Part 2: Operational Report: 08/12/41

A Japanese Submarine puts three torpedoes into the side of of a patrol gunboat. It seems that these Japs are a little over enthusiastic when it comes to expending ordinance.



Then a wave of Bombers met a decent cap above Clark's field.



The more experienced zero pliots made mincemeat of the allied fighters, shooting down four of them for the loss of one of their own planes. When they returned in the afternoon however, the USAF pilots made a better showing of themselves.







Overnight the Japs bombard Kota Bahru to support their landings there. The next morning, the RAF once more go up to try and stop the bombing of the key bases in Malaya, and shoot down a Sally and a Nate bomber for the loss of one outdated Buffalo.
The Hurricanes and Spitfires that won the battle of Britain have yet to be seen here in any numbers, as they are all tied up in the European war, the Buffalo is old and slow, and will not hold up to combat against Zeros.



Another attack on the landing force shows that the bombers used are no better, without torpedoes, they have little chance of doing any damage against the battleships. This attack costs them a 3 planes. Later attacks also had little effect.

On the ground, the Jap army advances, and the unprepared British forces retreat or surrender before them. Soon they are in complete control of Kota Bharu.



Right, combat is complicated, the basic unit is the Assault Value (AV) – the higher it is, the better the unit is at fighting. This is compared to the enemies during combat, and modified for fortifications and other factors, and then the game lets you know who won.
Disabled units are ones that have taken losses enough to remove them from combat, but have not been wiped out, a high number of disabled troops can quickly weaken an army.






Japanese planes attack the ships loading in Hong Kong Harbour, the Ming Sang takes two torpedo hits. Other planes bomb the airfields and the harbour.
In China Proper the Japanese army continues its attacks on some of the Chinese units, causing some casualties but not dislodging any of them.





Another turn of disasters, but none as catastrophic as yesterdays.



not much change here, lets hope it stays that way.



Sigintel inform us of the locations of many enemy units, it seems that Guam is going to be attacked, but we cannot do anything about that right now. That island is to far out and to close to the enemy to be properly defended.






The Pennsylvania continues to burn. Its only by the heroic efforts of the crew that she has not yet succumbed to her wounds. There was no repeat of the attack yesterday, but the Carriers are still hanging around out there.









The waters around Singapore seethe with our subs, mainly the Dutch ones. For some reason the Captains at Manilla have yet to put to sea.
The Repairs on the Prince of Wales continue apace, and we have been able to move all other combat ships out of range of the land based aircraft. Once they have formed up at Java, we will be able to plan some sort of retaliatory strike.


Today there is little else we can do, all the orders are out, and it is a matter of waiting for ships to load. But I spent a lot of time studying the replacement schedule.



While by no means a complete list, this shows us the major places available to replace losses, as well as the number we have used in the last couple of days and the replacement rate we can expect.



We can expect the Yorktown to arrive in three weeks time, and the Indomitable, a British carrier in a month and a bit. With the Yorktown, we can think about challenging the Japanese Carriers, although waiting for the Hornet to arrive may well be a better idea.



The surface combat ships show a similar spread. We will have to protect what we have.

For ground troops, in 22 days we get access to the 35th Division, this is the first decent unit, but will in all likelihood be needed to plug a hole in our lines.


So once more, we must wait.