The Arsenal of Democracy - Anachro (A) vs. SheperdN7 (J) DBB-C

[Anachro]

The Arsenal of Democracy: An Allied PBEM AAR
Anachro (A) vs. SheperdN7 (J)



"American industrial genius, unmatched throughout the world in the solution of production problems, has been called upon to bring its resources and its talents into action. Manufacturers of watches, farm implements, linotypes, cash registers, automobiles, sewing machines, lawn mowers and locomotives are now making fuses, bomb packing crates, telescope mounts, shells, pistols and tanks. But all our present efforts are not enough. We must have more ships, more guns, more planes — more of everything...We must be the great arsenal of democracy." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

AAR
Hello all. I will once again be fighting my opponent, whom I previously fought in another AAR, in a great Pacific War. I do not know how it will play out, or how exactly I will fight it, but my opponent has been promising the "greatest Pacific war" ever. We'll see. I wonder just how much variation you can develop from all the previous PBEMs on this form. Maybe what he does will be something you've seen before. Anyways, I'm looking forward to it. I just hope it isn't too gamey or completely preposterous from a plausibility standpoint - we'll find out.

This AAR will be a mix of narrative role-play and discussion. When I get into the mood, I'll probably give a fun description of events. But as I am relatively new to this game, please bear with me. If you see mistakes, please point them out. If you have suggestions, please suggest them. I will try to have a discussion piece at the end of every post through which I will present the situation and offer potential pathways I might take for your comment. I look forward to your input.

Strategy
My strategy for now will center on what was historical for the Allies. I will not conduct a complete brave sir robin, or at least try not to. I will attempt to use the Asiatic fleet if I can. However, all such considerations will change and are entirely dependent on the actions of my opponent, especially once his grand strategy becomes apparent. For now, my key priorities are:

1. Defend CenPac, primarily situated around Hawaii.
2. Build up a pathway through the South Pacific, as this is the past of least resistance to cutting off the Dutch East Indies from Japan, with many opportunities for offensive expansion.
3. Try to defend the defensive line of Noumea, Luganville, Port Moresby. PM is expendable.
4. Defend Burma as long as possible, if need be fall back to the Imphal defensive line at the Indian border.

PBEM Rules
1. No strat bombing until '43.
2. No 4-E bombing below 10k feet
3. PP must be paid in full to move restricted units across national borders (Exception: Thailand can go into Burma, Canada can go into USA, etc.)
4. First turn rules: 1) no carrier hunting first 2 turns 2) no creation of new allied TFs 3) already-created allied TFs can be moved on turn 1

NAVAL ORGANIZATION

[Anachro]

Night before the Storm

Phillips, commander of the newly-established British Far Eastern Fleet, looked down at the map before him in furious concentration. The Philippines, Malaya, Borneo, all were laid out in front oh him like so many pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Yes, he could almost see hexes designating locations and distance, here was a hex marking Manila, here one for Singapore, here were the hexes that delineated what lay between them. It was daunting, overwhelming, and utterly disheartening. He could see no way he could successfully conduct his mission in the event of a Japanese attack: defending Malaya and, more importantly, Singapore. And yet that was his mission and a war was most definitely brewing.

He was here in Manila with Admiral Hart of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and his staff to develop coordination in defense. Each man was a sacrificial lamb to empire, to perpetuating the myth that the West still held suzerainty over the Orient. They both knew that was nothing but a mirage - the Japanese had exposed this decades again with the defeat of Russia's vaunted Black Sea Fleet as Tsushima. Nonetheless, they had a duty to perform and, professionals that they were, they tried to do it.

The problem was that the geography made no sense. Singapore was 5,883 nautical miles from London and Manilla was 4,600 from Pearl Harbor. Japan was far closer; and moreover, it did not have the need to defend two coastlines thousands or miles apart or a highly dispersed empire. Local geographies, military priorities, and proximity gave it a concentration of force and power projection with which Allied forces could not hope to contend. Moreover, the disparities in aerial power were enough to make the admiral pull his hair out. Singapore had been promised 400 to 500 aircraft by Whitehall, but the final sum that did arrive seemed paltry in comparison. How could they expect to defend any length of coastline when they were at risk of willful attack by the enemy's bombers?

"It's suicide," Phillips concluded. "We cannot risk Task Force Z in an attempt to prevent landings in Northern Malaya."

"Agreed," stated Hart. "We have come to the same conclusion here; the decisions have already been made and the fleet is heading towards safer areas in Dutch-held areas. There, at least, we have the benefit of overlapping concentration of air power and interior lines through which we can easily move from one location to another." Hart looked at Phillips. "However, Admiral, there is risk that the enemy will attempt a landing at Mersing, cutting off our northern troops before they can fall back to Singapore. We cannot let that happen."

"Yes, Task Force Z will move, but this will be primarily geared towards Mersing. We have come to the same conclusion regarding its vulnerability and strategic importance. Following this, we will remain near Singapore and out of sight from enemy aircraft. We must adhere to the principle of calculated risk and frustrate the enemy. In a war with Japan, time is on our side; every day gained is a day to gather our strength elsewhere. Therefore--"

Just then an orderly ran into the room and handed a paper to Admiral Phillips. He quickly scanned it before looking at those around him.

"Gentlemen, I have just been informed that Japanese troops have been spotted on convoys moving in the general direction of targets of opportunity. Final location not yet determined, but I think we all know what this means. I must return to Singapore at once."

It had begun.

[Anachro]

December 7th, 1941: A Day of Infamy

On December 7th, 1941, the Empire of Japan declared war upon the Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States, and all the other allied powers of the world. In the early hour of December 8 local time, while many a man and woman back in the States slept blissfully amid the peaceful silence of December 7th, several devastating air strikes were launched against unsuspecting allied forces through the East Indies and the Philippines. At Clark Field and Manila, the bastion of US air power on Luzon, strikes took an air force by surprise, causing havoc on the ground and blunting any immediate reaction that local forces might mount. In Singapore, large portions of the local air force were heavily damaged, though not fully destroyed, and at some cost to the offenders. The net result was a heavy blow to allied air power, though not total or complete.

Japanese Air Losses: 85
Allied Air Losses: 57

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 72
G4M1 Betty x 27

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 17 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 4 destroyed by flak
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 102 damaged
Buffalo I: 6 destroyed on ground
Blenheim IV: 74 damaged
Blenheim IV: 4 destroyed on ground
Vildebeest III: 33 damaged
Vildebeest III: 2 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 83 damaged
Hudson I: 3 destroyed on ground
S.19 Singapore III: 6 damaged
Swordfish I: 5 damaged
Swordfish I: 2 destroyed on ground
Catalina I: 9 damaged
Blenheim I: 22 damaged
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed on ground
Beaufort V (PR): 5 damaged
Buffalo PR.I: 1 damaged
Buffalo PR.I: 1 destroyed on ground

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

Airbase hits 35
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 108

On the seas, the Japanese had surreptitiously conducted landings in Northern Borneo and Luzon. However, no such landings were readily apparent on Malaya, particularly at Khota Baru. However, large surface forces have noticeable accumulated in these areas. Noticing the proximity to Malaya in restricted waters, Dutch submarine, SS KXI, conducted the first successful offensive strike of the war, sinking what is thought to be a Japanese mine-layer. Why it was off the coast of eastern Malaya is uncertain. Immediate supposition by Allied command is that mine-layers were laying mines to protect future landings from sub attack.

Sub attack near Patani at 51,73
Japanese Ships
CM Kamome, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
E Shimushu

Allied Ships
SS KXI

But the real question remained: where was the vaunted Japanese carrier fleet? No strikes had been conducted anywhere, neither in the Philippines, nor Hawaii, nor any other anticipated target. Moreover, radio traffic provided no evidence as to its location of future plans. At best, allied signal intelligence had been able to determine large amounts of activity at the Japanese-held island of Kwajalein and the South China Sea, as well as movement of Japanese invasion forces towards Luzon, Borneo, and Coastal China, but little else. The question remained, where will the hammer blow and how can we best minimize its damage?

56th Recon Regiment is loaded on a Ehime Cargo class xAK moving to Mauban.
2/2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion is loaded on a Husimi Cargo class xAK moving to Wenchow.
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Wenchow.
7/I/124th Infantry Battalion is loaded on a Toho Cargo class xAK moving to Miri.

Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Kwajalein Island (132,115).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Cam Ranh Bay (64,72).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at 69,65.

Such considerations are secondary though when viewed in light of one simple fact: Japanese forces had attacked prior to delivering their declaration of war, allowing their air forces ample time to strike with strike undetected. This has aroused the anger of the American public, which will surely demand action from the very-much-alive U.S. Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Discussion

Singapore is still operational. Suffered some damage, but most of the planes should repair. I suspect he is either trying to conduct a lightning strike towards Palembang and the rest of the Southern Resource Area, but we will find out. Little activity from an amphibious point of view, as well as no KB strike. I think I inflicted a good amount of damage on Japanese land-based bombers/torpedo bombers today. For now, I will be accumulating surface forces in the DEI.

I will also send Task Force Z immediately down to cover Palembang from Mersing, where she suffered no damage. I suspect that a Japanese invasion fleet slipped through my air search where there was a gap south east of Singapore and I will attempt to intercept the invasion force if it is there. Meanwhile, the Dutch/American fleet is gathering at Batavia and my air search is being strengthened.

I think the Kido Butai's options are one of the following:

1. Assist in the immediate taking of the DEI
2. Do an immediate strong push towards Rabaul, Noumea, with the aim of taking most of the SoPac area.
3. Maybe conduct a strike on the west coast of the USA?

What do you think?

[Lowpe]

Who knows what is happening!

You have the record for most Allied ships still afloat after Dec 7.[;)]

Good luck.

[Anachro]

December 8th, 1941

East Indies and Philippines



Not much in terms of huge action yet, but several indications that point to various directions. Let's start with the Philippines. He has made landings in the north of Luzon and will continue to land additional troops there normal. He will also make some landings close to Manila. Finally, he will land something as Mindanao. All normal. He is also continuing to decimate the local air force, but whatever. Who cares? Any damage done to his air units is a win for me. Still there as one engagement in particular which was extremely one-sided. Wow.

I suspect he will intercept some of my fleeing boats from Manila. Par for the course, really.

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 6
P-35A x 2
P-40B Warhawk x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 2 destroyed
P-35A: 1 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
G3M2 Nell x 19
G4M1 Betty x 24

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 9
P-35A x 5
P-40B Warhawk x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

He has also landed various troops on the Northern and Eastern Coasts of Borneo. I was going to try to intercept the Eastern invasion force, but it wisely moved back towards the north after landing troops on day one. On Malaya, he has not made any landings south of the Japanese bases in Thailand directly across the border. However, I have intelligence that he is planning attacks at Khota Baru and Singapore, so it's not like he is planning to ignore Singapore. He is just waiting...for something...and taking it slowly.

Oh well, I have Task Force Z. It ran int a sub this morning, but escorts caused, hopefully, high damage to the enemy. My opponent sent me a message saying, "I see Task Force Z is about, but remember curiosity killed the cat." I don't quite get the applicability of the phrase. Task Force Z is not being really that curious at the moment...its in home waters away from potential danger barring the appearance of enemy carriers; and for that we should have ample warning. I'm not worried. Anyways, Task Force Z was set to cover Palembang, but no invasion force yet so...it will probably go to Batavia or Singapore to cover transports fleeing there for Burma. The Asiatic Fleet will also head that direction.

On other fronts, he is showing more interest than usual in Burma and China. Doing much more recon and bombings there than he normally does. I suspect he will try to mount an accelerated offense at Burma before I can built my defenses. In that case, I will need to push the III Indian Corps back towards Imphal. We'll see. For now, I am already constructing my second line of defense as well as first line; and Indian divisions are moving to reinforce the border. In China, it looks like he'll try an early push across all front.

One big thing I haven't mentioned. Heavy radio traffic detected South-east of Mindanao between the PI and Babeldaob. This is either the Mindanao invasion force or his carriers. We'll see.

Intelligence:
3/15th Naval Guard Unit is loaded on a Aden Cargo class xAK moving to Beaufort.
3/15th Base Force is loaded on a Yusen N Cargo class xAK moving to Guam.
10/33rd Division is loaded on a Ansyu-C Cargo class xAK moving to Wenchow.
148th Infantry Regiment is loaded on a Lima Cargo class xAK moving to Mauban.

CenPac



My opponent currently has a large amount of submarines situated around Pearl Harbor, but a large majority of them are moving towards the west, which strikes me as meaning he is going to put the weight of his attention in that direction? Why else would you send them back? They are already over here so use them for the time being. Or maybe he just thinks that's where the majority of my shipping would be.

Then again, I've never really had enough planes left at this point before to do proper ASW search and spot the submarines. My current ability is a legacy of no PH strike. In other words, it could be normal for him to send most of his subs back west. Either way, my planes are happily finding them for now and at least reporting successful "strikes" on the subs. Hopefully, some actually cause damage.

a Type KD7 class SS is reported HIT
a Type L4 class SS is reported HIT
a Type KD4 class SS is reported HIT
a Type B1/B2 class SS is reported HIT

SoPac
Not much to report. I am worried this might be his big push with KB. I am re-locating Rabaul Forces to Luganville, as well as reinforcing Noumea and Port Moresby. I hope this to be my southern line of defense.

Situation
The question remains: where is the enemy carrier fleet? As the sun sets on the second day of the war, not one enemy carrier has been sighted. For now, I'm not too worried as I trust in my naval search to at least cover areas I want it to cover, but the anticipation remains. I cannot fully commit my forces until I know for sure, or at least have a general idea. Fleet-in-being is a powerful concept. I just hope whatever he does isn't incredibly gamey or unrealistic, but we'll see.

It's nice to be the Allied player. Whatever he does, eventually my time will come.

[Anachro]

Other Losses Today:

AM Whippoorwill, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage - Runs into a mine while mine-sweeping off of Bataan.

xAKL Dai Lee, Shell hits 26, and is sunk - Had the misfortune of being where it was when war broke out...sank by heavy CL/DD covering force north of Philippines.

ARD YFD-1 Dewey, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires - Sank in port strike on empty Manila.

HDML Pennigat, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk - Bombed at sea while covering Georgetown.

[Kofiman]

Has the Dewey drydock ever survived?

[Anachro]

@Kofiman: Not that I know of, it has no endurance so you can't really extract it from Manila. I assume it always died; never seen it captured by the Japs.

December 9th, 1941

Not much to report today. No sightings of KB or any carriers. I have beefed up my Nav Search on the West coast of the USA in response. He might be trying for some fruitless move there...I don't know. Nothing seen in SoPac yet either, which probably is my weakest area for NavSearch. Maybe he is going for Canada? The Aleutians? Either that as a distraction or the SoPac to cut my forces in half, which will require a push to re-establish early on. Landings at Wenchow on Chinese coast were anticipated, but smaller than expected. If it's all he landed, we might try to do a counterattack and kill the landing force.

Successful Sub attack along the Northern Luzon Coast, by a US sub no less:

Japanese Ships
xAK Nagara Maru, Torpedo hits 1
PB Kyo Maru #2
PB Shonan Maru #17
PB Shonan Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS S-37

Repulse ran into a second sub on its way down toward Batavia, for the second time in two days. Again the sub missed and caused no damage, and again the expert escorts of Task Force Z have caused damage to a Japanese sub. Intelligence estimates it might have sunk, but no hard proof.

Sub attack near Toboali at 51,94

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 4

Allied Ships
BC Repulse
CL Danae
DD Express
DD Electra

SigInt
16th Recon Regiment is loaded on a Yusen N Cargo class xAK moving to Naga.
a Ku'dai Cargo class xAKL is moving to Iba (78,75).

Miura Det is planning for an attack on Davao.
7/33rd Division is planning for an attack on Wenchow.
I./4th Infantry Battalion is planning for an attack on Miri.

Heavy radio traffic, but nothing out of the ordinary given all the Japanese movements early on.

Losses

xAP Van Landsberge, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage - Rushing transports to Singapore to extricate the Burma Corps ASAP to establish defenses in Burma. Extensive recon leads me to believe he will do an early push. This guy paid the price.
xAKL Luzon, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage - Fleeing the Philippines.
HDML Pahalwan, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

[Rio Bravo]

Anachro-

Don't know much about the DDB-C Scenario.

Guess I will learn following your AAR.

Good luck!

Remember the Boisie!

*laughing*

Best Regards,

-Terry

[Anachro]

@Rio Bravo - DBB-C is just a variant of DBB (and its extensive OOB an other changes) that has reduced cargo capacity in ships with the goal of reducing operational tempo.

December 10th, 1941

Bad day for allied shipping fleeing the Philippines. Got a little careless in making my routes, but losses I don't care too mch about. A Japanese cruiser/destroyer fleet caught a bunch of light cargo ships and sank the lot of them. Bad from a morale point of view, but little material damage. Good news is it looks like my destroyers, submarine tenders, and the Langley will all hopefully make it out to safety...maybe.

xAKL Cebu, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
xAKL Latouche, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAKL Don Jose, Shell hits 25, and is sunk
xAKL Sagoland, Shell hits 25, and is sunk
xAKL Paz, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
xAKL Anakan, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
xAKL Bisayas, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
xAKL Corregidor, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Dona Nati, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAKL Palawan, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Compagnia Filipinas, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
xAKL Dos Hermanos, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
ACM Colonel Harrison, Shell hits 18, and is sunk

Another small transport also sinks to enemy submarine attacks:

xAP Van den Bosch, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

And he decided to bomb Rangoon. Stupid on my part, I had forgotten that I even had cargo ships already in port there.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 31
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 30

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Ardent, Bomb hits 1, on fire
HDML 1103, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Hermelin, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Chilka, Bomb hits 6, on fire
xAK Mundra, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Indira, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Chaksang, Bomb hits 2, on fire
HDML 1104
xAKL Agnes
HDML 1102, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

The big news of the day is that the Japanese finally make some bigger landings. Landing at Kota Bharu finally in Malaya, as well as at Iba on Luzon. Perhaps to try and eliminate some of my forces before I can extract them to better defensive areas. At Kota Bharu, my forces are already fully strat'd and will head down to Singapore soon enough before the enemy can react.

December 11th, 1941

Langley takes some minor 60kg bomb hits east of Celebes. Nothing major, she will survive. Fleeing Guam, however, the Penguin takes torpedo and sinks immediately, but Guam shall have its vengeance when all is said and done.

AV Langley, Bomb hits 2
AM Penguin, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Back at Pearl, one of my few escorts takes a torpedo from a sub, which had heavy DL on it, so I'm probably most annoyed with this, especially since it was a minor supply mission to the still-held Wake Island. Oh well, the cargo ships will continue on.

Japanese Ships
SS I-173

Allied Ships
PG Sacramento, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Hirondelle

Discussion

There hasn't been much change from a grand strategy point-of-view. The every-mysterious KB still remains undetected wherever it is going. I'm sending a BB force to go bombard Kwajalein for fun and to just keep my opponent on his toes. If nothing else, we'll test his NavSearch. For now, the idea still holds that I will push through the SoPac, as is historical. Nothing is sure though, until I know his intentions.

SoPac
He is finally landing in the SoPac on eastern shores of New Guinea, which appear to not be escorted. The Australian fleet is put into motion and will, if no danger, look to intercept and cause some friction for my opponent. We will not seriously contest Rabaul.

DEI
Finally the landings come at Malaya, but we'll see how strong his forces are. I suspect I will be able to quickly extract most of my Burma troops for the defense of Rangoon. He is landing on the Northern Coasts of Borneo and using the airfields there, but nothing too serious. For now, I am simply training my air force for later use at Singapore. Every little bit of skill gained can help with a lucky naval strike or in air-to-air. The Asiatic fleets of the Allied Nations will for now cover extraction of resources from Balikpapan and Palembang.

China
My opponent has landed unusually along the Chinese coast at Wenchow, etc. and is making a major push in eastern China near Yunnan, etc. I will really need to focus on setting up my defenses, as I have suffered some defeats already due to lapses in concentration. Any idea how best to defend China? Any advice here is appreciated. I'd rather not have China die early in the game.

Burma
He continues to test the waters over Burma, which leads me to suspect he might try to push there before fully taking Singapore. For now, mt air force is doing decently against his Oscars and AA is being brought in to cause greater damage to his flights. If things go sour, I think I can quickly extract these to Indian border.

The Air War
Japan Air Losses: 151
Allied Air Losses: 92

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Be careful at Kwajalein, 24th Air HQ and one squadron of torpedo carrying Nells are located at nearby Roi Namur. in open waters, you can easily lose a battleship to a few torpedoes

[Anachro]

Yah..I'm thinking of detaching a couple DDs to scout out the nav search routes. It's my two worst BBs...and I didn't realize they were so slow...does their speed ever increase with upgrades? My 6 better BBs from PH are heading back to west coast for refit on January 1st. The 2 going to Kwajalein will refit at PH.

[Anachro]

I suppose I should re-post my initial naval divisions.

See spreadsheet here. It hasn't changed much from before.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

There is no speed increase, but the old battleship (14' guns) will become amazing AA platforms after a lengthy 1943 upgrade.

[Anachro]

Sorry for the late update. Been pretty busy and now have a few turns to catch up on for this AAR

December 12th, 1941

Not much to report. The Japanese made several landings in Northwestern Borneo, at Beaufort and Brunei. Moreover, there were additional landings along the Chinese coast and the coastal areas nearer to Manila in the Philippines. It would seem that my opponent is aiming to do a quick push back in China, as well as a quick wrap-up of Philippines, if he can. War Plan Rainbow-5 is being adhered to and forces and supplies will fall back to Bataan for a long hold-out.

Japanese land troops and attack at Khota Bharu, taking it and causing decent damage to my troops there in strat mode (fully prepped) which I though would have been able to move out in time. I wanted to do strat mod so they wouldn't have to march down first, delaying my evacuation of Singapore. Annoying, but we learn from our mistakes.

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7893 troops, 59 guns, 30 vehicles, Assault Value = 153

Defending force 4022 troops, 39 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 119

Japanese adjusted assault: 118

Allied adjusted defense: 6

Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kota Bharu !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

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

Allied ground losses:
1635 casualties reported
Squads: 52 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 52 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 30 (30 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

The Japanese naval war of attrition continues...

TK La Estrella Caltex, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
TK Hai Kwang, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
YO-41, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
YO-42, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

TK Anders Jahre, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires

Japanese forces, with what appears to be an invasion force, are moving down through the Celebes Sea towards Balikpapan and I move my forces to intercept as I have opportunity for some parity, even superiority, in local forces. This fight will happen next turn...

[Anachro]

Thought I should do something fun, so here you go.

December 13th, 1941