Gentlemen,
some of you may be readers of my WitP AAR „Gutted“. Those who are will most likely be aware that I am quite constantly complaining about lack of time, still there were questions whether I would write an AAR when some readers had noticed I had started a new PBEM under WitP AE. Some people even obliged me to feel obliged [;)].
Thus, here I am with a bit of time available, as the balls (turns) are in the courts of my respective opponents and start an AAR. As the title indicates, it will most likely be occasional only, and I will try to present a view focused on events that I consider to be interesting or instructive.
My present opponent is Rattovolante (he writes his view on things in another AAR which is closed to me). I found his post in the opponents wanted section, and the frequency of exchanging turns he was aiming at was not too high, so I accepted his proposal. I don’t know much about him as of yet, but that will/should change in the course of the next months, I guess.
I entered this PBEM knowing that I know nothing/hardly anything about AE. I downloaded and installed it quickly after it appeared, but did not do much testing of any kind. Just like my game against Nemo, this game is for learning. Therefore, I am in for a few surprises, as a lot of mechanisms have changed and some old approaches do not work any more. Please feel free to comment, suggest, lecture me and point out mistakes I make.
This being said, on to the game, which is about to enter turn 4. We did a historical first turn, thus the Empire of Japan, which now appears to be controlled by an Italian warmonger with the code name “Rattovolante”, launched a totally unexpected surprise attack on the peaceful base of Pearl Harbor… and so it all begins…
Hartwig
On occasional occasions – NO RATTOVOLANTE, PLEASE
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
Short term goals
Gentlemen,
Before I actually jump into discussing the action that took place so far, let me say a few things about my general envisioned approach (what happens in reality maybe something completely different…).
On the short term time scale, my prime objective is to *try* to negate hindsight. The Japanese player starts the game with perfect knowledge about the Allied force distribution and can arrange his operations accordingly. If you want to know an example of what I am talking about and are not forbidden to do so, check e.g. posts 67-70 of the “Conference of the supreme war council” thread. Note that I don’t complain about that and think playing the Japanese side, this is what should be done to optimize performance.
However, I’m playing Allied, thus I would like to try to change this in such a way that at least at some relevant bases a small surprise is waiting. In a realistic view on things, considering the available assets, this will most probably be nothing that could withstand a determined attempt to take the base by a Japanese player, but it may be enough to enforce reallocation of assets after a first failed attack – and as preparation for a given base is rumored to be more important now, this will hopefully delay my opponent a bit.
A secondary objective will be to “conserve my breath”. It may not be really appropriate to apply the term on the strategic scale of this game, but essentially the concept I would like to borrow from is an elastic defense. My feeling is that in a number of games that are running Allied surface assets in the DEI and available planes, especially the dutch planes, are spent very early on (I sort of used to do that myself on occasion). Once the Japanese player has broken these assets, there is a phase in which he can (using another possibly not really appropriate term here) “exploit the breakthrough”. This phase is something I would like to try to avoid, even if this means that my opponent will achieve some of his first wave goals earlier and with a little less losses.
The wish behind this (which may turn out to be based on wishful thinking only) that I believe there may be four factors that work in my favor if this works out:
a) dilution of the Japanese assets as a consequence of expansion,
b) wear effects on the attacker,
c) improved quality/ability of my assets (by training, if that routine should work, and some experience) , and
d) organized “combined arms” strikes in a pre-organized setting of (there are only so many relevant bases, especially in view of the changes AE brought about) rather than use of improvised attack groups attempting to interfere in an uncoordinated way.
I think that specifically b) and d) are more important in AE than previously because of the bigger effort needed to keep one’s ships and planes combat ready.
Thus, whereas on the one hand I will try to harass my opponent, to make him keep his shield up and stay alert, it is likely that the big confrontations may occur only a little later.
I’ll talk about the mid-term time scale in another post. For now, if anyone has any concerns relating to this approach or recommendations how to implement it, feel free to comment. Other than that, for now thanks for your interest.
Hartwig
Before I actually jump into discussing the action that took place so far, let me say a few things about my general envisioned approach (what happens in reality maybe something completely different…).
On the short term time scale, my prime objective is to *try* to negate hindsight. The Japanese player starts the game with perfect knowledge about the Allied force distribution and can arrange his operations accordingly. If you want to know an example of what I am talking about and are not forbidden to do so, check e.g. posts 67-70 of the “Conference of the supreme war council” thread. Note that I don’t complain about that and think playing the Japanese side, this is what should be done to optimize performance.
However, I’m playing Allied, thus I would like to try to change this in such a way that at least at some relevant bases a small surprise is waiting. In a realistic view on things, considering the available assets, this will most probably be nothing that could withstand a determined attempt to take the base by a Japanese player, but it may be enough to enforce reallocation of assets after a first failed attack – and as preparation for a given base is rumored to be more important now, this will hopefully delay my opponent a bit.
A secondary objective will be to “conserve my breath”. It may not be really appropriate to apply the term on the strategic scale of this game, but essentially the concept I would like to borrow from is an elastic defense. My feeling is that in a number of games that are running Allied surface assets in the DEI and available planes, especially the dutch planes, are spent very early on (I sort of used to do that myself on occasion). Once the Japanese player has broken these assets, there is a phase in which he can (using another possibly not really appropriate term here) “exploit the breakthrough”. This phase is something I would like to try to avoid, even if this means that my opponent will achieve some of his first wave goals earlier and with a little less losses.
The wish behind this (which may turn out to be based on wishful thinking only) that I believe there may be four factors that work in my favor if this works out:
a) dilution of the Japanese assets as a consequence of expansion,
b) wear effects on the attacker,
c) improved quality/ability of my assets (by training, if that routine should work, and some experience) , and
d) organized “combined arms” strikes in a pre-organized setting of (there are only so many relevant bases, especially in view of the changes AE brought about) rather than use of improvised attack groups attempting to interfere in an uncoordinated way.
I think that specifically b) and d) are more important in AE than previously because of the bigger effort needed to keep one’s ships and planes combat ready.
Thus, whereas on the one hand I will try to harass my opponent, to make him keep his shield up and stay alert, it is likely that the big confrontations may occur only a little later.
I’ll talk about the mid-term time scale in another post. For now, if anyone has any concerns relating to this approach or recommendations how to implement it, feel free to comment. Other than that, for now thanks for your interest.
Hartwig
RE: Short term goals
Felt obliged to check that the obliged obliged did feel obliged to oblige. Now of course I am not certain that being occasional really obliges but we will see in due course what obliges the obliged to oblige us with commentary.
Alfred
Alfred
RE: Short term goals
Alfred,
great posts like yours will certainly do
... after reading it, I feel dizzy now...
Hartwig
ORIGINAL: Alfred
Felt obliged to check that the obliged obliged did feel obliged to oblige. Now of course I am not certain that being occasional really obliges but we will see in due course what obliges the obliged to oblige us with commentary.
Alfred
great posts like yours will certainly do
... after reading it, I feel dizzy now...Hartwig
Another reason to oblige...
Gentlemen,
another item that will oblige me (probably again and again) to oblige my readership with commentary is sub effectiveness under AE...
I'll need to rant about it every now and then if things continue like this. Presently, I lose about 3 merchant ships/turn to IJN subs. Admittedly, a considerable number of these are fleeing ships which do not have much of an escort and are travelling on likely escape routes, but somehow I feel a bit aggravated by the fact that I have yet to see an IJN sub missing a shot on such a TF.
In contrast to that, my S-boats and Dutch subs hardly get a shot at Rattovolante's ships. Even the ones with good captains. That's probably fine though, because there's a ton of escorts with many of the convoys that I try to attack...
At the same time, I think this is a good opportunity to voice another big THANK YOU to the developers, testers and matrix. They have managed to make a great game (WitP) even better. Even though I don't understand the mechanics really well as of yet, I feel there are significant improvements. I'll comment in more detail on suitable occasions.
Hartwig
another item that will oblige me (probably again and again) to oblige my readership with commentary is sub effectiveness under AE...
I'll need to rant about it every now and then if things continue like this. Presently, I lose about 3 merchant ships/turn to IJN subs. Admittedly, a considerable number of these are fleeing ships which do not have much of an escort and are travelling on likely escape routes, but somehow I feel a bit aggravated by the fact that I have yet to see an IJN sub missing a shot on such a TF.
In contrast to that, my S-boats and Dutch subs hardly get a shot at Rattovolante's ships. Even the ones with good captains. That's probably fine though, because there's a ton of escorts with many of the convoys that I try to attack...
At the same time, I think this is a good opportunity to voice another big THANK YOU to the developers, testers and matrix. They have managed to make a great game (WitP) even better. Even though I don't understand the mechanics really well as of yet, I feel there are significant improvements. I'll comment in more detail on suitable occasions.
Hartwig
Pearl: Day one results
Gentlemen,
actually, apart from ranting and bantering I would like to give you -occasionally [8D]- some information on the events that took place in our game. Right now, I am waiting to get the game file to enter my December 13, 1942 orders and also still don't have a new turn in my WitP PBEM game, so today may be an occasion to do so.
I believe that before discussion mid- and long-term strategy it might be a good thing to say what is left of the US naval forces at Hawaii to pursue such strategy. Therefore, I will discuss events in the vicinity of Pearl in this post and one or two follow-up posts.
First of all, I think I did not mention that we went for a historical start with surprise on. This gives Japan a good chance to annihilate Force Z - which Lady Luck turned into reality for Rattovolante, Repulse an PoW were sunk. I mention this, because it relates to my remaining BB strength...
Weather was on my side, because there was only a morning strike on Pearl Harbor. This is the outcome:
If you don't see Nevada on that list, that's because she's sunk. Also, 1DD and 1AE were damaged that did not fit on the list.
In addition, of course there was a lot of damage to AF (69% runway, 37% Service) and a significant number of planes destroyed on the ground - e.g. 30 PBY Catalina [8|] and 30 P40B, all on the ground. Losses to KB: 8 Vals, 4 Kates, 2 Zeros.
The next few days in Hawaiian waters are described in the next post.
Thank you for your interest so far.
Hartwig
actually, apart from ranting and bantering I would like to give you -occasionally [8D]- some information on the events that took place in our game. Right now, I am waiting to get the game file to enter my December 13, 1942 orders and also still don't have a new turn in my WitP PBEM game, so today may be an occasion to do so.
I believe that before discussion mid- and long-term strategy it might be a good thing to say what is left of the US naval forces at Hawaii to pursue such strategy. Therefore, I will discuss events in the vicinity of Pearl in this post and one or two follow-up posts.
First of all, I think I did not mention that we went for a historical start with surprise on. This gives Japan a good chance to annihilate Force Z - which Lady Luck turned into reality for Rattovolante, Repulse an PoW were sunk. I mention this, because it relates to my remaining BB strength...
Weather was on my side, because there was only a morning strike on Pearl Harbor. This is the outcome:
If you don't see Nevada on that list, that's because she's sunk. Also, 1DD and 1AE were damaged that did not fit on the list.
In addition, of course there was a lot of damage to AF (69% runway, 37% Service) and a significant number of planes destroyed on the ground - e.g. 30 PBY Catalina [8|] and 30 P40B, all on the ground. Losses to KB: 8 Vals, 4 Kates, 2 Zeros.
The next few days in Hawaiian waters are described in the next post.
Thank you for your interest so far.
Hartwig
- Attachments
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- day_after_ph.jpg (60.63 KiB) Viewed 199 times
Roundtrip Hawaii
Gentlemen,
let me begin this post by saying something about the general mood in the Allied High Command after these day one results. Actually, I was quite optimistic - there had been a relatively high number of torpedo hits, but relatively evenly spread over my BBs, and they had worked reasonably well as torpedo magnets. Also, in spite of the plane losses I believed I would be able to maintain some fighter cover, partly by LRCapping from neighbouring bases, plus surely my AAA would be more adequate during future attacks, so that follow up strikes -of course, KB would hang around, would it not ?-would be weakened.
KB certainly did hang around. It went for a roundtrip, as illustrated here:
(Note that under AE, it seems that you cannot always see where an airstrike originates from, as indicated by the question marks. That's nice !)
Well, perhaps this would have been the case, but follow up strikes on Pearl did not occur very soon. In the next two game days, there were sweeps over Pearl and some limited naval attacks, the most relevant of which annihilated a fleeing CA (New Orleans) on December 10 (which had previously had a rendezvous with KB where both TFs retreated at once). Only on December 11 the next pot attack struck.
At first, I did continue to consider myself lucky, as I assumed weather was acting in my favor. Looking back, I am not so sure about that any more, maybe there was some strategy involved. The sweeps did not destroy a huge number of my fighters, but they still crippled my ability to get CAP in the air (possibly due to the bad airfield conditions at Pearl). Very quickly, morale and number of ready planes in the fighter squadrons plummeted down. When finally the next port attack hit, it met hardly any resistance (10 Kates and 1 Val lost) - and now a total of 8BB/BC (2 force Z, 6 from Pearl) is lost. The remaining two will see service again in estimated 2 and 2.5 years, respectively.
Thus, all in all 6BB at Pearl sunk and 2 severely damaged (plus a few more damaged/sunk ships) for the expense of 2 Zeros, 9 Vals and 14 Kates. Inefficient PH attacks ? Not in my game...
Thank you for your interest
Hartwig
let me begin this post by saying something about the general mood in the Allied High Command after these day one results. Actually, I was quite optimistic - there had been a relatively high number of torpedo hits, but relatively evenly spread over my BBs, and they had worked reasonably well as torpedo magnets. Also, in spite of the plane losses I believed I would be able to maintain some fighter cover, partly by LRCapping from neighbouring bases, plus surely my AAA would be more adequate during future attacks, so that follow up strikes -of course, KB would hang around, would it not ?-would be weakened.
KB certainly did hang around. It went for a roundtrip, as illustrated here:
(Note that under AE, it seems that you cannot always see where an airstrike originates from, as indicated by the question marks. That's nice !)
Well, perhaps this would have been the case, but follow up strikes on Pearl did not occur very soon. In the next two game days, there were sweeps over Pearl and some limited naval attacks, the most relevant of which annihilated a fleeing CA (New Orleans) on December 10 (which had previously had a rendezvous with KB where both TFs retreated at once). Only on December 11 the next pot attack struck.
At first, I did continue to consider myself lucky, as I assumed weather was acting in my favor. Looking back, I am not so sure about that any more, maybe there was some strategy involved. The sweeps did not destroy a huge number of my fighters, but they still crippled my ability to get CAP in the air (possibly due to the bad airfield conditions at Pearl). Very quickly, morale and number of ready planes in the fighter squadrons plummeted down. When finally the next port attack hit, it met hardly any resistance (10 Kates and 1 Val lost) - and now a total of 8BB/BC (2 force Z, 6 from Pearl) is lost. The remaining two will see service again in estimated 2 and 2.5 years, respectively.
Thus, all in all 6BB at Pearl sunk and 2 severely damaged (plus a few more damaged/sunk ships) for the expense of 2 Zeros, 9 Vals and 14 Kates. Inefficient PH attacks ? Not in my game...
Thank you for your interest
Hartwig
- Attachments
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- ratto_kb_t.jpg (360.41 KiB) Viewed 199 times
RE: Roundtrip Hawaii
Post #6 disclosed that no ships were being repaired. In AE you have to move a ship into the ship repair yard to effect drydock repairs.
Alfred
Alfred
RE: Roundtrip Hawaii
Alfred,
I probably should have said more clearly that the screenshot in post #6 was the December 8th screenshot I got directly from the game file as received from my opponent. Finding ships in non-readiness mode would habe been really unexpected there [;)], and when I sent the turn back, the screenshot looked significantly different.
Actually, looking back I am not really sure whether it was smart to stand down many of the ships with good AAA values. I did just that because I thought whatever is repaired will help to keep them afloat. But now, I ask myself whether this may be a reason why I was that disappointed with the number of planes brought down or damaged by Flak. Does anyone of my esteemed readership know for sure whether ships disbanded in port in readiness mode contribute to the anti-aircraft fire in AE ?
Thanks for your interest
Hartwig
ORIGINAL: Alfred
Post #6 disclosed that no ships were being repaired. In AE you have to move a ship into the ship repair yard to effect drydock repairs.
Alfred
I probably should have said more clearly that the screenshot in post #6 was the December 8th screenshot I got directly from the game file as received from my opponent. Finding ships in non-readiness mode would habe been really unexpected there [;)], and when I sent the turn back, the screenshot looked significantly different.
Actually, looking back I am not really sure whether it was smart to stand down many of the ships with good AAA values. I did just that because I thought whatever is repaired will help to keep them afloat. But now, I ask myself whether this may be a reason why I was that disappointed with the number of planes brought down or damaged by Flak. Does anyone of my esteemed readership know for sure whether ships disbanded in port in readiness mode contribute to the anti-aircraft fire in AE ?
Thanks for your interest
Hartwig
RE: Roundtrip Hawaii
Bump for my question ...
Hartwig
ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow
Does anyone of my esteemed readership know for sure whether ships disbanded in port in readiness mode contribute to the anti-aircraft fire in AE ?
Hartwig
One week into the war...
Gentlemen,
as I have completed the December 14, 1941 turn and we are now one week into the war, maybe it's time to provide you with some additional info. Of course, we are winning [;)] - or was that just the propaganda newsreel for the home front ?
One aspect in which the war has gone much better than expected so far is the air war. Here's the air losses so far as determined by the wonderful WitP AE tracker [&o]:
You see that if you subtract the results of the vicious and totally unacceptable surprise attack on Pearl along with plane losses at Clark Field, which is obviously the right thing to do, because it leads to the desired statistical result, losses are 1.5:1 in our favor. Bantering aside, I am more than pleased with this.
One of the things that has paid dividends is probably related to then change in A2A combat. Rattovolante likes to go for a sweep first - (unescorted) bombers next approach, which I think was a good approach in WitP. But now, at least if there is a network of neighboring bases my impression is that this sweep eliminates the CAP that is present in the hex, but attracts reinforcements from neighboring hexes (XYZ squadron redirected...). As a consequence, Rattovolante lost once 14 (!) Lilys and at another opportunity 9 Nells after his sweep had gone in before and eliminated the planes that were in the air because of new, even reinforced CAP in the hex.
Any experience relating to this or similar effects in my readership ?
I'll try to provide some more info soon, specifically ship losses so far and then a view on the campaign in the Pilippines.
For now, thanks for your interest (and feel free to chime in and comment/suggest/criticize)
Hartwig
as I have completed the December 14, 1941 turn and we are now one week into the war, maybe it's time to provide you with some additional info. Of course, we are winning [;)] - or was that just the propaganda newsreel for the home front ?
One aspect in which the war has gone much better than expected so far is the air war. Here's the air losses so far as determined by the wonderful WitP AE tracker [&o]:
You see that if you subtract the results of the vicious and totally unacceptable surprise attack on Pearl along with plane losses at Clark Field, which is obviously the right thing to do, because it leads to the desired statistical result, losses are 1.5:1 in our favor. Bantering aside, I am more than pleased with this.
One of the things that has paid dividends is probably related to then change in A2A combat. Rattovolante likes to go for a sweep first - (unescorted) bombers next approach, which I think was a good approach in WitP. But now, at least if there is a network of neighboring bases my impression is that this sweep eliminates the CAP that is present in the hex, but attracts reinforcements from neighboring hexes (XYZ squadron redirected...). As a consequence, Rattovolante lost once 14 (!) Lilys and at another opportunity 9 Nells after his sweep had gone in before and eliminated the planes that were in the air because of new, even reinforced CAP in the hex.
Any experience relating to this or similar effects in my readership ?
I'll try to provide some more info soon, specifically ship losses so far and then a view on the campaign in the Pilippines.
For now, thanks for your interest (and feel free to chime in and comment/suggest/criticize)
Hartwig
- Attachments
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- hm0016.jpg (32.58 KiB) Viewed 199 times
Losing ships left, right and center...
Gentlemen,
the subject of this post is a -probably not literal- quote from a comment of my opponent in the WitP PBEM, Nemo. In said PBEM, I had used a bunch of mini-invasions and probably did throw away a bunch of shipping for that purpose for possibly debatable returns.
Anyway, it's the same story all over again... look at this:
The BB/BC and CA losses are known to you already. Remaining losses are small ships lost at Pearl and ships fleeing from bases that are under attack. 19 of the AK were annihilated by IJN subs, that's why I was ranting a few posts ago, and the loss rate has not really gone down. If an unescorted AK or group of AKs meets an IJN sub, scratch one of the AKs. My opponent and I both believe that the success rate is close to 100%.
The IJN losses are disappointingly low so far. Planes on naval attack hit virtually nothing, with the exception of a Dauntless carrier wing destroying an AO in the vicinity of Midway. Attacks on the escorting DDs led to nothing. The dutch subs and S-boats are performing sub par as well, especially compared to their IJN counterparts. 1DD, 1 AK. The best job was done by the British DDs at Hong Kong, which raided a base and destroyed an AK TF that was docked and busy loading something consisting almost exlusively of non-combat squads. The unit seems to be gone now [:)] - but two of the DDs got killed by Betties or Nells (not sure which of the two bad babes any more).
Ok, that much about naval losses...
Thank you for your interest
Hartwig
the subject of this post is a -probably not literal- quote from a comment of my opponent in the WitP PBEM, Nemo. In said PBEM, I had used a bunch of mini-invasions and probably did throw away a bunch of shipping for that purpose for possibly debatable returns.
Anyway, it's the same story all over again... look at this:
The BB/BC and CA losses are known to you already. Remaining losses are small ships lost at Pearl and ships fleeing from bases that are under attack. 19 of the AK were annihilated by IJN subs, that's why I was ranting a few posts ago, and the loss rate has not really gone down. If an unescorted AK or group of AKs meets an IJN sub, scratch one of the AKs. My opponent and I both believe that the success rate is close to 100%.
The IJN losses are disappointingly low so far. Planes on naval attack hit virtually nothing, with the exception of a Dauntless carrier wing destroying an AO in the vicinity of Midway. Attacks on the escorting DDs led to nothing. The dutch subs and S-boats are performing sub par as well, especially compared to their IJN counterparts. 1DD, 1 AK. The best job was done by the British DDs at Hong Kong, which raided a base and destroyed an AK TF that was docked and busy loading something consisting almost exlusively of non-combat squads. The unit seems to be gone now [:)] - but two of the DDs got killed by Betties or Nells (not sure which of the two bad babes any more).
Ok, that much about naval losses...
Thank you for your interest
Hartwig
- Attachments
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- hm0017.jpg (52.42 KiB) Viewed 199 times
An occasional rant...
Gentlemen,
how about an occasional rant…[:@]
[font="Courier New"]AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 15, 41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 5
Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 2
B-339D x 4
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x 139WH-3 bombing from 7000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
2 x B-339D sweeping at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 1
Allied aircraft
B-339D x 7
Hudson I x 3
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Hudson I bombing from 11000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Singora at 51,72
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 4
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Buffalo I x 7
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CM Hatsutaka
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Singora at 51,72
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 2
Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 7
Vildebeest III x 8
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
E Shimushu
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Vildebeest III bombing from 10000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 4
Allied aircraft
B-339D x 7
Hudson I x 1
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Hudson I bombing from 11000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
[/font]
Actually, stepping back and looking at it from a distance, the fact that 40 bombs score no hit is not really what causes the disappointment. An attack by 10 Blenheim IV (=same number of bombs) which was ineffective would not cause such a bad mood… but if again and again you attack, break through the CAP screen and score – well, nothing at all- that’s rant-provoking [;)].
Specifically in the context that the achievements of all naval attacks on ships that occurred so far in this war caused 1 or 2 sinkings and maybe 2 or 3 damaged ships. Heck, in the above series of atttacks I did not even shoot down a single Japanese plane in spite of superior numbers of escorting fighters !
Well, what do I expect, given the lousy experience values of most of the units… they need some training, then they will improve (I hope).
More info to follow (hopfully)
Hartwig
how about an occasional rant…[:@]
[font="Courier New"]AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 15, 41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 5
Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 2
B-339D x 4
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x 139WH-3 bombing from 7000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
2 x B-339D sweeping at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 1
Allied aircraft
B-339D x 7
Hudson I x 3
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Hudson I bombing from 11000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Singora at 51,72
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 4
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Buffalo I x 7
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CM Hatsutaka
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Singora at 51,72
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 2
Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 7
Vildebeest III x 8
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
E Shimushu
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Vildebeest III bombing from 10000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 4
Allied aircraft
B-339D x 7
Hudson I x 1
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Hudson I bombing from 11000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
[/font]
Actually, stepping back and looking at it from a distance, the fact that 40 bombs score no hit is not really what causes the disappointment. An attack by 10 Blenheim IV (=same number of bombs) which was ineffective would not cause such a bad mood… but if again and again you attack, break through the CAP screen and score – well, nothing at all- that’s rant-provoking [;)].
Specifically in the context that the achievements of all naval attacks on ships that occurred so far in this war caused 1 or 2 sinkings and maybe 2 or 3 damaged ships. Heck, in the above series of atttacks I did not even shoot down a single Japanese plane in spite of superior numbers of escorting fighters !
Well, what do I expect, given the lousy experience values of most of the units… they need some training, then they will improve (I hope).
More info to follow (hopfully)
Hartwig
Guns and Ammo...
Gentlemen,
actually, the occasion that brings about today’s rush of activity for this AAR is a slight problem we have run into (apart from the continuing lack of a turn in my WitP PBEM) that enforces my opponent to rearrange his plans. But let’s start from the beginning…
My opponent evidently likes shore bombardments a lot. It started already on day 2 or so, when he sent the CAs belonging to the baby KB escort to pay Cagayan an (ineffectual) visit. Since then, specifically his CLs have been zooming through the waters around the PI and eastern Borneo, shooting up this and that.
Frankly, right when I was seeing that first CA bombardment I thought hmmm… reloading CAs is not as easy as it used to be under AE… so let him spend his ammo and then ambush him if he keeps hanging around after ammo is spent or if he has to remove the cruisers for a couple of days to reload. Specifically in view of the fact that running a TF at full speed now tends to rack up some damage to ships – part of that being major damage – I thought that if I was him, I’d probably be less generous with ammo for the big ship guns.
Well, it turns out that Rattovolante had taken precautions by making sure that he had enough naval support available at a nearby base if HQ contributions were factored in correctly – which evidently is not done at least until the next patch is out.
Thus, he ran into problems when trying to reload one of his CLs (!) . We considered for a moment to suspend the game until the patch is out, but after some consideration my opponent now thinks he can compensate for the problem by concentrating a few base forces, of which he believes he has aplenty and for which he believes to have sufficient (shipping) assets available. Not sure whether all of that is true (looking at the minimal success I had with sinking Japanese shipping, maybe the latter is correct), but fine with me.
However, as a consequence, understandably it takes longer than ususal for him to get the turn back, thus I sit here with a bit of time available to do a bit of posting (and, potentially some reading… did I mention that I could not resist buying the revamped GG’s BoB/BtR which I have not even started… … …)
Anyway, for now thanks for the interest
Hartwig
actually, the occasion that brings about today’s rush of activity for this AAR is a slight problem we have run into (apart from the continuing lack of a turn in my WitP PBEM) that enforces my opponent to rearrange his plans. But let’s start from the beginning…
My opponent evidently likes shore bombardments a lot. It started already on day 2 or so, when he sent the CAs belonging to the baby KB escort to pay Cagayan an (ineffectual) visit. Since then, specifically his CLs have been zooming through the waters around the PI and eastern Borneo, shooting up this and that.
Frankly, right when I was seeing that first CA bombardment I thought hmmm… reloading CAs is not as easy as it used to be under AE… so let him spend his ammo and then ambush him if he keeps hanging around after ammo is spent or if he has to remove the cruisers for a couple of days to reload. Specifically in view of the fact that running a TF at full speed now tends to rack up some damage to ships – part of that being major damage – I thought that if I was him, I’d probably be less generous with ammo for the big ship guns.
Well, it turns out that Rattovolante had taken precautions by making sure that he had enough naval support available at a nearby base if HQ contributions were factored in correctly – which evidently is not done at least until the next patch is out.
Thus, he ran into problems when trying to reload one of his CLs (!) . We considered for a moment to suspend the game until the patch is out, but after some consideration my opponent now thinks he can compensate for the problem by concentrating a few base forces, of which he believes he has aplenty and for which he believes to have sufficient (shipping) assets available. Not sure whether all of that is true (looking at the minimal success I had with sinking Japanese shipping, maybe the latter is correct), but fine with me.
However, as a consequence, understandably it takes longer than ususal for him to get the turn back, thus I sit here with a bit of time available to do a bit of posting (and, potentially some reading… did I mention that I could not resist buying the revamped GG’s BoB/BtR which I have not even started… … …)
Anyway, for now thanks for the interest
Hartwig
RE: Guns and Ammo...
And you will be flying for those magnificent men in their flying machines of the RA and subsequently ANR?Ah...flying those flying scultures of the serie 5 - planes a good 12 months in advance of the lagging product from the RLM[:D]
Alfred
Alfred
Back online...
Gentlemen,
sorry about the long period without occasional comments... whereas I was not offline during the last 10 days or so, I was only able to use mobile internet in an area that does not support UMTS. The game did continue more or less at its usual pace (I found the December 19 .001 file in my e-mail a few minutes ago), but for some reason I am consistently unable to log into these forums when trying to do so via mobile internet - supposedly, the graphical challenge is never answered correctly. If anyone is aware of this effect and knows a workaround, please let me know.
Well, by now I'm back and will once again try to provide an additional comment or two...
Thanks for your interest
Hartwig
sorry about the long period without occasional comments... whereas I was not offline during the last 10 days or so, I was only able to use mobile internet in an area that does not support UMTS. The game did continue more or less at its usual pace (I found the December 19 .001 file in my e-mail a few minutes ago), but for some reason I am consistently unable to log into these forums when trying to do so via mobile internet - supposedly, the graphical challenge is never answered correctly. If anyone is aware of this effect and knows a workaround, please let me know.
Well, by now I'm back and will once again try to provide an additional comment or two...
Thanks for your interest
Hartwig
RE: Guns and Ammo...
Alfredm
Well... in the end, I still did not touch the new game. Not even the BoB tutorial.
Relating to your comment in more detail -as far as I can fathom it, I got too little knowledge on the topic of performance of historical military airplanes, which, in addition, always appears to be highly biased by the nationality or at least side one's nationality belonged to (even when quoting official sources like comparative test reports, possibly because the features you tend to assume to be most relevant are defined by the trainig/doctrine you are trained in, which in turn is a function of the strengths and weaknesses of the planes you fly)-
a) I tend not to have an eye for the beauty of things but rather whether they are a suitable tool for a given job (which is why, much to the greif of my wife, I tend to ignore flowers) and
b) I am quite convinced that the development of new planes as orchestrated by the RLM was not optimized in terms of efficiency. No one who believes German planes, tanks or whatever were Über-weapons punching in these lines.
Hartwig
ORIGINAL: Alfred
And you will be flying for those magnificent men in their flying machines of the RA and subsequently ANR?Ah...flying those flying scultures of the serie 5 - planes a good 12 months in advance of the lagging product from the RLM[:D]
Alfred
Well... in the end, I still did not touch the new game. Not even the BoB tutorial.
Relating to your comment in more detail -as far as I can fathom it, I got too little knowledge on the topic of performance of historical military airplanes, which, in addition, always appears to be highly biased by the nationality or at least side one's nationality belonged to (even when quoting official sources like comparative test reports, possibly because the features you tend to assume to be most relevant are defined by the trainig/doctrine you are trained in, which in turn is a function of the strengths and weaknesses of the planes you fly)-
a) I tend not to have an eye for the beauty of things but rather whether they are a suitable tool for a given job (which is why, much to the greif of my wife, I tend to ignore flowers) and
b) I am quite convinced that the development of new planes as orchestrated by the RLM was not optimized in terms of efficiency. No one who believes German planes, tanks or whatever were Über-weapons punching in these lines.
Hartwig
Summary of actions in the PI vicinity
Gentlemen,
this is the first of the long promised posts on the situation in the PI and the vicinity thereof as of December 19, 1941 , discussing the developments in the northern part of said region. The southern part is analyzed in the following post.
I have added numbers to the screenshot which are in roughly chronological order and will edit this post a few times until all of them are covered. This will take a bit of time, because I want to go through the combat reports in order to add a detail or two whenever it seems appropriate, so unless you have read a version of this in which all the numbers are discussed, please read again at a later point of time, even if there are one or more later posts.
I chose this approach because I hope that the final post will provide a concentrated overview on the development of the PI campaign during the first few days, which may be interesting (e.g. in terms of possible pattern recognition).
In general, please bear in mind that we went for a historical start, thus limiting my, but especially my opponent's options (preparation !). At the same time, I would like to stress once more that I hardly played any turns against the AI and did not look at the Japanese starting dispositions, thus I do not know where the attacks are "scheduled" and which forces are earmarked for which attack. If I draw any wrong conclusions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Relating to number 1 on the map, the ground campaign in the PI began with a para attack on Laoag, which happened during execution of the December 08 1941 orders. More or less directly afterwards, planes and units were moved in, probably along with some supplies. I tried to create some mischief there mmediately with the meagre assets available (Clark was pretty beat up by turn 1 air attacks, so the feeble airpower in the PI was not available) by sending two DDs in for shore bombardment (there could not really be big guns) on December 9 and one on December 11. Results were not too thrilling... a few hits on runways, port and supplies; during the second run a Japanese SC was sunk, after the bombardment the SCs were met again wothout effect, then a surface TF was encountered twice, which first damaged the DD performing the action with 5 shells while achieving two hits and reported fires on a Japanese DD and then sunk the DD for a hit on a CA and another hit on a DD.
Relating to number 2 on the map, the move on Vigan, that was clearly to be expected.
As I explained in my general comments, one of the things I try to do is change the force distribution on the map. Accordingly, I tried to garrison Vigan by
a) sending 11th PA division there, which unfortunately ended the turn 1 mile short and stayed in the neighboring hex (I hate 46 mile hexes [:@] for reasons which became apparent in that turn for the first time, but many times since then), why not just set them to 45 ?!?) and
b) moving parts of a canadian unit from HongKong to Vigan by means of the Chinese transport AC, parts of which were present when landings began on December 9.
This made my opponent focus a bit of attention to the poor canadian troops: 4 air attacks plus a naval bombardment, which scored 6 Airbase hits, 7 Airbase supply hits, 21 Runway hits, 18 Port hits and 2 Port fuel hits. Excellent results - I could not have wrecked the place more effectively with my assets, and in addition the focus of Rattovolante's airpower was not available for continued attacks suppressing my bases in the vicinity, giving them -specifically Clark- a chance to repair. It was not really surprising to see the Japanese take the place and evict the canadians immediately after that. A pity that the 11th Division was not available, because adjusted av of the Japanese was only 20, but it was not to be.
What was to be instead was that in the next turn I promptly forgot to cancel the movement of 11th division [8|]... so they moved in. I ordered retreat immedeately, but guess what happened ? Let me give you a hint: in the turn before Rattovolante had decided he would attack, the division was marching in combat mode and had 16 miles left to travel. See my above rant re. 46 mile hexes...[8|]. Well the attack occured on December 14 , 2 japanese naval bombardment runs and 4 japanese air attacks later - and the 11th PA division was evicted. Bad for the shape of the unit for sure...
Not much can be said relating to number 3, the Aparri invasion which also started on December 9. I tried to move the unit from Tuguegarao there in time to greet the invasion forces, but it did not arrive in time, so I retreated again. The base fell on December 10. , and Rattovolante immediately moved in some fighters (he seems to move in planes very quickly after taking the base, even if the air facilities are damaged). I tried to focus some air power on the airfield, but there's not really much I could project.
Rattovolante continued his march to Tuguegarao, number 4 on the map, which was taken on December 15 without any opposition. As you see on the map, the march went on.
Number 5, the attack on Atimonan is something I am still not sure about, maybe some JFB out there can comment.
Is this the most likely place for the southern attack prong to occur now ?
As you see on the map, I moved token garrisons to Naga and Legaspi, hoping to scare my opponent away. There was a shore bombardment of Legaspi early on, which was not followed by an invasion much to my surprise - but then, potentially Legaspi-Naga is no longer a route to go due to the bad road connections.
Anyway, the landing on Anitmonan was a landing that showed substantially higher losses than the other ones, so it was probably executed at least partly by less well prepared troops (historical turn 1). According to cursor intel Rattovolante has landed 8 units or so there and took the base on December 15. He moved on to Lucena, number 7, (which was where I had expected the southern prong to land and positioned the 51st PA division), which was taken on December 19, i.e. last turn by three Japanese Regiments. Of course, 51st Division had tried to retreat, but due to the 46 mile hexes, it did not make it but was surprised after marching 45 miles [8|]. Another wrecked PI division - it looks like I'm going to be the player who loses Manila at the earliest point of time in the history of AE [;)].
I want to rant a little bit more about the Antimonan landing. I had all my available bombers set to naval attack missions, and because Rattovolante used his bombers to provide ground support their main base, clark field, was fully operational. I could understand that due to the presence of CAP TFs at Aparri and Vigan were not attacked because I could only provide weak escorts, but the Antimonan landing was not covered by CAP (baby KB was known to be busy elsewhere). Not a single mission was launched. Morale was 60ish to 70ish. Fatigue was well below 10. Still, NOTHING attacked. [:@]
Last not least, San Fernando, number 6 on my map. I like talking about that hex [8D]. As mentioned previously, the 11th PI division, had been defeated at Vigan because of the 46 mile hexes. It retreated there, with Rattovolante's units in close pursuit. On December 18, he launched an attack, which probably met quite a different force mix than the one he had expected:
[font="Courier New"]Ground combat at San Fernando (80,74)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2994 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 334
Defending force 8801 troops, 109 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 318
Japanese adjusted assault: 19
Allied adjusted defense: 161
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 8 (fort level 0)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
421 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (0 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Assaulting units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
48th Engineer Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
Kanno Detachment
Defending units:
21st PA Infantry Division
192nd Tank Battalion
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
194th Tank Battalion[/font]
The first victory of this war [:D].
Of course, the response on the next day shocked and awed me... I just provide you with the list of the attacking planes, they did hit a thing or two and met a fighter or two on CAP (but I cannot claim a victory in the air).
[font="Courier New"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
G3M2 Nell x 5
G4M1 Betty x 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G4M1 Betty x 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
G3M2 Nell x 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-30 Ann x 13
Ki-51 Sonia x 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-30 Ann x 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 194th Tank Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 15
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 192nd Tank Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-51 Sonia x 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18[/font]
Now, that's flexing the Japanese muscles in the theater. I guess next turn or so some naval bombarment will occur. But as a side note, I think this is the first game ever in which I was able to actually inrease fort levels at Clark Field... If I manage to move my LCUs back in spite of 46 mile hexes, I think Rattovolante may have spent too much air power on ground support - but no idea whether that's true or just wishful thinking. The next few turns will tell...
Thanks for your interest and your patience during the time it took me to actually complete the comments for this part !
Hartwig
this is the first of the long promised posts on the situation in the PI and the vicinity thereof as of December 19, 1941 , discussing the developments in the northern part of said region. The southern part is analyzed in the following post.
I have added numbers to the screenshot which are in roughly chronological order and will edit this post a few times until all of them are covered. This will take a bit of time, because I want to go through the combat reports in order to add a detail or two whenever it seems appropriate, so unless you have read a version of this in which all the numbers are discussed, please read again at a later point of time, even if there are one or more later posts.
I chose this approach because I hope that the final post will provide a concentrated overview on the development of the PI campaign during the first few days, which may be interesting (e.g. in terms of possible pattern recognition).
In general, please bear in mind that we went for a historical start, thus limiting my, but especially my opponent's options (preparation !). At the same time, I would like to stress once more that I hardly played any turns against the AI and did not look at the Japanese starting dispositions, thus I do not know where the attacks are "scheduled" and which forces are earmarked for which attack. If I draw any wrong conclusions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Relating to number 1 on the map, the ground campaign in the PI began with a para attack on Laoag, which happened during execution of the December 08 1941 orders. More or less directly afterwards, planes and units were moved in, probably along with some supplies. I tried to create some mischief there mmediately with the meagre assets available (Clark was pretty beat up by turn 1 air attacks, so the feeble airpower in the PI was not available) by sending two DDs in for shore bombardment (there could not really be big guns) on December 9 and one on December 11. Results were not too thrilling... a few hits on runways, port and supplies; during the second run a Japanese SC was sunk, after the bombardment the SCs were met again wothout effect, then a surface TF was encountered twice, which first damaged the DD performing the action with 5 shells while achieving two hits and reported fires on a Japanese DD and then sunk the DD for a hit on a CA and another hit on a DD.
Relating to number 2 on the map, the move on Vigan, that was clearly to be expected.
As I explained in my general comments, one of the things I try to do is change the force distribution on the map. Accordingly, I tried to garrison Vigan by
a) sending 11th PA division there, which unfortunately ended the turn 1 mile short and stayed in the neighboring hex (I hate 46 mile hexes [:@] for reasons which became apparent in that turn for the first time, but many times since then), why not just set them to 45 ?!?) and
b) moving parts of a canadian unit from HongKong to Vigan by means of the Chinese transport AC, parts of which were present when landings began on December 9.
This made my opponent focus a bit of attention to the poor canadian troops: 4 air attacks plus a naval bombardment, which scored 6 Airbase hits, 7 Airbase supply hits, 21 Runway hits, 18 Port hits and 2 Port fuel hits. Excellent results - I could not have wrecked the place more effectively with my assets, and in addition the focus of Rattovolante's airpower was not available for continued attacks suppressing my bases in the vicinity, giving them -specifically Clark- a chance to repair. It was not really surprising to see the Japanese take the place and evict the canadians immediately after that. A pity that the 11th Division was not available, because adjusted av of the Japanese was only 20, but it was not to be.
What was to be instead was that in the next turn I promptly forgot to cancel the movement of 11th division [8|]... so they moved in. I ordered retreat immedeately, but guess what happened ? Let me give you a hint: in the turn before Rattovolante had decided he would attack, the division was marching in combat mode and had 16 miles left to travel. See my above rant re. 46 mile hexes...[8|]. Well the attack occured on December 14 , 2 japanese naval bombardment runs and 4 japanese air attacks later - and the 11th PA division was evicted. Bad for the shape of the unit for sure...
Not much can be said relating to number 3, the Aparri invasion which also started on December 9. I tried to move the unit from Tuguegarao there in time to greet the invasion forces, but it did not arrive in time, so I retreated again. The base fell on December 10. , and Rattovolante immediately moved in some fighters (he seems to move in planes very quickly after taking the base, even if the air facilities are damaged). I tried to focus some air power on the airfield, but there's not really much I could project.
Rattovolante continued his march to Tuguegarao, number 4 on the map, which was taken on December 15 without any opposition. As you see on the map, the march went on.
Number 5, the attack on Atimonan is something I am still not sure about, maybe some JFB out there can comment.
Is this the most likely place for the southern attack prong to occur now ?
As you see on the map, I moved token garrisons to Naga and Legaspi, hoping to scare my opponent away. There was a shore bombardment of Legaspi early on, which was not followed by an invasion much to my surprise - but then, potentially Legaspi-Naga is no longer a route to go due to the bad road connections.
Anyway, the landing on Anitmonan was a landing that showed substantially higher losses than the other ones, so it was probably executed at least partly by less well prepared troops (historical turn 1). According to cursor intel Rattovolante has landed 8 units or so there and took the base on December 15. He moved on to Lucena, number 7, (which was where I had expected the southern prong to land and positioned the 51st PA division), which was taken on December 19, i.e. last turn by three Japanese Regiments. Of course, 51st Division had tried to retreat, but due to the 46 mile hexes, it did not make it but was surprised after marching 45 miles [8|]. Another wrecked PI division - it looks like I'm going to be the player who loses Manila at the earliest point of time in the history of AE [;)].
I want to rant a little bit more about the Antimonan landing. I had all my available bombers set to naval attack missions, and because Rattovolante used his bombers to provide ground support their main base, clark field, was fully operational. I could understand that due to the presence of CAP TFs at Aparri and Vigan were not attacked because I could only provide weak escorts, but the Antimonan landing was not covered by CAP (baby KB was known to be busy elsewhere). Not a single mission was launched. Morale was 60ish to 70ish. Fatigue was well below 10. Still, NOTHING attacked. [:@]
Last not least, San Fernando, number 6 on my map. I like talking about that hex [8D]. As mentioned previously, the 11th PI division, had been defeated at Vigan because of the 46 mile hexes. It retreated there, with Rattovolante's units in close pursuit. On December 18, he launched an attack, which probably met quite a different force mix than the one he had expected:
[font="Courier New"]Ground combat at San Fernando (80,74)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2994 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 334
Defending force 8801 troops, 109 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 318
Japanese adjusted assault: 19
Allied adjusted defense: 161
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 8 (fort level 0)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
421 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (0 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Assaulting units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
48th Engineer Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
Kanno Detachment
Defending units:
21st PA Infantry Division
192nd Tank Battalion
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
194th Tank Battalion[/font]
The first victory of this war [:D].
Of course, the response on the next day shocked and awed me... I just provide you with the list of the attacking planes, they did hit a thing or two and met a fighter or two on CAP (but I cannot claim a victory in the air).
[font="Courier New"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
G3M2 Nell x 5
G4M1 Betty x 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G4M1 Betty x 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
G3M2 Nell x 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-30 Ann x 13
Ki-51 Sonia x 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-30 Ann x 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
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Morning Air attack on 194th Tank Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 15
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 15
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Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 8
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Morning Air attack on 192nd Tank Battalion, at 80,74 (San Fernando)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-51 Sonia x 6
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Morning Air attack on San Fernando , at 80,74
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18[/font]
Now, that's flexing the Japanese muscles in the theater. I guess next turn or so some naval bombarment will occur. But as a side note, I think this is the first game ever in which I was able to actually inrease fort levels at Clark Field... If I manage to move my LCUs back in spite of 46 mile hexes, I think Rattovolante may have spent too much air power on ground support - but no idea whether that's true or just wishful thinking. The next few turns will tell...
Thanks for your interest and your patience during the time it took me to actually complete the comments for this part !
Hartwig
- Attachments
-
- pi_north_december19.jpg (262.34 KiB) Viewed 199 times
Summary of actions in the PI vicinity (II)
Gentlemen,
this is the second of the long promised posts on the situation in the PI and the vicinity thereof, discussing the developments in the southern part of said region.
As in the previous post, I have added numbers to the screenshot which are in roughly chronological order and will edit this post a few times until all of them are covered in the same way as described in the previous post. Unless you have read a version of this in which all the numbers are discussed, please reread at a later point of time.
Thanks again for your interest !
Hartwig
this is the second of the long promised posts on the situation in the PI and the vicinity thereof, discussing the developments in the southern part of said region.
As in the previous post, I have added numbers to the screenshot which are in roughly chronological order and will edit this post a few times until all of them are covered in the same way as described in the previous post. Unless you have read a version of this in which all the numbers are discussed, please reread at a later point of time.
Thanks again for your interest !
Hartwig
- Attachments
-
- pi_south_december19.jpg (378.44 KiB) Viewed 199 times
Nothern PI Summary of actions completed
Gentlemen,
just a bump in order to inform you that the summary mentioned above (=post 18) is finally finished !
Thanks
Hartwig
just a bump in order to inform you that the summary mentioned above (=post 18) is finally finished !
Thanks
Hartwig