Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[jonreb31]

I'm very dissapointed, you aren't doing nearly bad enough for your enemy to reach San Diego and live up to your thread's name. [:D]
This AAR reminds me a lot of when I first picked up WiTP. You'll be learning new things constantly.

Fairly good that up to February Singapore is still holding and Bataan is only under a light siege. This'll keep quite a few of his troops tied up which is obviously slowing down his advance.

Also it could be interesting to see screenshots of the current information screen and a list of sunk ships.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: JonReb

I'm very dissapointed, you aren't doing nearly bad enough for your enemy to reach San Diego and live up to your thread's name. [:D]
This AAR reminds me a lot of when I first picked up WiTP. You'll be learning new things constantly.

Fairly good that up to February Singapore is still holding and Bataan is only under a light siege. This'll keep quite a few of his troops tied up which is obviously slowing down his advance.

Also it could be interesting to see screenshots of the current information screen and a list of sunk ships.

Ah, good point about screen caps; I'll have to take some later on today and post them. The Sunk Ship list is still basically all of those ships that were caught and sunk in the Sulu Sea during the first week or so of the game, along with the Repulse and PoW. And FoW keeps on trying to convince me that Kaga sank thanks to one torpedo, but I'll believe that when I see the diver photos... [;)]

Thanks

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Okay, here is the Intel screen as of February 3, 1942. As you can see, my losses have been reasonable, other than the Slaughter in the Sulu Sea early on which accounts for the majority of the Allied ships that have been sunk.

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Here are the Allied ships sunk, in order of point value. As you can see, the PoW and Repulse are the only significant combat ships lost so far.

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Here are the Japanese ships sunk according to FoW. There is no way that I believe that Kaga is sunk, but I think that the rest of the list is fairly accurate.

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Here are the major damaged Allied ships. The Pearl Harbor BBs survived, but they aren't doing any fighting for some time yet. And I still want to get the rest of them out of Pearl and over to the West Coast ports. All I need is time.

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Here are the air losses. Note that most of my losses are P-40s. I deliberately pulled out the older US planes and used them to fill out back water air units so that I could get better planes to the Front. I have also deliberately not thrown away Buffalos if I can help it. They are good for replacing Hurricanes in British units that I have to withdraw early.

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Here are my air pools. Notice that I have been stockpiling P-40s. That is because I will be getting back a number of withdrawn units soon, and I want to fill out the good ones with P-40s.

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Here's the current situation in China:

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Here's the current situation in Burma:

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Here's the current situation in Singapore/DEI:

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Here's the current situation in PNG/Solomons:

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Here's the current situation in the Gilberts:

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And finally, here is the current status of Pearl Harbor:

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February 3, 1942 -

This turn showed that some of the time that I have spent setting up defenses is worth the effort. It also showed that it doesn't pay to underestimate the enemy.

The night phase was quiet other than an unopposed landing at the currently empty base of Zamboanga in the Phillipines. I pulled my troops out of there long ago in an attempt to get them to join the defense of the major bases in Mindanao, but the units moved too slowly in the jungle and are still stuck half-way to nowhere.

The day phase started out with the usual air attack on Malaybalay, then my opponent mixed things up a lot:

First off there was an air attack on Oosthaven. Bettys and Nells flew in unescorted. Some Dutch fighters from Batavia flew over to try to attack the Japanese bombers but they weren't successful and instead the bombers were damaged by AA fire from the ground troops at Oosthaven.

Next Bettys escorted by Zeros attacked Koepang. There were no fighters there to interfere so the bombers got in cleanly to hit the air fields.

Then some Nells flew in to hit the air fields at Makassar. Once again there was no CAP there so the bombers got an easy mission out of it.

Then Japanese Recon flights flew to a number of new targets including Mandalay and some of the nearby bases in central Burma. But the most interesting Japanese Recon flight was over the still empty Australian base of Cooktown. Maybe my opponent is seriously considering an invasion of northeastern Oz after all. In any event, I ordered an armoured unit to move from Brisbane to reinforce the troops already at Townsville.

At this point the main action of the day started as the Japanese Invasion fleet arrive late in the day at Palembang. My opponent received a number of unpleasant surprises there. First off there is still a large and active mine field in place. While it isn't clear from the combat reports if any Japanese ships hit mines, a Japanese DD and two Japanese DMS ships were blasted to bits by the shore guns while they attempted to sweep some of the mines.

Next, my opponent was surprised to see the sky darken with Dutch bombers flying anti-ship missions out of Batavia. Only one lone Oscar flew CAP over the Japanese Invasion fleet and the 139WH-3s were escorted by B-339D fighters so most of the bombers got to fly in and try their luck. And thanks to constant training over the past two game-months, some of the Dutch bombers actually got some hits on the Japanese transports. In total three Dutch bomber attacks totallying over sixty bombers flew in to harass the Japanese ships.

BTW – afterwards I sat-down the Dutch bombers and moved them to Soerabaja. I expect that my opponent will do two things next turn:

1 - Put some strong CAP over his Invasion TF, and
2 - Bomb Batavia back into the Stone Age

This way I'll be able to wait for another opportunity to surprise my opponent.

Finally, the Japanese ships set up to unload their troop cargos and then the Shore guns let loose. I had moved a number of units out of Borneo by air to Palembang, and they all fired everything that they had at the Japanese ships. And since the largest ships in the Japanese TF were DDs, the Shore guns had a good time, hitting many ships with many shells.

Eventually some Japanese troops did get ashore, but this isn't a very strong invasion. There are two small Infantry Battalions, one small Recon Regiment and one small Combat Engineering unit. My opponent may have underestimated what he will need to capture Palembang. My troops fired a welcoming artillery barrage to set the tone, but I guess that we will see next turn if my opponent brought in sufficient fire power or not.

BTW II – the Allied PT flotilla didn't make it to Palembang in time, but they are one hex away and will reach the base at the beginning of the next evening turn. Maybe I'll get lucky again and they will cause more chaos in the Japanese invasion.

There was one other Japanese Ground attack this turn – the Japanese besiegers of Singapore attempted a Deliberate attack on the Allied positions. The Japanese achieved a 1:1 result again, lowered the Forts to Level 2, and suffered 4730 casualties against 3010 casualties for the Allies. So Singapore survived another day. Fortunately, my supplies are holding strong. I wonder how well the Japanese supplies are holding out.

In other news, the Calcutta B-17s didn't fly again, but this time the British Recon fighters at Lashio did fly over Toungoo. They didn't spot any troops there. I've left the B-17s to try to bomb again next turn.

And at Pearl Harbor the Fortifications reached Level 5, so I ordered two of the small Engineering units to prepare to ship out to other bases that are in need of some extra Construction muscle.

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February 4, 1942 -

The night phase brought continued unloading of Japanese invasion troops at Zamboanga and Palembang. The shore guns at Palembang once again fired away at the ships in the Japanese Invasion TF, heavily damaging several PBs. There was also Japanese night ASW action consisting of Japanese ASW PBs trying to hunt Dutch sub KXII off of Balikpapan and US sub Shark off of Tarakan.

But the big night time action was at Palembang where the Allied PT TF sailed in and attacked the Japanese invasion TF. The Japanese had 3 DDs, 3 TBs, 2AKs, and 6 xAKs in the TF, along with a number of heavily damaged PBs. The Allied PTs closed in and actually got off a close range attack in which one xAK was hit by a torpedo and another hit by some 50 cal fire. The Japanese escorts got off some return fire, sinking one MTB and damaging one PT. So all-in-all it was a fairly good effort by the PT TF. Sure, it didn't stop the invasion, but it did cause chaos and serious damage.

Daylight brought the usual Japanese aerial bombardments of Malaybalay, Palembang and Temuloh. Koepang was hit again by units of the Kaga air contingent, which makes me think that maybe Kaga did get hit harder than I thought by that torpedo off of Ambon. In addition to Koepang, Lautem was also bombed, so it looks as if my opponent intends to go after Timor sooner rather than later. And finally Singapore was hit again by Sallys. Nearly half of the Sallys were hit by flak but none were shot down. Once again the British AT unit was targeted.

There was nothing unusual or unexpected about the Japanese Recon flights this turn, other than the surprising observation that there were no Recon flights over China. My B-17s in Darwin finally flew over Ambon on Recon. My British Hurricane Recon planes didn't fly this turn over Toungoo, and my Calcutta B-17s didn't fly once again, so I sat down the B-17s and will wait until the Japanese get closer in Burma.

The Ground Combat phase was more active this turn. First off was another deliberate attack on Singapore. Once again the Japanese achieved a 1:1 result and the Fortifications were reduced to Level 1. The Japanese suffered 2759 casualties while the Allies suffered 1688 casualties. Singapore may well fall next turn.

One additional small Japanese Infantry Battalion was able to land at Palembang this turn despite continued sharp shooting by the Shore guns, so the Japanese were able to do a Shock Attack with 3 Infantry Battalions, an armoured Recon Regiment, and a Combat Engineering Regiment. The Japanese achieved a 2:1 result and reduced the Fortifications to Level 0. The Japanese took 257 casualties while the Allies took 575 casualties. So Palembang ought to fall next turn. But I already built up the defenses at the next base down the road, so once my troops retreat they will have a safe haven in which to rest for a bit. I'm hoping to cause my opponent to waste a fair amount of time in Sumatra.

And the empty Zamboanga fell to the invading SNLF force. My Philippine Infantry unit that moved out of Zamboanga finally reached the next base along the coast, and there is some sort of Japanese unit there, but I ordered the Philippine troops to try a Shock attack any way, just in case the Japanese unit is a Base Force or something like that. It can't hurt to try.

In other news, my opponent is moving his troops back along the road away from Ichang. I guess that his repeated Recon convinced him that he really didn't want to try to re-take the base at this time. Considering that I have 4000 AV worth of experienced troops in Ichang, that is probably a very good idea on the part of my opponent.

Finally, SIGINT didn't tell me anything very significant this turn, but there may be a bit of useful news in all of the noise – the amount of Radio traffic at Truk has increased. Is the KB back in the Central Pacific?

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February 5, 1942 -

Allied Coast Watchers continue to report lots of Japanese naval activity around PNG and the Solomons. I'm not certain what my opponent is up to in that region, but he sure appears to be busy.

Japanese Task Forces continued to unload at Palembang this turn. The Palembang shore guns continued to fire back, but at a reduced rate and reduced effectiveness. Never-the-less, some Japanese ships were still hit, including PBs and a few xAKs.

The US PT boats that were retiring from Palembang ran into a couple of incoming Japanese invasion TFs on the way north. The PT boats were out of ammo so they simply avoided combat. Then the British MTBs encountered a couple of Japanese TFs at Palembang, but the Brits refused combat even though they still had ammo. After the turn I took a look at the MTB TF and realized that I never checked the TF leader when I formed it last turn, and sure enough, the leader's qualifications were lousy. So I may have wasted an opportunity there. I am going to try to move the PT and MTB TFs up to Medan.

There was also a bit of night time sub action as a Japanese PB unsuccessfully chased another Dutch sub near Balikpapan. Lately sub action has been limited on both sides. I guess that my opponent and I are both sending our subs to the wrong locations. Even my Air Patrols aren't finding many signs of Japanese subs. The only case last turn was a report of a possible sub in the Cook Islands that came from a Float Plane on the Boise.

The Air Phase brought the usual Japanese bombing at Palembang, Lautem, Koepang and Temuloh. Several Japanese air units also bombed my starving Philippine Infantry unit at Oroquieta. And around a hundred Sallys and Lilys bombed Singapore, with about half of them receiving flak damage for their trouble.

There was one more interesting Japanese air activity – a small Zero unit swept the empty skies over Soerabaja. My opponent must be trying to figure out where my Dutch fighters are flying.

The Ground Phase started with a bit of bad luck for me – the Japanese unit at Oroquieta turned out to be a Tank Regiment and it hammered my poor Philippine Infantry unit quite hard. But my unit didn't retreat, probably because it wasn't in control of the base. I've ordered that unit and the base force that is travelling behind it to attempt to reach another base that may not be occupied.

There was then another deliberate attack on Singapore. The Japanese attackers achieved a 1:1 result and reduced the Fortifications to 0. So the base held again and over night the Defenders rebuilt the fortifications to Level 1. But the casualty numbers swung over in favor of the Japanese – 1879 Japanese casualties versus 3001 Allied casualties – so the battle won't last much longer at Singapore.

It was then the turn of the Japanese forces at Palembang and they delivered a Shock Attack that easily captured the base and drove the defenders back to Praboemoelik. Fortunately, I already built up the fortifications in that base to Level 2, so it won't be a total pushover for the Japanese advance.

And I was suprised to see Mergui captured by the Japanese. I had forgotten that it was still under Allied control.

All of the attention that Timor has gotten has made me decide that it is now time to send the Dutch combat ships back up the Western Coast of Australia and hopefully into a position where they can attack any invasion, as long as not too much of the KB supports an invasion of Timor. I've got some small AOs in the northwestern bases so the Dutch ought to be good for one hit-and-run raid.

In other news, the first few of the many Air Units that I withdrew early in the Game started to come back this turn. Now I have enough planes in reserve to fill up the better air units and continue to train them.

And, after a long march, the 16th Indian Brigade finally reached an Indian railroad base. Now I will send the unit to Karachi where it will join the 63rd Indian Brigade and the 48th Gurkha Brigade and re-form the 17th Indian Division.

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February 6, 1942 -

My opponent was tied up with Real Life this week so he was only able to send out a turn this evening. This match is moving from the Thirty Years War to the Hundred Years War.

In any event, the only night time action was off of Palembang when Dutch sub SS O19 ambushed an already damaged Japanese xAK and sank it. I've got a lot of subs in the DEI – my opponent ought to know better than to send out lone, damaged transports.

Daylight brought Japanese air raids over Keopang, Oroquieta, the refugees near Samarinda, Lautem, Kuantan, and Singapore. The AA in Singapore was still doing its job and the Japanese bombers took a lot of flak damage for little damage on the ground. There was also lots of Japanese Recon over the DEI, the remaining US bases in the Philippines, and over Burma.

I didn't send out any of my bombers. The weather is generally bad right now and there aren't any interesting targets, so I would rather rest my planes and pilots.

The Japanese Tank unit at Oroquieta delivered another hard blow against my Philippine troops at that base, but despite suffering heavy casualties my troops refused to retreat. I would prefer it if they would retreat, but there isn't anything I can do about the situation.

The Japanese besiegers of Singapore attempted another Deliberate attack this turn, which achieved a 1:1 result and once again reduced the Fortifications to Level 0. But my troops re-built the Forts back to Level 1 overnight. The Japanese suffered 2015 casualties while the Allies suffered 2148 casualties. Again, I expect Singapore to fall next turn, but there is a chance that my opponent is pushing his troops too much and they may be running out of steam. We will see how it goes.

And significantly, China continues to be totally quiet. My opponent isn't moving any forces into position to attack my troops, so I'm more than happy to sit back and watch my Supplies slowly creep back into the black.

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February 7, 1942 -

The night phase started out with Normanby Island being occupied automatically, then USS Seadragon attempted an ambush off of Palembang. This time my opponent had learned his lesson and the Transport TF contained a number of ASW escorts that successfully chased off Seadragon.

Daylight brought Japanese air attacks all around Malaya, the DEI and Mindanao. Allied troops at Oroquieta, Malaybalay, Lautem, Temuloh, Koepang, Makassar and Singapore were all bombed. The AA at Singapore continued to work well and a good number of Japanese bombers were shot down, including Bettys. My opponent continues to bomb my troops, which doesn't tend to cause a lot of casualties when the troops are in fortified bases, but he hasn't been bombing the Air Fields or Ports, which means that my Engineers are able to continue to build, and/or rebuild the Forts. I'm quite happy with this situation and I have no intention of informing my opponent of the result of his decision. [;)]

The day phase ended with a rare daylight sub attack as Dutch sub KXII took a shot at a Japanese PB off of Balikpapan, but missed. The PB, along with three others, then took turns trying to depth charge the Dutch sub, but also missed.

Japanese troops attempted more ground attacks on stubbornly defended Allied positions this turn. A Japanese Tank Regiment, along with an Infantry Regiment and a Naval Guard Unit attacked the Allied stragglers at Temuloh this turn, achieving a 1:1 result and lowering the Forts from L2 to L1.

At Oroquieta the Japanese Tank Regiment leveled another attack on the helpless Philippine troops, accomplishing a 20:1 result, but only causing a handful of casualties and not driving the Philippine troops out of the base.

Meanwhile, the Japanese besiegers tried yet another Deliberate attack at Singapore, once again achieving a 1:1 result and reducing the Forts once more from L1 to L0. But of course, in the absence of any Facility bombing the Allied Engineers rebuilt the Forts back up to Level 1 over night. Interestingly enough, the Japanese suffered 1495 casualties versus 1358 for the Allies. My opponent has mentioned that the original Shock attack resulted in large Disruption values for this troops, and things have been getting worse for his troops ever since.

And finally, a small Japanese Naval Guard unit and a small SNLF Infantry company attacked the two British straggler Base Forces that have been trying to move through the jungle in the northeast corner of Borneo. The Brits retreated in the “right” direction towards Sandakan, which is their objective anyway.

BTW – the weather appears to be improving over Burma, so I am attempting to send my B-17s from Calcutta to bomb Toungoo next turn. I've been flying Recon over Toungoo every day, so it will be interesting to see of the B-17s fly, and if they find their target.

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February 8, 1942 -

I think that my opponent and I set a new record for ourselves today – we actually got two turns in on the same day! [;)]

The night phase started out with Lolobato being occupied, then Allied Subs started to take charge of the night. First off, Dutch sub KXII whacked a Japanese PB near Donggala. Then USS Sculpin put a torpedo into an xAK off of Rehata Bay in the Solomons (causing troop casualties as a bonus!), and then Dutch sub KVII hit an AMc off of Kendari. In all three cases the Allied subs got away unscathed.

The day phase brought the usual Japanese aerial attacks in the usual places: Makassar, Oroquieta, Temuloh, Lautem, Koepang, Malaybalay and Singapore. The AA over Singapore was even fiercer than usual with nearly a dozen Japanese bombers shot down by Flak and dozens more damaged.

My B-17s actually took off from Calcutta and found their way to Toungoo. There they were greeted by a Tojo and a couple of Oscars, but the Forts brushed off the Japanese CAP and hit the airfields at the base nicely. I eventually lost one bomber, but no pilots, so that turned out to be quite a successful raid.

The Ground Attack phase brought some success to the Japanese. First off, with the addition of another Tank Regiment, the Japanese troops at Temuloh finally captured the base, destroying two Allied units and driving four others into retreat towards Kuantan. Then the Japanese Tank regiment at Oroquieta did one final vicious Shock Attack, achieved a 138:1 result, and wiped out the remnants of that Philippine Infantry unit.

Finally, the Japanese besiegers of Singapore took a bit of a breather this turn and only did an artillery bombardment of the Allied defenders. The attack caused negligable casualties. At the end of the Day the Allied AV at Singapore was actually up a bit, and the Forts were near to Level 2 again. If my opponent Bombards again next turn instead of attacking the Forts at Singapore ought to reach the next level.

Otherwise, it was Business As Usual for the Allies as ships were upgraded, new troops arrived at Pearl, and various bases continued to increase their Fortification levels.