January 3, 1942 -
The KB is back into "Hammer of God" mode in the DEI as Soerabaja received two attacks. First came an unescorted attack by Kates on the Port, which allowed the Dutch Air Defenders to interfere a bit with the attack:
Day Air attack on Soerabaja, at 22, 65
Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 125
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 3
CW-21B Demon x 2
Brewster 339D x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 16 destroyed, 56 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hawk 75A: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AS Zuiderkruis, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Port hits 3
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 5
The attack was at 100 feet for some reason, and that allowed the flak to take much more of a toll than usual. An escorted attack by Vals came in next, so the "good times" for the Dutch fighter pilots ended:
Day Air attack on Soerabaja, at 22, 65
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
D3A Val x 125
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 3
CW-21B Demon x 2
Brewster 339D x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 6 destroyed, 14 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hawk 75A: 3 destroyed
CW-21B Demon: 2 destroyed
Brewster 339D: 3 destroyed
Allied Ships
AS Zuiderkruis, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Port hits 13
Port fuel hits 2
This time the Vals came in at the normal 2000 foot altitude and their losses to flak were much less. In the end the Zuiderkruis was wasted and I scuttled her immediately afterwards. The KB is still offshore of Java and I am still chasing it with subs. I wonder if Yank is considering a very early invasion of Java?
Japanese forces were active elsewhere in the region too. Those battleships that my Dutch torpedo bombers missed over the past couple of turns came in to hammer Menado overnight, after which troops started to land. I pulled my air units out and sent some subs to the base in case they get lucky. There are also a couple of TFs heading in the direction of Balikpapan, which was hammered by LBA again, so I expect an invasion there within a turn or two also. Once again I am sending subs to try to intercept.
San Marcelino was captured in something of a surprise attack to me. I haven't been paying attention to the Philippines and Yank "snuck" a division in without me noticing. However, a deliberate attack at Dadjangas and a shock attack at Cebu both failed. As usual, Clark Field was hit with an artillery bombardment.
In Burma, Moulmein was captured against no opposition. I had brought my troops back to the crossroads to the north. As is usual in any Burma campaign, the bombers that I had set in Rangoon to hit the troops in Moulmein (1 hex away) didn't fly. So I'm trying again this turn, except I've set the target to be the airfield so that if the planes fly, they will damage some supply.
There was nothing out of the ordinary elsewhere. PM was bombed again. Changsha, Ichang, Homan and the troops south of Wuchow received artillery attacks in China. A sub torpedoed an empty AK off of Hilo.
Dave Baranyi
Canuck Amuck - ADavidB vs. Yank
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
Time out...
Yank has some serious real life problems to deal with, so our game will be on hold for a while.
Dave Baranyi
Dave Baranyi
Back in play...
January 4, 1942 -
Yank's RL situation turned out better than first thought, so he was able to get back to out game last night. Now the problem is that it is taking me three times as long to do a turn as usual because I no longer remember what I was doing nor why. [&:] [:D]
In any event, this was a fairly quiet turn. The KB continued along with its "Royal Tour" of the DEI but didn't attack anything, and my remaining LBA wisely stayed far away. The Dutch LBA did try to attack some Japanese ships off the Celebes, but weren't successful. The Dutch, like the British, are pretty much worn out at this point.
There were also lots of clouds and rain most everywhere, but that didn't stop the Japanese air attacks which flew out regards to hit targets all around the Far East. Japanese troops continued to land at Menado, and an invasion started at Sag Sag which was preceded by a bombardment attack by a couple of Japanese DDs. That is quite realistic from a historical point of view, but utterly useless from a Game p.o.v. unless Yank is simply attempting to give the crews of the two ships some practice.
In the ground war, the Japanese troops at Dadjangas attempted another shock attack that failed. Yank has too few troops there; he will need to march more in to join those that are already there. There were also Japanese artillery attacks at Ichang, Changsha, Homan and Clark Field.
My Chinese bombers found the Japanese troops that are trying to sneak up on Lanchow via the northern route while the troops are still a couple of hexes away. I will now give my Chinese bombers some nice practice on that Japanese division while it fights against the terrain and the long supply line back to the Japanese bases.
Dave Baranyi
Yank's RL situation turned out better than first thought, so he was able to get back to out game last night. Now the problem is that it is taking me three times as long to do a turn as usual because I no longer remember what I was doing nor why. [&:] [:D]
In any event, this was a fairly quiet turn. The KB continued along with its "Royal Tour" of the DEI but didn't attack anything, and my remaining LBA wisely stayed far away. The Dutch LBA did try to attack some Japanese ships off the Celebes, but weren't successful. The Dutch, like the British, are pretty much worn out at this point.
There were also lots of clouds and rain most everywhere, but that didn't stop the Japanese air attacks which flew out regards to hit targets all around the Far East. Japanese troops continued to land at Menado, and an invasion started at Sag Sag which was preceded by a bombardment attack by a couple of Japanese DDs. That is quite realistic from a historical point of view, but utterly useless from a Game p.o.v. unless Yank is simply attempting to give the crews of the two ships some practice.
In the ground war, the Japanese troops at Dadjangas attempted another shock attack that failed. Yank has too few troops there; he will need to march more in to join those that are already there. There were also Japanese artillery attacks at Ichang, Changsha, Homan and Clark Field.
My Chinese bombers found the Japanese troops that are trying to sneak up on Lanchow via the northern route while the troops are still a couple of hexes away. I will now give my Chinese bombers some nice practice on that Japanese division while it fights against the terrain and the long supply line back to the Japanese bases.
Dave Baranyi
Bozo Brewsters...
January 5, 1942 -
This was a relatively quiet turn with little out-of-the-ordinary happening. US DDs chased some Japanese subs off of the Hawaiian Islands, more troops landed at Balikpapan and Sag Sag, Japanese bombers hit Clark Field and Manila, Japanese troops staged artillery attacks at Ichang, Changsha and Homan, and the KB sailed slowly away from Java and Sumatra.
There are a lot of Japanese TFs at Kuching, so I suspect that the KB will sail there to refuel, and that the next major Japanese invasion will sail from there too. The only question remains - where will they go? Yank is not even bothering with air attacks on the Allied bases in Malaya, let along Java and Sumatra. China has quieted down a lot. He has tons of troops at Clark Field, but is not doing much elsewhere in the Philippines. I wonder if he will try to sail an invasion fleet to India?
The Kuching Nells flew against my Dutch PTs at Pontianak once again this turn. The Brewsters that I have there just won't intercept the Nells. Despite this, the experience and morale of the Brewster pilots keep on increasing! I sure can't figure this one out. But then, shore artillery attacks on incoming TFs are equally unpredictable. For example, this turn Balikpapan was bombarded twice, and two TFs unloaded troops, but the shore guns only fired on the final TF, twice hitting an MSW that was on escort duty.
In the PNG/Bismarck area, the Australian Hudsons at PM attacked some of the escort ships at Sag Sag, hitting CS Chitose hard. I guess that Yank will send the Bettys back to hit PM again next turn.
In the ground war, a Japanese shock attack captured Cagayan. But another shock attack at Clark Field failed, despite the presence of a number of Japanese armored units. And Sag Sag was captured without opposition. Yank landed a base force along with the combat troops so he will be building that base up in the near future.
Dave Baranyi
This was a relatively quiet turn with little out-of-the-ordinary happening. US DDs chased some Japanese subs off of the Hawaiian Islands, more troops landed at Balikpapan and Sag Sag, Japanese bombers hit Clark Field and Manila, Japanese troops staged artillery attacks at Ichang, Changsha and Homan, and the KB sailed slowly away from Java and Sumatra.
There are a lot of Japanese TFs at Kuching, so I suspect that the KB will sail there to refuel, and that the next major Japanese invasion will sail from there too. The only question remains - where will they go? Yank is not even bothering with air attacks on the Allied bases in Malaya, let along Java and Sumatra. China has quieted down a lot. He has tons of troops at Clark Field, but is not doing much elsewhere in the Philippines. I wonder if he will try to sail an invasion fleet to India?
The Kuching Nells flew against my Dutch PTs at Pontianak once again this turn. The Brewsters that I have there just won't intercept the Nells. Despite this, the experience and morale of the Brewster pilots keep on increasing! I sure can't figure this one out. But then, shore artillery attacks on incoming TFs are equally unpredictable. For example, this turn Balikpapan was bombarded twice, and two TFs unloaded troops, but the shore guns only fired on the final TF, twice hitting an MSW that was on escort duty.
In the PNG/Bismarck area, the Australian Hudsons at PM attacked some of the escort ships at Sag Sag, hitting CS Chitose hard. I guess that Yank will send the Bettys back to hit PM again next turn.
In the ground war, a Japanese shock attack captured Cagayan. But another shock attack at Clark Field failed, despite the presence of a number of Japanese armored units. And Sag Sag was captured without opposition. Yank landed a base force along with the combat troops so he will be building that base up in the near future.
Dave Baranyi
A Few Slight Stumbles for the Japanese...
January 6, 1942 -
The Japanese offensive appears to be temporarily suffering from being a bit too spread out as a number of simultaneous Japanese attacks failed simultaneously this turn. It isn't hard for a Japanese player to recover from this, but it does give me a bit more breathing space, which is fine from my perspective. Some of the things that didn't go quite right for the Japanese included:
- A shock attack on Balikpapan that failed but reduced fortifications to zero
- A shock attack at Menado that failed, although the fortification level was reduced to 1.
- A deliberate attack on Changsha that was repulsed, with fairly heavy casualties on both sides
- A deliberate attack on Ichang that was repulsed with very heavy Japanese casualties
- A shock attack on Yenen that was repulsed with even heavier Japanese casualties
There was also an unsuccessful "automatic" shock attack by a big Japanese Division that moved north of Moulmein. I'm using this as a signal to pull back the unit that I had blocking that crossing, and I am pulling back the two remaining units out of Rangoon too. This time, unlike my game against Treespider, I am going to stand at Pagan and Mandalay for a while in order to try to buy enough time for my Chinese troops that are under SEAC control to reach the Burma Road bases.
The only other land combat efforts were Japanese artillery attacks on Homan and Clark Field. I'm going to try to drive those three Japanese units out of Homan next turn. We'll see how well I do.
In the air war Japanese bombers came back to Singapore, this time accompanied by escorts, so my Brit fighters were wiped out. I'm "throwing in the towel" and moving those last remaining Brit fighters to India. The Dutch now get the job of trying to defend the air over the DEI and Malaya.
In a surprise move, a number of Japanese bombers hit Medan this turn. I wonder if Medan will be the next Japanese invasion target? Unfortunately, it's one of the few Allied bases in the region that I haven't mined, and my mine-layer subs are on their way back to port for reloads. So for now I'll move a number of normal subs along the route to Medan just in case an invasion fleet does come along.
There are still a number of Japanese TFs within the range of Dutch LBA, and with the KB gone, a number of Dutch bombers did fly, but for the most part they were unsuccessful, with the exception of an attack on a Japanese MSW that scored several hits. The MSW is still afloat, but a Japanese AP and I-19 sank at sea from older damage.
Yank will be out of town and away from the Game for the rest of the week, so things will go quiet here again until next weekend.
Dave Baranyi
The Japanese offensive appears to be temporarily suffering from being a bit too spread out as a number of simultaneous Japanese attacks failed simultaneously this turn. It isn't hard for a Japanese player to recover from this, but it does give me a bit more breathing space, which is fine from my perspective. Some of the things that didn't go quite right for the Japanese included:
- A shock attack on Balikpapan that failed but reduced fortifications to zero
- A shock attack at Menado that failed, although the fortification level was reduced to 1.
- A deliberate attack on Changsha that was repulsed, with fairly heavy casualties on both sides
- A deliberate attack on Ichang that was repulsed with very heavy Japanese casualties
- A shock attack on Yenen that was repulsed with even heavier Japanese casualties
There was also an unsuccessful "automatic" shock attack by a big Japanese Division that moved north of Moulmein. I'm using this as a signal to pull back the unit that I had blocking that crossing, and I am pulling back the two remaining units out of Rangoon too. This time, unlike my game against Treespider, I am going to stand at Pagan and Mandalay for a while in order to try to buy enough time for my Chinese troops that are under SEAC control to reach the Burma Road bases.
The only other land combat efforts were Japanese artillery attacks on Homan and Clark Field. I'm going to try to drive those three Japanese units out of Homan next turn. We'll see how well I do.
In the air war Japanese bombers came back to Singapore, this time accompanied by escorts, so my Brit fighters were wiped out. I'm "throwing in the towel" and moving those last remaining Brit fighters to India. The Dutch now get the job of trying to defend the air over the DEI and Malaya.
In a surprise move, a number of Japanese bombers hit Medan this turn. I wonder if Medan will be the next Japanese invasion target? Unfortunately, it's one of the few Allied bases in the region that I haven't mined, and my mine-layer subs are on their way back to port for reloads. So for now I'll move a number of normal subs along the route to Medan just in case an invasion fleet does come along.
There are still a number of Japanese TFs within the range of Dutch LBA, and with the KB gone, a number of Dutch bombers did fly, but for the most part they were unsuccessful, with the exception of an attack on a Japanese MSW that scored several hits. The MSW is still afloat, but a Japanese AP and I-19 sank at sea from older damage.
Yank will be out of town and away from the Game for the rest of the week, so things will go quiet here again until next weekend.
Dave Baranyi
Back for a Bit...
January 7, 1942 -
Yank is back after first being away on "business business", then being busy with "personal business". But I'll be away on "family business" this coming weekend so we will barely be able to get reacquainted with this Match before we will be taking a break again.
One thing that the breaks from this Match have done is to allow me to reconsider some of my strategy and tactics. Sure, Yank isn't doing the exact same things as Treespider, but the Japanese opening strategy has enough common objectives, even with a non-historical start, that there are tactical changes that I can make to see what difference my decision brings.
So, for example, I set up my Chinese strategy to prevent Yank from outmanoeuvring me early on, and so far it is working quite nicely. None of my bases in China are threatened with being cut off yet, and I even kicked the Japanese besiegers out of Homan this turn, doing it two months earlier than in my game against Treespider. I still have to contend with Yank's alternate tactics in China, such as his current Northern attack, but so far I have avoided giving him any "freebies".
Similarly, in Burma I've set up defenses at Mandalay and Palang to buy me the time to protect the Burma Road bases with Chinese SEAC troops. When I tried this against Treespider I tried to use the Brit troops from Burma to hold Lashio and Myitkyina against the Japanese until the Chinese could arrive. The Brit troops failed and so I lost both bases. Now I'm going to try to use the river and base defense of Mandalay to hold for the time I need to get the Chinese in place. I'm fighting against the rail line as much as against the Japanese forces, so I need to be careful to keep my defenders from being knocked into the jungle.
And in another example, I decided in this game to not allow Yank to grab Baker Island with a simple Fast Transport attack as Treespider has just done, so I am sending a Marine Defense Unit to Baker and will try to find a "spare" base force for the island too. This won't stop a serious Division-strong assault, but it will stop a "hit-and-run" landing, which mines alone won't stop.
Likewise, I'm starting to think about doing something in the Eastern Solomons. My big problem there is a lack of fuel and supplies in the region to support my naval forces. But I feel that I ought to move some ships into the region, just in case I can catch an unprotected transport TF on the move. After all, much of the KB is off in the Far East.
I may also do the "historical" thing and move some Australian troops to Timor. I'd like to be able to hang onto Lautem for a longer time than I did against Treespider. But I had better keep some ships and transport planes nearby to do a rush evacuation if the entire Japanese might comes steaming that way (again, as happened historically).
So this game has the potential of becoming something quite different from the match against Treespider in the short run, particularly if Yank decides to start to "emulate" Treespider's pathway to success. On the other hand, it does put me into the position of potentially making the classical error of "preparing for the last war" if Yank continues to do things differently.
Okay, now to an update; Yank's forces continued to do reasonably well with his strategy this turn. Balikpapan, Rangoon and Puerto Princesa were captured by assault. Ichang, Changsha, Yenen, and Clark Field received artillery attacks, as did Homan before the Chinese drove the Japanese troops away from that base. A shock attack at Alor Star failed but did reduce the fortification, and a shock attack at Menado was repulsed. A large Nell attack on Singapore kept the airfields there securely closed.
Allied Air was busy in the DEI. A number of unsuccessful attacks were flown against "hard" targets (Japanese cruisers), but Dutch bombers did hit a Japanese AP at Balikpapan. The most effective Allied weapon this turn was the submarine, with KXV hitting an AP off of Malaya and sinking it, KVIII hitting another AP at Balikpapan, and Pickerel hitting yet another AP a little ways away.
Dave Baranyi
Yank is back after first being away on "business business", then being busy with "personal business". But I'll be away on "family business" this coming weekend so we will barely be able to get reacquainted with this Match before we will be taking a break again.
One thing that the breaks from this Match have done is to allow me to reconsider some of my strategy and tactics. Sure, Yank isn't doing the exact same things as Treespider, but the Japanese opening strategy has enough common objectives, even with a non-historical start, that there are tactical changes that I can make to see what difference my decision brings.
So, for example, I set up my Chinese strategy to prevent Yank from outmanoeuvring me early on, and so far it is working quite nicely. None of my bases in China are threatened with being cut off yet, and I even kicked the Japanese besiegers out of Homan this turn, doing it two months earlier than in my game against Treespider. I still have to contend with Yank's alternate tactics in China, such as his current Northern attack, but so far I have avoided giving him any "freebies".
Similarly, in Burma I've set up defenses at Mandalay and Palang to buy me the time to protect the Burma Road bases with Chinese SEAC troops. When I tried this against Treespider I tried to use the Brit troops from Burma to hold Lashio and Myitkyina against the Japanese until the Chinese could arrive. The Brit troops failed and so I lost both bases. Now I'm going to try to use the river and base defense of Mandalay to hold for the time I need to get the Chinese in place. I'm fighting against the rail line as much as against the Japanese forces, so I need to be careful to keep my defenders from being knocked into the jungle.
And in another example, I decided in this game to not allow Yank to grab Baker Island with a simple Fast Transport attack as Treespider has just done, so I am sending a Marine Defense Unit to Baker and will try to find a "spare" base force for the island too. This won't stop a serious Division-strong assault, but it will stop a "hit-and-run" landing, which mines alone won't stop.
Likewise, I'm starting to think about doing something in the Eastern Solomons. My big problem there is a lack of fuel and supplies in the region to support my naval forces. But I feel that I ought to move some ships into the region, just in case I can catch an unprotected transport TF on the move. After all, much of the KB is off in the Far East.
I may also do the "historical" thing and move some Australian troops to Timor. I'd like to be able to hang onto Lautem for a longer time than I did against Treespider. But I had better keep some ships and transport planes nearby to do a rush evacuation if the entire Japanese might comes steaming that way (again, as happened historically).
So this game has the potential of becoming something quite different from the match against Treespider in the short run, particularly if Yank decides to start to "emulate" Treespider's pathway to success. On the other hand, it does put me into the position of potentially making the classical error of "preparing for the last war" if Yank continues to do things differently.
Okay, now to an update; Yank's forces continued to do reasonably well with his strategy this turn. Balikpapan, Rangoon and Puerto Princesa were captured by assault. Ichang, Changsha, Yenen, and Clark Field received artillery attacks, as did Homan before the Chinese drove the Japanese troops away from that base. A shock attack at Alor Star failed but did reduce the fortification, and a shock attack at Menado was repulsed. A large Nell attack on Singapore kept the airfields there securely closed.
Allied Air was busy in the DEI. A number of unsuccessful attacks were flown against "hard" targets (Japanese cruisers), but Dutch bombers did hit a Japanese AP at Balikpapan. The most effective Allied weapon this turn was the submarine, with KXV hitting an AP off of Malaya and sinking it, KVIII hitting another AP at Balikpapan, and Pickerel hitting yet another AP a little ways away.
Dave Baranyi
Away again for a Bit...
January 8, 1942 -
This will be the last report for another week or so. I'm going off for a long weekend, then by the time I am back Yank will be off on another business trip, followed by some vacation time of his own. This Match may take longer than the actual War. [X(]
There were a lot of small actions this turn but nothing major:
- US ASW unsuccessfully chased a Japanese sub off of the Hawaiian Islands
- Lots of Nells kept the airfields at Singapore well closed
- For some reason Japanese bombers hit Medan
- Samarinda and Manila received Zero sweeps even though I haven't put any fighters there in quite some time
- Lots of Dutch bombers attacked Japanese TFs in the DEI without any success
- Sub KX put two torpedoes into an AP off of Samarinda
In the ground war, Ichang, Changsha, Yenen and Clark Field all received artillery bombardments. Japanese troops attempted a shock attack at Alor Star but were repulsed decisively. Yank now has a Japanese LCU at Malacca, but I've moved several Commonwealth LCUs into the base including the Aussie units, so I may be able to tie-down that attack for a while.
Dave Baranyi
This will be the last report for another week or so. I'm going off for a long weekend, then by the time I am back Yank will be off on another business trip, followed by some vacation time of his own. This Match may take longer than the actual War. [X(]
There were a lot of small actions this turn but nothing major:
- US ASW unsuccessfully chased a Japanese sub off of the Hawaiian Islands
- Lots of Nells kept the airfields at Singapore well closed
- For some reason Japanese bombers hit Medan
- Samarinda and Manila received Zero sweeps even though I haven't put any fighters there in quite some time
- Lots of Dutch bombers attacked Japanese TFs in the DEI without any success
- Sub KX put two torpedoes into an AP off of Samarinda
In the ground war, Ichang, Changsha, Yenen and Clark Field all received artillery bombardments. Japanese troops attempted a shock attack at Alor Star but were repulsed decisively. Yank now has a Japanese LCU at Malacca, but I've moved several Commonwealth LCUs into the base including the Aussie units, so I may be able to tie-down that attack for a while.
Dave Baranyi
Back Again...(What was I planning?)
January 9, 1942 -
Wow! It's been so long since I received a turn from Yank that I've pretty much forgotten whatever strategy I was planning before. So as I was going over the map my reaction was almost universally, "Why in the World did I put that unit there?" [&:] [X(]
The sub campaigns continued actively on both sides. I-175 put a torpedo into an AK that was on its way to Johnston Island with some supplies, which caused the AK to reverse course and start to head back to Pearl Harbor, while the escort took off for Johnston at full speed. (Court-martial time again, I suspect. [:@] ) Fortunately, there was another empty transport TF on its way to Pearl nearby into which I was able to transfer the damaged AK. I'm also sending that wayward escort back to Pearl along the route of the transport TF, just in case it can find I-175. There are other Japanese subs in the neighbourhood so I've sent out more ASW TFs from Pearl in the hopes of discouraging the raiding.
Allied sub efforts weren't as successful, as S-38 was chased out of Kuching by aggressive Japanese ASW, and KXV missed a clear shot on an unescorted AK just off of the east coast of Malaya. However, two Japanese APs that had been damaged in earlier attacks sank while trying to get back to base from Borneo, so things sort of evened out.
Dutch LBA continued its "heroic" attacks on Japanese ships in the DEI. Japanese troops started to land at Toboali and some Martins from Batavia put a couple of bombs into one of the APs of the invasion TF. However, the "prize" for LBA attacks on ships this turn has to go to some Bettys that flew all the way from Davao to attack the Dutch PT boats at Pontianak:
Day Air attack on TF, near Pontianak at 25, 58
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 3
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
PT TM-14
PT TM-4
PT TM-13, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
The Bettys flew right by the Hawks without a shot being fired. That PT sank later on. (This is a good example of why I don't risk "good" ships in the DEI - I can't protect them from LBA with CAP.)
In any event, I'm sending the remaining PTs from Pontianak as well as the PTs at Sumatra against the invasion TF at Toboali next turn. I hope that they can get a few shots in before the transports flee. (I don't believe that there is an escort TF along with the invasion.)
There were a number of other Japanese air attacks, particularly in Malaya, but other than the usual 40+ Nell attack on Singapore that continues to keep the airfield there totally closed, there wasn't a lot of damage. I sent some bombers to hit the air field at Rangoon just to use up some of the supplies there and hopefully thus slow down the next advance by the Japanese combat troops. Yank hasn't moved any air support units into Rangoon yet, so I've got a free hand for now.
In the ground war, Yank did artillery bombardments in China and at Clark Field. His forces attempted a shock attack at Alor Star that wasn't successful, but the fortification levels were reduced from 2 to 0. Japanese troops also tried a shock attack at Malacca, but were hammered:
Ground combat at Malacca
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 19622 troops, 182 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 376
Defending force 13808 troops, 147 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 333
Japanese max assault: 686 - adjusted assault: 116
Allied max defense: 327 - adjusted defense: 557
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese ground losses:
1202 casualties reported
Guns lost 44
Vehicles lost 10
Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
I had moved the four best ground units in Malaya to Malacca in order to stop the Japanese assault and so far things are working out as planned.
Dave Baranyi
Wow! It's been so long since I received a turn from Yank that I've pretty much forgotten whatever strategy I was planning before. So as I was going over the map my reaction was almost universally, "Why in the World did I put that unit there?" [&:] [X(]
The sub campaigns continued actively on both sides. I-175 put a torpedo into an AK that was on its way to Johnston Island with some supplies, which caused the AK to reverse course and start to head back to Pearl Harbor, while the escort took off for Johnston at full speed. (Court-martial time again, I suspect. [:@] ) Fortunately, there was another empty transport TF on its way to Pearl nearby into which I was able to transfer the damaged AK. I'm also sending that wayward escort back to Pearl along the route of the transport TF, just in case it can find I-175. There are other Japanese subs in the neighbourhood so I've sent out more ASW TFs from Pearl in the hopes of discouraging the raiding.
Allied sub efforts weren't as successful, as S-38 was chased out of Kuching by aggressive Japanese ASW, and KXV missed a clear shot on an unescorted AK just off of the east coast of Malaya. However, two Japanese APs that had been damaged in earlier attacks sank while trying to get back to base from Borneo, so things sort of evened out.
Dutch LBA continued its "heroic" attacks on Japanese ships in the DEI. Japanese troops started to land at Toboali and some Martins from Batavia put a couple of bombs into one of the APs of the invasion TF. However, the "prize" for LBA attacks on ships this turn has to go to some Bettys that flew all the way from Davao to attack the Dutch PT boats at Pontianak:
Day Air attack on TF, near Pontianak at 25, 58
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 3
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
PT TM-14
PT TM-4
PT TM-13, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty attacking at 100 feet
The Bettys flew right by the Hawks without a shot being fired. That PT sank later on. (This is a good example of why I don't risk "good" ships in the DEI - I can't protect them from LBA with CAP.)
In any event, I'm sending the remaining PTs from Pontianak as well as the PTs at Sumatra against the invasion TF at Toboali next turn. I hope that they can get a few shots in before the transports flee. (I don't believe that there is an escort TF along with the invasion.)
There were a number of other Japanese air attacks, particularly in Malaya, but other than the usual 40+ Nell attack on Singapore that continues to keep the airfield there totally closed, there wasn't a lot of damage. I sent some bombers to hit the air field at Rangoon just to use up some of the supplies there and hopefully thus slow down the next advance by the Japanese combat troops. Yank hasn't moved any air support units into Rangoon yet, so I've got a free hand for now.
In the ground war, Yank did artillery bombardments in China and at Clark Field. His forces attempted a shock attack at Alor Star that wasn't successful, but the fortification levels were reduced from 2 to 0. Japanese troops also tried a shock attack at Malacca, but were hammered:
Ground combat at Malacca
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 19622 troops, 182 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 376
Defending force 13808 troops, 147 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 333
Japanese max assault: 686 - adjusted assault: 116
Allied max defense: 327 - adjusted defense: 557
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese ground losses:
1202 casualties reported
Guns lost 44
Vehicles lost 10
Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
I had moved the four best ground units in Malaya to Malacca in order to stop the Japanese assault and so far things are working out as planned.
Dave Baranyi
A Bit of a Replay Bug...
January 10, 1942 -
It appears that we've run into a little bit of a "replay" bug with this turn. The Combat Replay and the associated Combat Report showed my troops at Alor Star withstanding another shock attack, but when I looked at the map for the turn my troops were now at Georgetown with a "telltale" increase in fatigue and disruptions.
I've read suggestions that air attacks on PT boats are sometimes associated with erroneous ground combat reports. (That still sounds like "voodoo" to me.) Sure enough, this turn Nells whacked the Dutch PTs that I had hunting for the ships that dropped off the Japanese troops in Toboali last turn. I'm astounded at how well Yank's LBA is polishing off my PT boat; what this means is that I can't keep any surface combat ships safely in the DEI. BTW - my PT boats didn't find that invasion TF so all the trouble and loss were for nought. The only slight measure of revenge I got this turn was a mine hit on an AP that was entering Hong Kong. I guess that Yank forgot to sweep out the remaining mines.
In other action, there were plenty of Japanese bombardment attacks in China, and Clark Field withstood another shock attack. (I think… [&:] [;)] ) My ASW forces missed the Japanese subs that are hanging around the Hawaiian Islands but at least my TFs didn't get attacked this turn.
I'm still scratching my head in bewilderment at the placement that I am finding of many of my units. I must not have been paying much attention to this match when I was playing it last month; some units have ended up in very odd places. This is almost like taking over someone else's game. [&:] [:D]
But the important part is that the Japanese forces are still tied up in the Philippines and Malaya, and other than Borneo, the DEI is still under my nominal control. Yank has also not yet moved from Rangoon, so my Burma Road strategy may well work this time.
Dave Baranyi
It appears that we've run into a little bit of a "replay" bug with this turn. The Combat Replay and the associated Combat Report showed my troops at Alor Star withstanding another shock attack, but when I looked at the map for the turn my troops were now at Georgetown with a "telltale" increase in fatigue and disruptions.
I've read suggestions that air attacks on PT boats are sometimes associated with erroneous ground combat reports. (That still sounds like "voodoo" to me.) Sure enough, this turn Nells whacked the Dutch PTs that I had hunting for the ships that dropped off the Japanese troops in Toboali last turn. I'm astounded at how well Yank's LBA is polishing off my PT boat; what this means is that I can't keep any surface combat ships safely in the DEI. BTW - my PT boats didn't find that invasion TF so all the trouble and loss were for nought. The only slight measure of revenge I got this turn was a mine hit on an AP that was entering Hong Kong. I guess that Yank forgot to sweep out the remaining mines.
In other action, there were plenty of Japanese bombardment attacks in China, and Clark Field withstood another shock attack. (I think… [&:] [;)] ) My ASW forces missed the Japanese subs that are hanging around the Hawaiian Islands but at least my TFs didn't get attacked this turn.
I'm still scratching my head in bewilderment at the placement that I am finding of many of my units. I must not have been paying much attention to this match when I was playing it last month; some units have ended up in very odd places. This is almost like taking over someone else's game. [&:] [:D]
But the important part is that the Japanese forces are still tied up in the Philippines and Malaya, and other than Borneo, the DEI is still under my nominal control. Yank has also not yet moved from Rangoon, so my Burma Road strategy may well work this time.
Dave Baranyi
Sub Action...
January 11, 1942 -
Sub warfare picked up a lot this turn. US ASW DDs went after I-17 that was sitting to the west of Hawaii and missed it on their first try. But later on I-17 came back to put a torpedo into one of those DDs, severely damaging it. On the eastern side of Hawaii more US DDs found I-6 and hit it with several depth charges, damaging it to some unknown extent. Meanwhile, Japanese ASW ships chased S-38 away from Kuching Harbor.
There were also a number of LBA strikes on naval targets. Nells attacked the Dutch PTs at Pontianak, and according to the combat replay damaged several severely. But when I checked the TF the next turn the ships had minimal damage, so I guess that this is some sort of minor replay bug again. The Australians at Port Moresby also got into the act. Despite an early Japanese air attack from Rabaul on the air field at PM, Aussie Hudsons got off Finschafen and hit an AK in one TF and two APs in another.
There were a lot of other air attacks on land targets. Singapore received its usual attack from 40+ Nells. Medan received another attack, as did Clark Field. A number of Zero sweeps were flown, but against targets such as Manila where I am not bothering to place any CAP. There also were a number of tit-for-tat attacks in China. Since Yank continues to use his Chinese fighters instead of bringing in good Zero units the air battles in China continue to be close to a stalemate.
In ground combat, the Japanese used artillery attacks on the various Chinese bases. There was another shock attack at Clark Field, but I suspect that the Japanese troops are too fatigued and disrupted because this attack did very little. My troops attempted an artillery bombardment against the besiegers of Malacca, but with little success.
The weather is terrible as usual in the Indo-Burmese Theater, and I've lost track of the Japanese units at Rangoon, so I'm going to try to fly some recon flights over it this coming turn because Recon flights usually fly, even if no other missions will fly.
In the Eastern Pacific I'm working diligently to try to recover from my incomprehensible moves earlier in the game. Fortunately, other than submarines, there aren't any Japanese incursions in the region to interfere with my scrambling. I've also sent out a two CV TF to cover the landing of troops at Baker Island. I'll have one CV provide LR CAP over the landing and the other to provide CAP over the two CVs. Tarawa is still a Level 1 airbase so I don't have any concerns about it, and Kwajalein is too far away for Zeros to escort bombers to hit my ships at Baker, so I ought to be okay. Never-the-less, I am still a bit concerned because I've yet to see any CAP intercept an incoming LBA attack on naval targets in this game or in the game against Treespider.
BTW - I am going to give Yank the "heads-up" about what Treespider and I are doing about China in that match. Yank appears to want to try "War in China" for a while too, and I hate to discourage him, but I also don't want the game to be goofed up by movement/ZOC problems. Right now Yank is getting a lesson in the problems with long distance supply as he has an LCU in the far northeast that is getting daily aerial bombardments while it attempts to move on my bases. It's a long, long way from home. Tophat tried the same thing in his match against me and he finally gave up on it.
Dave Baranyi
Sub warfare picked up a lot this turn. US ASW DDs went after I-17 that was sitting to the west of Hawaii and missed it on their first try. But later on I-17 came back to put a torpedo into one of those DDs, severely damaging it. On the eastern side of Hawaii more US DDs found I-6 and hit it with several depth charges, damaging it to some unknown extent. Meanwhile, Japanese ASW ships chased S-38 away from Kuching Harbor.
There were also a number of LBA strikes on naval targets. Nells attacked the Dutch PTs at Pontianak, and according to the combat replay damaged several severely. But when I checked the TF the next turn the ships had minimal damage, so I guess that this is some sort of minor replay bug again. The Australians at Port Moresby also got into the act. Despite an early Japanese air attack from Rabaul on the air field at PM, Aussie Hudsons got off Finschafen and hit an AK in one TF and two APs in another.
There were a lot of other air attacks on land targets. Singapore received its usual attack from 40+ Nells. Medan received another attack, as did Clark Field. A number of Zero sweeps were flown, but against targets such as Manila where I am not bothering to place any CAP. There also were a number of tit-for-tat attacks in China. Since Yank continues to use his Chinese fighters instead of bringing in good Zero units the air battles in China continue to be close to a stalemate.
In ground combat, the Japanese used artillery attacks on the various Chinese bases. There was another shock attack at Clark Field, but I suspect that the Japanese troops are too fatigued and disrupted because this attack did very little. My troops attempted an artillery bombardment against the besiegers of Malacca, but with little success.
The weather is terrible as usual in the Indo-Burmese Theater, and I've lost track of the Japanese units at Rangoon, so I'm going to try to fly some recon flights over it this coming turn because Recon flights usually fly, even if no other missions will fly.
In the Eastern Pacific I'm working diligently to try to recover from my incomprehensible moves earlier in the game. Fortunately, other than submarines, there aren't any Japanese incursions in the region to interfere with my scrambling. I've also sent out a two CV TF to cover the landing of troops at Baker Island. I'll have one CV provide LR CAP over the landing and the other to provide CAP over the two CVs. Tarawa is still a Level 1 airbase so I don't have any concerns about it, and Kwajalein is too far away for Zeros to escort bombers to hit my ships at Baker, so I ought to be okay. Never-the-less, I am still a bit concerned because I've yet to see any CAP intercept an incoming LBA attack on naval targets in this game or in the game against Treespider.
BTW - I am going to give Yank the "heads-up" about what Treespider and I are doing about China in that match. Yank appears to want to try "War in China" for a while too, and I hate to discourage him, but I also don't want the game to be goofed up by movement/ZOC problems. Right now Yank is getting a lesson in the problems with long distance supply as he has an LCU in the far northeast that is getting daily aerial bombardments while it attempts to move on my bases. It's a long, long way from home. Tophat tried the same thing in his match against me and he finally gave up on it.
Dave Baranyi
Game Over
Yank suggested that we might want to call an end to this match and try over once another revision or so has been released. I agreed, and so we'll wait and see how things evolve in the development of the Game. (For the meanwhile, my match with Treespider will be a guinea pig for both Yank and I. [;)] )
Thanks to everyone who followed this AAR!!!
Dave Baranyi
Thanks to everyone who followed this AAR!!!
Dave Baranyi
-
anarchyintheuk
- Posts: 3958
- Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 7:08 pm
- Location: Dallas
RE: Game Over
Had fun reading it. Hope you start the next one soon.
RE: Game Over
ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk
Had fun reading it. Hope you start the next one soon.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it. We aren't likely to start another match before Fall because of having plenty of personal business on both sides of the connection. (RL does have to take the lead over GL some times... [;)] )
Thanks again -
Dave Baranyi