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[Erkki]

Well, fortifying Port Moresby wasn't such a bad idea for him after all.

And bad planning by me - instead of invading 10 lightly held places simultaneously I could have leaped forward(at least after the carrier battles) and "filled back" later, like I'm doing in the Indonesia. The last Allied-held islands' garrisons are probably all out of supplies by now. Well at least hes now stuck in air-naval war in the area, where Japan now has the "Death Star" in the form of the mighty Kido Butai, tomorrow stronger than ever, as the Hiyo joins the fleet...

On the other hand, the situation could be far worse: in some AARs the Allied player concentrates his forces and builds up Palembang in Sumatra, which is very nasty to invade directly as battleships cant sail up the river and its swamp terrain(3x defensive bonus). If/once Palembang falls to the Japanese, if Allied player has enough engineers and pioneers they will burn all the oil wells and refineries behind them... And Palembang provides nearly half of Indonesia's oil and fuel! I had the feeling that might have happened and I went there early, with reasonable force, and invaded it directly with no long ground campaign.

[Hyo]

Errr... what's the ratio of the Japs winning after that worst-case scenario happened? I have a bad feeling it's almost none.

[Erkki]

Errr... what's the ratio of the Japs winning after that worst-case scenario happened? I have a bad feeling it's almost none.

Chance to get to die for the Emperor is 100%. Thats all that matters. 

Wont be easy for the Allies to do amphibious operations now that they lack the mobile staying power(carriers) - before he can eliminate the Kido Butai I'm expecting to see him consolidate in Burma and Northern Australia - and hopefully Solomons & New Guinea, the more the better.

[Hyo]

You know, if he does bring a majority of his heavy bombers in Australia and we destroy them; say like ~20% of his forces. How would that number affect our current situation? I mean, does his plane production rate just shrug it off, is it of little difference at this point where it's growing into a stalemate, or is it actually fatal to allied operations?

[Erkki]

You know, if he does bring a majority of his heavy bombers in Australia and we destroy them; say like ~20% of his forces. How would that number affect our current situation? I mean, does his plane production rate just shrug it off, is it of little difference at this point where it's growing into a stalemate, or is it actually fatal to allied operations?

Yes, its important... The Allied heavy bombers in sufficient numbers can "shut down" any air field in just one blow. The Japanese simply dont have a proper weapon to fight them, nor enough engineers to fix fields as quick as the Allies can, not even in our major air bases like Rabaul or Bangkok. The less bombers he has the smaller his "sledgehammer" hevay bomber strikes are and the greater losses they take... If I can nuke them on the ground I'll do that. 4 engine bomber / day and his bomber force wont be growing before summer of 1943... And if he wants to use his bombing Rabaul or Indonesian targets from Darwin, I'll let him do just that. 

[Erkki]

June 16th

Burma: Chiang Mai finally reconed: very small numbers of enemy troops reported, probably just a garrison battalion or so. 2nd Raiders will go in on the 18th!

Timor Sea: C5M2 recce finds more bombers than yesterday: over 120 aircraft reported. I'm moving in Admiral Hirata's BB division, Yamamoto's heavy bombardment force is ready. If reported aircraft numbers dont drop, I'm sending the first bombardment force in tomorrow - they will hit the place in 36 hours from the order at cruise speed, or afternoon of June 18th if at full speed.


In other news, CV Hiyo joins the fleet! To avoid sailing escort destroyers back and forth Singapore-Kobe, both Hiyo and the now repaired CVL Ryujo set sail to Singapore today. Carrier Divisions II and III are now nearly fully refit again, and are ready for action by July 2nd or 3rd when Hiyo has joined them and has been refueled.

[Hyo]

The first bombardment force? Does this imply that you have more than one?

If you do, I don't see why you wouldn't move them all at once and hit the base as hard as you can; it's not like he's going to leave this opportunity open again after you hit him like this.

[Erkki]

The first bombardment force? Does this imply that you have more than one?

If you do, I don't see why you wouldn't move them all at once and hit the base as hard as you can; it's not like he's going to leave this opportunity open again after you hit him like this.

Yup, two of them: the first has flagship Yamato and Kongo, Haruna, a couple of cruisers and lots of destroyers. Second has Mutsu, Fuso, Ise and Yamashiro + escorts. I want to keep the second force in reserve and earmarked for the upcoming Ambon invasion in 3 weeks(I want the SNLF units fully prepared to minimize losses) without needing to show them to the Allies, or rearm & refuel them. The first group should be enough to this purpose but I'll keep the second force one day's sail behind...

What I again forgot to mention was that SignInt thinks theres again enemy activity rising in the Indian Ocean(for the last 3 days now), so our carriers will pay the visit as soon as Hiyo joins the CarDiv II. Dunno what hes up to, counter invasion of Sumatra, Port Blair, strengthening Nicobar Islands? I dare him to try any of those. 

[Erkki]

June 17th

Burma: paratrooper drops delayed by the slow advance of infantry...

Timor Sea: orders to bombard Darwin given. Imperial Battleship Division I commanded by Admiral Yamamoto aboard IJN's flagship Yamato, together with battleships Kongo, Haruna and Mutsu and their 11 escort destroyers, bombard Darwin tomorrow afternoon. They will sail at full speed, and after daybreak receive Zero-CAP provided by 2 units, total of 36 Zeros of which 7-8 should patrol above the ships non stop. G4M patrols doubled, Ki-43s tasked to escort them if G4Ms sortie against naval targets, and to protect Koepang. The Battleship Division II with Ise, Fuso and Yamashiro stays in the reserve together with support oilers, a light cruiser squadron departs Singapore bound to Koepang.

New Guinea: 4th day in a streak, P-39s used in fighter-bomber role attack Medang(doing minimal damage). Genzan Ku S-1 and a wing of A6M2-N floatplane fighters moved in - 27 A6M2(my All Stars squadron) + 9 A6M2-N(mediocre pilots) at 80% CAP should be able to give them a nasty reminding of their mortality!

[Sheb]

Damn, I can't wait to see the result of the Darwin raid.

[Erkki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ZWerveuPw

For the Emperor! 

[inteuniso]

Damn, I can't wait to see the result of the Darwin raid.

I'm betting Pearl Harbor 2.0.

[timferius]

Pearl Harbor 2: PEARL HARDER

[Sheb]

I'm going to sig that.

[Zrk2]

I'm going to sig that.

Pearl Harbor 2: PEARL HARDER

DAMN! You beat me to it.

Now, let's blow some capitalist pig ass up! Or whatever it was the Japanese called the Americans.