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ADB123 -> Siesta Time (1/27/2011 3:22:40 AM)
August 25, 1942 – The Forces on both sides went back on Siesta Time this turn, as there was no action other than Recon flights. The biggest news was that I withdrew an obsolete sub early.

ADB123 -> Surprise Capture of Muntok (1/28/2011 3:10:44 AM)
August 26, 1942 – There was no Night Action again, and the only Day Action was the surprise capture of the empty base at Muntok by the Tanaka Detachment. No Japanese TF showed up at Muntok, so I suppose the Tanaka Detachment marched over from Toboali. That’s smart, because this way my opponent avoided any Landing Losses. Otherwise, it was just another day where my Forces continued to move to their Forward Positions. [>:] BTW – Additional Recon Flights over Paramushiro-Jima indicate that there are more Fighters there now, and more troops than originally spotted. I have ordered the F-4s to check the next island over to see if my opponent has started to fortify it yet.

ADB123 -> Recon Match (1/29/2011 1:31:14 AM)
August 27, 1942 – The Night Phase started with the dot base at Tagula Island in the Solomons being automatically occupied by the Japanese. Then a 4-AM ASW TF took off from Perth to try to catch a Japanese sub that has been hanging around off shore for a while. The AMs found the sub, but once they found it they couldn’t zero in on it and so didn’t end up attacking it. That’s okay; those ships are there to harass Japanese subs, not to seriously hunt them. Daylight brought lots of Recon Flights again from both sides, but no other action. My opponent is becoming a bit perturbed by my increased interest in the Eastern Kuriles. And well he should be; from what I can tell the Japanese presence there is fairly light, particularly when you compare it to the massive Japanese presence in the Solomons, Northern Australia, and the DEI. I’m starting to send more subs into the Kuriles in expectation that my opponent will start to try to ship in more forces. Probably the only downside of the Recon Match was that I lost one of my precious F-4s this turn. I don’t get more, and it will be quite a while until I get any F-5s, so every one lost is a minor tragedy. Oh well, once I build up some of the Western Aleutians into Level 4 Airbases I’ll start to send 4Es on Recon flights over the Kuriles.

ADB123 -> Sakhalin Subs (1/30/2011 9:24:53 PM)
August 28, 1942 – The Night Phase saw sub action around Sakhalin Island. First off USS Whale took a shot at an SC that was escorting a TK near Toyohara, but the torpedo that hit the little escort was a dud. Whale then escaped the SC. Next, USS Grayling was chased by a couple more SCs just a little ways to the south, but escaped cleanly. But none of the ships involved were through, because at the end of the turn Whale came back and fired more torpedoes at the same SC. Once again, the torpedo that hit the SC was a dud, and once again Whale escaped the counterattack by the escort. Now that the Whale has used up more than half of its torpedoes I am sending it back for replenishment. And even Grayling was in action again at the end of the turn as the same two SCs took another shot at finding the US sub, but once again the small Japanese ASW ships couldn’t find the range. Daylight then brought the usual “dance” of Recon planes on both sides. My Recon told me that my opponent has modified his Air Strategy in Burma. Now, instead of putting lots of fighters in a few main bases he has split his fighters up in multiple bases, which is the mirror of what I have done over the border in India. The only other item of note was that I withdrew another obsolete US sub a little bit early this turn. This time it was an old S-boat.

ADB123 -> More Sakhalin Subs (1/31/2011 2:36:04 AM)
August 29, 1942 – This night phase it was the turn of USS Cachalot to be unsuccessfully chased by Japanese SCs off of Sakhalin Island. Cachalot won’t be staying On Station much longer because the sub is due to be withdrawn in the Fall and I will want to start it back to the US West Coast with plenty of time in hand. Japanese subs appeared again in pairs off of the Western Aleutians and also around Noumea. I sent some ASW TFs out in the Aleutians to try to discourage the subs there, but I have no forces around New Caledonia other then a couple of Air Units, so the Japanese subs there will pretty much get to do whatever they want. In two days I will receive a large quantity of fresh Land Units, and for once I am actually looking forward to all of the support-type units that I am receiving. I have a lot of expansion to do and I will need all of the support-type units that I can get.

ADB123 -> Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (1/31/2011 10:38:50 PM)
August 30, 1942 – There was no Night Action and no Day Action again this turn. Instead there were plenty of “Recon Games” as both sides played “I Spy” over various bases. I am going to up the ante a little next turn by sending B-17s on Recon over Rangoon. I’m not ready to re-start a Bombing Campaign in Burma, but I do want to keep my opponent on his toes. But the important aspects of this turn were related to Bases and Troops. First off, I was pleasantly surprised as seven key bases underwent expansion this turn. My bases have been getting bigger, which slows down expansion, so there hasn’t been much “real estate” development for a while. Then the Big Present came as the Allies received a lot of very useful LCUs in very useful places. Australia received Air Support Units, AA Units, and Engineering Units. As well, a big TF arrived and started to unload more support units and Armour. I am building up the Railroad bases that are off of the coast and setting up a large trap for the Japanese troops in Townsville. I intend to turn Townsville into a very large and uncomfortable POW camp. India also got more units, including another armoured unit, and importantly, four fresh Base Forces. I will send the Base Forces to the Front where they will replace the Base Forces that have been worn down by Malaria. The old Base Forces will rebuild quickly enough once I get them to Temperate bases behind the lines. And more units are on the way to Oz and the Aleutians. Things are looking up nicely. [:)]

ADB123 -> Upgrade Madness (2/2/2011 1:58:24 AM)
August 31, 1942 – The Night Phase saw USS Grouper hit an SC with a dud torpedo off of Kochi. I have more and more long range subs heading towards the Home Islands, so I’ll start to get some kills sooner or later. There was the usual flurry of Recon flights at the Fronts this turn, and there were also a lot of Japanese Air ASW flights around, particularly over the Straights of Malacca. It is getting very hard for my subs to get through the Straights safely. My B-17 Recon of Rangoon went well. All of the planes came home safely and I got a good idea of what is there. But more importantly, I got more information on other Burmese bases, particularly Magwe. There are a fair number of Japanese bombers on the ground there, so it is a tempting target. I am having my other B-17 squadron fly over Rangoon again next turn, in the hopes of drawing more Japanese fighters back to Rangoon. Then I intend to attack Magwe with P-38 Sweeps and B-17 Airfield raids. It’s time to make things lively again for my opponent. But the majority of time that I spent on this turn was spent setting the upgrade options for all of the September 1942 ship upgrades. This is certainly going to keep my Shipyards busy for quite some time.

ADB123 -> Happy Oerlikon Shareholders (2/3/2011 1:54:08 AM)
September 1, 1942 – September 1942 came in rather quietly. The only action was a Japanese PB trying to chase USS Seadragon near Singapore. There were lots of Recon Flights, and my Recon Distraction Plan seemed to work well in Burma. My opponent has plenty of Fighters in Burma, but they are spread out, and he seems to be reacting to seeing my Heavy Bombers flying Recon over Rangoon. In any event, despite a weather forecast of End-of-the-World Weather in the region tomorrow, I set my plan into action. I’ve got 2 P-38E squadrons in Comilla set to Sweep Magwe at Max Alt, and two B-17 squadrons at Dacca set to bomb the Airfields at Magwe. It will be interesting to see who goes in first. I like sending in B-17s when the range is reasonably short instead of having them go at the limits of their range. The most time consuming part of watching the Combat Replay this turn was watching all of the reports of “…taken out of commission for refit…”. They must have lasted 10 minutes at a minimum. And I still have plenty of other ships that need upgrades once they reach their next Port. It will certainly be a good time to be a Shipyard Worker. And speaking of “good time”, it will be a good time to be an Oerlikon shareholder with all of those Oerlikon AA guns getting installed on everything. Finally, I happened to notice that I suddenly have P-70 Night Fighters available. I couldn’t remember which US Fighter squadron could upgrade to the P-70, but fortunately I was able to find a thread on the topic in the Forum. So I located the 18thFG/6thFS and found that it could be upgraded even though I only had 11 P-70s in stock. So I’ll let the pilots train in their new planes and see just how many more replacement P-70s I get. Up until now my opponent hasn’t done any Night Bombing, but it is nice to be prepared just in case that he starts at some point.

ADB123 -> Back in the Air (2/4/2011 3:19:28 AM)
September 2, 1942 – I see that this AAR has passed 10,000 hits. Thanks to all of the kind readers out there who have put up with so little action for such a long time. I hope to start to change that, and to an extent this turn was a move in the right direction. [sm=Cool-049.gif] The Night Phase started out with the tables being turned on an Allied ASW TF that went hunting outside of Perth. Japanese sub I-18 caught AM Punjab in the dark with two torpedoes and the little minesweeper quickly went down like a rock. The other AMs in the ASW TF attempted to attack I-18, but the sub got away. The Day Phase finally brought some good and successful air action as my Air Attacks on Magwe flew despite the weather. First off the B-17Es flew in and met 42 Oscars on CAP. As expected, the B-17s easily flew past the Oscars with little difficulty and then hit their target hard. A Sally was destroyed on the ground, numerous other Japanese planes were damaged, there were 11 casualties on the ground, the Airbase suffered 6 damage points, the Airbase Supply suffered 4 damage points, and the Airfields suffered 44 damage points. Five B-17s were damaged. This was followed by the usual flurry of Recon flights, and also a number of Japanese Air ASW flights over Allied subs. My opponent appears to have a LOT of Air Coverage over Malaya, Sumatra and Java. Then the P-38E Sweeps came in to hit Magwe. The first Sweep of 24 P-38Es found 27 Oscars and 1 Nick in the air. Three Oscars were destroyed for the loss of 1 P-38E. Then the other P-38 squadron Swept in and found 10 Oscars. Three more Oscars were destroyed for no Allied losses. At the end of the day, adding in Operational Losses, the Japanese lost 16 Oscars and 2 Sallys, while the Allies lost 4 P-38Es and 1 B-17. So I was quite pleased with the results. I have sat down the B-17Es again, and have the P-38Es back on Local Short Range CAP. I’ll let my opponent scramble his Air Units around while he waits for my next move. In other news, more Allied ships went into Upgrade, and I disbanded a handful of obsolete US Bomber squadrons on the West Coast, after removing the decent pilots. The next big Allied Aircraft Withdrawal will be those little light British bombers in India, which will happen in December. Otherwise, my Troop Movements continue unabated and unmolested and things are looking quite promising in Australia nowadays. [8D]

ADB123 -> The Japanese Air Force Wakes Up (2/5/2011 2:57:56 AM)
September 3, 1942 – The Night Phase saw USS Grayling hit an SC with a dud torpedo off of Toyohara. The SC was escorting a TK, so it’s a shame that Grayling didn’t get a second chance at the more worthwhile target. Daylight brought my opponent out from his lethargy as a couple of Oscars attempted to Sweep Imphal in the rain. Obviously, the Bad Weather was splitting up my opponent’s attempt at revenge for the previous day’s Allied attack on Magwe. I had a Hurricane IIb squadron on High Alt Patrol, so the 16 Brit pilots happily challenged the incoming Japanese and shot down an Oscar. The Action then shifted to China where a number of Japanese Army Bombers, escorted by Oscars, attacked a Chinese LCU in the woods near Pakhoi. The first Japanese Air Raid missed the target but the second raid caused a few casualties. This was followed by a Sally/Oscar air raid on the Airfields at Sian. This raid caused a fair amount of damage, likely because I had most of the Troops at Sian set to Rest, so their AA guns weren’t available. I’ve now put all of the Chinese units along the Front on Combat so that they can shoot back at any more Air Raids. Finally, another 9 Oscars came back to Imphal and fought it out with 12 Hurricane IIbs. This time one plane from each side was shot down. Afterwards, when the Operational Losses were counted up the Japanese lost 9 Oscars while the Brits lost 4 Hurricane IIbs. I pulled the Hurricane IIb squadron out of Imphal and sent them to Calcutta for fresh planes. I then brought in a rested Hurricane IIc squadron into Imphal in case my opponent decides to try the same thing again. BTW – My B-17s and P-38s are still resting and repairing, so I won’t be sending them out again for a few more days. And I realized at the end of the turn that I had forgotten to post the September 1, 1942 screen shots, so better-late-than-never, below is the Intel Screen for September 3, 1942, since I no longer have the September 1 turn available. [image]local://upfiles/32618/7C2D29F273DB437599A1853A7236C972.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> September 42 Air Losses (2/5/2011 2:59:25 AM)
Here are the Air Losses as of September 3, 1942. [image]local://upfiles/32618/66E206D318E3459CB4F561E60F30F957.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> September 42 Air Replacements (2/5/2011 3:01:33 AM)
And here are the September 1942 Air Replacements. I've removed the Dutch and Soviet pools because they just clutter up the listing. I'm not going to bother posting maps because the situation on the ground hasn't changed since the last time I posted maps. [image]local://upfiles/32618/10D8FE6D37BB4AC688A54068750F5DD2.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> An Unpleasant Sight (2/6/2011 4:29:14 AM)
September 4, 1942 – The Night Phase started out with a sight that sends shivers of dread down every player’s spine – an enemy sub putting a torpedo into one of your CVs. In this case, it was I-24 hitting Saratoga off of Tetiaroa. There was a sense of irony in seeing Saratoga get hit just north of Tahiti. The ship had scored some of the first blood for the USN after Pearl Harbour, had avoided the KB in the Eastern Pacific, had taken the long route across the Atlantic to Cape Town to India, sailed from India to Australia, back to Cape Town for upgrades, back to Australia again, and then after sailing from Western Australia to Tahiti, got hit by an enemy sub on the way back to Hawaii. Saratoga’s escorts hit I-24 with a couple of depth charges and the sub disappeared. When the Combat Replay was done I immediately looked for the Saratoga to view the damage. When I found the Saratoga’s TF I had a double take – Saratoga was undamaged! The torpedo had been a dud, and Fog of War had caused me grief for no reason at all. Oh well, all’s well that ends well, and Saratoga is still nicely on its way towards Pearl. The only other action this turn was a Sweep by Oscars over Sian. I still have no parts for my Chinese fighters there, so while there is an aircraft “mark” at the base, I have nothing there that can fly. There was also a lot of Air Recon again, and this time I added some spice by having B-17s fly over Daly Waters and Katherine. Daly Waters is empty, and Katherine still has its small defending force. What is more interesting to me is the situation in North-eastern Australia, so I am attaching a screen capture to give a better idea of what I mean. I have been slowly moving my forces up the East Coast of Oz along the rail lines. My opponent is huddled in Townsville, while Bowen and Charters Towers are under enemy control but empty. Winton, Conclurry and Hughenden are empty but still under Allied control. My intention is to continue to move northwards into the bases along the rail line and build them up as I go along. As my Air Bases grow bigger my 4E threat moves closer and closer to the Japanese forces in Townsville. I intend to encircle the Japanese forces and then pound them into submission with Heavy Bombers. Since my Air Bases are inland I don’t need to fear Naval Bombardments, and I have the Fighter squadrons to deal with any Japanese bombers. Essentially, my opponent has allowed two Japanese Infantry Divisions to become trapped in Townsville, and I intend to take advantage of that situation over the next number of months. All of my rail line bases behind the Front are occupied by troops and fighter squadrons, so my opponent won’t be able to cut my lines with Paratroops. So this ought to become a very interesting killing ground as time goes on. [image]local://upfiles/32618/4348117D664244B79C1E005155D198D9.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> An Unintentional Break (2/9/2011 1:32:38 AM)
September 5, 1942 – A slip in communication kept my opponent and me from exchanging turns for the past two days, but we are back in business now. The Night Phase brought USS Cachalot near Shikuku where the sub fired four torpedoes at an SC but missed. The SC then couldn’t find the US sub. Daylight brought Japanese fighters and bombers out over Sian again. This is actually a good move on my opponent’s part because Sian is too far away from any decent Chinese bases to be defended by air, and it is constantly out of supply, so fighters can’t be based there either. So my opponent sent in an unopposed Oscar Sweep, followed by Oscars and Sonias, and finally by Oscars and Sallys. My opponent can train up pilots and only spend obsolete aircraft there on Operational Losses. Otherwise, there were only Recon flights going around again. My opponent has pulled back his bombers from Magwe and Mandalay, so there are no worthwhile targets there at this time. I am attaching the map of Northwestern Australia to this post in order to give an idea of my plans in that region. I intend to send troops into Meekatherra and Cue in order to build up the Air Bases and allow my 4Es to dominate the region. This is a more long-term plan than my build up in Northeastern Australia, but eventually I will move in the Western Region and start to apply pressure on the DEI in 1943. One thing that I have learned (very painfully) over and over again in my Japanese pbems is that I should always stick with my plans and not go off on tangents just because I spot what appears to be an “opportunity”. Every time I go after “opportunities” I end up throwing away my forces for little or no gain. On the other hand, when I stick with my plans I get steady progress. [image]local://upfiles/32618/C03F6FD9880044D6A58CFF2378E46E87.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> SIGINT Teasers (2/10/2011 2:14:17 AM)
September 6, 1942 – The Night Phase was quiet again. Just where are the Japanese Transport TFs? I have been moving more and more long range US subs into Japanese waters but other than the occasional single Tanker plus escort TFs that my subs have found near Shikuku every so often, I haven’t seen anything. My opponent must be sending oil and resources back to Japan, so my subs ought to run into larger TFs once in a while. Daylight brought a return to Recon Wars as my opponent avoided being too predictable once again and his Air Raids over China stopped. I was quite surprised to see a Japanese Recon Flight over Cloncurry this turn. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Cloncurry is empty but it still is under Allied control. I’m not quite ready to move troops up there, so it will be interesting to see what my opponent does in the meanwhile. A Glen-equipped long-range Japanese sub appeared off of Tahiti again. This time I have four spare DEs at Tahiti, so I am sending them out in an ASW TF to see if I can discourage that sub. I was looking forward to the arrival of two more USMC Fighter and two more USMC Dive Bomber squadrons at San Diego, but it was quite the disappointment when they did arrive. There are only two planes in each of the squadrons, and the pilot experience is miserably low. So although I have enough planes in the Pools to fill out the squadrons I’m not doing so. Instead I just filled in the Pilot slots with more Rookies and set the squadrons to training. I’ll check back in a few months to see if it becomes worthwhile to give them planes too. And I got another Mystery SIGINT report of Radio Signals coming from the Eastern Pacific, just outside of 4E Search range. I don’t know if this is from a Japanese sub on its way to the West Coast, or Raiders, but I don’t have any TFs in the region so whatever is there can spend all the fuel that they like. Never-the-less, I did move a few more 4E squadrons to the Pacific Northwest region to give me more of a chance to see if anything Japanese comes closer to shore.

ADB123 -> The Cruel Seas off of Perth (2/11/2011 3:06:19 AM)
September 7, 1942 – The Night Phase saw a fair amount of ASW action off of Perth, as if my opponent and I were attempting to remake “The Cruel Sea”. First off, the captain of IJN sub I-18 decided not to fire off any torpedoes against an AM that was spotted. That decision turned into a mistake as the AM found the sub and attacked it repeatedly, eventually scoring 5 hits. Then I-25 found another of the AMs in the Australian ASW TF and this time the sub’s skipper did fire, but missed with 6 torpedoes. Once again the Australian ships attacked, but this time they didn’t hit the sub. I’m guessing that my opponent is assuming that I am shipping Troops and Supplies through Perth, but I’m not. So this way I get to train up ASW crews with little risk. [:D] Daylight brought Recon Wars again, although the Recon Flights from both sides were affected by miserable weather over all of the Fronts. My opponent spread out his Air Recon in north-eastern Oz and checked out Emerald this time, in addition to Cluncurry. His Intel will give him a different picture at this base, because I already have a number of troops in place and more are on the way.

ADB123 -> Back to Recon Wars (2/12/2011 3:43:03 AM)
September 8, 1942 – The Night Phase saw USS Gudgeon fire off some dud torpedoes at an SC near Wakkanai, then escape from the small Japanese ASW ships in the dark. My subs are finding more small ASW TFs (or the small Japanese ASW TFs are finding my subs), but I’m not spotting any major Transport TFs. Daylight brought Recon Wars again, with an increased number of Enemy sub reports around the Aleutians. My opponent is paying a little more attention to his Closest Neighbours, but he isn’t trying anything to stop me. Of course, he is also watching my build-up in Australia, and he is still sending a lot of Recon over India. I will “reward” his Recon flights over India next turn by sending my 4Es and P-38s over Mandalay. It’s time to do more Oscar-hunting, and if I catch some Japanese Recon planes on the Ground, so much the better.

ADB123 -> Oscar Hunting (2/13/2011 3:58:16 AM)
September 9, 1942 – There was no Night Action. Daylight saw my Plan for Mandalay go into Action. First off, despite my two P-38 squadrons being located at the same base, the P-38E squadron Swept in alone over Mandalay and found 56 Oscars scrambling to meet them. The Oscars approached in dribs and drabs, and the P-38E pilots handled them readily, eventually shooting down 3 Oscars for the loss of 1 P-38E. Next, a rookie squadron of 16 B-17Es flew in and faced 31 Oscars. The Forts blew past the Japanese fighters, damaging a number of them, and hit the Air Base, Air Base Supply, and Runways. This was followed by the rest of the 4Es; 12 B-17Es and 16 B-17Fs. They were met by 32 Oscars and the Heavies again shot up the Japanese fighters, eventually shooting one down before again hitting the Air Base, Air Base Supply and Runways. Then the P-38F squadron arrived and found 29 Oscars still struggling to get on CAP. Again the Lightnings did well; shooting down 4 Oscars for the loss of only one P-38F. At the end of the day the totals, including all the accessory losses upon landings, as well as Operational losses were as follows: 19 Oscars lost – 17 A-to-A and 2 Ops 6 P-38Es lost – 4 A-to-A and 2 Ops 3 P48Fs lost – 2 A-to-A and 1 Ops 1 B-17E lost to Ops Most of the P-38 losses were write-offs on the ground after landing. It was a little disappointing that my Bombers didn’t catch any Japanese planes on the Ground, but the end result was quite satisfying anyway. BTW – there were also 4 Sallys listed as lost to Ops damage, so my opponent must be moving his bombers somewhere. I’ve sat my bombers and P-38s down again while they rest up and I wait for another promising opportunity. In other interesting news, a Japanese LCU has shown up just inside of the Chinese border on the road between Lashio and Paoshan. I’ve got a strong Chinese LCU blocking the road a hex to the west of Paoshan, and another strong Chinese LCU inside of Paoshan. Just in case, I’ve ordered another strong Chinese LCU to begin the march from Chungking to Paoshan.

ADB123 -> Dudsville (2/14/2011 3:26:28 AM)
September 10, 1942 – There were two US submarine captains who weren’t happy with their luck during the Night Phase. First off, USS Albacore hit an xAK with a dud torpedo off of Agrihan (north of the Marianas). Then USS Triton hit a PB with a dud near Truk. Oh well, at least I know where a couple of small Japanese Transport TFs are sailing. Daylight brought a Japanese attempt to “return the favour” for my Air Raid on Mandalay, as Japanese Fighters Swept Rockhampton. First off 12 Oscars flew in and faced the 12 New Zeeland Hurricane IIbs that were on CAP. This resulted in an Oscar being shot down. Then 9 Nicks flew in and faced 6 Hurricanes, but there were no losses on either side. This was followed by 2 more Oscars which faced 3 Hurricanes, but again with no losses on either side. Next, 2 Zeros flew in and faced 1 Hurricane, but again there were no losses on either side. Finally, a while later, 13 more Zeros flew in, but by that point the Kiwi pilots had already called it a Day and the Sky was empty of Allied fighters. There were also some Oscar and Sally/Sonia attacks on Sian again, but the damage was minor. At the end of the day the losses were as follows: 3 Oscars lost – 2 A-to-A and 1 Ops 2 Hurricane IIbs lost due to Ops The lost Hurricanes were write-offs on the ground and no Allied pilots were lost. Without any bombers to back them up the Japanese Fighter sweeps are more helpful as target practice for my Fighter Squadrons than anything else. I’ll eventually move some larger “fly swatters” into position, but for now I’ll just let my opponent take Ops losses if he tries this again. In other news, a Japanese sub showed up off of Perth again, so I am once again sending out an AM ASW TF. This time I’ve put some better skippers in charge of the AMs in case they can catch up to the Japanese sub. And while browsing the list of upcoming Allied Air Units I noticed that a USMC Fighter squadron and a USMC Dive Bomber squadron will show up at Pago Pago in 20 days. I have no use for them there, and I would have preferred if they showed up in the Continental US instead, but I can’t change things so I ordered a couple of AKVs to sail from the West Coast to Pago Pago to pick up the Air Units. I’ll probably send them on to Australia, although I don’t have any immediate use for them there either.

ADB123 -> Tennant Creek in the Bombsights Again (2/15/2011 2:15:35 AM)
September 11, 1942 – The only Night Action was USS Grayling being chased unsuccessfully by a Japanese PB near Toyohara. During the Combat Replay the Map showed a couple of situations where Allied subs were in the same hexes as Japanese TFs off of Japan, but the forces didn’t engage. Daylight brought back an old “favourite” of my opponent; Sallys and Oscars attacked the troops at Tennant Creek. The Japanese bombers actually caused some casualties. Eventually I will have to send an AA unit to Tennant Creek, but for now I need them elsewhere. Otherwise, there was no Day Action. I received a fresh P-38E squadron in Portland this turn, but the Air Unit turned out to be part of IV US Fighter Command (R) so I not only can’t move it off of the West Coast but I can’t even change its Command. So I replaced the 10 P-38s in the squadron with P-39Ds and filled the pilot ranks up with rookies. So there is yet another Training Squadron on the West Coast. But I won’t complain about getting 10 extra P-38Es. The other news this turn was that another half dozen Allied bases grew in one manner or another. My plans continue to progress nicely.

ADB123 -> Hunting SCs (2/16/2011 1:53:11 AM)
September 12, 1942 – The Night Phase saw US subs try and fail to sink small Japanese Escort ships. First off, USS Tautog hit an SC with a dud near Hamamatsu; then USS Pickerel hit another SC with a dud near Amami Oshima. In both cases the SCs were equally ineffectual in their roles and the US subs got away safely. Daylight saw more Japanese Air Raids over Sian. This time the Japanese bombers hit the Air Fields, which is fine by me because I don’t intend to try to fly anything out of Sian anyway. SIGINT keeps on telling me that various Japanese units are preparing to Attack Sian, but considering that many of the units that have been reported are Chinese Militia that are fighting for the Japanese, I’m not terribly worried at this time. The Final Results for the Day were a bit irritating because the Japanese didn’t lose any planes to Ops losses, despite buzzing Sian repeatedly, while the Allies lost three Hudsons and one Blenheim to Ops losses. The Upcoming Air Units list is also getting a bit more irritating. Now, in addition to the USMC planes that will be showing up at Pago Pago, it turns out that some USAAF P-39s will show up in a few weeks at Noumea. So I’ll have to send an Escorted Freighter there to pick them up because I have no use for Fighters at Noumea. And in one more bit of SIGINT, it turns out that a fragment of a Japanese Infantry Regiment is preparing to invade Taytay in the Philippines. That’s a bit unfortunate, because I have been using Taytay as a stop-over for Allied subs in the region. Fortunately, there are still a handful of other unoccupied bases in the Philippines that I will use instead. And, most importantly, I finally set up my largest Transport TF to date. The TF is so large that I had to form its Combat Escorts up separately into a different TF because otherwise the Transport TF couldn’t dock to load its Forces. I’ll have the two TFs meet nearby and then join them up. It will be a month before this TF reaches its destination, but when it does the Balance of Power in that region will definitely shift more in the direction of the Allies.

ADB123 -> Swiss Cheese (2/16/2011 3:52:18 AM)
September 13, 1942 – The Night Phase saw two extremes of submarine action this turn. First off was a fairly routine and unsuccessful attack by some Japanese SCs on USS Grouper near Utsonomiya. Then came an attack that was different from anything I’ve seen before. USS Seadragon was snooping around near the south-western tip of Korea when it came upon an unescorted xAKL. The skipper of the Seadragon ordered the sub to the Surface and commenced an attack on the small Freighter with the sub’s deck guns. Seadragon’s crew opened fire with everything that they could find. [sm=00000106.gif] They fired the 20mm AA guns. [sm=sterb003.gif] They fired the .5 inch Brownings. [sm=fighting0020.gif] They fired the 3 inch cannon. [sm=00000054.gif] And they fired, and they fired, and they fired even more. [sm=00000036.gif] Eventually, after firing away almost all of the sub’s ammo, and hitting the xAKL 60 times, the skipper decided to break off the engagement and submerge the sub. What was particularly strange about this attack was that the image of the xAKL never changed in the Replay Screen. No smoke or fires appeared, even when the Combat Report said that there was major damage to the Ship, such as blowing away the Superstructure. What was even odder at that point was that Seadragon never tried to fire a torpedo while on the Surface. But a little while later the Seadragon attacked the same xAKL from underwater with a spread of torpedoes, and one of the torpedoes actually hit the Freighter and exploded, causing serious damage. But once again there was no sign of damage in the Combat Replay. Only afterwards when I checked the “Sunk Ships” list did I see that the xAKL was listed as sunk. I’m still scratching my head at that one. [&:][&:][&:] Otherwise, things were quiet this turn except for Recon flights. I’ve now flown Recon over all of the Japanese-occupied bases in Burma and my opponent has planes at almost every one of them. Oh well, at least those planes aren’t sitting elsewhere. The Big News of the Day was that USS Oklahoma finally returned to Service after 10 months of repairs.

ADB123 -> Dud Parade (2/17/2011 1:33:12 AM)
September 14, 1942 – The Night Phase showed that I’m finally getting my subs in the right locations, but unfortunately, without the right tools. First off, one of the pesky Japanese subs that have been hanging around the Aleutians almost became a reef as USN DE Kane spotted I-5 near Attu Island. However, the Japanese sub was able to sneak away in the bad weather. But it all worked out in the end as the Transport TF that Kane was escorting got to Attu safely. Then came another Night of the Duds, as USS Gudgeon hit an xAK with a dud torpedo off of Oki Shoto, which was then followed up by USS Pike hitting a TK with a dud near Nago. Unfortunately, the skippers of those two US subs weren’t aggressive enough to go to the surface and take on the Japanese ships with gunfire. Daylight brought Japanese bombers in the Air over China again as small bomber groups hit Liuchow and Ichang. These attacks are irritating, but I don’t want to have my Chinese Fighter squadrons stuck chasing hit-and-run raids, so I’ll just continue to ignore the situation. At least this time the Japanese suffered some Ops losses. This was a busy turn as a huge number of Allied ships and subs arrived in various ports. I’ve also got a large quantity of ships going in and out of Upgrades, so it is a busy time at my backwater ports. SIGINT has been sending an interesting message in recent turns – a number of Japanese LCUs are being shipped to Singapore. These are all Support-type troops, rather than major Combat units, but it is still odd, and I haven’t figured out the reason for it yet. And finally, my Monster TF set sail all together today. I’ve got Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, DEs, Troop Transports and Cargo Transports all sailing together. It’s an impressive sight – I only hope that the KB doesn’t catch sight of it. [sm=innocent0001.gif]

ADB123 -> Air Wars Over Rockhampton (2/18/2011 2:32:52 AM)
September 15, 1942 – There was no Night Action. Daylight brought a series of Japanese Fighter Sweeps over Rockhampton. My opponent was probably expecting to see those New Zeeland Hurricane IIbs again, but instead his fighters ran into a USAAF P-38E squadron at full strength and at max altitude. The first Japanese Sweep consisted of 10 A6M2 Zeros which ran into the full 25 P-38s. The P-38s shot up the Zeros and shot down three of them with no losses to the US planes. Next came 12 Oscars which found 21 P-38s on High Alt CAP. This time one plane from each side was shot down. Then came 8 Nicks who found 14 P-38s waiting for them. The P-38s shot up the Nicks nicely and one Nick was shot down. This was followed by 2 straggler Zeros which found 13 P-38s still in the air and turned around and tried to run. At the End of the Day the losses were as follows: Japanese: 9 Zeros lost – 8 to A-to-A, 5 Nicks lost – 3 to A-to-A, and 2 Oscars lost – 1 to A-to-A. USAAF: 3 P-38s lost – 1 to A-to-A That should discourage my opponent a little bit. In any event, I sat down the P-38s while they wait for enough Supplies to bring in replacement planes, and instead I ordered four squadrons of 4Es to fly over to hit the Airfields at Townsville. That ought to discourage my opponent even more. HOWEVER – When this occurs is in the air, because for some reason I can’t send the turn to my opponent this evening. My mail keeps on bouncing with a message that my opponent’s email account doesn’t exist. I sent him a PM from here in the Forum in case he checks things out here, but for now there isn’t anything else I can do. I wonder if this has anything to do with the big Solar Flare?

ADB123 -> Success, Followed by a Mess (2/19/2011 3:59:19 AM)
September 16, 1942 – The Night Phase saw USS Perch spot an SC off of Chiba, but the sub’s skipper decided not to fire any torpedoes at the little escort ship. The SC then attempted to find Perch, but Perch got away unscathed. Daylight brought the Allied Response to the Japanese Fighter Sweeps of the previous turn. The largest Allied 4E attack of the War so far flew against the Air Fields at Townsville as 33 B-17s and 12 Liberators attacked. They were met by 12 Oscars, 12 Zeros and 6 Nicks. The 4Es blasted past the Japanese CAP and hammered the Air Fields, destroying Japanese planes in the Air and on the Ground. The Combat Report showed the following: Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged Airbase hits 18 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 129 Then a straggler squadron of 8 B-17s flew in late and faced 4 Zeros, 6 Oscars and 2 Nicks. Again the 4Es blasted through and hit the Airfields. This time the Combat Report showed these results: Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged Airbase hits 1 Runway hits 6 The End-of-Day final tally is in the image below. Note - Japanese air losses have finally moved past Allied air losses. Afterwards my Recon informed me that there were only a couple of planes left at Townsville – my opponent had essentially pulled out his air force. HOWEVER – I found myself unable to take advantage of the situation because somehow I pushed the wrong buttons when I set up this turn and turned Land-Based Air Squadrons to Upgrade = “On” and Replacements = “On”. [&:] [X(] [sm=scared0008.gif] Huh??? How in the world did I do that? I must have been in a hurry or half asleep to do something so stupid. But I did, and this was confirmed by Michael the Dev who checked the file that I sent to my opponent and saw that the LBA was all “On”. So I spent a lot of time this turn setting up my recovery from this mistake. My Airplane Pools are now all goofed up and I have several dozen squadrons where all of the planes are “damaged” because they were swapped out. Oh well, I’ll just have to be more careful in the future. [image]local://upfiles/32618/4E34BB405FF04B12807D35F025E55592.jpg[/image]

ADB123 -> Slowly Recovering (2/20/2011 2:16:00 AM)
September 17, 1942 – There was no Action in either the Night Phase or the Day Phase. That was good from my point of view, because I’ve got too many Front Line Air Units that are still recovering from their unplanned upgrades to be able to afford any clashes with the Enemy. So the very first thing that I did when I opened up my turn was to check the Air Unit Lists, and thankfully, all Air Units were still as I had left them the previous turn. My Air Units are repairing at various and unpredictable rates – some are halfway there, many have only one plane repaired, and a few have no planes repaired yet at all. So I will have to be patient. The Japanese LCU that was sitting across the border on the Burmese side of the Burma Road has started to move again towards Paoshan. I have more Chinese troops on the way, along with some planes, so once the Japanese unit crosses the border I will start to harass it. Otherwise, things are going according to plan. With any luck I may be in a position to start some Offensive actions a couple of months early. I’ll know better in a month’s time.

ADB123 -> E-Class Attack (2/20/2011 8:23:19 PM)
September 18, 1942 – My opponent is once again actively attempting to shut down the passage around Singapore into the DEI and the South China Sea. The Night Phase saw Dutch sub O16 caught and hit by a couple of Japanese E-class ASW ships just off of Lingga. O16 was hit eight times, but survived. However, I now have to carefully send the sub for repairs. Next, USS Pike was spotted by a PB escort in a small Transport TF near Moppo. The PB didn’t find Pike, but the sub had to sneak off anyway. Then at the End of the Day USS Grayling put a torpedo into an xAKL near Toyohara. The PB escort in the small Transport TF attempted to find Grayling, but the US sub got away safely. My opponent does not appear to like to use Mega-Transport TFs as I do. Other than Grayling’s attack there was no Action during the Day Phase. Plenty of Recon Flights flew from both sides. It appears that my opponent may have pulled his forces out of Luganville, but I’ll have to check things out more carefully before I accept that Intel. And as has been common recently, I received another mediocre Air Unit this turn. This time it was a British Fighter Bomber squadron. The pilots have an Average Experience of around 24, so I immediately shipped the Unit by Rail back to Karachi for lots and lots of training. [8\|]

ADB123 -> Hammer In Search of an Ant (2/21/2011 1:25:30 AM)
September 19, 1942 – There was no Night or Day action again this turn. Plenty of Recon Flights flew all over, and fortunately I had my usual large numbers of Search Planes in the Air, because a couple of very interesting things showed up unexpectedly. Two Japanese TF images showed up off of north-eastern Australia. One is supposed to be a Transport TF with Combat Escorts, Transports and even AOs. This one is two hexes to the East of Cairns and heading west. More interesting is a CV TF that is halfway between Rossel Island and Townsville, smack in the middle of the Coral Sea. Intel reported 50 or more Fighters, 130 or so Bombers, and lots of miscellaneous planes. So it appears that some significant portion of the Japanese CV Fleet has showed up. Just what is the objective of this Hammer-in-Search-of-an-Ant? Is it there to provide LR CAP over the Transport TF? (Or is the Transport TF really a Replenishment TF that is there to support the CVs?) Or is it there to try to Hunt P-38s? I only have a couple of AMs on the East Coast of Oz, and they are Getting Out of Dodge as we speak, so there aren’t any good Naval Targets for the CV TF. And if my opponent wants to use Naval Air to bomb Australian Bases, he is welcome to test all of the AA that I have sitting around. But I’m not giving any “freebies” as far as Fighter Sweeps go. I moved back my two P-38 squadrons one row of bases, and left Recon and Floatplane squadrons to give some Air Unit symbols to my forward bases. If my opponent eventually goes down as far as Sydney I might put together a 100 or so crack Fighters to test his pilots, but that isn’t a given unless I feel particularly lucky. And, of course, I have lots of subs moving towards that region. But the big message to me is that I can relax in the other Theaters for a while because any remaining Japanese CV power isn’t going to be enough to worry me elsewhere. And best of all, this indicates to me that my opponent really wants to fight it out in Oz and the South Pacific, which is great, because Japanese units way down there aren’t readily available to fight where I want to attack. [;)]

ADB123 -> Love Boats (2/22/2011 1:02:30 AM)
September 20, 1942 – There was no action again this turn, just plenty of Air Recon and even more Air Searching on the part of my Forces in Eastern Australia. For a while I was thinking that the Japanese CV TF that I spotted last turn might just consist of CVLs, CVEs, and CSs, given the Plane Composition that Intel told me last turn. But this turn’s Intel painted a different picture: 117 Fighters, 187 Bombers, 140 Auxiliaries I can “take a hint” – that’s close enough to the main KB to fully capture my attention. The Japanese CV TF is now 8 or 9 hexes due East of Bowan, and apparently heading Southeast. Just why is my opponent having such a powerful TF do a leisurely cruise in this region? Does he think that I am planning some invasions in the area? Is he hoping to catch a big, “juicy” Transport TF in mid-ocean? In any event, I ordered my ships in Auckland Harbour to head out of Port, and I spread out more of my Air Squadrons in Eastern Oz. I’m just so, so glad that this Japanese TF is sailing where it is, and not along the Aleutians! [&o][&o][&o][sm=innocent0001.gif][sm=innocent0001.gif][sm=innocent0001.gif]

ADB123 -> The Unluckiest Sub in the Navy (2/23/2011 2:37:17 AM)
September 21, 1942 – So close, and yet so far… The Night Phase brought Bad Dreams to the Skipper of the USS Sturgeon; not once, but twice. There was Sturgeon, a handful of hexes to the East of Bowen, when into the periscope lens field of view sailed IJN Shokoku! The Sturgeon’s skipper ordered four torpedoes fired, but they all missed. Sturgeon was then chased off by the Japanese Escorts. But Sturgeon was given a second chance. Once again the Skipper couldn’t believe his eyes as this time IJN Zuikaku sailed into range. The Sturgeon fired four more torpedoes. This time one hit – and as luck would have it, that torpedo was a Dud. The Japanese Escorts again chased the Sturgeon, this time hitting the sub once with a glancing blow. But that was the least of the pain for the Skipper of the Sturgeon; he knows that there won’t be any caviar for him when he gets back to Port. Daylight came with the Japanese CV TF hanging around due East of Bowen. Another Japanese TF showed up docked in Cairns Harbour. The Allied LBA flew Search and Recon missions all around the Region, but otherwise the Allies could do nothing but watch as the KB made certain that nothing could get by it. But the KB didn’t fly any Air Attacks. Instead the only Japanese Air Attacks were on the Air Fields at Sian. Plenty of Japanese Army Bombers and Fighters flew in and scored a number of hits on the Air Base and Runways, but since I’m not trying to fly Air Missions out of Sian, that really doesn’t matter. At least the Attacks cost the Japanese a number of planes lost due to Ops Damage. So I think that I know what is going on in Northeastern Australia. My Recon Flights over Townsville reported that the number of troops there has diminished, and there are troops moving Northwards towards Cairns. I now think that my opponent is withdrawing troops from Northeastern Oz and is using the KB to screen the operation. It makes sense. There is no good reason for my opponent to leave a couple of Combat Divisions in Townsville to be eventually trapped and bombed back into the Stone Age at my leisure. I have too many roads that lead to Townsville, and most of them aren’t along the Coast, so my troops can’t be interdicted by Naval Bombardment. And my 4Es can trash everything in sight whenever I want. So this way my opponent can move his better units to where he can better use them while the situation is still under his control. We’ll see if I’m right with this assessment. On-the-other-hand, my opponent could be pulling out troops to Invade somewhere else behind my lines, but I seriously doubt it, and that would end up even better for me than leaving them in Townsville, because the further my opponent moves away from his lines, the Stronger my Forces get. And it looks as if my opponent has a new idea for mischief – Invading China from Burma. The first Japanese LCU has crossed the border into China and is facing a dug-in Chinese Infantry Corp in the next hex along the Burma Road. Recon tells me that Japanese troops are moving out of Rangoon by Land, and there are a lot more Japanese troops in Mandalay than the current situation warrants, so a campaign in the Mountains might be in the works. In any event, I’ve ordered a bunch of bombers to hit that Japanese LCU, just to remind my opponent that I can cause plenty of pain if I wish.

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