SoP solo Campaign Scenario AAR

[gwgardner]

I brought enough naval assets into the Sea of Thailand to bring the beachhead supply of my landing forces to 17. The counter-attack by the enemy has weakened my forces, however, and I'm going to have to reinforce and land more troops prior to trying to advance down the penninsula.

[another player's note: if anybody notices, I better confess - I forgot to save after the first screenies in this AAR, and so had to make the Malaya invasion again. That's why the opening situation looks a bit different now. My units are in contact, at least, but very weak.]

[gwgardner]

The RoC must have devined my plan of attack against Ningbo, because it brought substantial numbers of new units into the region. However, not enough to forestall my offensive, after I railroaded my strongest infantry and armor to jumping off spots at Hangzhou and Nanjing. In addition, I put to see with two full corps of infantry to outflank the target city's defenses.

[gwgardner]

The Luzon invasion proceeds apace, although the Filipino 21st Division was reinforced, and still holds out. Other Filipion units were destroyed as shown, and I brought in a strong corps at Lingayen to race on towards Manila before the US can organize a defense.

I am eager to bring in bomber groups to base in Luzon, but can't do so as long as the 21st holds out.

[gwgardner]

The home islands are strongly defended by naval and air assets, but there is nothing available in infantry for continued reinforcement in the Malay penninsula, where things are not going as well as I would like.

I need to plan some production.

[gwgardner]

I'm going to concentrate on infantry builds. For the long term, I do need to think about armor, because if my planned expansion goes well, I'll need them in both India and Australia.

Wishful thinking, I guess, as I might also want to forestall any Allied counter attack!

[gwgardner]

The long lag in producing naval units will also require some serioius consideration. Plus I still have to get Task Force Z back for repairs.

[gwgardner]

AFK most of the time for the next week, for everyone waiting with bated breath for the next update.

[gwgardner]

Ready to resume play, it is now turn 3.

In the Philippines I have been able to destroy the northern Luzon defenses. The march on Manila will commense, with my forces that landed from the Lingayen Gulf cutting off any attempt by the Manila defense force to retreat to Corregidor and Bataan.

Manila is a valuable target, with 12 PP a turn at stake. Other Philippines cities, like Davao, will add 6 more PPs.

[gwgardner]

Historically the Japanese took Singapore in Feb '42, so I shouldn't start feeling too doubtful just yet, but right now my Malaya force looks in need of some serious reinforcement. The mix of Indian, Malayan, and Australian defense forces is too great for me to advance on without some strengthening.

[gwgardner]

The Ningbo offensive in China has gone well. I landed two strong corps southeast of the port, and concentrated both air and land units for a strike down from the North, and took the city within two weeks of launching the attack.

Next I will reposition for the drive on Changsha.

[gwgardner]

Task Force Z has returned home with the grim news that it did no confirmed damage to the US carrier force, although the enemy surface fleet was hurt. Not the outcome that was desired. In addition, it's necessary to repair our own carriers quickly.

It will take several weeks to complete the repairs, as only one level of damage can be repaired per week.

[gwgardner]

Yokohama is a level 8 port capacity and is capable of repairing carriers.

[gwgardner]

There is little to be gained in terms of resources among the small islands of the Pacific, but a lot to be gained in terms of strategic position. I have gathered a Solomons invasion task force to sail to both Rabaul and Guadalcanal. The former because it is a large, level 6 port commanding the whole region, and the latter because it will be a good place to base both recon and attack planes, to cover later ops perhaps in New Guinea or Australia. Rabaul will be a good base of ops for raiding the Allied transports.

My landing ships are sailing with an escort of one carrier, three BBs and cruisers and subs.

A similar task force is headed for Borneo. However, it will be covered and supported by the carriers and patrol groups already in the Gulf of Thailand. Borneo is rich in resources, primarily oil.

[gwgardner]

January '42

With the first objective at Ningbo taken (6PPs) I will reposition my air assets in China to the Hunan region, where the next big push will take place.

Before doing recon, right now it appears that the RoC defense in Hunan is very weak.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has been placed under siege.

[gwgardner]

a key feature of the game is the reports section, with records kept for all previous turns.

An example is the convoy raider report. Here's the latest for turn 4 for Japan, allowing for a clear indication of the damage my subs are doing.

[gwgardner]

The Borneo Invasion force joined the fleet in the Sea of Thailand. Sea-planes performed recon on the northwestern portion of the big island around Kuchin, showing the British garrison there. Bombardment from the combined cruiser force inflicted an estimated -4% effectiveness on the garrison, and my invasion force of two divisions landed to launch an immediate attack. The garrison held out after taking heavy losses.

[gwgardner]

As I expected, just because I landed forces on Guadalcanal and Rabaul, that doesn't mean I'll be able to keep them there. The Allies are contesting the region already, and it's just early January '42. They attacked my convoy to supply Guadalcanal and destroyed the transport. I need to get air assets in there pronto.

[gwgardner]

By the way, check out the new 'stylized' version of the map, which one can choose instead of the 'normal' and 'classic.' I really like this stylized version. It's kind of like looking at a military planning map.

[Chocolino]

I am impressed how you and the game can follow in the footsteps of the Japanese expansion into the South Seas and Malaysia. How do you manage to supply your amphibious landing forces? Does this affect the strength of your units in Malaysia?

[gwgardner]

I have fleets in both the Sea of Thailand and the North Philippines Sea Zone, which are just sufficient to bring in beachhead supply up to or close to the max 20 supply. The preponderance of the rest of my fleet is in Tokyo bay under refit and repair. I'm taking a chance that the AI won't hit my convoys too hard in other areas. Remains to be seen. I know that the Allies are not prepared to fight yet, so perhaps I'm not taking too big a chance.