Mike how are you going Oil / fuel wise? I've found that really is the critical bit, next time I'd try to save fuel by not hauling as many resources. Having said that hauling lots from Korea as we have a lot of China captured and the transportation link from Vietnam to China is also open.
Even hauling every drop of available oil from the DEI is not enough
Next game I'd fully repair Miri as well.
Cheers
Rob
I always repair Miri and every other oil center.*
Yes, there is never enough fuel/oil.
I am scrupulous about minimizing fleet fuel expenditures.
The Singers to Korea overland resource/oil route saves an incredible amount of fuel.
*Except Burma unless/until I control India to Calcutta. Has to be out of 4E range for me to repair it.
Yup, same here. I just completed Miri's repairs just a few game days ago.
So far, the I-123 is hanging in there. Her flot damage decreased by one. She’s still a long way off from the relative safety of Adak. Ted commented on my leaving mines at Kodiak. It included a few expletives. Hehe. He said the DD didn’t sink but hoped my SOB sub did sink.
I just sent the I-122 to Akyab to drop off some mines there. If you recall, that base has ~40k Allied troops and is cut off by land. Ted has been sending xAKLs there in 1 ship TFs, presumably to drop off supply to the beleaguered troops. The mines will hopefully cause an additional ulcer for Ted. Tomorrow, I’ll allocate an Oscar chutai to fly Cap over Akyab to prevent transports from flying supply in. I want to turn Akyab into a self-sustaining POW camp.
Air War
Ted is definitely short on frontline fighters. He told me in an email that at some point he mistakenly turned replacements on for every air group. He had to disband some air groups to put some aircraft in the pool. I suspect his losses aren’t helping either. That should slow down his training program a bit until those disbanded air groups come back.
At any rate, no Allied fighters flew over Chittagong and only 3 P40s flew over Pt. Moresby. Total losses were a P40 to an Oscar + 1 op loss. My nightly bombing of Pt. Moresby’s airfield destroyed a Catalina on the ground.
Ted’s really ravaging Milne Bay with his B-17s. I think he’s going to invade there. Bring it on! The only combat troops I have there is an SNLF company. I’m going to fly in a Naval Guard or 2, including some of the elite Naval Guard units. I haven’t seen any sign of an invasion from Ted though. To counter it I have 2x Betty daitai (45 and 27 planes) as well as ~60-70 Zeros. I also have a dozen or so subs. I have no surface forces larger than a CL though. KB and MKB are both in the SRA and the Combined Fleet is mainly in Davao and Singapore. I may move KB to Truk, just in case.
I’m going to build up Hollandia to counter Merauke from the air. The only down side is that Oscars can’t make the trip. I have to use Zeros from Rabaul. Ted has quite a few S & Dutch subs at Merauke so I can’t risk KB or MKB there for more than a day or two of raids.
China
My DA of Nanyang took that base. The 13:1 attack wiped out the resistance (2x HQ, 5x Corps, 1x Engineer reg) causing 33,441(4222) Chinese casualties to 2550(9) Japanese casualties. Those 10x heavy artillery are making a big difference. This army is now headed to Yenan (I think, can’t remember for sure, but it’s in the north. I’ll confirm tonight.). There is an army estimated at ~40-50k there. The resources were captured at 15(5). I’ll take it.
Burma
I already discussed the air war above. My intel shows only about 2 dozen Allied fighters split between Chittagong and Imphal. Ted has a significant force in Imphal but I’m threatening to isolate that base. I made a mistake and did a DA there. The outcome looked worse than it really was, other than for the Imperial Guards Division. The result was 7149(32) Japanese vs. 424(4) Allies. Most of the disruption was on the IG Division. The other 2 divisions are still in pretty good shape. I did notice that the Imphal garrison is moving to the NW to escape the trap. That’ll work. Once I capture Imphal, I’ll have the ability to move along the road more easily. My real intent is to capture Ledo, at least temporarily. My big issue is the lack of supply in Burma. It’s really bad in Imphal. I can see why the Japanese had so many problems there historically.
Practically all of my xAPs are stationed in the Home Islands, primarily it Tokyo. Many of them have short endurance, which limits their use. I am going to send the short range xAPs to the SRA, to be stationed at either Saigon or Singapore. They will be used to move troops around as my defensive plan gels. Those short range xAPs will be of much more value in that region.
Most of my stuff is on the rise. Here is the important stuff:
Not much gain with HI points, but the armament points will reach their 100k goal in a few days and I’ll shut off 500 armament points. That’ll drive the HI points way up by the end of June 42. Remember, my goal is >700k HI points by the end of 1942.
I added to the R&D factories. Here are my totals in size 30 factories (goal is in parenthesis):
Oscar – 3 – all remain R&D and will accelerate IIa, IIIa & IV.
Tojo – 3 – all become operational.
Tony – 4 – 1 operational, 3 R&D Ia, Id, 100-I, 100-II.
Frank – 6 – 3 operational, 3 R&D 84a, 84b, 84r.
Ki-201 – 1 (3) – all operational.
Helen – 3 – all become operational as the IIa.
Ki-102 – 0 (3) – all operational.
Peggy T – 0 (1) – operational.
Dinah NF – 0 (1) – operational.
A6M3a – 6 (note that one is size 60) – 60 + a 30 operational, 4 R&D M5, M5b, M8. Also note that there are currently 2 R&D for the A6M5 so it will have 6x 30 factories in R&D from the M5 on.
A7M3-J – 3 (5) – operational.
George – 3 (6) – 3 operational, 3 R&D K2-J, K5-J.
Norm – 0 (2) – 1 operational, 1 change to something else.
G4M2a 2 – R&D M3a.
C6N1-S NF – 1 (3) – operational.
Grace – 2 (4) – operational
D4Y1 – 2 – 1 operational, 1 R&D Y3, Y4.
B6N1 – 1 – operational.
Note that this is subject to change. Gotta think about it some more.
Below is a brief, update on each of my AOs and other stuff.
Sub War
I-123 is still hanging in there but is 19 days out of Adak. She’s only 9 days out of Dutch Harbor. I may send here there instead. Both have size 3 ports, but Dutch Harbor is much closer to the enemy. She’ll sail right past Dutch Harbor on her way to Adak, so I’ll put off the decision for a while.
Just off Noumea, the I-170 has been patrolling for quite a while and finally found game. She sank a medium sized xAK. Better than nothing.
Have you guys noticed that it’s practically impossible for a sub to put a torpedo into a DD? I can’t remember the last time I did that. Ted has never torpedoed any of my DDs. Just curious if it’s just our game or if any of you have noticed the same thing.
5 Fleet
I control Adak and points west as well as Dutch Harbor. Those two bases are the only ones I’m fortifying. My total air power there is 2 Emilies for naval search out of Adak. The Aleutians is a speed bump while I fortify closer to home.
My primary naval power is 6 fleet subs and 3 Glen subs. They form a screen east of the Aleutians for early warning and the occasional attack on a cargo vessel near Kodiak.
In addition to the subs, I have 3 CLs and 13 Minekazes, but they haven’t left the port of Ominato for months. I am tempted to move the Minekazes to other locations to perform escort missions. Gotta think about that and make a decision. The reason I haven’t done that to date is because I like to have some escorts available for missions in the 5 Fleet area. If they leave, the only escorts I’ll have are a PB or 2.
4 Fleet
Fortifying continues, primarily on the fringe and the Marianas. Ted sent another DM or DMS to Majoro this time. It’s doing the same thing as the others, just sitting there. My CD guns won’t engage. I made a mistake with my DDs that were in the area last time this happened. Instead of making their home port Kwajalein, I left it on Truk and they went back home. I have 6 DDs (Fubukis) that are 1 day out from Majoro now. Hopefully, the ship will remain another day and I’ll engage. It’ll be dead meat. I can’t believe I’m doing all this for a single DMS. I think it’s because I haven’t seen a capital ship in months.
I have a nice assortment of engineers in this AO. The forts are coming along nicely. If Ted’s history is true this game, he’ll most likely avoid this area, but I have to be prepared, just in case.
4 Fleet’s naval power is exclusively subs. There are 9 Glen and 5 midget carrying subs. The next 3 Glen sub reinforcements will come here as well.
4 Fleet draws surface naval units from Truk on an as needed basis. I suspect this area will rarely, if ever, get anything larger than a CL, unless KB makes an appearance.
I don’t think I’m using my subs effectively. They tend to end up spread out all over the place. I don’t use the midget carrying sub unless they are delivering midgets, which is pretty rare. Right now I have 3 delivering midgets to Rangiora. I intend to use the 9x (soon to be 12) Glen subs in divisions of 3 in specific areas.
I like to keep a presence on the US west coast, but usually only 1 sub. I’ll allocate a division to this mission with 1 sub on the west coast, one east of Hawaii and the third replenishing. They’ll move in a circle. From Kwajalein, the replenished sub will sail to the west coast. The sub just replaced at the west coast will sail to east of Hawaii. The sub replaced at Hawaii will sail to Kwajalein to replenish. That way, there will be a constant presence at each place.
The second and third divisions will form a line west of Hawaii as a tripwire for any incursion into 4 and 5 Fleet AOs. Each division will have 2 subs west of Hawaii in a semi-circle for early warning for 4 Fleet and 5 Fleet. The third sub in each division will rotate back to replenish and then replace one of the subs in the tripwire.
I’ll determine what the new division will do when they arrive (within a month or so).
SE Fleet
One Catalina destroyed on the ground and a Kittyhawk op loss. I think Ted is just about out of Kittyhawks for a while. I’ll check the numbers vs. his replacement rate when I have the chance.
The B-17s (he up to ~35 on mission now) beat up Milne Bay again. He’s still working on the port. Better than base than the others. Buna is where my Oscar sentai is stationed that is carrying on the air war over Pt. Moresby. Lae and Gasmata are my bomber bases, and then there’s Rabaul. Overall, I’m happy with my situation here (other than not being able to capture Pt. Moresby). He’s working on my fringe and not touching Rabaul or points north. As he does this, I am building up forts in Lunga, Tulagi, Munda, Shortlands and a few other bases where I can station air power if needed.
I saw something I really liked today. In my nightly Sally bombing of Pt. Moresby airfield, I damaged 4x P-39s. That tells me he’s low on good fighters. I really want to bomb Pt. Moresby by day, but Sallies don’t survive well against fighters. I’ll start getting the Helen IIa in about 10 days. Then it’ll take 18 days to fill out the 2x Sally sentai with Helens. I plan on starting my daylight bombing campaign of Pt. Moresby on 1 Jul 42. Can’t wait!
SE Fleet has a nice little naval force available:
CA Aoba
CA Furutaka
CA Ashigara
3x CL
18x DD (Fubuki)
7x Ro subs – based at Rabaul and forming a ring around Pt. Moresby
8x Fleet subs
3x Glen subs
In addition, it is reinforced from the Combined Fleet as needed. Currently, there are no additional naval forces attached.
The fleet subs are in divisions of (Fleet/Glen) 3/1, 3/1 & 2/1. One division is based east of Australia, one is at Rangiora and the third is currently unassigned.
China
You’re aware of my movements in China. I have 2 offensive armies that are taking out bases, one by one. Ted is doing nothing that I can see. He is doing nothing in the air and ground units aren’t moving that I can tell. I think he has a supply issue. I have cut off Ledo from the rest of India and there is no land LOC available between India and China. He still has some large armies in some of the bases, but they are doomed. I’m working to surround some so I can take them out one of my armies becomes available.
My air force in China is becoming very experienced. The bombers and recon fly daily and my fighters escort and fly CAP, so far against no opposition in the air. Very odd.
My supply is low so last turn I set my CS TF that moves resources from Shanghai to Nagasaki to send supply back to China. Each leg is ~50k supply so I’ll let it send 200-250k supplies to China. I’m considering dividing that convoy in half and having one return with supply on a constant basis. That’ll keep the level of supply up in China without my having to keep track of things.
Burma
This is the only active ground campaign (other than what’s going on in China). I have forces in Imphal and Ted is attempting to withdraw from Imphal. The issue I have is that practically no supply is moving to the NE part of Burma so no airfield building is occurring. I don’t have enough level 2+ airfields to keep a significant number of fighters over Imphal to protect my army. Fortunately, Ted’s bombers aren’t very successful, but they are active. I’m moving more supply to Rangoon so it’ll migrate into Burma, but that’s a slow process. I’m trying to keep Singapore at >20k supply. I’m going to have to send a 100k supply convoy from Japan to alleviate the situation in Singapore and probably another 200k supply to Rangoon to beef up Burma. Until then, Burma is receiving small supply convoys, primarily from Palembang. It’s not enough to really do anything.
Burma’s air force fluctuates because I rotate units in and out as they lose strength. It is composed of the entire 22 Air Flotilla and most of the 3 Air Division. The bombers aren’t used much because they can’t be effectively escorted, so it’s mainly a battle of air superiority (which I’m winning) over Chittagong and Ted’s relatively ineffective bombing campaign against my army at Imphal.
Because I have a shortage of IJN fighter pilots, I am reluctant to use my Zeros in this theater. I use them occasionally, but only in conjunction with the Oscars. Right now I have 202 IJA fighter pilots in reserve and every one of my IJA fighter units has extra pilots. I’m willing to trade them for Allied fighters. (If they only knew.)
What I need to do in order to open up the Burma front (to my advantage) is to dump a significant amount of supply there. Next turn I’ve decided I’m going to send convoys worth 200k supply from the Home Islands to Rangoon. It’ll take a while to get there, but it may prove to be what’s needed to end the stalemate.
SRA
I’ve sent all of my low endurance xAPs to Singapore. From there I’ll allocate them to move forces to locations where they need to be. Right now, my ground forces are pretty strung out throughout the SRA. Combat is over, so I need to get a good list of what’s available and allocate it to a mission and location. I especially need to identify the engineer units to group them and start them building forts.
The oil/fuel/resource convoys are doing pretty well, just a bit of tweaking is needed, but not much.
The naval forces assigned to this AO (to include Burma) are stationed at Singapore and is composed of the following:
One fleet sub division (3x Fleet subs and a Glen) is steaming out of Soerabaja and is operating around Merauke. The second fleet sub division is operating off the Indian coast and the coastal subs are hanging around Chittagong and Colombo. None of these are currently finding any enemy shipping. That’s perplexing.
The surface forces are currently augmented by 2x BBs and 4x CAs from the Combined Fleet and are bombarding Chittagong as they can.
Java
Regular supply convoys are sent to Soerabaja from Japan to repair the infrastructure. If you recall, it was totally destroyed when I liberated it. Rotten Dutch! There still is ~140 oil to repair. It’ll be done sometime in October, 42. I’m also repairing the refineries, about the same number, and resources and HI. I’m increasing the HI quite a bit as well. My intent is to have the HI self-sufficient from local fuel and resources. All of the small resource centers in the island around Java are shipping their resources to Java. Right now, there is a huge excess of resources, but the supply convoys from Japan haul resources back. Eventually, there will be somewhere around 240 HI between Soerabaja and Batavia. That will use all the resources shipped there and what’s produced there as well as some of the fuel that’s produced there. There will be ~40k excess fuel produced in Java for whatever needs arise. I’ll station a few Std- class TKs there to haul it to where it’s needed.
Australia
I’ve taken everything along the coast from Pt. Hedland to Darwin as well as the inland bases along the roads to Daly Waters (exclusive). I sent a tank regiment to Daly Waters to find that there are 8 units there. I’m moving north with it and its being harassed by a dozen Marauders. It’s just out of Zero range from Darwin (only 1 hex). Once it moves that hex, I’ll LRCAP them to ambush the Marauders. They’re flying unescorted.
Combined Fleet
This is the major surface force of the IJN. It is composed of:
The subs are currently operating out of Kwajalein. As stated above, there are 2x BBs, 4x CAs escorted by 4DDs operating out of Singapore. The rest are at Davao. I keep them at Davao because that is relatively central and near their fuel supply.
KB/MKB
KB/MKB is composed of the following:
Akagi (KB)
Kaga (KB)
Soryu (KB)
Ryujo (KB)
Shokaku (KB)
Zuikaku (KB)
Junyo (MKB)
Zuiho (MKB)
Shoho (MKB)
Hosho (MKB)
Taiyo (MKB)
Unyo (MKB) – once she gets an air group – probably Hiryu’s DB daitai once it arrives in a week or so.
4x BB (Kongos)
6x CA
5x CL (Tenryu, Tatsuta & 3 DD Squadron leaders)
22x DD
The Shokaku and Zuikaku just started upgrades today. The Tenryu and Tatsuta started conversion to CLAA in Jan 42 and will be complete at the end of the month.
The DDs are composed of the 10 Shiratsuyus and 6 Hatsuharus (6000 endurance), the Yugumos (5 so far) and the Akitsukis (1 so far).
Other Stuff
Reinforcements:
xAP Teiko Maru – Saigon
xAP Teison Maru – Saigon
1 Jun 42 is a significant date. I can start converting my Std- series xAKs to TKs! I began 20x Std-C and 2x Std-D, all I have of them. They’ll be ready in 15 days and then I can really start moving liquids. I won’t have to use any xAKs to move fuel any more. I can’t wait. That should reduce my fuel consumption somewhat (I hope).
My intent is to haul as much fuel and oil to Japan as quickly as possible. I would love to empty out all my excess in Singapore and Sumatra before the end of 42. Once Ted’s subs become effective, I have no confidence in my escort’s ability to protect my TKs.
R&D
I’ve already spoken at length about my R&D. The only thing I’ll add is that each day I’m converting 1 factory and increasing it to size 30 until I get it to where I want. That should take about 2 more weeks. Once that is finished, I’ll reassess.
Future Operations
I don’t like to run operations just for the sake of running operations but I do have a couple planned, primarily to slow down Ted’s build up around the map and to keep him guessing.
I want to send a surface force up to Kodiak to trash a few ships and slow him down a bit. I would love to send some BBs but I think the fuel usage would not be worth the potential benefit. I don’t expect to see anything other than cargo ships and some DDs. I’m thinking 4x CA, 4-8 DD and maybe throw in the Kitakami and Oi for fun.
I am attempting to find a shipping route that heads from Hawaii south. I’d love to send 4x CVs to hunt down some of that shipping. It would encourage Ted to send hit convoys farther east, slowing them down. I’m not even sure if Ted is shipping anything south out of Hawaii. So far I haven’t seen anything.
I am considering moving a couple subs (including the Glen) from Merauke (I don’t really need 4 there) and sending them to the Perth area. If there are convoys in that area, I’d like to send KB down there to cause a ruckus.
I wish he would show up with some real ships but I don’t expect that until early July 42, at the earliest. He started getting Avengers in May I believe. It’ll take him 2 months just to fill out his carrier TB squadrons with no reserve. I don’t expect him to try anything until that happens. I’m trying to figure out where he’ll show up. If I had to guess now, I’d say straight up to Milne Bay and north. I have a lot of Naval Guard units still at Truk for SE Fleet. I’m going to give every base a couple as well as some SNLF troops to stiffen them.
OVerall, nice summary. Thanks for sharing. You're pretty much where I would want to be at this point in a PBEM game, so great job!!!
One thought, watch your ARM line in Tracker. That 100,000 rule get bandied about, but it really isn't that accurate. If you watch that ARM line in Tracker on the plot that Damian provides you can ensure that your future ARM pts will always be on top of what your future requirements will be. As you know, you will need a LOT of ARM beginning in '44. 100,000 ARM sound big, but divided by 15, it only equals 6000 squads, or less than 10 div equivalents. You get a lot more than 10 div equivalents after '44 in reinforcements and they come in big bunches. Turn down ARM when you get to 100K in 42? Sure, but I watch that line like a hawk and make sure to keep my ARM pool growing enough to always cover that line. 'Cause if you get below it for too long, you can't catch up. The reinforcement rates in '44 greatly exceed your ARM capacity. You have to have the pool in place to cover it. One of the best tools in Tracker IMHO, as it is a very tedious calculation to do in Excel. [;)]
The Singers to Korea overland resource/oil route saves an incredible amount of fuel.
Pax, do the resources really flow to Korea though? In my experience, they will stay at Singapore, despite controlling the road and rail networks, from Singapore to Fusan.
The Singers to Korea overland resource/oil route saves an incredible amount of fuel.
Pax, do the resources really flow to Korea though? In my experience, they will stay at Singapore, despite controlling the road and rail networks, from Singapore to Fusan.
You can, but you have to work it. There are many other besides me who have it worked out. Nashvillen being one. You have to understand the resource flow and get it to work for you. I have posted the method many times, you'll have to search for one of those posts. The essential is that you have to start with this philosophy on Dec 7 and do nothing to interfere with it. You have to nurture it carefully in the beginning. I know by about Christmas day in each game that I start if Pusan will work. It does for me now about 90% of the time now. My fallback is Port Arthur.
My current game that I started back in Sept has finally reached Dec 30 and I am now getting all of my resources from CHI/KOR/MAN loading from Pusan shipping to Fukuoka. Pusan has 50K -> 150K resources each day, enough to load the convoys. The daily flunctuations will subside in another couple of weeks. My home Island resource needs are now balanced (along with the Hokkaido shipments), and my longest shipping leg is 2 hexes.
This means I can concentrate my ASW over 2 x 2 hex areas and I dont have to commit many ships nor air groups to this. I am using very little fuel in moving all of these resources. The empire is already resource balanced with far fewer xAK's than you would otherwise need. I have never bothered to calculate the spoilage due to having fuel and supply move overland. The opportunity cost of the air groups that you do not have to commit to ASW alone is reason to do it overland for me. I have all of those air groups doing something else: Training, Recon, NavSearch, etc. instead of ASW. I never have enough air groups as IJ.
Another thing this allows me is that I don't build hardly any merchant at all saving a lot of HI for '45. I have all the TK and xAK I will need at war start plus a huge surplus for war support. I can then convert a lot of xAK to support ships that helps a great deal. I convert huge numbers to AKE, AV, AG, AGP, AR, AS, .... IJ needs all the support help it can get and so few engineers. An AS means I can work out of a level 0 port. Add an AR with it and I repair subs as well. Add an AD and an AKE and I reload DD and CA's. Add a couple of AV's and I can have NavSearch (Jake/Norm) and CAP (Rufe's). And when I move the allies have no benefit of me being there.
As MikeS would tell you: war is about logistics. The sharp end of the stick is only as sharp as the support you can provide it. Minimizing waste in providing that support is the mandate for the Empire. The allies have resources to burn; they can, do, and did exactly that. It makes many things so much easier for them. IJ has no such luxury.
OVerall, nice summary. Thanks for sharing. You're pretty much where I would want to be at this point in a PBEM game, so great job!!!
One thought, watch your ARM line in Tracker. That 100,000 rule get bandied about, but it really isn't that accurate. If you watch that ARM line in Tracker on the plot that Damian provides you can ensure that your future ARM pts will always be on top of what your future requirements will be. As you know, you will need a LOT of ARM beginning in '44. 100,000 ARM sound big, but divided by 15, it only equals 6000 squads, or less than 10 div equivalents. You get a lot more than 10 div equivalents after '44 in reinforcements and they come in big bunches. Turn down ARM when you get to 100K in 42? Sure, but I watch that line like a hawk and make sure to keep my ARM pool growing enough to always cover that line. 'Cause if you get below it for too long, you can't catch up. The reinforcement rates in '44 greatly exceed your ARM capacity. You have to have the pool in place to cover it. One of the best tools in Tracker IMHO, as it is a very tedious calculation to do in Excel. [;)]
You're dead on, Pax. I keep track of a whole list of stats every turn to include armament points. If they begin to dip at all, I'll turn on more production. I've been playing turns but haven't had the chance to update here but I hit the magic 100k on 6 June. On 7 Jun, my HI pool jumped over 4k! [:D]
OVerall, nice summary. Thanks for sharing. You're pretty much where I would want to be at this point in a PBEM game, so great job!!!
One thought, watch your ARM line in Tracker. That 100,000 rule get bandied about, but it really isn't that accurate. If you watch that ARM line in Tracker on the plot that Damian provides you can ensure that your future ARM pts will always be on top of what your future requirements will be. As you know, you will need a LOT of ARM beginning in '44. 100,000 ARM sound big, but divided by 15, it only equals 6000 squads, or less than 10 div equivalents. You get a lot more than 10 div equivalents after '44 in reinforcements and they come in big bunches. Turn down ARM when you get to 100K in 42? Sure, but I watch that line like a hawk and make sure to keep my ARM pool growing enough to always cover that line. 'Cause if you get below it for too long, you can't catch up. The reinforcement rates in '44 greatly exceed your ARM capacity. You have to have the pool in place to cover it. One of the best tools in Tracker IMHO, as it is a very tedious calculation to do in Excel. [;)]
You're dead on, Pax. I keep track of a whole list of stats every turn to include armament points. If they begin to dip at all, I'll turn on more production. I've been playing turns but haven't had the chance to update here but I hit the magic 100k on 6 June. On 7 Jun, my HI pool jumped over 4k! [:D]
Yeah, ARM and VEH uses a lot of HI (6HI per), so you can get a lot of HI into the pool by stopping a few factories. so +4K/day ... yeah, you'll make the 750K by year end easy. [&o]
Overall, a sucky day, but thankfully, there wasn't much to it.
Ted is now up to 41x B-17s and they hit Lae destroying 5x Sallies on the ground (wounding 3x pilots) and doing moderate damage to the base. I have only the sentai of Sallies there fortunately. I'll pull them out until the base repairs somewhat. The other Sally sentai is based at Gasmata and will still harass Pt. Moresby at night.
Over Chittagong I lost 3 Oscars for no Allied loss. Fortunately, I can afford that.
The I-10, patrolling of San Francisco, caught an xAK putting a torpedo into her. No report of her sinking though.
The I-123 is still making her way west. I'm going to have her stop at Dutch Harbor. Her flot damage is slowly creeping up. I don't think she'll make it to Adak.
4 Fleet
My DDs caught the DMS Hovey at Mili and put her under with ease. We have to cherish all the little victories. [:D]
SE Fleet
The air war over Pt. Moresby really heated up today. 34x Oscars encountered 49x P-39Ds in a swirling dogfight. For the loss of 7 (+1 op loss) we shot down 15x P-39s (+1 op loss). Ted was thrilled that he's killing off my Oscars with P-39s. I can lose this number of Oscars for a long time before I run into a problem. Not sure he has enough P-39s. [:D]
Other Stuff
Reinforcement: xAP Teifu Maru - Saigon - another short range xAP that'll stay in the SRA.
I made the mistake of leaving the I-158 stationary in the vicinity of Merauke. A couple of DDs visited and I got off lucky in the shallow hex taking one DC hit. Her damage isn't too bad at 7-27(15)-1-0, but it's definitely bad enough that she'll head for Soerabaja for repairs.
SE Fleet
43 B-17s visited Milne Bay again destroying a Zero on the ground. Ted's heavy bombers are the best fighters he has. [8|]
Pt. Moresby was bloody again today. Six Oscars were lost for 7x P-39s (+1 op loss). The number of P-39s that fly continually decrease. I swapped out my Oscar sentai for a fresh sentai and will rebuild the one that pulled out.
Other Stuff
The A6M3a R&D advanced to 9/42. This model will become operational in about 33 days or so. Banzai!
Merry Christmas Mike. Trust you and your family to be safe and happy for this holiday season.
Thanks Pax. Merry Christmas to you and your family too. I'll bet things are pretty exciting in your household this morning. My kids are 19 and 22 and are still in bed. My wife, mother-in-law and I are drinking coffee and relaxing until my kids, brother-in-law and niece wake up. I guess they were up too late goofing around. [:D]
Whew. Just finished. Yeah, the 19 yo is still sleeping of course ... but the 3yo was up first at 0200, and then again at 0630. Fortunately, at 0200 he was too tired to see that Santa had already come and I was able to get him back into his bed. Items this year for him: Spiderman action figure, Tinker Toys, and a real 2 wheel bike. Dad'll be chasing after him soon. Dang, wish I'd done more PT the last month. I'm gonna be tuckered this afternoon! [:D]
Now Ted sent 48 B-17s [:(] to Milne Bay. The only consolation is that Milne Bay is pretty much trashed. That makes the B-17s pretty much useless this turn. Fine with me.
Pt. Moresby had another big air battle. 6x P-39s and 5x Oscars went down in flames today, along with 4x op losses for each.
Burma
A sentai of Oscars met 3x Hurricanes over Chittagong and shot down 2, with the third being an op loss. Banzai!. I'd venture to guess that the RAF is hurting right now.
Australia
Ted has been harassing one of my tank regiments with a dozen B-26s. The tank regiment finally moved to within range of a daitai of Zeros stationed at Darwin. Five Zeros surprised the Marauders and shot down two. [:D]
Other Stuff
Reinforcement: xAK Katsukawa Maru - Std-C - will begin conversion into a TK tomorrow.
I reached 100k armament points today. i shut off 500 of the 620 armament factories to increase HI savings by 3k a day. Finally!
