TOS - Land of the Blind

[El_Tigre]

DD just north of Wake sunk.

The CV Enterprise group was eliminated. Closeley observed by our recon
planes since about a month, the BB Ise and the BB Kongo were dispatched to
hunt and kill the flattop and its two escorting destroyers southeast of Truk. 1
Fighter and 3 Dive Bombers from Truk and a Torpedo Bomber from Tarawa
assisted the 2 battlewagons. The American presence in the Coral Sea is
exterminated. Sadly, because of the overwhelming superiority of our forces,
no aircrew could excel and earn a promotion.

Borneo is now part of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Since
weeks our artillery had pounded the last Allied outpost on the Island, Kudat.
Although heavily defended (MG, ANZAC, Guerillia), our troops stormed the city
without losses. They rushed to the port to capture a British transport intact,
but the seamen managed to scuttle their ship just in time.

A Marine Army conquered Banjoewangi (undefended) and commenced the
Japanese offensive on Java. It will be a short campaign...

 

[eric_A]

Hornet's ASW aircraft spotted another I-boat northwest of Midway
and it was sunk by dive bombers. A badly damaged USS Yorktown
limps into Pearl Harbour.

We traded submarine warfare to CW and Dutch, but they don't
have much, just gold and guerilla warfare. Playing with other humans
you can co-ordinate your research with your allies, can't do that with the
AI.

 

[El_Tigre]

Surprise attack on Rabaul! After being bombarded by two BB, our paratrooper
brigades took the city without losses.

No contact with the US Navy, but your Seabee unit is down to 1hp. It doesn't
matter, of course...

 

[eric_A]

Played and sent, not much happened.

No I-boats found this turn, either Japan is running out of them,
or they have pulled them all back to port for upgrade.

 

[El_Tigre]

Played and sent, not much happened.

No I-boats found this turn, either Japan is running out of them,
or they have pulled them all back to port for upgrade.

The latter. I-Boats vs. Advanced Subs would be a very lopsided battle.

No contact with American units. The suspicious silence is back... Edit: Forgot to
mention that your Flak near Kwajalein was bombarded by my arty. 1hp left.

Batavia taken, one Infantry lost. Two Dutch cities left.

 

[eric_A]

Played and Sent.

Spotted an I-Boat SW of Kwajalein. It was sunk by bombers and ASW
aircraft.

Screen Shot:
The Seabees finished the airfield and the first F4Fs flew in, that's it
in the blue circle.

 

[El_Tigre]

Played and sent.

Thanks to US Naval Construction Troops, Japan now has a third airbase in
the Marshall Islands. Immediately after the Seabees finished the airbase and
the fighter squadron had arrived, Japanese Marines stormed the atoll, which was
only lightly defended by artillery and a 1hp Flak. They captured the
airbase intact, destroyed the fighters and seized the artillery, which will now
be used against US ships. After the fighting ended, the island was reinforced
by paratroopers and 4 airplane squadrons.

A US Adv. Sub northwest of Midway destroyed my first attacking Adv. Sub, but
was killed by a second.

The first Australian city fell! Cape York, for some reason undefended, was taken
by paratroopers.

 

[eric_A]

That was well done sneaking your transport through my
sub and air patrols.

We sank one CA and damaged another SE of Kwajalein with
a combination of air and submarine attacks. Lost 1 ASW aircraft
shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

Population of the US mainland back up to 73 from low of 71.
I drafted 1 more citizen.

I noticed the AI level was only set to regent, I normally leave it
set at demigod, but I have never set up a multiplayer game
with AI players+humans, so I messed up! In the multiplayer
set up menu, you must set the difficulty level BEFORE you select
scenario mode.

 

[El_Tigre]

There is an ASW Aircraft in one of the Kwajalein airbases, so I saw that Adv.
Sub right next to it. 2 Artillery bombardments failed, but a DB and a TB took care of it.

My Marine Army conquered Koepang. One Dutch city left.

Several CW Bombers destroyed in Port Moresby. Whatever else the CW AI
produces, I don't have the chance to increase my VPs by destroying it...

 

[eric_A]

Nothing to report.

 

[El_Tigre]

Another Adv. Sub. sunk (Arty, TB) 2 tiles north of the new airbase.

An Adv. Sub intercepted and destroyed the SS Batfish northeast of Midway.

A CW Bomber shot down an elite Zero on air superiority while attacking Rabaul!

 

[eric_A]

No fighting this turn.

Sold the Commonwealth some oil, to bad the AI is too stupid to
ask for resources when it knows you have them.

Victory points:
Japan just over 40,000, 20,000 more to go.
Allies 14,000

 

[El_Tigre]

No action between the IJN and the US Navy.

Another one bites the dust: Tenate, the last Dutch city, taken. No losses.

Darwin and Port Moresby are the next targets of the Japanese Army. 5 VP
locations left, the other three are Guadalcanal, Midway and Pearl Harbor.

 

[eric_A]

Tried to kill and anvanced sub SE of Midway.
My planes kept missing, but I managed to damage it but lost
1 DD attacking.

 

[El_Tigre]

The Second Battle of Tarawa

A scouting Torpedo Bomber had detected a large US invasion fleet east of
Tarawa last turn, at the utmost end of its coverage. A second
reconnaissance mission by Zeros revealed that the American ships are now
within striking range. Paratroopers have bolstered the defenses of the tiny
atoll, and the elite of the Japanese surface fleet, the battleships Hiei, Ise,
Kongo plus an escorting CA have rushed to the southern Marshall Islands. The
first wave of Japanese aircraft damaged the US surface forces severely:

While the AA guns of the USS New Mexico successfully averted the first
squadron of Zeros and shot most of them down, a Torpedo Bomber could
score a direct hit at the bow of the battlewagon. An escorting DD was sunk
by repeated attacks of Dive Bombers, another one was heavily damaged by a
second Torpedo Bomber squadron. Although the disarranged US fleet couldn't
coordinate their AA efforts, our rearguard (Zeros) failed to further damage
and sink the New Mexico, which was left ablaze and with a 15 degree incline.

Somewhere between Midway and Pearl Harbor: an American Advanced Sub
and a DD Escort met their fate in the form of several torpedos. Both sank
within minutes, leaving the naval supremacy around the Hawaiian Islands to
our silent hunters.

 

[eric_A]

We got our force ashore on Tarawa killing 1 inf. and 1 para.

Had terrible luck with our shore bombardment and then we had
to use up all our bombers to soften the invasion target, so had
nothing left to hit the enemy ships with.

Sank an advanced sub south of Midway

 

[El_Tigre]

There won't be a naval bombardment this turn...

3 Battleships, 1 CA, 2 Advanced Submarines, the 4 on Tarawa based aircraft
squadrons and the load of 3 Carriers erased the American fleet in the vicinity
of Tarawa. Two transports are still floating, and there are two carriers
somewhere in the east.

The battle commenced with my two subs sinking your flanking Adv.
Submarines. I tried to weaken your two stacks with aerial bombardment first,
but I lost a Bomber and a TB to AA. I then decided to attack with my BBs,
which took care of your two Battleships and one of your Cruisers. The second
CA, the DD and three of your Transports were sunk by three Torpedo
Bombers and three Dive Bombers. Another transport was killed by CA Kuma.
Meanwhile, more Paratroopers have arrived on Tarawa...

In other news, I sunk the CV Hornet between Midway and Pearl Harbor.
Another sub-hunter gone...

I lost one Marine Army in an attack on Darwin. A CW Battleship has been
sighted between New Guinea, where my second Marine Army has landed, and
Australia.

 

[eric_A]

We sank 1 BB and redlined a CA and a BB with dive and torpedo bombers
near Tarawa.

One of the transports you could have sunk had an elite marine,
aboard!

 

[El_Tigre]

An Advanced Sub sank SS Grudgeon west of Pearl Harbor

The Japanese Army has occupied the airbase on Guadalcanal.

6 Torpedo Bombers, 3 Dive Bombers, 3 Zeros, 2 Submarines, 1 Battleship, 1
Cruiser and 1 ASW Aircraft attacked the retreating American fleet six tiles
east of Tarawa. They killed 2 Carriers, 2 Destroyers and the Cruiser. 4
damaged Transports is all that is left from the US fleet. One Zero was lost to
AA, and the USS Yorktown died as a veteran, as she killed one of my subs
before being sunk by a TB.

Static warfare on Tarawa, neither side attacked. Eric_A has not enough
troops to kill my stack and nothing to bombard my units, and my paratroopers
are weak on the offensive. However, time is on his side because a worker is
constructing an airbase:

 

[El_Tigre]

One of the transports you could have sunk had an elite marine,
aboard!

I'm glad that you still appreciate the survival of one Marine while loosing your fleet.