Turn 1 Battle Report - Sector 76

Meine liebe Brigitte,

Ich schreibe dich nach ... a wonderful day of flying.  Our fleet advanced into the sector only to find no enemy to fight. I thought it a anti-climatic way to start a war.  Then, the alarm came to scramble and our squadron took off from the carrier.  Approaching was a squadron of British Blackburn Skuas.  The British pilots were brave, venturing close enough to identify the ships in our fleet, but their aircraft capabilities did not match their bravery.  They were no contest for our new Me 155 fighters and we swept them from the skies without taking a single loss.  Not a single British plane survived to fly home, though our destroyers did fish over a dozen of their aircrew out of the ocean.  The British are brave, but so are we and I feel proud of how good our new planes are.

I will be home soon, ... meine liebe.

Hauptgefreiter Ernst Frankel

Trägergruppe 2

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British Forces

Blackburn Skua

German Forces

Peter Strasser

 - Me 155

 - Fi 167

Adm. Graf Spee

Adm. Scheer

Adm. Hipper

Karsruhe

Z-19 Hermann Kunne

Z-20 Karl Galster

Z-21 Wilhem Heidkamp

Atlantis (x3)

Losses

Blackburn Skua

Turn 1 Battle Report - Sector 36

The following is a report from Flight Lieutenant-Commander Jonathan Cahill, Commanding Officer of 6th Flight, Fleet Air Arm Reconnaissance.

We flew in, eyes peeled for Jap fighters, but spotted none.  We quickly found the enemy, which turned out to be a single Destroyer of the Shiratsuyu class.  We made our first bomb run, only to be driven off by accurate enemy flak.  We regrouped while the destroyer hid among a squall and made another bomb run, this time managing to land a few bombs on her, amidships.  As darkness was rapidly approaching, we had to return to base but left the destroyer crippled and burning behind us.

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Japanese Forces

Yamakaze  (Shiratsuyu class Destroyer)

British Forces

Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV (2 sectors distant)

Losses

Yamakaze - crippled

Turn 1 Battle Report - Sector 41

Dearest Yuki,

Since the start of the war, my time on the Shigure has been very eventful.  We were given the honor of being the sole ship tasked with capturing this sector.  We charged in like a Samurai of old only to find no German opponents in wait.  A loud cheer rose from the crew until our spotters sighting enemy air formations.  We cheered again as our supporting fighter squadrons rose to meet the enemy.  It was a glorious display as our fighters rapidly drove the enemy bombers from the sky.  We were never even threatened, though we did have to use the anti-air guns on the ship a few times, just to make sure.

I am sure I will return to you soon, victorious over our foes.

Nitosuihei Ano Kurita

IJS Shigure

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Japanese Forces

Shigure (Shiratsuyu class Destroyer)

Ki-43 Ia 'Oscar' (2 sectors distant)

Ki-45 Toryu 'Nick' (2 sectors distant)

A5M Type 96 'Claude' (2 sectors distant)

2xA6M2 'Zeke' (2 sectors distant)

German Forces

Do 24T-1 (x3)

Bv-138 (x2) (begin with 4 re-arm markers due to scouting)

Losses

Do 24T-1 (x3)

Turn 1 TacIntel - British

Good morning, gentlemen.

The following is the combined report of the Fleet Air Arm and Naval Intelligence.

In Operational Sectors 6, 46, 84, and 91 there are no indications, through radio traffic or other means, of any enemy forces being present.

Radio traffic indicates a large Japanese force in Sector 6, with small forces in 19 and 36.

Flight Leftenant Anderson, of the Fleet Air Arm, Reconnaissance Branch, reports sighting 1 Battleship, 2 Aircraft Carriers, 5 Cruisers, and 5 Destroyers in Sector 12, along with the some periscope sightings, indicating probable submarines.

Flight Leftenant Hunt reports sighting 1 Aircraft Carrier, 2 Cruisers, 4 Destroyers, and probably Submarines in Sector 27.

On the German front, intercepted radio transmissions indicate large forces in Sectors 57 and 76.

Flight Leftenant Helsmford reports sighting 1 Battleship, 1 Carrier, 4 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, and probable Submarines in Sector 67.

That concludes the briefing.

Respectfully yours,

Commander Colin Kingsley-Smythe

Naval Intelligence Liaison

Turn 1 TacIntel - Japanese

Kaigun Taisho-sama,

Reconnaissance flights from the 11th Air Fleet were able to detect numerous enemy formations.

In Operational Sector 12 a large British force was detected, consisting of 2 Battleships, 1 Illustrious-class Carrier, 3 Cruisers, and 6 Destroyers.

In Operational Sector 27, a similar British force, consisting of 1 Queen-Elizabeth class Battleship, 1 Battleship of unknown class, 1 Ark-Royal class Carrier, 3 Cruisers, and 6 Destroyers was detected.

Our Aircraft detected no enemy forces in Sectors 19 and 36.  We have reports from coastal spotters of a large enemy force in Sector 46, but nothing detected in Sector 6.

In Operational Sector 43, a large German force was detected, consisting of 1 Carrier, 4 Cruisers, one being of the Deutschland class, 2 Destroyers, and some Submarines.

In Operational Sector 45, another large German force was detected, consisting of 1 Carrier, 4 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, and 3 Submarines.

Our Aircraft detected no enemy forces in Sector 41.  We have reports from coastal spotters of a large enemy force in Sector 44, but nothing detected in Sector 42.

That concludes my report, Honorable Admiral.

Kaigun Chusa Honda
Kaigun Koukuu-tai
Navy Air Service Liaison

Turn 1 TacIntel - German

To: Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine

To: Chef der Operationsabteilung der Kriegsmarine

As instructed, the Seeaufklärungsgeschwader sent reconnaissance aircraft sections to six operational sectors while using lighter elements in all other border sectors.  Our report is as follows.

Along the Northern front, a small enemy force was detected in sector 41.  Our aircraft sections detected 3 enemy destroyers in sector 43 and 2 destroyers in sector 45.  Nothing was detected in sectors 42 and 44.

A large enemy force was detected in sector 46.  Our aircraft section in sector 67 detected an enemy force consisting of 2 battleships, 1 carrier, 3 cruisers, and 6 destroyers.  A large force was also detected in sector 84.  Nothing was detected in sectors 57, 76, and 91.

Our reconnaissance sections will be available for strike operations upon return and refueling.

Respectfully,

Oberstleutnant Hans Schlüsseler

Seeaufklärungsgeschwader Operations Liaison

Campaign Start - 3 Player

OK.  We've started a new campaign, using the new rules and involving 3 players. 

Here is the map, with the Japanese (Red), Germans (Blue), and British (Green).

We are using version 2 of the rules with the following Advanced Options:

• Quarterly Turns
• Air Range
• Territory
• Planned Airstrikes
• Scouting
• We also increased the initial force to 1200 points, with 600 pre-production

As it's the first time playing in this campaign format for the Japanese player, we gave him an extra 100 points to his initial force.  We may live to regret that :-)