The Battle Under: Japan looks to the South

[SierraJuliet]

ORIGINAL: flaggelant

about China;

have you considered an assault on Chungking before marching on Henchow, to cut the army in half?

if you just push them back all the time they'll end up piling up in Chungking, 
If you'r able to split the army into fragments you might be able to crush them one at a time (without doing so in a city hex)



And on your Clark Field hot head, thats probably a very disrupted unit right now, might want to  check his disruption lvl before the next assault

and a screenshot would be nice to see, China will be looking a bit different from the last screeny i believe [8D]

Hi flaggelant

good thoughts there on rounding up some Chinese in the open.

Firstly I'm about 6 days behind in my AAR and things have moved on and I have made a commitment to assaulting Henchow. Tocaff has 6 units there I think and I have 1 more hex to cover before the city is encircled. I'm working on making sure that the blockading units have some reasonable size to them although for the time being they shouldn't cause the Chinese too much trouble should they decide to abandon the city.

Secondly because I'm playing with a self imposed rule of using troops to cover my rail and roads in the occupied area of China I'm not using all the units I suspect most Japanese players use against the Chinese. Therefore and also because it is my first PBEM I've leant towards being fairly conservative with what I expect to capture in China. I'm more than happy with what I have achieved so far and to be honest I thought that Changsa would have taken much longer to get than it did.

Thirdly... I now have some thing to ponder as I had not really thought so far down the track as to be thinking of mounting an attack on Chungking. I'll be giving it some though now.

Sorry about the screenshots. I've been a bit stretched just keeping up a the moment especially that my game with Ambassador is on the move again. I do have screen shots coming when I write up the end of January and also have leave from work for a few weeks so something more than the written word is coming up. I will be away for the week end though so it will have to wait until next week.

Can't remember what happened with the 'hothead' unit at Clark Field but things worked out ok there.

[SierraJuliet]

29 January 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: At Johore Bahru a deliberate Japanese attack reduces the forts to level 2 and achieves assault odds of 3 to 1.  Japanese loses amount to 928 casualties with 27 guns and 1 vehicle lost against 839 Allied casualties and 20 guns lost.  Not quite enough to force a retreat.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Singapore 20 Sally and 20 Lily bomb No. 112 Base Force and cause 22 casualties.  Flak accounts for 2 Sally and 5 Lily destroyed.  Ouch, this place is still a hive of activity.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Taung Gyi causes 8 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 8 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost with 15 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align]Japanese bombardment at Clark Field causes 269 Allied casualties and 7 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Clark Field 44 Betty and 13 Helen bomb 31st USA Regimental Combat Team and cause 55 casualties and 2 guns lost.  Also at Clark Field 45th PS Regimental Combat Team is bombed by 20 Betty and 7 Helen and loses 95 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]Southwest of Sasebo a mixed ASW task force locates SS Swordfish and reports 1 hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Again another day without a great deal to report.  The land action in Malaya and the Philippines continues towards a hoped for resolution in the near future whilst the China front continues to undergo some troop redeployments.

[SierraJuliet]

30 January 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese deliberate attack at Johore Bahru only achieves assault odds of 0 to 1.  (Must have been a unit left on attack as the max assault was only 1 which was adjusted to 0 against the Allied defense of 176 adjusted to 133).  All in all a good result for a slip up with only 26 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost to 103 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Singapore 16 Nell and 18 Sally bomb 2nd ISF Base Force and cause 89 casualties and 3 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Tang Gyi causes 32 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Tang Gyi 27 Helen bomb BFF Brigade and cause 44 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Air: At Kweilin 21 Sonia bomb 65th Chinese Corps and cause 15 casualties.  Also at Kweilin 12 Sally bomb 77th Chinese Corps and cause 2 casualties.[align=left] [/align]South of Changsha 8 Ann bomb 168th Chinese Division and cause 26 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 5 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost to 25 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Japanese bombardment at Clark Field causes 270 Allied casualties and 1 vehicle lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Land: Troops are ashore at Buka.[align=left] [/align]Dagua is occupied by the Japanese.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]South of Pear Harbour SS I-1 is found by a bunch of destroyers and takes 1 hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Another quiet one with troops marking time waiting for the big push.

[SierraJuliet]

31 January 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Johore Bahru causes 276 Allied casualties and 3 guns lost. [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Taung Gyi causes 6 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Tang Gyi 23 Helen bomb BFF Brigade and cause 71 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Air: South of Changsha 10 Sonia bomb 168th Chinese Division and cause 2 Chinese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 5 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost to 10 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Japanese bombardment at Clark Field causes 211 Allied casualties and 4 guns lost whilst the return Allied bombardment causes 27 Japanese casualties.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Clark Field 62 Betty and 13 Helen bomb 31st USA Regimental Combat Team and cause 121 casualties and 1 gun lost.  Also at Clark Field 57th PS Regimental Combat Team is bombed by 6 Betty and 7 Helen with 42 Allied casualties reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Land: The undefended base on Buka is captured by the Japanese.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Sea: Mini KB sends 8 Val and 16 Kate to bomb Samarinda and achieves 5 airbase hits and 5 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]SS I-1 is set upon again south of Pearl Harbour by DDs MacDonough, Worden, Maury and Perkins and MSW Bobolink and 3 hits are registered.  This along with the damage sustained last turn is enough to sink I-1.[align=left] [/align]South of Pearl Harbour SS I-9 is set upon by DMS Lamberton, Trevor, Hopkins and Hovey and DDs Lawrence and Crane and registers 7 hits resulting in damage of 21 17 00.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]SS I-1, AP Miike Maru (succumbs from torpedo damage received off Mersing on 7 January….. score 1 for the maligned Vildebeest!).[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]So ends the month of January 1942.  A recap of the month is coming up but in the mean time the Japanese forces are poised for success at Johore Bharu and Clark Field.

[SierraJuliet]

Here is the list of sunk ships to the end of January 1942.  Todd has made it very hard work to catch up with any of his shipping apart from the sitting ducks at the Philippines. Managing to get a result that put 1 CV, 1CA, 1CL and 2DD on this list was most satisfying.  The significant totals on this list are my transports which have been getting hit and tocaffs cargo ships.  Submarines are about even although the US subs caught in harbour at Manila helped a lot.

[SierraJuliet]

Here is the list of my shipping that is of concern regarding flotation problems as of 31 January 1942.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]As can be seen from this list Miike Maru is still shown as hanging in there.  Sometime overnight on the 31st January and 1st February Miike Maru gave up the fight and went down.  As the box at the bottom right shows the flooding never was under control and over the last week it simply became an inexorable force working to destroy this vessel.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]This leaves Hashidate at Kuching as most in jeopardy at the moment.  I had her written off when struck by a torpedo (possibly even 2 if memory serves correctly) but her she is refusing to go down.  Of the 3 destroyers on the list Satsuki is most in trouble with a 71.  Ayanami and Isonami should be ok from this point on.  Baikal Maru and Isonami are the only ships remaining from the task force that Enterprise nailed at Wake Island.  They will remain there until the flooding is under control before making the journey back to repair yards in Japan.  If I can get both back and repaired I will consider this as something of a small victory as all the ships in that task force would have been sunk if Enterprise had of stayed for 1 more day.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Hiryu also makes an appearance on the list.  Her flooding was quickly bought under control but the bomb that hit her, coupled with a ferocious fire, did significant damage and she will be in the yard for a while clearing the 49 system damage she now has.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Haruna is the other major combatant with damage.  After spending some time at Hong Kong she has now moved to Shanghai to complete the repairs.  She is moving along well after having system damage in the mid 20s from a torpedo attack.

[flaggelant]

looking good on the tracker screen
 
minimal losses and a CV sunk are nice results
 
I lost 15 DD's on 1st of januari, my opponent lost more as well, but seeing only 1 lost DD is an awesome result [&o]
 
 
could you explain moving Haruna from Hongkong to Shanghai? both ports have plenty of repair points,
the only reason i could come up with is a fleet HQ? (i sent one to Hongkong, to do the job over there)
 
 
 
 
 
Would you consider it valuable that your subs remain around PH at this point?
i ordered most subs back for other duties, and those that stayed are at about 10 to 15 hexes out of the island, to avoid being ASW-ed

[SierraJuliet]

Here are a few tracker shots of my position at the end of January '42.  I'm still climbing that great big learning curve hill so any comments aimed at improvement are welcome.

   

[SierraJuliet]

ORIGINAL: flaggelant

looking good on the tracker screen

minimal losses and a CV sunk are nice results

I lost 15 DD's on 1st of januari, my opponent lost more as well, but seeing only 1 lost DD is an awesome result [&o]


could you explain moving Haruna from Hongkong to Shanghai? both ports have plenty of repair points,
the only reason i could come up with is a fleet HQ? (i sent one to Hongkong, to do the job over there




Would you consider it valuable that your subs remain around PH at this point?
i ordered most subs back for other duties, and those that stayed are at about 10 to 15 hexes out of the island, to avoid being ASW-ed

Hi Flaggelant

Thanks for the praise. I came close to mixing it up with the ABDA fleet once and I'm glad I didn't as my fleet was a lot smaller and was sure to have come off the worse. That would have made the figures read a whole lot differently. All in all good figures so far but tocaff has plenty of ships left and he has drawn a line in the sand somewhere so I'm sure he will commit when I trip the wire.

15 destroyers within a month of the start.... ouch.

Haruna in Shanghai... me just being fickle and wanting to use Hong Kong to repair an AK I've taking a liking too.

Those subs that got pounded at Pearl I sent there in the hope of picking up one of the wounded from the Enterprise task force. It was close to Pearl but the only point I could make an intercept. That didn't happen and I lost 2 subs in the process.... guess that puts a blemish on the hunt for Enterprise. As a first timer PBEM, though, I'm learning the pitfalls of getting too close to Allied ASW.

[flaggelant]

hey,
 
i was looking at the tracker screens but i noticed i had some higher HI productions at some locations,
even though i never upgraded any..?
 
when i started using tracker i was adviced to standardize the database with the folowing link;

ORIGINAL:  n01487477
NY59Giants is correct, however you might start by loading a cluster before rechecking & assigning bases to regions... see here for details.
Then re-post the screen shots above and we'll talk more...

 
this way everyone talks about the same group of production locations.
 
 
 
               
 

[SierraJuliet]

Review of my second month of my first PBEM vs tocaff[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]January 1942 is now history in this game.  [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Progress continues on all fronts.  Below is listed bases captured this month.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Captured - Malacca, Mersing[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma [align=left] [/align]Captured – Rangoon, Mandalay[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI [align=left] [/align]Captured - Singkawang, Miri, Sandakan, Menado, Pontianak, Tarakan[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China [align=left] [/align]Captured – Wuchow, Changsha[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines [align=left] [/align]Captured – Taytay, Cotabato, San Jose, Jolo, Puerto Princesa[align=left] [/align]Occupied – Tawi Tawi[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South East Pacific [align=left] [/align]Captured – Apamama, Rabaul, Lae, Gasmata, Madang, Talasea, Hansa, Shortlands, Buin, Sag Sag, Wewak, Buka[align=left] [/align]Occupied – Samo, Tabar, Finschafen, Salamaua, Dobodura, Dagua[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Stuff ups[align=left] [/align]Letting my MSW get too close to the shore battery at Singapore.  I think that was the only major mess I made.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Things that worked[align=left] [/align]Getting across the Irrawaddy so early in the war.[align=left] [/align]The hunting and destruction of USS Enterprise.[align=left] [/align]Capture of Wuchow and a short time later, Changsha.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Damaged ships.  Lilsting damage when first hit and situation at end of the month.  Ships sunk outright on the day not listed. (Wow.   Didn’t realize there were so many until I put this list together!)[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]SS I-4 15 01 00  at Tokyo 09 00 00[align=left] [/align]AK Fukoku Maru 18 31 19[align=left] [/align]AK Tagonoura Maru  23 18 16  at Saigon 32 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Giyu Maru 35 04 10  at Saigon 30 00 00 [align=left] [/align]AP Montevideo Maru 33 38 14 at Tokyo 45 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Gosei Maru 36 51 22  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Miike Maru 49 42 15 and later sinks[align=left] [/align]SS 1-26 53 64 00 and later sinks[align=left] [/align]BB Yamashiro 04 00 09  at Camranh Bay 09 00 00[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]AP Meiten Maru 28 00 18 and later sunk by submarine[align=left] [/align]DD Yunagi 42 43 13  at Rabaul 35 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Hakauskia Maru 21 24 17  later hit a second time for 66 33 29 now at Kuching 79 00 00[align=left] [/align]TK Amatsu Maru 85 71 38 and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Shiny Maru 21 00 09 and later sinks[align=left] [/align]ML Matsuyama 41 21 12[align=left] [/align]BB Kongo 00 00 02 in TF at 00 00 00[align=left] [/align]DD Isonami 81 34 26 in TF at 41 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Atuta Maru 99 39 33  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Argentina Maru 99 71 33 and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Baikal Maru 46 33 23 in TF at 49 70 00[align=left] [/align]CV Hiryu 28 07 35 in TF at 49 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Kaijo Maru #2 23 10 23 at Rabaul 51 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Zenyo Maru 83 97 49  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Shinyu Maru 71 67 25  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]AP Katsuragisan Maru 51 14 15  at Rabaul 65 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Meiten Maru 75 96 32  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]PG Saga 19 03 04 in TF at 21 00 00[align=left] [/align]CA Ashigara 06 00 15 in TF at 27 00 00[align=left] [/align]AP Hakasika Maru 66 33 29 at Kuching 82 74 00[align=left] [/align]PG Hasidate 37 64 27 at Kuching 41 87 00[align=left] [/align]PG Saiko Maru 52 84 20  and later sinks[align=left] [/align]DD Ayanami 45 48 12  at Tarakan 45 42 00[align=left] [/align]AP Atago Maru 31 55 18 couldn't find on tracker but still afloat[align=left] [/align]AP Zukai Maru 20  07 13  hit a 2nd time and now in TF at 89 22 18[align=left] [/align]BB Ise 00 00 01 in TF at 01 00 00[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]On with the fight.

[SierraJuliet]

1 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: At Johore Bahru a Japanese deliberate attack reduces the forts to level 1 and achieves assault odds of 25 to 1.  The base is captured and the Allied forces (22nd and 27th Australian Brigades – nice to see the Australian troops holding the last line of defense) retreat to Singapore.  Japanese loses reported at 371 casualties and 14 guns lost to 476 Allied casualties and 14 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese deliberate attack south of Changsha achieves assault odds of 1356 to 1 resulting in 118 Japanese casualties and 2 guns lost to 855 Chinese casualties and 17 guns lost.  The Chinese continue their retreat after the recent loss of Changsha.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: At Clark Field 17 Betty and 9 Helen bomb 31st Regimental Combat Team and cause 58 casualties and 2 guns lost.  Later in the day 46 Betty and 7 Helen strike at 45th PS Regimental Combat Team and cause 154 casualties and 3 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese deliberate attack at Clark Field reduces the forts to level 1 and achieves assault odds of 3 to 1 and the base is captured and the Allied forces retreat.  Japanese loses reported as 660 casualties with 15 guns and 5 vehicles lost against 2454 Allied casualties and 39 guns and 1 vehicle lost.  Retreating troops include 107th and 112th USAAF Base Forces, 11th and 71st PA Divisions, 26th PS Cavalry Regiment, 31st, 45th and 57th USA Regimental Combat Teams and 200th USA Coastal AA Regiment.[align=left] [/align]Japanese bombardment attack at Naga causes 6 Japanese casualties and 2 guns lost to 45 Allied casualties and 4 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Air: Near Sag Sag 6 Hudson locate a transport task force and land 2 bombs on AP Zukai Maru causing her damage to rise from 29 00 00 to 89 22 18.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Sea: Mini KB launches 8 Val and 15 Kate to strike at Samarinda.  The attack causes 2 airbase hits, 1 airbase supply hit and 8 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]SS I-158 scores 2 torpedoes on ML Pro Patria at Trimcomalee.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]ML Pro Patria[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Excellent results at Johore Bahru and Clark Field.  Troops will now move in on Singapore proper and Bataan.  In China the troops move on from Changsha and open up the road to Hengchow.

[SierraJuliet]

2 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Air: At Kuantan 7 Blenheim escorted by 3 Buffalo make a bombing run on the airfield.  3 Zero and 1 Oscar rise to meet them.  2 Buffalo and 1 Oscar are destroyed and the bombers score 1 runway hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment causes 4 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Taung Gyi 19 Helen bomb BFF Brigade and cause 16 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Air: At Hengchow 10 Sonia escorted by 8 Oscar make a bombing run only to be met by 6 Tomahawk.  Without causing any damage 1 Oscar and 2 Sonia are destroyed.  A second raid by 8 Ann meets the same 6 Tomahawk and again do no damage and loose 1 of their number destroyed.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 59 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Sea: 34 coastal guns fire on the escorts of the invasion task force at Samarinda resulting in 1 hit on PG Edo Maru and 1 hit on PC Gamitsu Maru #1.  Neither ship is damaged.[align=left] [/align]Air: 22 Nell escorted by 24 Zero, operating out of Kuching, raid Banjarmasin.  They are met by a CAP of 5 Brewster 339D of which 3 are destroyed and the bombers score 1 airbase supply hit and 2 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Mini KB launches 8 Val and 15 Kate to bomb Samarinda.  The airbase takes 1 hit and the runway 9 hits and 13 casualties are reported.[align=left] [/align]Land: Troops are ashore at Samarinda.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]SS I-158 hits a mine at Mannargudi resulting in 23 46 00 damage.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Seems like a lull after the victories of the previous round.  Some time being spent moving troops into new assault positions at Singapore and Bataan.

[SierraJuliet]

3 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese shock attack at Singapore reduces forts to level 6 and achieves assault odds of 1 to 1.  Japanese losses are reported as 1725 casualties, 40 guns and 3 vehicles lost.  Allied loses are 1235 casualties, 56 guns and 4 vehicles lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Singapore ISF Base Force is bombed by 11 Nell, 3 Sally and 9 Lily.  1 Nell is destroyed and in return 33 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost is reported.  In a further raid, this time by 9 Nell, 27 Sally and 18 Lily, No. 111 RAF Base Force is targeted and sustains 141 casualties and 5 guns lost.  1 Nell is destroyed in the raid.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: At Taung Gyi Japanese bombardment attack causes 28 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Southwest of Hengchow a Chinese shock attack achieves assault odds of 0 to 1 and the Chinese lose 282 casualties and 1 gun lost.  A Japanese shock attack at the same location achieves assault odds of 69 to 1 and encourages the Chinese units to retreat.  It appears the both sides moved into this hex at the same time with the Japanese holding their ground.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Hengchow 22nd Group Army is bombed by 7 Ann and 10 Sally for the loss of 78 casualties.  [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Deliberate Japanese attack at Clark Field against Allied troops who appear to have returned achieves 119 to 1 assault odds.  Japanese forces suffer 806 casualties with 14 guns and 2 vehicles lost against 1065 Allied casualties and 17 guns lost.  The Allied forces retreat.[align=left] [/align]At Naga Japanese bombardment causes 61 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align]Air: 73 Betty and 16 Helen bomb Bataan and for the loss of 1 Betty obtain 1 airbase hit and 2 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Sea: Bombardment by Hyuga, Ise and CL Sendai causes 189 casualties, I gun and 1 vehicle lost, 2 air base hits, 6 runway hits, 2 port hits, 1 port fuel hit and 3 port supply hits at Samarinda.[align=left] [/align]Air: 17 Nell bomb Sampit and obtain 1 airbase supply hit.[align=left] [/align]At Samarinda the Garrison Battalion is bombed by 7 Nell for the loss of 32 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Mini KB launches 8 Val and 15 Kate against Samarinda and scores 3 airbase hits, 1 airbase supply hit and 3 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Land: At Samarinda Japanese shock attack reduces fort to level 2 and achieves 23 to 1 assault odds.  The base is captured and the Allied forces retreat to the south.  Japanese loses reported as 33 casualties and 1 gun lost to 113 Allied casualties and 5 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Air: Near Arawe 7 Hudson bombers get past the CAP of 3 Zero and land 1 bomb on board AP Aiyo Maru causing 09 02 10 damage.  [align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese Troops are ashore at Arawe.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]Nil reports of action[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]The bulk of the Japanese forces has forced the causeway and has established at Singapore having achieved excellent assault odds during the forcing of the crossing.  I’m not sure what was going on at Clark Field but it appears a substantial force wanted to party and got spanked.

[SierraJuliet]

4 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: More troops arrive at Singapore causing another Japanese shock attack at 0 to 1 assault odds.  Japanese losses reported at 658 casualties, 23 guns and 1 vehicle lost to 243 Allied casualties and 7 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese deliberate attack at Taung Gyi achieves 0 to 1 assault odds against level 2 forts.  Japanese losses are 845 casualties, 27 guns and 1 vehicle lost to 204 Allied casualties and 10 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Hengchow results in 8 Japanese casualties and 2 guns lost to 144 Chinese casualties.[align=left] [/align]Southwest of Wuchow Japanese bombardment attack causes 58 Chinese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Changsha 24 Tomahawk launch a raid.  The 3 Oscar CAP makes no impression and the raiders score 1 airbase hit,1 airbase supply hit and 7 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Southwest of Wuchow 24 Sonia bomb 91st Chinese Corps and cause 49 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 36 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops are ashore at Green Island and the undefended island is captured.[align=left] [/align]North of Gasmata a Japanese deliberate attack on the survivors of Rabaul achieves assault odds of 0 to 1 and Japanese casualties of 27 and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: Near Arawe 8 Hudson bomb a transport task force and land 1 bomb on board AP Zukai Maru causing damage from previous hits to rise to 96 38 05.[align=left] [/align]Near Goodenough Island 6 Hudson make an attack on a surface combat task force and lose 1 of their number to flak without worrying Mutsu.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Air: 20 Nell bomb Sampit and score 1 runway hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]Off shore from Sasebo PGs Hong Kong Maru, Yachiyo Maru, Tamo Maru #7 and Tamo Maru #6, MSW Tokuho Maru #5 and DD Makigumo locate and report 4 hits on SS Swordfish.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]The survivors from Rabaul are too powerful for the small force currently attacking it.  Reinforcements are on the way to deal with them.  The same can be said for the British troops holed up at Taung Gyi – more troops will have to enter the fray to successful seize this town.

[SierraJuliet]

5 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese shock attack at Singapore achieves 0 to 1 assault odds with 251 Japanese casualties, 12 guns and 6 vehicles lost against 1039 Allied casualties and 19 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Kuantan 7 Blenheim turn up and are met by 6 Zero.  1 Blenheim is destroyed and the bombing run is broken up.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: At Taung Gyi 26 Helen bomb 2nd Burma Rifles Brigade and cause 33 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Hengchow causes 138 Chinese casualties and 5 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Southwest of Wuchow Japanese bombardment causes 36 Chinese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Hengchow 8 Sonia escorted by 8 Oscar bomb 48th Chinese Corps.  9 Tomahawk fly CAP and 2 Sonia are downed.  48th Chinese Corps escapes punishment today.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: 71 Betty and 25 Helen bomb Bataan.  3 Betty and 2 Helen are destroyed for 40 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost plus 1 airbase supply hit and 5 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 2 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost to 13 Allied casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops are ashore at Aitape and Torokina.[align=left] [/align]The undefended base at Arawe is captured.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Air:  At Banjarmasin 21 Nell bomb the airfield causing 3 runway hits.  The 1 Brewster 339 CAP is destroyed.[align=left] [/align]Mini KB launches a raid on Balikpapan with 8 Val and 15 Kate causing 20 casualties, 1 gun lost, 3 airbase hits and 10 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]SS I-156 is located near Colombo by DDs Vampire, Vendetta, Electra and Express and MSW Cromarty and sustains 3 hits.  The same ships locate her a second time and score 12 hits and the sub is sunk.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]SS I-156[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Very good result for the shock attack at Singapore today.  I’m waiting until all my forces have made the crossing before launching a full scale attack. 

[SierraJuliet]

6 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land:  Japanese bombardment at Singapore causes 551 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.  The return Allied bombardment causes 37 Japanese casualties and 5 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Kuantan 6 Blenheim brush past the 9 Zero CAP and catch 1 Nell and 1 Lily on the ground and cause 11 Japanese casualties, 1 airbase hit, 1 airbase supply hit and 1 runway hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Air:  At Taung Gyi 26 Helen bomb 2nd Burma Rifles Brigade causing 20 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]At Mandalay 12 Blenheim bomb 55th/C Division causing 54 casualties and 4 guns lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: At Hengchow Japanese bombardment causes 237 Chinese casualties and 10 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: Southwest of Wuchow 26 Sonia bomb 91st Chinese Corps and cause 12 casualties.[align=left] [/align]About 100 miles southwest of Changsha on a road hex 10 Sally bomb 100th Chinese Corps and cause 11 casualties.  At the same location 6 Sonia bomb 2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps and cause 3 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: 59 Betty and 22 Helen bomb Bataan.  1 Betty is destroyed along with 1 P-35 from the 2 plane CAP.  Allied loses are 11 casualties, 1 airbase hit, 1 airbase supply hit and 1 runway hit.[align=left] [/align]Land:  At Naga Japanese bombardment causes 33 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align]At Bataan Japanese bombardment causes 410 Allied casualties, 11 guns and 2 vehicles lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]South Eastern Pacific[align=left] [/align]Land:  The undefended base at Aitape is captured by Japanese forces.[align=left] [/align]Air: Near Gili Gili 4 Hudson score 1 bomb hit on AP Kanayamasan Maru resulting in damage of 20 23 08.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Air:  20 Nell bomb Banjarmasin and obtain 4 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]5 Val and 12 Kate launched by Mini KB attack Balikpapan and achieve 1 airbase hit and 17 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]No action reported.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]Nil today.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]Tocaff is starting to flex his muscle with bombers appearing over Mandalay and Singapore sending out bombers to harass Kuantan.

[SierraJuliet]

7 February 1942[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Land: More Japanese troops cross the causeway and trigger another shock attack.  This time Japanese losses stand at 348 casualties and 7 guns lost to the Allies 1063 casualties and 3 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Singapore 8 Nell and 9 Lily bomb 2nd ISF Base Force and cause 21 casualties with 1 Nell destroyed.  Later in the day a raid by 10 Sally and 13 Lily targets No. 109 RN Base Force and causes 138 casualties and 1 gun lost.  Not long after No. 113 RAF Base Force receives the attention of 3 Nell, 13 Sally and 4 Lily and loses 57 casualties, 2 guns and 1 vehicle lost.  The 1 Buffalo that flew as CAP took on the 20 Oscar flying escort and was destroyed.  A further raid by 7 Nell, 36 Sally and 18 Lily also targeted No.113 RN Base Force.  This time 1 Sally and 1 Lily were lost whilst the Allied force lost 116 casualties and 2 guns and 1 vehicle lost.[align=left] [/align]At Kuantan 6 Blenheim tries for another attack on the base.  This time they are met by 13 Zero and 4 of the attacking planes are shot from the sky.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment at Hengchow causes 11 Japanese casualties and 3 guns lost to 213 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: Southwest of Wuchow 22 Sonia bomb 28th Chinese Corps and cause 10 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]On the road 100 miles southwest of Changsha 6 Sonia and 9 Ann bomb 6th Chinese Cavalry Corps and cause 25 casualties.  [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: 56 Betty bomb Bataan and cause 108 casualties with 2 guns lost, 6 airbase supply hits and 12 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Land:  The Japanese bombardment at Naga causes 40 Allied casualties.[align=left] [/align]At Bataan the Japanese bombardment causes 57 casualties and 1 vehicle lost.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Air:  20 Nell bomb Banjarmasin and destroy 1 Martin 139 on the ground and obtain 1 airbase supply hit and 1 runway hit.  The CAP of 1 Brewster 339 falls to the escort of 38 Zero.[align=left] [/align]Mini KB launches again.  This time 7 Val and 13 Kate bomb Balikpapan and cause 37 casualties and 1 gun lost, 8 airbase hits, 1 airbase supply hit and 8 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]Near Mannargudi Vampire, Vendetta and company locate SS I-153 and score 1 hit for 05 00 00 damage.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]TK Anastasia (scuttled near Brisbane after being torpedoed several days ago)[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]The shock attacks at Singapore continue to achieve good results even though assault odds are only 0 to 1.  The aerial assault on Singapore has also met with good success and minimal loses whilst the attack on Kuantan provided good practice for the Zero pilots on duty.

[SierraJuliet]

Battle of Goodenough Bay  

On the night of 7/8 February 1942 the anchorage for transports bringing in supplies to the fledgling base and airfield at Gili Gili was being guarded by a surface action group built around BB Mutsu.  Her consorts were CLs Katori, Tenryu and Tatsuta and DDs Shiokaze, Wakatake, Kuretake and Sanae.  Tonight there were transports off loading at the anchorage.  Apart from dodging regular raids by Hudson bombers operating form Port Moresby the waters of the South East Pacific had been clear of enemy shipping.  This night was to be different.  

The peaceful night was broken by the sounds of explosions as Tenryu and Tatsuta were each hit by a torpedo.  Stung by the surprise of this attack and the rain of shells falling around their ships (and starting to find targets) the Japanese seaman quickly found their quarry and returned fire.  A short and sharp fire fight ensued although the Japanese line was much reduced after Tenryu and Tatsuta fell out to deal with serious flooding.  It soon became apparent that the Allied fleet was substantial.  Hits were reported on ships believed to be CAs Australia and Canberra, CLs Leander, Achilles and Perth and DDs Bulmer, Stuart and Voyager.  Mustu recorded 6 hits which caused no damage, however, Katori and Shiokaze each took 4 hits that caused worrying damage.  Before long the Allied fleet had broken off leaving the Japanese to hope that they had done enough to protect the transports at their anchorage.  

Not far away 12 transports under the watchful eye of DDs Hatsuharu, Nenohi, Hatsushima and Wakaba were making haste to clear the anchorage after receiving the report of enemy warships in the vicinity.  They were hastened in their task when the 4 destroyers raced off and began engaging rapidly approaching warships.  Nenohi died under a hail of 8 inch shells and the other 3 destroyers all took hits with Wakaba the most serious with 7 shell hits.  One of the enemy cruisers, believed to be Australia was believed to have been struck by a torpedo and at least 9 shell hits.  One of the enemy destroyers (reported as Alden) was thought to have taken 3 shell hits.  The transports successfully scattered with only Kanayamasan Maru suffering from 3 shells hits.  It was enough though to cause her serious damage.  Before long the Allied ships broke off and left the field of battle leaving a number of Japanese ships fighting fires and trying to stem serious flooding.

[flaggelant]

nice report
 
any chance to retaliate against the TF from the air (rabaul should be within betty & zero range)?
 
 
one other thing came to my mind reading the battle report;
 
Katori is a speed 18 CL, making her the slowest ship in the TF
in my game she was sunk at midway escorting a transport force (thats why i know she's a bit slow [8|])
(i understand they're suposed to be escorting the transports, but she might have been better of within the transport TF instead of the combat compartment)
 
i usually use the speed 18 CL's for transport missions with light to medium expected resistance, that way the DD's have a bit more support, minimizing losses (not that my 15 lost DD's actually show that atm...)
 
you might want to check where the rest of the speed 18 CL's are at, because there are 3 or 4 of them i believe.