Canuck Amuck - ADavidB vs. Yank

[ADavidB]

December 7, 1941 -

Showing a remarkable lack of self-control and truly poor judgement I've started yet another v1.80 game, this time against Yank, using the same start-up conditions that I used against Treespider. My intention was to try to avoid the messes that I got into at the beginning against Treespider, however, Yank, who professed to playing a reasonably "historic" style of game has started out just as "wild and woolly" as did Treespider, and maybe more so.

If this is typical of "historical restraint", I don't want to be on the receiving end of a Japanese player who is deliberately trying to play "ahistorically". [X(] [;)] December 7 saw, amongst others:

- A full blown KB raid on Pearl Harbor that wiped out more planes than usual while damaging more ships that usual.
- The first turn capture of Wake Island
- Bombardment and landings on Guam (totalling the poor old Penguin)
- A Japanese combat TF at Rabaul
- Japanese landings at Wewak
- A multi-round series of naval battles at Jolo, resulting in the sinking of two US DDs, damage to two more and a CL, damage to a couple of Japanese DDs and yet Japanese troops still were able to land
- A Japanese landing on Tawi-Tawi
- Bombardments of Davao and Tarakan, damaging the ships in port, with a Japanese combat TF at Davao
- Japanese Landing and capture of Batan Island
- Japanese Landings at Aparri and Vigan
- Japanese landings at Kuching and Brunei
- Japanese landings at Lamon Bay
- A Japanese CV TF sitting off of Tarakan
- A Japanese CV TF sitting off of Bataan
- Aerial bombardments of the airfield at Clark and the port at Manila
- And last but not least, the usual Japanese landings at Khota Bharu

So I've got quite a mess to handle here. I've written off any hope of getting forces out of the Philippines and have instead tried to go further on the offensive in "One Last Futile Gesture of Defiance". I have also put my non-combat ships into dozens and dozens of single or two-ship TFs. My intention is to run Yank's forces out of torpedoes, and bombs, shells while causing them to accumulate operational damage. It's a pretty pathetic excuse for a strategy, but I don't know what else to do.

Elsewhere my immediate intention is to get as many ships out of harm's way as soon as possible. I have no idea how and when the situation will stabilize, and I don't want to get caught losing more than I have to. Mostly, right now I need lots of rain, preferably somewhere else than just on the West Coast of the US.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 8, 1941 -

The Blitzkrieg continued as Yank pressed everywhere possible at the same time. But Allied counter attacks did catch some of the Japanese attacks off guard. S-36 tried attacking ships at Vigan, but was sunk for its efforts. However, Seadragon followed and sank an AP in daylight with torpedoes and gunfire:

Sub attack near Vigan at 44, 49

Japanese Ships
AP Palao Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon, hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
133 casualties reported

That's the first time I remember seeing a US sub do a surface attack.

The Asiatic Fleet continued in action with an interception at Jolo by Houston:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Jolo at 38, 59

Japanese Ships
MSW Banshu Maru #52
MSW Banshu Maru #56, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
AP Tsuyama Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
AP Ueizuru Maru, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
AP Unkai Maru #6, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 2

That's quite good; I don't think that any US surface ships have sunk an enemy ship in action in my game against Treespider. And some of the US 4-Stackers came through at the landings at Tawi Tawi too:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Tawi Tawi at 38, 60

Japanese Ships
AP Hakka Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
AP Hakusika Maru, Shell hits 3

Allied Ships
DD Alden
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Whipple

I'm trying to group the remnants of the Asiatic Fleet at Cagayan then move them out because there is no place for them to rearm. The Brits and Dutch air units tried attacking various Japanese TFs with the usual Allied lack of early success except for some Swordfish pilots who hit an AK and an AP off of Khota Bharu; so much for the efforts of the Allies. Now for the "real" action - the ongoing grab of everything in sight by Yank.

Troops continued landing at Guam, Aparri, Lamon Bay, Khota Bharu, Vigan, Brunei, Kuching, Jolo and Tawi Tawi. Multiple TFs were offloading troops at each target, suggesting that Yank was trying to get base forces in along with the combat troops. In addition, troops started to land at Butuan, Davao and Rabaul. Japanese bombardment TFs hit many of the bases that were being invaded, even if the TF only consisted of a CL and a couple of DDs. Allied coastal guns didn't do much damage in return.

In the air war, Yank committed his LBA to airfield attacks, particularly big attacks on Singapore and Clark. Surprisingly, the Singapore attack didn't do particularly well. I was also surprised because Zeros from the withdrawing KB hit the air field at Pearl again, causing more damage.

Japanese naval attacks were limited to the Kates and Claudes from the Ryujo and the two CVEs in the Philippines. They were fairly ineffective against my combat ships, particularly when some P-26s provided LR CAP. However, the carrier planes took care of the poor old Langley and damaged an AO. Japanese surface combat was more successful as a TF with two BBs caught and sank one after another: the damaged AO, an MSW, another MSW, a TK and then another TK. The Japanese TF used a lot of shells and it appears that it also ran out of torpedoes because in each attack most if not all of the ships fired. The TKs, in particular, were tough to sink. I'm hoping that the Japanese TF now needs to go back for ammo.

When all that was done the Japanese ended up taking Lamon Bay, Wewak, Guam, Brunei, Jolo, Tawi Tawi, Vigan and Kuching. Hong Kong withstood a shock attack as Yank brought a number of artillery units in along with the combat units. Japanese planes fly reconnaissance missions over dozens of targets. And things were reasonably quiet in China, in comparison to Treespider's immediate moves there.

So, all-in-all, Yank has advanced the Japanese time table several weeks and still has some good chances to enjoy a "shooting gallery" in the Philippines.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 9, 1941 -

The onslaught carried on, but with less luck on the Allied side and more consistent advances on the Japanese side. Japanese troops continued to land at Butuan, Aparri, Rabaul and Davao. The BB-lead Japanese SC TF intercepted more fleeing ships in the Central Philippines, but the effect of multiple battles finally showed up. An Allied AK was intercepted first, but the battle was at close range and with small caliber guns; even AA guns were being used. Next a TF consisting of an AS and an MSW escort was caught. Again there was only ammunition left for small caliber guns and at the short range the guns of the AS and MSW actually got to fire back:

Night Time Surface Combat at 43, 56

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 1
CL Yura
CL Kinu, Shell hits 1
DD Mikazuki
DD Sawakaze
DD Yakaze
DD Yukaze

Allied Ships
AS Canopus, Shell hits 42, and is sunk
MSW Whippoorwill, Shell hits 16, and is sunk

The hit on the Hyuga did nothing, but Kinu was damaged and on fire. Once this combat was complete the Japanese TF withdrew, allowing the other fleeing Allied ships passage. Sending ships out by ones and twos was a costly means to afford escape for some, but it did work and a number of ships have already gotten beyond the main destruction zone in the Central Philippines.

Japanese naval bombardment attacks came again at Khota Bharu, Rabaul and this time at Buna where troops also started to land. I had guessed that those Japanese TFs were headed for Lae and I had directed a cruiser to intercept them there. But for some reason the cruiser never left Shortlands. I've reset the target and home base for that cruiser in the hopes that it sails this turn. Another small cruiser force in the Central Philippines also stayed in place for the second turn in a row. It was attacked by carrier planes but fortunately drove them off with flak. I've reset the objective base and home base for that TF too. I'm becoming suspicious that this may have to do with having the "react distance" set to "6" - the AI may not be able to choose amongst targets or tries to find a nearby AC TF and thus freezes. We'll see what happens next turn.

In the Air War, Chinese bombers hit the air fields at Wuhan with some effect. Lots of Japanese troops are on the march in China, so it is obvious that we will have another case of War in China in this match. I will push back in the air as long as Yank doesn't bring in the crack Zero units.

Elsewhere in the air, a great opportunity was missed at Singapore as a large number of unescorted Nells flew in and blasted past the British fighter CAP. Fortunately the damage done on the air fields was minor, but it was still disappointing to see the Brit fighters do so little. Most of the Brit bombers were resting after the previous day's futile attacks on the Japanese combat ships at Khota Bharu, but some longer range bombers did hit an AK and an AP at Songkhia. In addition to Singapore, Japanese long range bombers also plastered Clark Field again.

In the land war, Japanese troops started to land at Sandakan, which seemed a bit of an odd choice at first. But then I realized that Yank is dropping off, picking up and re-landing troops at various unoccupied PI bases. San Jose, for example, became Japanese without me really noticing it. In land combat, Hong Kong was bombarded, a Shock attack drove my troops out of the crossroads south of Homan, a Shock attack captured Davao and uncontested Aparri was captured.

And some worrisome news arrived from a US sub that was on its way to station north of French Frigate Shoals - it was attacked by escorts from the KB! So the KB isn't heading west, but has changed it's heading to the north, or perhaps northeast, and hasn't gone that far away from the Hawaiian Islands. I'm guessing that the replenishment TF is up there somewhere, and once the KB is refueled it will stick around to cause more trouble in the Eastern Pacific. Fortunately, I haven't sent any TFs back to Pearl yet, and I may not for a while. Unfortunately, that last hit on the air fields at Pearl by the KB's fighters set back the repairs on the air fields significantly and if the KB comes back soon I won't be able to put up much of a defense at all.

Dave Baranyi

[Ron Saueracker]

One of my pet peeves is the ability of a single TF to flawlessly engage all enemy TFs in a hex, be it only 1 or maybe even 100. All TFs, perhaps separated by as much as sixty miles, all get spotted and engaged.[8|] So, one TF outside of manila will slaughter everything. Yet, ships in a TF often are off doing something else and don't engage or get engaged. I just don't get the logic...seems backwards.

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

One of my pet peeves is the ability of a single TF to flawlessly engage all enemy TFs in a hex, be it only 1 or maybe even 100. All TFs, perhaps separated by as much as sixty miles, all get spotted and engaged.[8|] So, one TF outside of manila will slaughter everything. Yet, ships in a TF often are off doing something else and don't engage or get engaged. I just don't get the logic...seems backwards.

Is that any different "design logic" than the movement rule that allows a squad of grunts to hold a Division in place and keep them from moving out of a 60 mile land hex? [;)]

Try to stay on the good side of the new Dev Team Ron, we need you there to add some sense to the design of WitP II !!! [&o]

Cheers -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 10, 1941 -

This was another busy turn, but not all the "business" was aimed at the Allies. Sure, more Japanese troops landed at Sandakan and Rabaul, but 3 MSWs from Pearl went out and pestered I-24 twice, although the ASW ships didn't get any hits on the sub. But the good result came when the Pensacola caught an invasion TF attempting to sneak into Makin Island:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 85, 89

Japanese Ships
ML Tokiwa
ML Tsugaru
ML Okinoshima, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 29, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 9

Japanese ground losses:
445 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

None of those hits on the Pensacola caused any damage, the other DD sank afterwards, and no troops got ashore, so that ambush worked out very well. Now if I can hunt down those MLs I'll be in very good shape in that region.

In other interesting action, the Skipjack torpedoed CL Yura at Aparri. I usually find the Japanese CLs to be tough targets to hit. And since Skipjack even got away without any attacks from the escorts, I'll have to consider this a very good attack overall. In addition, a Japanese AP that had been damaged before finally sank off of the Northwestern Philippines.

At the same time the KB turned west again and some Vals took a feeble swipe at Midway, but they didn't even find the mark. I wonder if they will turn south and try to back up the Japanese plans for the Gilberts? At least this probably means that the facilities at Pearl will get a chance to be repaired. In other action, the Dutch sub KXII missed out on an attack at Khota Bharu and was instead depth charged by the Japanese escort ships. KXII is now trying to limp back to Singapore.

In the air war, Japanese LBA hammered a number of bases quite hard, including Clark Field. Brit and Australian planes tried attacking various Japanese TFs, but without any luck. Some of the B-17s tried an attack on Kuching, but with little success other than damaging a number of Japanese fighters.

In the ground war, Japanese troops took Buna, Butuan and Sandakan. For some reason Yank put a number of combat groups in the assaults on Butuan and Sandakan. I can understand wanting to use some of the troops at Butuan to march to Cagayan, but there isn't any place to march to from Sandakan. Yank could have used a squad to capture the place.

Elsewhere on the ground, Hong Kong received an artillery bombardment, and Shock Attacks failed at both Rabaul and Khota Bharu. Maybe those two failed attacks will slow done the assaults on both bases. In China, Japanese troops continue to move forward, with Changsha quickly becoming the first major base to be contested.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 11, 1941 -

This was a busy turn for night time naval action. One bit of action that must have had Yank's heart in his throat for a bit occurred when my Philippine PT boats found one of Yank's CV TFs:

Night Time Surface Combat at 41, 55

Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
CVE Hosho
DD Wakatake
DD Kuretake, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
PT PT-31
PT PT-33
PT PT-34
PT PT-35, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT PT-41

Yank may think twice from now on about sending light carriers out with such a skimpy escort. [;)] In other overnight action, the MSWs from Pearl chased more Japanese submarines in the Hawaiian Islands while Japanese ASW TFs chased Allied subs in the Far East. Japanese bombardment TFs also hit Khota Bharu and Rabaul again. Finally, two more victims of the first day's strikes - Penguin and Swordfish - both sank while trying to reach safety.

Daylight continued the widespread action. In a move that was very surprising to me, the KB sent a full air attack at Midway:

Day Air attack on Midway, at 95, 61

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
D3A Val x 122
B5N Kate x 133

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 4 destroyed, 17 damaged
B5N Kate: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 4 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 32
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 105

I can't see why Yank did that unless he is planning an invasion of Midway in the near future. Certainly the pilots in the KB don't need more practice, and Midway in itself isn't worth that level of air losses.

Yank also sent large LBA strikes against Clark Field, and yet another large, unescorted Nell attack on Singapore. The British CAP at Singapore did better this time, but they were still not good enough to drive off the Japanese bombers.

In the ground war Hong Kong was bombarded again. Yank has a number of field artillery units there, but only one infantry unit, so HK won't be falling soon unless more Japanese infantry units are brought in to the attack. A shock attack at Rabaul failed, giving me more time to pull troops out by air. However, a shock attack at Khota Bharu succeeded, opening up the traditional East Coast invasion route of Malaya.

In China Yank is starting to mass troops at Changsha and Yenen, and has troops moving towards Ichang. I have been upgrading the leaders of the Chinese units in those bases so that the troops fight better. The Burma Front is still quiet, which is allowing me to proceed with an orderly pull-back.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 12, 1941 -

This was definitely a wild and wooly turn. Yank had mentioned to me after the first turn that in most of his other PBEMs he rarely had any surface combat, and he had several rounds of it in Turn 1. Well, he got more this turn. First off, the three Brit DDs from Hong Kong went to Sandakan to see if they could find the Transport TF that was reported there. The Transport TF escaped, and the three Brit DDs ran into a Japanese Surface Combat TF that consisted of a CL and seven DDs. Despite some valiant action by the Brits, after two rounds of fighting all three Brit DDs were sunk and the Japanese ships didn't have a scratch on them.

The opposite thing happened at Makin, where Yank attempted to sneak in a CL after the Pensacola whacked those transports previously. What the CL ran into was the following:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 85, 89

Japanese aircraft
No flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Katori, Shell hits 111, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CV Lexington
CA Portland, Shell hits 2
CA Chicago
CA Pensacola
CA Astoria
DD Mahan
DD Drayton
DD Lamson
DD Flusser
DD Porter

The US CAs took care of the Katori, so I didn't get to see the Lex shoot its 8 inch guns. [;)] I'm still astounded at how many shells the Katori took before it sank - those Japanese CLs are sure tough!

Then, in another action that truly "warmed my heart", S-40 found the range in the Central Philippines:

Sub attack at 41, 55

Japanese Ships
CVE Hosho, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Kuretake
DD Wakatake

Allied Ships
SS S-40

That ought to keep Hosho out of my hair for a while.

And finally, my PTs found a transport TF off of Leyte:

Day Time Surface Combat at 43, 59

Japanese Ships
PG Kanko Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PG Keiko Maru, Shell hits 2
PG Okuyo Maru, Shell hits 39, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AP Rakuyo Maru, Shell hits 1
AP Takayo Maru
AP Taian Maru
AP Taimei Maru
AP Tasmania Maru
AP Turusima Maru
AP Teizui Maru
AP Tofuku Maru
AP Fukusei Maru
AP Nichiryo Maru
AP Fukkai Maru

Allied Ships
PT PT-31
PT PT-33
PT PT-34
PT PT-41

After all that naval action the air action was fairly anticlimactic. The Brit and Dutch LBA flew against a number of Japanese TFs but hit nothing and sustained a lot of damage. The Japanese LBA whacked Clark Field again, keeping it closed, while 60+ Nells hit Singapore unescorted and once again blasted through the Brit fighters. One thing good about Yank's use of LBA for airfield busting rather than naval interdiction is that most of the ships from the Philippines are now in safety. That's a lot better than the situation against Treespider.

In the land war, Yank tried shock attacks at Changsha, Yenen, and Alor Star. All of the attacks failed, but the attack at Changsha went the worst for the Japanese. I'm trying to get reinforcements to Yenen in order to set up a stalemate. I have reinforcements heading to Changsha too. The Japanese did nothing at Rabaul except build up strength, and Hong Kong only received an artillery bombardment.

In any event, I don't expect next turn to be as lively as this one was, but I still have a number of things up my sleeves at this point.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 13, 1941 -

Yank was really surprised that I would have US CVs in the Gilberts at this stage of the Game. But to me it is the obvious thing to do. In December 1941 the quantity of dangerous Japanese forces is actually quite limited. The Japanese player doesn't have unlimited LBA and must decide where to use it, and whether to split it up or combine it. The KB is off in the North Pacific. The Japanese light carriers are in the Philippines. This leaves the South Pacific open for the US CVs to raid at will. And if the Japanese player ignores this, you can get results such as the following:

Day Air attack on TF at 84, 89

Allied aircraft
F2A Buffalo x 11
SBD Dauntless x 33

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Aratama Maru, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kaito Maru, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
269 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

One of those APs sank afterwards. Essentially, there is no need for the Japanese player to send any troops into the Gilberts early on in the Game. There are no US units nearby and if an Allied player is silly enough to rush some troops into the Gilberts the Japanese player can then come in later at his leisure with overwhelming force, and have the KB around to keep the US carriers at bay too.

In this game the KB has disappeared from the view of my sub picket line and my search planes. It may be still sailing towards a decent-sized port for refuelling and rearming, or it may be racing to the south to try to catch my ships. The later is the "best case" scenario for me, because my TFs have equal speed, more fuel and numerous locations to sail towards, and the KB will simply waste more fuel and time, and thus be even more out of position as my forces regroup and hit elsewhere again.

This is the true danger of the "cat in the canary cage" approach for a Japanese player. Sure, there are lots of "juicy" potential targets, but the reality is that a scattered Japanese offensive can stretch the Japanese forces too thin, allowing for a better response by the Allies. So, for example, the majority of my ships from the Philippines have now escaped safely. In my game against Treespider, the Japanese forces were concentrated in the Philippines and almost all of my ships were caught and sunk. Yank has captured more bases at the same stage as did Treespider, but my surface and submarine raiders have messed up his movement of support troops in the Philippines, eliminating his ability to add LBA-interdiction.

And remember, my "Move to the South" with my carriers worked against Treespider too, because he also kept on with the advance into the Gilberts and tried to accelerate the move into Rabaul. Only when the KB showed up was the "party over" in the South Pacific. Now both of my opponents have the problem of wondering where, when and if my CVs will show up to interfere with future actions in the South Pacific or elsewhere.

This always makes me wonder why Japanese players don't try to use the KB to more aggressively to hunt down the US CVs in the first few game weeks. Sending the KB screaming at top speed to the Southwest right after the Pearl Harbor attack seems the most promising tactic. The odds are extremely good that the KB can engage the Enterprise and Lexington and sink both without any losses if the engagement occurs during the first few weeks of the Game. And even if a "miracle" happens and a Dauntless happens to get through, the odds are significantly against any significant damage occurring to the Japanese fleet carriers. Put those two US carriers on the bottom or out of action and then the Japanese player can do whatever he wants in the Pacific and effectively ignore the Saratoga for several months.

Okay, speculation aside, there was a fair amount of sub action this turn too. Dutch sub KXVII hit an AK, which later sank, off of French Indo China. Pickerel hit and sank a Japanese PC in the Philippines. I-153 hit and damaged an AP trying to remove troops from Singapore. And I-169 hit a DD on ASW patrol off of the Hawaiian Islands.

In the Air War, massive Japanese air attacks hit Clark field again, and at the same time wiped out a bunch of P-35s that wandered in to try to pick a fight. A Brit torpedo bomber hit a Japanese DD hard off of Khota Bharu. And Chinese and Japanese planes exchanged bombing raids throughout China.

In the Ground War, Hong Kong and Yenen received artillery bombardments. The first two of my reinforcement units for Yenen arrived, so I now feel better about the situation there. Things remained quiet on the ground in the rest of China. Japanese troops tried a Shock Attack at Alor Star which was repulsed handily; that ought to slow the Japanese effort down a bit there. And the Japanese troops on the ground at Rabaul tried an artillery attack this time too. There is a Japanese light bombardment TF in Rabaul; I'm going to see if I can "discourage" it a bit. [;)]

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 14, 1941 -

This was another action-packed turn in which, thanks to the Long Lance factor, the Japanese Navy was able to come out on top. Never-the-less, the Allied forces still fought well. The main locus of action was at Rabaul, where New Zealand than American cruisers came in to challenge the Japanese CL-lead TF. The two Kiwi cruisers came in first and had a fairly long and active fire fight with the Japanese ships, but eventually the Leander was sunk by torpedoes and the Achilles, although relatively undamaged, backed off, leaving two of the seven Japanese DDs badly damaged. Louisville then came in and exchanged fire with the Japanese ships quite effectively, sinking one DD and damaging several more, with a shell hitting CL Nagara for good measure, but the Japanese finally found the target with two Long Lances and that was it for the Louisville.

The battle was too little, too late, and Rabaul afterwards fell to a Japanese Shock Attack, so I refuelled the Achilles at Gasmata and sent it on it's way home, while redirecting the Australian SC TF that was about to join the fray the next day. There are now some Japanese planes at Rabaul, and I don't want to risk ships against LBA, so I'll leave the rest of the Japanese TFs at Rabaul alone. BTW - I was able to bring parts of the Rabaul troops out via air transport, and I am trying to march the rest to Gasmata in order to fly them out too.

In the Gilberts Yank persisted in his invasions and was able to land some troops and capture Tarawa. I didn't contest the landing because I no longer know where the KB is located and I don't want to risk ships being caught carrier planes. I am moving subs into the region and will let them keep track of and harass the Japanese.

Speaking of subs, Yank still has a huge number of subs around the Hawaiian Islands. I am just now getting the buld of my ASW ships back into harbor in the Hawaiian bases, so I will be sending out additional ASW TFs this turn and more the next. US ASW did harass I-4 a couple of times this turn and may have gotten some light hits on it.

Things were fairly quiet in the Far East, other than the continuation of very large Japanese air raids on Clark Field. We are both still repositioning our forces in the region and I'm more than happy to take a breather at this time. The only land action consisted of artillery attacks on Yenen and Hong Kong. I am still racing against time in China to try to get troops to where I need them, and fortunately, Yank appears to be splitting his forces at this time, which helps me.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 15, 1941 -

Allied ASW continued to flounder as I-8 torpedoed a DD in a three-DD ASW TF off of Pearl Harbor. None of the other US ASW TFs in the Hawaiian Islands found any potential targets, and even the air searches found nothing the next morning, although in the afternoon around 7 or 8 Japanese subs were spotted around the region. So I'm resting the ships that went out this turn and sending a new bunch out next turn. Either my ships will learn how to attack subs, or Yank's subs will run out of torpedoes. [&o]

The Air War didn't go well for the Allies either. Once again huge Japanese air attacked pummeled Clark Field. By the time the Japanese finally move in some troops Clark will be a deeper hole than the Grand Canyon. [X(] Elsewhere, the British air effort was a lesson in futility as plenty of planes took off against the dozens of Japanese ships that are off of Malaya, but they achieved no hits. I'm trying to stand down more of the Brit air units so that they can recover a bit. Allied air efforts in China were equally futile and I should count myself lucky that my planes avoided air combat elsewhere.

The Land War worked out better for the Allies. A second Japanese infantry unit entered Hong Kong, which initiated an unsuccessful shock attack. That will slow the Japanese assault a bit. Japanese shock attacks were also tried unsuccessfully at Cotobato and Alor Star. I was really surprised at the result at Cotobato; Yank must have really gotten a bad "dice throw" that time. And in Yenen the Japanese used an artillery attack with little effect. More Japanese troops are moving to Yenen; that appears likely to be the major area of effort for the Japanese in China at this time.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 16, 1941 -

The Sub Wars continue all over the Pacific. Permit attacked a convoy off of Mindanao but missed its targets and was attacked in turn by the escorts. Skipjack was chased around near Batan Island. In Hawaiian waters USN chased I-8 twice but couldn't nail it. At least I-8 didn't get off any torpedoes this turn and the damaged DD from last turn made it to port in Pearl Harbor. I-17 was also chased in Hawaiian waters and LBA spotted another handful of Japanese subs in the region. Finally, later in the day S-37 put a torpedo into an AP north of the Philippines.

The Air War also continued pretty much in the same manner. Large numbers of Japanese bombers attacked Clark Field again. Unescorted Nells came back to Singapore, and the Brit fighters did slightly better this time, but still not good enough to stop the attack. In general the Brit Air Units had another bad day between heavy CAP and heavier flak. But at the end of the day some Brit LBA finally did put a couple of bombs into an AP off of Malaya. In China the air war also continued, albeit relatively ineptly conducted by both sides.

In the Land War a Japanese deliberate attack on Changsha was repelled handily. There are two more good Chinese units almost at Changsha, so the defenses there will be improved even more quite soon. Yenen received a bombardment as more Japanese troops arrived to tighten the siege. Things at Yenen are making me a bit nervous; I don't have any more good troops nearby and Yank has accumulated a lot of troops at Yenen. The situation at Ichang is also getting tighter, but I have been bombing the Japanese troops there from the air which reduces their ability to attack.

Hong Kong survived another shock attack, but the Japanese are doing better each time. I suspect that it will only take another two attacks at most for the Japanese to capture the base. Japanese attacks did succeed in capturing Cotabato and Tuguegarao, albeit against no opposition in Tuguegarao. Mindanao won't last much longer. And finally, a big Japanese BB-lead TF is about to whack Kuantan hard, so the action in Malaya will continue soon.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 17, 1941 -

There was action all over the map this turn, which started out with Laoag being "occupied". Then the "serious stuff" started as a number of US ASW ships took turns making runs at I-18 and I-2 off of the Hawaiian Islands. They didn't get any hits, but then the subs didn't get any torpedoes off either, so that's a victory of sorts. After all the chasing plenty of Glens still flew over various bases in the Islands, and Japanese subs ended up generally to the North instead of to the South. So I'm resting the ships that went out this turn and sending a bunch out again in multiple ASW TFs.

There was a big fire fight over Clark Field this turn. I got tired of letting the Japanese fighters and bombers come over and bomb the base unopposed, so I sent in a P-40E group from Manila and a P-35 squadron from Bataan on LR CAP. The results weren't too shabby:

Day Air attack on Clark Field, at 43, 51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 60
G3M Nell x 34
G4M1 Betty x 42
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
P-35A x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 40

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-35A: 8 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 19 destroyed, 2 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 21

All things considered, the P-40Es accounted for themselves quite well. The P-35s were obviously totally out-classed, but they did try. And afterwards an unescorted attack by bombers was intercepted:

Day Air attack on Clark Field, at 43, 51

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed

Runway hits 1

This ought to cause Yank to re-think his approach a bit.

Yank definitely took the advantage in the naval war. That BB-lead TF didn't bombard any of the Malaysian bases; instead it parked itself outside of Singapore and intercepted a transport that was trying to escape with some troops. Let's just say that it wasn't pretty. And to add insult to injury, Japanese LBA from Kuching brushed past some LR CAP to hit another transport TF that was just about at Batavia with more escapees. Fortunately in this case no ships were sunk, but obviously I'm not going to be able to easily pull troops out of Malaya. Brit and Dutch planes did get a bit of revenge, with a bomb hit on an AP and another on a Japanese BB, but that BB-hit didn't even scratch the paint.

And in the Central Pacific, Japanese troops landed and captured Makin unopposed. There was also an artillery bombardment attack at Yenen, and a shock attack at Hong Kong that didn't succeed but did damage the defenses.

I am definitely going to have to get "creative" in order to slow down the Japanese offensive in this game.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 18, 1941 -

This was a tough turn for the Allies and very little worked out. Lots of USN ASW chased a half dozen or more Japanese subs around the Hawaiian Islands but none of the ships even fired a shot. Sargo attacked and missed a convoy north of Rabaul and promptly got whacked by the escorts. Only S-41 had any luck and put a torpedo into an AP off of Vigan.

But the award for futility has to be handed to the British Air Corps in the Far East. They attacked Japanese ships all around Malaya, including a battle fleet that was sitting just off of Singapore. But they only got one bomb hit on a cruiser and lost a ton of planes to CAP and flak. The Brits can no longer put up any sort of effective force in the air, so I'm pulling the shattered remnants back to try to rebuild them.

The Japanese Air effort was much more successful, with big air strikes on Singapore and Clark Field, and lots of smaller strikes most everywhere else. Japanese forces also landed at Apamama.

In the ground war, Changsha, Hong Kong and Yenen received artillery bombardments. Lingayen was captured by a shock attack that drove out its defenders. In China Yank is trying similar outflanking maneuvers as Treespider is doing in his game. I am trying to counter, but even with starting my troops on the first turn, the movement rules still prevent me from being able to effectively counter all the Japanese movements. The one thing that did go my way was a shock attack on a couple of Chinese units south of Wuchow that failed badly.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 19, 1941 -

It's rather hard switching back and forth from this pbem game to the one with Treespider and back again. This pbem game is a couple of weeks behind, so I'm able to consider what Treespider has already done while I plan for whatever Yank will do, but at the same time I keep forgetting which forces I have available and where. [&:] [X(] In any event, Yank is playing just as aggressively as Treespider, only in slightly different locations. In addition, with this turn the two games are now at different revisions; I can't wait to get the 1.801 update going on this game too!

So, for example, while Treespider's submarines play cat-n-mouse along the Southern California coast, Yank's subs have been successfully doing the same thing off of the Hawaiian Islands. And like Treespider, Yank is also sending his subs out further a field. So this turn I-10 sank an empty Allied tanker in the South Pacific. Now I have to reconsider my shipping routes in that area. As a balance to this attack, S-37 did put two torpedoes into a Japanese AP in the South China Sea, but that was about it as far as Allied successes were concerned this turn. And as has been the case since the start of the game, the extensive US ASW effort failed to do much of anything around the Hawaiian Islands.

Yank is also extending his boundaries aggressively like Treespider, just in different regions. His focus is more on the South and Central Pacific, so this turn Japanese troops landed at Kavieng, Finschafen and Apamama. (Apamama is somewhat of a waste of troops, because it will become automatically occupied after Tarawa is captured anyway.)

There were a lot of Japanese air attacks across the various Fronts, including a Betty/Zero attack from Rabaul on Port Moresby. It's useful to know that Yank has already put Bettys in PM - I'll now be careful of sending TFs in that region. Yank is also still trying to catch my CAP in the Philippines. In addition to a large air attack today, a Zero sweep went in too. But I kept the fighters away again. In a minor success, I finally got the remaining B-17s out of the Philippines. This was the bomber group that I had split in the hopes of minimizing damage. That didn't work, and instead it took longer to get them out because I had to wait until all three sections had no damaged planes and could be moved together before I could rejoin them, change their HQ and send them to (relative) safety.

In one bit of air combat good news, Dutch bombers hit a TK off of Brunei. But the Brit air units were once again unable to do anything against either the Japanese ships that are sitting off of Singapore, or against the bombers that hit Singapore daily. I continue to pull the Brits back to allow them to rebuild a bit.

In the land war, Changsha, Hong Kong and Yenen all received artillery attacks. Japanese troops again attempted to drive the two Chinese combat units out of the crossroads hex south of Wuchow, but the shock attack failed badly. We are both manoeuvring land units everywhere in China; I'm trying to block insurgents and Yank is trying to cut my lines.

Dave Baranyi

[ny59giants]

I was wondering if an Allied player has gotten aggressive from turn one and run Lex & Co. quickly through the Pacific (SW direction) to hit Truk and down to Oz while KB is at Pearl.[X(] I don't think there are any Betty's or Nell's in the Eastern Pacific at games start. [:D]
If you can, spend some PP's to move the Dutch BF's from the west side of Sumatra to Palembang (more engineers to cause damage) using some Dutch AK's.
I have used lessons learned from 1st game in 2nd. The biggest learning curve is combat in China. [:(][:(]

[Tophat1815]

Locked in battle in china again huh? Atleast the major Air-war isn't in the chinese skies.

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I was wondering if an Allied player has gotten aggressive from turn one and run Lex & Co. quickly through the Pacific (SW direction) to hit Truk and down to Oz while KB is at Pearl.[X(] I don't think there are any Betty's or Nell's in the Eastern Pacific at games start. [:D]
If you can, spend some PP's to move the Dutch BF's from the west side of Sumatra to Palembang (more engineers to cause damage) using some Dutch AK's.
I have used lessons learned from 1st game in 2nd. The biggest learning curve is combat in China. [:(][:(]

I've tried that against the AI, and in head-to-head tests. The results aren't pretty... [:(]

The US carrier planes are too weak to do much damage to ships in port, and don't forget, Bettys and Nells can fly attacks the same day that they fly thousands of miles to a new base.

I leave most of the isolated Dutch units in place just for nuisance value. They cause the Japanese player to spend time and units going after them, and the bases on the west side of Sumatra are susceptible to sub and carrier raids while troops are being landed. Time is on the side of the Allies, and everything that you can do to make the Japanese player waste time is a plus.

Thanks again -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812



Locked in battle in china again huh? Atleast the major Air-war isn't in the chinese skies.

Can't be helped - Japanese players have a fetish with China wars...and until the Movement and Ground Combat rules are fixed this will continue.

Take care -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

December 20, 1941 -

There was a lot of scrambling around this turn. I had sent out something like a dozen 2-ship ASW TFs out of Pearl after all the Japanese subs in the region around Hawaii and I finally got a bit of a payoff; I-23 was caught and hit a few times. I-24 was also found, but the ASW ships missed it. Then as the day wore on my air search planes found yet another 5 Japanese subs sitting around. As usual, Pearl was scouted multiple times by Glens. So I'm resting the ships from this time and sending out more again for next time. At least my ships are getting practice.

The Japanese escorts are doing much better. I sent the Brit sub Trusty to where that big Japanese SC TF was sitting off of Singapore. Five escorts from the TF whacked Trusty multiple times and sank it. So now I'm sending the other Brit sub Truant into the same spot. (Remember, DDs have limited ASW supplies.) I also noticed another Japanese TF heading north through the Straights of Malacca. I wonder where it is going? It would be nice if it were trying to do something "cute" towards India; the RN would love to get some practice. [;)]

Large numbers of Japanese bombers plastered Singapore and Clark. A Zero sweep also flew over Clark, but I'm not bothering to put the P-40Es back there again at this time. Allied bombers tried to hit various Japanese ships including and AP off of New Britain and a PC off of Brunei, but only one group of Dutch planes got lucky and hit a Japanese tanker off of Brunei.

Yank tried several shock attacks this turn. He has several small units in Lamon Bay and I've blocked them in with a Philippine army unit. The Japanese troops tried to dislodge the Philippinos but failed badly. I was quite surprised; usually the Philippino troops perform like Chinese troops. A big shock attack at Hong Kong finally succeeded. This was another surprise in a way - I almost never see Hong Kong lasting this long. There was also a shock attack at Yenen that failed badly. Mongolian troops aren't really good enough for that sort of thing. And finally, two Japanese armored units tried a shock attack at Clark and were hammered. The whims of LCU movement must have goofed Yank's plans up here.

Oh yeah, this game was upgraded to v1.801 also, so I can fix the float planes here too. [&o]

Dave Baranyi