Hunting the Hibiki: Q-Ball (Allies) v Cuttlefish (Japan)

[Venividivici10044]

I think the overall discussion of Timor and Darwin needs to be considered in the guise of Supreme Commander Syndrome. In real life many agendas and personalities vied for control of resources and personal glory. In real life if one supreme commander had existed, perhaps reason would have occurred and the DEI would have become the penultimate target to end the war early. I'm sure other ways exist to win (or lose) the game; hopefully enterprising players will uncover other possible strategies. In my humble opinion, if Japan wants to take Darwin, pour in the troops. Australia will eventually become a wonderful prison camp for the IJA.

EDIT - In real life - Japan was spread too thin. Midway certainly knocked time off the war; I think Guadalcanal extended things but helped in the long run from the experiences gained. Japan attempting to annex portions of Australia and NZ will only hasten the end through the loss of resources in other places. In my opinion, I don't care about VPs for determining victory. For me, victory comes in 2 ways - avoiding the destruction of the home islands as Japan, or destroying Japan as a combatant fully as the Allies. END EDIT

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Jan 15-18, 1943

Very little to report, as the Allies re-organize and start loading up for new destinations.

Terapo: I landed a Cav Unit, a couple battalions to clear Terapo. My troops were not very well prepped, and are stuck on a Nav Gd unit. We are close to dislodging it, so we can build an airstrip to protect the Torres Strait.

Kendari: We are beginning to load-up for a major landing on Kendari; 3 divisions in all, plus tanks. Based on recon, it should be more than enough. Simultaneously, I am also landing a unit at Kolaka, which is vacant, mostly to cut retreat routes.

Once this is complete, we land at Makassar.

Luganville: Shipping is also gathering for a 2 division landing on Luganville. I am not sure if I have quite enough, so we will land what we can. Once we clear Luganville, the next step is a landing at Koumac, and then isolating Noumea. This will close the New Hebrides campaign, and allow us to go 100% into the DEI.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Jan 19,20,21, 1943

Quiet Days, but a couple things cooking.

Kendari: This invasion force is loaded up and sailing toward Kendari. Based on intel, and what I have, I expect this to go fast, but you never know. OOB for us is 2 UN Infantry Divisions, 2 tank Bns, Artillery, and an HQ; all are 100% prepped.

I am also landing at Kolaka to cut retreat paths.

Terapo: This base near Port Moresby falls on the 20th, with the Nav Gd unit retreating into the jungle. We will develop this into a small airstrip. I am picking up the attackers and moving them to Darwin, to prep for targets in the DEI.

Sub Wars: 3 AK sinkings in 3 days. Subs are getting more frisky.

Luganville: We are ready to load up in a day or two. This might be a tough target, but I need to clear it to secure my supplies. I have over 2 divisions. On the 19th, DBs from Efate nailed a small transport TF at Luganville, sinking 2 AK, 1 PB, and an E. Nice!

Palmyra: A Tanker TF reported seeing a Japanese aircraft near Palmyra. Could be FOW, but it could be some sort of raiding TF. I am clearing the area as a precaution, though aside from the tankers, not much was around.

[ckammp]

What is your estimate of the size of the Japanese force at Noumea? IIRC, Cuttlefish needed 3-4 divisions + artillery units to capture the base. If any of those units are still there, do you think he will attempt to save them, or write them off?
 
Slightly OT question re Noumea: The base finally fell on 18 Aug, but you were able to save a fragment of the 41st Division. Have you been able to rebuild the Division yet? If so, how long did it take?

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ckammp

What is your estimate of the size of the Japanese force at Noumea? IIRC, Cuttlefish needed 3-4 divisions + artillery units to capture the base. If any of those units are still there, do you think he will attempt to save them, or write them off?

Slightly OT question re Noumea: The base finally fell on 18 Aug, but you were able to save a fragment of the 41st Division. Have you been able to rebuild the Division yet? If so, how long did it take?

I don't have an estimate of the Japanese on Noumea. I plan to land about 1 1/2 divisions at Koumac, build an airbase, and sit. I don't plan to overwhelm Noumea unless noone is there, but rather to just isolate and bomb it.

The 41st Division is at Suva, and is nearly rebuilt. I am landing this unit on New Caledonia, which I think is poetic justice, no?

Combat Report, Jan 20, 1942

Kendari: My invasion fleet should be spotted tommorow, when it will be 2 hexes off Kendari. They will start landing the next day, along with a force at Kolaka. Once Kendari falls, I will start closing airbases closer to Koepang, and moving the airbase units forward. After Kendari, Makassar.

Ultimately, I plan to advance as far as Den Passar and Benjermisan, to guard the Makassar strait entrance from Singapore, then move up the Makassar Strait, around the coast of Borneo, and into the Phillipines Archipelago. In this way I will bypass Mindanao, which intel tells me has at least 3 divisions on it.

Raiders!: Yesterday, a tanker TF spotted a floatplane off Hawaii. I have found that although the TYPE of plane is often FOW (they said it was a fighter bomber), usually there aren't alot of false sightings of enemy planes. I figured it had to be surface ships, because a) his CVs were all in the DEI, and b) if they were CVs, that search plane would have been accompanied by a strike.

Sure enough, the next day we were intercepted. I was surprised to see raiders this deep; I need to check my air search again.

One thing odd about this TF: It included CL Kashima, which would slow up the whole TF by at least 9 kts. (IIRC, Musashi tops out at 27 kts, and Kashima 18kts.). Strange!

The result was predictable:

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Raiders!: Yesterday, a tanker TF spotted a floatplane off Hawaii. I have found that although the TYPE of plane is often FOW (they said it was a fighter bomber), usually there aren't alot of false sightings of enemy planes. I figured it had to be surface ships, because a) his CVs were all in the DEI, and b) if they were CVs, that search plane would have been accompanied by a strike.

Hi Q-ball,

What made you think that this plane was something other than a nuisance scouting by a Glen?

[TheElf]

Q-ball, I posted this in Cuttlefish's AAR. The sentiments are equally applicable to you and yours...

...this is an outstanding AAR. One of, if not the best I have ever seen. You and Q-ball are masterful strategists, and your exemplary attitudes, and concepts of fair play contribute more to this community than you could possibly imagine. I applaud your resolve to continue as I think this particular experiment in alternative history has a lot of life left in it, particularly given your personal zeal and intimate knowledge of the subject. Congrats and good fortune...

[Reg]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball


Raiders!: .....

One thing odd about this TF: It included CL Kashima, which would slow up the whole TF by at least 9 kts. (IIRC, Musashi tops out at 27 kts, and Kashima 18kts.). Strange!

Wow, using the Musashi for a long distance commerce raid. CF musn't be too worried about fuel.....

Probably intended to make a point!!!

[crsutton]

A few more months and you will be able to spare a couple of light carriers to hunt down these miscreants when they hit you. But for now, it is just a nuisance.

[Smeulders]

That's one big group to be raiding, easier to spot and absolute overkill for small merchant convoys. Anyway, not much more than a nuisance and a way to boost Cuttlefishes morale, nice operation by him though.

[Q-Ball]

Elf: High praise indeed! Thank you, I respect your opinion.
Chickenboy: I shouldn't have drawn that conclusion actually, at the time I didn't think of a GLEN plane. I haven't seen a single GLEN sub west of Johnston since the opening week though. But I wasn't 100% sure anyway.

Combat Report, Jan 21, 22, 1943

Raiders: I am stepping up my air search to counter any other raiders if there are any out there. That's about all I can do for now, if I had a CV TF in Pearl I could have done something about Musashi, but I don't, so all I can do it evacuate everyone else and hope she sails away.

Luganville: This landing will load up in a couple days. I have 3 divisions for this at Suva, plus tanks. This should be enough, but you never know. I have air support from Efate and Tanna.

Kendari: The landings here came off very well, from the map below. It should fall quickly.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Jan 23, 24, 1942

Kendari: An empty Kolaka fell to a tank Bn; at Kendari, the first attack dropped the forts to 2, at 1-1, and caused more Japanese casualties. Tinas were intercepted again lifting units out. The base should fall tommorow or the next day; I already have base troops on the way to get it open.

We have units prepped for Makassar already, so we will probably unload the shipping, get some base troops, then land on Makassar. Other units are prepping for Mataram and Balikpapan, which are also on the list.

Sub Wars: Interesting couple days. With the Makassar strait closed, I have been heavily patrolling the Taiwan strait, and haven't seen a tanker there in months. I decided to send a couple subs to the Phillipines archipelago, specifically above and below Samar. Sure enough, in 2 days we spot 3 different tanker TFs, putting torps in 2, and for sure sinking one, a big Tonan Whaler off Samar by an S-Boat.

Cuttlefish must have been moving tankers all along through the Phillipines! That's why I hand't seen any.

I will step-up patrols there, at this point there are only about 7 hexes he can transit all his FUEL/OIL through between the Taiwan straits and the Phillipines, so we should be able to keep up active patrols. Still, he is way ahead in tanker losses, so more than likely, I'll have to just interdict the actual Oil sources to stop the supply (I have already done so basically for Balikpapan).

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Jan 25 to 30, 1943

Quick update; for the most part, I have not seen the IJN at all, and just air oppossition in spots. Mostly, this report is about invasion updates:

Kendari: Kendari fell on the 26th, with the Japanese garrison (65th Bde, 32 Nav Gd) running into the jungle. With Kendari secure, I immediately started preps for the two divisions that took it, one for Menado, the other for Balikpapan.

Mataram: 2 UK Brigades departed Waingapu for Mataram, which will move our perimeter 4 hexes NW. After that, I will land at Den Passar, and probably stop. Mataram is undefended, we are going to establish an airbase there to protect our flank and pretend to threaten Java.

Luganville: 2 US Divisions plus tanks are aboard transports sailing for Tanna; from there, they will proceed under aircover to Luganville. Bombers are hitting Luganville to keep the Betties there in check, but we will accept a few losses in this operation. Closing Luganville will isolate New Caledonia, and allow me to pummel that island to dust and open a direct supply line to Australia.

I am already using the Torres Strait to get convoys to Darwin without mishap so far. I would like to clear Merauke just to make sure.

Makassar: Once I land at Mataram, I will land at Makassar, and a couple points on that tip of Celebes. Troops are already prepped, including 2 divisions.

[crsutton]

Pretty amazing. In my WITP game I had to just bypass Kendari. No way I was going to take it. Nice base to own....

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Pretty amazing. In my WITP game I had to just bypass Kendari. No way I was going to take it. Nice base to own....

It will come in handy; once I take Menado, I can move my forward basing stuff from Koepang to Kendari. By that I mean our auxilliary shipping (AKE,AD,AS,AR,AV,AG, all that stuff), fuel stocks, and Naval Support units. But for now, Koepang is my forward base.

I really want Balikpapan though, because that will really help the fuel situation (and hurt Cuttlefish, though it's already closed to Japanese shipping basically).

After that, I plan an advance up the south and east coasts of Borneo. Once I have Jesselton/Beaufort secure, the Japanese are in real trouble, because I can interdict shipping the South China Sea. Do that, and the Japanese economy collapses in a year.

[ckammp]

Once you have Makassar and Balikpapan, do you plan on strategic bombing against Java/North Borneo, just concentrate against Japanese shipping, or both? Or do you and Cuttlefish have a HR against strategic bombing this early in the game?

[Q-Ball]

ckammp: We have a HR against Pre-1944 strategic bombing. Otherwise, I would be bombing Balikpapan. I plan to be within range of all of Borneo by then though.....

Combat Report, Feb 1 to 5, 1943

Raiders!: Not the kind from Oakland, but there have been a couple raiding TF's sighted.

First, a TF was spotted on the 1st off Lord Howe Island. This TF was uncomfortably close to a very large TF with lots of air units being shipped to Australia. As it happens, an RAAF Hudson spotted them, and they disappeared, I guess withdrawing.

On the 5th, Musashi and friends (same TF that sank my tankers a couple weeks back), hit Pago Pago. WOW, that's deep in Indian country. The only ships were a couple PTs, but this was another uncomfortable hit.

I have been moving my convoys is very large convoys, to limit the effectiveness of their subs. I may need to reassess that, and tighten my air search, because Pago Pago is way too deep in Indian country. Bad!

Luganville: I landed at Luganville on the 2nd. I brought the 27th and Americal Divisions, a Combat Eng Bn, 1 Tank Bn, and artillery. The garrison is 1/3 of a division, a Nav Gd unit, and base troops.

The landings came off without a hitch. Heavy air attacks for two days basically closed the airstrip at Luganville, though at high cost in Allied fighters. On day 3, a large TF of 3 IJN BBs hit my landing zone; they sparred with my covering force centered on Maryland, and the result was inconclusive. Nothing sank while the Japanese broke off, though I lost a DD the next morning to a sub. This result was disappointing for Cuttlefish, because he had me outnumbered, and it failed to disrupt the landing.

The first attack dropped the forts, and I expect to have it in a week or less, depending on resistance.

Mataram: We landed at Mataram on the 3rd. Below is the current situation in the DEI.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Feb 6-8, 1943

No major actions these days, mostly the Allies moving things around....

Luganville: The forts are down to zero, but my troops need a little rest before trying again. I anticipate clearing the base in about 3 days or so. Once that happens, we will start looking at landing at Koumac, where I have had some troops prepping for.

At Koumac we will build an airbase, and I will leave some Kiwi units to watch the Japs at Noumea (Kiwis, because their replacement rate is very low, so low-intesity combat situations is a good use for them). All the US formations will then be moved into the DEI.

The unloading at Luganville is taking awhile. IJN Surface forces seem to be gathering at Rabaul and Lunga (Rabaul is under air search from Port Moresby). I was lucky last time that combat was inconclusive, but we're not going to press that luck; I am departing Luganville for the moment with all my ships, and will come back after we take the base and I can have some aircover.

Mataram: Mostly unloaded, and base troops are on the way. Recon shows that Den Passar is empty; I may go ahead and grab that base, then stop short of Java. At the moment, I am not inclined to invade Java, it looks to me like I will get bogged down in those hills, and at any rate there is a big stack at Soerbaya, and intel has identified at least 2 divisions on Java. It would take at least 4 divisions to clear it, probably more, and that's more of a land commitment than I want to make.

Makassar: The invasion of the Southwest Celebes is loading up. The centerpiece will be a 2+ Division landing on Makassar, consisting of the 6th Australian Div, and 1st Marines, plus a UK Bde. Another AIF Brigade will land at Watampone, and a para regt will land at Palopo; these movements will cut the retreat route for the Japanese, and allow me to destroy the Makassar garrison in the south.

The terrain in that corner of Celebes means that I can march troops up about 4 hexes, so if I have enough land forces I can simply walk to Pare Pare, and establish an airbase within SBD range of Balikpapan. That will close Balikpapan for sure, and provide cover for a landing there; I am already prepping 2 divisions for Balikpapan.

Sub Wars: A couple weeks ago I began moving my subs from a combat deployment around my bases in the DEI, to more of a strategic deployment, watching the Taiwan Strait and the Phillipines Archipelago. The number of places his Oil must be moving is limited, because I effectively control the Makassar Strait, so everything has to go through the South China Sea.

Lately, I have sunk 3 AKs in the Taiwan Strait, including one with troops, and a large TK off Naha.

[ComradeP]

Q-Ball, are you going to put anything on Selayar (possibly the base is called Benteng), the island with the Dutch flag between Flores and Celebes?

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Q-Ball, are you going to put anything on Selayar (possibly the base is called Benteng), the island with the Dutch flag between Flores and Celebes?

I had planned to occupy it, but I don't think it's needed now. I should be able to get ashore no problem supported from Kendari, so no need to expend effort on Salajar.