too accurate in the game IMHO)
Leaving the Allied air groups at the games default to simulate the Dec 7 surprise.
Regarding fighter altitudes, max ceiling of 30k for sweeps, etc.

This will probably be updated every few days or if something interesting unfolds.

Comments and advice for this old JFB newbie welcome....

Perhaps the worst The PH Strike ever....

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 67 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53
B5N2 Kate x 117
D3A1 Val x 101

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed by flak
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 15 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 157 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 10 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 9 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 32 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 4 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 18 damaged
SBD-1 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 26 damaged
A-20A Havoc: 3 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 86 damaged
P-40B Warhawk: 3 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 19 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 1 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 58 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 13 damaged
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 41 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 2 destroyed on ground
C-33: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
BB California, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, on fire
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 2
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
CM Oglala
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 5, on fire
CL Helena, Bomb hits 2
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Tucker, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 1

Allied ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Repair Shipyard hits 4
Airbase hits 46
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 98
Port hits 11
Port fuel hits 1
_____________________________________

Looks like I closed down his runways and wrecked the PH air force. Maybe I`ll stick around for another attack, although I hate to lose crack naval aviators to that flak to sink some old BB`s into the mud.

Dec 8

2nd. Day Strike=A Bad Idea.[:-]

Kates used 250kg bombs...

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 111 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
B5N2 Kate x 112

Allied aircraft
P-36A Mohawk x 26
P-40B Warhawk x 39
F4F-3 Wildcat x 3
SNJ-3 Texan x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 11 destroyed, 26 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-36A Mohawk: 6 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 3 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 8, on fire

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

Repair Shipyard hits 7
Port hits 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub vs Sub: SS I-168 attacking SS Thresher at 180,106 - near Pearl Harbor

Japanese Ships
SS I-168

Allied Ships
SS Thresher, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

SS I-168 launches 4 torpedoes at 4,000 yards

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A PTB was sunk... very hard to supress those Airfields. Too many Eng. & Base Forces.

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 84 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 61
G3M2 Nell x 33

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 3
P-35A x 4
P-40B Warhawk x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 36

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 1 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 9 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
24 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 17000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
4 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 17000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
1 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 17000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 23
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 25

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 4 destroyed, 6 damaged

No Allied losses

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 20000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 5008 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 176

Defending force 3801 troops, 40 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 150

Allied adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kota Bharu !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
356 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2366 casualties reported
Squads: 98 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 42 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
56th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
FMSV Brigade
8th Indian Brigade
3rd ISF Base Force
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment Wiped Out at Hong Kong by attrition!!!