Draxblog III

Hearts of Iron III - First Impressions

70th anniversary of World War Two is good time to share few impressions about Hearts of Iron III, the latest installment of war game series by Paradox.

Basics of the game didn't change much compared to Hearts of Iron II. The major blocs  - Axis, Allies and Comintern - are same, as well as the time span (1936 - 1948). Unlike Doomsday expansion for HOI 2, HOI 3 doesn't appear to allow player to continue playing until 1955. On the other hand, some improvements are more than obvious - graphic is impressive, and the number of provinces wars are going to be fought over  - 14000 - is mind-numbing.

Even better is the lower level of land forces organisation - brigades instead of divisions in HOI 2. Player is, on the other hand, given opportunity to create divisions out of those brigades, which looks quite neat.

Introduction of leadership as new concept could also give more depth and detail to the game. Difficult decisions about research are now separated from "guns and butter" considerations in production menu. Politics menu, on the other hand, has many details - political parties and their organisation - that aren't likely to have obvious impact for the game.

The best thing about HOI 3 appears to be AI option for various menus. Player now can allow computer to handle diplomacy, production, technology (leadership), politics and intelligence. Player can also let particular HQs to be handled by AI,. The only problem appears to be AI behaviour, which leaves much to be desired. In all games I played so far, AI had nasty tendency to request strong air force, which often led to AI-controlled production menu directing all ICs (industrial capacity) to production of tactical bombers, while not allowing any updates of tragically antiquated infantry equipment. One example is South Africa whose army - made out of 9 garrison brigades - had 19th Century Henry-Martini rifle as its standard infantry weapon.

AI looks even worse when handling other nations. While the events in some cases follow historical pattern and look plausible (Ethiopia falls to Mussolini, Nationalists win in Spain, Hitler gets Anschluss etc.), at other times history look quite different. For example, Japanese forces almost always are being creamed by Nationalist Chinese, and Germans at times happen to successfully invade Karachi and Hong Kong. This looks quite implausible.

Another, even more annoying, problem is slow tempo of the game which makes Road To War campaign boring - especially when small and neutral nations are played.

HOI 3 is in many aspects disappointing, but novelty of some features will please hard-core grognard fans. Few good patches should, in most likelihood, solve some of the more annoying problems and make playing HOI 3 as good as playing HOI 2 and HOI 1.

Roman Holidays

Recently I took some time to play Europa Universalis: Rome.It is too early to catch some lasting impressions, but I like the relative simplicity of the game, at least compared to micromanaging horror of Victoria. Paradox haven't strayed from the old formula, so the lack of manual won't hurt those with earlier Europa Universalis experience.

War in the Pacific AAR: Bad New Year

Time has come to another After Action Report for my new War in the Pacific campaign.

It is January 1st 1942 in game time. The situation for Allies is pretty bad. With exception of Wake, which is still tightly in US hands – new reinforcements, new supplies and small naval squadron to guard it from any eventual Japanese invasion – Japanese is faring better than historically.

Good news comes from China. Chinese invasion of Vietnam turned into spectacular failure. However, Chinese troops have liberated Pakhoi.

In Malaya Japanese are pushing towards Singapore. They have taken Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan and most of west coast. Thankfully, evacuation is underway. Large number of cargo vessels is in Singapore, and they have started putting some of Malaya force in Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands and Ceylon.

In Borneo, Japanese have taken Brunei.

Philippines is one huge mess. Japanese have taken Davao by storm, and from that point onward everything went to smithereens. Entire Mindanao is taken with hundreds of troops surrendering. Even worse was capture of Jolo Island, at the very nose of US Navy squadron. Subsequent raids helped only take couple of Japanese cargo ships. Northwards, Japanese are pushing in Luzon. Naga was lost. The only good news is successful evacuation of cargo ships from Naga and PT boats sinking few Japanese cargo ships.

But the last day of 1941 was the most dreadful. Japanese aircraft careers came to Sulu Sea and did mini-Pearl Harbor on Dutch base of Tarakan. Significant number of cargo ships, previously evacauted from Philippines, was sunk. But worst thing happened to USN squadron – Houston, light cruiser Marblehead and a destroyers were sunk.

Elsewhere, things aren't that eventful. British are consolidating defence line on the Burmese-Indian border. There are attempts to strengthen Rangoon with new supplies.

Australians are pushed from Rabaul, but the new base in Lunga (Guadalcanal) is being constructed.

Plans to construct new headquarters for South Pacific in Luganville is being put in motion. New base is going to be constructed at Baker Island, as well as in Aleutians.

So far, Allies have lost 416 planes to Japanese 258. In terms of shipping, what seems to be balance was struck in Japanese favour on December 31st. Allies has lost 34 ships – 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers and 3 submarines included – to Japanese 18, which includes 2 destroyers. It seems that Japanese are being able to sustain the losses at this rate.

War in the Pacific AAR: Miracle of Wake

Time has come for first new War in the Pacific AAR. Before I start, I must clarify few things.

 The campaign I’m playing is on the 1.5 version of the game and specially modified scenario that uses Andrew’s Map Mod v.3.0. I used the Andrew’s map because it is better looking and seems more realistic in terms of ocean distances.

 In game time it is December 16^th 1941.

Japanese did their obligatory number on Pearl Harbor and Clark Field. In the case of the former, the damage was huge but somehow none of the battleships was sunk. With little help those ships might be operational in near future.

 In Malaya, Japanese have taken Khota Baru and Alor Star. Mass evacuation is in progress. I have already switched air base from Victoria Point to Port Blair in Andmana Islands.

There is fighting in China. Attempt to attack Hanoi was quelled. But Chinese managed to liberate Nanning. Japanese have taken Hong Kong by storm, but 3 RN destroyers managed to escape.

 In Philippines Japanese have landed in Northern Luzon – attempts to evacuate isolated bases led to mass naval casuaties. Japanese have landed in Naga and took Davao by storm, despite their convoy being mauled by combined RN-US Navy squadron.

 Their is a gradual evacuation from Philippines in progress.

 Wake is the only major success for Allies, at least so far. Defenders quelled the initial Japanese assault, and then the Japanese naval escort was mauled by Lexington-based airrcafts.

 In the south Japanese have taken Gilbert Islands and landed in Rabaul.

In terms of casualties, situation isn't that bad for December 1941 standards. Allies have lost 301 planes to Japanese 102. In terms of ships it is somewhat more serious – 14 Allied ships (2 minesweepers, 1 submarine, 1 PT boat and 10 cargo ships) to Japanese 5 (4 cargo and 1 minesweeper).

Any constructive comment is more than welcome. If you have any questions about the game, don't hesitate to ask.

War in the Pacific – New Adventure Begins

Due to certain hardware problems, I was unable to continue playing my grand War in the Pacific campaign. Later, I didn’t have much time and epic proportions of the game prevented me from starting again.

By some coincidence, right now, when I finally caught some time, Matrix Games has bothered to issue 1.50 patch. I installed it and I’ll try to test it, together with Andrew’s Map Mod.

With some luck, first After Action Report with detailed description of new game features will be posted here soon.

Hearts of Iron 2 – First Impressions

After two years Paradox Entertainment has issued one of the most anticipated PC game sequels – Hearts of Iron 2. Naturally, by the time I got my copy, Paradox has issued its first patch – 1.1. This didn't bode well, but I tried to see whether the sequel is better than original.

I didn't want to be overwhelmed and I wanted my first test game to be short. Unlike HOI 1, this game together with four campaigns (Road To War, Blitzkrieg, Awakening the Giant from HOI plus Gottämnederung from HOI Platinum) has couple of individual scenarios that allow players to recreate individual battles instead of the whole war.

However, while individual scenarios might offer some glimpse into game mechanics, the only true measurement of difference between HOI 2 and HOI 1 is the grand campaign. I picked Road To War (1936-1948) and played as Peru.

Peru, apart from having border dispute with Ecuador, was relatively safe from unpleasantness that had struck Europe and Asia. I was free to experiment with various domestic and foreign policies and see in what way trade, diplomacy and research differed from HOI 1. Only late in the game I chose to join Allies, only in order to see combat mechanics and how alliances affect economics and research.

In many areas HOI 2 represent an improvement over the original. There are more nations to play, and there are also more provinces. Graphics look more impressive and there are more leaders with more personality traits.

Trade and economics mechanisms are also significantly improved. Resources are divided into more abstract categories like Energy, Metals, Raw Materials and Oil. With Raw Materials replacing Rubber from HOI 1, some tropical nations like Brazil and Siam aren't that likely to become industrial super-giants while some nations that didn't have rubber historically are in much more competitive position. Individual trade deals can be negotiated between individual countries for the specific amounts which allows for more flexibility and easier handling of economy.

I'm less enthusiastic about technological research. Compared with HO1 1, it is more simplified, less detailed and, therefore, allows less space for experimentation or fine-tuning of each countries' and each militaries' specific needs. This is a far cry from HOI 1 where the player had to choose what kind of calibre he wanted for the its light tank main guns. In HOI 2 player gets only generic light tank, which has the same specification regardless of whether it is Japanese or German. The good news about research is ability to trade technologies without diplomatic cost, although it is, compared with HOI 1, done indirectly via blueprints that has to be researched, although with major bonuses.

More problems can be found in AI, although only in later stages of the game. Since played as Peru, I haven't much capacity to make an impact on world's events. I satisfied myself with monitoring. I didn't notice much divergence from real history (and HOI 1 patterns) – in 1936 Italy gobbles up Ethiopia, Spanish Civil War starts only to end in 1939 with Nationalist victory, in 1937 Japan invades China, in 1938 Hitler gets Austria and Sudetenland, in 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is followed by disappearance of Poland and Baltic States and the actual war between Germany and Western Allies.

The only major divergence in 1939 was Stalin's decision not to go to war with Finland. This later had significant impact on the course of the war, although at first it looked very familiar – in 1940 Germany conquered Norway, Benelux and France went Vichy after the fall of Paris. That was followed by Italy joining Axis and British having to fight bitterly over control of North Africa and Suez (with Cairo and Alexandria changing hands several times).

In 1941 historical pattern was again followed and Hitler invades Soviet Union. However, with Finland out of Axis and with Petsamo serving as a buffer zone between Murmansk and German-controled Norway, Soviets were able to make things very different from Barbarossa. Instead of blitzkrieg, war in the East turned into slugging match with Germans not being able to advance further than Latvia and westernmost parts of Ukraine. It took only four months for the tide to turn in Soviet favour – Romania was annexed in October, in January Soviets gobbled up Slovakia and in September same thing happened to Bulgaria, which, inexplicably, chose to join Axis after Romania's fall. In August 1942 Hungary switched sides and became Soviet puppet.

The most important divergence was Japanese decision not to attack USA or Western Allies. Japan, with Soviets and Ameircans being busy elsewhere, had free hands in China – by the end of 1948 (and game) Japan conqured all except for Sinkinag, Mao's Communist stronghold, two warlord states in the west and single Nationalist province.

American entry to war, however, didn't reflect much on Europe, at least not at first. The major impact was presence of US Navy which helped Royal Navy sink Kriegsmarine and Regia Marina by the end of 1942. In 1943 British finally closed the chapter on Italian North Africa.

Then AI began to act funny. Vichy France remained neutral and Western Allies, unlike the real history, chose to respect that neutrality. That included even De Gaulle and Free French territories. Due to logistic and other problems stemming from this neutrality, Americans were conspicuously inactive while Soviets continued to steamroll over Poland and Germany. Americans landed in Italy in late 1943 and stalled after conquering Rome. In France 1945 they landed only three divisions, waiting for exhausted German divisions to be smashed by Soviets in the eastern parts of France.

Italy finally surrendered after last American offensive in 1946. In the meantime, Americans landed in Norway and Netherlands (and later liberated Belgium). When the game ended – map of Western Europe looked very strange – USSR included Poland, Germany, Czehoslovakia, Denmark plus large chunks of northeastern France. Vichy France remained intact. The rest of France was under US occupation.

The strangest thing to happen was Soviet decision to spare Berlin. So, at the very end, Axis still existed with its sole member - Nazi Germany – being reduced to Berlin, completely surrounded by Soviet troops. I'm convinced that this must be some bug that will, thankfully, be handled in 1.2 patch.

I also noticed some annoying aspects of diplomacy. As Peru, I sent two mountain divisions to help Allied effort but they didn't do much, apart from having their noses bloody in mountains of Italian-controlled Albania. When British took care of Albania, I sent those divisions to occupy Italian holdings in Dodecanesos and Rhodes. When Italy surrendered, those became Peru territories. However, Greece had territorial claims on them. I tried to give up those territories voluntarily through diplomatic deals, but I failed. It seems that territories can be given only to allies, and Greece was neutral.

I must say that I'm not too enthusiastic about the game, but I'm not too disappointed. AI problems and some diplomacy issues can be solved in subsequent patch. I'm not so sure about technological research – this is a leap that requires Hearts of Iron 3 rather than regular patch.

My impressions about the game, however, can change if I choose to play major power and thus become familiar with some aspects of naval, air combat and long-term-strategy.

In the end, I should also praise Paradox for choosing to have original game soundtrack instead of classical music. Andreas Waldetoft is a very talented composer and some of his themes contribute a lot to the atmosphere of the game.

War in the Pacific Mini-AAR: Onward To Vietnam

I continued playing the game. The date is May 11th 1942.

Unlike previous months, late April and early May saw relatively little activity throughout the Pacific. There were some rather spectacular actions, but they were limited on very specific areas. For example, hardly anything of importance happened in North and Central Pacific. The only exception might be the arrival of 27th Infantry Division at Baker Island. Those forces are going to take part in liberation of Gilbert Islands. One of its targets might be Makin Island where Japanese had finished their airport. But before this happens, Lexington must be repaired in Pearl Harbor – only two carriers (Lexington and Hornet) might provide sufficient air cover for future invasion fleet.

Southwest Pacific was much more eventful area. Operation Meatgrinder was next to complete success. Australian naval engineers and New Zealand infantry that had garrisoned islands in previous months have been relieved by US forces - 31st Naval Base, 2nd US Marines Raider Battalion and, last but not least, complete 2nd US Marine Division. The airport at Lunga has been expanded and the port is going to follow suit. Price for that success was relatively minor – one cargo ship sunk by Japanese Betty bombers and couple of Aircobra fighters.

The second aim of Operation Meatgrinder – exhaustion of Japanese air forces in Rabaul – has also been achieved. Halsey's carrier force with its 45 Wildcat fighters proved to be too much not only for Bettys, but also for Zeros. Japanese have been conducting air raids on Lunga since mid April, but the intensity of the attacks has declined with the apparent loss of available bombers. Whenever Halsey's force was around, the air raid was repulsed with heavy casualties. At the end, Japanese bombers didn't need much convincing to quit – unlike mid April, when Halsey's fighters used to down 20-30 Bettys, now it takes only 5-6 downed Bettys for Japanese bomber crews to see error of their ways and flee back home.

However, in order to protect Lunga, Halsey's force had to stay docked there. Japanese used this opportunity to conduct landing on nearby Munda Point on May 4th. Halsey punished them very hard – two destroyers, one minelayer and at least one cargo ship from that convoy were sunk. Later Hasley started Operation Postal – endeavour that could be described very simply – sail in North Solomons, down anything Japanese that flies and sink anything Japanese that floats. Operation Postal is still in progress and it had some success – it struck two Japanese convoys near Vella Lavella very hard, causing immense casualties among 6th Kure SNLF.

Westwards, at New Guinea, Japanese fortunes were slightly better. On April 27th 1942 Japanese 4000-strong force has landed on the beach at Dobodura and pushed NVGR Battalion westwards. However, supplying those forces proved to be difficult because RAAF planes from Port Moresby were very active. Every day they manage to hit at least 2-3 Japanese cargo ships and troop carriers, and they sank at least one of them, which doesn't include a destroyer and patrol gunboat. Australian presence at New Guinea is strengthened with the arrival of legendary 7th Division which is deployed in Port Moresby and Gili Gili. The latter has recently got an airfield which should improve on logistical situation. One Australian cargo ship was sunk by Rabaul-based Japanese bombers while loading supplies there.

Place where Japanese can still inflict considerable damage to Allies is Dutch East Indies. They more-or-less finished with moping up of the area. They captured Sinkep Island with few hundred Dutch soldiers. Jesselton on Borneo is taken without shot fired. All Dutch bases on Sumatra are taken, but some British and Dutch forces are still on the coast, waiting to be evacuated. Dutch garrisons at Celebes, although chased from Kendari and Macassar are in relatively good shape. Amboina, thanks to its very active air defences, still holds. Dutch Basilan Regiment from Pamakasn has just been evacuated to Dili, Timor.

Koepang proves to be the centre of Japanese attention. Intercepted radio messages indicate that Japanese 1st SNLF and 58th Brigade are planning attack. Before that, Dutch base was bombarded by Japanese battleships twice. First such raid, on April 26th, proved to be disaster for Alies – 1 destroyer, 1 minesweeper, 1 cargo ship, 3 PT boats and 1 tanker were sunk, some 22 planes destroyed on ground, some 3000 casualties inflicted and port and airfield damaged. Japanese, however, didn't got out of there unscathed – a day later Dutch and British torpedo bombers caught Japanese squadron on its return to Kendari. Ise received a torpedo hit – the very first Japanese battleship to do so during the entire campaign. Bad weather prevented Allied air forces to finish off that capital vessel in next few days.

Japanese conducted another bombardment on May 9th with Kongo and Haruna. This time tiny Dutch naval forces were scrambled – only one cargo ship and US submarine Seadragon were lost, together with 1500 casualties and around 20 planes. Enough planes remained for Kongo to receive a minor hit on its way home.

Thanks to large air force presence in Lautern and Koepang, Allies are enjoying limited air superiority over the waters separating Celebes and Timor. Every night B-17 bombers are conducting raid on Kendari, destroying Japanese airplanes and hitting Japanese battleships in harbour. The position of Timor is, however, very precarious and significant infantry presence is necessary to successfully fend off eventual Japanese invasion.

On the north, Operation Purple Panther – the boldest move Allies had conducted during the war, is going so far very successfully. Hermes, joined by Formidable, provided an air cover and also hit a convoy carrying Imperial Guards Division to Sabang, Sumtra. British engineering unit has landed on Nicobars and is building a port, aided by Dutch engineering unit which had been evacuated from Sumatra.

In Burma there were some minor fighting north of Myitkyina – Japanese 56th Divison has pushed Allied forces north towards Ledo. Westwards, 2nd UK Division and 14th Indian Brigade has begun the attack on Akyab where they are greeted by strengthened Japanese 18th Division. With more troops arriving to support the attack and with couple of Wellington bombers hitting Japanese on ground, this operation could go smoothly.

The most spectacular Allied success is liberation of Hanoi. After receiving additional division, Chinese have ceased to bombard the city and launched an attack instead. On May 8th Hanoi was liberated. Japanese forces – 21st Division, two engineering units and one division of Vietnamese collaborators – have retreated to Haiphong. There they would be pursued and, hopefully, destroyed. This was, however, a great success for Allies – for the first time, they carried the war to the enemy and captured one of its strategic areas.

It is probably too early to tell that the tide has turned, but some sort of balance has been achieved. Japanese are still able to conduct offensive operations and they might cause great deal of damage on Timor, but Port Moresby and Guadalcanal remain safe and more than able to withstand their pressure. With few extra troops, situation in Burma might improve. Another British carrier due to arrive and fresh supply of Fulmars can easily change the equation in Bay of Bengal.

It also seem that the Japanese suffer from poor logistics and that their air forces aren't what they used to be – Allies on average have 3500-3800 sorties compared to their 2500. Number of aircraft destroyed is in Allied favour – 1521 to Japanese 1755. Number of ships sunk is also in Allied favour – 181 to Japanese 203. Among the latter are more and more destroyers, which should gradually tilt the naval balance in Pacific.

War in the Pacific AAR: Myitkyina Falls

Before I start, I must admit that I feel somewhat awkward when writing this AAR. Some of the locations are going to be more familiar to general readership than in previous instalments, thanks to the morbid coincidence. Part of the AAR is dedicated to Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and needless to say, this is the very same area that was struck by Asian tsunami one week ago. It is unpleasant to think of real life and still unfolding tragedy having even this, purely accidental connection with what amounts to a piece of entertainment.

In the meantime, I changed my mind and decided to apply v. 1.4 patch to the game. So far, there weren't any major consequences like bugs or crashing. Most of the changes in the patch were related to the very start of the campaign, and at this stages, they are irrelevant. However, I did see a significant increase of Chinese troops and they would have some effect on the events to come.

Currently, the game has reached April 25th 1942.

The most spectacular events unfolded in Burma. British 18th Division, which had so bravely taken Mandalay in March, has been pummelled by pursuing Japanese forces. Three Chinese divisions in Myitkyina were of little use when faced with Japanese 56th Division, aided by at least three tank regiments, two heavy and one mountain artillery regiment and three mortar battalions. This concentration of firepower was too much for Allies – on April 21st, after two days and loss of 2000 men in ferocious bombardment, Allied force of 1 British and 3 Chinese divisions abandoned Myitkyina and retreated towards Ledo.

Westwards, 20th Indian Division suffered badly when trying to push into Japanese positions south of River Chindwin. 7th Armoured Brigade might have better luck. In the meantime, British have gathered significant force north of Akyab – 2nd Division, two Indian brigades, 2 armoured brigades and 1 artillery regiment. They, supported with at least two squadrons of Blenheim bombers, will try to push Japanese 18th Division out of Akyab.

In Dutch East Indies Japanese are trying to mop up any remaining Allied base. While Timor seems to be well-defended – especially from air – and well-supplied thanks to its proximity to Australia, other isolated pockets and garrisons aren't that lucky. On April 9th at least 2700 Dutch soldiers – the last remains of all garrisons – surrendered on Borneo. On April 12th Japanese have taken island of Lombok and took 1400 Dutch prisoners. At least one cargo ship sent to evacuate the garrison has been sunk.

Even more serious situation is in Sumatra. Japanese are so bold that they have managed to send landing force in Indian Ocean and attack Padang on the western coast of Sumatra. This is worrying development, because Padang is the only harbour from where significant Dutch and British force could be evacuated to safety of India and Australia. So far, it doesn't seem that the landing force is big and the garrison is resisting. I sent British carrier force – Formidable and Hermes – in a vain effort to catch ships from the landing force. All they managed to do is to shoot down few Japanese bombers from Sumatra airfields. However, since the carrier force has only one squadron of Fulmars, this definitely isn't enough to provide safety.

In Northern Sumatra situation is dire. Japanese have landed relatively significant force in Kuala, which includes elements of Imperial Guards Division. On April 20th Dutch garrison was pushed out. This has cut the retreat for some 4000 Dutch and Allied soldiers trying to reach Sabang from where some kind of evacuation can be conducted. Southwards, Japanese have taken Jambi on April 20th.

In the rest of Dutch East Indies there weren't much activity. Small Japanese force that have landed on Amboina is unable to take it. Dutch, American and Australian airplanes were very active in the area. At least 3 Japanese battleships received hits in Kendari harbour on Celebes, one destroyer was damaged and unknown number of cargo ships also hit. The only setback for Allies was carrier-based air raid on Amboina which obliterated Dutch fighter force. In the meantime, Americans have established base on Aru Island, in an attempt to protect Port Moresby from west.

There was significant activity in and around New Guinea, and most of it wasn't very favourable for the Allies. On April 9th Japanese have captured 800 Australian soldiers – the last remains of New Britain garrison. On April 13th few Japanese soldiers, supported by two battleships – Mutsu and Yamashiro – landed in Buna. They were opposed by NVGR Battalion, light but very determined Australian force. However, five days later, following a devastating air raid, which have claimed 100 Australian casualties, Japanese took Buna by storm. NVGR Battalion has retreated to Dobodura beach.

I reacted by sending one half of 30th Australian Brigade to Buna via Kokoda Trail. One brigade of 7th Australian Brigade has landed in Gili Gili, and this should protect Port Moresby from east.

While Japanese lost appetite for attacks on Port Moresby (and now conduct air raids only at night), Guadalcanal became theatre of air war. I had planned Operation Meatgrinder – the idea is to replace elements of 3rd NZ Division and Australian engineering unit with US forces – 31st Naval Base Force, 2nd US Marine Division and 2nd US Marine Raider Battalion. 72th Fighter Group US Army has already been deployed on the island and Halsey's task force is going to provide air cover to cargo ships and embarking troops. If Japanese try to attack those ships from air they are going to be pulverised by Halsey's and ground-based fighters. On April 16th Japanese conducted bombing raid and got slaughtered – 29 Betty bombers and 8 Zero fighters were downed without single ship being damaged. Two days later, with Halsey's force away on a fruitless mission to sink Japanese battleships in Coral Sea, Japanese were lucky to sink one cargo ship.

Elsewhere, there was relatively little activity. The best Allied success was in China. Chinese 91st Corps has captured Japanese Pankhoi base. Chinese are now having their first port after many years. There won't be much use for it, but this victory has moral significance.

Central Pacific and North Pacific didn't see much activity. After some lull, US submarines are again active and they did some damage on Japanese shipping north of New Britain. Japanese submarine, on the other hand, managed to sink US destroyer Conyngham off the north-eastern coast of Australia.

Although disasters continued to happen and although situation in Burma is dire, some kind of balance has been established. Allies seem to be more active in the air –3800 sorties to Japanese 2800. Number of ships sunk is in Allied favour – 176 to 169. Number of planes destroyed is also in Allied favour – they lost 1389 to Japanese 1569.

War in the Pacific Mini-AAR: Java Falls

I continued playing War in the Pacific. First winter of the campaign is behind me. It is April 9th 1942.

As the title says, the most spectacular event of the past month was the fall of Java. However, unlike Malaya and Philippines, Allies have enough time and resources to organise something like orderly withdrawal. Thanks to the superb rearguard action of Tjilitjap garrison (which fell on March 17th) and well-organised transfer of aircrafts from various airports, most of Dutch ground, naval and air forces have taken relative safety of Timor and absolute safety of Australia. Soerabaja fell on March 28th, and on April 1st Malang, the last Dutch base on Java, surrendered with some 5000 soldiers (which couldn't be evacuated). The casualties were high, but tolerable – 400 pound gorilla force of Japanese carrier have been slaughtering Dutch shipping all over Java Sea and in Soerabaja harbour, but enough ships have survived for evacuation to become possible. The worst setback in Java was loss of 6 damaged submarines that were scuttled in Soerabaja harbour.

Dutch retaliated for their losses with their small but relatively effective airforce and PT boats. They sunk few cargo ships, minelayers and a troop carrier. The first Japanese battleship to be damaged during the campaign was Hiei, struck by Martin 139 bombers in Batavia harbour – it lost one of its 25mm AA guns.

In the meantime, Japanese were consolidating their positions in the rest of Dutch East Indies. On Sumatra they have taken Beloekteoeng on April 5th, which again resulted with the loss of submarines. On Borneo they have taken Banjarmasin and Sampit, which puts in danger couple of thousand Dutch troops which, at this point, can't be evacuated. On Celebes Japanese have taken Macassar on March 20th. Dutch garrisons have retreated northwards, being pounded by Japanese air force. However, Japanese have problems using their base in Kendaru every night at least few B-17 bombers from Koepang come to visit and leave at least one of two of their planes destroyed.

On nearby Amboina, well-supplied Dutch garrison and extremely effective squadron of Australian Hudson bombers have managed to fend off at least one Japanese attempt of landing. Japanese cargo ship was sunk together with invasion force.

In Philippines, isolated garrisons at Cebu and Roxas succumbed to Japanese pressure on March 26th. Japanese have taken everything and are now busy transforming beaches into full-blown bases. When Allies come to liberate those islands, there would be plenty of work.

The most volatile battlefield is Southeast Asia. British garrison in Akyab has resisted Japanese onslaught valiantly. Japanese tried to strengthen their three-division force with a naval convoy carrying 2nd Tank Regiment. Only elements of that regiment landed because a single US PT boat managed to sink Japanese gunboat in brave naval engagement on March 14th. But Allied defence was shortlived. Reinforcements that couldn't have been delivered by sea came by goat trails – namely Japanese 56th Division. On March 27th this pressure prove to be too much and British forces have retreated.

Eastwards, British 18th Division pushed bravely southwards, in an attempt to relieve pressure on Akyab and cut Japanese supply lines west of Myitkyina. On March 21st they pushed elements of 1st and 6th Japanese Tank Regiment – which made Japanese hold on Myitkyna untenable. Two brigades were immediately sent southwards where they fought Japanese garrison. However, only the arrival of complete division turned the battle into British favour. Mandalay was liberated on March 29th and, in the process, at least 61 Japanese planes were destroyed on ground, mostly Ki-27 Nate fighters. British triumph in Mandalay was shortlived, though. On April 3rd Japanese 56th Division struck back at British and, after being reinforced with two tank regiments and mortar battalion, pushed British out on April 7th.

Much better news for Allies came from the north. Chinese 66th Division has liberated Mytkyina and thus re-opened Burmese Road. This would be a blessing for Chinese because they need fresh supplies. Inconclusive fighting rages in Hanoi – one Japanese, one Vietnamese division and two smaller Japanese units are faced against four Chinese division. Northwards, one Chinese division is about to attack 1000-men Japanese garrison in Pankhoi.

Andaman Islands are drawing more and more attention of Japanese air forces. Garrison, which consists of RAF base and 2nd Burmese Brigade, guards one squadron of Catalinas and one squadron of Australian Beauforts. The garrison is well-supplied and recently got one Australian squadron of Buffalo fighters. However, Japanese have conducted few devastating raids. Their air superiority over Bengals is such that they have launched air raid on Madras in an attempt to catch two British battleships – Ramilles and Resolution – which had bombarded Japanese positions in Akyab in early April. British have been strengthened with arrival of Formidable aircraft carrier, but its squadron of Fulmar fighters doesn't seem to be protection enough for the task force to venture too close to Japanese air bases. Allied fortunes in Southeast Asia might improve with the arrival of 48 Liberator bombers which are currently being convoyed from USA via Australia.

I'm thinking about another operation, codenamed Purple Panther. The idea is to land British naval engineering unit on the beach of Nicobar Islands. This would close Bay of Bengals for Japanese naval sorties and draw more attention from Japanese air. If Japanese are preoccupied with Nicobars, evacuation of British forces from Sumatra (which currently goes with relative success) would go more smoothly.

Eastwards, there isn't that much action. The most interesting events are around New Guinea. North coast is almost completely in Japanese control and same can be said of New Britain, except for small Australian engineering unit, which is hiding in bush, gets supplies from air and awaits some kind of evacuation.

Japanese attempts to wreck Port Moresby from air are, at this stage, proving to be the worst Japanese defeat of the campaign. RAAF has been recently equipped with two squadrons of Kittyhawk fighters and those two are put to very good use in Port Moresby. At this stage, Allied pilots have learned how to face Zeros on more equal footing (note: this is a game feature that gives Zeros additional manoeuvrability in the first months of war) and many of them are experienced. On April 3rd those pilots gave good trashing to Japanese bomber force – 33 Betty bombers were downed and at least two Australian pilots became aces. Japanese tried again and again they were struck hard, although with less casualties.

Eastwards, the major activity is around Guadalcanal. Australian engineers are trying to expand port and airfields. The former is especially important because a convoy carrying US 2nd Marine Division patiently waits to be unloaded. It is protected with US Navy carrier force made of Enterprise, Yorktown and Saratoga. On March 23rd Japanese have tried to attack Guadalcanal from air – elements of 78th FS US Army (which have been deployed before) and Wildcats of Enterprise easily repulsed that attempt.

In other areas of Pacific, logistics seems to be more important than combat. Americal Division have been deployed in Luganville, thus relieving elements of 3rd New Zealand Division. A convoy carrying 32nd USA Division to Brisbane, Australia is being planeed, while at least one US Division is going to be deployed on Baker Island and prepared for the invasion of Tarawa. I'm also contemplating move against Japanese base at Nauru.

Central Pacific saw some action when task force of two carriers – Yorktown and Saratoga – on its way to join Halsey at Guadalcanal made a minced meat out of Japanese supply convoy north of Gilbert Islands.

In North Pacific the most important news is establishment of US air force in Atka Islands. They should watch eventual Japanese moves in Aleutians.

In the grand scheme of things, Allies appear to be in slightly less desperate position than they have been one month ago. Japanese have scored major victory with the capture of Java and all those resources would be put to good use. Allied submarines have lost their bases in Philippines, Dutch East Indies and Malaya and it would take time before they are replenished and sent back to combat from Pearl Harbor, Colombo and Brisbane.

On the other hand, it looks like all bad things that could happen to Allies have already happened. In last month only one major ship was lost – Dutch destroyer Tjerk Hiddes. Numbers are definitely shifting in Allied favour. Number of ships sunk is equal, but Allies for the first time have advantage in number of planes lost – from the start of campaign they lost 1343 to Japanese 1387. Allies are also more active in the air – daily number of sorties is around 2800 to Japanese 2000.

War in the Pacific Mini-AAR: Philippines Fall

I continued playing War in the Pacific and reached March 12nd 1942.

As the title of this segment suggest, the most spectacular event was the fall of Philippines. On February 19th Bataan fell, with some 40,000 Allied soldiers being taken prisoners. This triggered Operation Angelo's Run – mass evacuation of all naval and air resources from Manila. Only small sections of Allied naval forces reached safety – destroyer Pillsbury, which has reached Darwin one month later and couple of cargo ships. Two patrol boats were also sunk, each having honour of single-handedly bumping into Japanese carrier force.

The fall of Bataan was followed by the fall of Manila on February 25th. Four US ships, including seaplane tender Langley were scuttled in harbour in order to prevent their fall in Japanese hands. Again, some 40,000 Allied troops were taken prisoner. This included Philippiness headquarters, but the headquarters of Asiatic Fleet managed to flee to safety via cargo ships and is currently enjoying relative safety of Dutch base in Koepang, Timor.

After the destruction of all Allied forces on Luzon, the only remaining Allied garrison are 81st Philippines Division and US naval base stationed at Cebu. But they won't hold for much longer – all cargo ships that could have led them to safety are either sunk or far in the south. In the meantime, Japanese have taken Ormoc, Tacloban and Guiuan.

With the fall of Philippines, Japanese attention has turned towards what had been their major reason for war – Dutch East Indies and its oil fields. Japanese have conducted offensive operations on three out of four major islands. Sumatra has been ignored mostly because demoralised Dutch and British troops are seeking shelter in Padang and Sebang, respectively. In doing so, they are at the mercy of Japanese air force which had proven its power by sinking two cargo ships and destroyers in Padang harbour. Only one RAF unit has been successfully evacuated from Sumatra to Ceylon.

Most spectacular Japanese action was major raid by 400 pound gorilla force of three capital aircraft carriers. Any attempt to stop that force was doomed, although Dutch air force and one Dutch submarine tried, with predictably tragic results. Japanese planes have been sinking any ship they could spot, and that included cargo ships and tankers fleeing to safety of Australia. Number of Allied ships sunk is now again higher than the number of Japanese ships sunk.

With such overwhelming force, Japanese could land their forces at leisure. One such example was Balikapan on Borneo. 21st and 24th FG, aided by 3rd and 34th have fought bravely against Japanese air forces, both from Tarakan and from carriers. This resulted with some of the epic victories – US, for the price of 1 or 2 of their fighters downed dozens of Japanese planes, mainly Ki-27 Nates. However, pressure from carrier-based Zeros and Japanese numerical superiority was too much. Despite their heroic defence they US airmen couldn't prevent Japanese bombers to push through and sink, among other things, US destroyer Barker recuperating in Balikapan harbour. All those forces were later withdrawn and on March 12th 1942 Japanese landing forces have captured the base.

On nearby Celebes Japanese have landed on Kendari and chased Dutch garrison from there on March 7th. Filipino 6th Fighter Squadron, despite being equipped with somewhat more modern Air Cobras, couldn't do anything about it and had itself extracted from Macassar.

Java was predictably the focus of Japanese attention. They went straight for the gold and landed in Batavia on February 24th. The Dutch could be accused of many things, but not giving Japanese run for their money is not one of them. Dutch force, which among other things, consisted of two infantry regiments, was resisting until March 4th and inflicted heavy casualties on Japanese 2nd Division and 35th Mixed Brigade. Dutch and Allied air force was also very active and they were hitting Japanese naval forces around Batavia hard, managing to sink couple of minelayers. Even one Dutch destroyer – Tjerk Hiddes – was active, managing to maul one Japanese destroyer during the night raid in Batavia harbour, one of the rare surface actions in this period of the campaign.

This, however, couldn't prevent the inevitable. Dutch defence finally collapsed on March 4th. Two days later Japanese have pushed Dutch out of nearby Merak, which also led to two cargo ships lost during the chaotic evacuation attempt. Dutch have retreated towards Bandoeng and are now fighting desperate rearguard action in Tjilitjap. Any possible means – cargo ships and transport planes – are used to extract as much Dutch forces to the relative safety of Bali, Koepang and Darwin.

Northwards, in Burma, the Japanese have struck Akyab hard with three divisions – 55th, 33rd and 6th. British position is relatively strong and the garrison – one Indian division, one Indian brigade, one artillery regiment and one armoured brigade – is resisting, although the Japanese have three times more men. Japanese have mauled the base defences but haven't captured the base yet. In my humble opinion, their poor logistics have more to do with it than British defence.

Eastward, in Central Burma, British 18th Division have tried to cut back Japanese supply lines west of Myitkyina. They slammed into two Japanese tank regiments and the result is inconclusive slugging match.

The most spectacular and arguably the most successful Allied action in this theatre is Operation Pink Panther – deployment of 2nd Burma Brigade on Andaman Islands. The troop carrier was supposed to be sheltered by Hermes task force – escort carrier and two AA crusiers. In the end, the operation was successful – British, although demoralised, are now holding the island and are relatively well-supplied, with troop carrier unharmed. Hermes force wasn't that lucky – one AA cruiser received a torpedo hit and would need some patching up in Colombo harbour. Andaman Islands are now used by a squadron of Catalinas and Australian Beaufort bombers. This isn't much, but it could discourage Japanese from thinking of Bay of Bengal as their lake.

In the most unexpected of all places – Chinese theatre – Allies have successfully launched first major offensive into the territory held by Japanese before the war. Four Chinese divisions have slammed into Northern Vietnam, and after few inconclusive engagements, pushed aside one Japanese and division of Vietnamese conscripts. Currently they are some 30-50 miles north of Hanoi.

Southwest Pacific also saw its share of action. It was not so spectacular, but nevertheless heartbreaking for Allies. At first, it looked like Operation Black Tiger being complete Allied success. Australian garrison, aided by two squadrons of Hudson bombers from Port Moresby, resisted Japanese onslaught while being evacuated by air at the same time. On February 21st, Japanese 6th Naval Guard Unit has pulled out from Gasmata. But Australian triumph was short-lived. In early March Japanese have landed from sea and on March 7th pushed the weakened garrison westwards. In doing so they destroyed two Allied transport air squadron – one Australian, one US Marine – on ground, which totalled around 47 planes.

Another problem in Southwest Pacific is presence of Japanese submarines who especially like to operate on the north-eastern coast of Australia. So far they managed to sink US cruiser Boise and one Australian minesweeper. One Australian destroyer is damaged.

South Pacific is place of hectic logistical activity. Luganville received its first planes from USA, while big convoys of supplies and fuel are sailing towards New Zealand. Convoys carrying fighter planes and bombers are now going towards Guadalcanal, where they should be protected by Halsey's Enterprise group.

In Central Pacific US Navy conducted two raids against Tarawa. In the latter, Maryland was the first US battleship to see some action after Pearl Harbor. It was unharmed, but Lexington, which was giving air protection, was hit by one torpedo. It is currently being patched up in Pearl Harbor. Future plans in Central Pacific include bombing/isolation campaign against Tarawa and clearing of Japanese garrisons at Gilbert Islands. Idea is to have sea lanes between USA and Australia secure. Before this happens, major logistical problems – deployment of engineering units, supply and fuel – must be solved.

Fall of Manilla had one interesting effect. Chester Nimitz simply stopped being commander of Central Pacific. Actually, he ceased to exist at all. I think this is a bug that could be removed in 1.3 patch of the game.

I also made some personnel moves. General Gerhart became commander of Allied forces in Southwest Pacific. Admiral Bagley became commander of South Pacific, while Admiral W. Lane became commander of Central Pacific.

Statistically speaking, previous few weeks were dreadful for Allies. With Philippines in their hands, Japanese look like clear winners, even when their significant holdings in Sumatra, Java and Borneo aren't taken into account. Again, the number of ships sunk is in their favour – 129 to Allied 139. Both sides are slightly more equal in the number of planes lost – Japanese 1047 to Allied 1173. The biggest Japanese losses are recently in Ki-27 Nate fighters lost over Balikapan, while the Allies lost many planes on ground when Balikapan and Gasmata fell. The Allied top ace – FO F. Cullen of 24th FG with 12 air victories – was killed over Balikapan. There are 13 more Allied aces – all from 3rd, 21st and 24th FG – who are still flying.