Panzers in Pacific - RA Mod - BBW vs Hortlund

[BigBadWolf]

Was this title used before? Now that I see it in writing, it looks kinda familiar...

Anyway, Scen 70, little ol' me as the Empire and Panzerjaeger Hortlund as Teh Evol Colonialists.

Pretty standard set of house rules, plus I have a free hand in research, free upgrades for all IJN kokutais and I can land where ever I want in the first turn. Only one port strike on Turn 1.

Reluctant Admiral looks very promising, according to John's words something between Scen 1 and Scen 2. IJN gets few new tricks in the bag, like Mini KB all formed up, with upgraded planes and ready to go near Palau. KB also have full air groups. Pretty much every IJN air unit outside Home Islands is upgraded to A6M2. All battle wagons are forward deployed, in Palau and Cam Ranh. All 4 Kongos are with KB now, which start divided into two TFs. Subs are scattered all over the place, much beter positioned than in stock. IJA is also a bit better prepared, with 4th Division in Samah and 21st in Takao.And there are a lot of engineers and buldozers, pretty much every AF unit has a complement of them, which should make my life a lot easier. There are also other differencies, but we'll get back to that later.

I opted for Mersing gambit, which I took on December 8th, together with Kota Bharu. Kuantan is still holding, as we came few points short of 2:1 odds in the first assault. Force Z tried to intercept Mersing landings, and went head on into Mutsu and Nagato. Few slaps were exchanged and then Betties and Nells appeared and finished of Repulse. I think PoW is still alive, although I have it listed as sink. On the other side, Mutsu is limping home with 44/45/29. Nagato is unscratched. I tried to send him after what I think is PoW, but I'm too late.

14th Army landed bulk of its first wave at Iba, trashed the defenders and is moving towards Clark. There are also several regiments and tank regimns landing in Vigan and pushing south. I think I'll try somethning new in Phillipines this time and try to get Mindanao early. That is way Legaspi invasion will be diverted to Butuan, while additional forces will land and Davao and Cotabato. We'll see how that works out.

In Borneo, Sinkawang invasion got intercepted by British light cruisers and masacred. There were no survivors. I deserve slapping for that. Kuching landings went without a glitch, and Miri and Borneo and on the way. One other TF met with China station destroyers south of Hainan island, with no serious damage, but enough to turn tham back home. Hopefully, naval bombers from Saigon will catch them in the next turn.

IJN got its revenge whne Sendai and friends caught up with a convoy evacuationg Hong Kong. Massive slaughter followed. I don't think there were any allied ships left when Japanese TF turned for home, after expanding almost all of its ammo. My reckon shows only 2 units left in Hong Kong, so I ordered a shock attack for the next turn. Should be able to take it.

Mini KB sunk Marblehead in Celebes sea and I have reports of Cachalot, Seadrago, Swordfish and Seawolf running into sub laid mines off Bataan and sinking.

Now, for the main event. Pearl Harbour was my biggest disapoitment on the first turn. Very few torpedo hits were scored against USN battle ships, albeit for very light losses to IJN carrier wings. So, we tried again tomorrow. I'm still not clear what to think of the results.

Total air losses for two days over PH are 81 planes and 68 pilots, more tha half of them from Kates squadrons and about 95% from the second day. This put a serious dent in my plans, since I'm not sure if dividing KB is a viable option at the moment.

In total, enemy BBs were hit as follows:

California and Oklahoma - 5 torpedoes each
Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada - 4 torpedoes each
Tennessee and West Virginia - 3 torpedoes each
Maryland - 1 torpedo

In addition, 2 cruisers were hit and one destroyer sunk.

I'm not sure if these results justify my heavy losses. I guess we'll have to wait and see.


Link to the timeline

[BigBadWolf]

Economy

For me, one of the most tedious tasks in running Japanese economy is setting up permanent resources convoys early in the game. Fortunately, there are people out there, like Mike Solli, who made spread sheets for us lazy ones. (Cheers, Mike). Mike calculated port and convoy sizes and created a detailed list off all the convoys you need to set up in the beginning.

In my games until now, I would go about Mike’s list, chasing ships all over Home Islands and sending them to their respective ports, where they would be formed in convoys. Like I said, a very tedious process. So, I decided to do something different now. I gathered every ship in home Islands, Korea and Northern China and dump them to Osaka. It would take them few days to arrive, but in the end, I should have all the ships I need in one place, without endless click fest around various ports.

Some expansion of naval shipyards and vehicle factories is underway, 60 and 45 respectively. Also, I had to halt Musahi and both CBs. That generated enough surplus to maybe accelerate first Junyo to January. Yamato is due on March 1st, so after that we'll see where are we and what is next on the list of priorities.

In RA, Japan starts with only about 3M of supplies, and this needs to be watched. Between combat operations, supplying bases and economy expansions, this figure may get dangerously low. Will need to keep an eye on that.

Ship conversions

Right off the bat, I converted 9 Limas to AKE. These ships are extremely useful in enabling fleet operations in far flung places without decent ports. In pairs or groups of 3, with their large cargo hold, they work miracles in those tine islands of South Pacific. Also, AKL conversion program to PBs and ACMs has started in earnest, with about 20 ships converted in first two turns. More will be added later. Mines are scarce in AE and need to be preserved as much as possible.

[FatR]

About ship conversions, I have notes at the beginning of my AAR. Take note that you probably won't have enough troop transports. Since then I started appreciating converting Toho class to xAK-ts. Less troop capacity per ships = less phases spent unloading.

[BigBadWolf]

Good point there. I was thinking of Limas for that, but Tohos do make more sense. There are also those 7 or 8 Yusen-As that can be converted to AK right away, but only one of them is in port.

[BigBadWolf]

I spent last few days looking through my options regarding R&D and figuring out what upgrades to what and what engine does it use and this is what I came up with. I came up with a plan that would completely overhaul Japanese aircraft industry. It is very massive, so I gave my self until 1/1/1942 to start implementing it. It would give me some time to think it over a bit more, hear some advices and talk it over with my opponent. Panzer was gracious enough to give me a free hand in R&D, but I’m not sure that this is what he had in mind. If he objects to it, I will reduce it, but with a heavy heart, as I’m very curious to see what would happen if I go through with it. Mind you that I’m not trying to get some exotic jet fighter in late 1943. I would also love to hear what you guys think about it.

There are 9 lines of research I’m interested in. It is possible to pursue all 8 of them, if one is willing to pay the price is supply. These are:

4-IJN line 1 - LBA:A6M2>A6M3 42/2>A6M3b 42/5>A6M4 43/1>A6M4-J43/7>A6M8-J 44/2

6-IJN line 2 - Shiden:N1K1 43/5>N1K2 44/8>N1K4 45/4

6-IJN line 3 - Carrier:A6M2>A6M5 42/10>A6M5b 43/3>A6M8 43/8

6-IJN line 4 - Carrier late: A7M2 44/9>A7M3-J 45/2>A7M3 45/9

4-IJN line 5 - DB:D4Y1 42/12>D4Y2 44/3>D4Y3 44/5>D4Y4 45/1

4-IJN line 6 - Renzan:G8N1 45/4

4-IJA line 1 - Hayabusa:Ki-43IIa 42/11>Ki-43IIb 43/5>Ki-43IIIa 44/10>Ki-43IIIb 45/5

6:IJA line 2 - Shoki:Ki-44IIa 42/9>Ki-44IIa 43/7>Ki-44IIa 44/3

12:IJA line 3 - Hayate:Ki-84a 44/4>Ki-84b 45/3>Ki-84r 45/9

The number before each line stands for the number of factories I plan to convert to it. I figured that 4x30 is minimum number of factories needed for a meaningful research. That would allow each line, once fully repaired, to produce 120 points per month, even accounting for randomness factor. This means that for every month of full production, arrival date will be pushed forward by one month.

Shiden, Carrier, Carrier late and Shoki lines have 6 factories each because 2 from each will be allowed into production once the first model arrives. LBA, DB and Hayabusa lines already have production factories. Hayate has 12, because I want to be able to produce a lot of them as soon as they become available and still have some left for researching later models.

In addition, there are three engines that must be researched, Ha-60 for DB line, Ha-45 for Shiden, Hayate and Renzan and Ha-43 for Carrier late. Ha-60 already has 120 fully repaired points, so we are good. Ha-45 has one 30 point repaired factory, and turbojet and rocket engine will be converted to it. Ha-43 has only one 10 point factory, so three additional factories will have to be converted. I’m thinking one small 5 point Ha-60 factory, Argus and Ha-42.

So, we have total of 52 A/C factories and 5 engines factories that need to be repaired to size 30. That will cost the Emperor about 1.7 million supplies, stretched over about 2.5 years, roughly 700k supplies per year. Frightening figure, but doable.

None of this will win the war for Japan, but in combination with other factors, it would mean that the game will not be completely one sided come 1944.

EDIT: I just caught up with Fatr's AAR and it appears that Ki-84a doesn't upgrade to Ki-84b, but goes straight to r model. Obviously, plan needs more tweaking. Perhaps adding one more line for r model...

[ny59giants]

I like to use the Akasi, Ehime, and Toho Class for conversion over to troop capacity. The Yusen A & S are good for port to port due to there speed of 18.

You might want to switch over all but the largest Aichi Ha-60 as you don't need them all. I'm back to helping John 3rd recover from his attempts to run aground his economy again. So, I'm slowly getting back up to speed with RA. The convoy system laid out by Mike S. long ago still works well for Sakkalin and Hokkaido, but not so well to and from the mainland until the next patch comes out.

[John 3rd]

Be aware that the dynamics for Korea and Manchuria are now different. RA adds some HI, Shipyards, an oil field, and large refinery into this region (reflecting the Japanese historical work around Anshuun (Sp?). I have found that it is a more delicate economy then stock.

[FatR]

D4Y4 and A7M3-J also stand outside of their lines (D4Y4 because it was a purely kamikaze plane in RL, incapable of normal bombing, but as it can't be modeled in AE, I just made D4Y3 upgrade straight to D4Y5; A7M3-J because there is A7M3 now). Then again, you might not want them in the first place.

I'm not sure if researching 1945 planes from beginning can do any good, as facilities will be too slow to repair. This will need more experimentation.

I can't confirm yet if factory size 30 is optimal for research. My successful Tojo experiment used size 16-20. I can confirm, that smaller size does not allow factories to be repaired faster. Speed of repair seems to be proportional to size.

Researching both Shiden and LBA-Zero lines heavily might be excessive, particularly as they will compete for the limited (if increased, compared to stock). I can't say "no" to the former decisively, because Shiden seems to be doing well in other people's games.

One more thing about economy - Japanese have wildly excessive armament production at the beginning. It can be cut in half to save HI points for the fleet/aviation. Vehilces production, though, is insufficient, you need at least 180.

[BigBadWolf]

Thanks for answers, guys.

@ ny - I need to research Aichi, so I'll see how fast that goes. If proceeding well, I will probably convert smaller one. As for convoys, if you guys can post your system, I would be much obliged.

@ John - Yeah, I noticed, especially those 50 damaged oil wells in Anshan. Very nasty trick, making poor JFB spent another 50k supply
[8D]

@ FatR - I actually want D4Y1 ASAP, because of that 500kg bomb. BTW, why all carrier DB carry GP bombs? Shouldn't they be SAP? There were SAP version of all three sizes, 250, 500 and 800kg (and not just those converted Yamato shells used in PH)

Shided is a must, from what I get by looking at its stats and reading other people's AARs. Adn first upgrade of LBA Zero is in February, so it should repair rather fast and that is very tempting in R&D factory. True, there are only so many naval LBA fighter squadrons, but IJN can't rely solely on Shiden anyway, due to its SR of 3. And you need factories to produce them anyway, so why not get some research done while you are at it.

I noticed that about armament/vehicle production. I already converted one 30 point armament factory to vehicles, will probably add more. Those Japanese toy tanks die easily even against Chinese, and a lot of replacements will be needed.

[John 3rd]

You WILL like the 3b! It is a decent plane that has held its own so far in my Campaign.

[FatR]

GP and SAP bombs are used in attacks on ships interchangeably, according to code which inner workings I do not understand. I've seen both being dropped in attacks against the same TF on the same day, judging by the list of sinkings.

[BigBadWolf]

Well, I wouldn't go that far to say that I will like it, but I will most definitely make some. I really want those 4x20mm models.

[BigBadWolf]

ORIGINAL: FatR

GP and SAP bombs are used in attacks on ships interchangeably, according to code which inner workings I do not understand. I've seen both being dropped in attacks against the same TF on the same day, judging by the list of sinkings.

Yeah, now that you mentioned it, I remember seeing Sallies dropping 250 SAP on naval attack.

[bigred]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

You WILL like the 3b! It is a decent plane that has held its own so far in my Campaign.

The combination of the a6m3b/ki-45 seems to be very effective...against b17s. So much so that i wondered if the use of the 3b is overdone...

[BigBadWolf]

Well, I'm always happy to hear taht something works against B17s

And now, back to the war.
=============================================

December 11th, 1941
Saigon
From: GEN Terauchi, C-in-C Southern Army
To: Gen Yamashira, 25th Army


It is my pleasure to pass on you the content of the telegram I have received this morning, from the Prime minister of the Empire General Tojo himself:

Dear Hisaichi,

Please convey my expression of gratitude to General Yamashira and all the brave officers, NCOs and enlisted men of the 25th Army that fought so valiantly in these three days. Their objectives are met before the deadline we set up for them and their service to the Emperor is deemed exemplary. His Imperial Majesty is very pleased. They have honored their ancestors with these great fits of courage.

Tojo Hideki, Prime minister

I too add my thanks for the service of you and your men. Thanks to you, we now control entire east coast of Malaya. I don’t know if you have heard, but Tokyo Shinbun is calling you The Tiger of Malaya in this morning edition. Well done, my friend.

General Sujiwara and the HQ of the 3rd Air Division should arrive at Kota Bharu tomorrow, together with the first echelon of his ground troops. He was told that the airport there is captured relatively intact. It would be very helpful if you could employ one of your engineering brigades to clear what ever damage remains, so that we could start operating naval bombers of 22nd Air Flotilla from there. Now that we have cut Percival’s forces in two, it is of utmost importance to prevent any of them from escaping our grip. We have them exactly where we want them, but we must keep them there. That is why we need bomber base, to deny them the use of Georgetown and Aloa Star ports. It will be some time before Imperial Guards arrive from north to take them.

You should press forward towards Temuloh and Kuala Lumpur with your northern group. I have read the report form the 1st Tank Regiment about enemy troop concentration in Malacca and I would suggest pulling it back south. After all, Mersing group is to serve as an anvil, not hammer. No need risking an attack for little apparent gain. The British have nowhere to go from Malaca and I don’t believe they have the strength to attack our positions south of that town.

Sujiwara will also continue to suppress those few airfields British have left in Northern Malaya from Thailand, until Kuantan airfield becomes operational, at which point he will began operations against Singapore. In the mean time, fighter cover will be provided from both Kuantan and Kota Bharu..

I also just got some good news from VADM Kondo. Navy boys caught up with Prince of Wales early this morning and finished her off, just south of Singapore. With Repulse already gone, he assures me that we now have total command of the seas around Malaya. It may be prudent to consider transferring some of your forces south to Mersing by sea. RADM Matsunaga claims that he can provide sufficient air cover. I would suggest one regiment from Kuantan and at least one from Kota Bharu. Kondo will dispatch strong forces to prevent any reinforcements coming to Singapore, or leaving it, for that matter.

Terauchi
CiC SA

[BigBadWolf]

December 12th, 1941

Luzon

I pretty much fumbled the landings in Luzon. I wanted to do one thing, then changed my mind, started another, then changed my mind again… As little Corsican fellow would say “Order, counterorder, disorder.”

Main body of the 14th Army landed at Iba, with 65th Bde, reinforced by 2nd Tanks, one infantry and one SNLF battalion, plus artillery. They brushed the defenders there and are in Clark now. I’m trying to move 65th Bde to Lingayen and hopefully cut of at least some of the forces retreating from North, but I doubt I’ll manage it, since I’m too late and too badly positioned. 47th Infantry, 1st Formosa, 4th and 7th Tanks, with two artillery regiments landed in Laoag, and are now moving to San Fernardo, having captured Vigan. And finally, 48th Recon landed in Appari and is advancing toward Tuguerago or whatever that town is called. 16th Division minus 33rd Infantry is approaching Mauban, should be there in two days. 5th Air division is already in Laoag and airfield there is being expanded, as well as the one in Iba. Both Iba and Laoag have one A6M2 squadron each. There is no enemy aerial activity, as my sweeps over Clark and Manila remained unchallenged, so naval bombers hit Manila port on December 10th. USS Swordfish, reported sunk on the mine near Bataan, was again reported hit and sunk. She was probably just damaged. Other three subs that were also reported sunk by mines are either really sunk, or so lightly damaged that they could continue with their mission. If not, they would be in Manila port, together with Swordfish.

Mindanao

Forces intended for Legaspi have landed in Butuan on the 10th and have taken it the next day. They will be moving south, to cut off retreat from Cagayan. As soon as shipping becomes available, additional forces from Palau will land in

Speaking of subs, those nasty Dutch buckets are having a field day with my convoys. They got three xAKs just last turn, (two by KXIV and one by S40), plus badly damaged one more. One of PBs reported hitting O19 with three depth charges, but I somehow doubt that. On the other side, my subs apparently all have faulty sights. I-169 near Pago Pago so far managed to miss 2 destroyers and a CL in three separate attacks. It’s almost out of torpedoes. RO-63 tried to sneak up on Adelaide near Port Moresby, but was spotted and had to abort.

On other news, CruDiv2 caught up with RN China station destroyers and bagged Thanet. Other two are spotted 40 miles to the west. I have three SCTFs chasing them, and hopefully will finish them off tomorrow. Betties and Nells from Siagon attacked them three times, but no hit were scored. Frustrating.

[BigBadWolf]

December 13th, 1941

Rabaul was liberated today, as well as Wake. CruDiv1 (Furutaka,Kako,Aoba,Kinugasa) raided Port Moresby and sunk Adelaide and several AKs and APs. RO-63 then attacked the survivors and sunk xAK Corinda and xAP Sarpedonia. The convoy was empty, meaning that my opponent is reinforcing Port Moresby. That is always nice to see.

I took a gamble with Rabaul, hoping that my opponent didn't sent his carriers here. Have they showed up, it would be messy. Fortunately, he has them employed somewhere else.

I-156 ran into a mine in Georgetown port. Not sure she will make it home.


Kates flying from Saipan attacked a convoy of refugees from Manila, which tried to get away by running through middle of Pacific. Have I not transferred those Kates there, they would probably made it. Langley and Otus were sunk.

Mini KB launched an attack against shipping near Soerebaja, hitting DD Stewart, 4 xAPs and a AO. There were 4 more destroyers in TF, but they were missed.

I-26 torpedoed xAK Henry S Grove and xAP Mariposa, which were part of troop transport convoy in the middle of nowhere, about half way between Hawaii and West coast. I have about dozen more submarines in these waters and this is the first contact they have made.

I-169 continuse to play hide and seek with USN ships near Pago Pago. I decided to send I-8, which was nearby, to join the fun and she did, by getting hit with 2 DCs. Nothing spices the party like a little firework.

SS Tambor tried to interfere with Japanese landings at Wake and was report hit 6 times. O20 was again reported hit, also 6 times, near Kuching. So far, I’m content with Japanese ASW skills.

Yesterday I noticed enemy TF near Hainan, so I sent Natori with friends to investigate the matter. That they did, sinking in process DD John D. Ford, DD Peary and xAP President Madison. There were troops aboard, so I guess that’s the remaining of Hong Kong evacuation force. Later, light bombers from Samah attacked Kwangchowan port and sunk 3 MTBs.


Malaya

Two additional regiments arrived at Mersing, so that group now has reinforced division strength. Since enemy deserted Johore and blew up the causeway, the Mersing group will move up north and attack Malacca, where recon reports 5 enemy units.

Imperial Guard finally arrived at Singora and is unloading from train, which should take them about 3 days. From there they will march on to Aloa Star. There are several convoys spotted in Malacca strait and west coast of Malaya, but naval bombers refuse to launch.

No enemy activity in air. That means that my Zeroes don’t get to kill droves of Buffalos and Hudsons, but it also means that RAF boys don’t get any experience. When we meet in Burma, we will see who profited more.

Port Blair was taken by para drop. Boys in 1st Raiding Rgt made a quick work of the defenders.

Burma

Advance elements of 15th Army arrived at Chiang Mei and are getting off the trains and preparing to move towards Rangoon. On the other side, 14th Tanks, followed by bunch of AF units, is 26 miles from Tavoy. Enemy seems to have deserted this base and is retreating north.

[BigBadWolf]

Few turns ago, my opponent sent CVTF to raid some empty transports around Tarawa. They should have been full, but I messed up on the loading and quite frankly, forgot about them. (I know, I know, I'm a disgrace for the Empire... [:(] )

It just so happened that I had CarDiv1 in the area, steaming to Kwaj to reload. Judging by the composition of the strike, I concluded that it was just one carrier, and probably Sara. So, I sent Kaga and Akagi hunting, without much hope of catching up, since they were some 500 miles to the north. After two turns of chase, nothing happened, so I decided to send them towards Pago Pago, abandoning the search for raiders, where my opponent has a lot of shipping, probably stuck unloading in a small port. The idea was to help him and clear the harbor a bit.

Much to my surprise, CV launched strike appeared above my carriers the next turn. Fortunately, battle took place at 6 hex distance, so USN pilots only used bombs. One of them landed on Kaga, casing 16 sys damage and none of it major. IJN responded what can be probably called the worst carrier strike in history. It went in dribs and drabs, several waves, without hitting USN carrier, identified as Lexington. Only the final wave, consisting of Zeroes and Kates managed to put 3 torps into Lex and 2 into Astoria. Both appeared on sunk ships list. Hopefully, they will stay there.

The moral of the story?

Better to be lucky than good.

[John 3rd]

It does happen...

[BigBadWolf]

December 23rd, 1941

From: Inspector-General of Military Training, General Otozō Yamada
To: Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo

As per your order, I have compiled reports from both Rikugun Kōkū Hombu and Kaigun Koku Hombu personnel departments regarding pilot training programs. The numbers are as follows:

Army – Fighter pilots – 450 – Bomber pilots – 254 – Recon pilots – 86
Total number of training units:29

Army Air Service also operates Port Arthur Aerial ASW School, with 108 pilots currently in training. In addition to this, 6 independent squadrons (52nd, 71st, 73rd, 74th, 82nd and 89th) are being pulled from front line duties and will form similar training center in Takao by the end of January. These units will form the backbone of the aerial ASW forces planned for deployment. However, I was told that at least 9 more squadrons will be needed, meaning that 3 more Sentais will be pulled from the front lines. Reserves of trained pilots are severely depleted, and will remain so for the next 2 or 3 months, until new graduates start arriving. This was done in order to fill the units of 3rd (Malaya and Burma) and 5th (Philippines) Air Divisions. There are also 1842 pilots who have finished basic training and are waiting to be assigned to one of the combat schools. The chief of Rikugun Kōkū Hombu feels that these numbers of pilots in training are adequate for the time being.

Kaigun Koku Hombu, on the other hand, claims that more training units are needed, or at least, the current ones need expansion, especially in the light of heavy losses in Pearl Harbor operation. They have just dispatched 40 torpedo bomber and 20 fighter pilots to Kwajalein, where they will fill 1st Air Flotilla units. This will bring carrier complements to almost full strength, but there are no reserves to speak of. Currently, they have the following number of pilots in training:

Navy - Fighter pilots – 112 – TB pilots – 104 – DB pilots – 48 – Patrol pilots – 104
Total number of training units:16

Fighter pilots are the most critical, so when this cycle is finished, number of patrol pilots in training will be cut in half, in order to increase fighter pilots numbers. There is also a suggestion that two of the front line squadrons, one TB and one DB, are converted to training. These squadrons will be expanded to be able to train 90 pilots at once each. This will be done by the end of December. Unfortunately, there aren’t any fighter kokutais that can be removed from front lines for this purpose, until new ones are formed. Kaigun Koku Hombu also has 1363 basic flight school graduates, awaiting assignment to combat schools.

In total, we have more than 1250 pilots in advance combat training and more than 3200 pilots who have finished basic training. It is the opinion of this command that both Army and Navy training programs are, or will be, once all of the planned changes are introduced, adequate.