AEHGP2 Traskott (A) vs. Seydlitz (J) Japanese side AAR

[seydlitz_slith]

The attacks continued during the day with a heavy Nell Strike escorted by Zeroes.
I also had a sweep scheduled, but it arrived after the main raid.

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Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
G3M2 Nell x 66



Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 3 destroyed



Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 53

Aircraft Attacking:
33 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
33 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
AVG/3rd Sqn with H81-A3 (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 12 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 32400.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes



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Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4



Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 8


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
AVG/3rd Sqn with H81-A3 (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes

[seydlitz_slith]

I also conducted night bombing raids at Rangoon and Singapore during the turn as well as fighter sweeps over Singapore.

My ground forces also captured Roxas.

The Kido Butai has also sailed after a period of rest and refit. Both the origin port and the destination of the carrier strike force remain classified.

The only sub action during the turn was I-175 missing DD Phelps off Pearl Harbor.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 26 01 January, 1942

Near Toboali, in the straits of death, I-162 puts three torpedoes into a loaded british troop transport, sinking it with the troops and equipment that it was attempting to evacuate.
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Submarine attack near Toboali at 51,93

Japanese Ships
SS I-162

Allied Ships
xAP Tatung, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)


xAP Tatung is sighted by SS I-162
SS I-162 launches 4 torpedoes

[seydlitz_slith]

Off the California coast, I-169 sinks a yankee patrol boat.

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Sub attack near San Francisco at 212,75

Japanese Ships
SS I-169

Allied Ships
YP-116, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage



SS I-169 launches 4 torpedoes at YP-116
I-169 diving deep ....
Escort abandons search for sub

[seydlitz_slith]

Also off the California coast, the I-7 was surprised on the surface by an American B-18 Bolo bomber. The captain ordered a crash dive but the I boat is not a swift diver. The bomber dropped two bombs which straddled the sub as she went under, causing significant damage. I-7 is breaking off her patrol and returning to Yokosuka for repairs.

[seydlitz_slith]

Here is the current disposition of subs along the California coast. Traskott has been conducting some ASW operations around the approaches to San Francisco and during the last week or so has began to use aircraft on ASW searches. Earlier, he was running a lot of traffic into San Diego but it looks like he shifted the traffic to San Francisco after I kept hitting ships on the approaches to San Diego. I can sense the frustration build as I continue to blockade his shores with my subs.

[seydlitz_slith]

Here is the result of my heavy campaigning..... This is tankers and transports. The freighters exceed a page by themselves.

[seydlitz_slith]

Here are allied warship losses to date. Note the heavy toll that I have taken on his destroyers.

[seydlitz_slith]

So far, I have not lost any submarines (other than the expendable midgets) to enemy action.

[seydlitz_slith]

Traskott has lost several subs in action during the first month of the war.

[offenseman]

Your sub campaign continues to impress me. I know how I'd be feeling if I were him.  I'd be setting up a MAJOR campaign to hunt and prosecute as many subs as I could.  It would be a priority given the losses he has sustained (FOG notwithstanding) I'll be keeping my eye on it...

[seydlitz_slith]

Due to the desire of the Americans to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare in violation of international treaties, the admiralty has ordered the conversion of several small coastal and ocean going vessels into patrol boats.

48 vessels, all AKL with cargo capacities or 170 or 795 tons are being converted to patrol boats with ASW ratings of 2 and 3 respectively. Conversion will take 15 to 21 days depending on the vessel's size. This should provide enough additional patrol boats to provide escorts for all anticipated convoy movements over the next six months, freeing several destroyers for fleet duties. There are also several purpose built sub chasers and escorts under planning and construction in our dock yards. At the end of the orders phase for the next turn, I will have 12 ASW hunter groups at sea around Japan searching for enemy submarines. In addition, all convoys are under escort by at least one escort ship with most having multiple escorts.

Other merchant conversions being done:
6 AK to AKE (21 days each)
2 AK to AD (45 days each)

Here is the current dispositon of his known sub forces around the home islands. If you look closely, you can see the carriers of the Kido Butai sailing for points classified. Although he hasn't had much luck finding them yet, I am running a number of resource and oil convoys moving material from Shikukua, Hakodate, and Port Arthur to Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kure, and Kobe. I have also moved a number of troop and supply convoys outbound.

I am assuming that he thinks that I am using the Sea of Japan, Sasebo, and Fukuoka ports for most of my transport movements based on the disposition of his subs. Perhaps he read my other AAR and saw my dispostion in that game. However, in this game I am not doing that at all. Sasebo tends to gather supplies and resources over time while the central cities run short. To address this, I am running my convoys directly to the cities with the highest concentrations of industry. Even this early in the game, there are large concentrations of resources that need to be moved from Shikukua and Port Arthur.

[seydlitz_slith]

Speaking of industry, I look to be in good shape so far. Here are my engine pools so far:

[seydlitz_slith]

aircraft pool 1

[seydlitz_slith]

aircraft pool 2

[seydlitz_slith]

Aircraft losses were light during the turn. The weather is looking bad over most of southeast Asia next turn so I will stand down most of my air units to prevent operational losses (flying in thunderstorms increases ops losses) and to allow for maintenance on the air frames.

At Rangoon, my Sally IIa bombers ran into Blenheim IF night fighters while they were attacking the airfield. Luckily, the Blenheims failed to score and my bombers dropped their bombs on aircraft parked on the tarmac.

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Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 9


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IF x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
No.27 Sqn RAF with Blenheim IF (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 1 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 27280.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

[seydlitz_slith]

During the turn I landed at Tagbilaran and Siquijor. My forces captured San Fernando, Cabantuan, and Tagbilaran.

I seem to have the Philippine situation well in hand and my forces are on schedule.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: offenseman

Your sub campaign continues to impress me. I know how I'd be feeling if I were him.  I'd be setting up a MAJOR campaign to hunt and prosecute as many subs as I could.  It would be a priority given the losses he has sustained (FOG notwithstanding) I'll be keeping my eye on it...

I have noticed that at first he didn't even bother with air patrols off the California coast. Now he is starting to do that. The allies need every tanker and oiler they have early, so his losses there must hurt. Also, it must be frustrating to watch me shoot at his fleet destroyers turn after turn. Even though half the shots have missed, the toll is starting to add up.

I will admit that I have been somewhat lucky in setting up some of the other mid-ocean intercepts such as those around Fiji. I didn't have a lot of subs in that area and there is a lot of ground to cover. I figured that I would play the odds and cover some of the higher percentage areas and by and large got lucky with some of them. I still have a 6 RO boat patrol line stretched between Baker and Canton which has yet to see a ship so far. Of course that tells me that he is routing shipping south of Canton.

I know that we have discussed sub strategy, so I hope that you find some stuff here that is useful. I love submarine warfare so I put a lot of effort into doing this part of the game when I do pbems. That includes both my sub offensive and my ASW defense against his sub offensive.

The funny thing is that I am actually running many convoys between different cities in the home islands as well as to and from the Asian mainland that many players do not run. This is actually giving him more targets than many players do for this stage of the war. Of course, he has to put his subs in the right places to find the convoys.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 27 02 January, 1942

This was a very slow turn. Essentially nothing happened other than my forces landing at Sorong and my capture of the following tourist destinations: Taipang, Mergui, Hwaiyin, Siquijor.

Several of my air units are stood down due to rotten weather. The weather is improving slightly on the next turn, but I will still sit many of the units so the maintenance crews can catch up on repairs to the airframes.

As you can see, losses were minimal during the turn.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 28 03 January, 1942

Interesting developments this turn. I landed at Sorong and just after the troops had been unloaded, ABDAFLOT showed up in strength. This was bad news indeed for my task force, and only the destroyer Kamikaze managed to survive the action.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Sorong at 82,107, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Kiso, Shell hits 25, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 2
DD Okikaze, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Amagisan Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Tokai Maru, Shell hits 21, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Java
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CL Durban
CL Mauritius
CL Marblehead
CL Boise
DD John D. Ford
DD Pope
DD Banckert
DD Evertsen
DD Kortenaer
DD Piet Hein
DD Van Ghent
DD Stronghold
DD Electra
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Jupiter



Improved night sighting under 100% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 100% moonlight: 12,000 yards
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
Japanese ships attempt to get underway
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
CA Houston engages CL Kiso at 8,000 yards
DD Okikaze engages CA Houston at 8,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages CA Houston at 8,000 yards
CA Houston engages xAK Tokai Maru at 8,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Durban at 8,000 yards
CL Tromp engages CL Kiso at 8,000 yards
DD Evertsen engages DD Kamikaze at 8,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
CA Houston engages CL Kiso at 3,000 yards
DD Okikaze engages DD Evertsen at 3,000 yards
CL Marblehead engages DD Kamikaze at 3,000 yards
DD Evertsen engages xAK Tokai Maru at 3,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Tromp at 3,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Express at 3,000 yards
DD Okikaze sunk by DD Kortenaer at 3,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
CA Houston engages CL Kiso at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Kortenaer at 2,000 yards
CA Houston engages xAK Tokai Maru at 2,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Mauritius at 2,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Tromp at 2,000 yards
DD Kortenaer engages xAK Tokai Maru at 2,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CA Houston at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Kortenaer at 2,000 yards
DD Kortenaer engages xAK Tokai Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Express at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Encounter at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD John D. Ford at 2,000 yards
CA Houston engages CL Kiso at 2,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Boise at 2,000 yards
DD Encounter engages xAK Amagisan Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Express at 2,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Evertsen at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
CL Marblehead engages CL Kiso at 3,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Boise at 3,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Marblehead at 3,000 yards
DD Stronghold engages DD Kamikaze at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
CL Marblehead engages CL Kiso at 4,000 yards
xAK Amagisan Maru sunk by DD Electra at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
CA Houston engages CL Kiso at 6,000 yards
CL Boise engages CL Kiso at 6,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Durban at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 10,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CA Houston at 10,000 yards
DD John D. Ford engages DD Kamikaze at 10,000 yards
CL Kiso engages CL Marblehead at 10,000 yards
CL Danae engages CL Kiso at 10,000 yards
DD Kortenaer engages DD Kamikaze at 10,000 yards
DD Kamikaze engages DD Pope at 10,000 yards
Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...