Suave mari magno – RA as Japan, Soliinvictus202 and fcharton (no swift and undercovergeek, please)

[SoliInvictus202]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

How are things going here?

well - we are on turn 5 at the moment - and we have made considerable progress at the cost of ships and men.... but details will be posted once Francois has time to write the AAR - he's rather busy ATM....

and I myself have decided to only post results and thoughts with considerable delay to avoid an OPSEC issues - I hope this is understandable....

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: fcharton

I apologize in advance to any citizen the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or any of their former minions, that might chance upon this AAR. This anti-British stance is but a literary artifact, meant to provide some flavor to this altogether dull AAR. It has no historical basis whatsoever, nor does it represent the opinions and views of its author…

Since my material grandmother belonged to a family that had to sneak out of Ireland to avoid being hung for being leaders of the Society of United Irishmen, I can forgive you.

[fcharton]

As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters. (Edward Gibbon)

December 8th, 1941, the morning after the day that will live in infamy

Most of our invasion fleets are still at sea, so there was little significant action today but lots of raiding.

Mine of ours

The minefield laid in Bataan paid off today.

TF 280 encounters mine field at Bataan (78,77)
Allied Ships
SS S-41, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Searaven, Mine hits 1, on fire
SS Spearfish, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Twenty enemy submarines are now reported sunk.

Beach Boys

On Luzon, Mauban fell, undefended. B17 from Cagayan bombed the beachhead, and a submarine sank one of our unloading cargoes (all the large transport have retired north, but a number of small cargoes are unloading supplies, quite a dangerous mission).

In the airs, Zeroes from Formosa ate Warhawks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 16 P-35 A, 12 P-40 B and 10 P-40 E were downed, for four Zeroes. I was expecting to see torpedo armed Catalinas, but none seem to have flown.

Our invasion forces should hit the northern beaches tomorrow. So far, the Luzon campaign is proceeding according to plan.

In Malaya, Kota Baru fell. Enemy casualties were pretty heavy.

Allied ground losses:
2382 casualties reported
Squads: 97 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 81 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 22 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 28 (27 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Finally, three infantry battalions landed in Kuching, against light opposition. In a very interesting side action, the cover force sank(Fuso, Yamashiro, Takao, Akago and assorted DD) sank an enemy cargo (Shinai) that was apparently evacuating troops.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kuching at 58,88, Range 10,000 Yards

Allied Ships
xAKL Shinai, Shell hits 17, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Such an early evacuation suggests a Palembang defense, which we intend to complicate by having KB in the South China Sea.

Remember the Nisshin Maru, meet the silent service, and a few other illustrious Japanese

One nice aspect of this scenario is that Japan begins the war with quite a few good submarines, in forward positions. (We didn’t plan to use them, mind you, we’re a peace loving people, who like to tend cherry trees, do paper folding, cross-dress as pre-teenage schoolgirls, and eat garlic noodles for breakfast. But since it is merchant hunting season…

Off the coast of Burma, I-162 and I-164 put four torpedoes into three Commonwealth cargoes (Ardent, Chaksang and Indira). Two are reported sunk. Near San Francisco, xAK Alaska was torpedoes twice and is reported sunk as well. Near Singapore, a troop transport (Kota Pinang), was torpedoed.

South of Palembang, I-166 missed the Prince of Wales (and got damaged by its escorts). We know where half of Force Z is.

The most interesting naval action happened close to Singkawang. Four Japanese destroyers intercepted two British light cruisers (Durban and Dragon), probably on their way to Kuching. Outgunned, the Imperial Navy performed pretty well.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Fubuki, Shell hits 1
DD Usugumo, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Shirayuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hatsuyuki, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Dragon, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Durban, Shell hits 9

Usugummo and Shirayuki will probably make it.

Dragon and Durban might have survived as well, had Kido Butai not been moving in. Both were sunk (the former to a magazine explosion). In the afternoon, another raid by KB planes sank CL Danae, in the same area. This should calm the raiders for a while.

[fcharton]

December 9th, 1941

And today’s autocaptured base is…

You may have noticed a strange feature of the game engine. Every day, around midnight, an enemy base may fall, if it is left unguarded and not too far from enemy troops. Why this happens at the beginning of the day (and not at the end, after movement and combat), I do not know. Even more curious is the fact that only one base can fall on a specific day.

So, today’s magic base was Langkawi. Where’s Langkawi, you might wonder (I, for one, wondered, when I saw the message)? Langkawi is the small island between Phuket and Georgetown, off the western coast of Malaya.

Its capture, today, is all the more mysterious as the enemy still holds Alor Star (one hex away), and my closest forces are in Singora, 90 miles of jungle and sea away.

But Langkawi and the Langkawians are welcome to the co-prosperity sphere, which will certainly feel like a bed of roses after years of inhuman yoke under British rule.


Not just Langkawi…

Hong Kong fell today as well (yay! as we say here in Japan). Our two divisions (38th and 104th) and an assortment of artillery and engineers took the place on their first deliberate attack.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 28723 troops, 381 guns, 244 vehicles, Assault Value = 911
Defending force 7451 troops, 131 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 234
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Hong Kong !!!

Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 5 destroyed
Vildebeest III: 2 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
550 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
7865 casualties reported
Squads: 279 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 496 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 42 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 162 (162 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 76 (76 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6


The 38th division will now move to Luzon, where the 33rd (the division from Nagasaki that failed to warp to Bangkok on the fateful seventh of December) has been sent as well. Those two additional divisions should help us achieve an early capture of the island.


The dragon awakens

Short term Japanese plans for China are pretty simple. We want to open, and secure, a supply line between Indochina and Manchuria.

To achieve this, we need to clear the northern railroads and the central plains of enemy presence, capture Zhejiang and the Fujian hinterland (Chuhsien, Wenchow, Pucheng, Kanhsien), and clear the Guangdong coast (Kwangchowan, Pakhoi). This will probably take two months.

The next objective is still undecided. Since we have no “PP for border” home rule, we can muster a fairly large army, and our short term goal give us time to shuffle units around. I am now considering three options:

- Your typical north-western thrust, capturing Sian and Ankang, and then Lanchow, thus cutting fuel supplies and threatening a northern invasion of Sichuan
- An early Hunan campaign, targeting the Changsha area, probably from three directions (Ichang, Hankow, Nanchang)
- An early southwest expedition, going for Kunming and linking with Burma.

The goal of this second phase is to damage as many Chinese units as possible, and take industrial bases, to worsen their supply situation. It would take about six months, until summer 1942.

The last phase would be an all out assault on Sichuan, striving at taking China out of the war by the end of 1942.


In my previous game, I had abandoned Ichang at game start. The base is just too exposed to be worth holding. In this game, I thought I would try and defend it, and try to damage several of the good Chinese corps that begin the game in this area.

Ichang begins the game with about 550 AV (one IJA division an a collaborator unit), behind level three forts. It can be reinforced with tanks in three days (this makes quite a difference since it is in clear terrain, and the Chinese have very little anti-armor capability). I can bring artillery and a second division (or 1100 AV) in about five days, and perhaps two or three more (depending on whether the enemy also attacks Sinyang) in ten days.

The first attack happened today. Seven corps and a headquarter unit attacked over the river. I have an IJA division, a RGC division, and a tank regiment still in move mode. It was very bloody…

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 6274 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1563
Defending force 14211 troops, 116 guns, 136 vehicles, Assault Value = 529

Allied adjusted assault: 0
Japanese adjusted defense: 971
Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 3)

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4236 casualties reported
Squads: 243 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 174 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (27 destroyed, 0 disabled)

I have not enough troops to launch a counter attack. We will bombard tomorrow to assess enemy strength. But it seems the plan is working.


The Butai (evil) twins

During the long preparations for this game, the Evil Imperial HQ decided to attack Manila instead of Hawaii, so that KB could support the East Indies invasions at once. But this was not our only unconventional move. After choosing to focus on Manila, we realized that a full strength KB, with no enemy carriers in the vicinity, and for a small port like Manila, was probably overkill.

As a result, we decided to split the KB, in two 3 CV plus escort task forces. Butai-1 would attack Manila, while Butai-2 would raid the Coral sea and the Australian ports, before moving north to support invasions in the Dutch Indies.

Well, KB-2 showed up today, and sank most of the Port Moresby convoy…

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 96,138
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 49
B5N2 Kate x 72
D3A1 Val x 72

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CL Adelaide, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Achilles, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Cycle, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AO Bishopdale, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Mildura, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Sarpedonia
xAK Chios, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Corinda, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Westralia, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Murada, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
1583 casualties reported
Squads: 87 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 93 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 95 (43 destroyed, 52 disabled)


Meanwhile, near Singapore, KB-1 sank a number of ships, some of them troop loaded (it seems more and more obvious that the enemy is trying to evacuate Malaya)

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tandjoengpinang at 50,85
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
D3A1 Val x 13

Allied Ships
TK Pleiodon, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Vendetta, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Stronghold

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Singapore at 50,84
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 13

Allied Ships
CM Willem v d Zaan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Singkep at 49,87
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 12
D3A1 Val x 13

Allied Ships
xAP Kedah, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAP Kelantan, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
1178 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Malacca at 49,81
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 10
D3A1 Val x 10

Allied Ships
xAK Wulin, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
xAK Zannis Cambanis, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
676 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 20 (13 destroyed, 7 disabled)


Finally, in the Celebes, Mini-KB found a small cargo task force…

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
B5N2 Kate x 42

Allied Ships
xAKL Montanes, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Lepus, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
AVD William B. Preston, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Legazpi, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
144 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

When we planned the game, we thought of this KB split as a big gamble, but it seems to be paying off…

In other news

We’re in the early days of the war, so Japan is landing, landing and landing again.

Today, our troops hit the beach in Mersin, Appari, and Vigan. Kwangchowan and Kuching were captured as well.

Djambi was taken by paratroops of the first Raiding regiment. The base was not garrisoned, yet fifty of the 250 oil facilities were damaged. Facility damage seems to have gone up over the recent versions. It does not seem easy to avoid them.

In Mauban, CL Boise sank our remaining cargoes

Night Time Surface Combat, near Mauban at 80,78, Range 8,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
xAK Chojun Maru, Shell hits 17, and is sunk
xAKL Koyu Maru, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
xAK Yamura Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAK Yamakuni Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAKL Bokuyo Maru, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Buyo Maru, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
xAKL Kamishima Maru, Shell hits 7, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Boise

All those were deemed expendable, but still… They shall be avenged.

[PaxMondo]

Boise ... always a pain ...  argh ....

[SoliInvictus202]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Boise ... always a pain ...  argh ....

to be honest I expected to see these ships being sunk by Catalinas with Torps a turn earlier - they were able to offload almost all the supplies which lead to a successful defense of the beachhead at Mauban in the coming days!
so I'd rather have Boise attack such unimportant ships than somewhere else where it hurts

all in all these first few days went well I'd say....

[fcharton]

(Advertising)
Happiness is a cruiser called Boise, the light cruiser from Asiatic Fleet
(and yes, you can whistle that famous tune as you read this, gaijin)

Night Time Surface Combat, near Catanduanes at 82,81, Range 9,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 57% moonlight: 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 9,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 9,000 yards
CA Chokai launches Long Lance Torpedoes at CL Boise at 9,000 yards
Moran, E. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 7,000 yards
CL Boise sunk by CA Chokai at 7,000 yards
Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk...


December 10th 1941

So yay! We got Boise with her knickers down, err, I mean, out of ammo, back from Mauban… Later today, CA Houston tried the same stunt… “Même punition, même motif” as we say in Japan…

Day Time Surface Combat, near Naga at 81,81, Range 22,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
DD Sagiri
Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 8, on fire

Houston sank on the eleventh, after another fateful encounter with CA Chokai. Hell has three gates : lust, anger and greed, as they say…

Remember the Nisshin maru, and sink those darn DD, dammit...

Scout, Thanet and Thracian (may they burn in Hell!), the three Royal Navy destroyers that started WWII in the Pacific by attacking a harmless Japanese convoy, were back today and wrought more mischief

Night Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,72, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-9, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
DMS W-10
DMS W-11, Shell hits 3, on fire
DMS W-12, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DMS W-17, Shell hits 1, on fire
DMS W-18, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Scout
DD Thanet
DD Thracian

Four of those mine sweepers sank at once, the fifth one might make it to Pescadores, perhaps.

But evil deeds never go unpunished, and fate loomed near, in the shape of CL Naka.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,71, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 1
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Murasame
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare

Allied Ships
DD Scout, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Thanet, Shell hits 1
DD Thracian, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Scout, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Thanet, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Thracian, Shell hits 18, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Scout, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Thanet, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Scout, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
DD Thanet, Shell hits 16, and is sunk

Yay, again!

Reversals of fortune

Not everything went right today, quite the contrary in fact…

In Kavieng, our invasion task force was sunk by CA Canberra…

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kavieng at 106,122, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAKL Katsuragisan Maru, Shell hits 19, and is sunk
xAKL Amakasu Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Canberra

Japanese ground losses:
1044 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)

South of Singapore, a flight of stringbags damaged Kaga.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tandjoengpinang at 53,86

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
Swordfish I x 7
Vildebeest III x 26

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish I: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Swordfish I: 1 destroyed by flak
Vildebeest III: 13 destroyed, 4 damaged
Vildebeest III: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
CV Soryu
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 3, on fire

Fortunately, damage to Kaga is light (3 sys), and KB is still functional. But this proves we need more CAP, and more bombing of Allied airfields (Singapore, notably).


Reversals of reversals

Not everything went wrong today, quite the contrary in fact…
We captured Mersing and Vigan, and landed in Miri. Singkawang, Manado, Kendari and Manus.
We sank a couple ships in Manila
AV Langley, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Rochambeau, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AS Canopus, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
PG Tulsa, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AVD Childs, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
TK Gertrude Kellogg, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

And more in Palembang
xAP Kepong, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
AM Toowoomba
xAP Sin Kheng Seng, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
AM Ballarat, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Kanimbla, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
CM Krakatau, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AM Pieter de Bitter, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CM Gouden Leeuw, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

And transports off Singapore
xAK Demodocus, Bomb hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Neleus, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
1526 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 57 disabled
Non Combat: 41 destroyed, 80 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled


Post Scriptum : one of a long series of ads, which inspired the beginning of this installment. You can say lots of things about the Brits, like how they caused this war, but you have to admit (even sparingly) that some of them do have talent…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWHhmASZDLw

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: fcharton
Allied Ships
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Sweet!

[SoliInvictus202]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: fcharton
Allied Ships
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Sweet!

gotta love those long lances - I was very pleased when I saw the replay

[fcharton]

December 11th, 1941

Whacking Matilda

Elated by the sinking of our invasion force, off Kavieng, CA Canberra tried her luck against the Rabaul convoy, near New Hannover Island. Unfortunately, with her main armament ordnance depleted by the previous battle, she was no match for CL Abukuma. Lust anger and greed, as they say.

Day Time Surface Combat, near New Hanover Island at 104,123, Range 20,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Abukuma, Shell hits 2
(and friends)

Allied Ships
CA Canberra, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

CL Perth is now alone in this area. If I were her, I’d run.

Manus fell today. Tulagi and all the bases on the eastern coast of New Guinea were invaded. Tomorrow, we should land in Rabaul and the Solomons. Enemy carriers are a few days away. We will probably make it, but it will be a close call.


Autocapture in Chumphon

Yesterday, the RAF base force from Victoria Point arrived in Chumphon, intending to cut the railroad. We had troops one hex away, arriving today, so it did not seem to bad: by the time the RAF attacked, the city would be garrisoned again, and the rail line would not be cut…

Yeah, you bet, gaijin! Today at midnight, Chumphon was autocaptured, the railroad was cut, and our reinforcements will not arrive before another week.

This is not too bad. With the landings in Mersing, and Singora and Kota having already been reinforced by sea, we have enough troops (and supplies) to play in Malaya for a while.

I hate autocapture!


Blunder in Palembang

It is now very clear that the enemy is trying to reinforce Palembang. With KB and lots of ships in the area, sinking transports, I very much doubt this will succeed, but enemy intent is clear.

We had planned a early invasion. Djambi is ours, Singkawang fell today, and the amphibious task forces and their escorts are assembling, north of Kuching. D-Day was scheduled for the 14th.

And then, we noticed that something terribly wrong had happened when the troops embarked in Samah. Our transports just loaded one support device and sailed away!!! The cause of the problem is unknown, investigation is underway, and we have already run out of ceremonial swords and wicker baskets.

As you can imagine, this blunder left our Evil Imperial Planners flabbergasted and a bit demoralized, but it is not as bad as it seems. We have enough troops and ships in the area to reorganize everything, and D-Day will probably not be delayed by more than three days. Somehow, the flexibility provided by the game system compensates for the fact such crazy mistakes can go unchecked.

[fcharton]

Sorry for the interruption, gaijins, I have been terribly bad at maintaining this AAR. We are now on the 18th of December (yup, slow game), and here is a summary of our war so far.

As you might remember, in this alternate timeline, war erupted in the Pacific when, during the night of the seventh of December 1941, a party of British destroyers attacked a Japanese troop convoy, west of the Philippines. Four Japanese carriers launched a retaliatory strike against Manila, the expected destination of the enemy force and troops stationed near Canton were ordered to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, a carrier division on patrol around Truk was dispatched to New Guinea. There was no strike against US bases in Central Pacific.

The first days of the war followed a very predictable course. Japanese troops landed on Luzon, in Kota Baru, and Mersing, a few days later, and on northern Borneo. Japanese carriers and cruisers sank a fair number of ships, in the South China Sea, in the Celebes and in the Coral sea.

December 18th, 1941

Luzon

Mauban was our main beachhead on Luzon. The Guards Mixed Brigade and the 21st Division, landing on the seventh, were reinforced by the 33rd ID. Several attempts to dislodge them were repulsed with heavy losses. Today, Batangas fell, and we are marching on Manila, where the bulk of enemy forces seem to be (19 units, 55k troops, 350 guns and as many vehicles reported as of today).

In the north, landings on Appari and Vigan went almost unopposed. Three infantry and two tank regiments are marching along the western coast, towards Clark Field. Engineers, artillery and support elements are moving towards Manila, from Appari.

The 38th Infantry division and several artillery units are now embarking in Hong Kong, and should be arriving in about a week. Our plans for Luzon are straightforward: we have about four division equivalents there, with a fifth joining soon, and enemy forces around Manila have already suffered large losses. We believe we stand a decent chance of taking the island fast. If this works, we have 5 divisions ready for action in January or February. If it does not, we will probably leave a smaller force to besiege Clark and Bataan, and free three divisions for action elsewhere.



Luzon was our only early war target in the Philippines. Mindanao, the Legaspi-Naga area, and the islands will be dealt with at a later stage.

At sea, the initial attack on Manila was a success. 23 US submarines, five destroyers, and cruisers Boise and Houston are reported sunk. A large number of ships, mostly cargoes and auxiliaries, are still reported in Manila.

Malaysia

After the usual landing in Kota Baru, and the capture of the base, a second landing, in Mersing, succeeded in cutting the railway line to Singapore, on hex north of Johore. Further north, the roadblock in Chumphon was cleared.

The enemy has 28 units, and over 40k troops reported in Singapore and Johore. The rest of his forces are scattered along the west coast of Malaya and in Kuantan. Reinforcements are on their way. Our opponents tried to ship troops to Sumatra, but evacuation at sea in the face of KB is not a wise idea, and quite a few units got lost when their carriers were sunk. Several night raids against Singapore destroyed a handful of bombers. So far, enemy bombers achieved very little.

Little is expected to happen here, in the near future, save perhaps an enemy attempt towards Mersing. But it seems obvious that our opponents are much more focused on defending Palembang than Singapore.

(to be continued, due to the one image per post limit)

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Sorry for the interruption, gaijins, I have been terribly bad at maintaining this AAR. We are now on the 18th of December (yup, slow game), and here is a summary of our war so far.

Welcome back, missed you!!

ORIGINAL: fcharton
Luzon

Mauban was our main beachhead on Luzon. The Guards Mixed Brigade and the 21st Division, landing on the seventh, were reinforced by the 33rd ID. Several attempts to dislodge them were repulsed with heavy losses. Today, Batangas fell, and we are marching on Manila, where the bulk of enemy forces seem to be (19 units, 55k troops, 350 guns and as many vehicles reported as of today).

So, why Mauban? Interested in your thoughts about this target ... or did I miss that discussion above?

[SoliInvictus202]

that is actually quite simple:

we said that we wouldn't do anything too fancy with the warp TFs - so no Mersing - nothing like Ternate or Palembang either...which left something on Luzon... and so we decided to go for Mauban....

now why Mauban... - the bases in the north can easily be taken by the troops from Pescadores and Formosa... whereas some Allied players might use Catalinas with torps to kill Jap shipping.. and Mauban is in a perfect position to threaten an early capture of Manila or to invite a counteroffensive (which our enemies started and failed miserably)... - the most fortunate thing that has happened so far is that our opponents didn't dig in at Clark, but went onto the offensive instead - this will probably give us the choice to take Luzon early and free up a considerable part of our troops...I haven't seen the replay of this turn yet - but I am fairly sure that the troops in the hex south of Manila have been hurt pretty badly in last turns fighting... this should cut down their AV considerable... - and if they forget to turn off replacements then the supplies will dwindle quickly!

in addition to that it seems that our opponents went for an all in on Palembang - they have 500 AV there - but not very high forts... - we only brought 400 in our first wave....BUT - they weakened Malaya and Java to do so... which means once Palembang falls we'll have a quick advance everywhere else - so although we thought that Palembang might be an issue (everyone seems to go for the fortress now...) I am pleased that we will not be delayed anywhere else... this is good

[fcharton]

To add to what SoliInvictus said, I see two more advantages about Mauban...

When landing so close to Manila, we run the risk of a counterattack. Unlike Appari and Vigan, the enemy has lots of troops and ships in the area at game start. Mauban provided us with good defensive terrain (jungle), and is not directly connected (by road) to Manila, giving us a little more time to disembark.

[fcharton]

December 18th, 1941

As Japanese players, we all know those early game turns are bears… Invasions, production, convoys, industry, R&D, so many things can be planned, improved, adjusted, fine tuned. But the more I play this game, the more I believe the real important early game task for Japan is to get a clear picture of Allied short term plans and objectives.

Imperfect convoy routes can be changed, subpar logistics can be mended, faulty invasions can be survived, but a bad assessment of enemy intent will send you into the wall in no time.

We seem to be very lucky, here, because enemy strategy can apparently be summarized in one short motto:

… see ya’ll in Palembang

Enemy buildup in Palembang has begun on the first day of the war. All transport planes and ships in the area seem to be trying to move as many troops as possible, as fast as possible, towards South Sumatra.

Fortunately, we had planned for an early capture of Sumatra, and the presence of KB in the area helped sinking quite a few transports. Due to some problem during troop loading in Samah, the invasion, planned for the 12th, was delayed by a few days, but we did land on the sixteenth, and faced over 500 AV already there.

Today, we have about 400 AV, facing almost 600 allied. A large enemy force has landed in Oosthaven, and there probably are more in Benkoelen. I suspect there are about 1500 AV on South Sumatra.

Japanese reinforcements are arriving soon. Djambi was taken by paradrop on the first days of the war, and reinforced since. Praboemoelih (the base just south of Palembang) was captured by another paradrop two days ago. Our goal was to delay reinforcements from Oosthaven. Troops from Palembang will probably retake the hex, and we will probably cut the railway further south…

I do understand we play the game we have (and the historical importance of oil for Japan), but I can’t help thinking the focus on Palembang imposed by the game system (or, at least, the usual analysis of it) is getting a bit weird.

Of all the bases in the East Indies, Palembang is perhaps most worth fighting for, because any large battle there will most certainly wreck the oil facilities, and therefore have long term consequences on Japan (compare with, say, a defense of Singapore, or Manila). For allied players, this makes the “Palembang fortress” a very logical prospect. Now, against this, landing on the 15th of December (a week into the war) seems a bit late already.

Anyway, we are in for an interesting (if not historical) situation. I think it could be summarized as follows:

Right now, we need to delay reinforcements to Palembang, and try to take the place.
However, as the base gets reinforced, the possibility of taking it with little damage becomes low, and therefore, its strategic interest is reduced.
On the other hand, the more the enemy reinforces the place, the easier the rest of the DEI campaign becomes.
In fact, it might even be worth encouraging our opponents to reinforce southern Sumatra. If we can blockade the ports and airfields at a later stage, and bomb their supply to oblivion (destroying the refineries in Palembang in the process, unfortunately), Sumatra becomes a death trap for the Allied troops.
In the long run, this is profitable for the Allies: they’ll get the troops back, the oil is lost for good. But it might help Japan in its early conquests. All this is very interesting, but somehow it doesn’t feel right…

The fate of Palembang is still in the balance, though. A quick victory there would probably cause a lot of trouble in allied ranks, since 1500 AV of troops would be stranded on Sumatra. If this cannot be achieved, an interesting problem will appear: how to extricate the troops already in Palembang, before enemy reinforcements tip the balance? This will probably justify the early capture of Djambi, which we can use to open a path of retreat.


In other news

Elsewhere, invasions were smooth. The Solomons, the East Coast of New Guinea, the Celebes, and Northern Borneo have been captured with little damage. Our second Carrier Division, operating in the Coral Sea, sank a good number of allied transports (notably the Port Moresby convoy).

As of today, air losses are 149:381 a 2.5 to 1 ratio in our favour. We have sunk 2 cruisers, 10 light cruisers, a dozen destroyers, 30 troop transports and 50 cargos, for only one cruiser and five destroyers.

China is a world of its own, I will address it in the next installment.