The Leader Bug strikes - BigB 1.5 Japanese version

[Rainer79]

Daniel, please stop reading here.

Hello everybody and welcome to my litte AAR. The title was chosen due to the fact that this is my first PBEM as Japan, having been an Allied player in the past. It is certainly an interesting experience.

We are using BigB Mod 1.5 Scenario 192.

House rules:
no invasions against hexes that do not contain a dot/base in them
no sub invasions
Kwantung, CEA and Chinese units will have to stay in their areas unless
bought out through PPs
airfield stacking limits (50 x level + 15%)
Bombers: No B-29s on naval attack, unless Japan enjoys equal or greater then 2-1 advantage in fleet/heavy carriers. No four engine bombers lower then 10,000 feet.
Atolls: max. 20k troops per atoll (with exceptions allowed for Kwajalein and Truk)


Current game date is December 26th, 1941.

What has happened so far:

Northern Area: Quiet. Airfields are being built up while transports bring excess supplies on the Kuriles back to Japan.

4th Fleet: The Pearl Harbor strike sinks BB Tennessee while the other BBs receive varying degrees of damage. None are in danger of sinking as only one Kate Daitai used torpedoes. After the initial strike, the KB has retired towards Kwajalein.

Wake was subdued by a NavGd and SNLF, Guam was taken by the SSD (after an embarrassing 1:1 attack on the first attempt) while smaller forces gobbled up Tarawa, Makin, Nauru, Baker and the various dot bases near them.

The Americans have recently sent a reinforcement convoy to Palmyra. During that operation I-17 (a Glen-equipped sub) was sunk by some DMS after putting a torpedo into one of them. Heavy damage was reported and Pearl is not near so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Further sub attacks have sunk a troop-laden AP but 2 I-boats had to withdraw with moderate damage. The BBs are apparently still at Pearl.

Southeast Fleet:
The SSD detachment has recently seized Rabaul from the Aussie bataillon there. Additional landings have secured the Admiralities, Shortlands and Tulagi. More troops are on the way. Currently my focus here is to build up and secure the area. I could easily push further south but I am still mulling things over. With the stacking limits on atolls in place I’d rather have sizeable allied presence in the southern pacific instead of Daniel using those divisions in CenPac.

CEA: Currently the focus here is to eliminate or push back the partisan brigades behind my lines (a task that should be accomplished soon) and to secure the south-eastern corner of the country. Recently the AVG and P-40 from the Philippines have been spotted in the area.

Hong Kong still holds against 2 divisions, 2 engineer and 3 artillery regiments. Forts have been reduced to 5 though and it is my hope that the base will surrender within two weeks.

[Rainer79]

SAA: Progress here has been satisfactory. The Allied navies have not tried to contest any landings with the notable exception of Force Z raiding Kuching. Despite me evacuating the harbor CA Chokai and DD Sagiri decide it is a good time to ambush the British ships instead of steaming for Saigon as ordered. The engagement was pretty one-sided though thankfully not as expected. The small squadron manages to surprise the British and heavily damage a British D-class CL (survived though), plant a long lance into PoW and scratch the point of some of the escorting DDs. Chokai received a single 14” hit and should be able to rejoin the fleet in February at the latest together with the plucky DD. Banzai!

In Malaya the British managed to retreat in good order. A brigade and base force are cut off south of Kuantan and early in the war several APs were spotted evacuating troops. The IJA divisions will soon try an attack against Johore Baru (10 units spotted with some 500 AV estimated).

[Rainer79]

The PI is the most interesting theatre right now.

The situation in Mindanao is firmly under control. A recent allied shock attack at Cagayan was repulsed by the 56th brigade with more than 2000 casualties.

On Luzon Daniel tried to defend forward. In the south he held Naga but was forced to retreat back into Manila after a landing at Lamon Bay. Nevertheless a RCT counterattacked there and first ejected a NLF and later an overstrength SNLF. We’ll see how they fare against a regiment. About 10 units have been spotted at Manila.

In the north the USAFFE troops defended the Lingayen-Baguio line but the force mix was a bit off. More troops held the mountains instead of the woods to the west and the IJA managed to break through at Lingayen. Nevertheless they nearly managed to get back their entire force to Clark. Only an artillery unit had to surrender at Baguio. 14th Army at Clark is awaiting the arrival of the 48th division to hopefully push back the defenders into Bataan and create separate pockets. Once Hong Kong falls, the 38th division might be sent here if necessary.

[Rainer79]

Industry:
The construction of Shinano has been stopped and 3 DDs have been accelerated. The Merchant yards have been ordered to hurry 2 CVEs and multiple TKs. Armamant and vehicle factories have also been increased though I wonder if more armament factories are necessary.

Once the Hitachi engines are used up, the Ida construction will be switched to something else.

So far the empire has been lucky with its captures. The big resource centers are nearly all undamaged while the oil centers on Borneo have only been slightly damaged. Nevertheless the economy will still need a lot of additional oil to function.


Shipping losses have been light for both sides so far. The Kates and Nells near the PI sadly had decided not to launch against the most important targets. CL Boise was attacked 3 times by subs but dodged all torpedoes.

Japanese losses: 1 MSW, 2 med. APs, 1 small AK, 1 large AK, 1 SS
Allied losses: 1 BB, 2 AVD, 1 ML, 5 MSW, 6 PTs, 4 SS (2 S-boats), 3 APs, 10 AKs, 1 TK


Any comments, questions or suggestions?

[Rainer79]

Dec. 26th:
A very quiet day. The DD Yagumo chases SS Shark near Camranh Bay resulting in little (if any) damage. A Dutch Martin on nav search plants a bomb into one of my subs which is retiring now to safer waters.

The first attack at Johore Baru comes off at 1:1. Gen. Yamashita has 2000 AV against 500 AV defenders. Things are looking good here.

Also Tarakan was seized by a Nav Gd unit. The dutch defenders surrender after some minor acts of sabotage.

Finally Hong Kong's forts were reduced to 4 after a 2:1 attack. All in all, a good day for the IJA.

[bigbaba]

welcome and nice to see another japanese AAR here. thats the best way for me to learn playing the japanese. your loses were very light so far but i think  you sunk not enough allied shipping at the beginning. espacialy the allied subs were able to escape from manila what will hurt the japanese player more then some US BB at pearl harbor.

it seems for me realy, that the "hit manila and sink 30 subs there instead of attacking pearl" tactic becomes more and more common for japanese players.

good luck for both of you.

[Rainer79]

Thanks. I agree that Allied losses are light so far but the Nells decided to take a sake break and I did not want to pursue with my CVL deep into dutch airspace. Going there with only Claudes is a bad idea IMO. There are also some allied ship disbanded at various ports in the PIs who will be die sooner or later. I am not in a great hurry to destroy them but forces are nearby if they decide to make a run for it.

Dec 27th saw bad weather cancel most of the strikes and those that flew did no damage to the enemy. Hong Kong's forts were reduced to 1 but disruption is becoming a problem there. Hopefully it will still fall before the year is over. Also DMS Lamberton is reported sunk. I-17's sacrifice was not in vain.

[Rainer79]

Dec. 28th:

Malaya: A raid over Singapore destroys a few Buffaloes and achieves some hits on the runway. A deliberate attack at Johore Baru achieves 2:1 and reduces forts to 3 but disruption is in the 40s now. Still, Yamashita should be able to cross into Singapore by early January.


Burma: Several planes of the AVG attack an Oscar Sentai over Moulmain (which had been seized by paratroopers). The Oscars do well and down two of their attackers in exchange for one loss.


PI: Several of the previously mentioned disbanded transports have left port and are now in Cebu. A SAG has been dispatched to deal with them and just in case a Betty Daitai and 2 DB Sentais have been alerted.


DEI: Over 20 Martin bombers are now operating around Balikpapan. They put 4 bombs into an AP at Tarakan (should survive) and scratched the paint on a CA. Plans to neutralize these airfields have been accelerated. Meanwhile NLF units continue to gobble up bases and dots around New Guinea.


Northern Area: Several construction battalions and base forces have been dispatched to seize some of the western Aleutians. Infantry support will be made available from the Kwantung army once enough PPs have been accumulated. Several DDs will provide cover. This is pretty much a shoestring operation right now but I do not expect much opposition.


Here is also a picture of the area around Rabaul:

[Rainer79]

Dec. 29th, 1941:

A good day for the Empire. During the night phase my SAG sinks two Allied AKs near Cebu. A bombardment of Samarinda and Balikpapan yields poor results though. During the day multiple dutch planes sortie from those two locations but only do light damage to a AP. Invasions of both locations are imminent and will proceed under Zero LRCAP.

Finally the Nells at Kuching decide to do something useful and sink a ML near Soerabaja. In the afternoon phase they also attack a convoy near Toboali and sink or damage multiple AKs and a TK.

It seems that the British are giving up Johore Baru so a new attack was ordered there. We have spotted 3 units less than yesterday.

In China we continue to force some CCP guerillas to retreat.

[Rainer79]

Dec. 30th, 1941:

The cowardly Brits indeed vacated Johore Baru and fled for the (temporary) safety of Singapore. Gen. Yamashita's troops will pursue them minus a small detachment that will occupy Mersing.

Additionally the invasion of Samarinda has begun. The Nav Gd is unit ashore and will attack tomorrow. A small AP has been hit by multiple bombs and will likely sink. In retaliation our Nells attacked the convoy near Palembang again and put down two AKs for good.

In the PI two RCTs and 1 SNLF cleared out Lamon Bay from an allied RCT which had to surrender. The troops will move into Manila now.

Finally Hong Kong fell today after a spirited defense. In total more than 18.000 soldiers were taken prisoner today. Most of the troops will move back into Canton except for the engineers and the 38th division. Depending on the progress at Clark Field this unit may be sent there.

[Rainer79]

Dec. 31st, 1941:

It seems that the RAF is getting active near Singapore again as airfield symbols on Sabang and Port Blair lit up. I assume that Dan is trying to fly out troops. Also B-17 made a raid against Saigon from Singapore but missed their target. We'll have to try and stop that.

The first strike against Singapore from Johore was pretty much shredded by flak fire. No less than 14 bombers were shot down (Lillies and Sallies). Ouch. At least several aircraft were shot down or torched on the ground. In light of the recent RAF activity though the strikes will continue albeit at a higher altitude.

Samarinda was taken by the Nav Gd and about 2000 dutch defenders surrendered. Today a deliberate attack is ordered at Balikpapan. Some more APs were bombed bringing the total to 1 heavily damaged (likely doomed) and 4 light and moderately damaged ones.

CarDiv 5 raided PM with little result. They'll head back to rejoin the KB now. I hope that Daniel will get the impression that a) the KB will operate in divisions and b) is not in CenPac anymore.

A dutch MSW group has cleared the mines at Palembang. I'll try to organize a little surprise for them.

Finally the first shock attack at Clark yielded a 1:1 and reduced forts to 2. Troops have been ordered to rest again. The Allies currently have 1300 AV at Clark, 350 AV at Manila and some troops at Bataan (mostly engineers I guess). I hope that Daniel chooses to retreat to Bataan but if I'll have to wreck my divisions to push him back I will do so.

Here is a small economic overview:

[Rainer79]

Jan 1st, 1942:

I am not sure whether this is a good or bad day for the empire...

The least interesting thing was probably the capture of Mersing. The tank regiment will move north now to reduce the pocket there.

A bombardment against Koepang destroyed a few planes on the ground. The invasion of Timor will commence shortly.

The deliberate attack in Balikpapan was a huge success. Two more dutch units surrendered, an AP and the AD Black Hawk were scuttled in port and 14 (!) Martins were destroyed on the ground. I do not know if they were damaged in the previous attacks on my ships or if Daniel forgot to move them out but I am quite content.

The attacks against Singapore continue. Attacking at 11k feet certainly seems safer. I wish though the ATG strikes had targeted a combat unit instead of the 1st ISF base force.

A daring assault by paratroopers against Port Blair sadly yielded only a 1:1 attack and found fragments of 2 base forces there. I hope to take the place with the next attack.

The most important (and potentially most dangerous) news is that my opponent has occupied Attu. My cover force of DDs had orders to take up station there shortly before my landing forces (the dreaded IJA construction battailons) arrive and run into a big convoy instead. The surface engagement could have went better with only one AK sunk but at least a few ships were damaged. The Ariake ate a shell from the AP Mount McKinley but nothing serious. Over 200 Allied casualties were reported. The size of the convoy leads me to think this is more than a base force. I am assuming a RCT plus a base force. Maybe a Marine defense battailon but I am assuming the worst. Getting them out of there in the winter will NOT be fun but is probably necessary. Since the convoy was still there unloading I hope that supplies are low. In any case a PBY squadron seems to have set up shop there as well.

A battleship division and more destroyers are currently being rushed into the north. The lack of usable airfields in the region is a real problem (the closest lvl. 4 airfield is in Japan!) although my engineers are building as fast as they can. Within 2 weeks 2 brigades will become available from the Kwantung army which should hopefully be enough if I can interdict further supply shipments. The landing at Attu is cancelled for now. Depending on recon results I may still go for Kiska and the base east of it.

In any case the Americans cannot be allowed to occupy such a big airfield near the mainland. The crews of the KB will be issued cold weather gear just in case.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 2nd + Jan 3rd, 1942:

Contact was lost with the American Attu convoy on Jan. 2nd but on the 3rd two of the destroyers forced a second engagement near Kiska. More damage was done to the Americans but again they score a hit on a DD. Yugure has 11 system damage and 4 fires and will retire. Recon shows no American troops on Kiska though so the construction battailon will be landed.

The crossing into Singapore came off at 0:1 against 6 forts. Losses were about equal at 3.5k troops. 2200 AV face about 950 AV defenders so there should be enough forces to do the job here. Daily air attacks continue.

Port Blair was seized during the 2nd attack. Daniel had flown in elements of the 17th Indian Division but they were not able to defeat the elite paras. An infantry division has finally crossed the trails into Burma and will move onto Rangoon. There is only a single unit stationed there. The screenshot shows the situation there. I am assuming that Daniel will bring the Chinese into Burma so once Singapore falls I will bring the kitchen sink to this theater.

My units at Clark are recovering only very slowly and will get reinforced by the 21st division. Daily bombardment attacks at least yield decent results.

A NLF conquered Dili while a RCT of the 56th division is only a day away from Koepang. Lautem will be attacked by a SNLF in a few days completing the conquest of Timor. Meanwhile I am gathering troops for the invasion of Java. I should have 2 divisions (4th and 38th) and 2 brigades together with whatever SNLF support I can scrape up. While they get ready I will continue my campaign of seizing the lvl. 3 airfields east of Java.

In China the last of the guerilla brigades behind my lines should be dealt with shortly. All the other units have either surrendered or have been pushed back into Chinese cities. The 8th Route Army has suffered 4 forced retreats for example. Simultaneously Pucheng and Wuchow have been cut off from the rest of China. Attacks here will begin in a few days. MSWs have begun clearing Hong Kong's harbor.

On the industry front I discovered a slight mistake. It seems that the Nates auto-upgrade to the Oscar IIa and not to the Oscar Ic as I had assumed. Oh well, there should be now enough Nates to train pilots for most of the war. That also means that Oscar production is a bit low though.

Current ship losses:
Japan: 1 MSW, 1 SS, 2 AP, 2 AK; another small AP is in sinking condition disbanded at Tarakan (99 sys, 91 flot, 0 fires)
Allies: BB Tennesseee, 1 DMS, 2 AVD, 2 ML, 5 MSW, 6 PT, 4 SS, 1 AD, 1 TK, 4 AP, 17 AK

The total absence of any allied shipping presence has kept their losses low. There are also some ships still left in the Philippines which will not make it out alive. I also expect additional sinkings from the Attu convoy during the next few days.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 4th, 1942:

Two DDs dispatched the AP and another AK near Kiska. A construction battailon has landed and will attack this turn. Recon also found 2 units on Amchitka (the island east of Kiska). Whether these are different units or fragments dropped off from the other ships fleeing I do not know. Just in case I am assuming the worst. Meanwhile my DDs all head west to replenish fuel and ammo.

In the DEI the RCT landed at Koepang. Martins from the base evaded the Zero cover and put one bomb each into two transports. Those are heading back to the port at Kendari.

Also the subs that have been sitting at my ports have mostly vanished. Thankfully they were not achieving much except to get the occasional ineffective depth charge dropped on them. After the initial rush to grab bases and redistribute supplies and fuels nearly all of my convoys have now escorts attached. That should help once/if he comes back.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 5th, 1942:

A surface combat force consisting of the CL Sendai, 2 modern and 3 old DDs enters Palembang to attack the ships gathered there. They find a force of 6 MSW (sinking 2, damaging another), a lone PC Isabel (sunk) and 12 dutch PTs (sinking 1). One of my DDs was lightly damaged though thankfully the ships dodged several dutch torpedoes. The presence of the PTs has convinced me to abort a bombardment run by a battleship division that had been scheduled for today. The good news is that the PTs are present here and not around Java.

The air war was not too good for us though. Raids over Singapore and Clark suffered casualties while destroying little. A raid against Soerabaja's port was a big disappointment. First the Zero's get bounced endlessly by the outnumbered dutch fighters (effectively trading 2 for 2) then only 1 hit is scored by 50 Nells against a dutch ML (heavily damaged). A bombardment against Macassar also did not achieve anything though later during the day we saw several Beauforts fly an anti-shipping strike against its invasion convoy. They missed but the TF will have LRCAP today.

Koepang fell today though the defenders retreated. I am not sure why they had a valid supply path with Dili in my hands. *shrug* I guess a NLF just won an all-expenses-paid trip into the mountains.

Finally Kiska was taken. A base force and a second construction battalion will be landed soon.

Does anybody know when exactly the effects of the cold zone will stop? The Americans have to be kicked out of the western Aleutans within the next few weeks but I'd rather not order a opposed landing during a blizzard.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 6th, 1942:

A rather quiet turn. Planes bomb Singapore and Clark Field and Nells torpedo a MSW off Palembang. On the ground an IMB attacked 3 cut off guerilla units in China - the last of their kind that are still around - while a shock attack Clark yields another 1:1 and drops the forts to 1. The lead units are in a bad shape though. I'd rather have Daniel voluntarily retreating his units into Bataan then having to go through another attack in a week or so but if it is necessary I will pay the price. Tomorrow the IJA will hopefully take Rangoon from the static unit there. A base force is 60 miles out.

Meanwhile ships are continue to stream towards the icy north pacific to prevent the Americans from reinforcing their positions or counter-landing at Kiska. A total of 4 CVs (CarDivs 1+2), 4 BBs (2 Kongos, 2 Ises), 4 CAs, 2 CLs and numerous DDs are currently on the way.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 7th, 1942:

Another wonderful day of little action. That of course does not stop our pilots from killing themselves through senseless ops losses. I am pretty anal about keeping fatigue down (I am loathe to commit anything with double-digit fatigue) but planes keep falling out of the sky. Reading other AARs on this forums at least assures me that I am not alone in that experience.

Anyway, Daniel has committed over 40 P-40Es to sweeps over China. I am keeping my Nates and obsolete DBs grounded but the Allies of course do not suffer a single ops loss. [8|]

In Burma Rangoon survives the first attack as a 4:1 shock attack reduces forts to zero. A tiny base force fragment has also appeared here. Perhaps these are engineers meant to destroy the local industry? In any event should fall today.

The only other interesting action today was a bombardment attempt of Soerabaja. During the approach to the harbor the Dutch K XIII takes a shot at DD Michishio but misses. The TF then encounters a squadron of 4 dutch MSWs and proceeds to sink all of them. The following bombardment was pretty ineffectual but as my ships escape without additional damage I am considering this operation a success.

A Nav Gd should also be able to occupy Macassar tomorrow which further limits the possibility of dutch shipping attacks.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 8th, 1942:

An ASW TF consisting of 6 APDs spot the dutch sub O-19 near Camrahn Bay and attack it three times during the day. A lot of near misses and 1 real hit was scored and the evil minelaying sub is listed as heavily damaged. Replacing their initial captains with officers that have both 60+ naval and 60+ aggression skill really has helped my premier hunter-killer task force (and is very cheap!). A MSW group was dispatched to check for "presents".

During the day fighter sweeps hit Cox's Basar, Palembang and Bataan. Several Oscars were lost over Palembang but even there they achieved a 2:1 ratio. A total of 16 enemy fighters were downed.

A SNLF was landed at Lautem to complete the conquest of Timor. A Hudson put a bomb into an escorting MSW which is not expected to survive. Lots of new aircraft symbols in northern Australia so I guess that Dan has started flying out dutch units while there are still friendly airfields in range. We'll see.

Also Maccassar fell to the attacking Nav Gd. The only remaining allied lvl. 3 airfield on Borneo is Bandjermasin which will be secured shortly.

Rangoon fell with over 5000 enemy POWs. The base force fragment retreated to the north and will be ignored for now. The industries were captured mostly intact.

The biggest news is that a deliberate attack at Singapore (barely) came off at 1:1 and reduced forts to 5. Disruption is in the mid 50s so the units will rest. Airfield damage is at 99% so I doubt that the British will get any rebuilding done.

[Rainer79]

January 9th, 1942:

ASW efforts continue to be successful. The Dutch K-VIII (near Kendari) and the US Tresher (near Kwajalein) were damaged although both are not expected to sink.

In Burma the air war heats up. A small Sally strike escorted by a Oscar Sentai runs into 28 P-40Es over Mandalay. 10 Oscars were shot down in exchange for 3 American planes. More fighters will be sent to this theater. Several Chinese units was also spotted moving over the trails near Lashio. I really want to finish Singapore quickly to move Gen. Yamashita's army into Burma.

A Betty strike failed to locate several ships near Darwin. Hopefully they have more luck tomorrow.

Lautem held against the first attack. We'll also try here again tomorrow.

In China the defenders of Wenchow surrendered to our victorious forces. In exchange for a measly 13 casualties more than 10.000 Chinese were taken prisoner. The next target here will be Pucheng. Contrary to the strategy pursued in the "First Team" AAR the CEA will ignore the Communists in the north and focus its efforts in the South. The reason is simple: most of the northern troops are static and therefore pose little danger. They can happily sit behind their forts and continue to use supplies while they won't be able to kill a single Japanese soldier. The industries would be nice to have but are not essential to the war effort. The destruction of mobile troops in the south however (while minimizing the number of static troops that are made mobile) should make it harder for the Chinese to move large amounts of men out of their territory. The other BigB AARs clearly show that a British supplied Chinese Horde is a Very Bad Thing.

Finally here is a screenshot of the Northern Area. Our main base here is Etorofu which will in a few days also receive the Combined Fleet HQ. Recon flights over Attu and Amchitka have shown the 4th US Regiment present on both islands. The number of soldiers spotted on Amchitka (and the fact that it is clear terrain) will make it likely that I will attempt to capture it during the next few weeks. The first brigade from the Kwantung army that will be bought out should be loaded within 2-3 days with the second about 10 days later.

[Rainer79]

Jan. 10th, 1942:

A day with mixed results.

I-15 takes a shot at a group of DMS near Johnston but misses. The DMS also fail to do any damage. The sub has been ordered to move a few hexes west just in case.

During the night phase a SAG raided Darwin's harbor and sank 3 more allied MSWs. I wonder how many they must loose before the crewmen on the others go on strike. Sadly also the MSW that was hit by a Hudson several days ago sank before the ship could make Kendari.

Bombardments of Darwin and PM were largely ineffectual but troops simultaneously come ashore at Lae (SNLF) and PM (SSD). The Australian presence at NG should soon be over.

A Nav Gd also came ashore at Bandjermasin and is expected to take the place tomorrow. However I also expected Lautem to fall and yet again the SNLF only manages a 1:1 attack. The Emperor is not pleased.

B-17 tried to raid Rangoon's airfield. Despite no fighter opposition the IJA baseforce did a superb job and damaged 3 bombers out of 9 attackers. Damage to the airfield was negligible.

The day also saw fighter sweeps over Palembang and Bataan again and 6 more enemy fighters were destroyed for a single Zero damaged. If only the exchange ratio could stay that way during the coming months...

A very big disappointment was a ground attack at Zamboanga by 2 NLFs and 1 SNLF units. Pretty much everything went wrong during that assault. The naval gunfire support did not materialize, the close air support did not take off and the officers on the ground misinterpreted the emperor's wishes. The troops somehow did a shock attack while only a deliberate attack was wanted (a mistake by the stupid user!). End result is that 1 NLF is wiped out by attrition while the other two units are in bad shape. Oh well, c'est la guerre!

Finally two American APs were discovered at Amtchitka. A single PG will be detached to intercept while stronger units are moving into position.