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Well once again I am putting my hand in the fire by playing my old nemsis Xargun who single handedly has driven me into the sea on 3 seperate occasions. I must be a glutton for punishment.

This time I am the Japanese, which, Im no expert as I'm sure Nomad and a host of others will be able to tell you, given the fact that I have donated my share of carriers to them.

At any rate..

Game On!

I went fairly standard in the opening move. I figure I have six months of free play time before he can do too much to me. Im going to try to pace myself, never send out transports without proper escort. My carriers are gold right now. I will do my best not to pill a "rob" running off after his carriers not properly prepared for battle. In my ideal world 1943 will show up and I will still possess all my decks.

My intial landings were at :

TF 20 troops unloading over beach at Guam, 62,66 has to go early
TF 72 troops unloading over beach at Kuching, 28,56 makes for a nice airbase to control the sea lanes
TF 85 troops unloading over beach at Khota Bharu, 24,45 Have to start somewhere in Malaya
TF 87 troops unloading over beach at Lingayen, 44,50 Open beach, no defenses what's not to like
TF 89 troops unloading over beach at Cagayan, 42,59 I hope I'm faster then his aircrews and bag some b17s
TF 90 troops unloading over beach at Batan Island, 47,47 These guys are here waiting for that bayonet
Japanese forces CAPTURE Batan Island base !!!

I choose not to land and Wake Island. I have a small warship force with 3 battlewagons standing of Marcus right now. As soon as KB gets done pasting Midway (her next destination) she is off to support my landings at Wake. I would like to not suffer multipe hits from his CD guns on my poor destroyers...so I intend to bomb a bit from the air and soften him with my big guns before landing the troops. Probably a 2 or 3 operation once it gets rolling. This is part of my preservation of my warships strategy.





Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 97

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
Swordfish: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 11 A good start. Id like to paste this runway, so his birds wont be dropping 250lbers into my transports.

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Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 5
A6M2 Zero x 75
G3M Nell x 35
G4M1 Betty x 51
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 6 destroyed
P-35A: 8 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 5 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
B-17C Fortress: 1 destroyed wish I could of killed a few more on the ground, this will bite me later.

Airbase hits 41
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 112 Though this is nice.

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Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 34 Those bettys are good at making nice holes in the mud.

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Day Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 112,68

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 76
D3A Val x 126
B5N Kate x 143

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
D3A Val: 6 destroyed, 40 damaged
B5N Kate: 9 destroyed, 33 damaged Good exchange, I lost 17 crews and destroyed...

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
P-26A: 6 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 8 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 26 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed
B-18A Bolo: 5 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 8 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 6, on fire, heavy damage She sank
BB California, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 10, on fire, heavy damage She sank
AK Mercury, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PT PT-29, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1
DD Patterson, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DMS Wasmuth, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AV Tangier, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AR Rigel, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Antares, Bomb hits 1
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Chew, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DM Tracy, Bomb hits 1
DD Allen, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1


Allied ground losses:
83 casualties reported

Airbase hits 31
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 96

Not a great attack against Pearl, but at least they flew....our first try at this (Me and Xargun) KB did not launch so we restarted.


Day Air attack on TF at 39,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 9
B5N Kate x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 8 damaged Boise put up some amazing flak...and I didnt even get a hit on her!

Allied Ships
CL Boise

Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 13
D3A Val x 13
B5N Kate x 17

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 13 damaged
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Madison, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PG Asheville, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Bisayas, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Sealion, Bomb hits 1
AK Ethel Edwards, Bomb hits 1
PT PT-31, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Capillo, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Pillsbury, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Perch, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AV Langley, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 22

We agreed that I could hit Manila with baby KB. I wasn't going to say no to that and sank one submarine.
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Ground combat at Hong Kong

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 22535 troops, 254 guns, 17 vehicles

Defending force 13229 troops, 118 guns, 4 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 6)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 5


Japanese ground losses:
427 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
117 casualties reported
Guns lost 6


All and all not a bad first day, fits with in my new strategy, go slow, go steady...

And now the first mappy.

Nice torpedos [:'(][X(][:-]

Good luck Rob .. may your CV's not be torp magnets in this game ( for a change).

Great result vs PH there ! outstanding even.

as a huge fan of you last AAR vs Xargun i have high hopes this wiil be an ejoyable and interesting read.[&o][&o]

good luck Rob and welcome to the dark side...

"Not a great attack against Pearl,"

Actually you got a excellent result at PH, i'm sure that in 90% of the all PBEM games you got only one or none BB sunk.

In the opening months you should watch out for:

a) B17s (strikes form Java or Singapore on yours AFs)
b) allied surface TFs in DEI (they can be a nasty suprise if Xargun decide to use for intercepting your invasion fleets...

ORIGINAL: rroberson

Day Air attack on TF at 39,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 9
B5N Kate x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 8 damaged Boise put up some amazing flak...and I didnt even get a hit on her!

Allied Ships
CL Boise

I hate the Boise. In my PBEM, if I sink Boise, I win the game.[:D]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: rroberson

Day Air attack on TF at 39,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 9
B5N Kate x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 8 damaged Boise put up some amazing flak...and I didnt even get a hit on her!

Allied Ships
CL Boise

I hate the Boise. In my PBEM, if I sink Boise, I win the game.[:D]

ask Luskan, he hates it as well. I sank Kinugasa and 3 DD with Boise alone in one battle

In a word. UGLY

Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

(From two seperate strikes)

Runway hits 5
Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 1 destroyed Well thats one
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 3

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Day Air attack on TF at 23,43

In case you weren't sure Sallys and Lilys are not ship killers, but I had no other birds free (My Nells were busy). Ah well the British Navy escapes.

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius
DD Isis

Day Air attack on TF, near Batan Island at 47,47

Gotta love Xargun's Mojo He sends the Royal Navy into Batan Island searching for my transports.

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Thanet
DD Thracian
DD Scout, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage She would sink

I sent my Nells here. WIll be the last port strike in this area...I was hoping he had left some of his smaller warships tied to the dock. I certainly dont want to have to spend loads of supplies repairing the damage I caused.

AP Kanimba, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Manoora, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
129 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Port hits 11
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1


Day Air attack on TF at 37,60

The Blood letting begins

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Pasir, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Sipirok, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Day Air attack on TF at 42,53

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 13
D3A Val x 9
B5N Kate x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AO Pecos, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage She would sink

And then we come to it. The worst surface combat I have suffered since the famous..."Nomad" incident. A day long engagement and the USS Boise sinks not one, not two, but SIX! Japanese Destroyers. I was stunned watching it. And IM still stunned. At least the bastard rolled over. Do I get the worst "die" rolls in game or what?

Day Time Surface Combat, near Cagayan at 42,59

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 6
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 19, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 24, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 6, on fire
DD Shiokaze, Shell hits 13, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 23, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Cagayan at 42,59

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 3
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tokitsukaze, and is sunk
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Cagayan at 42,59


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
SOC-3 Seagull: 6 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
DD Yukikaze, and is sunk
DD Yamakaze, on fire, heavy damage
DD Suzukaze, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 11, and is sunk I made sure we machine gunned the survivors.

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cagayan base !!!

Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 3 destroyed 3 More!

Japanese forces CAPTURE Guam base !!!

Ground combat at Hong Kong

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 27748 troops, 290 guns, 15 vehicles

Defending force 12985 troops, 110 guns, 4 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 5)

My forces were pretty dazed after this and will be content to lob artillery for a day or two to soften him up. There is no hurry

Ground combat at Kuching No movement here


Ground combat at Khota Bharu

Japanese Deliberate attack

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3


Ground combat at Lingayen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Japanese forces CAPTURE Lingayen base !!!

The loss of six Destroyers is very very painful. The fact it was the same freaking warship that staved off a massive Kate attack the day before makes it worse. Needless to say I stepped up destroyer production in an attempt to offset these losses.

No major new operations this turn. KB will bomb Midway enroute to its wake date. I have moved my wake bombardment group towards the island as the troops are now five hexes out. I am going to continue to land troops at Lingayen and build up for a push outwards. The Royal Navy escaped pretty painlessly out of Singapore, but we will catch up with them sooner or later.

I am sending my baby flattops south to catch the mass of transports fleeing the PI as seen in the 2nd picture.

I salute her crew and her captain...surely they had the courage of Samrai

Map of the PI operating area. Note the mass of fleeing American ships headed southeast.

Rob .. you've done it again ! .. stunned the comminty with you 'unluckyness' ..

will this cheer you up ?

A seventh victim of the Boise rolled over and sank off Cagayan. Happily in yesterday's report a 3rd American Battlewagon sank. The loss of all those destroyers has really hurt my drive to take DEI. I am now pulling my short-leg tincans off ASW duty near Japan and rushing them to the front for duty.

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My Cagayan Bettys had a happy day of hunting today...I guess that helps the sting a bit

Allied Ships
TK Manatawny, Torpedo hits 2, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Finch, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Bittern, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Whippoorwill wiffed on her
CA Houston, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage Caught her at Naga!
AK Sarangami, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Si Kiang, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
TK Gertrude Kellogg, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
PG Tulsa, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Don Jose, Torpedo hits 1, on fire


My Sallies join the party
Ki-21 Sally x 9

AK Corregidor, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
========================================================================================
Airfield strikes for the most part. Trying to close that runway at Singapore so my transports can operate without fear of his torpedo bombers..(small that it is)

Day air attack on Alor Star
Day Air attack on Kuantan
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
G3M Nell x 61

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 18 damaged The flak was brutal

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 2 destroyed
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Swordfish: 1 destroyed

But well worth it

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 13

Day Air attack on Manila

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 13 damaged This wasn't worth the payout though

Allied Ships
DD Pillsbury, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Capillo, Bomb hits 1
AP President Madison, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet Could not find the target...which now forces me to delay here a day and sets back my Wake landing by 24 hours.

Day Air attack on Midway , at 95,61

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20 They found the target...grrr

No Japanese losses
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Ground combat at Hong Kong I bombarded here..going to soften the brits up a bit


Ground combat at Khota Bharu Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15161 troops, 246 guns, 17 vehicles

Defending force 6497 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

One more deliberate attack and if it doesnt fall I will shock him


Ground combat at Kuching Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3690 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1735 troops, 8 guns, 1 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)

This isnt panning out so well, I should of sent more troops to the party...damn dutch!

Ground combat at Sinkep Island I landed here thinking it would be a good place to base DBs to catch anything trying to get into or out of Singapore



All in all I can tell that I haven't played the Japanese in six months and what little experience I had wasnt up to stuff. My conservative approach might be a bit slow, but then again it is only day 2 of the war. I moved a squadron of Bettys to Palau hoping to catch transports fleeing in that direction. I have also begun moving NLFs from Truk with planned landings at Kavieng, the Admiralties and Emirau. I have also landed troops at the undefended town of Miri.

ORIGINAL: rroberson

I moved a squadron of Bettys to Palau hoping to catch transports fleeing in that direction.

What's the airfield level of Palau? Is it 3 or 4? If it's 3, the Bettys (and Nells) don't fly as often and carry only bombs.

Bah I had a long write up done and the board ate it.

Suffice to say that there hasnt been much movement in the last 24 hours.

I have made a landing at the Admiralty Islands as my first step towards taking Rabaul. My Bettys did not fly today (weather) but my light carrier forces smacked around several more of his ships escaping the PI including several more bombs into poor Houston.

Khota Bharu is now down to one and I intend to strike it with every Sally in the region and Banzai charge the place. It will fall tomorrow.

On a fun note...the Royal Navy is making a run through Imperial waters for the west coast. The two remaining Hong Kong destroyers are now south west of Bonin. I moved Kates to Bonin in an attempt to catch them....9 kates 9 torpedos 9 misses. Ah well he is about to run smack dab into my Wake Island operation and the main Japanese Fleet.

Midway was pounded from the air today doing well over 100 hits on the runway. It should be out of service for a bit. Hopefully the threat of me mauling anything he sends to that area will be enough to keep it unsupplied for a while.

Kuching is annoying me. I clearly didnt bring enough troops to the party. I am striking the dutch there with Nells and attacking again. I may whistle up the rest of the division (they just took undefended Miri) and move them in to help.

The Royal Navy is also being a bit of a pain at Sinkep Island. His destroyers bombarded the place...and caused my attack to fail. I have a cruiser/destroyer squadron making a b line for the island.

I'm seriously considering dividing KB into 2 divisions... One idea is to always have them operate within 12 hexes of each other so they can somewhat support each other. The other is to always have one forward and the other at the home islands rearming and refitting. I have seen KB operate as a single deathstar in many games, but I think that limits you abilty to react to grassfires and cuts down on your abilty to strike far and wide. My main goal remains to grab DEI first and foremost and then concentrate on PI, Malaya and Burma. Turn DEI into a japanese lake to get those resources flowing. We will see how it goes.

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: rroberson

I moved a squadron of Bettys to Palau hoping to catch transports fleeing in that direction.

What's the airfield level of Palau? Is it 3 or 4? If it's 3, the Bettys (and Nells) don't fly as often and carry only bombs.

I believe it is a 3 but will have to check it. It was a die throw trying to catch him rolling past. I have been the victim of bombing strikes out of Palau in the past so I was hoping to get luck..


[:-] what the hell was I thinking...my luck in this game is many things...but certainly not good [:D]

Be careful splitting up KB. That was the part of the Japanese' undoing in real life....and here, it can hurt you too.

At Kuching, you have to face a stiff little fort there. I use the 35th Brigade to land and sieze that location and it is at 100 prep points for thaat target. The brigade is located in Cham Rahn bay with plenty of transports.

I am amazed you landed at Khoto Bohto and not Kuantan in Malaya. Kauntan allows you to split Malaya in 2 if you can move fast enough. You can land a 2nd brigade at Kauntan and then move them north to Khuto to subdue that base. Takes some time to do though, but mass air attacks can help alot.

There was a method to my madness at Khoto..but that is now lost along with the game as the leader bug has struck. Expect a new attempt soon.

are you changing alot of leaders?

A couple of turns ago Xarg reported he was having the leader problem, then he realized he had the wrong version up, presto, changed to the right version (1.795) and he didnt complain about it anymore. Last night I decided it would be a good idea to check who was running the show in China from an army standpoint. Saw a staff LT in charge of one of my divisions went to change him and no joy. Then I started poking around with my other divisions in Malaya and the PI and found I couldnt change any of them from the generic staff LT. At that point it became a huge problem.

When I talk to Xarg I will get him to restart. ITs not the first time we have had too...probably not going to be the last either.... Though prior to starting this game we kicked around starting with your 5/42 scenario. I really don't enjoy the conquer phase of the game and I would love to see how the game plays like during the middle part of the campaign.

Though prior to starting this game we kicked around starting with your 5/42 scenario. I really don't enjoy the conquer phase of the game and I would love to see how the game plays like during the middle part of the campaign

Feel the same way....part of my motivation to convert the 42A scenario. Personally i'm sick and tired of the start of the war. [:D] 5/42 onward provides a refreshing new perspective without the hassle of managing multiple offensives.

So you hadn't made alot of changes prior.....odd. I've done about 5 PBEM's now, including restarts due to version changes using the beta and i've yet to run into this mass disapearing leader problem. I rarely change leaders, at least the ones commanding LCU's which i'm wondering ihas something to do with it.