Joint AAR: Rader(J) vs. Tigercat (A)

[rader]

This will be a bit of a joint AAR, open to postings from both sides of a game currently at the end of Jan 1942.

Most of the usual options, except non-historical start.

I'll start by posting some background on what has happened up to now.

[rader]

December 1941:

Japan did the Pearl Harbor strike and stuck around for 1 extra day (we are playing 1 day turns). It seemed to turn out fairly well, with around 5 BBs reported sunk by the end of the second day.

Initial invasion locations were Cagayan (Mindanao), Aparri & Vigan, Palembang (covered by cruisers and up river where the POW & Repulse couldn't follow), and Ambon. The aim was to take as many 4-size airfields ASAP to cover the rest of the DEI invasions.

Rabaul fell in late December, followed shortly thereafter by Port Moresby. Next came Noumea, and finally in mid-January, Fiji.

At this stage in late Jan (Jan 30), the Japanese are at Johore Bahru waiting to besiege Singapore, and are banging away with no success as of yet on Clark Field.

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Here's a list of the main air losses for the first month of the war.

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Here's a strategic map of what the Japanese had taken to this point (early Jan)

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Main ships sunk (not many since then).

The Japanese subs have been extrodinarily effective so far. Subs hit the the Saratoga on 3 seperate occasions (2 torps, 1 torp, 1 torp). Intel claimed she was sunk after the first 2 torps, but I doubted it. After 4 torps, I'm pretty sure we can write her off. Subs also manage to put a torp in the big E.

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Massive port strike on Sydney managed to catch the harbor full of ships. We ended up hanging around for several days to increase the carnage. Notice the ocean liners.

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Convoy wars!

Japanese raiding CV TF hit an allied convoy in the SoPac...

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Contrary to the original plan, I decided to land on Java before Singapore fell. Thsi means there are barely enough troops to do the job. Here's the Japanese position in Java at the end of Jan 1942.

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Being established on Java, I got overconfident and decided to try to slip a convoy through the Java sea, only to get bitten by the strong allied airforce still present in Soerebaja and lost a couple of xAKs. We will have to bomb that airfield into rubble.

[satx32065]

ORIGINAL: rader

Main ships sunk (not many since then).

The Japanese subs have been extrodinarily effective so far. Subs hit the the Saratoga on 3 seperate occasions (2 torps, 1 torp, 1 torp). Intel claimed she was sunk after the first 2 torps, but I doubted it. After 4 torps, I'm pretty sure we can write her off. Subs also manage to put a torp in the big E.

Rader is a very good and smart player although he may be over extended now I have very little to hit back with.

[satx32065]

The allies have not just rolled over although a lot of our ships have[:@]. I was surprised at the covering force on this. Also I had some cruiser and destroyer TF's out and on station at major targets and Well you know how KB can be.

[rader]

The KB has managed to place itself between Hawaii and the US in order to sink the regular supply convoys.

Will the US CVs come out to fight? Where are they? We haven't seen them yet since the start of the war except through a periscope...

In other war news, the Japanese have taken Sian for the second time. The place is completely wrecked. No working industry, resources, or oil are left.

The Japanese are marching across Java and have about half so far under control. The sieges of Johore Bahru and Clark Field continue.

The IJA is pretty tied up in Malaya, Java, and the Philippines. Waiting for those places to fall before starting second phase operations... what will those be?

[satx32065]

Yeah this move with part or all of KB is almost torture I cant just turn off the pipe but if I have nothing for the pipe to supply well ? Anyone have any Ideas already have the Saratoga out of the picture.

[rader]

Very interesting turn! The KB foray has yielded significant results. Looks like the American CVs are coming out after all!

The Japanese carriers were divided into 2 forces of equal strength (3CV & 2 CVL each), either of which should be enough to square off againt the 3 available Allied CVs (especially since Intel reported that one of them, Enterprise, was in for repairs). Kido Butai (Strike Force, commanded by Chuichi Nagumo) & Tora Butai (Tiger Force, commanded by Tamon Yamaguchi) were each sent to go one way around Hawaii in order to link up behind and trap fleeing ships in between.

The Japanese have been careful to stay out of range of American air cover from Pearl. However, due to a blunder by Nagumo's staff, Kido Butai has drifted close enough that the American CVs (Enterprise, Yorktown, & Lexington) came out to fight under a blanket of land-based fighter cover. Though this could have been very bad for the Kido Butai, the result was a big, yet very strange engagement.

Despite being very close to Pearl, not a single allied aircraft was seen over either Japanese force all day. Why not? Weather (storm clods showed over both fleets)? Failed searched? We have no idea, and can only make wild guesses. Nevertheless, we are extreemely relieved, and no American strike was forthcoming.

Kido Butai had no trouble locating the enemy carriers, and a strike was immediately assembled with all available aircraft. The enemy fleet was swarming with figthers, some clearely land-based. Clearely the US army and navy cooperate much better than our forces.

The Japanese strike force got badly chewed up, losing over half its number to fighters and flak. Nevertheless, the brave Japanese pilots pressed their attacks home and managed to score 2 torpedo hits on Enterprise plus a smattering of bomb hits. Enterprise is a sturdy ship so this probably won't sink her, but she will probably end up in a repair yard for quite some time.

[rader]

Meanwhile, Tora Butai has located some prey. New Mexico seems to be escorting a troop Convoy to Pearl. The old Battlewagon took more torpedo and bomb hits than we can count, and is certain to end up at the bottom of the sea.

The troop convoy was also badly mauled.

[rader]

As a strange end to a strange day, despite being well within strike range of each other, netiher side launches a strike against the enemy carriers in the afternoon. The Japanese pilots must have overestimated the blow they dealt the American carriers, because Nagumo decides to spend the afternoon targetting the Allied convoys instead of their carriers! The Americans continue to fail to mount any kind of strike on the Japanese.

[rader]

Ok, the air commander should definitely be sacked for this one. He decided to launch a strike against a couple of AKs outside Pearly, only to run into the inneviatble swarms of allied fighters. Of the 23 Kates launched, I think only 3 came back! [:(]

[rader]

Late february, 1942.

The allies have been making some offensive moves. First they took Lord Howard Island back (successfully). Next, they moved on to Norfolk island. This was better defended, and close enough to Noumea to call in the Cruisers of the South Seas Naval Force.

The resulting surface night and day battles were uneven. The light allied units were easy prey for the Japanese surface fleet, and not many survived to tell the tale.

[rader]

March 4, 1942.

Since the Allied Fleet retreated from Norfolk Island, the KB, finally back from its long foray across the central Pacific, decided to pay a visit to the damaged allied ships in Auckland. The Japanese aviators wreaked havoc amongst the crowded harbor.

In other news, China is pretty much a stalemate, and tha Japanese are almost finished the conquest of Java. That leaves only Northern Sumatra and Burma left before we can comence Phase 2 operations. Stay tuned...

[satx32065]

Loss of the Sara and the use of the Lex and Big E as decoys earlier north of PH have pretty much handcuffed any kind of defense from KB. Now it is hide and seek until some sort of land based air can come to call on any attacks. Not rushing into things is key here I have to bide my time. China is a stale mate but this is something of a bright spot for the Allies.