Rising Sun, Shooting Star (Chez vs Canoerebel)

[ChezDaJez]

I feel very honored to have been chosen by Dan for this match. Hopefully I will give him fits but most importantly I hope to give him a good game.

With the exception of the first few turns, this AAR will be updated weekly in game turns and after any major battles. Feel free to discuss strategy or tips but please, please do not divulge any information gleaned from Canoerebel's or my AAR.

Details for the game:

Scenario 2: Chez (J) vs Canoerebel (A)
Scenario 2 presupposes that the Japanese exercised a bit more foresight in prewar planning and provides the Japanese player with better pilots, more aircraft in the pools, more troops and more merchants. Naval ships remain about the same. Unfortunately no new carriers.

Settings:
FOW: On
Adv Weather: On
Allied Dmg Control: On
PDU: OFF
Historical 1st Turn: Off
Dec 7th Surprise: On
Allied Reliable Torps: Off
Realistic RD: On
No Unit Withdrawals: Off
Variable Reinforcements +/-15 days
Expansion at start: Off
Auto Upgrade: Off

House Rules:
Very few. We will use common sense. If it couldn't physically be done IRL, it won't be done here. Anything goes strategy wise.
No strategic bombing of the SRA or China until 1944
No more than one 4E unit on naval attack per base. May have other 4E units engaged in other missions at the same base.
No non-base/dot hex invasions or paradrops.
Must pay full PP for restricted units. No converting one base from one command to another to allow restricted units to move there. The only exception is with Dutch units.

Turn one has been sent!

Strategy:
I'm going for autovictory. I have 3 ways to do it. Take India, take Pearl Harbor or take Oz. My plan is to take Oz. Taking Oz will be difficult but I will need to isolate it early form the east and the west. With that in mind, I intend four separate landings: Darwin, Perth, Port Kemblee (near Sydney) and along the north coast. In order to do so, the SRA must fall quickly and New Zealand must be occupied early. I want to have forces in Darwin and Perth by mid January and along the north coast by the end of January. You can be sure Dan will put up a spirited defense

Initial moves:

CentPac:

My original plan was to hit PH with only 4 carriers and send the other two deep into the SRA. Unfortunately, the newly formed Air TF lost its first turn move bonus. That makes it impossible for these 2 carriers to make it to the SRA in time to be of any use. So the full weight of KB will fall once again fall on PH. I will hang for one turn only and then rush back to support the Wake Island assault. I redirected the Makin invasion force to Tarawa and the Tarawa invasion force to Wake. I want to make sure Wake falls during the initial assault. The fly in the oinment is how aggressive Dan gets with Lexington and Enterprise. I know he has a fondness for raiding. I'm not going carrier hunting right off the bat but KB does need to get to Wake quickly. There is a chance they will tangle. If they do, KB will be low on torps and fuel but should be able to handle them with bombs. The replenishment TF was sent to loiter between Marcus and Wake and will refuel KB when clear. The Marshalls will remain largely undefended until I meet certain other objectives.

I intend to move through the Solomons, down through the New Hebrides and into New Caledonia as afast as possible. The plan is to establish small airbases along the way to warn of any potential allied raiding mission.and then move in force into New Zealand. I want to isolate Oz from the east just as fast as I can. I am pulling the 33rd Inf Div from the Home Islands and and am moving a couple of Kwangtund divisions to Port Arthur. They will set sail just as soon as I have the PP to release them.

Aleutians:
Knowing Dan has a fondness for raiding, I intend to watch the backdoor. I am sending a small force to Amchitka to establish a seaplane base. I wil also have a few subs patrolling south of the Aleutians. Hopefully they will provide a tripwire so that my merchant ships can scatter before any raiders get close.

Philippines:
I am bypassing the PI for the most part. I will suppress his airfields with air power and land only sufficient forces on Luzon to tie him down. I do need a couple of airfields and a good port near Mindinao so Davao will be taken. Jolo offers a nice undefended airfield so aviation support with a small defensive contingent will be sent there. Jolo is a bit of a risk because of the USS Houston and USS Boise being in the area so baby KB will help keep them at bay.

Borneo:
I plan landings at Kuching and Singkawang to take those airfields otherwise I will bypass it for the time being. Balikpapn and Tarakan will be secondary targets if I can find the forces to take them without major damage. I will mop up the PI and Borneo once Java falls.

Malaya:
I want to cut off as many troops as I can as fast as I can. With that in mind, I wil land at 3 locations: Kota Bharu, Kuantan and Mersing. I will land enough force at Kota Bharu to take Georgetown and Alor Star but this will not be the main effort. That will come at Mersing about 3 days later. I intend to land over 1000 AV within 3 turns. The initial Mersing landing will have armor and recon forces that can move quick and cutoff the lines of retreat. Additional troops will stream in over the course of several days. I will need a good airfield to protect the Mersing so Kuantan gets the nod. Force Z will be a threat at Mersing so the Mersing force will be heavily escorted with battleships and plenty of air power.

Sumatra:
The plan here is to seize Sabang as quick as I can to cut off the flow of transport aircraft that may try to evacuate Singapore. To do that I will use a paradrop either directly on Sabang or on the airfield just south of there. Once Sabang is in my hands, Port Blair will receive the same treatment. I will invade Palembang with the troops used to take Kuching. I will need to find some combat engineers though. I do not want him reinforcing Palembang!

Timor:
I will push fast and hard to get to Timor as fast as I can. I will take Manado and Ternate as I pass them and then Ambon. Kendari will be suppressed initially until I have Koepang and Lautern in my hands. Timor is critical to my planned landing at Darwin and I want to get there before Dan has a chance to evacuate substantial forces to bolster its defense.

CBI:
China will remain quiet for the time being. I will tidy up some lines but that is all until the SRA and New Zealand is firmly in my hands. Burma will see a slow but steady push as forces become available that aren't needed elsewhere. I do want to take Rangoon as soon as I can to keep him from employing his air forces from there but that will be the extent until my other major objective are met. India.. I've never liked India so will leave it alone unless he forces me to do something about it. India is just too big to defend effectively.

New Zealand:
I will invade with as much force as I can muster. I have 2 divisions identified and numerous smaller units. Hopefully I can identify two more divisions as I will probably need them to ensure a quick victory. Auckland will be the primary target and the majority of troops will land at the base north of Auckland. They will then march to Auckland. A direct landing at Auckland is not advisable due to the CD defenses there. Dunedin is a secondary target and I am not quite sure where I will land to secure it but I will land enough forces to block any troops moving to reinforce.

That means two invasion forces. Most will come from the forces that took Rabaul and the Solomons. I expect Dan will react strongly to this so I must get there before he receives his additional carriers. Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga are tough enough to deal with without Yorktown or Hornet adding to the problem. Every Japanese carrier I have will support this invasion. This is critical to my plans for Australia. Without NZ as a buffer, Australia's east coast can be easily reinforced by Brad and there would be little I could do about it.

Australia:
This is the goal for all other actions. The plan is to land at Perth and Darwin and along with token forces along the north coast during January in the hopes of drawing troops away from the Sydney and Melbourne areas. Perth has a rail line to Melbourne so I must cut that quick. Darwin will simply have a token force left after the initial landings. I do not want to get sucked into the interior as it will be too difficult to keep troops supplied so the primary actions will be along the coastal population centers. Plus those Aussie troops that do retreat into the interior will wither on the vine eventually due to lack of supply.

The big event will be at Port Kemblee just south of Sydney. Once NZ falls, those forces will reload and head for Australia. I should have at least 3 divisions plus supporting troops from Kwangtung (once I have the PP to pay for them) available to assault Port Kemblee. I'm not too concerned if I don't have enough force to take Sydney initially as just my landing near there will make it ineffective for allied use. I am not looking to capture all of Australia initially. I can't go after Melbourne until Sydney falls.

This is an ambitious plan, one that I have never tried. Obviously, all this presupposes that things go my way without any major setbacks. Given Dan's style, I can expect him to fight hard for everything. Scenario 2 gives additional troops and that is the only reason why I think I can achieve my objectives before he can build effective defenses. Once he figures out that Australia is it, there will be hell to pay, of that I am sure.

Chez

[PresterJohn001]

Ambitious plans. New Zealand gets reinforcements when you invade so take enough else its going to be a short ride
Good Luck.

[fcharton]

Hi,

My original plan was to hit PH with only 4 carriers and send the other two deep into the SRA. Unfortunately, the newly formed Air TF lost its first turn move bonus. That makes it impossible for these 2 carriers to make it to the SRA in time to be of any use.

Actually, this can be done. You have a second warp TF in Eterofu at game start : the tankers. To turn it into a second Air Combat force, you need

- to change its mission to escort (not sure why, but you need this)
- to click on transfer ships, you should now see all CV, and other KB ships, that you can add (it is probably wise to remove the slow oilers at this point)

Voila, two warp CV Task Forces.

After that, you need to rebuild the oiler TF as a regular force.

Francois

[Nomad]

Too bad you didn't post something earlier, you can use the bombardment DDs to make another magick move TF.

He probably only needs to take the North Island of NZ to isolate OZ. Some Nells and A6M2s should be able to keep most anything from moving to OZ from the East.

Do you have any plans to take Tasmania? It would provide some nice airbases in range of the mainland.

[PresterJohn001]

An alternative to New Zealand is Fiji and then Cook/Austral Islands. Logistic hell but same effect with less opposition. Means your divs can hit Oz.

Assuming you do go for NZ, watch Fiji, as if i were the allies i'd reinforce Fiji and then New Caledonia.

[bradfordkay]

" This is critical to my plans for Australia. Without NZ as a buffer, Australia's east coast can be easily reinforced by Brad and there would be little I could do about it. "

Hmmm.... are you thinking that the UGA alliance will gang up on you? [:'(]

[Patbgaming]

Good Luck with your plan !!

Just an FYI, landing in NZ will give the allies about 2 1/2 Divisions worth of reinforcements. These with the reinforcements for OZ may make life difficult elsewhere fairly quickly.

You may want to try Noumea and the small islands north of NZ to isolate Oz, with Tazmania. My 2 cents.

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: PresterJohn

Ambitious plans. New Zealand gets reinforcements when you invade so take enough else its going to be a short ride
Good Luck.

But its a long walk from Aden to Auckland!

Good luck Steve, this looks like an interesting game is on the cards.

[obvert]

Where is the trigger LOD for a NZ invasion? Or is it just if you land they will appear?

Also, what would the garrison requirements be for Aukland, etc?

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

" This is critical to my plans for Australia. Without NZ as a buffer, Australia's east coast can be easily reinforced by Brad and there would be little I could do about it. "

Hmmm.... are you thinking that the UGA alliance will gang up on you? [:'(]

Oops.. gonna be tough keeping you two Georgians separate. Y'all sound alike to me! [:D]

Chez

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: Nomad

Too bad you didn't post something earlier, you can use the bombardment DDs to make another magick move TF.

He probably only needs to take the North Island of NZ to isolate OZ. Some Nells and A6M2s should be able to keep most anything from moving to OZ from the East.

Do you have any plans to take Tasmania? It would provide some nice airbases in range of the mainland.

Nomad and fcharton:
Now you guys tell me! [:D]

Oh, well. Too late The first turn has been sent and received. Details below.

Chez

[ChezDaJez]

First turn has been played!

The PH strike went much better than planned. Several BBs had magazine explosions.

Sunk
BB California: Magazine explosion, 2 bombs, 2 torps
BB Nevada: Magazine explosion, 1 bomb, 3 torps
DD Reid: 1 torp
DD Blue: 1 torp
PT-30: 1 bomb

Heavy Damage:
BB Pennsylvania: Magazine explosion, 4 bombs, 3 torps, heavy fires
BB West Virginia: Magazine explosion, 7 bombs, 1 torp, heavy fires
BB Oklahoma: 5 bombs, 3 torps

On Fire:
BB Maryland: 8 bombs, heavy fires
BB Arizona: 4 bombs, 1 torp, heavy fires
BB Tennessee: 6 bombs, on fire
CA New Orleans: 1 torp, on fire
CL Honolulu: 2 bombs, on fire
Cl Detroit: 1 bomb, on fire
AD Dobbin: 1 torp, on fire

Other Damage:
CA San Francisco: 1 torp
CL Helena: 1 bomb
DD Dewey: 1 bomb

The airfields are knocked out. Dan lost about 45 aircraft at PH, 1/3 of which were PBYs. I lost 9 aircraft and about 20 damaged.

The bad news is that SS Plunger penetrated KB's screen and put two torps into Shokaku. Thankfully, only one exploded and its damage was amazingly light... SYS 10, flot 7, eng 2, fire 3. Only 3 flot is major damage so she remains operational without loss of speed. Very close call. The could have greatly altered my plans had she any greater damage.

My troops are on track and have landed at Kota Bharu and Kuantan in Malaya. Dan's airforce did their best but in the end managed to sink one xAK and put a bomb into Haruna and one DD. The DdD is headed for Saigon for repairs with heavy damage. My airforces did not sweep the skies clear of his fighters in Malaya. I was sorely disappointed. I managed to shoot down only 3 Buffalos and 3 bombers in air-air despite strong sweeps and CAPs. Next turn will see a concerted effort against his air forces in Malaya. The Mersing force is a little slow in moving. Why I don't know but they only covered 3 hexes, not the 8 I expected. My air attack against Singapore port failed to launch and Force Z vanished. The Rangoon port strike from Bangkok went well sinking most of the ships located there.

My troops also landed at Laoag in the PI. This is just a small force designed to get an airbase up quickly. The IBA force is currently gathering west of Takao and will head to IBA once the airbase is operational. Heavy airstrikes against his airfields was relatively disappointing. Once again very few of his fighters were shot down and most of those were P-26s. Only one P-40 was shot down. The air strike against Manila port went much better. At least 8 subs were hit along with several ships including the Langley.

The port of Hong Kong was hit hard with nearly every ship sunk by aircraft located at Canton.

So far no major glitches though the attack on Shokaku sure made my stomach drop. Now for the next turn.

Chez

[Chickenboy]

ChezDaJez,

I have posted the following in Canoerebel's AAR:

"Most honorable Canoerebel-san,

This message will be my last post in this AAR for the forseeable future. I have decided to reflect my 'true calling' and focus on providing counsel to the honorable Chez-san for your upcoming bout. In fairness, I must withdraw from this AAR at this time (bows) so as not to bias my counsel for him further with any foreknowledge derived from your most enjoyable posts here.

I look forward to your match and wish you well. Oh, yes. One more thing: Long life for the Emperor! BANZAI!"

Chez-san: How may I be of service? (bows)

[Chickenboy]

Chez,

You mentioned that the air battle didn't go as you desired / expected in the PI and that comparatively few of the Allied aircraft were downed. Was this because you just didn't encounter them (e.g., they were stood down or on escort rather than CAP) or that they were engaged, but your fliers fared poorly?

[fcharton]

Hi,

My airforces did not sweep the skies clear of his fighters in Malaya. I was sorely disappointed. I managed to shoot down only 3 Buffalos and 3 bombers in air-air despite strong sweeps and CAPs.

I believe this is the logical consequence of surprise on Turn 1. Because of surprise, most aircraft don't take off, and therefore, most fighters don't scramble when you sweep. On turn one, you should better use fighters to escort bombers on airfield (or port) attack, than to sweep.

On GT 2, it is sweep sweep sweep again, though... If he's reasonable, he'll stand his planes down.

Francois

[Alfred]

ChezDaJez,

Had problems accessing the internet so only just caught up with this new AAR. FWIW, here are a few preliminary observations without the detailed arguments to fully illustrate them.

1. Q-Ball's AAR has extensive commentary on how to achieve an auto victory (and not just by doing India). The principles hold equally for Australia.

2. You don't seem to be factoring in harvesting strategic VPs (see Q-Ball AAR) for Japan.

3. Invading New Zealand before making the big move on Australia is a mistake because:

(a) you don't need it to cut off Australia from West Coast
(b) still leaves CapeTown-Perth/Adelaide SLOC completely open
(c) imposes a delay on Japanese operations against Australia
(d) triggers significant Allied reinforcements which can be deployed decisively to stymie Japanese operations against Sumatra, Java or Burma - IOW the Allied player does not have to waste time getting those reinforcements all the way to NZ but can move them to far more decisive theatres far closer to their arrival location
(e) if you invade NZ you must capture both the North and South Islands in order to minimise your deployment - even then the garrison requirements of 260 Ass Val (other wise you don't get the full VP value) is a noticeable drain on your Australian schwerpunkt

4. Landing in Perth is not the way to cut the Trans Australia railway. To cut the rail line you either land at Esperance and drive north to capture Kalgoorlie, or capture Port Augusta. Both those locations are above the Line Of Death and therefore do not trigger the emergency Australian reinforcements.

5. Landing at Port Kembla has several downsides:

(a) it triggers the emergency Australian reinforcements - again just like NZ, these reinforcements can be gainfully employed elsewhere but unlike NZ, there are sufficient Australian forces present to impose a stubborn Allied defence which gains sufficient time for the reinforcements to actually be transferred to Australia.
(b) Port Kembla is very close to major Allied reserves which can quickly join the defence
(c) there are several close by mutually supporting airbases which you will have difficulty in closing down

6. Overall you are dissipating your Australian operations into too many separate, non mutually supportive, operations

7. You have absolutely no grounds for believing your opponent will move troops away from Sydney/Melbourne to meet any Japanese landing elsewhere - in his game against Q-Ball he relied upon the Indian Line Of Death, why would he not do the same in Australia, particularly as landing at Port Kembla guarantees him receiving a high boost in reinforcements

8. I don't believe you have properly calculated how long and with what forces, the capture of the SRA will need. Very noticeable is your complete oversight of Java and almost only a passing reference to Sumatra in your opening remarks. You need both Australia and the SRA for auto victory calculations (directly in accumulating VPs and maintaining a strong economy).

9. In his game against Q-Ball, your opponent almost from day 1 started evacuating his Malaya forces out via Port Blair. Your early move on Sabang/Port Blair will cut off this route but in fact will encourage him to take the southern escape route via Palembang/Oosthaven/Batavia.

10. The net result of points 3, 8 and 9 above is that you have an extremely optimistic timetable for your Australian invasion.

Alfred

[ny59giants]

Once those extra reinforcements are triggered for either NZ or OZ, they may not show up in OZ, but after a short trip to India will probably be used to launch an early invasion or re-invasion of Burma. You will need to sen extra troops to Burma to counter this or take a risk.


Was it ever proven that an invasion of Tasmania triggers the extra reinforcements??

[John 3rd]

Key note here. My old opponent will quite likely NOT FIGHT you toe-to-toe. He will hide his CVs and dig-in while looking for the opportunity to throw you back from a differing direction. This makes the war tougher. Dan will not Sir Robin you but it will be close to that.

You will need to: Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

I will be reading both AARs so shall be careful with my commentary.

BANZAI!

[SqzMyLemon]

ChezDaJez,

An ambitious plan and it should be a fun game to watch. I too am in the habit of following both AAR's, but in this case I will follow Chickenboy's lead in voluntarily limiting myself to this one. It will be nice to be able to watch, learn and offer suggestions here without worrying about compromising in any way the integrity of the matchup. From what I've learned following Canoerebel in his previous AAR's I echo John 3rd's comments and watch your back door as you pointed out. He'll hit you where you ain't. Good luck!

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Once those extra reinforcements are triggered for either NZ or OZ, they may not show up in OZ, but after a short trip to India will probably be used to launch an early invasion or re-invasion of Burma. You will need to sen extra troops to Burma to counter this or take a risk.


Was it ever proven that an invasion of Tasmania triggers the extra reinforcements??

Yes it was.

See tm.asp?m=2617094&mpage=1&key=Emergency% ... s&#2617094