My First AAR: Artificial Idiot vs Human Idiot (88 is Allies)

[OldCoot]

"Right now I'm worried about New Guinea. I need to get some assets to PM and Gili Gili and start building up some good airbases, particularly for fighters to cover the Aus-NG supply line and long-range bombers to start hitting Rabaul once the Japanese start building up the place. The closest units are Australia Command types but I don't have a lot of PP's as these are being used in the PI and DEI areas right now to try to pull out what I can."


Some thoughts:

1 - At the start of the game The Gull and Swallow battalions are stationed at Darwin. These units are assigned to Southwest Command and can be transferred without any PP cost. To put frosting on the cake , there are , unless you have moved them, two Aps there. These can be used transport Gull and Swallow to PM. Also, consider transferring 103RAF Base  stationed at Charter Towers to SW Command, march it to Townsville, and then transport it to PM. This will give you additional air support.

2 - Also, at the start of the game, there is a TF at or near Canton Island transporting the 26th FA Bde to Suva. By Dec 14 this TF should be at or near Suva.  If this is the case  unload the FA bde at Suva and then have TF proceed next door to Upolu. Upolu is garrisoned bt the 7th USMC Def Bn and the 116th USN Bf. Have the TF pick these guys up and truck them to Gilli.

3 - Have BFs at Broome, Derby, and Wyndham march  to Darwin. This will give you support for future aircraft to be stationed there.

4 - 55th and 54th Fgs are stationed on the WC. As soon as you get PPs transfer them to SW command and ship them out to Gilli and PM respectively. These aircraft are P-40s and P-39s. The P-40s are long legged and the P-39s will upgrade to long range P-38s. It seems to me that these types are better suited for the SW than F4Fs and the like.

5 - It might be too late, but consider running some fuel and supplies from DEI to PM and Gilli. They'll probably be safe from air attack until the Japanese get established on Rabaul.

This was my early game strategy for PM and Gilli.  I started from day 1 and it worked fine, but I don't know if it's feasible to try this a week later. The AI will leave PM and Gilli alone until it gets Rabaul.

[88l71]

OldCoot - thanks for the tips...

As I said still new to the game so at first so I didn't think about unrestricted units at Darwin. I haven't moved the AP's yet. The sheer amount of units and geographic size of the map is almost overwhelming to a newbie, but the way I see it the more I get done the less I will have to worry about until major reinforcements start arriving. Good thing I'm not playing a human!

Also the years of experience with PacWar is I think actually a detriment. I'm used to week-long turns and much fewer bases, larger air groups, etc.

I am flying in cadres of the AV support unit on Rabaul and Lark Force to PM using the Catalinas there, and I pulled out the aircraft from Rabaul to PM already.

Some thoughts:

1 - At the start of the game The Gull and Swallow battalions are stationed at Darwin. These units are assigned to Southwest Command and can be transferred without any PP cost. To put frosting on the cake , there are , unless you have moved them, two Aps there. These can be used transport Gull and Swallow to PM. Also, consider transferring 103RAF Base stationed at Charter Towers to SW Command, march it to Townsville, and then transport it to PM. This will give you additional air support.

Already considered the 103rd but right now it's a matter of PP's since the Japanese are really starting to slam the door on the Phillippines and I still have stuff stationed there and the planes/av support units are getting priority for evacuation. I'll take a good, long look at it in a little bit though. The good news is my work in Sumatra is almost done for now as I have strong air and sea concentrations in Batavia/Soerbaja. PM has been expanding and fortifying since Turn 1. The supply situation doesn't look good there right now though so I'm going to have to send some there quick - probably from Australia.

2 - Also, at the start of the game, there is a TF at or near Canton Island transporting the 26th FA Bde to Suva. By Dec 14 this TF should be at or near Suva. If this is the case unload the FA bde at Suva and then have TF proceed next door to Upolu. Upolu is garrisoned bt the 7th USMC Def Bn and the 116th USN Bf. Have the TF pick these guys up and truck them to Gilli.

I'll check it out. What I'm worried about is Japanese moving in Bettys in large numbers to Rabaul early on before I can get fighters (at this point P-40's would be preferable)stationed in NG. Those Navy engineers would be a godsend for sure.

3 - Have BFs at Broome, Derby, and Wyndham march to Darwin. This will give you support for future aircraft to be stationed there.

A ton of stuff is already headed to Darwin as I'm pretty much routing all the supplies and airgroups from the PI and DEI there, but yeah, I haven't really assesed the situation in Australia but it's obvious I could do some redeploying. I'm putting it on the to do list.

4 - 55th and 54th Fgs are stationed on the WC. As soon as you get PPs transfer them to SW command and ship them out to Gilli and PM respectively. These aircraft are P-40s and P-39s. The P-40s are long legged and the P-39s will upgrade to long range P-38s. It seems to me that these types are better suited for the SW than F4Fs and the like.

Again, it's all dependent on having spare PP's. I've got lots of planes moving to Hawaii in transport TF's but they are s-l-o-o-o-w and it seems like right now the problem isn't lack of planes but lack of aviation support units. At any rate they will have to wait for the AK's to unload at Pearl and make it back to the West Coast because literally every single ship in the WC is carrying supplies/fuel/troops to Pearl right now. I guess next turn I will look and see what I have at Pearl cargo-ship wise and send it to the WC, it should be faster than waiting for the others

5 - It might be too late, but consider running some fuel and supplies from DEI to PM and Gilli. They'll probably be safe from air attack until the Japanese get established on Rabaul.

This was my early game strategy for PM and Gilli. I started from day 1 and it worked fine, but I don't know if it's feasible to try this a week later. The AI will leave PM and Gilli alone until it gets Rabaul.

Yeah, though it's not a ground attack I'm worried about at this point it's torp bombers shutting down my supply line.

[OldCoot]

One more thing:

If you decide to dump the FA Bde at Suva and then pick up the def Bn and the BF from Upolu,  you will find you have more ships than you need. Consider using the extra to pick up the 114thb RAF BF at Tongatapu. It is already assigned to South Pacific and would fit nicely at Lugarville which is a SOPAC base. Later, you could bring down a PBY unit from Pearl and thus fill a big recon gap.

Also what about the AVDs from PI? Can you send  them to PM?  That's 24 aviation support.

[88l71]

Sorry for the delay...decided to try CHS for a bit Friday and have been playing around with it a bit.

[FeurerKrieg]

Just wanted to say I love your title for this AAR. [:D]

[Marc gto]

good reading well done

[88l71]

Thanks guys...new turn should be up tomorrow....at this rate it will be about a 12-year long war...[X(]

[Hornblower]

sometimes it works that way

[88l71]

I know...I'm lazy and then I keep procrastinating somewhat, though I have gotten about half the next turn done and luckily I write everything down, so easy to pick up where I left off.

Problem is, this game is so damn.....overwhelming that I know basically WHAT I want to do but not necessarily HOW, adn there's a lot of stuff I'd love to have in this game just to keep track of things (aside from doing it on pen and paper...even just something simple like, say, in the convoy display something that says how many more turns until your supplies arrive, or annoying stuff like forgetting to transfer the 2 now-repaired P-40's at Pearl that didn't fly out last turn when I sent the FG to Johnston, for example) So it's hard to plan when you don't know how long stuff will take or how fast the enemy will advance within a given time, or how fast supplies build up in Australia/India, and what's something good to do with all those AK and TK in the CBI (do I need 'em there? Should I send to the USA via routing around Oz? Is it worth bothering with sending oil to certain places or do I need to bother as Allies, etc.) I've never played such a vast game before so even though I consider myself an intelligent individual I feel like I'm fumbling around in a dark room without a flashlight at times.

[88l71]

Damn this is pissing me off. Updated Vista and the wonderful, helpful "feature" known as DEP would not let the reply window pop open. So I went onto M$ website and looked up how to disable DEP and now, instead of an error message popping up when I hit "reply" it crashes my browser. For some reason "fast reply" works...

[88l71]

Okay, so finally here we go with the next turn.

Vildebeests in Tavoy fly out to Akyab, as enemy troops are spotted in the hex and sole allied forces are a RAF base force which is bugging out to the north anyway.


I've set up 2 convoys from Australia to PM, one wiht the AV support and the 1 AP conveniently stationed at Cairns and the other from Brisbane with about 10K supplies and 4K fuel, I'm going to hope they make it if I can hold Rabaul for a little while longer, Cairns is not very far away.

The AK's in Melbourne I'm routing to the US, as I don't really know what to do with 'em in Australia and I'm realizing now, sort of, what kind of supply convoy system I'll need from the West Coast, and there's never a such thing as "too many AK's"

Combat Dec 15, 1941 (my RL birthday, though waaaay wrong year):

Supreme Commander, Allied Forces, Pacific Theater is pleased to report the first confirmed enemy ships sunk of the war, one (AK Seiki Maru) lost to a Dutch submarine, and an enemy PG to the cruiser Houston, which attacked and damaged a small group of Japanese ships in a night action. A British submarine is also reported as heavily damaging enemy AP Awajisan Maru with 2 torpedo hits and multiple hits by gunfire. Ground troops were reported on deck and many were observed blown overboard, jumping into the sea to escape burning to death, or killed by shellfire. Sub skipper believes although vessel was not confirmed sunk, damage may prove fatal.

The Japanese capture Apamama, Tavoy, and Kuantan.

SIG INT REPORT FOR 12/15/41

53rd Division is located at Osaka/Kobe.
3rd Reserve AA Regiment is located at Matsue.
Radio transmissions detected at 59,30.
Radio transmissions detected at Wuhan.
Radio transmissions detected at 21,24.
103rd IJA Base Force is located at Hailar.
Mongol Cavalry Division is located at 54,26.
25th Division is located at Harbin.
Radio transmissions detected at 73,74.
Radio transmissions detected at 21,24.
21st Reserve Engineer Regiment is located at Shimuzu.
21st Mixed Brigade is located at Saigon.
Radio transmissions detected at 57,42.
53rd Division is located at Osaka/Kobe.
34th Heavy AA Battalion is located at Taan.
19th Division is located at Taejon.
Radio transmissions detected at 57,42.
Radio transmissions detected at 57,42.
120th IJA Base Force is located at Hanoi.
Radio transmissions detected at Osaka/Kobe.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/15/41

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Coastal Guns at Naga, 44,54, firing at TF 103
TF 103 troops unloading over beach at Naga, 44,54


91 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Nanpo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
564 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

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Coastal Guns at Kuantan, 24,47, firing at TF 211
TF 211 troops unloading over beach at Kuantan, 24,47


7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese ground losses:
174 casualties reported

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Coastal Guns at Rabaul, 61,88, firing at TF 57
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 57 encounters mine field at Rabaul (61,88)

TF 57 troops unloading over beach at Rabaul, 61,88


7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese ground losses:
62 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Naga, 44,54, firing at TF 103
TF 103 troops unloading over beach at Naga, 44,54


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Kuantan, 24,47, firing at TF 211
TF 211 troops unloading over beach at Kuantan, 24,47


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on TF at 25,47


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IF x 6


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Seiki Maru, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Blenheim IF bombing at 2000 feet
4 x Blenheim IF bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 25,47

Japanese Ships
AK Seiki Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXIII

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Night Time Surface Combat at 43,59

Japanese Ships
MSW Ranzan Maru
PG Hashidate
PG Saga, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
PG Eifuku Maru, Shell hits 2
PG Muro Maru
AP Kashiwara Maru, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
26 casualties reported

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TF 92 troops unloading over beach at Apamama, 86,92


Japanese ground losses:
184 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 98 troops unloading over beach at Lingayen, 44,50


Japanese ground losses:
459 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Naga, 44,54, firing at TF 103
TF 103 troops unloading over beach at Naga, 44,54


28 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
AK Ina Maru, Shell hits 6

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Kuantan, 24,47, firing at TF 211
TF 211 troops unloading over beach at Kuantan, 24,47


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 29,54

Japanese Ships
AP Awajisan Maru, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS O19

Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Naga at 44,54


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Biyo Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Victoria Point , at 25,39

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 23
Ki-21 Sally x 23
Ki-48 Lily x 22

No Japanese losses

Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 10000 feet
11 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
6 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
6 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
3 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
G4M1 Betty x 38

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 17

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
13 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
5 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Tuguegarao , at 46,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-48 Lily x 20

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 14000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on No. 107 RN Base Force, at 28,56

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
G3M Nell x 18
G4M1 Betty x 36

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 13000 feet
11 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 14000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 14000 feet
9 x G3M Nell bombing at 16000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 13000 feet
6 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 16000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,46

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 6

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 4
Hudson I x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Hudson I bombing at 15000 feet
3 x Hudson I bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,47


Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 3
Wirraway x 6
Buffalo I x 2


Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Josho Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet

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Ground combat at Naga

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24984 troops, 336 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 502

Defending force 10492 troops, 93 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 284

Japanese max assault: 517 - adjusted assault: 202

Allied max defense: 232 - adjusted defense: 779

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)


Japanese ground losses:
777 casualties reported
Guns lost 22
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
248 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rabaul

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2104 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 70

Defending force 3634 troops, 37 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 75


Japanese ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kuantan

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 7271 troops, 153 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 237

Defending force 2708 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 71

Japanese max assault: 512 - adjusted assault: 444

Allied max defense: 47 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 34 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kuantan base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
125 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tavoy

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 21771 troops, 247 guns, 16 vehicles, Assault Value = 483

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese max assault: 968 - adjusted assault: 878

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 878 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Tavoy base !!!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kuching

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 495 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

Defending force 1795 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 38



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kuching

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1113 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 38

Defending force 495 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rabaul

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2228 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 75

Defending force 2100 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 70



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Naga

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9281 troops, 83 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 273

Defending force 23914 troops, 297 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 455


Japanese ground losses:
24 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Apamama

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1393 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 49

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 74 - adjusted assault: 19

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Apamama base !!!

[88l71]

Pic Spam!!

While formulating strategy here's some stuff to cheer myself up.

Remember the lackluster performance of my P-40's in the Phillippines last turn? I keep telling myself later, much later, I'll get stuff like this:

[88l71]

And this

[88l71]

And this

[Marc gto]

Nice pictures...you forgot the Mustang and Thunderbolts..

[88l71]

And Spitfires, and Beaufighters, and Avengers, and B-29's, and torpedoes that work...

Though right now I'd settle for something better than Wirraways to defend Port Moresby

Point taken but I'd say the above 3 fighters were the most significant in the PTO, and I didn't want to totally picspam my thread...

Glad ya liked the pics. [:)]

[Marc gto]

I do there is a guy near me who has a p51-,corsair,and an avenger..its almost like being Hugh Heffner..

[88l71]

Not dead, not abandoned. Problem is I love the Total War games too and I found at local discount bookstore Mideval 2 Total War and the expansion pack CHEAP....but now I should be getting back to WITP within a couple days.

Perhaps the war will even be finished within my lifetime (I'm 29...)

Meanwhile Supreme Allied Commander, Pacific Theater's Staff has been very busy, here is my Intelligence Officer hard at work:

[88l71]

And here's a recent staff conference:

[88l71]

New AE Version

It's new, it's improved. Turbo-charged with more horsepower AND better fuel economy, cargo room, GPS navigation system, and extra-large cupholders. Blu-ray equipped with digital surround sound and high-def! Our Wildcats are wilder, our Prince of Wales more princely, our Pearl Harbor more pearly white, and our Devastators may even be...devastating.