The Calimari War - Cuttlefish Gets Charbroiled

[Cuttlefish]

December 29, 1941 – December 31, 1941

In which Kido Butai visits the Coral Sea and things go well. In a way they go too well…

Coral Sea: Carnage. On 29 December Kido Butai found a large number of ships fleeing towards Cooktown. Most of them were just passing the Great Barrier Reef when waves of Japanese carrier planes appeared overhead. The result was…well, take a look. First attack:

[font="Courier New"]Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
B5N2 Kate x 53
D3A1 Val x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Glenapp, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Kajang, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AG Deneb, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
AGP Aldebaran, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Toendjoek, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Somelsdijk, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
xAP Kota Tjandi, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL De Haan
xAKL Siaoe, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Van Cloon, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Mariso
xAP Mijer, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
AGP Wega, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Langkoeas
xAK Boero, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Siberoet, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Poelau Bras, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Bintang, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Bellerophon, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk[/font]

Second attack and third attacks:

[font="Courier New"]Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
B5N2 Kate x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Morazan, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Hamakua, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Nevadan, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Bintang, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Somelsdijk, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Mariso[/font]

Fourth attack:

[font="Courier New"]Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 48
B5N2 Kate x 37
D3A1 Val x 65

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAKL Sibolga, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Whangpu, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Van Cloon, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAKL De Haan, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Langkoeas, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Lematang, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Mariso, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL De Klerk, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Meroendoeng, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk[/font]

Not too shabby, right? Sink at least 25 assorted enemy freighters, troop ships, and auxiliaries and you have to feel like it’s been a good day’s work. But…on 31 December my carriers, continuing south along the Australian coast, found a juicy collection of warships at Bowen. Sadly, however, my carriers had expended almost all their torpedoes in the massacre of the merchants. My planes did the best they could, sinking CA Pensacola and putting four bombs each into CAs Australia and Canberra. But all three cruisers could have been sunk, along with CL Perth (one bomb hit) and Queen Elizabeth (which took one of the few remaining torpedoes, though it didn’t seem to do the big ship much harm).

I really wanted to keep my carriers around for another turn and see if my planes could run up the score a bit. But they are now completely out of torpedoes, are well into enemy territory, and I have no idea where the Allied carriers are. I decided to call the raid good and sent KB back to Truk to refuel and rearm.

Malaya: The Broken Kukri. Japanese troops forced the defenders of Taiping (led by the 28th Gurkha Bde) to retreat, inflicting major casualties. The pursuit to Kuala Lumpur now begins. The two enemy brigades near Alor Star are now completely surrounded and the Japanese 2nd Division is in place. It will attempt to deliver the coup de grace next turn.

DEI: Invasions and Conquests. A Japanese regiment is now ashore at Kuching and will attack the following turn. A destroyer in the bombardment force hit a mine and will need yard time, while two xAKs in the invasion force took damage from coastal guns. The Allied garrison at Manado surrendered and an invasion force is now one day out from Davao.

End of Year: Time to Party Like It’s 1942! We now leave 1941 behind. A new year begins. As it starts Allied forces are in full retreat everywhere and panic sweeps Asia and the Pacific as the once lightly-regarded Japanese now seem unstoppable. As it ends…well, we will have to see.

Below is the victory point screen for the end of the month. So far no Japanese warships have been lost. Five midget subs, three troop transports, and ten freighters are the only casualties. Allied ship losses are exceptionally high but many of these are low-value targets, easily replaced. The only warships confirmed lost are BB Oklahoma, CA Pensacola, CL Adelaide, and six destroyers. I am pleased that fifteen assorted tankers and oilers are among the losses. Many other Allied warships have been damaged, however, possibly limiting Charbroiled’s options for interfering with Japanese operations for the next month or so.

[Speedysteve]

Way to go CF! That's a nice catch you have there. Shame you ran out of torpedoes to get that QE Class bugger! Agreed on the Tankers. As an Allied player in mid-1942 I just can't ever get enough fuel to SoPac and Australia.
 
Keep it up!

[bklooste]

The "seige" of SIngapore doesnt nornally last long anyway  provided Japan has sufficient forces , so anything he is doing to slow you is for him a good thing regardless of losses. Everytime you try to "move" instead of combat mode is a win for him.  The thing is you only need 2 divs to move down the peninusla so he has forced you to have major units doing little.  Those cutoff units are also quite powerfull (if intact) and force you to defend a number of locations less he cuts your supply .

As Mersing is a bit obvious maybe take Sumatra  , have a look at Fatr  Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A). Once you do have an airbase you can consider mersing...

You could even do a dummy look like you are going for Mersing with a big force with lots of broken units prepped for Mersing then go to Singkawang at the last moment ,
if he withdraws all his units to protect Mersing than it has done its job and you can go for Sumatra. If not withdraw the fleet a bit , build up the airfield for zeros  and Netties ( a few days to repair)  then attack Mersing with better CAP and LBA in case he comes out in force.

For Java the time you take Singapore is not important but the time you take Sumatra is sicne with Oosthaven and Singkawang you can invade  Java even without Singapore  ( though you wouldnt have the forces) .

[Cuttlefish]

January 1, 1942 – January 7, 1942

Japan marches on. Given that so far I am not trying anything much different from the historic Japanese advance it’s hard to draw any real conclusions about how the game is going. That will take some time. But things have a good feel so far.

Malaya: Closing the Pocket. The Alor Star pocket has been eliminated. Some 10,000 British and Indian troops are now guests of the Japanese Empire. To the south Japanese units, led by the Imperial Guards, are now halfway to Kuala Lumpur. They have to stop every third day to push enemy troops further down the road.

Luzon: Assault Ordered at Clark. After several days of bombardments attacks, which accomplished very little, three Japanese divisions and the 65th Bde have been ordered to launch an attack on the next turn. We will see how it goes. It will probably take a while to wear down the defenders and capture of the base.

Burma: The Moulmein Event. British forces pulled out of Moulmein ahead of advancing Japanese armor, which occupied the base. The 33rd Division, marching over from Pisanuloke, is nearly there. Once it arrives Pegu and then Rangoon are the targets.

DEI: Looking Towards Java. Kuching has been captured. It is being built up as an airbase as quickly as possible and should soon have a level 3 airfield and 120 aviation support. The plan is for Japanese planes to start attacking airfields in western Java with a primary objective of suppressing the ML-KNIL and and a secondary objective of preventing forts from being built.

Ternate, Sorong, and Davao have all been captured, as have a number of smaller bases in the area. Troops are beginning to board transports all over the region in the launch of an operation aimed at the near-simultaneous capture of Palambang, Balikpapan, and Makassar. This will open up a route to Java. The operation will be supported by numerous SCTFs along with Ryujo and Zuiho. More details about this operation as it develops.

Japanese destroyers caught up with the last PT boat contingent in the Philippines off Mindanao and sank all but one of the little pests. Kongo and Haruna raided Soerabaja and found only half a dozen Dutch PT boats, two of which were sunk. Haruna struck a mine there but fortunately took little damage.

China: Charge at Chengchow. Japanese divisions crossed the Yellow River and captured Chengchow in the initial shock attack. This swift capture really changes the look of things in north-central China. In the south a Japanese division captured Chuhsien.

Pacific: Goto at Suva. Four Japanese heavy cruisers and escorts under the command of Rear Admiral Goto paid a visit to Suva. They arrived undetected and found an xAK and three destroyers (Le Triomphant, Lamson, and Case) in the harbor. All four ships were sunk without loss.

Kido Butai has returned to Truk, rearmed and refueled, and has been ordered out to raid the shipping lanes beyond Baker Island. Tabituea has been occupied and an invasion force is en route to Ocean Island. The 54th Division has been shipped out from Tokyo and has almost reached Truk.

Submarine Warfare: Off the West Coast. Allied submarines have been mercifully quiet following a flurry of sinkings in the middle of December. Japanese submarines, meanwhile, have been scoring kills off the West Coast. An xAK and xAKL were sunk near Vancouver Island and another xAK went down off San Francisco. Best of all, a Japanese submarine found Warspite off the mouth of Puget Sound and put two torpedoes into the battleship.

[Cribtop]

CF - what is the strategic objective of raiding off Baker? Be careful lest the Allies slip their CVs into the DEI before KB is there - I have painful experience with this in my own AAR, where DSwain got his CVs to interfere with a Kuching invasion in mid January. I got away with only 1 CL and about 6 empty transports sunk, but I was very lucky that mini-KB wasn't annihilated.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

CF - what is the strategic objective of raiding off Baker? Be careful lest the Allies slip their CVs into the DEI before KB is there - I have painful experience with this in my own AAR, where DSwain got his CVs to interfere with a Kuching invasion in mid January. I got away with only 1 CL and about 6 empty transports sunk, but I was very lucky that mini-KB wasn't annihilated.

I was actually planning on raiding well past Baker, with the objective of intercepting and destroying Allied reinforcements bound for the South Pacific. But we've done two more turns since my last update and the raid has turned into a pursuit of the Allied carrier force. Stay tuned.

[CapAndGown]

Sounds exciting. Are you going to full speed? Splitting the KB?

[Cribtop]

Wowsers - sounds like there's a definite strategic objective then! Great time in the game to come to grips with the enemy CVs on favorable terms.

[Capt. Harlock]

Best of all, a Japanese submarine found Warspite off the mouth of Puget Sound and put two torpedoes into the battleship.

More work for the lads at Bremerton. Warspite always was a magnet for enemy ordnance...[:D]

[Q-Ball]

Nice going so far. On Malaya, I'm not sure what the best strategy is, but most players seem to think it's making for Singapore fortress right off the bat.

I think standing and fighting he is doing you a favor; as soon as you get to Singers, it should fall easily

[Speedysteve]

I agree with Q-Ball. I've never found a forward defence in Malaya works - mainly since you can't maximise your strength there as you need some behind the lines and in Singapore. As such with a more limited Allied defence I find they fall quickly and/or can be cut off which makes Singapore even easier to take in due course.

[Speedysteve]

Also well done in China. In my game vs Faber I'm just about to retreat from the linch pin defence that is Chengchow.

[Cuttlefish]

January 8, 1942 – January 13, 1942

Japan suffers its first serious reverse at sea, although the opportunity to turn defeat into a disaster for the Allies is still there. Elsewhere things proceed on schedule.

Pacific: Allied CVs 1, IJN Oilers 0. What looked like a pair of Allied carriers showed up three hexes south-southwest of Tabiteuea on 8 January and attacked a Japanese replenishment task force lingering to the northwest. Six oilers and DD Akebono were lost. At that I was fortunate; the carriers were apparently looking for Goto’s heavy cruisers and missed them by about four hexes.

There’s no way to sugar coat it, losing six oilers is a heavy loss for Japan. However…as previously mentioned, Kido Butai had been sent southeast a couple of turns before. When the attack occurred they were off Jaluit, sixteen hexes from the Allied carriers.

Now, Charbroiled is nobody’s fool and he immediately surmised (correctly) that the presence of the oilers meant KB might be due in the area. I am guessing that means he would immediately order his carriers back to Pearl. I have ordered KB to head due east to try and cut them off. So far there has been no contact. If I am counting hexes correctly, though, there is still a chance to intercept. If I am right, that is, about his carriers heading for Hawaii. The screenie below shows my carrier’s position and move for next turn. As far as I know he has not detected KB since it left the coast of Australia almost two weeks ago.

At least I now know his carriers are nowhere near the Java Sea. Putting his carriers where he did was a gutsy move, I think almost a rash one. I didn’t expect it and paid the price. I hope I can make him pay a price of his own for doing so.

Malaya: The Tactics of Delaya. The last time my forces attacked the Brits on the road to Kuala Lumpur I held back the Imperial Guards as a pursuit force. This worked well; it gained about a day’s march for the division and allowed them to get to the base ahead of units trying to pull out of Temuloh. Kuala Lumpur fell on 13 January, pushing back the defenders with heavy losses and compelling the surrender of a Punjab battalion. Unless the seven units in and around Temuloh can quickly evacuate before I cut the rail line just north of Kuala Lumpur they will be cut off from Singapore.

Allied losses on the peninsula since the start of the war are somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 troops killed or captured; add another 6000 if I cut off the units at Temuloh.

Luzon: Opening Bell at Clark. The first Japanese attack at Clark came off at 1 to 1 odds and left the forts at level 2. This is encouraging but it will probably still take several attacks to capture the base. I’ll try to get a screen shot of this area later but his defensive deployment remains rather spread out. Recon shows six units at Manila, six more at Batangas (too many for my two regiments there to dislodge), about 13 at Bataan, and 16 at Clark, including four PA divisions.

DEI: Straightening out the Strait. Japanese units have captured Tandjoengselor and are advancing on adjacent Tarakan. Other Japanese units are heading down to Makassar Strait to attack Samarinda (and from there Balikapapan) and Pare Pare (and from there Makassar). Japanese fast battleship and heavy cruiser forces continue to roam about the Java Sea and raid Allied ports to discourage Charbroiled from trying to sneak in surface forces for an attack, while other Japanese warships guard the Strait itself.

The only opposition encountered so far has been sporadic attacks by Dutch bombers. I would make a disparaging comment to the effect that their bombardiers couldn’t hit water if they fell out of the plane but that would just about guarantee that one would lay a bomb smack on a large Japanese transport next turn.


Kido Butai approaches Hawaii, seeking revenge:

[Speedysteve]

Go CF!

[crsutton]

Hmmm... I was about to give you credit for sinking so many of his tankers. Biggest problem for the Allies is getting fuel to the Southwest and South Pacific. There are just not enough tankers and any you sink compound that. However, the loss of your oilers cancels that out....[:-]

Good luck with the carrier hunt.

[Q-Ball]

Luzon: Opening Bell at Clark. The first Japanese attack at Clark came off at 1 to 1 odds and left the forts at level 2. This is encouraging but it will probably still take several attacks to capture the base. I’ll try to get a screen shot of this area later but his defensive deployment remains rather spread out. Recon shows six units at Manila, six more at Batangas (too many for my two regiments there to dislodge), about 13 at Bataan, and 16 at Clark, including four PA divisions.

Those Allied dispositions don't make alot of sense, splitting up defenders like that. The best thing to do IMO is to concentrate everyone at Clark, though Manila has it's merits. Apparently, he wants to defend a wide front.

He who defends everything.......

[Speedysteve]

Agreed Q-Ball. I just don't see how a dispersed defence in either Malaya or Luzon can hold gound vs a massed Japanese attack.......

[ckammp]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Luzon: Opening Bell at Clark. The first Japanese attack at Clark came off at 1 to 1 odds and left the forts at level 2. This is encouraging but it will probably still take several attacks to capture the base. I’ll try to get a screen shot of this area later but his defensive deployment remains rather spread out. Recon shows six units at Manila, six more at Batangas (too many for my two regiments there to dislodge), about 13 at Bataan, and 16 at Clark, including four PA divisions.

Those Allied dispositions don't make alot of sense, splitting up defenders like that. The best thing to do IMO is to concentrate everyone at Clark, though Manila has it's merits. Apparently, he wants to defend a wide front.

He who defends everything.......

Most puzzling is the 6 units at Batangas. There's nothing there to defend, it's just open territory. Much better to stand at Manila.

[Nemo121]

Hmm, it seems to me that you are using Japan's primary strategic naval asset ( KB ) for some operationally and tactically exciting raids but nothing strategically vital here... Sinking 25 AKs etc is nice but not strategically decisive.

I always tend to think that if something isn't a major offensive directly responsible for shaping the wartime position a year or 18 months from now then KB shouldn't be supporting it but should, instead, be sitting in port resting. I'd say my KB spends at least 80% of its time in port resting, upgrading and allowing its sailors to visit the local houses of ill-repute. However, every time it goes to see it is with the sure knowledge it'll meet either Allied CVs, the battleline or allow an IJA invasion to succeed which otherwise wouldn't. People are, I think, in general far too quick to commit KB to relatively meaningless combat which wears it out.


As to the Philippines dispositions. Charbroiled has already made several significant errors. That this would continue into his dispositions in the Philippines is merely to be expected. It shouldn't be a surprise to us.

[aprezto]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Hmm, it seems to me that you are using Japan's primary strategic naval asset ( KB ) for some operationally and tactically exciting raids but nothing strategically vital here... Sinking 25 AKs etc is nice but not strategically decisive.

I always tend to think that if something isn't a major offensive directly responsible for shaping the wartime position a year or 18 months from now then KB shouldn't be supporting it but should, instead, be sitting in port resting. I'd say my KB spends at least 80% of its time in port resting, upgrading and allowing its sailors to visit the local houses of ill-repute. However, every time it goes to see it is with the sure knowledge it'll meet either Allied CVs, the battleline or allow an IJA invasion to succeed which otherwise wouldn't. People are, I think, in general far too quick to commit KB to relatively meaningless combat which wears it out.


As to the Philippines dispositions. Charbroiled has already made several significant errors. That this would continue into his dispositions in the Philippines is merely to be expected. It shouldn't be a surprise to us.

I think your point is very valid. However I always struggle, especially in the first six months, to put KB into the docks. I always feel that the clock is ticking and if I am giving my pilots the chance to hammer any shipping, even if I don't manage toforce the allies to commit to a decisive early battle. Which I think is the point: what battles/targets are ones that you can you have 'sure knowledge you'll meet allied CVs or the battle line'? There are very very few targets that I think are 'risk the carriers against the KB - which I know are in commited to this battle/invasion' as the allies in early to mid 42.

I will usually lose my carriers or battleline because I was surprised by KB.