Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs Ctangus

[Quixote]

After two years away from the game, both Ctangus and I now find ourselves with enough free time to dip back into PBEM again. Both of us played quite a bit of original WitP, but this will be the first AE game for both of us. This is not Ctangus's first AAR- he's done several of them. This is, however, my first AAR. (I'm looking forward to reading his take on things in a year or two from a different perspective. I've never had the chance to do this before, and I think it's only fair to give him the same opportunity, so I'm giving the whole AAR thing a shot.) You're welcome to follow along if you're interested (or bored), and if you have any questions, observations, or recommendations I'll try my best to address them. That said, on to the details.

Scenario 1, using the beta updates.

Ctangus is Allies, I'm playing Japan.

Only two HRs:
1. Fighter sweeps limited to the second best manuever band.
2. Must pay PPs for using restricted units outside their theater (Kwantung/China, India/Burma)

Although these are the only rules in place to start, we have a gentlemen's agreement to add something if we both find a tactic to be particularly game-breaking. Since we seem to share similar thoughts on play style, this may not be much of an issue. Both of us view PBEM as more of a game than a completely realistic historical simulation, but neither of us is looking for a complete no-rules free for all here, either. For that reason, I'm limiting myself to one port attack on turn one, I don't plan to take six bases simultaneously with one small paratrooper unit, and my invasion of Samoa isn't set for turn two. We'll see how this works out as we move forward.

As we're a few days into the game as I type, I'll try to bring things up to speed in the next few posts, and again welcome aboard.

[Quixote]

A note on the title of the AAR:



Please don't ask what any of this has to do with an actual war in the Pacific...

[Quixote]

December 7th

Very little infamy here. Or maybe a somewhat more distant infamy. Not nearly as infamous as Pearl Harbor would have been. Slightly more infamous for the Phillipinos, though...







Manila hit by 4 of the 6 fleet CVs and by most of the land based air starting in Takao.

[Quixote]

Along with the port attack on Manila, there were all of six invasions on turn one:

Wake - with no CVs starting in that part of the world, I wanted to knock this over while it was still easy to do.
Kota Bharu - usual reasons
Miri - head start on the SRA
Kuching - same thing, get the SRA conquest in motion
Attu - Since I elected not to hit PH, I wanted to get at least some visibilty on that side of the map ASAP. I'm also
working on getting subs, pickets, and float planes set up to provide an early warning should Ctangus decide on an
early raid of my shipping lanes since he thinks my CVs will be busy elsewhere.
Vigan - I want to project a token landing here, so I'm purposely going in at only one base, and with very little.
I know it's a popular strategy for the Japanese to essentially bypass Luzon, and this is what I want it to seem like I'm
doing. I'm hoping he decides that instead of moving instantly back to the Manila/Clark/Baatan triangle, he'll move
forward and teach me a lesson for not commiting enough. If this happens, I plan to land behind him in force and try
to prevent a sizeable number of his units from being able to reach and help defend Manila. I thought Vigan was the
ideal base to try this with.

The only other unusual move I made was to pull two fleet carriers away from the KB (Akagi and Kaga), and send them to
Singkawang. Two reasons for this. One - I want to take Singkawang ASAP, and also, if it looks feasible, to make a very
quick strike at Palembang. I want it before he can turn it into a fortress. I really want it before he can move enough troops
in to cause potentially heavily damage to it when it falls. Two - If Force Z doesn't run, I'd like nothing better than to
get it out of the way ASAP, too. I want a quick conquest of the SRA, and Force Z is really the only thing he has that could
hinder this. It's worth it to me to lose the extra planes on Manila to get one or both of his BB/BCs here. Turns out I got
one, and did a little damage to the other, which is fine by me at this stage.





Boise managed to do it's usual first turn damage despite my not landing (or planning to land) anywhere near it, as it
intercepted a magically moving transport TF headed to the Menado/Babeldoab area. I lost a couple of AKs and the old CL
guarding the merchants with no damage at all to Boise (no surprise here.) Ryujo then managed to do it's first turn damage,
with it's Kates putting several torpedos into the Boise.

[Quixote]

December 8th

SRA - Invaded Manado and Singkawang. Left the Palembang invasion forces hanging out off of Mersing with surface cover for another turn, out of range of torpedo
bombers. Most of the Malaya troops are going ashore at bases farther north on the peninsula, so there won't be a Mersing Gambit, but I'd like it to look like one for
as long as possible. Ctangus sent (or elected not to adjust) his bombers in at Singora/Kota Bharu, and CAP mostly had fun with them. Same with the bombers that
attack Akagi/Kaga. Not quite the same story in the air over the Phillipnes, though.

Phillipines - Still just the one small battalion ashore at Vigan. My transport TF retreated, and I'm not showing much in the way of follow up waves yet - just a
couple of smaller TFs with no heavies. In the air, a couple of my bomber groups elect to go in without fighter support (it flew with later groups) and get slaughtered.
The SCTFs off Manila manage to sink a number of fleeing ships, but the KB was clouded in, so it only contributed a couple of merchantmen in the opening air phase,
with no follow-up strike on Manila.



Elsewhere - I landed at Kavieng, and will hit Rabaul in another turn or two. Also have a few small TFs ready to take Tarawa and one or two of the neighboring
atolls. Nothing too flashy so far. I am moving another group of Netties to Kwaj, along with some of the Takao zeroes. I'm hoping Ctangus makes a quick foray to
Kwaj in search of transports to sink since he knows there's no danger of KB intervention, and that Kwaj doesn't start with too much that can really hurt him unless
I got lucky. I've got a few turns to get a feel for what kind of player he is, how aggressive or passive he is, etc., and this is one of those things that should help me
get a read on his style one way or the other.

[Quixote]

December 9th and 10th

Pacific - Extra Nells and Zeroes arrive at Kwaj, but no sign of any impending raid. Same thing at Wake - one supply ship unloading, but no visits from Allied
CVs. Most of the Kwaj/Wake area shipping has moved out towards the relative safety of Truk even so.

Phillipines - Still acting out the same play, but only for another turn or two. While not absolutely necessary, I've decided that I want to take (or at least
bottle up) Manila sooner rather than later, so I'm going to have to land my larger units one way or another - either at Lingayen if he moves forward, or at Vigan
where I'll have to fight my way south.



SRA - The dash for Palembang early seems to be working. Other than the good old Pro Patria (c'mon, who doesn't like sinking minelayers, even if they aren't
worth much of anything for points), the landing was unopposed. A fringe benefit to putting fleet CVs in the Singapore/Palembang area of the map right at the
beginning is that there are quite a few tankers that start the game here, and I managed to sink a fair number of them between the Akagi/Kaga group and the Netties
at Saigon. Factor in most of the tankers starting in the Phillipines (now also sunk), and this will hopefully give my opponent less flexibility to aggressively fight back
in the opening stages of the war, at least in the west. In the east, he's welcome to fight back all he wants to. I'm personally hoping he's sending at least a couple of
the Pearl Harbor BBs toward Oz - they are much easier to actually sink outside port, not to mention the fuel they burn even if I don't get the chance to put a few
torps into them. I'm sure I'll regret saying this in early 43, but for now the PH BBs don't bother me much.

After four turns, I seem to be fairly good at inducing surface intercepts (he can't have more than ten or so ships that escaped the Phillipines), and fairly bad (or
at least unlucky) at managing my bombers. My fighters are taking out his fighters in droves, which I gather is supposed to happen if he decides to fight back
against Zeroes with anything other than the AVG. Unfortunately, for the third turn running now, at least one of my bomber groups has charged into fighter cover
unescorted and/or before a sweep takes place, and it's been costing me. I definitely need to work on this going forward - I'm seeing a lot more fragmentation
than I'm used to, and I haven't been on the right end of it often enough. I'm all for taking necessary losses while fighting, but I don't need to hand Ctangus any
more freebies...

[Quixote]

December 11th and 12th

Central Pacific - All quiet. The extra Betties and Zeroes are in place, but no sign of the Allies. Good for
him, bad for me - I was hoping to catch him off guard here early.

Solomons - No signs of any oppositon here, either. I sank a lone Aussie CL that Ctangus threw at
Rabaul when I landed, but it wasn't a very fair fight. I had a couple of CAs and several DDs, and didn't take
any real damage. Landed a small force at Tulagi, again unopposed.

SRA - Palembang fell, with relatively light damage to the oil and refinery. Landed at Jolo unopposed.
Sank several more fleeing merchants from Manila, and landed reinforcements at Manado since I couldn't get
any better than 1-1 despite bringing what I thought were adequate forces. Moved on to set up for Kendari,
and it looks like Ctangus may be ready to fight back here. (see below)

Phillipines - So far, so good. He took the bait and moved several units forward, so I reinforced Vigan
with a battalion, then landed behind him at Lingayen with 400+ AV, and put some armor ashore at Appari to
race down the east coast. (see below)



Lest it seem like absolutely everything is going my way, I had another turn where my bombers flew in
unescorted and again got creamed. Fighters - I'm killing him (8-1 ratio or better.) Surface action - haven't
lost anything since the Boise encounter on turn one and have intercepted dozens of his fleeing merchies, turn
after turn. ASW - I'm not supposed to be this effective this early, but I've probably taken out another 3 or
4 subs with my escorts and ASW groups already, on top of the opening slaughter at Manila. With my
bombers, though....sigh. I'm already looking at expanding production, and we've been fighting for less than a
week. With PDU on, I'm looking to convert most of my bombers to heavier models (Sallys/Lillys) to start, and
I'll happily pay the PPs to do so, but at this rate I'm not producing enough to even make up for losses in
existing units much less for conversions. At this point, I'm ready to take a turn or two off from bombing, let
everyone rest up, and just keep sweeping and taking out his fighters. There's nothing on the map that I have
to hit right now anyway, so I'll settle for a few small victories if I can get them and restore some morale and
fatigue.

[Quixote]

December 13, 14, and 15



Phillipines - The flanking worked, or at least it has so far. I should cut off and kill at least a couple of Phillipino
divisions before they can make it back to defend the siege. As to the siege, I expected it to be
Manila, but from the look of things Ctangus would rather hole up in Bataan. Off the coast, we've
had a few PT boat fights, which have mostly done nothing. He put a torp into one of my AKs (it'll
live if a sub doesn't get it), and I've put big holes in 5 or 6 of his PTs. I've been sweeping both
Manila and Clark with Zeroes for the past few turns, and he doesn't have too many fighters left.
I'm not sure he hasn't moved some of them out, but I haven't run into the P-40s anywhere else
in the area yet, and the kill totals aren't too far off what I'd expect to see given the planes he still
has left.

[Quixote]

December 13, 14, and 15



Malaya - Chuck (Ctangus) is very late pulling his troops back if he plans to make a real siege of things at
Singapore. Alor Star, Kuantan, and the stragglers from Georgetown and Taiping I'll probably catch with
armor before they make it down the peninsula....not an ideal situation for him. I'm looking to add insult
to injury here and land a division or two behind him at Mersing. I played at it the first couple of turns,
but there's almost no good reason not to do it for real now.

[Quixote]

December 13, 14, and 15

Cent Pac - Still all quiet. I'm starting to send some more supply and support to both Wake and Kwaj, and
will probably use my first round of mines shoring up this area. Since he still has all his shiny BBs
from Pearl available, it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to hit an atoll sooner rather than later
here when he figures out where the KB is (at least when he figures out when the KB isn't here.)
Since Ctangus is being so quiet over here, even when he knew there was no KB around for at
least a few days, I've started sending a few small invasions (couple of AKs and a fast DD
transport) to pick off more atolls south of Tarawa. If he gives them to me free, I'll take 'em.

Solomons - I have Rabaul, and a small force on Tulagi. Since the lone cruiser he sent my way several
turns ago, I've seen no action here, either. Going to do the same thing in this area that I'm
doing in the Central Pacific - a few small amphibs pushing forward on empty bases. Until they
stop being empty.

Mid SRA - I now have Manado, Kendari (I put a few bombs into Marblehead, so Ctangus pulled the rest of
his surface assets out with no naval engagement - just the one mine hit on my CA), and Ternate.
Amphibs are already loaded and in transit for both Tarakan and Ambon - they'll be next on the
list. Mini-KB (not so mini really with Kaga and Akagi still around) are supporting these landings,
along with the BBs that started in the Home Islands.

[geofflambert]

Rabbits, Dogs and Windmills. Rabbits make me think of Alice in Wonderland, Dogs, somewhat more traditional Native Americans trying to keep warm at night, but Windmills makes me think of putt-putt. The question is, how many balls do you have, Don, in proportion to your putts? [;)]

You are moving very fast, but aside from the Philipines, do you have immediate plans to move against the Americans and Australians, and if not, do you plan to strike them particularly hard within the not very distant future? What is your view on the importance of PM and do you have a strategy to interdict the American supply lines?

[Quixote]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

The question is, how many balls do you have, Don, in proportion to your putts?

Geoff - Even in putt putt, I manage to hit one or two of them into the water. Unlike one of my real rounds, though, I hope to have enough balls to get through
this one

In answer to a few of your questions:
1. Yes, I'm moving pretty fast. I have enough CV support where I need it, Force Z is a non-issue now, and Ctangus hasn't put up much of a fight yet. Against
an opponent more determined to slow me down I might be moving more methodically, but for now I'm keeping up with the pace of ops and still not losing much.
Who knows - this may change, but for now it's working quite well.
2. No immediate plans to move against the Americans. I'm still trying to get a feel for Chuck's game. So far, even though he was handed several very low risk
opportunities to use his CVs against my shipping when he knew the KB was too far away to intercede, he didn't take them. I'm guessing that he's just parking
them out of the way and keeping them safe. If I'm wrong, I'll either take a bloody nose somewhere, or I'll get a shot at his CVs.
3. Importance of PM - I want it, but mostly only because I don't want him to have it.

Grand Strategy - I didn't address grand strategy in the opening part of the AAR for a very good reason. (Spoiler alert........ I have no grand strategy yet.)
It's been a couple of years since my last PBEMs. In my later ones (I played a couple against Rader), I conquered all of Australia in stock, and Pearl Harbor in CHS.
I had a good feel back then for what was possible, and what wasn't. With AE, this is now officially as far as I've made it in a game, including against the AI - my
comfort level is nowhere near the same as it was in WitP. I have read a number of AARs, and I don't feel completely clueless, but I don't feel quite ready to plan
a Hawaiian invasion quite yet, either. The goal in the opening phase, therefore, is to take the SRA fast, bottle up Manila fast, take Singapore as quickly as I can,
and shake off the rust. If I can pull that off without losing too much, then I'll still have enough time left while I have an advantage to do something creative. I'd
love to tell you what that is, but I don't know yet. Maybe India...I've never tried India before.

Anyway, thanks for the questions and for taking the time to read along! Who knows, I may even develop some sense of direction as I move forward

[PaxMondo]

 
Subscribed.

[Quixote]

Welcome aboard Pax I'm very used to reading your posts - not so much used to having mine read, at least since WitP. I'll try to keep things
at least quasi-interesting here...

[Quixote]

December 16, 17 and 18

Phillipines - The two Phillpino divisions cut off were eliminated, and I landed behind him again at Batangas, one hex south of Manila, in force. I doubt I
can cut anything else off before the siege starts, but if he's defending Bataan, I'm still moving to try.

[Quixote]

December 16, 17, and 18

Malaya - Started bombing Singapore to prevent fort build-up and to hopefully take out a few more torpedo bombers on the runway. On the 12/17 a few
defending fighters made it up (five, I think), and by the 18th the bombing runs went in unopposed. Whatever he built in forts in the first 10 days is all he's likely to
get, and with Singapore's port starting the game damaged, that should mean he didn't have enough time to add to the fort level here at all. The AVG is in China
and over Rangoon right now, so barring some sudden shift in strategy on Ctangus's part, Singapore is going to be unable to effectively defend against a landing at
Mersing. I've started loading the Imperial Guards, 4th Division, and whatever armor and assault engineers I could throw together, and I'll likely hit Mersing in four
or five more days. He still has enough units defending well north of Mersing to make this worthwhile, I think. I know he mined this port right from the beginning of
the game, so I've got a couple of AMc's and DMS's that will go in a day or two ahead of the transports. I may lose one or two of them if he still has a few air-worthy
Vildebeests left, but you know what they say about making an omlette....

Cent Pac - Still quiet, no signs of Allied CVs or anything else. I'm moving some minelayers to Wake to make bombardment, sub patrols, or other action by him
more costly should he try something early. If he doesn't try anything early, the mines can just sit there and still come in handy a year or two from now. Still running
one fast transport with DDs to pick up atolls going south from Tarawa - no resistance yet for this, either.

SRA - Tarakan forces have landed. I'm going to wait one turn until I take the base one hex south before attacking so I can just eliminate them instead of
having them retreat and hang around for a while. I used a couple of BBs to suppress the DC guns here - hopefully didn't do too much damage to the oil. Ambon
landing is a couple of days out, and barring anything unexpected I'll hit Balikpapan a few turns after securing Tarakan. He's countering with subs - they've hit an
AK or two - but not with either planes or warships since the aborted Kendari defense.

Lastly, while it's not a theater and I probably won't report on sub actions too often in the AAR unless they involve hitting CVs or BBs, IJN submariners had a pretty
good time on 12/16. All the hits below were from just the one day. Hopefully most of them went down.

[Quixote]

December 19, 20, and 21

Malaya - No fighter resistance left. Singers has heavy damage to both the port and the airfield. Hit the port to damage/sink the small APs and AKs Ctangus has
had there since the start of hostilities. Started damaging Johore airfield to prevent any sneaky torpedo bombers from hitting the fleet when it lands at Mersing. Not
sure they're still here, but they haven't shown up anywhere else yet, either. A large (3+ division) landing at Mersing should take place on the 22nd.

CentPac - Supplies are going ashore again at Wake, and the first round of mines has been laid. Not a peep from Allied CVs, and no CAs have come calling. I
pushed out to Tabiteuea with a fast transport. Still haven't seen any signs that Ctangus intends to resist anywhere here yet.

Solomons - Took Lae, mopped up a few unoccupied bases on the back of New Guinea, and pushed on to Ndeni in the Santa Cruz Islands. Some scouting from
Cats at Port Moresby, but nothing else yet.

SRA - Landed at both Ambon and Tarakan. Moving a bunch of support (Air HQ, AR, AS, and my lone AKE) to Kendari. This will be the forward base of ops
here for the next couple of weeks. The landing for Balikpapan is in place, and was due to go ahsore next turn. I sent a couple of AMc in to sweep mines there on
the 21rst, but after clearing a few out, they were promptly sunk by CD guns (I should have remembered this, but...) The troops will now be going ashore next door
at Samarinda. Palembang had it's Air HQ in place on 12/19, and a day later Nells and Betties sank several small AOs that were gathering at Christmas Island(IO).

Phillipines - Ctangus has been pushed back to the Clark/Bataan/Manila triangle. It looks like he's either changed his mind or he took some advice and
decided to defend Clark instead of Bataan. A couple of turns ago, he had units moving into Bataan. Now he's got them moving back out to Clark, and the unit count
is down again at Bataan. Manila, though, is down to a three unit garrison, and even they are running hell bent for Clark, so the port should be mine (though not
very useful quite yet) in a turn or two.

[Quixote]

December 22, 23, and 24



Phillipines - Manila falls on the 24th. Two more units got cut off from the main retreat to Clark, and fell back on Mauban. They'll be captured shortly. Ctangus
still has a few B17s at Clark, and for two turns in a row they've finally found ships that they can actually hit with bombs. He's had them port bombing
Takao, which I have not completely emptied yet, so a couple of AKs now have holes in them. None will sink, but they'll be the first business my repair yards will
see in the war. More clouds have made closing the airfield at Clark difficult so far. I've been trying, but have been less than successful - want to keep the fort
levels down both here and at Bataan, too, but not much luck yet. On the plus side, Ctangus will have a lot fewer supplies to try to build forts with, even if it stays
rainy for days. When Manila fell, it was captured with a little over 100K supplies which didn't get pulled to Clark, so maybe this won't be all that long a siege.

[Quixote]

December 22, 23, and 24

Cent Pac - All quiet. Haven't gone any further south than Tabitueau in the past few turns.

Solomons - I've taken a few more empty bases, and pushed south to Luganville with the small amphibs. Sank an AVD at Luganville the same
turn I landed, but otherwise quiet.

SRA - Samarinda fell, and there were landings at Makassar and Bandjermasin on the 24th. I suffered my first meaningful loss when a Dutch
sub put a torpedo into the Kaga off Balikpapan. Fortunately, Kaga didn't sustain heavy damage, but she's still headed to the yards now and will be out
of action for a while. One turn later, just to keep my adrenaline going, a Dutch sub fired a dud at Ryujo. I've upped naval search, and have multiple
ASW groups with the CVs, but he's still getting the occasional chance to shoot. Without Kaga, and with no immediate op that needs close CV cover, I'm
going to pull the carriers back for a bit and try to sink subs for a turn or three.

Malaya - Looking very good here with one exception. The Mersing landing went well - he didn't even pick it up with patrols before it hit the
beach. I'm ashore in force (enough to take Singapore with, I think), and all the mines were cleared with no accidents. The exception is large, though.
Ctangus took out six of my AKs with his pesky Vildebeests. Nothing flew on the turn I landed (when I expected it to). I meant to switch LRCAP from
Kota, but only got halfway there. I shut down the fatigued group, but failed to assign the rested group.... Lots of old, slow torpedo bombers thus
got a free shot at lots of stationary transports, and they didn't miss much. Since most of the troops were ashore already, at least all I lost were the
ships - the lesson could easily have been much more painful. Along with the AKs, CL Kiso took a single torpedo - not enough to sink her, but she'll be
out of action for a bit.

Note on the air war - Things haven't gotten much better on the lack of coordination front. I still lose 10+ bombers every second or third
turn when they fly in sans escort. The only saving grace here is that Chuck is losing fighters almost as fast as I'm losing bombers, and that I can
make up the losses at this point, where he really can't. At the rate we're going, in another week or two he won't have enough fighters left even to
carve up bombers that continue flying in on their own.

[Quixote]

December 25, 26, and 27

Cent Pac - All quiet, still no sign of rabbits (or Admiral Bonnie) here. Wake is now mined, and the initial shipping of supplies and troops in
the Kwaj area is mostly done now, so I'm transferring half the Zeroes and Nells to Rabaul. If he decides to raid here, I still have one Datai
of Betties with torps and some Zero escort to take a few shots at him, but I doubt they'll get the chance to shoot at much in the near future.

Solomons - Ctangus fights back (successfully) for the first time at sea. I've been sending smaller landing forces in all over the area, and it
was obvious that I couldn't have a covering force for every one of them, so Chuck finally sent in a SCTF to oppose one. CAs Australia and
Canberra, with several DDs, ran into Milne Bay at night, took out a PB and an AK, and were gone by morning. The troops got ashore the
previous turn, so I took very little real damage, but it's nice to know that he's not in headlong flight with every asset he has - makes things
much more fun. Progess so far - I have Luganville to the south, Woodlark and Milne at the tail of New Guinea, and a couple of small base
forces at Lae and Buna. One of the original Takao Air HQs has finished unloading at Rabaul, so I should have torps for the Datai of Nells
here shortly.

SRA - Balikpapan, Tarakan, and Makassar are captured. Kendari AF is now level 5 with an Air HQ. Going to start looking at what he has or
hasn't moved into Koepang over the next several turns. Landed at Bandjermasin to pick up an AF to sweep southern Java with.

Phillipines - Concentrating at Clark, and resting a turn or two before the first deliberate attack. It looks like I outnumber him almost 2-1 in
AV, so I'll try to push things a bit instead of just waiting for him to starve. I'd love to get this out of they way sooner rather than later, but
we'll see how it goes...

Malaya - Peninsula is cut, and I'll be attacking Johore Bahru next turn. Everyone left down there is fleeing to Singapore, so I may end up
attacking an empty base. Those who didn't make it that far are starting to be rounded up - see Alor Star below. Should be at another four or
five Allied units caught between the hammer up north and the anvil at Johore who won't last long.

Burma - Working my way up the west coast with a couple of smaller units (armor and cavalry), but nothing more interesting than a few
fighter sweeps of Rangoon so far. No major forces committed here yet - going to have to wait for the fall of Singapore until I ship them in.

China - Haven't talked about this at all yet, but nothing very unpredictable has happened. I got kicked out of Ichang (no surprise), but
otherwise we've both just been moving troops into position. I think I won the initial postioning in northern China, where we just had our
first major land battle of the war. We'll see what, if anything, I can manage to do to exploit it.