Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy(A) vs KenchiSulla (J)

[Mundy]

2 Jan 1942

Mostly more of the same.

Nagato and Mutsu visited Port Moresby with a bombardment. Some damage and casualties, but I'll survive. I don't know if this heralds anything soon or not, If something's on the way, I'll have a surprise for him.

More islands in Northern Java Sea, Mindanao, and North Borneo fall.

I beat up his sub at Dutch Harbor, causing it to surface and hitting it with a Ma Duce before it got away. I think it will be lucky to make it back. That should spell relief up there for awhile.

Ed-

[Mundy]

Forgot to mention...

Moulmein fell a day or so ago. The tank regiment was just a precursor of the rest. A goodly sized stack came in and on the 2nd day, it fell. I'll build back up at Pegu. I think that's a river crossing, so he may pay a bit on entering the hex. I want the Burma Division reunited by then.

I had discovered an unknown convoy near northern Sumatra carrying a bunch of UK troops bound for Singapore. I wish I had noticed them earlier. They're going to Colombo for now. I may re-task them to Madras. The convoy has ships too big for Rangoon. I'm in a quandary about putting them in India/Burma or keeping them against a move on Ceylon. Cannon's pretty much left my Burma convoys alone thus far. Burma's up to about 22,000 supply right now, and I hope to double that within a week. I've also been trying to bring Burmese fuel back to Calcutta.

I'll edit this later with the combat results on Moulmein, since I'm at work. (where I do most of my cerebral WITP thinking.) I think I feel obligated to rush a daily report here, so I occasionally miss something.

Ed-

[EDIT] Here it is, in case anybody cares...

Ground combat at Moulmein (55,55)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 19950 troops, 179 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 644

Defending force 11609 troops, 62 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 248

Japanese adjusted assault: 341

Allied adjusted defense: 145

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Moulmein !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2065 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 92 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled

Allied ground losses:
5194 casualties reported
Squads: 117 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 200 destroyed, 36 disabled
Engineers: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 52 (49 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 13
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards Division
55th Cavalry Regiment
112th Infantry Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
55th Engineer Regiment
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
4/8th Gurkha Battalion
4/14th Punjab Battalion
1st Burma Brigade
2nd Burma Brigade
Railway BAF Battalion
4th Burma Rifles Battalion
3rd Burma Rifles Battalion
9/11th Sikh Battalion
2nd King Own YLI Battalion
27th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
107th RAF Base Force
108th RAF Base Force
11th Burma Rifles Battalion

[Mundy]

04 January 1942

Kiuchuan falls in the north of China. Lots of armour involved in this and in other battles in China.

A large Chinese force is also driven out of Sinyang.

Digos, Salamaua and Toboali also fall.

Antiship strikes are now hitting Rangoon. Nells with heavy escort. They aren't carrying torpedoes, so are bombing from 11,000 ft. One xAK takes a hit and an HDML is splattered across the harbor. I wish I could get enough support there to put the entire AVG in.

Cannon's been pounding the airfields at Manila and Clark constantly. I don't know if he realizes that the USAAF bugged out long ago. It will be his mess to clean up.

His SAG killed a single xAKL between Moresby and Oz. SARA and ENT are nearly in range, so I'll let him have it. Zuiho appears to have departed, as I haven't seen her for a couple days, despite blanketing the north with search planes.

Indomitable's due to show within the next week or so. I have no clue what to do with her. In the past, I've had her rendezvous with the USN CVs at the east coast of Australia, but I don't think I want to strip the RN away right now. It's a good long sailing time to get her there, and aside from soaking up bombs from her betters, I don't think she'd contribute much. I suppose I could patrol the safe waters of the Indian Ocean looking for surface raiders. I still have Hermes there for extra torpedo attacks. Royal Navy carriers were not designed with power projection in mind.

Ed-

[Mundy]

6 Jan 1942

Another quiet-ish turn (2 actually)

His surface group(s) near Port Moresby skedaddled up towards Rabaul right before my carriers arrived. I don't think I've been noticed yet. my VS squadrons have spotted subs around PM -- looks like 3 or so. Hopefully, he'll assume they're being spotted by A-24s, as he knows they're in-country.

Landings at Ambon. I don't think he brought enough in the first wave. I may just stir things up a bit up there (briefly) and egress.

My Dutch fighters are getting worn down badly. I'll probably start withdrawing, if I can. I have enough transports at Soerbaja for one good lift out of there with LCUs, so I'll start getting that ready. I'll use multiple TFs also loading fuel, to disperse any naval air strikes. The HDMLs should also soak off a few.

I can't wait until the SRA/Philippines are wrapped up. Then I can concentrate on winning the war. [:'(]

I'm packing up the Aussie 2nd Infantry Division to railroad them to Cloncurry. From there they'll hoof it West and North to Darwin. I probably have time, and if he tries to take Darwin on the cheap, I'll make it painful. My assumption (not good to do) is that he'll wrap up Java first. I'll keep my USN CVs within a few days reach, so I can hit them at extreme range from the east. If one or more divisions of KB support a move there, I would guess they'd hang out to the north, giving me a little safe room. It would be a one shot deal, unless he used one division to support. I don't want to push the Oz divisions too hard until the militia squads get upgraded.

Ed-

[Mundy]

07 January 1942

I'm pulling LEX and ENT out of the Arafura Sea at flank speed. I-4 got a shot at Enterprise, which luckily missed. Talbot landed some minor damaging near misses, but that's about it. I never really noticed how restricted that passage is with the way the reefs are laid out. The up is jigged, and Cannon knows I'm in the region. The other two carriers will rendezvous within a couple weeks or so. Sara's almost to Brisbane, and York is near Xmas Is. The pair will need a little yard time anyway. I'm obsessive with always sending ships out with zero damage.

Ambon's been delivering the good news to the invasion ships landing supplies. An xAK and an xAP each received a hit. both are on fire. In terms of raw assault points, I think he's just short of a 2-1 ratio. I'll "upgrade" the leadership to make things more painful.

The usual fighting and losing in China. His ground attacks have been bad today. One netted 200+ casualties. I figure all those Chinese troops are huddled together in an open field all wearing blaze orange.

I'll have to decide the course of action with my CVs. A "Rings around Rabaul" mission might be tempting, but I think I'll favor a "fleet in being" for now.

I think I can haul a battalion of Dutch troops out of Soerbaja. Of to PM with them. I remembered that the first Oz Corp is within the structure of Oz command. That'll be a discount PP cost to ship things over. I'm going to pack as many Bofors units into Moresby as humanly possible. They'll shred dive bombers if he goes that route.

Ed-

[BBfanboy]

Adm. Spruance (the forumite one) raided Rabaul in Feb 1942 and bagged a lot of ships, including BB Mutsu. It can be done ...

[Mundy]

I'm sure it could.

Keep in mind, nobody's gotten their AA upgrades yet, and I still have F2As on board. Losses may be more than I care for right now. I do see CVL(s) hanging around there within a hex or so.

Maybe when I have all four together, split into two divisions. The two Mutsus are probably residing there, so there is merit to the idea.

I'm surprised "Rings Around Rabaul" didn't ring a few bells. I think that was the short starter scenario in the old Avalon Hill Flat Top game. When UV came along, the old boardgame instantly became obsolete.

A couple of side points. Cannonfodder has been terrific to play against. We seem to have a very similar attitude about playing the game. Our side chats while getting to know each other has been very enjoyable.

Speaking of UV, I'm glad to see Wobbly and Herbieh (now under different names) are still around. I followed their UV AARs against each other religiously back in the day and was always entertained.

Ed-

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Mundy





I'm surprised "Rings Around Rabaul" didn't ring a few bells. I think that was the short starter scenario in the old Avalon Hill Flat Top game. When UV came along, the old boardgame instantly became obsolete.


Ed-

Ohh the good 'ole days. Flat Top is currently stacked in a closet with all the other flat box board games like War at Sea and Victory in the Pacific.

[Mundy]

As a teenager, I never has a place I could leave it set up. That mounted map was probably the biggest in all my games.

Not enough rooms in the house with a table, plus kitty issues.

I think the game itself was alright, with the rules being fairly common-sense. Relying on the mapsheet slowed things down.

Mine's packed in a plastic bin in the basement...

Ed-

[HansBolter]

I conquered the kitty issue and being able to leave games set up.

I designed a wargame storage cabinet with removable shelves that slid in and out on side ledger boards.

The shelves were 2'x3' and you could use multiple shelves for game boards or maps larger than that.

On game night pull em out and deploy em on the table. When the nights over they go back into the cabinet.

It worked for all but mega-games line The Longest Day and the Europa series. Those had a huge plywood table on sawhorses in a dedicated spare bedroom where cats were verboten.

[Mundy]

8 January 1943

My carriers in the Darwin area slipped out unseen to the East. Hopefully he'll think they're still in the region. Unless I have to run a Glen gauntlet near Brisbane.

A cruiser bombardment visited Pegu, roughing things up a bit. Over 800 casualties.

Dutch sub O16 got a shot at Hosho near Japan proper. Of course, having the good torpedoes, they miss. If she's heading south, there'll be a gauntlet to run. O16 is northernmost near the coast.

Nells decide to hit Rangoon's airfield. Nothing's there right now. Likewise, they're hitting shipping at Soerbaja. Fortunately, I have decoy shipping there, so the troops I was loading should get out.

Ed-

[Mundy]

9 January 1942

Odd stuff this turn.

The evening starts off with this:

Naval Gun Fire at Bataan - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

34 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DD Hatakaze, Shell hits 5, Mine hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 4, Mine hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
TB Kamo, Shell hits 5, Mine hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TB Kiji, Shell hits 4, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Manila Bay Defenses firing at DD Hatakaze
DD Hatakaze firing at Manila Bay Defenses
DD Harukaze firing at Manila Bay Defenses
Manila Bay Defenses firing at DD Harukaze
Manila Bay Defenses firing at TB Kamo
TB Kamo firing at Manila Bay Defenses
Manila Bay Defenses firing at TB Kiji


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 202 encounters mine field at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Ships
DD Harukaze, Mine hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TB Kamo, Mine hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TB Kiji, Mine hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hatakaze, Mine hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

I don't know if they got away from him or what. The Corregidor gunners have very sharp eyes. Ft Drum probably contributed. In addition to clearing the minefield out the hard way, they were soaking 12" hits regularly. I'm surprised they weren't getting sunk outright.

On the other side of the coin, Cannon caught a large xAK(L) convoy roughly 8 - 10 hexes SSE of Soerbaja with a cruiser force. Not good. Probably 20 ships or so escorted by a lonely CM. I had pretty much written them off at the start, but by now, I figured they were out. my xAPs with most of the 1st KNIL Rgt aren't too far from there, but may get out.

Enterprise just got missed by a sub again, This time just off the southern New Guinea coast a few hexes east of Port Moresby. He know they're out now. Last turn, he was unloading troops at Salamaua, and I thought I'd try and catch them. Off to Brisbane at top speed. I'll probably have to divert to Sydney, as most of the ships have sys > 10 and engine damage in the 5-6 range. I've pushed them a bit hard, and they'll probably need a couple weeks of yard time. Convoys to PM should be fun with at least 3 subs lurking there.

His Nells harassing Rangoon have found their torpedoes and smacked a convoy a couple hexes away. The supply runs will probably slow down until I can get more fighters in-theatre. Tigers are probably understrength about 20%.

I attacked an IJN sub a hex off San Fran. I have 3 overlapping ASW TFs with YPs and PGs. One of the latter got some shots off. I'm eager awaiting my PC-461s to arrive.

Other than that, he's busy cleaning up all the various scattered island bases in DEI and PI.

[Capt. Harlock]

I'm surprised they weren't getting sunk outright.

Same here. Torpedo boats especially should not be good for more than one mine hit.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

I'm surprised they weren't getting sunk outright.

Same here. Torpedo boats especially should not be good for more than one mine hit.

Damage from mine hits is not applied until the end of the turn. I have had IJ ships and subs hit as many as nine mines without sinking
immediately. This is really annoying when they are more effective than minesweepers doing it the official way!

[Mundy]

Cannonfodder never expected this encounter. He speculates they reacted to some real or imaginary sighting.

10 January 1942

On an otherwise, quiet turn, except for the usual bombing of Clark, Manila, Batavia and the Chinese, Pegu falls on the first turn.

There were only a few more battalions in Rangoon, so Rangoon is hosed. The only question now, is do I make him fight for it, or do I try to get a head start on pulling them to Mandalay?

Either way, I want to get Akyab developed. I won't gut Chittagong to do it, though. I may send Hermes and CAs to Calcutta. In the past, Chittagong has been a bombardment magnet for me. In my last PBEM, my opponent made zero moves towards Burma, and I think that experience has tainted my thinking a bit.

In other news, I got this in the mail, finally. It got delayed, since the store staff was all at the IPMS nats. I've always been infatuated with this ship. I was tempted to spend the dough for the Hasegawa Akagi. This will be my first Japanese ship. What's nice is no boot topping to paint. I think a good guess for color is Kure gray. I do have paints for two other yards.

Ed-

[BBfanboy]

I have the Chikuma model - got it back in the 1970s or 1980s - one of my first Japanese ships in 1/700 scale. The box
art was one of the things that attracted me to this ship model. It also received a great review in Scale Modeller mag.
Tamiya sells the little cans of paint that have the correct colours for the ship, per the instructions colour scheme.

[Mundy]

This is Tamiya's 1/350, ship, which only came out a few years ago. I did buy aftermarket weapons for it (knee-jerk habit), but I may wind up using the 25mm guns in the kit. They look that good. I'll use brass barrels for the 8 inchers. I'm not sure about the 5" AAs yet. I have Veteran's outstanding ones, so I'll have to compare. I also got Eduard's complete photoetch, so I'm pretty set.

Testor's Model Master lines has been coming out with naval colors again. They have three different IJN grays, depending on shipyard. I did get Tamiya's linoleum in the spray can. I'm not sure how I'm going to mask the gray strips around the linoleum yet. I'll go to White Ensign, if I need a good match that isn't available otherwise, but MM paints will do.

I needed something between my usual DD/DEs and the carriers waiting in line. The Academy Indianapolis as well as Trumpeter's 1/350 San Francisco are also on the short list to get. Veteran makes a beautiful 5"/25 mount, but they're always sold out. A Houston would be great, since I want to paint it in its Cavite Blue scheme.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

I'm surprised they weren't getting sunk outright.

Same here. Torpedo boats especially should not be good for more than one mine hit.

Damage from mine hits is not applied until the end of the turn. I have had IJ ships and subs hit as many as nine mines without sinking
immediately. This is really annoying when they are more effective than minesweepers doing it the official way!

That really surprises me - has a developer confirmed that? Some mines have less "effect" than others, and the variability built into the game is a lot more likely explanation that there being a way of treating damage from mines different from the way all other damage is treated.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock



Same here. Torpedo boats especially should not be good for more than one mine hit.

Damage from mine hits is not applied until the end of the turn. I have had IJ ships and subs hit as many as nine mines without sinking
immediately. This is really annoying when they are more effective than minesweepers doing it the official way!

That really surprises me - has a developer confirmed that? Some mines have less "effect" than others, and the variability built into the game is a lot more likely explanation that there being a way of treating damage from mines different from the way all other damage is treated.

Right. Just as torpedo damage from a sub attack - even 4 hits on a DD - does not cause immediate sinking during that combat event, mine and shore battery fire racks up the damage but does not cause sinking until later in the round. Can't
remember if it is after each naval movement phase or after both naval phases are over. If an air attack or naval battle occurs involving the mine-struck ship before the end of phase, it will usually sink before it actually gets any further hits since these combats have
periodic checks to see if anything should sink.
Re: mine effectiveness - it is obviously set low since an IJN I-boat can take three mark 6 mines and not sink. Four or more will finally get the job done.
PS - since I was sandboxing to see what would happen, I ordered the IJN ships into Singapore and Bataan hexes at game start with settings of Remain on Station and Absolute tolerance. This is using stock Scenario 1 and the last official patch. I am not sure if
Michael's Beta patch addressed any of this.

[Mundy]

I'll be quiet the next few days.

The wife and I are taking a three day trip to Superior WI where we met for our anniversary. Cannonfodder's hanging out with his friends over the weekend, so we'll be on hold for a few days.

Ed