CLOSED The old world vs the new: Cannonfodder (Allies) vs Quixote (Japan)

[KenchiSulla]

15-jan-1942
16-jan-1942

Noumea fell and I had some convoys running close by. Decided to detach two dutch destroyers from a tanker run and scare away the old Japanese destroyers (to prevent them from intercepting the detected convoy) supporting the Nav. guard that took Noumea.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Isle of Pines at 115,161, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yayoi, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Mochizuki, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 2

The little dutch ships did well sinking Mochizuki.

India

Diego Garcia fell.

33rd infantry division and 14th army land at Port Blair. Thats now 4 Infantry divisions and 3 tank regiments in the theater. More probably on the way.

Karachi/Bombay seems to be clear for now so I am trying to move in some reinforcements. Around 20 Catalina's operate in the area so I should get enough warning to turn the ships around if need be.

Indomitable arrives at Aden!

Java

More Japanese troops land. B10s make a fruitless attack, losing many to the A6M (11 planes) CAP. Most of the remaining torpedo bombers are shot down as well. Survivors now withdrawn.

Pacific / South Pacific / Australia

Fiji and Australia are being resupplied and reinforced as much as possible. 2nd Recce is destroyed by the 8th tank regiment at Daly Waters (expected it to retreat to be honest...) About 240 AV including tanks moving into position to keep the IJA at bay..

Marblehead, supported by a bunch of Clemson class destroyers spotted a taskforce of the NW point of Australia and hope to make contact tommorow.

A mixed cruiser force is moving in to bombard Noumea tommorow. I might be able to weaken the Japanese marines sufficiently to retake Noumea if Quixote keeps his focus on India.

Update of surface warships lost

[KenchiSulla]

17-jan-1942

China

Don't want to talk about it (1000 armoured vehicles NW of Sian....).

NW Australia

In a series of engagements the Marblehead force sinks one seaplane tender, one old destroyer and a modern destroyer. It's never to early to start attritting the IJN. It also tells me that Quixote will keep pickets around to prevent suprise and damage to his important convoys. I'll have to take this into consideration..

Night Time Surface Combat, near Exmouth at 48,124, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Suzukaze
DD Yanagi
AV Kamikawa Maru, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead
DD Alden
DD Barker
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Paul Jones
DD Parrott, Shell hits 1
DD Whipple
DD Stewart

Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 0% moonlight: 8,000 yards

Day Time Surface Combat, near Exmouth at 48,123, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yanagi, Shell hits 1
AV Kamikawa Maru, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 1
DD Alden, Shell hits 1
DD Barker, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 1
DD Parrott, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Whipple
DD Stewart

Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards

Day Time Surface Combat, near Exmouth at 49,122, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yanagi, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
AV Kamikawa Maru, Shell hits 10, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead
DD Alden
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Paul Jones, on fire
DD Whipple
DD Stewart

Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards

Noumea

Allied cruisers bombard Noumea and leave the port and airbase in ruins.. Also the local industry/resource production facility is hit.

Night Naval bombardment of Noumea at 115,160

Allied Ships
CA Australia
CA Pensacola
CA Louisville
CL Perth
CL Achilles
CL Leander
DD Le Triomphant

Light Industry hits 2
Resources hits 6
Airbase hits 22
Airbase supply hits 15
Runway hits 69
Port hits 43
Port supply hits 14

CA Australia firing at Noumea
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Pensacola
CA Pensacola firing at Noumea
CA Louisville firing at Noumea
CL Perth firing at Noumea
CL Achilles firing at Noumea
CL Leander firing at Noumea
DD Le Triomphant firing at Noumea

India

No sign of carriers of the coast of Karachi so haven't turned around the convoys yet.. Patrol plane coverage is decent so going to risk it if it stays clear. India needs the reinforcements...

[KenchiSulla]

18-jan-1942

India
Port Blair falls (see attachment). That was a quick way to lose another brigade...

Half of KB is spotted moving away from Ceylon to the SE (direction Port Blair). Wonder what it means (if anything)..

The other half is still MIA. As it has sweeped all the way from the NW tip of Australia to Karachi it might be that it is low on sorties and moving out to replenish. We'll find out soon as supplies and armour is moving into Karachi in a day or two and we spotted submarines outside the harbour looking for movement..

[KenchiSulla]

Looking at the trend of the game: Quixote might be going for a victory point win. A couple of his actions so far point in that direction.

- Massive concentration of tanks in China
- Destroying of Chinese Corps (100s of VPs) and maybe 1000s more if they keep popping up in Chungking
- Absolute destruction of every little ship trying to get out of the combat zone in december

The way things are going it is very much achievable.

Has it ever been done? As far as I know the conditions are:

4:1 for a 1943 win
3:1 for a 1944 win
2:1 for a 1945 win

If he takes the areas he has a fair chance of taking (looking at the current map situation, large parts of India, Philippines, China) allies will have 4000 VPs + whatever can be destroyed getting to 1943.

This means the Japanese just need 16000 (which they get from the bases conquered on top of what the score is now) + (4 x whatever is destroyed getting to 1943).

[KenchiSulla]

19-jan-1942

India

Half KB is now spotted near Port Blair. Perhaps Quixote is worried that I might try to attack the transports reloading 33rd Div and 14th Army. I do not see another reason to move the carriers that way.

Other half KB is spotted of the coast of India (Sinking local minesweepers still active) about 28 hexes from Karachi. It could sprint into position to strike what I have coming in so decided to be a bit careful. Actions:

- Moving an Air HQ that was at Madras (in strategic mode) to Karachi
- One Hurricane IIB squadron now unloading at Karachi
- One Hurricane IIB squadron enroute by rail from Calcutta
- Three more Hurricane IIA/B squadrons en route (4 days out) from Aden. I should be able to sneak these in.

Thats 80 fighters + about 30 in the pool (IIA/B mixed). All should be active in about a week.

- AVG squadron with a strength of a dozen H81 fighters already active at Karachi

As soon as the port expands I'll try to upgrade the airfield a bit more. I have got plenty of AV (130) but it is a small base (3).

With almost a hundred fighters at Karachi I'll start moving in troops. Any attack on ships will have to come from carriers and this will give me a chance to shoot down large numbers, especially if KB keeps operating in two groups.

I am worried about the ability of the Japanese to land troops fast. Bombay could be taken by amphibious assault at this stage. 6th Australian division is prepping for Bombay and I am going to rail in 19th Indian + put 18th Brit in strategic mode to enable them to reinforce Bombay if need be.

[KenchiSulla]

20-jan-1942
21-jan-1942

Philippines
Manila falls to a deliberate attack of 16 and 21 infantry divisions.. Happy to see this as this force is not strong enough to take Luzon, but it is 875 AV less elsewhere..

Ground combat at Manila (79,77)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25325 troops, 246 guns, 98 vehicles, Assault Value = 876

Defending force 7473 troops, 72 guns, 150 vehicles, Assault Value = 134

Japanese adjusted assault: 602

Allied adjusted defense: 51

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
147 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2192 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 201 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 38 (34 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 140 (132 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
21st Division
16th Division
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st PA Infantry Division
Cavite USN Base Force
Manila USAAF Base Force

India

A lone tank regiment lands at and takes Goa, 300 miles SW of Bombay..

Amphibious Assault at Goa (32,29)

TF 116 troops unloading over beach at Goa, 32,29

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

Type 97 Medium Tank lost from landing craft during unload of 6th Tank Rgt /8

That seems to be it for now. Not sure what to make of it. It is a level 4 port and he could build up the airfield and supress Bombay from there..

1st Burmese division is now also marching towards India. Whatever the eventual plan, this is the main theater of operations and I am seriously considering moving out my carriers as soon as they are all united.

[KenchiSulla]

22-29-jan-1942

We managed to progress nicely so the AAR was left for a bit. Part reason for this was me being a bit indecisive on how to handle the current (fairly critical) situation.

India

Goa fell and the tank regiment is for now out of sight, perhaps rolling towards the other side of the Peninsula. Blenheims IV harrassed Goa for a bit before taking losses from flown in A6M2s (only half a dozen).

Colombo has emptied (5 ships reported in port) and ships moving on Goa. What I can make from this is an amphibious landing aimed at taking Bombay OR minor reinforcements to build up Goa and siege Bombay.

Bombay and Karachi are vitally important to the Brits and Indian forces. A lot of reinforcements have not arrived yet but will in the coming three months.. To prevent early capture I decided to strip forces from the border (Burma) and Calcutta area. In a few days we should have 1500 AV behind level 3 (45% to level 4) forts in Bombay. An armoured brigade and the last Australian brigade of 6th division will arrive in about a week in Karachi, adding another 250 AV to the area.

This means that if Quixote wants to he'll be able to take South Eastern India and Burma easily, with just a couple of hundred AV at Calcutta. If he does I'll have to push him hard in the area to deny him the victory points coming 1943 (Autovictory).

Forced to choose between either defending Calcutta and Bombay I choose Bombay as it is closer to Karachi... Calcutta, although worth more points, is very hard to defend (remember, it is freaking january)

To quote General Lee in the movie Gettysburg "I do not see a useful alternative..."

Karachi is protected by the RAF and AVG (one squadron on the way to upgrade to P40E in Bombay, two others with H81s bought out from China and in reserve). Without land based fighter support the Japanese navy would pay dearly for trying to sink ships at Karachi...



Ofcourse, if taking Ceylon and threatening India is just a big ruse Cannonfodder will look very silly. On the other hand, the allies continue to reinforce Australia with all the might of the US..

Pacific

Suva continues to expand and fortify. An RO type sub is sunk by depthcharges/mines..

Northpac

Umnak is being build up (airbase).. A few xAKs are sunk unloading supplies. Nothing major, nothing the allies can't replace...

Australia

An additional Australian division reinforces Perth, making it a tough nut to crack...

Philippines

1500 AV laying siege to Clark.. This makes me happy (1500 AV there is 1500 AV not in the critical area of the map destroying relevant units..)

Java
500 AV moving on Soerabaja (being emptied, reinforcing the west of the Island to bind forces)

Japanese divisions (not restricted)
last known position, *marks current information (less than a week old)

Ceylon
Infantry
48th division*
5th division*
2nd division*
Armour
1st tank regiment*
4th tank regiment*
7th tank regiment*
HQ
25th army*

Port Blair
Infantry
33rd division
HQ
14th army

Philippines
38th division*
16th division*
21st division*
5th(?) Amphibious brigade (scenario 2 unit)*

Sumatra
144th infantry regiment*
Guards infantry batallion*

Burma
infantry regiment*
tank regiment*

Java
56th division*
124th regiment*
2x Navguards*
Armour
2nd tank regiment*
HQ
16th army*

India
Armour
6th tank regiment*

About 800 political points mainly spend on tank regiments (China), saving up for a division?

UNSPOTTED
Imperial Guards.... a full division not spotted

China

Will update when I feel like it.. For now, Chungking is cut from its fuel source by 1000 IJA tanks rolling through the mountains... A bit silly if you ask me, but the game allows it and there is no houserule preventing it...

[KenchiSulla]

India MAP

[KenchiSulla]

Bombay it is? It IS the only objective that makes sense at the moment. Perhaps he hopes to destroy a couple of good units taking advantage of the allied weakness in early 1942.

Allies should be able to take the forts up to level 4 in heavy urban.. Defenders would include:

18th British Infantry
6th Australian Infantry
17th Indian
7th Armoured tank brigade

20th Indian (understrength)
7th Indian (understrength)
19th Indian (understrength)

Assorted small armoured units.. (understrength)

1800+ AV

More reinforcements on the way
1st Burma division (walking the jungle)
75th Indian Brigade
84th Indian Brigade
7th Australian (2 weeks)
70th Brit (2 months)

US forces if its on...

Without Bombay Quixote shouldn't be able to lock down the Karachi area and building up other bases would take a lot of time...

Japanese
4-5 Infantry divisions, supported by a level 4 port (Goa)
3-4 Armoured regiments

2500 AV.. That would be without flank security...

A lot of infantry stuck on Java and on the Philippines for now...

[KenchiSulla]

30-jan-1942
31-jan-1942

Calcutta is the target for now.. A large army lands at Diamond harbour, supported by most of the combined fleet.

Ground combat at Diamond Harbour (52,38)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2930 troops, 61 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 12

Defending force 100964 troops, 941 guns, 675 vehicles, Assault Value = 3125

Allied ground losses:
151 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Diamond Harbour Fortress
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
1st Bengal Construction Battalion

Defending units:
18th Division
4th Division
33rd Division
2nd Division
48th Division
5th Division
Imperial Guards Division
7th Tank Regiment
Southern Army
25th Army
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Army
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

We now have the location of most of the current available infantry.. The two indian brigades in Calcutta are pulling out. No use to defend with 200 AV vs 3100, even in a fortified heavy urban area.

Concentrating forces in Bombay for now.. It will take Quixote a bit of time to secure the area. Wonder how far he will go..

Calcutta was my Original defense anchor. Glad I didn't leave the 18th infantry in Diamond harbour. It would have been pulverized. The early fall of Singapore really gives the IJA a free hand.

However, he is now very weak in the pacific. With my supply lines into India secure for now (fighter stronghold in Karachi, enough to hold back KB if need be) I am planning to take advantage of the situation. Americal and a tank battalion prepping for Noumea.

[zuluhour]

It's a question of whether or not he decides to trigger the emergency reserves, IMHO.

[Cpt Sherwood]

A note or two here.

I would move everything in India and/or Burma North. He is either content with everything South of Dehli, or he crosses the reserve trigger line. Most of the units arrive in Aden and can be moved to Karachi. If he crosses the line and continues, you should fort up in Karachi and Bombay with the intent of holding them. If he doesn't, build up your forces and push him back in the second half of 1942. It it very early in the game and you still have time.

As far as the auto victory points, remember that in 4 - 5 months you will start getting lots of SeaBees. Every airfield you improve by 1 means he has to improve 4 airfields by one. Same with ports. Note that the victory points are biased towards airfields. As long as you keep it close, you can build your way our of auto victory in the second half of 1942.

I would not contest the Northern part of Australia too much. Wait until he moves further South and is at the end of his supply train. Again, retreating until he crosses the reserve forces line can actually give you more troops to use in India.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Cpt Sherwood

As far as the auto victory points, remember that in 4 - 5 months you will start getting lots of SeaBees. Every airfield you improve by 1 means he has to improve 4 airfields by one. Same with ports. Note that the victory points are biased towards airfields. As long as you keep it close, you can build your way our of auto victory in the second half of 1942.

Building up every last possible site that has engineers present and sufficient supply to sustain the effort should be a basic game approach of every Allied player. Every base in CONUS and Canada with a base force and engineers present should be upgrading. Every off board port should be upgrading. etc.....

[KenchiSulla]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

It's a question of whether or not he decides to trigger the emergency reserves, IMHO.

Hard to say... I would only risk it after taking Bombay first or at least having air superiority to prevent movement from Aden.

I have a lot of shipping at Aden standing by and am moving in fuel and supplies in case he does move in and triggers the reinforcements. Its just a small week to move in the troops if you have sufficient ships ready and ships are under air cover in Karachi after entering the map!

[KenchiSulla]

ORIGINAL: Cpt Sherwood

A note or two here.

I would move everything in India and/or Burma North. He is either content with everything South of Dehli, or he crosses the reserve trigger line. Most of the units arrive in Aden and can be moved to Karachi. If he crosses the line and continues, you should fort up in Karachi and Bombay with the intent of holding them. If he doesn't, build up your forces and push him back in the second half of 1942. It it very early in the game and you still have time.

As far as the auto victory points, remember that in 4 - 5 months you will start getting lots of SeaBees. Every airfield you improve by 1 means he has to improve 4 airfields by one. Same with ports. Note that the victory points are biased towards airfields. As long as you keep it close, you can build your way our of auto victory in the second half of 1942.

I would not contest the Northern part of Australia too much. Wait until he moves further South and is at the end of his supply train. Again, retreating until he crosses the reserve forces line can actually give you more troops to use in India.

Attacking India is interesting, possibly rewarding but also very risky. I am emptying the south and southeast of India and am only going to defend Bombay and Karachi seriously. Not many (trained) troops available and without stacking limits the IJA can really "blob" anything it meets...

I only started looking into the victory point issue once he started to destroy Chinese Corps and moving on India. Up till now I've been building forts in many areas but with him now committed to India I am switching to building airfields/ports mostly because I am worried about a VP win. Thanks for the tip on the airfields, I am still a bit puzzled about how the VP system works...

[KenchiSulla]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
Building up every last possible site that has engineers present and sufficient supply to sustain the effort should be a basic game approach of every Allied player. Every base in CONUS and Canada with a base force and engineers present should be upgrading. Every off board port should be upgrading. etc.....

Yeah, working on that now.. Thanks!

[KenchiSulla]

1-feb-1942
2-feb-1942

India

Diamond harbour ofcourse falls. Paratroopers land at Jamshedpur (falls) and Howrah (defended by retreating pre world war I armour..). Emptying Calcutta and the brigades should destroy the raiding regiment dropped in there as it is isolated.

Submarines moved to interdict supply convoys to Diamond/Calcutta. Calcutta does not have much supply left in it so Quixote will need to start moving in convoys...

South Pacific

A bit of good news. A Kagero class destroyer, running in troops into Koumac is sunk by S-18


ASW attack near Koumac at 113,156

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-18

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

SS S-18 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Yukikaze
S-18 bottoming out ....
Sub escapes detection
Submarine attack near Koumac at 113,156

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-18

DD Yukikaze is sighted by SS S-18
SS S-18 launches 4 torpedoes

A pair of US destroyers, detached from a convoy resupplying Suva ravage ships resupplying Luganville. All are sunk..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Luganville at 120,150, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Tacoma Maru, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Ronsan Maru, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Syozui Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Sensan Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Taikei Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAK Tomitu Maru, Shell hits 32, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tyuwa Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Kinsyo Maru #2, Shell hits 21, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Cummings, Shell hits 1
DD Case

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Improved night sighting under 96% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 96% moonlight: 12,000 yards

[Disco Duck]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder


Game rules:
Max. alt for sweeps/caps best man. band + 1
No 4e naval bombing below 10k
Sensible use of paratroopers
Pay full PP for units to cross national borders
No strategic bombing from or into China
Picket ships allowed if of the military type

Cannonfodder,
How are you handling PP's for units on convoys, like the 53rd British Brigade, TF 422, 45th Indian Bde? TF 423 and 48th Gurkha on TF 428 at game start. They are not under India command but it looks like they end up in India or Ceylon.

The same question for the units under Burma command since they will have to retreat to India.

So far I am only playing the AI but I am trying to play using the most common house rules and these examples are the ones the make me the most confused.

[&:]

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Disco Duck

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder


Game rules:
Max. alt for sweeps/caps best man. band + 1
No 4e naval bombing below 10k
Sensible use of paratroopers
Pay full PP for units to cross national borders
No strategic bombing from or into China
Picket ships allowed if of the military type

Cannonfodder,
How are you handling PP's for units on convoys, like the 53rd British Brigade, TF 422, 45th Indian Bde? TF 423 and 48th Gurkha on TF 428 at game start. They are not under India command but it looks like they end up in India or Ceylon.

The same question for the units under Burma command since they will have to retreat to India.

So far I am only playing the AI but I am trying to play using the most common house rules and these examples are the ones the make me the most confused.

[&:]

I would imagine that HR is applied to units under restricted commands.

The troops on convoy at start have unrestricted commands.

[KenchiSulla]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: Disco Duck

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder


Game rules:
Max. alt for sweeps/caps best man. band + 1
No 4e naval bombing below 10k
Sensible use of paratroopers
Pay full PP for units to cross national borders
No strategic bombing from or into China
Picket ships allowed if of the military type

Cannonfodder,
How are you handling PP's for units on convoys, like the 53rd British Brigade, TF 422, 45th Indian Bde? TF 423 and 48th Gurkha on TF 428 at game start. They are not under India command but it looks like they end up in India or Ceylon.

The same question for the units under Burma command since they will have to retreat to India.

So far I am only playing the AI but I am trying to play using the most common house rules and these examples are the ones the make me the most confused.

[&:]

I would imagine that HR is applied to units under restricted commands.

The troops on convoy at start have unrestricted commands.

Correct, and troops under Burma command are also not restricted.