Pouring Concrete

Pouring Concrete (Full Version)

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ADB123 -> Pouring Concrete (12/29/2010 2:28:51 AM)
July 30, 1942 – This was another very quiet turn. USS Grayling shot a dud at an SC near Sendai, and then got away from the SCs. And that was it for combat. There were plenty of Air Recon flights, including some sort of Japanese plane over a small Supply TF at Johnston Island, but no attacks. So it looks as if we are both in a Battle to see who can “pour concrete” faster. But that’s okay by me at this time. I received more LCUs today, and I’ve also got more Troops moving around, so things are going according to plan.

ADB123 -> Another Month finished (12/30/2010 8:10:51 PM)
July 31, 1942 – The Night Phase started with another of my large, well-escorted Air Combat TFs running over another Japanese sub. This time it was I-8 which received some ASW attention, just to the north of Christmas Island. The DDs in the AC TF hit the sub with 4 depth charges, and the sub only detected the CAs and DDs in the TF and not the CV. So my opponent knows that I am being busy, but he doesn’t know exactly how busy. Then USS Grenadier fired 5 torpedoes at CL Katori, near Agrihan in the northern Marianas, and hit the CL with one of them. Katori was in a Transport TF with several xAKs and only some PBs as escorts. Grenadier got away nicely. The only Daylight action consisted of several Sweeps of the empty skies over Sian by Oscars. I’ve got planes in Sian, but they are grounded due to a lack of spare parts. I get the occasional SIGINT report of various Japanese LCUs that are preparing to attack Sian, so I supposed that some Japanese bomber attacks will come soon. The end of the turn brought a number of new-month events. Various Allied Air units changed sizes – some up and some down, More ships became eligible for upgrades, and for some reason, the 1st Burma Division was renamed the 39th Indian Division. The name doesn’t matter – the LCU is heading to Delhi for a long rest.

ADB123 -> Aug 1 42 Intel and Air Losses (12/30/2010 8:13:01 PM)
The Intel chart for August 1, 1942, along with the cumulative Air Losses are posted below. The ratio of Japanese victory points to Allied victory points remains below 2.5:1. [image]local://upfiles/32618/AEAFC9D9DFC6484580B431EF9A76A85F.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> Aug 1 42 Indo-Burma (12/30/2010 8:14:02 PM)
Here's the situation at the Indo-Burmese border: [image]local://upfiles/32618/5EE685B770134F99834CC78EF4EA5870.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> Aug 1 42 China (12/30/2010 8:14:52 PM)
Here's the situtation in China: [image]local://upfiles/32618/ADDCE0881DA04438B7CE89E68FFDD658.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> Aug 1 42 Someplace else (12/30/2010 8:16:03 PM)
And here is the situation in one of my more strategic regions - the Aleutians: [image]local://upfiles/32618/EBFAF86966564871A24B6AD47FA1BAF4.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> Quiet times (12/31/2010 3:15:08 AM)
August 1, 1942 – Not much happened this turn. USS Whale was chased unsuccessfully by a PB near Toyohara, and there were a large number of Recon flights, particularly in the Indo-Burma region. But otherwise, there was no Combat. I keep on getting the feeling that my opponent is looking around to try to find an undefended railroad junction base in Calcutta Region where he can drop some Paratroops. I have working very hard to make certain that he finds no such thing. My Air Recon capability was cut in half this turn as the last Mitchell PR-1 was lost to Flak over Mandalay. I am now sending the Recon unit back to Calcutta so I can “side grade” it to some other type of British Recon plane. Otherwise, things continue to progress as planned. A USMC Tank unit is currently unloading in Oz, along with a USA Anti-tank unit. More Armoured units are on their way. My opponent appears to have a couple of Infantry Divisions, along with some Armour in Northeastern Oz. However, Northwestern Oz is empty, and NorthCentral Oz appears to be lightly defended. So I am planning to start to move up into and develop the empty dot bases in the northwest over the next couple of months. There are a couple of inland, but rail-connected, bases in the region that are “0(6)” Airfields. B-24s in those bases ought to make life truly miserable for the Japanese on the North Coast.

ADB123 -> An Odd Surprise (12/31/2010 3:49:07 PM)
August 2, 1942 – There was no action during the Night Phase. The Day Phase started out with quite the surprise – 37 Kates and 22 Vals hitting the Dutch troops in Benghali. Huh??? Using Kates and Vals to hit ground troops in an isolated base? [sm=00000117.gif] The attack appeared to come from the Palembang area. What I don’t know is if those were land-based planes or CV-based planes. The attack was followed up by a more normal Air Attack by some Helens that flew in from the north. In any event, this only enhances my appreciation of the amount of Air Power that my opponent has put in the Malaya/Sumatra region. This is the only area where my subs are regularly spotted and attacked by Japanese LBA. (Oddly enough, there doesn’t appear to be any dedicated airborne ASW around Japan proper.) So for now any idle musings about Sumatra will remain in the realm of fantasy. Finally, at the end of the day USS Sturgeon took a shot at an xAK near Donggala, but missed. There was only one PB as an escort in the Transport TF and the Sturgeon got away easily.

ADB123 -> Kates and Vals at it again (1/1/2011 8:47:58 PM)
August 3, 1942 – There was no action during the Night Phase again. The only action during the Day Phase was yet another Air Attack by Kates and Vals on the Dutch troops in Bengkalis. As with the previous day, this attack was followed by an attack by Helens. Otherwise, I simply continue with my movement of Forces. The more I examine the upcoming availability of Allied Forces during the remainder of 1942, the more pessimistic I become about my ability to inflict any serious damage on the Japanese forces before 1943. I don’t want to simply “fight battles”; I want to “win battles”.

ADB123 -> Yet more Kates on Ground Attack (1/2/2011 1:04:23 AM)
August 4, 1942 – Once again there was no Night Action. My opponent must not be sailing many TFs around at this time. Although I have a number of subs heading back to base for upgrades, I still have half a hundred sailing around in harm’s way, and they aren’t spotting anything. Daylight was also relatively quiet. The only Air Attack was on Bengkalis again, and once again Vals and Kates flew in, as well as some Helens. But this time a second Kate attack flew in from the direction of Singapore. I wonder if my opponent is upgrading some of his CVs and has moved his Carrier Planes to land bases for practice. And there were lots of Recon flights flying around. I’m changing the locations of some of my Recon Units to see if there are any “easy” targets around anywhere.

ADB123 -> Finally, some minor Night Action (1/2/2011 7:09:46 PM)
August 5, 1942 – There was finally a bit of Night Action again as this turn USS Grayling shot a dud torpedo at an xAK near Hachinohe. Grayling was chased by the PB escorts but got away. My opponent appears to be finally sending some forces into the northeast of Japan and the Kuriles. But I’m pretty certain that I’ve got the jump on him in a big way as far as building up the North goes. I have three objectives with my Northern Strategy: - First off, I don’t want any possible Japanese invasions of the Aleutians to be “freebies” - Next, if my opponent does invade in the region I want to be able to tie down and eventually destroy the invasions, thus weakening the Japanese elsewhere - Finally, I want to be in a position to launch invasions of north-eastern Japan in late 1943 Daylight action was limited again to the Val, Kate and Helen attacks on the Dutch troops at Bengkalis. These attacks have been much more effective than the Lily attacks were in the Celebes; one of the two Dutch units was destroyed this turn, and the other one is just about gone. In the meanwhile I continue to move around my forces. I will be losing a number of LCUs in the next month or so do to auto-withdrawal, so I need to reposition replacement units. My opponent continues to fly Recon all over the Fronts in an effort to try to identify weak points, and I don’t intend to provide any to him. My Recon efforts, on the other hand, continue to be relatively ineffectual, due to a scarcity of dedicated Recon units and planes, and the usual probably with End-of-the-World Weather. But I am getting some information, and it appears that my opponent has fortified Burma quite strongly.

ADB123 -> Time is Running Out on the Last of the Dutch (1/3/2011 2:30:17 AM)
August 6, 1942 – The Night Phase returned to a state of quiet this turn as nothing happened. Daylight brought Bad Weather that impacted my planned Recon Air Missions into Burma. The Weather didn’t affect the Japanese Air Attacks on the last Dutch Straggler unit in Bengkalis as the Vals, Kates and Helens returned to reduce the pitiful unit even further. There was a surprise Japanese move in the Celebes that shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, as my opponent captured the empty base at Madjene with the same Recon Regiment that wiped out my Dutch Stragglers on that island a while back. In other surprising news, when I checked out the B-24 squadron that just arrived at Cape Town I was surprised to find yet another Walrus squadron sitting at the base. This time there were three planes in the squadron. I don’t know why I am getting these little floatplane units unannounced, unless they are supposed to be used on some of the Commonwealth ships that don’t have any planes. In any event, I am sending that unit along with the Liberators to India. And finally, I started to re-size the Air Units on my CVs. More fighters is a good thing, but I would prefer to trade off some Dive Bombers instead of losing a few Avengers. Oh well, at least I now have enough planes to accommodate the changes.

ADB123 -> Testing Out My Preparation (1/3/2011 3:18:58 PM)
August 7, 1942 – The Night Phase saw Japanese sub I-1 shoot at a DE just to the southwest of Tahiti and miss. The DE then replied with depth charges and hit the sub once. My opponent continues to stalk Tahiti with Glen-equipped subs. Daylight brought Val, Kate and Helen attacks on the ever-shrinking Dutch LCU at Bengkalis again. The Japanese bombers aren’t missing, and every time that they hit more of the already disabled Dutch troops are destroyed. There were the usual large numbers of Japanese Recon flights everywhere. In particular, my opponent has been flying Recon over Emerald regularly. I suspect that he is getting tempted to fly in some Paratroops since I don’t currently have the base defended. If he doesn’t do that soon, I will have it defended. And finally, at the end of the Day, the Captain of the USS Silverado spotted an SC off of Tanegashima, but decided not to shoot. The two SCs in the little TF then spotted Silverado and chased it a bit, but they didn’t catch it. BTW – USS Searaven finally made it safely to the Repair Yards at Colombo. But the most important news this turn was brought home by my Naval Patrol aircraft in Noumea. Two Japanese TFs were spotted in the New Hebrides, heading west-southwest. Is my opponent finally going to invade New Caledonia? Just in case, I put all of my long range Patrol AC in the region on Naval Patrol and Naval Attack, and I put into motion my Forces for the region – a CV TF and a Surface Combat TF. They are heading north from New Zeeland and are ready for action. I'm also moving all of my local subs into the potential pathways of the Japanese TFs. This is the situation that I have been waiting for – I know where my opponent’s forces are located, and he doesn’t know where mine are located! [sm=Evil-210.gif]

ADB123 -> SIGINT Silliness (1/4/2011 1:57:20 AM)
August 8, 1942 – The Night Phase brought the long-awaited Japanese invasion of Bengkalis. At this stage the Japanese could land a class of kindergarten students and they would kick the Dutch out before recess. Of course, once my opponent sees all the Oil and Resources that have been sitting there waiting for him, he might kick himself too for not landing there sooner. To make certain of the upcoming slaughter, Kates, Vals and Helens hit the poor Dutch again. And that was pretty much it for the Day. There were various Recon flights, and a number of Japanese subs were spotted, but the TFs that were spotted in the New Hebrides seem to have gone into Stealth Mode and disappeared from sight. Sure, some End-of-the-World Weather appeared suddenly in the region, but I still can’t figure out how two TFs that showed up so clearly last turn could disappear this turn. That is, unless they were just figments of some pilot’s imagination. [sm=nono.gif] In any event, I’m continuing to send my TFs northwards, just in case some Japanese ships show up off of Noumea in the rain in a day or two.

ADB123 -> The End for the Dutch (1/4/2011 2:19:15 PM)
August 9, 1942 – The Night Phase saw a sight that hasn’t been seen for quite some time; the empty base Pare Pare in the Celebes was occupied automatically by the Japanese. This will save the little Japanese Recon unit from making the trip. I wonder if my opponent will bother to send the unit overland to capture the last empty base on the island. Another Japanese Amphibious TF arrived at Bengkalis and started to unload during the night. This was a bit of overkill on the part of my opponent. And USS Tautog attempted to sneak up on a small Japanese Transport TF near Utsunomiya, but the sub was spotted by the PC escort in the TF and chased off. Daylight brought Helens in bombing the Dutch at Bengkalis. The Vals and Kates rested this turn. I guess that my opponent realized that they were no longer needed. There was also lots of Japanese Recon flying around again this turn. India and Oz are certainly getting well-mapped by the Japanese. Finally, the Japanese Land Attack commenced at Bengkalis, but its composition was a bit surprising; two Japanese Engineering Regiments attacked the Dutch Stragglers and wiped them out. Those Combat Engineers were more than enough, but I’m still surprised to see them there. I guess that my opponent has his Combat Infantry units committed elsewhere.

ADB123 -> Sleepy Time (1/4/2011 11:43:05 PM)
August 10, 1942 – There was no action during the Night Phase. There was also no action during the Day Phase. A Glen flew over Perth again, plenty of Japanese Recon planes flew over India, and for the first time, US Catalinas flew Recon over Paramushiro-Jima. That ought to make my opponent at least a little bit antsy. He hasn’t been moving much in the way of Forces into the Kuriles, and it looks as if the starting CD unit is the only thing at Paramushiro-Jima. That doesn’t mean that I am going to advance my long term plans in the region, but it is still nice to give my opponent a few worries. Whatever the Boys at Noumea saw in the New Hebrides the other day must have been a side-effect of drinking too much jungle juice, because nothing has shown up around Noumea except a couple of Japanese subs. I had the Cats at Noumea fly Recon over Louganville and the same two ground units appear to be there that were there a couple of months ago. There is no sign of the base being used to support subs. So with that I ordered my CV TF back to Auckland before it stumbled upon a Japanese sub and gave away its location for no reason. Thus, I’ll just continue to build up things. The first three Spitfire squadrons show up in Oz in a couple of days, so that’s good news. More modern planes is always good news!

ADB123 -> McClellan's Ghost (1/6/2011 2:54:28 AM)
August 11, 1942 – Once again there was no action during the night turn, and almost no action during the day turn. There was a report that an Allied bomber at Noumea hit a Japanese sub nearby, but I’m always dubious about those reports. In other activities, a two-ship Japanese AMc TF swept away the mines that my submarines at left at Bengkalis. I haven’t had any luck so far with sub-laid mines. Otherwise, the “big news” this turn was that I upgraded a B-17E squadron to B-17Fs. This now gives me some B-17Es in the Pool to fill in other B-17E units. So the manoeuvring continues on both sides.

ADB123 -> Milestones (1/7/2011 3:29:19 AM)
August 12, 1942 – There was no Night action again this turn. I could see that some of my subs were in the same hexes as some Japanese TFs near Japan, but the subs didn’t find the TFs. Daylight brought lots of Bad Weather and lots of Recon flights, but no Air Attacks. I’ve been intending to get back into the 4E Attack business again, but it seems that End-of-the-World Weather has returned semi-permanently to every region where I have 4Es. So instead of throwing away hard-to-get Heavy Bombers in Thunderstorms, I have the squadrons sitting back at base and Training. There was one bit of Sub action at the end of the day as USS Silversides fired six torpedoes at an SC near Tanegashima, but the only torpedo that actually hit its target was a Dud. The two SCs in the Japanese TF attempted to attack Silversides but the US sub got away. A Major Symbolic Milestone was Achieved today as the Fortifications at Pearl Harbour reached Level 9. A less impressive milestone occurred at Melbourne this turn as the first three Spitfire squadrons arrived. Unfortunately, each squadron has only 2 Spits in it, so those squadrons aren’t going to contribute much of anything for quite some time. [8\|] And finally, and more importantly, another US TD Regiment arrived at Cape Town and was put onboard a Transport TF headed for Oz. I am starting to push my Lines a bit closer to the Enemy, and as Summer turns into Fall those Lines will become more and more of a Threat to the Japanese.

ADB123 -> Away for a while (1/7/2011 10:12:40 PM)
August 13, 1942 – Once again, there was no action during either the Night or the Day Phases. There were again a lot of Japanese Recon flights. Most of the Allied Recon flights were rained out. It appears that my opponent is still fascinated by the bases along the Indo-Burmese border. SIGINT informed me that a Japanese Armoured Regiment is preparing to attack Imphal. Ha! Good luck to that bunch of tankers getting through the jungle. At least I have time to prepare. The Allies received a lot of fresh troops this turn. Most important were the handful of additional Engineering units. Less important were the Soviet troops, and the hollowed-out US Infantry Divisions that I got. Good US Infantry units have been going away recently, and their replacements are not impressive. It’s a good thing that my opponent is not invading the West Coast. So this will be it for the next 10 days or so. I will be travelling and I will not have my game-PC with me. So there won’t be more reports here, although maybe my opponent will write what he is up to.

ADB123 -> At War Again (1/17/2011 3:09:37 AM)
August 14, 1942 – I’m back, and the game is back into action. The Night Phase brought some sub action. First off USS Whale was chased unsuccessfully by an SC near Bihoro. Later on Wahoo spotted an xAK and hit it with a torpedo. Wahoo successfully evaded the PB that was supposed to guard the freighter, and the Japanese ship was eventually reported sunk. Then a DE ASW TF ran across I-24 off of Tahiti. I-24 got off some torpedoes at USS Talbot, but missed. Then Talbot and Chew hunted for the sub for a while but couldn’t find it. My opponent continues to snoop around Tahiti, and once again a Glen flew over the Island. Daylight brought lots of Japanese Recon flights over India, China and Australia, but no Air Attacks. The Weather appears to be getting Less Bad over Burma, so I ordered my Indian 4Es to attack the Airfields at Rangoon next turn. My Recon flights are reporting nearly a hundred Japanese bombers at the Airfields there, so I’m hoping to get lucky for a change and catch a few on the Ground. In other news, I received a number of new ships today. Most were support ships, but there were also three new Subs, and the first Replenishment CVE. I’m not planning anything with my CVs in the near future that will require Air Replenishment, so I’m leaving the CVE and its Air Groups in Port for Training.

ADB123 -> Forts Over Rangoon (1/18/2011 2:53:28 AM)
August 15, 1942 – The Night Phase was quiet, with the exception of a small Japanese Invasion force that landed on the bypassed DEI base at Toboali. My opponent still has a lot of small bases to pick up. Daylight brought Japanese and Allied Recon flights everywhere; then the USAAF Indian Bomber Force took off from Dacca and headed to Rangoon. The B-17Es got split into two groups along the long flight path. First in were 21 Forts, which faced 22 A6M2s, and for the first time, 2 A6M3s. The Forts blasted past the Zeros as usual and hit their target from 6000 feet. A Zero was reported shot down and a Betty was reported hit on the tarmac as the US Bombers hit both the Airbase Supply and the Runways. Then the remaining 8 Forts arrived and were greeted by 18 more A6M2s. Once again the 4Es blasted past the Zeros, shooting down two of them and hitting one more Betty on the ground while blasting the Airbase and Runways again. At the end of the day Intel reported that 7 A6M2s and 1 A6M3 were destroyed, and 7 Bettys were destroyed on the Ground. But the long flight and the heavy flak over Rangoon took its toll and 7 Forts were written off after the mission. From my p.o.v. the attack was a reasonable success, but I can’t keep up those sorts of losses at this time. So I am resting my Bomber groups more and waiting for better opportunities. In the meanwhile, my bases continue to grow and my troops continue to get stronger.

ADB123 -> SIGINT Stories (1/19/2011 2:30:12 AM)
August 16, 1942 – The Night Phase saw Denpassar occupied automatically by the Japanese. That’s too bad, because there was fuel there and I used the base to refuel my subs in the region. That invasion TF at Toboali continued to unload, but for some reason at the end of the turn the Japanese didn’t bother to capture the base. I wonder if my opponent forgot to set the troops to “attack”. Otherwise, there was no Night Action. Daylight brought the usual flurry of Recon flights, but nothing else other than a very small Lily attack on Liuchow. Four Lilies flew in at 1000 feet, but they didn’t hit anything. Just in case my opponent tries the same thing next turn I moved a couple of H81-equipped Chinese fighter units to the next base to the right and set them to LR CAP over Liuchow. My opponent doesn’t usually make mistakes like doing the same attack twice, but I can always hope that he slips up here. Japanese subs have disappeared from the map again except for near Colombo. My opponent is trying to interdict the seaways between Colombo and Bombay. He is just giving my LBA ASW practice, because I’m not sailing any ships in that region. Finally, my opponent is getting curious about all of the Japanese SIGINT that he is receiving about my activities in Alaska and the Aleutians. It sounds as if the Japanese SIGINT is working better than the Allied SIGINT, because I’m not getting anything useful at all from my SIGINT. [8\|] So my opponent mentioned seeing the Traffic, and I replied that it was just kids building snowmen and fishing for salmon in the region. So the cat is out of the bag, but the whole effort has been a great learning experience for me. I now know much better how to effectively move my troops around and build bases quickly. That will be useful in the future. [&o]

ADB123 -> Japanese Cherry-picking in the DEI (1/20/2011 2:43:27 AM)
August 17, 1942 – That Invasion TF at Toboali continued to unload its troops this turn. But it was finally enough and at the end of the turn the base was captured. It turned out that the Tanaka Detachment did the invasion. That seems to be somewhat of an overkill for an empty base. Another empty DEI base was invaded this turn as a Japanese Amphibious TF landed at Sampit on Borneo. This time the Japanese troops had a rough landing and took a number of accidental casualties. Otherwise, things were quiet. There were the usual flurry of Recon Flights over the Fronts, but as I suspected, my opponent didn’t send his bombers back to Liuchow this turn. So I sent the Chinese H81s back to Chungking. This is a really slow part of the game now as my opponent digs in and I bring my forces forward ever-so-methodically. Realistically, I won’t be in a position to start any offensives for at least another two months, so that will be something like 60 or more turns until I start to do anything interesting. But at the same time I am determined not to throw away Forces in random actions, just because things are currently boring. Anyway, maybe my opponent will send some forces up to the Aleutians and Alaska as he has been threatening.

ADB123 -> Recon Wars (1/21/2011 2:08:30 AM)
August 18, 1942 – The Night Phase saw the Japanese TF at Sampit still off-loading troops. This time my opponent didn’t wait so long and the Japanese troops captured Sampit at the end of this turn. Once again, my opponent used a rather large unit for the task – the 65th Infantry Brigade. That was it for Night Phase action, and pretty much it for action overall. There were lots of Recon flights by both sides again during the Day Phase, but no attacks anywhere. Currently my opponent has his troops in China, Burma and Australia stationary. I keep on getting SIGINT reports that various Japanese LCUs are preparing to attack Sian and Changsha, but there has been no increase in Japanese troops around either base. My efforts to gradually move forwards in Australia and Indo-Burma have slowed down again because I need to replace a number of Allied LCUs that will be withdrawn in around two week’s time. Things are also stable in the Far North, although my opponent continues to make remarks about my build-up in the Region. My “education” in the region continues, as I have just found out the hard way that landing SeaBees on “0(0)” Port dot bases does not guarantee a rapid build up of the Port facilities. I may end up pulling out the Engineers that I do have on a couple of dot bases and let them contribute to the continued building of some of my other, larger bases. Oh well, at least this means that any Japanese landings on those dot bases won’t be able to build up the facilities quickly either.

ADB123 -> Kuriling Season (1/22/2011 2:30:00 AM)
August 19, 1942 – There was no Night Action again, and no Day Action other than lots of Recon flights, and the skipper of USS Whale deciding not to try to hit an SC with a torpedo off of Toyohara. The end of the phase brought more unwanted Chinese air units to Chungking. I have neither planes nor pilots for those units, but I set them to “train” and hope that they don’t use up supply. My opponent and I have been bantering about the Aleutians and the Kuriles. I have no intentions of starting an invasion of the Kuriles at this time, but I don’t mind giving the impression that I am considering the possibility. I am also going to have to move a few more fighter units to the Western Aleutians because the Airfields at Paramushiro-Jima have reached Level 3. I haven’t seen any sign of my opponent putting Bettys or Nells there, but there is no point in giving him any free-shots at some of my transport TFs. I’m fascinated by the continuing Japanese Recon presence over some of the backwater bases in north-eastern India. I’m not sure why my opponent is doing this, but the info that his Recon is taking back is that I’ve got troops in all of the bases that the Japanese Recon planes can reach. I also need to move a few more Fighter units to the region in order to discourage any ideas of nuisance Paratroop raids.

ADB123 -> Recon Wars Continued (1/23/2011 2:33:24 AM)
August 20, 1942 – Not much happened again this turn, other than USS Gudgeon being chased unsuccessfully by an SC off of Utsonomiya. My opponent tends to hunt my subs with one or two ship TFs instead of trying bigger TFs. Sure, ASW TFs are limited to 4 ships, but Combat TFs aren’t, and are nearly as good as ASW TFs for sub hunting, particularly when you put a good number sub-hunting ships into them. Daylight brought the usual Recon flights over the fronts. I moved a large number of Fighter and Bomber units up to Alaska and the Aleutians this turn. The Air Units have been training in B.C. and the U.S. Pacific Northwest for some time, so it was now time to bring them forward. If my opponent does decide to send a probe into the region I ought to be able to discourage it quite nicely. There are some odd things about the bases in the region. For example, Juneau has a value of 500 points for the Japanese. No other base in the region is higher. You need to go to Vancouver to reach another 500 point base. Why Juneau? Otherwise, it’s just the same old story of moving forces forward and building bases.

ADB123 -> Italian Tanks (1/23/2011 10:03:30 PM)
August 21, 1942 – There was no Night Action nor any Day Action again this turn. My Recon over Kalemyo tells me that my opponent has pulled back his troops. I guess that he doesn’t want to try to keep them supplied in that jungle hellhole. I’m not going to bother to try to take it back because I don’t want to engage in a Jungle War in the Indo-Burmese border region right now. My opponent kidded me about my remarks about invading the Kuriles; he asked if my troops remembered how to go Forward, or could they only move in Reverse. I replied that my troops would be able to go forward soon enough, because I am currently replacing their Italian Tanks. I then asked him if he was familiar with the peculiarities of Italian Tanks – 7 gears in Reverse and 1 in Forward (in case of Attack from the Rear...) [;)]

ADB123 -> Broken Record (1/24/2011 9:48:06 PM)
August 22, 1942 – There was no action in either the Night Phase or in the Day Phase again this turn. It appears that my opponent has stopped expansion, other than his plans in China. Although this does enable him to build up the Japanese defenses in advance of the upcoming Allied offensives, it also has the effect of allowing me to build up my forces without any constraints. Since he isn’t attempting to attrite my forces I get to build up a buffer which allows me flexibility. He also hasn’t been attempting to scout my forces other than his land-based Recon in China, India and Australia. So I’m quite happy with the present state of things. Speaking of Recon, on Second Look it appears that the Japanese Infantry Regiment is still in Kalemyo. That’s even better than the base being empty, because the unit will eat up Supplies and suffer from Malaria, while protecting a relatively worthless base. There was another minor Milestone this turn as USS Nevada finished repairs and finally left the Drydock in Alameda. I’ve been using my US Slow BBs as escorts in my big Transport TFs. My opponent hasn’t attempted any Shipping Raids in a long while, but I don’t want to get caught without some decent firepower in my valuable Transport TFs. (If the strategy was good enough for the Battle of the Atlantic, it is good enough for me.) I received 4 B-24 squadrons at the East Coast this turn. The squadrons aren’t filled with planes, but they do have some in each, although as usual the Pilots are nothing to write home about. I have sent the squadrons off to Cape Town and will eventually send them to India and Australia. I did a lot of pilot and airframe switching this turn. I have a number of squadrons that will be going away soon, so I retrieved the planes from the squadrons that allowed that, and pulled out the better-trained pilots from the squadrons that didn’t allow me to pull out the planes. Since many of my bomber squadrons increased in size recently I am short of planes again.

ADB123 -> Phoney War (1/25/2011 9:17:09 PM)
August 23, 1942 – The “Phoney War” in the Pacific continued this turn as once again there was no Combat and the only action consisted of Recon flights. Recon continues to be interesting. My Recon is telling me that my opponent is keeping a sizable force in Burma. My opponent continues to fly Recon over the Rail Line bases behind the main lines in India, but he won’t find any Paratroop-friendly bases out there. My opponent is also continuing to fly Recon over China, particularly Sian, but he hasn’t moved any fresh forces forwards into the region. What his Recon won’t tell him is how bad my supply situation is in Sian and vicinity. I will be upping the ante as far as Recon goes next turn as I moved an F-4 Recon squadron to Attu Island. So I will start to fly Recon over Paramushiro-Jima in a more regular manner. This ought to keep my opponent wondering about my intentions. I am also continuing to move forces into the Region, and will do so until Winter sets in. Otherwise, it is a case of (Shipping) Business as Usual. I’ve got more forces on their way to Australia, and I will be getting a number of useful Support units there in a week or so. I am looking forward to starting a rather serious campaign in North-Western Oz in a couple of months, so I’ve got some heavy-duty base building to do in the Western Desert bases. And I am also continuing to fine-tune my forces. So in the case of the handful of Combat Units that will be withdrawn in a week, I have just switched out their existing Leaders with some mediocre leaders from my rather large surplus of mediocre leaders. All of the LCUs that will be withdrawn shortly were Front Line units, so I had good leaders heading them. So now the “losers” get to go home, and the “heroes” get to stay and fight. (Isn’t that how it always goes? [;)] )

ADB123 -> Some Action Finally! - Sub vs Sub (1/26/2011 2:02:24 AM)
August 24, 1942 – The Night Phase brought some action for a change. First off, USS Triton hit IJN I-160 with a torpedo just to the south of Truk. I-160 was reported sunk. Let’s hope so, because if it was able to limp to Truk it might be saved. Then USS Whale spotted an SC off of Toyohara but the Whale’s skipper decided not to use any torpedoes on the little vessel. The SC, along with another in its TF, attempted to find the Whale, but couldn’t. And that was it for action for the day. However, the F-4 Recon flight over Paramushiro-Jima brought back some interesting information. The base is currently sitting at P=1 and AF = 3, with 3 Japanese units reported and around 5420 troops. There are 15 Fighters and 16 Auxiliary planes at the Air Base. There is one ship in the Port. I don’t know what it is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were an AS to support the Japanese subs that continue to hang around the Aleutians.

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