Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J)

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Clarification

I just checked into river-crossings into Singapore in my current game.

It's clear that the 1/3 AV comparison is applied at the end of the shock attack. In my game the Allies crossed with about 2/3 of the AV of Japan, but the combat dropped the Allies down to less than 1/3 AV. The following day additional Allied units crossed and also conducted a shock attack.

Ahh, that's very good to know. I've decided to wait until I have my complete assault force before crossing over into Singapore. It'll be ~2000 AV vs. some 4-500 raw Allied AV.

My new dilemma is whether to have the artillery cross with the main force or have them arrive a day or two later. Any idea if it'll make a difference? It might be better to have them all together so they fire in the shock attack.

I really don't know. If they do (in the end) help the line troops then yes. But if they don't, then better to save them to cross without getting Disrupted. I just don't know how to predict that.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
As an aside, I probably will build a few Tojo IIa models. Then I’ll coincide the IIb & IIc to become operational the same month. Or, I may just push through to the IIc model as the R&D factories repair.

Skip the Tojo IIb. Look at the Accuracy on that center-mounted 40mm cannon; 40mm sounds like a good idea, but it can't hit anything, so is useless. Go straight to IIc if you stick with Tojo.

I'm not sold though on the IIc....that will require an R&D investment, and not sure if your supply is better used elsewhere. By the time you can reasonably get it, you should have Ki-84a available and advanced Oscars (like the IIIa, which also can carry 2 x 250kg bombs so is a serviceable Kami), that combo in layered CAP works better IMO. Heavy Tojo investment also requires more Ha-34 engines, which is a dead-end since only the Tojo and Helen use it, and Helens are going to fall out of production probably in 1943. Again, you'll end up with idle Ha-34 factories that you spend supplies on.

I agree though on limiting Oscar and Zero production....there is a huge temptation to massively expand early because you are HUNGRY for upgrades to Nate and Claude. You have to lean on the available Ia and Ib pools a bit, but with management you can get there. If you overexpand you end up with lots of Oscars and Zeros rolling off the line in Q3 of 1942 with no real purpose. (In my current game I settled on 100 of each)

Limiting Zero/Oscar also limits the amount you have to expand the Ha-35 line, because that engine becomes less useful as the war goes on; in 1942 it seems like you never have enough, but in 1943 if you overproduce to keep pace with large Oscar/Zero lines you're going to end up with way too many of those Ha-35 as well

Just my 2 yen!

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Clarification

I just checked into river-crossings into Singapore in my current game.

It's clear that the 1/3 AV comparison is applied at the end of the shock attack. In my game the Allies crossed with about 2/3 of the AV of Japan, but the combat dropped the Allies down to less than 1/3 AV. The following day additional Allied units crossed and also conducted a shock attack.

Ahh, that's very good to know. I've decided to wait until I have my complete assault force before crossing over into Singapore. It'll be ~2000 AV vs. some 4-500 raw Allied AV.

My new dilemma is whether to have the artillery cross with the main force or have them arrive a day or two later. Any idea if it'll make a difference? It might be better to have them all together so they fire in the shock attack.

Makes sense. They need the 1/3 AV after the attack to maintain the bridgehead.

[Mike Solli]

Q-Ball, these dilemmas are what makes playing the Japanese so much fun. I have 3 Oscar R&D factories and 6 Tojo factories. In my last game, I produced some Tojo IIa models and then pushed for the IIc model. I'm pretty sure I got lucky and had the IIb & IIc become operational the same month so I was able to upgrade the operational factories from the IIa through the IIb to the IIc. I think this time I'm going to skip to the IIc. Assuming I get 500 engines in the pool, I can get the IIc about 4-5 months after the factories complete repairs with the engine assist. Right now they're already at 3,1,1,1,1,0. I currently have 2 Ha-34 factories at 25(5) and 15(15). I'll increase them to 60 each. That should get me to 500 factories in the pool by the time the airframe factories complete their repairs.

I am going to also produce the Helen, but not in large numbers. I have only the initial R&D factory and it's at 18(12) for the Ia. I'll convert it to the IIa as soon as it completes its repairs, probably in March 42. I estimate the Helen IIa will become operational in July 42.

I'm only going to accelerate the Oscar through the III, but I'll accelerate each model in turn.

I had really good luck with the Tojo in my last game. I like it a lot. It was a frontline fighter through late 43 and served me well.

I have 12 R&D factories on the Frank. The Frank a was amazing in my last game. I was about 2 weeks from getting the r model in Jan 44 when that game ended. Too bad.

I also have 12 R&D factories on the Ki-83, 18 on the Sam and 12 on the George. Finally, I have 5 on the Rufe, to upgrade to the Zero. My goal there is the A6M5c. I like the armor. It does well with drop tanks. I like to hit and run with KB for a couple of reasons. First, I want to hit at max Jill torpedo range and then run. I'll let my subs pick off the cripples. If not, they will probably take a long time to repair, so that'll work too. If I stick around, the planes get damaged, especially with drop tanks at range. I don't want that to happen. My view is that KB is great as a fleet in being. Helps keep the Allied player cautious.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Clarification

I just checked into river-crossings into Singapore in my current game.

It's clear that the 1/3 AV comparison is applied at the end of the shock attack. In my game the Allies crossed with about 2/3 of the AV of Japan, but the combat dropped the Allies down to less than 1/3 AV. The following day additional Allied units crossed and also conducted a shock attack.

Ahh, that's very good to know. I've decided to wait until I have my complete assault force before crossing over into Singapore. It'll be ~2000 AV vs. some 4-500 raw Allied AV.

My new dilemma is whether to have the artillery cross with the main force or have them arrive a day or two later. Any idea if it'll make a difference? It might be better to have them all together so they fire in the shock attack.

Makes sense. They need the 1/3 AV after the attack to maintain the bridgehead.

In the past, whenever I did a river crossing shock attack, I always put everyone going in the main attack. I don't recall the arty ever getting trashed. I'l do the same here.

[btd64]

Mike, if I ever try the Japanese side again, you and me will need to meet up and talk about this. I've tried twice and I haven't been successful at it....GP

[Mike Solli]

Spring is right around the corner. Doesn't seem like it looking out the window though. We'll get together sooner rather than later. I love babbling about this stuff!

[btd64]

You should write your own guide. On your down time of course....GP

[Zeckke]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Q-Ball, these dilemmas are what makes playing the Japanese so much fun. I have 3 Oscar R&D factories and 6 Tojo factories. In my last game, I produced some Tojo IIa models and then pushed for the IIc model. I'm pretty sure I got lucky and had the IIb & IIc become operational the same month so I was able to upgrade the operational factories from the IIa through the IIb to the IIc. I think this time I'm going to skip to the IIc. Assuming I get 500 engines in the pool, I can get the IIc about 4-5 months after the factories complete repairs with the engine assist. Right now they're already at 3,1,1,1,1,0. I currently have 2 Ha-34 factories at 25(5) and 15(15). I'll increase them to 60 each. That should get me to 500 factories in the pool by the time the airframe factories complete their repairs.

I am going to also produce the Helen, but not in large numbers. I have only the initial R&D factory and it's at 18(12) for the Ia. I'll convert it to the IIa as soon as it completes its repairs, probably in March 42. I estimate the Helen IIa will become operational in July 42.

I'm only going to accelerate the Oscar through the III, but I'll accelerate each model in turn.

I had really good luck with the Tojo in my last game. I like it a lot. It was a frontline fighter through late 43 and served me well.

I have 12 R&D factories on the Frank. The Frank a was amazing in my last game. I was about 2 weeks from getting the r model in Jan 44 when that game ended. Too bad.

I also have 12 R&D factories on the Ki-83, 18 on the Sam and 12 on the George. Finally, I have 5 on the Rufe, to upgrade to the Zero. My goal there is the A6M5c. I like the armor. It does well with drop tanks. I like to hit and run with KB for a couple of reasons. First, I want to hit at max Jill torpedo range and then run. I'll let my subs pick off the cripples. If not, they will probably take a long time to repair, so that'll work too. If I stick around, the planes get damaged, especially with drop tanks at range. I don't want that to happen. My view is that KB is great as a fleet in being. Helps keep the Allied player cautious.

wow¡ thats a good staff

the Jill factorys that the range 6 attacks usa CVS (AND HAPPEND that with no fighthers escorts, putting on kates) and the the zecke has a minour range by the day of the jill

and rememeber (that if good upgrading 8dont oversize and expand too much just once only one) the reppuA6m7 can start producing even at 1944¡ ,

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: btd64

You should write your own guide. On your down time of course....GP

I thought that's what this AAR was all about. [;)] I really do it to babble about the economic side of this. I fight the war so I can see how the economy works out. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

22 Dec 41

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing exciting to report.

4 Fleet

Guam is pissing me off. I’m shock attacking with both units tomorrow. They both have 0 disruption and only 3 fatigue. This has to end.

SE Fleet

The 4 Division (and Maizuru 1 SNLF – the future garrison there) landed successfully. The defenders are:

49th Australian Battalion
Port Moresby Brigade
15th RAAF Base Force
Rabaul Det. Base Force (They thought they got away!)

They have 68 raw AV vs. 506 for us good guys. We should take them tomorrow.

Kiriwina Island was liberated today. The engineers there are beginning on the airfield.

SRA

Philippines: The last two Allied fighters (P-35s) rose against the victorious Zeros…..and were promptly shot down. I see ~18 auxiliary aircraft at Bataan. The bombers are targeting Bataan’s airfield starting tomorrow. Both Clark Field and Manila’s airfields are in bad shape. I just need to damage Bataan and then maintain the damage at all 3, while starting to pound their troops. The 6 reinforcing artillery units are ~20 miles from Clark field, where they will join the 5 that are already pounding the enemy troops.

The Yokosuka 1 SNLF (para) marched to Aparri and destroyed 3/12 PA Regiment. They will be flown out tomorrow back to Takao. They will most likely be sent to the SE Fleet AO as their para-reserve.

Mindanao: The 146 Regiment (of 56 Division, which is headed to Java) attacked and destroyed the 103 PA Infantry Regiment, in the NE of Mindanao. They are headed back to Butuan, where they will be picked up and sent to liberate Tarakan.

Just to the SW of Davao, Kure 1 SNLF chewed up the 1/101 PA Regiment. Their remnants retreated south to Dadjangas. The SNLF is headed there to clear them out.

The 4 and 7 Tank Regiments caught up with the rabble they dislodged from Malaybalay (just west of Malaybalay). They’re attacking tomorrow. Once they clear out the center of the island, they will move on to a new island to conquer, probably Java.

Mindanao is practically over.

Borneo: Landings occurred at Brunei and Miri. The liberation of Brunei will happen tomorrow. Miri will wait a couple of days for an independent engineer regiment to drag its sorry butt there. I forgot about them. They’ve been slacking in the rear.

Java: The 21 Division landed at Merak today. They’ll take it unopposed tomorrow. Then the 48 Division & 2 Tank Regiment will pass through Merak to land at Oosterhaven a couple days from now. It’s pretty interesting right now. I have TFs showing up from all over for landings at Merak, Oosterhaven, Kaldijati, Tobali and possibly other locations over the next week or so.

I goofed with KB2 today. They were out of range of the Merak invasion who took a lot of attacks from the Dutch bombers. Fortunately, they have no idea how to attack a moving (or even stationary) ship. In all, there were 7 attacks totaling 48 bomber sorties with some fighter escorts mixed in there. I had 3 Petes on CAP. One was shot down but they shot up a number of enemy bombers, and a couple fighters too. All of the bombers missed, fortunately. If they try that again tomorrow, there will be Zeros from Kaga along with some Claudes to meet them. I hope tomorrow sees the effective elimination of the majority of the Dutch Air Force in Java.

KB2 is currently 2 hexes south of Billiton and is moving to a point 2 hexes east of Oosthaven tomorrow. From there they will be able to cover all the landings with CAP (possibly). I see 26 fighters and 49 bombers at Batavia. Zuiho and a land based Zero Chutai (30 fighters in all) will sweep Batavia tomorrow to whittle down the Dutch fighters.

Sumatra: Soon…

Malaya: There are no fighters left in Singapore, and just a handful of bombers that are being whittled away as they attempt fruitless attacks.

There were 2 fighters left in Georgetown. Nates shot down 1 and damaged the other, which was destroyed later in the day from bombing (along with a bomber). I see a single bomber remaining there.

My recon by bombing is identifying where the enemy units are scattered around Malaya.

Other areas: My invasion force is sitting at Manado waiting for the SNLF company to invade the dot hex next door, Sidate. They’ll land in 2 days and cut off Manado’s retreat route. Then I’ll attack Manado.

Balikpapan has a handful of Dutch bombers and fighters. Three bombers escorted by 2 fighters attacked the 2 Division in transports transiting the Balikpapan straight (deep water hex 4 hexes east of Balikpapan). One hex to the NE is MKB (Hosho and Taiyo). Their Claudes did their magic shooting down 4 planes. Only a damaged fighter got away.

Burma

Still crawling along.

China

Minor stuff happening, bombing and bombardments. Still maneuvering.

Other Stuff

Nothing much.

[Mike Solli]

23 Dec 41

Sub War

The I-157 was caught by an AM and hit with a DC off Darwin. She’ll head home for repairs. There are at least 2x 4 stackers there. KB will eventually pass by and leave a little calling card.

The other attack is discussed below.

5 Fleet

Nothing exciting.

4 Fleet

I attacked Guam again, for no real gain, or loss. Not sure why I’m doing it. It’s just pissing me off.

SE Fleet

The attack on Pt. Moresby went in. Those tough Aussies held on, but are in pretty rough shape. The 2:1 attack reduced the forts from level 2 to 1 and demolished their raw AV from 66 to 8. I’m not sure what happened to 4 Division & the SNLF. Their adjusted AV dropped from 506 to 56. Ouch. The 4 Division has 27 disruption and the SNLF has 20 fatigue. Really bad die roll? No idea. They’re both going in again tomorrow. Neither lost any squads lost, just a handful disabled. The 8 Base Force is prepared to land once the base is liberated.

Our first xAP was lost today. She was hit by CD guns at Pt. Moresby. That’s 4 ships sunk to CD guns at Rabaul and Pt. Moresby plus another couple requiring time at the fender shop.

KB found an xAKL at Horn island and easily dispatched her with some Vals.

SRA

Philippines: Bombers hit Bataan, Clark and Manila’s airfields. I’m going to focus more on Bataan to increase airfield damage. Right now they’re repairing everything we cause.

More bombardment at Clark Field. The 6 reinforcing artillery units arrived there today. All 11 of them will bombard tomorrow. Can’t wait for the fireworks!

Mindanao: Some rabble (5 units) were attacked by 2x tank regiments just SW of Cagayan. Four were pushed west to Cotabato and the fifth remained behind. The light tank regiment will attack the remaining unit and the medium tank regiment will pursue.

Borneo: The troops at Miri are waiting for the independent engineer regiment to arrive before launching their attack. They land tomorrow and the attack will launch the day after.

Brunei was successfully taken today. This is the first oil field liberated! The oil field took no additional damage and is at 10(10). Tomorrow, 10k supply lands to start the repairs. Yay!

Pontianak was liberated by the 16 Naval Guard. The infrastructure was intact at Manpower 1(1) and Resources 20(0). The remnants of the defenders ran, so the NG will chase them down.

Java: Merak was easily liberated by 21 Division. There were no defenders. There is a minefield there and the one DMS in the hex is slowly working on them. The mines did no damage (fortunately) today. There will be a lot of ships transiting the hex to get to Oosthaven tomorrow.

I was concerned about the air war in this region today. Granted the Dutch bombers are not well trained in naval attack, but there were a lot of them and they carried 300kg bombs. At any rate, I saw 26 fighters, 49 bombers and 9 auxiliary aircraft in Batavia yesterday. Remember those numbers.

The first thing that happened was Zuiho’s sweep. Her 19 Zeros caught 16 Dutch fighters, shooting down 8 for no loss. Not bad for the second string. A second sweep of 9 Zeros found no defending fighters. That’s good. The remaining Dutch CAP are grounded from damage (or crashed on the way back to base).

There were a number of attacks in order:

Merak invasion force: 13 Claudes (Ryujo) & 11 Zeros (Kaga) defending against 6 bombers escorted by 9 fighters. No Japanese loss and 5 fighters and 4 bombers were shot down. No damage.

Tobali invasion force: 8 Claudes (Ryujo) vs 17 bombers. No damage on either side.

Merak invasion force: 12 Claudes & 8 Zeros vs. 3 fighters & 9 bombers. No Japanese loss or damage vs. 1 fighter and all 9 bombers shot down.

Merak invasion force: 6 Claudes & 5 Zeros vs. 7 bombers. No Japanese damage and all 7 bombers were shot down.

Japanese shipping attack at Batavia: 25 Vals escorted by 7 Zeros sank 2x AMcs.

Japanese shipping attack near Batavia: 27 Kates (bombing) escorted by 7 Claudes sank an HDML.

Today, I see 2 Dutch fighters, 7 bombers and 5 auxiliary aircraft at Batavia. My fighters shot down 14 fighters and 20 bombers. They are gaining some nice experience! Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Sumatra: The Heavy Cover TF (2 BB, 2 CA, 6 DD) visited Oosthaven from Merak today sinking the two AMcs there. I see about 3-4 enemy ships fleeing the area just off the coast to the west. The Heavy Cover TF will pursue them, just a few hexes though, to make sure they continue to flee. If they are caught, great, but if not, no one cares.

Malaya: The daily Zero sweep of Singapore found no fighters. I see only a handful of bombers remaining in Singapore.

The 20 Nate daily sweep of Georgetown found a Buffalo and Blenheim IF. They shot down the Blenheim and drove the Buffalo off. I still see 2 fighters at Georgetown. The sweep will continue.

IJA bombers switched targets from Singapore’s airfield to their defenders. A couple Sallies were lost to flak, but they’re beginning to disable squads.

Other places: The dot hex (Sidate) just SW of Manado was invaded today and will be taken tomorrow. Then, the attack on Manado will happen with the Dutch retreat route cut off.

Tobali was invaded by an infantry battalion, engineer battalion and two AS battalions. The hope is to build the airfield to level 2. I suspect the battle in this area will be long over by the time that occurs.

There are 3 TFs that transited the Balikpapan straights headed toward Java (MKB, an invasion TF carrying 2 ID & 16 Army HQ and a small cover force of a CL and 4 DD). I knew it was a dangerous area and Mike confirmed that expectation. There were at least 2 subs in the area and one caught the invasion TF and torpedoed and sank the DD Hakaze. She was a Minekaze class and expendable. The troops will be in range of Kaldijati and Semarang tomorrow. I’ll decide on the landing site tomorrow. I see 8 PT boats and one other ship at Semarang and am sending the cover force in to clear it out. That will help decide what to do tomorrow.

Kalidjati will be invaded by 56 Division (-) tomorrow and taken the next day. The 22 Air Flotilla HQ and 1 JAAF AF Base Force will land there. There is a ready made level 4 airfield there. I'll dump a bunch of fighters and recon (and some bombers if there's room) and they will take over the destruction of the remainder of the Dutch Air Force, as well as supporting the ground campaign. That will relieve the IJN of air defense of this region. I don't like keeping carriers tethered to a location.

Burma

Several small, night Nell raids hit Rangoon hoping to get lucky and damage or destroy a couple of the 100 fighters stationed there. There was no damage on either side.

China

I attacked a group of 5 Chinese units (3x Corps and 2x Group Armies) on the road 2 hexes north of Loyang successfully ousting 4 of them. The poor soul who stayed behind will be hit again tomorrow.

Other Stuff

I’m starting to get conversions that I started at the beginning of the war. Yesterday I got 55 ACMs and 14 Kiso PBs. Of the ACMs, I was able to send them to all the mined locations I want to preserve and have 17 remaining for reserves. I found in the last game that they don’t really last long when the Allies come calling. Reserves are good.

Today I got another PB and 4 more ACMs.

The Dutch Air Force took some serious losses today, as well as quite a few damaged planes. I’m sure they have a number of reserves, but most of them will reinforce the air units damaged, so I’m confident that I can keep them beat down. My carrier fighters in this area are gaining nice experience.

Here is what I estimate the Dutch Air Force has remaining. Note that this includes replacement aircraft:

B339D: 20 (of 43 to start)
DW21B Demon: 4 (of 17 to start)
75A-7 Hawk: 17 (haven’t seen them yet)

139WH-3: 44 (of 89 to start)
CW22 Falcon: 24 (of 35 to start)
Do24K-1: 29 (have been used primarily for scouting)
PBY-5 Catalina: 26 (have been used primarily for scouting)
T.IVa: 10 (haven’t seen them yet)

Planes shot down by the carrier fighter daitai in KB2:

Kaga (Zeros): 31
Ryujo (Claudes): 7
Zuiho (Zeros): 15

Only 1 Zero written off and no pilot losses!

[Mike Solli]

Chomping at the bit here waiting for Mike to send me the turn. Here's the timeline around Java/Southern Sumatra over the next couple of turns:

24 Dec:

48 Division (-) lands at Oosthaven.
2 Tank Regiment lands at Oosthaven.
Yokosuka 4 SNLF lands at Merak. (It'll be the Merak garrison allowing the 21 Division to move out from there.)

25 Dec:

56 Division (-) lands at Kalidjati.
22 Air Flotilla lands at Kalidjati.
38 Division lands at Kalidjati.
Tanaka and Kanno land at Oosthaven. This is the remainder of 48 Division.
2 Division can land anywhere between Merak and Semarang.

2 Division is still broken down into its component units (3x infantry regiments, recon, engineer and artillery regiments). My initial thought is to land them at Semarang then march part of the division overland to Djokjakarta to cut the island in half. There are some PT boats currently at Semarang. I sent a small surface force of Naka and 4 DDs to attempt to clear them out. Hosho and Taiyo (27 fighters, 12 DB, 9 TB) are also in the vicinity and my launch against the survivors. If they are cleared out, then I'll land at Semarang. If not, they'll join the fun at Kalidjati.

I think its unlikely they land at Semarang, but that would be ideal. Landing at Kalidjati is a good option too. The intent there is to spread out in all directions, but mainly to move to Bandoeng to cut the island in half there. Either way, Batavia and Soerabaja will be cut off from each other. Djokjakarta would be nice because I could use that airbase to suppress Soerabaja's airfield.

If 2, 56 and 38 Divisions all land at Kalidjati, 2 of the divisions will join 38 Division to invest Batavia, which my intel says has 50k troops. The fourth division will move down the island toward Soerabaja. They will NOT take Tejpoe (with 35 oil) until I know the Dutch bombers are gone. I need to send 1-2 AS battalions to Java so I can station fighters at Tejpoe when I do take it.

At Oosthaven, the forces involved are 48 Division (still in its components), 2 and 8 Tank Regiments and 3 and 21 Independent Engineer Regiments. 8 Tank Regiment is 3 days out and the independent engineer regiments are 4 days out. My intent is to drive north and isolate Palembang from the rest of Sumatra, preventing any reinforcements there. I currently see 3 enemy units at Palembang. I don't thing anything has reinforced it. My concern was that Mike would reinforce Palembang with 18 British Division. I estimated they could land at Benkoelen starting 27 December. That was the main reason for landing right now.

Once I'm established at Kalidjati, I'll have Zeros there and will be able to keep pressure on any Allied air power in Java. Then I plan on withdrawing my carriers from there and repairing the sys damage that is creeping up. They will disappear off Mike's radar, which is what I like to do.

Ok Mike, where's the turn!? [:D]

Edit: I just checked and Benkoelen has no one there. Palembang has 3 units but started with 2. That tells me the Mike reinforced Palembang with the Benkoelen's battalion.

[Wirraway_Ace]

Mike,

I can't recall. Are you playing with stacking limits? The tactics for Java differ if so. He should put all his best units at Bandoeng up to the stacking limit, and leave the rest to die at Madioen if it is a stacking limit game. Assuming he has been preparing, dividing Java at Semarang/Djokjakarta does not make much difference.

[Mike Solli]

The only stacking limits is whatever is on the map. So, Palembang is unlimited. Other forces may be enroute to Palembang. Only time will tell...

[Mike Solli]

Ok, Mike still hasn't sent me the turn. It's like he has a life or something... [:D]

Time to talk about my ship production ideas.

I converted 117 merchant shipyards to naval shipyards, bringing the totals to 690 merchant and 1501 naval shipyards. In addition, I shut off 200 merchant shipyards. Currently, there are 20 naval shipyards left to repair (spread out over 3 yards (10, 9, 1)).

CV/CVL: In the past, I would accelerate the carriers that come early (Shoho, Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho). Not this time. I'm letting the four of them come at normal speed. Shinano is off, of course. I'm accelerating Unryu, Amagi, Katsuragi, Kasagi, Ikoma and Aso. Taiho is normal, which is new for me. I used to shut her off for a year or so. I am also keeping Ibuki at normal. I used to shut her off for good because she didn't have a plane complement. I'm eventually going to accelerate her because she has 36 torpedoes.

CVE: Unyo, Chuyo and Kaiyo are set to normal and Shinyo is accelerated. Why? because she's the cheapest of the "good" CVEs at 35 merchant points. The last 4 CVEs are all halted because they carry only 8 or 12 planes. Not worth it in my opinion.

BB: Musashi is normal and Yamato is off until the completion date is the same as Musashi (about 6 months from now). I hope that enough warships are completed that I can start Yamato and not have to stop my accelerated ships. We'll see.

CA/CL: Nisshin and the 5 CLs are all normal. Nisshin will convert to a CVL when the time comes.

DD: I accelerate every DD I can when I can. Right now, I have accelerated all 9 that can accelerate. The plan is to keep that going as much as I can. So far, I've lost 4 DDs. I don't think I'll ever have more DDs that I start the war with.

APD: I'll let these come as they come, beginning in May 44. They're fast at 22 kts, and carry 400 troops/200 cargo. They'll come in handy slipping troops into or out of various islands. Their one drawback is their low endurance (3700).

xAP: There are 11 in the reinforcement track. I'm bringing all of them on. They're a necessity for dropping off troops quickly.

AK: I've stopped 415, which leaves 106 still to come. Japan is blessed with a lot of (crappy for the most part) cargo ships. I'm building 2 Tohos (got one already), an Akasi, a To'su (convert to a PB), 50 Std-A, 17 Std-B & 35 Std-C. Why the Std-C? They're tonnage is only 2900, so 2 of them and a To'su PB can dock in a level 1 port.

AO: There are 2 each 8000, 3600 and 1750 capacity. I'm producing the large ones. The other ones are too small to matter.

TK: I stopped everything in October 44 and later as well as all the Std-D & E. I'm producing 108 (that may drop) as follows: 23 Std-C (2850 capacity, 12 kts), 35 Type-1 TL (11.6k capacity, 18 kts), 20 Std-A (5785 capacity, 13 kts), 30 Type-1 TM (8150 capacity, 14 kts).

SS: I am producing 117 and have halted 47. The halted ones are the crappiest SS and SST models.

Aux: I'm building the AS, AV and two AMCs, and stopped the 4 AGs.

Mine: I'm building all 32.

Pat: I'm building all 558. The crappy ones are merely targets for Allied sub torpedoes. [:D]

LS: I'm building all 3 LSDs and all 50 LSTs. Same reason as the APDs.

[Mike Solli]

24 Dec 41

Sub War

I have a few subs patrolling around the Hawaiian Islands and the I-8 was harassed by a couple of ASW TFs. No damage to either side, but it is keeping DDs away from their more important escort mission.

5 Fleet

The surprise of the day: Lexington and Saratoga reared their ugly heads. They appeared 9 hexes SW of Adak and caught a supply convoy of a PB escorting 6x xAKLs and sank them all. They were hauling supply, so it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Had the carriers arrived a day later, they would have sunk 1 and possibly 2 battalions of the elite 90 Regiment.

I’m not sure what Mike plans on doing tomorrow, but they won’t find any ships. The carriers are 35 hexes from Etorofu and 40-45 hexes from the mainland. I have 5 subs enroute to try and get a shot on them. There are also 6 more near Midway that can attempt an intercept later. We’ll see what happens. He hit the convoy at 7 hex range, by the way.

4 Fleet

Another shock attack at Guam dropped the forts to 0 again and killed a couple Allied squads. [8|]

SE Fleet

Pt. Moresby was liberated today! I’ve been playing this infernal game since the original WitP came out in 2004 and this is the FIRST time I ever liberated Pt. Moresby! It’s about time. While I didn’t destroy any of the Aussies, they did take a beating and their remnants withdrew into the jungle:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 13924 troops, 131 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 483
Defending force 2674 troops, 40 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 33
Japanese adjusted assault: 93
Allied adjusted defense: 23
Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Moresby !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1192 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 88 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 32 (31 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
4th Division
Maizuru 1st SNLF

Defending units:
Port Moresby Brigade
49th Australian Battalion
15th RAAF Base Force
Rabaul Det. Base Force

4 Division will rest a bit then load for missions in the SRA. 8 Base force will begin landing there tomorrow.

KB will move east and meet up with their oilers to refuel. I’m not sure which way they’ll go. I’m thinking of sending them west into the SRA, but I may move them back to Truk to disappear and prevent Mike from doing nasty things with his carriers. We’ll see.

Milne Bay was liberated.

SRA

Philippines: More bombardment at Clark Field killed a few tanks. I’ll keep wearing them down and then try an attack with the hopes of pushing them into Bataan (or maybe Manila – not sure which is better).

Mindanao: The attack just east of Cotobato with a tank regiment (and the other set to pursue) was too successful. It destroyed the 3/101 PA Regiment so the pursuing tank regiment didn’t go anywhere. No matter. Both are now headed to Cotobato to finish off the 4 remaining units.

Borneo: The 19 Independent Engineer Regiment landed at Miri today. They will attack with the SNLF tomorrow. Supply convoys are waiting for the liberation to start dropping off supply to repair the damaged oil facilities.

A sweep of Balikpapan found no Dutch fighters, but they were there a day or so ago. Maybe they’ve withdrawn to Java and only damaged planes remain? Not sure, but the invasion of Balikpapan is gathering and should happen in a few days.

Java: The CL Naka and 4 DDs caught 6 Dutch PT boats at Semarang, sinking 5 of them. The AMc there was sunk by MKB (Hosho and Taiyo). The remaining PT is in the ocean a hex NE of Semarang. The Naka TF will head there tomorrow to finish her off.

I’ve decided to land 2 Division at Semarang. They’re currently 2 hexes to the NE and will land tomorrow. I believe this landing to be unopposed.

56 Division (-) and 38 Division (along with 22 Air Flotilla HQ) will land at Kalidjati tomorrow as well. I believe this landing will be unopposed too. This will bring the invasion force of Java to 4 divisions. I’ll cut Java in half and attempt to isolate the Dutch units around the countryside from Batavia. But, I believe most of the units in the northern half of Java are already in Batavia. I see 22 units there and only 1 in Bandoeng.

In the air, my ship based Claudes and Zeros shot down 4 fighters and 15 bombers, along with another bomber destroyed from bombing Nells. My intel says the Dutch Air Force has been reduced to 32 fighters and 113 bombers (including floatplanes). I see only 3 fighters, 2 bombers and 5 auxiliary planes in Batavia. I still have no recon over Soerabaja, where I believe the bulk of the surviving planes are stationed. Balikpapan has some planes and Palembang has some floatplanes). Note that the surviving planes include any replacement aircraft still in the pools and damaged planes, so the likely number of active aircraft is much lower. By the way, none of the surviving bombers hit anything, nor were any Japanese fighters lost. Some of the planes were shot down over Oosthaven and Tobali.

Batavia has existing airfield damage, so no more forts. I’ll ensure there is airfield damage from now on. It’ll be easier once I take Kalidjati with its level 4 airfield.

Sumatra: 48 Division (-) is almost entirely ashore and 2 Tank Regiment is entirely ashore. They will attack the one defending BF with the Tank Regiment in reserve ready to pursue. The remainder of 48 Division (Tanaka and Kanno dets) will land tomorrow and 8 Tank Regiment will land the day after. Finally, the 3 and 21 Independent Engineer Regiments will land in 3 days. There are also engineer, AS and AA units as part of the occupation force loading and heading for Sumatra.

Malaya: One Buffalo is still flying at Singapore. The Zero sweep damaged it once again. I see 14 bombers and half a dozen auxiliary aircraft. Airfield damage is 31 and I’ve been bombing troops. I’ll assign one sentai to airfield duty to keep the damage up.

There still is a Buffalo and Blenheim fighter over Georgetown, which my Nates drove off once again. I can do this for a good long time. The 1 Sentai, the sweepers, are gaining nice experience. The unit exp/A2A/Def is 70/69/69. They will do good work once they get their Oscars (and Tojos eventually).

The IG Division will reach Kota Bharu tomorrow (entrained). They are waiting for the eastern rail line to be cleared. The only obstacle is the remnants of 8 Indian and FMSV Brigades, which are a hex NE of Temuloh. SNLF paratroopers captured Temuloh today by air assault. It was undefended. The 124 Regiment (31 Division) will reach the Brits tomorrow and attack them the day after. That should clear the rail line so IG Division can head south to Johore Bahru and join the assault force.

The 1 Raiding Regiment landed on and took Tavoy by air. They’ll get picked up tomorrow for future missions.

Other places: Tobali was liberated today. The fighter airfield was started. Well see if it’s built in time.

Sidate was liberated also. Now Manado’s garrison has no retreat route. The attack there will go in tomorrow, hopefully eliminating that garrison.

Burma

Some of the night flying Nells finally connected and destroyed an H81-A3 on the ground and damaged another. They have a new mission tomorrow – hitting 8 Indian and FMSV Brigades to help soften them up before they are attacked the next day.

China

1 Army, north of Tsiaotso pushed the Chinese rabble west along the minor railroad. 1 Army is currently composed of 2 divisions and an artillery regiment with 2 more divisions trying to catch up. Their initial mission is to cut the LOS from Sian to Loyang/Chengchow with their 16 units.

Other Stuff

I’m already moving stuff to the Home Islands. I’m working on Fusan so it begins to accumulate oil and resources to make the transit to the Home Islands safer and far less costly in fuel. When I liberated Hong Kong, I got a windfall of 350k fuel. I’m moving 180k of it to Japan. It’ll begin to arrive shortly.

I’ve shipped out 12 engineer companies and the 27 Electric Engineer Regiment from Manchuoko after moving them to Fusan. 4 engineer companies are headed to Japan, 4 more to SE Fleet and the remaining 5 units to Saipan. You can’t have too many engineers!

[Mike Solli]

Looking at the OOB of Java, I see 36 units. According to the intel, there are 22 at Batavia and 1 in Bandoeng. It's also possible that some of the base forces may have been combined. Also note that I haven't done any recon on most of the bases so I don't know about of them. The DL is 7/10 at Batavia, so the intel isn't bad. Java is a lost cause but I'm not sure putting the lion's share of the defenses in Batavia is the answer. We'll see...

[Mike Solli]

25 Dec 41

Sub War

I have 6 subs in an interdiction line SE of Midway to intercept any replacement/supply runs. Today, the I-3 caught an xAKL and sank her with gunfire. She was most likely hauling supply.

A Dutch sub torpedoed and sank the DMS W-10 two hexes north of Miri. I need to assign ASW forces to this area. On the to do list...

5 Fleet

An AS unit landed at Attu. They’ll take it tomorrow.

The US carriers vanished. I’m forming a picket line to reduce the possibility of this happening again. I’m also sending some Jakes to Adak. They’re not the best, but they’re all that’s available right now.

4 Fleet

Still no joy at Guam. The elite I/84 Naval Guard arrives at Saipan tomorrow. They’ll head there and throw their weight into the attack.

SE Fleet

I’ve decided to send KB back to Truk. I don’t like US carriers wandering around the Pacific with impunity in December 1941. I need to modify the air units of KB anyway. Making KB disappear will make Mike more cautious.

SRA

Philippines: The artillery bombardment at Clark Field is slowly whittling away at the AV of the defenders. I’ll continue it until the AV is below 100 and then try an attack. The AV is currently 179.

Mindanao: Chasing down the remainder of the Allied units.

Borneo: Miri was successfully liberated with only one additional damage to the oil and refinery. Here’s the infrastructure:

Oil: 149(151)
Refinery: 149(151)

There are a couple of convoys bringing in 10k supply each with a string of them set to arrive every couple of days. Nice!

Java: That last Dutch PT boat made it to Soerabaja. The landings proceeded successfully at Kalidjati and Semarang and both locations were devoid of Dutch troops. They’ll both be taken tomorrow and planes will be flown into Kalidjati, a ready made level 4 airfield. KB and MKB will both withdraw to CRB to replenish and repair minor damage that has been creeping up. Kaga will move to the central Pacific (probably Truk) to meet up with the rest of KB. The remainder of the baby carriers (Ryujo, Zuiho, Hosho and Taiyo) will form MKB.

56 Division (-), 38 Division and 22 Air Flotilla HQ have fully landed at Kalidjati.

2 Division and 16 Army HQ will complete their landing at Semarang tomorrow.

The last of the enemy minefield at Merak was cleared today.

A total of 2 Dutch fighters and 6 bombers were shot down for no Japanese loss or damage. I see 7/8/5 (fighter/bomber/auxiliary) at Batavia and 2/6/7 at Soerabaja. In addition, there are planes present at Tarakan and probably Balikpapan, and 0/0/2 at Palembang. There’s not much left, but it’s easy experience for my Air Forces.

Sumatra: Tanaka and Kanno dets successfully landed at Oosthaven. Now the complete 48 Division (still in their component units) and 2 Tank Regiment are fully landed. They destroyed the base force there and will begin moving north along the rail line to isolate Palembang from the rest of the island.

Malaya: The daily Zero sweep of Singapore shot down the two Buffalos that rose to meet them. This was the last Zero sweep over Singapore. That mission has been passed on to the Oscar Ib sentai. The Zeros will rest today and move to Kalidjati tomorrow.

The 124/31 Division finally reached the remnants of 8 Indian and FMSV Brigades a hex NE of Temuloh and will attack tomorrow. A total of 72 bomber sorties hit them in preparation for tomorrow’s deliberate assault.

Other Places: The attack at Manado wasn’t successful but they did wear them down a bit. They’ll try again tomorrow.

Burma

The 2 RTA Division reached Moulmein and attacked the hodge-poge British garrison. The battle of giants. They’ll attack again tomorrow while the rest of the army crawls down the track.

China

Mike is pulling north with his forces, which are in Wuchow and Kukong (north of Canton. I’m advancing to fill in the gap and take those two bases. He’s giving up 60 LI in Wuchow. I’ll take it!

In Wenchow, two divisions of 13 Army have arrived to find only 1 Chinese unit. They’re doing a deliberate assault tomorrow, which I suspect will succeed. Wenchow has 20 HI and 80 LI, which I’ll grab shortly, minus any damage of course.

The Chinese forces to the south and east of Changsha are withdrawing toward Changsha. I think Mike is concerned about me cutting off some of his forces. He doesn’t realize that 13 Army has most of its strength (3 divisions) in or around Wenchow. Once Wenchow is reduced, that force will have to walk to Changsha. It’ll be awhile.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: I/84 Naval Guard, SE Fleet, Saipan

Reconstituted KB: 108 Zeros, 135 Vals, 144 Kates
MKB: 63 Claudes, 21 Zeros, 12 Vals, 30 Kates

The carrier Claudes will be upgraded to Zeros as we can. That will take awhile because the fighter components of KB are going to be increased.

I will most likely position MKB in Babeldaob and KB in Truk. We’ll see.

[Mike Solli]

26 Dec 41

Sub War

I finally connected. The Hibiki hit the Dutch sub KXVII 3 times a couple hexes north of Singkawang. I didn’t get confirmation of a sinking, but I don’t think she’s going to make it.

5 Fleet

The Allied carriers showed up again, this time 2 hexes SE of Attu. I had just landed an AS battalion at Attu and had another still on ships heading to Amchitka and only 4 hexes from the carriers. They sank the two transports at Attu and badly damaged the two loaded xAKs. If they run, they’ll sink with the troops so the only option is to head south and try to land, on Kiska and the other on Buldir Island (a dot hex). They will get taken out, but hopefully they land most of the AS battalion. They can get picked up later and moved to Amchitka Island.

That was my fault. I should have fled last turn.

4 Fleet

The I/84 Naval Guard arrived at Saipan. They’re loading and heading to Guam to show the laggards how to do it. It’s a 90/90 exp/morale unit. Keeping fingers crossed.

SE Fleet

Not much happened here today. 4 Division is loading to head west to Ambon. KB is heading north to Truk to repair a bit and disappear.

SRA

Philippines: More air and artillery bombardment of Clark Field. Their AV is dropping nicely. It started the day at 200 (up from 178 at the end of yesterday) and ended today at 160.

Mindanao: All quiet here today. The 156/56 Division will reach Butuan tomorrow and begin loading for Java to join the rest of 56 Division.

Kure 1 SNLF reached Dadjangas and will attack the 2 units there tomorrow.

Borneo: 5k oil left Brunei today, the first of a LOT over the course of the war to come from there and Miri.

Brunei’s oil field began repairing today. 20k supply will begin offloading at Miri tomorrow and they should begin repairing tomorrow or the day after.

One of the dot hex clean-up TFs landed at Jesselton.

Two SNLFs and 2 independent engineer regiments land at Tarakan tomorrow.

Java: 38 and 56 (-) Divisions and 22 Air Flotilla HQ took Kalidajati and 2 Division took Semarang today. The 3 divisions (plus 38 Division leaving Merak) are enveloping Batavia and cutting Java in half. There are 34 Zeros, 31 Nells and 8 recon now stationed at Kalidjati. All of the carriers are heading to CRB to replenish for their next mission, whatever that may be.

1 JAAF AF Base Force will land at Kalidjati tomorrow so more aircraft can be stationed there.

Intel says the Dutch Air Force has 10/16/4 planes in Batavia and 3/7/9 in Soerabaja. Their replacement aircraft are repairing, apparently. I anticipate higher losses to the Dutch from here on out because the carrier based Claudes (and Zeros) are withdrawing and have been replaced with land based Zeros (as discussed above). The Claudes were able to damage a lot of planes but had difficulty shooting them down. I guess they were pretty effective. The 57 Claudes on Hosho, Ryujo and Taiyo shot down 26 planes for no loss. If they had been Zeros, the enemy losses would have been much higher. As a comparison, the 37 Zeros on Kaga and Zuiho shot down 64 planes for no loss.

Sumatra: 48 Division and 2 Tank Regiment are headed north to cut off Palembang and take the southern bases of Sumatra. 8 Tank Regiment will begin landing tomorrow at Oosthaven.

3 and 21 Independent Engineer Regiments will arrive at Oosthaven tomorrow and begin unloading for the assault on Palembang. AA assets are enroute, along with some AS.

Malaya: Eighteen Nates met 2 Buffalos and a Blenheim IF, and shot down the Blenheim for no loss. The sweeps will continue.

The 8 Indian and FMSV Brigades were finally pushed off the eastern rail line. They’re practically gone, but neither has been destroyed yet. IG Division is sitting in Kota Bharu in strat mode. They now have a straight shot to Johore Bharu and will make it in 2 days. By the time they switch to combat mode down there, 33 Division will have reached Johore Bahru and the Singapore assault force can finally go forward.

Other Places: The attack at Manado was a fiasco. They chewed up the defenders, but didn’t dislodge them. Half of the SNLF marines are disabled so they’ll rest up a bit and try again.

Burma

The attack on Moulmein is the battle of titans:

Ground combat at Moulmein (55,55)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 3713 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 120
Defending force 1723 troops, 16 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 57
Japanese adjusted assault: 11
Allied adjusted defense: 15

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
63 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses
65 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd RTA Division

Defending units:
Rangoon BAF Battalion
Tenasserim BAF Battalion
3rd Burma Rifles Battalion
108th RAF Base Force

There is some real infantry a few days march (112/55 Division) along with some artillery. The RTA division will bombard and rest a bit the attack when they get some support.

China

13 Army: I had 2 divisions attack the single unit in Wenchow. Fortunately, the 3:1 attack didn’t succeed with level 2 forts (which were reduced to 1). It turned out Mike left the powerful 100 Chinese Corps as a garrison. I’m in the process of surrounding the base. I’m going to bombard it until the base is totally surrounded and then go in with 3 divisions and some artillery.

Elements of 13 Army are chasing retreating Chinese toward Changsha. There are no Chinese remaining east of the river that is to the east of Changsha. 13 Army will eventually envelop the Changsha complex around the SW and hit them from the rear.

23 Army: Canton area. The two divisions in this army (51 and 104) are on garrison duty for the most part. There are miscellaneous units advancing toward Wuchow and Kukong. The Wuchow garrison is retreating northward, but I’m advancing only with a regiment of 20 RGC Division (real power here) to take the base. The main portion of 23 Army is advancing on Kukong, where the garrison is holding. I see one unit of about 3k troops. I have 5k infantry and a battalion of mortars to take it. Once Kukong is secured, the main force will advance west to Liuchow and then to Nanning. I hope to have given them some reinforcements by then.

11 Army: This is a powerful army of 6 Divisions and 2 brigades (which will flesh out into divisions in 37 days), 6 artillery units and 2 independent engineer regiments. Unfortunately, it is spread out quite a bit. Half of the army is enveloping Changsha from the east and the remainder is to the NE of Changsha attempting to push into Changteh to the NW of Changsha. The issue is a solid line of Chinese from Changteh to the NE around Ichang then to the east to the north of Sinyang. The 11 Army needs to guard this flank.

Neither one of us has anything north of that until you get to Chengchow. That’s soon to change though.

12 Army: This is a tiny army, composed of 32 Division, which took Chengchow today, 5 IMB, garrisoning Tsingtao and 10 IMB, garrisoning Tsinan. 10 IMB will flesh out to a division in 37 days. A different brigade is replacing 10 IMB so another division will join 32 Division in a couple months. 32 Division will remain in Chengchow until the garrison arrives and then head south down the rail line to hit the Chinese line discussed above from the rear. I am going to recon Nanyang to see if the garrison there is small. If so, I may send 32 Division there instead.

1 Army: This is a nice army of 3 divisions and 2 IMBs which will become divisions in 37 days and another IMB. The main force of 2 divisions (+2 additional divisions reinforced from North China Area Army) is advancing west along the rail line north of Loyang. Its mission is to advance to Sian then turn south to cut Loyang and Nanyang from Sian. Additional forces from North China Area Army will surround Loyang.

Mongol Garrison Army: The area around Paotow has been secured. Two tank regiments are chasing the remnants of a single Chinese Corps along the secondary road toward Lanchow. Two cavalry brigades are heading up the main road to secure the northern bases. Additional forces are following to support them.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: I/84 Naval Guard, 4 Fleet, Saipan

My first Ha-43 R&D factory completed today. I now have 1 each Ha-43 and Ha-45 and 2 Ha-60 R&D factories with 3 Ha-43 and 4 Ha-45 factories to complete in 10 days. I anticipate each of them becoming operational:

Ha-60: 7/42
Ha-43: 9/42
Ha-45: 5/43