The Shipwreck of Our Hopes: Japanese Side

[John 3rd]

I am going to move south for a day and then refuel at Baker.  There were no casualties listed with those ship hits and/or sinkings.  This is why I suspect that they are at Canton. 
 
Won't hit Canton with aircraft due to my serious losses sustained at PH.  Vals will only naval attack from December 8th on.  They are too fragile to use hitting AF and troops.  Port Attacks, on the OTHER hand, will still occur if there are juicy targets waiting.
 

[Cribtop]

Banzai! A brilliant day. I told you to take Canton [:D].

Good thinking at Balikpapan and delaying the Canton invasion. Both of these decisions tell me you are keeping the dreaded Victory Disease at bay.

Why do think there are any ships left in Manila (esp a CL and a TK [X(])?

[John 3rd]

Cripples from the Opening Attack.  Recn shows over a dozen ships present.  I'll wager most of them are Subs.
 
Thank You on the victory disease comment.  This campaign sees my goal being to keep AWAY from too many rash decisions.  Of course, I have Counselor Benoit here to help with that issue as well.
 
We just got off the phone and he plans to have another 'teaching' session with me tomorrow.  Feel like I'm riding in the Little 'Special' Bus!  [:'(]

[bklooste]

Just sweep it with a Daitai or Chutai of zeros , just in case there are no targets . You want to give the impression your still in the area when you take it so he thinks your highly likely to be refueling at Truk .

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I am going to move south for a day and then refuel at Baker.  There were no casualties listed with those ship hits and/or sinkings.  This is why I suspect that they are at Canton. 

Won't hit Canton with aircraft due to my serious losses sustained at PH.  Vals will only naval attack from December 8th on.  They are too fragile to use hitting AF and troops.  Port Attacks, on the OTHER hand, will still occur if there are juicy targets waiting.

[John 3rd]

Just might do a Sweep after the next turn.  Good idea Sir.
 

[bklooste]

Michael ,
 
What ships will you build  ? As far as im concerned  the war is won in the air so the smaller amount spend on the fleet the better. The only ships that arives after 43 that are worth while are small subs , escorts , merchants etc with the exception that carriers have a value mainly based on their air complement which might mean CVLs and CVEs are better value than the fleet carriers.  I dont think anything is worth accelerating except maybe high ASW escorts unless it arives in the first few  months.
 
Also do the conversions like the Chitose come with air groups ? If so i would radically change my strategy with them. Basically i would pull a fragment of each , take their good pilots for my fleet carriers and then use them very aggresively ,Glorious west coast , Panama , Colombo , exit lanes to Capetown or Auckland raids by a unescorted CVE group sound good , and are likely to sink more than their cost and force him to keep large amount of assets in the rear to guard ports and convoys . Banzai !!![:D]  When lost convert some more CVE up to your quota and use the old air groups as trainers.  This is similar to what the Uruyus were designed for but better to do it in 41 ...Such an aggresive doctrine would need an enlarged Naval training so i dont think its gamey which the fragments would represent. Those who dare Win [;)]

[ny59giants]

Here is what I have done with Naval Shipbuilding while I slowly expand the number of Naval Shipyards.

[JuanG]

ORIGINAL: bklooste
CVLs and CVEs are better value than the fleet carriers.

This is very true, especially the Junho class CVLs.

ORIGINAL: bklooste
Also do the conversions like the Chitose come with air groups ?

If the groups on the CS's are onboard the ships when they are converted, they will also convert. Group-1 becomes a fighter group and Group-2 a torpedo bomber group. The size of the groups depends on the carrier, but they can be resized.


I would be curious as to what your plans regarding conversions are anyway.

[bklooste]

ORIGINAL: bklooste
Also do the conversions like the Chitose come with air groups ?

If the groups on the CS's are onboard the ships when they are converted, they will also convert. Group-1 becomes a fighter group and Group-2 a torpedo bomber group. The size of the groups depends on the carrier, but they can be resized.


I would be curious as to what your plans regarding conversions are anyway.
[/quote]

What about the other conversions ? Do Aks , CA , BBs , AO get air groups when converted ?

[JuanG]

ORIGINAL: bklooste

ORIGINAL: JuanG

ORIGINAL: bklooste
Also do the conversions like the Chitose come with air groups ?

If the groups on the CS's are onboard the ships when they are converted, they will also convert. Group-1 becomes a fighter group and Group-2 a torpedo bomber group. The size of the groups depends on the carrier, but they can be resized.


I would be curious as to what your plans regarding conversions are anyway.

What about the other conversions ? Do Aks , CA , BBs , AO get air groups when converted ?

Nope. However, there are enough groups to fill them, and as the IJN has no permarestricted groups in this scenario, more can be brought out from the HI if needed.

On the USN side of things they get no groups either, but get spare VF/VB/VT squadrons to use.

[bklooste]

Thanks Juan ,
 
So that means CVS conversions are good for the mid war. Also what happens to the battleship or cruiser float planes when you convert put them to land ?

[bklooste]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Here is what I have done with Naval Shipbuilding while I slowly expand the number of Naval Shipyards.

What are those Kawachi CBs like ? Are they worth building , or is it just for conversions ?

Whats the go with CV Kaiyo do you start bulding it in 23 days ? Arrive 1/45 thats probably a halt going by your others.

[JuanG]

Yes, unless I'm mistaken floatplanes that dont convert get transferred to the base the ship is at when converting. Ill check that to make sure.

CB Kawachi

[ny59giants]

Dec 12: An over aggressive Admiral falls on his sword after Surface Combat results are know at Admiral Benoit's HQ. See Admiral Cochran's next posting for details.

ASW/Subs:
I-153 sinks an xAKL 2 hexes due south of Singapore.

Carriers:
KB2 is still operating off the west coast of Malaya and finds O16 attacking an escort. DD Makinami is hit with one torpedo. Damage is 19-90(70)-24(21)-0 and she probably will not make Saigon safely. However, O16 receives 3 direct hits form depth charges. 14 unescorted Vals sink 2 xAKLs south of Singapore.

Mini-KB is still supporting Ambon invasion and is operating 2 hexes due north of base. KXVI takes a shot at a DD and misses. 11 Vals attempt to hit 3 Dutch PT Boats at Kendari.

Malaya:
Kuantan - 25 Sally, 29 Lily bomb the 22nd Indian Brigade.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8810 troops, 65 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 269

Defending force 3015 troops, 42 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 103

Japanese adjusted assault: 166

Allied adjusted defense: 95

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

A Shock Attack is ordered for tomorrow along with more ground attacks by level bombers

Mersing - 22nd Australian Brigade is targeted by 21 Zero and 32 Oscar are escorting in 35 Sally and 6 Lily. They are surprised to find 2(1) H81-A3 on CAP. [X(] The second wave of close ground support consist of 20 Zero escorting in 11(1) Lily vs 11(2) H81-A3 and 3(1) Buffalo on CAP. The third wave is from KB2 with 28 Zero and 81 Kate as they brush aside 3(1) H81-A3.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16373 troops, 171 guns, 296 vehicles, Assault Value = 638

Defending force 2392 troops, 28 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 88

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 323

Allied adjusted defense: 23

Japanese assault odds: 14 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Mersing !!! [:)]

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1191 casualties reported
Squads: 35 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 47 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 15 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 12 (12 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
5th Recon Regiment
42nd Infantry Rgt /1
1st Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
21st Infantry Rgt /1
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
11th Shipping Engineer Regiment
25th Army /2
1st JAAF Base Force
51st Field AA Battalion
11th Special Base Force /1

Defending units:
22nd Australian Brigade
30 Battery/3 HAA

Great news as the decision to use ground attacks on his Aussie Bde pays dividends. The base is captured and the Bde is pretty much shredded.

China:
Hong Kong - Just a bombardment attack as a HQ and an infantry group are in route (Assault value - 120).

Ichang -

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 10486 troops, 75 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1696

Defending force 14905 troops, 116 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 553

Allied adjusted assault: 0 I have NEVER seen a modification to this extent.

Japanese adjusted defense: 307

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Allied ground losses:
6008 casualties reported [:D]
Squads: 204 destroyed, 156 disabled
Non Combat: 134 destroyed, 205 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled

Assaulting units:
8th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army

Defending units:
34th Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

I guess the supposed cease fire in the China theater is now "null and void." I had seen the small arrows from some LCUs for the last few turns. I used the lessons learned from my PBEM game vs FatR (Stanislav) to start moving troops in this theater from turn 1.

Philippines:
Atimonan - most of the 16th Division commence unloading.

Manila - 2 out of 8 P-40E are destroyed as 69 Betty and 44 Zero visit the port. CL Raleigh is reported as sunk.

Clark Field - 29 Nell, 23 Sally, and 20 Lily bomb the AF.

San Fernando - 14 Zero are on CAP as 6 B-17D Fortress attempt to attack my transports, without success.

SRA (East):
Ambon - a PB, xAK, and xAKL are sunk by CD Guns while unloading.

Notes/Plans:
Malaya will see

[Cribtop]

Banzai! The fall of Mersing on Dec. 12 should speed along Malaya. I note the quick landing left only the initial Allied troops there to oppose the assault. Mersing can get dicey if both Aussie brigades are in position.

Always good to find out where AVG is (especially when the discovery is relatively painless, those guys can be like muggers in a back alley in the right situations).

[FatR]

Interesting to see such extreme drop in assault effectiveness. By comparison, I brought only one corps and one HQ unit more to Ichang, against the same forces, and overran it on the second attack. Can it be, that one of Allied units crossed the river, triggering the shock attack?

[Q-Ball]

The taking of Mersing is huge. Your opponents goofed; there is no reason that other Australian Bde shouldn't be in that hex, it's a 2-day walk. Maybe you would have had enough anyways, you brought everyone available it seems.

The Malayan Army, if they are not already, will be running/riding post-haste for Singapore. Find some Paras to take empty train stations to move things along a little quicker.

Nice job though, that's a big time-saver.

[AcePylut]

My opponent grabbed Mersing on Dec 8th.  It changes things a bit!

[ny59giants]

Notes/Plans:
Malaya will see

I got a phone call from John and I continued my lessons with him. So much micro-management to learn. Taught him about two key Hot Keys - J and Z. He accidentally convert the 4 plane Liz factory to Tinas. No big deal as he wants another transport besides Topsy. I got him to see holes in his search patterns around the northern part of the Marshalls (I wish I had better search in my other PBEM game [:(] ).

OK, back to the Malaya plans. Kates from KB2 will conduct ground attacks on Johore Bharu. Lily and Sally out of Kota Bharu will hit Malacca (just in case they use this base to to move LCUs from the north in strat mode). A few more will hit Kuantan. I'm doing a Shock Attack at Kuantan next turn and hope it falls. If so, one of the Infantry Rgt will load for the short trip to Mersing. The 5th Division and 2 Tank Rgt are ordered due west. The base had NO damage!! 33/A Division is on Fast Transports (speed 18) and are at the "S" in South China Sea on the actual map. The rest is between there and southern tip of Formosa. 1st Raiding Rgt is less than a week from Singora. If northern bases are evacuated they will para drop on them to secure rail for Imperial Gds which is one day from Singora.

Luzon - transports continue to unload supplies and the 65th Bde is just starting to unload. Their fighter force has almost totally disappeared. Off to Mindanao I think.

CRISIS!!! I found out last night while turn was with Allies that BB Nagato and BB Matsu were out of 41 cm main gum ammo (bombardment of Ambon). Babeldoab is not large enough nor does it have enough naval support to reload them. I have 6 Lima Class converting over to AKEs, but in will be the end of the month before their done. I found 2 large AKEs (capacity of 5620) - Kwajalien and Camrahn Bay. One is needed for KB, so I formed a Transport TF with CL and 2 DDs to head to Takao before heading to Babeldoad.

[John 3rd]

A cloudy day greets the Japanese heavy cruisers Iwaki and Ibuki on December 12, 1941. The first week of the war has been quite busy for these two ships fine crews. They started as escorts for the CVLs and CVE that helped hit Manila on December 7th/8th and then split off to cross through the central Philippines raiding for Allied shipping. In the course of one busy night and day they sank alomost a dozen ships and expended all ammunition. After a quick re-supply from Cam Rahn Bay they return to sink another couple of ships.

The fast raiders had been working the narrow confines of the Strait between Borneo and Sulawasi. On the 11th several TF were spotted, by a Jake, at Balikpapan. Knowing that the British and Dutch main surface forces haven't been brought to action yet, the Captain commanding the Division prudently decides to move north and away from these possible warships. Unfortunately the British Admiral commanding the HMS Jellico is a step ahead of him...

Appearing in the mid-morning, the Japanese are stunned to see 15" shell splashes begin to fall around them at a range of 20,000 Yards. A quick survey of the approaching TF reveals the battleship Jellico, several heavy and light cruisers plus a strong destroyed screen. The immediate decision is to advance in the opposite direction while chasing shell splashes! Unforunately the ABDA TF is north of the Japanese and they have to race through a guantlet of shellfire.

Trading fire with whatever target is close enough, the CAs crank it up to flank speed and race past the Allied formation while only taking light damage. For eleven furious gunnery rounds shells crash around the formation. To the immense surprise of the Japanese the only shells striking their cruisers are 6" and 8" which do hardly any damage. IN return for these dings, the Japanese hit CA Houston and 2 DD as well as scratching the paint on the opposing BB with 3 hits.

A brief break in the fight occurs when the Japanese move into the protection of a rain storm. Though lasting only about 15 minutes, it provides time for the Japanese to maneuver for a final dash away from the Allies. Breaking into the clear they exchange gunfire for another 11 rounds without taking too much more damage. Several ABDA ships are hit and the Japanese take some damage as well. Though Iwaki is hit a total of 17 times, she is made of stern steel. Damage is bad but not TOO serious (Sys 50, Flot 15, Eng 31, Fire 4--No serious damage).

The baffled Allied Admiral stares in awe as his ambush fails and his quarry escape to fight another day.

BANZAI!