Aussies v Aussies - Being clubbed like a baby seal (No Jrcar or Tony)

[aoffen]

The situation on the NE coast of Borneo. My subs have so far been completely inneffective in this area. Maybe my patrol lines are too long and I need more subs. Maybe Allied subs just suck for the first year.

[aoffen]

The position in Malaya. (later edit : sorry just realised the northern circle and arrow point to the wrong hex. It should be the hex immediately to the north east)

Two Indian Brigades were cut off at Alor Star, so have now become a major delay position (hopefully). The other units are withdrawing to Malacca where we will stand and hopefully hold the IJA up for a bit before falling back to Johore Baru then Sinagpore.

[aoffen]

The repair situation at PH. As you can see, the situation is not good. Most are out for at least a year I would guess. The plan was to get a cluster of BB's to float damage less than 40, sys damage less than 20 and a min speed of 2 hexes, then send them together with a repair ship and a strong DD escort to Seattle or LA. Only the Pennsylvania is near that position at the moment. Open to any suggestions on whether those criteria are the rights ones and if a repair ship will help or not.

[aoffen]

Finally, an interesting situation off San Francisco. He is gathering subs to interdict the flow of material to PH. Have one ASW patrol operating with air search and air ASW support and am bringing in some Canadian KV's to help form a second group. I clearly need to get some crack ASW capable air units trained up and into action as his subs are really providing an unexpected pain in the arse. This could be an interesting game within a game.

Thats it for the moment. All advice gratefully appreciated. Us baby seals need to show those evil seal clubbers that we have teeth.

Regards
Andrew

[Alfred]

The repair ship will provide no benefit on the trip to the West Coast. The criteria you have for the "cripples" TF is on the conservative side. A more enterprising approach is to send cripples back once their non major damage has been removed.

Alfred

[Itdepends]

I'd suggest you move those Indian troops at least one hex SE of their current position. Georgetown can be bypassed using the rail line- they can go straight past you (that force directly to your east can go SW past Georgetown if they want to). You're also better off defending in jungle (for the terrain bonus) and in an are he hasn't prepped for.
RE your subs- the dud rate on the US versions will make your curse- the dutch can do pretty well though. Concentrate them in choke points- e.g. closer to where you expect him to land (e.g. Mersing) or where there are straights or natural funnels- plenty in the DEI. Expect to take higher losses/damage while operating in shallow waters. You're BB's are in reasonable shape- I'd put all of them on pierside except for Maryland. You get better mileage out of pierside repair- and the less ships you have in a shipyard- the faster they repair.
What scenario did you end up playing?

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: aoffen
Thats it for the moment. All advice gratefully appreciated. Us baby seals need to show those evil seal clubbers that we have teeth.

Regards
Andrew

You are in serious trouble on the Malaya. 3 Bdes of 9 available are going to be destroyed for little benefit and will not be available for the defence of Singers or to be evacuated for future ops.

I would not try and defend anything North of Singers if he has committed historical force levels to the campaign.

I would try and get everything you can back behind the straits. You could give massing every single transport aircraft and all your PBYs to try and get as much of those two bdes at Alor Star out by air before they are overrun. He may sweep the hex with fighters in which case you may lose a few transports...

What is going on in China? Don't recommend trying to defend ANY open terrain hex.

Using the Canadian KVs as ASW is the best you can do in a while.

[Itdepends]

Worth checking out what you can convert to at the moment too. You've got plenty of AK's- convert some to AP's. There's one or two that can convert to AKV's as well (Tracker is good for finding those). Find your fast transports (e.g. QE) and use them for long distance unescorted runs (their too fast for escorts- send an escort to meet them a dozen hexes out of port as that's where the subs will be concentrated).

[Chief_Chemist]

The China Front:

We are digging in where the terrain is good. We are running where it is not. Important Rail heads and Bridges are being covered and some small units are being sent behind the lines. Reserves are training up. The OOB is finally sorted out and Leaderships is being attended to. Believe it or not, after a while this front starts to make sense.

[Chief_Chemist]

China OOB

WA's 1-4 my notes with a # are for the map above

[Chief_Chemist]

Rest of OOB:

Looks like I left off the far RH Col with my notes for the map. I can't seem to fix it.
here they are
#1: 1st WA Rail head
#2: 1st WA Rail bridge
#3: 2nd WA cut off units
#4: 2nd WA Digging in
#5: 3rd WA Rally Point
#6: my best unit!

The numbers for the WA 5-CR should be on this pic below.

[aoffen]

Dec 15th

A relatively quiet turn, except for the fact that Wake fell in the first attack.

\Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 2955 troops, 31 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 122

Defending force 918 troops, 24 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Japanese adjusted assault: 56

Allied adjusted defense: 5

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wake Island !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

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

Japanese ground losses:
208 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1312 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 111 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 25 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 30 (30 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (12 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2


Assaulting units:
53rd Nav Gd /4
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /1

Defending units:
Wake USN CPNAB
1st Marine Defense Battalion

Not good, but not sure if we could have done anything about it. Tarawa was also occupied.

Elsewhere his damn subs are irritating. They even sank a DD out of the ASW patrol last turn.

Sub attack near Lihue at 178,108

Japanese Ships
SS I-171

Allied Ships
DD Shaw, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Downes



SS I-171 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Shaw
I-171 diving deep ....
DD Downes fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Downes fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Downes fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Downes fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Downes fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Whereas my attacks look like this :

Sub attack near San Fernando at 79,72

Japanese Ships
TB Manazuru

Allied Ships
SS Seal



SS Seal launches 4 torpedoes at TB Manazuru
Seal diving deep ....
TB Manazuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
TB Manazuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
TB Manazuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
TB Manazuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
TB Manazuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

The total unfairness of it all This is going to be a long term agenda to get on top of these guys but they are certainly going to be a pain in the meantime.

We were also on the receiving end of some stick in the Phillipines. 36 zeroes swept Clarke, took on 38 Warhawks and 14 second rate fighters. I lost 8 Warhawks and 4 others, claiming only 1 Zeke. My guys have low morale and relatively low experience but 12 - 1 still hurts. Hope my inf do better. Now have 980AV at Clarke and will be soon dug in to level 3 with plenty of supplies. Another 200AV are at Bataan and 300AV are occupying Manilla, although some of those are still heading for Clark. A PT attack failed again with no losses to either side. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Mark is trying delaying tactics in Malaya. Rather than run everyone back to Singapore and wait for the enemy to close in, he is going to make a fighting retreat. The theory is the final defence of Singapore will be weaker, but it will take the IJA longer to get there. In my experience Singopore fell quickly even with everyone in it, so will be interesting to see if this tactic is successful.

The naval forces have rendezvoused in Sorebaja. PoW has 26 sys 8 Flt and 7 Eng so isn't in too bad shape. Repulse has single figures for all. We will send some home for repair but will still be able to build a credible force around Repulse with a few CL's and a bunch of DD's. Will be more cautious with them now though.

Elsewhere no news.

Regards
Andrew

[Wirraway_Ace]

Great graphic guys! Some thoughts on China. Your main line of defensive is very "river centric". I don't recommend this strategy. The game engine makes the river hexside essentially a 1 time bonus. Change your view of terrain: focus on rough, woods, wooded/rough and mountain hexes then recast your MLD. Don't focus on defending in base hexes either--defend around them. Your troops are adept at living off the land and will recover as well there as anywhere due to the supply situation. Additionally, resource production is cut off when an enemy unit moves into a hex.

Know your enemy: Use your bombers for recon (both recon mission and intel from ground attack missions)
figure out where he is massing--look for Armor Rgts, Regular IJA Divisions and Arty.
He moves faster than you in almost all terrain. Once your units have been forced to retreat once, his forces will follow-up and usually catch you.

Know yourself: the key to an effective Chinese Army is allowing time for the damaged squads to repair.

The Nanyang pocket on the central plain looks like an opportunity for your inexperienced, lightly armed forces to get clubbed.

Defend Sian and the rail lines to the North--your primary source of oil/fuel for your limited heavy industry (hint, there are 4 approaches and if they get into the open, the rivers won't stop them)

Defend the main rail line in the south that provides you key lateral mobility.

Identify what forces you are going to allocate to Burma and get them moving and prepping for Lashio now...

My thoughts

[aoffen]

Dec 16th

In the PI, another series of PT boat attacks bounce off, this time with the Brit MTB's from Hong Kong. He has a DD TF sitting there protecting his convoys which I view as most unsporting. These guys got in as close as 2,000 yards on a dark night, twice, so at least this keeps him honest.

Night Time Surface Combat, near San Fernando at 80,74, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo
DD Asagumo
DD Murasame
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare

Allied Ships
MTB 7
MTB 8
MTB 9
MTB 10
MTB 11
MTB 12
MTB 26, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 27


Reduced sighting due to 3% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 3% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
Tawara, Yoshioki crosses the 'T'
DD Samidare engages MTB 26 at 2,000 yards
MTB 12 engages DD Harusame at 2,000 yards
DD Samidare engages MTB 10 at 2,000 yards
DD Harusame engages MTB 8 at 2,000 yards
MTB 26 sunk by DD Natsugumo at 2,000 yards
DD Harusame engages MTB 12 at 2,000 yards
DD Yudachi engages MTB 9 at 2,000 yards
DD Natsugumo engages MTB 10 at 2,000 yards
MTB 9 engages DD Murasame at 2,000 yards
DD Samidare engages MTB 8 at 2,000 yards
DD Minegumo engages MTB 8 at 2,000 yards
DD Natsugumo engages MTB 8 at 2,000 yards
Task forces break off...

Night Time Surface Combat, near Iba at 79,74, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
TB Chidori
TB Manazuru

Allied Ships
MTB 7
MTB 8
MTB 9
MTB 10
MTB 11
MTB 12
MTB 27, Shell hits 1, and is sunk



Reduced sighting due to 3% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 3% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
TB Manazuru engages MTB 27 at 2,000 yards
MTB 27 engages TB Chidori at 2,000 yards
TB Manazuru engages MTB 27 at 2,000 yards
MTB 27 sunk by TB Chidori at 2,000 yards
TB Chidori engages MTB 11 at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
TB Manazuru engages MTB 11 at 6,000 yards
Task forces break off...

There was some minor scuffling between his subs and my ASW teams around PH and SFO, but no blows landed by either side. IJN subs are now deploying to the Indian ocean side of Java.

Over at Soerabaja the various fleet units that survived the PI exodus and the two naval engagements off Borneo have regathered. As you can see from the attached picture, Repulse is not in bad shape. I think we will send PoW home (with a few DD's and the damaged CL's) to ensure its long term survival and build Repluse into the battlegroup that defends Java.

Off Malaya, a Nell attack claimed two AKL's that were unloading at Port Blair. Mark has a secret plan for the place which unfortunately they now know about.

On the ground the IJA are mopping up in China against undefended targets. In Malaya they captured Georgetown against minimal resistance and in Borneo Brunei fell.

Its only 10 days into the conflict, but you really feel the Allies were not ready for this fight. The quality and number of their forces is pathetic and its painful trying to manage them. We change to two day turns from early Jan so am hoping that speeds the process up so we get to mid 42 a bit quicker. At least I get some fighters and it becomes a fairer fight then. Just got to keep my CV forces intact until that date.

Regards
Andrew

[aoffen]

Oops just realised Brunei didn't fall. The brave defenders held the IJA out. I am being too fatalistic. Saw the attack and assumed the worst without reading to the end of the combat report.

[aoffen]

Dec 17th

Not a great deal of action.

Our subs finally get a hit in, with a Dutch sub putting 2 into an AK with troops aboard off the Phillipines. I was beginning to depair that the agrressive use of subs was a waste of time. I think with the USN SS's it may be. The Dutch seem to be carrying the fight at the moment.

There is a fair bit of air activity over Malaya, but few losses to either side and little damage. I get an nuisance raid in on a TF off the PI with P-35's carrying 100lb bombs but the result is predictable.

The IJA attack at Alor Star but are rebuffed with a 1-2 attack result. We will see how long our beleaguered brigades can hold out. Brunei does fall this turn and another attack at Kota Bharu is rebuffed by the retreating troops.

In the PI they are closing in on Clarke with Lingayan falling to an armoured column. I will have 1,000AV dug in to level 3 at Clarke in a turn or two. Lots of supplies too but my troops are not well trained so we shall see.

That is all.

Regards
Andrew

[aoffen]

Dec 18th

Their subs are starting to really piss me off. This turn we lost an AKL off Pt Moresby, an AM off Victoria and an AG off Los Angeles. All our subs and ASW attacks were duds.

No major air action. More activity in Malaya but again few losses or damage.

Looks like they have a major fleet near Kendari. 42 ships in 6 TF's sighted including CV's BB's CA's etc etc etc. Pronbaly some exaggeration, but an air attack took a shot at a CA so there is some heavy stuff there.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kendari at 69,105

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 3


Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Maya

Have some Dutch subs in the area but don't think I will intervene with a surface group. They look very strong and I want to keep them guessing.

Jolo fell that turn and another attack at Kota Bharu in Malaya was repulsed. The defence of Malay has been shifted to one hex south of Malacca. Will be interesting to see how long he lasts.

In the PI, defences at Clarke are ready. 1000 AV dug into to level 3 with 25,000 supplies there and in Bataan. Moving the marines up from Bataan as well so I will have around 1200AV.

Regards
Andrew

[Itdepends]

Those ships you lost to subs- were they in escorted TF's?

[aoffen]

The AM was part of a 4 AM ASW TF patrolling the coast off Victoria and Seattle.
The AG was part of smallish TF with a TK and a few other vessels escorted by a PC moving to SFO as part of the re organizing process.
The AKL was part of a 4 AKL convoy trying to sneak into Pt Moresby from Townsville.

To be honest I can't really complain that much. I am just venting - its frustrating that my subs made 3 attacks and my ASW TF's made 2 attacks all for no result. He makes 3 attacks and nails a ship each time.

[Itdepends]

Other than the Dutch subs- the allies subs stink this time of year- and your ASW is pitiful. You can upgrade a bunch of destroyers to DE's which gives an increase in ASW- but I've seen recommendations to upgrade to APD's instead for longer term usefulness.
 
Cheers,
 
Daniel