Bottlenecks in the Pacific PBEM AAR vs Jansako (J)

[Axe1999]

China and patrols in South China Sea and around Home Islands. All of those dot bases in this mod have garrison requirements so Im not expecting any crazy overextension of my opponent in China.

[huda0816]

Your opponent did not advance very far in Malaya yet. Is this because of the mod?

[Axe1999]

Im not completely sure where is the holdup in Malaya, could be the mod, as it slows down unloading speed and available supply, so he could be waiting to stock some supply before advancing... Every day those troops are in Malaya is a day to fortify Burma and India

[Axe1999]

Dec 26 1941 SITREP

Life was busy lately so didnt have time to update AAR. Game is on Dec 30, hopefully I'll catch up later tonight.

CBI Theater

• Some shipping arriving at Abadan and Aden.
• Heavy AA Rgt on the move from Africa towards Colombo, Light AA Rgt to Chittagong.
• Looks like Chengchow might be next big Japanese push in China based on units converging towards it.
• Ineffective CAS at Kweisui on 5th Cavalry.
• Wuchow strategic bombing again.

  Afternoon Air attack on Wuchow , at 76,57
  
  Weather in hex: Overcast
  
  Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
  Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
  
  Japanese aircraft
  Ki-27b Nate-Setsu x 8
  Ki-36 Ida x 15
  Ki-44 Tojo x 9
  Ki-51a Sonia_ x 6
  
  Japanese aircraft losses
  Ki-51a Sonia_: 2 damaged
  
  Manpower hits 10
  Fires 1122
  
  Aircraft Attacking:
  6 x Ki-51a Sonia_ releasing from 1000'
  City Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
  15 x Ki-36 Ida bombing from 11000 feet
  City Attack: 5 x 2x15 kg GP Bomb

Philippines

• No air raids today.
• ARD Dewey has been sighted south of Iwo Jima.

Malaya/DEI

• Balikpapan falls.

  Naval bombardment of Balikpapan at 64,97
  
  Allied aircraft
  no flights
  
  Allied aircraft losses
  139WH-3: 1 damaged
  
  Japanese Ships
  CA Kumano
  CA Suzuya
  CA Mikuma
  CA Mogami
  DD Hatsuyuki
  DD Shirayuki
  DD Fubuki
  DD Arashi
  
  Allied ground losses:
  165 casualties reported
  Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
  Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 29 disabled
  Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
  Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
  
  Refinery hits 1
  Airbase hits 7
  Airbase supply hits 6
  Runway hits 36
  Port hits 5
  Port fuel hits 1
  
  ----------------------------------------------------
  
  Ground combat at Balikpapan (64,97)
  
  Japanese Shock attack
  
  Attacking force 2710 troops, 31 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 116
  
  Defending force 2469 troops, 43 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 50
  
  Japanese adjusted assault: 93
  
  Allied adjusted defense: 4
  
  Japanese assault odds: 23 to 1 (fort level 2)
  
  Japanese forces CAPTURE Balikpapan !!!
  
  Allied aircraft
  no flights
  
  Allied aircraft losses
  139WH-3: 2 destroyed
  CW-22 Falcon: 1 destroyed
  
  Combat modifiers
  Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
  Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)
  
  Japanese ground losses:
  20 casualties reported
  Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
  Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
  Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
  
  Allied ground losses:
  1589 casualties reported
  Squads: 47 destroyed, 2 disabled
  Non Combat: 135 destroyed, 2 disabled
  Engineers: 14 destroyed, 0 disabled
  Guns lost 45 (45 destroyed, 0 disabled)
  Vehicles lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
  Units retreated 4
  Units destroyed 2
  
  Assaulting units:
  Sasebo 3rd SNLF
  81st Naval Guard Unit
  
  Defending units:
  VI KNIL Battalion
  Samarinda Cdo
  Samarinda Base Force
  Balikpapan Base Force
  Balikpapan Defenses
  Dutch Civilians

• AMc torpedoed at Palembang by infiltrated Thai submarine.
• Submarines at Sunda Strait.

  Submarine attack near Merak at 48,97
  
  Japanese Ships
  SS I-155
  
  Allied Ships
  xAK Neleus, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
  
  xAK Neleus is sighted by SS I-155
  SS I-155 launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Neleus
  
  ---------------------------------------------
  
  Submarine attack near Merak at 48,97
  
  Japanese Ships
  SS I-155
  
  Allied Ships
  xAK Tai Sang, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
  
  xAK Tai Sang is sighted by SS I-155
  SS I-155 attacking xAK Tai Sang on the surface

CentPac/CONUS

• Wounded CL Detroit is about 5 days out of Hawaii, if subs dont intercept he is in no danger of going under.
• Despite two subs sank at Victoria by mines, they are still hunting Seattle approaches.

  Sub attack near Victoria at 206,51
  
  Japanese Ships
  SS I-7^
  
  Allied Ships
  xAKL Kentuckian, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
  
  SS I-7^ launches 2 torpedoes at xAKL Kentuckian

• 150k supply on the move towards Pearl Harbor.
• Three much needed xAKs arrive at Panama.

SoPac/Australia

• Kido Butai out of air search range, one CA SAG on the move south. Presumably to bombard Port Moresby.
• Mini Kido Butai swung north in Java sea, Darwin appears to be safe for now.
• Carriers day out of Tongatapu.
• Air HQ and engineer unit about 5 days out of Port Moresby, 27th Aus Bgd two days out. For now still holding them back till bombardment passes.

[BBfanboy]

If you are not aware, both Aden and Abadan will need fuel shipped to them to be able to refuel ships going back on map. The British have lots of large tankers going to Abadan so I send a few of the biggest ones (empty) to CT with "do not refuel set" and when they arrive I send them on to Eastern USA. When they arrive there I refuel them and load with fuel, make EUSA their home port, send the to CT and change them to a CS convoy by clicking on the "Player Control" text. It will take nearly 8 weeks into the game before the tankers begin delivery to CT. CT has enough fuel to get by for that long, but Reinforcement convoys that arrive there do not bring enough for the large number of ships transiting the port.

From Abadan, I just send a couple of the bigger tankers as CS fuel convoys directly to Aden. If you are using the extended map, you will not be able to set up a CS convoy from Abadan to Aden and will have to manage the on-map leg of the journey. That might mean longer routing to avoid Japanese subs.

I use the biggest tankers off map initially because Japanese subs are interdicting the big ports and I don't have the ASW forces to beat them back in the early game. And the big tankers cannot dock at the smaller ports so it would take forever to unload them.

[Axe1999]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

If you are not aware, both Aden and Abadan will need fuel shipped to them to be able to refuel ships going back on map. The British have lots of large tankers going to Abadan so I send a few of the biggest ones (empty) to CT with "do not refuel set" and when they arrive I send them on to Eastern USA. When they arrive there I refuel them and load with fuel, make EUSA their home port, send the to CT and change them to a CS convoy by clicking on the "Player Control" text. It will take nearly 8 weeks into the game before the tankers begin delivery to CT. CT has enough fuel to get by for that long, but Reinforcement convoys that arrive there do not bring enough for the large number of ships transiting the port.

From Abadan, I just send a couple of the bigger tankers as CS fuel convoys directly to Aden. If you are using the extended map, you will not be able to set up a CS convoy from Abadan to Aden and will have to manage the on-map leg of the journey. That might mean longer routing to avoid Japanese subs.

I use the biggest tankers off map initially because Japanese subs are interdicting the big ports and I don't have the ASW forces to beat them back in the early game. And the big tankers cannot dock at the smaller ports so it would take forever to unload them.

Why should Abadan get shipments? I assume you meant Cape Town?

Im planning on diverting a couple TKs to run EC - CT, and Aden so far in my campaigns I mostly managed with occasional run from Abadan, I didnt have the need for continuous fuel shipments. Guess we'll see how busy it becomes.

[Axe1999]

Dec 27 1941 SITREP

Some catching up.

CBI Theater

• Sian expands fort to lvl 3.
• Shipping arriving at Cape Town, convoys begin to form towards Rangoon, Bombay, Perth.
• Ineffective CAS at Kweisui on 5th Cavalry continues.
• No bombing of Wuchow, but Changsha is hit pretty hard.

  Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52
  
  Weather in hex: Light cloud
  
  Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
  Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
  
  Japanese aircraft
  Ki-27b Nate-Setsu x 22
  Ki-30 Ann x 12
  
  Allied aircraft
  no flights
  
  No Japanese losses
  
  Allied aircraft losses
  A-29A Hudson: 1 damaged
  SB-III: 1 damaged
  
  Airbase hits 1
  Airbase supply hits 1
  Runway hits 10
  
  Aircraft Attacking:
  12 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 11000 feet
  Airfield Attack: 3 x 100 kg GP Bomb
  
  ---------------------------------------------
  
  Afternoon Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52
  
  Weather in hex: Severe storms
  
  Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
  Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
  
  Japanese aircraft
  Ki-51a Sonia_ x 7
  
  Allied aircraft
  no flights
  
  Japanese aircraft losses
  Ki-51a Sonia_: 2 damaged
  
  Allied aircraft losses
  SB-III: 1 damaged
  
  Runway hits 15
  
  Aircraft Attacking:
  3 x Ki-51a Sonia_ releasing from 3000'
  Airfield Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
  4 x Ki-51a Sonia_ releasing from 2000'
  Airfield Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
  

• River gunboats clash again

  Day Time Surface Combat at 76,45, Range 6,000 Yards
  
  Japanese Ships
  PG Hai Hsing', Shell hits 1
  PG Fushimi
  PG Sumida
  PG Atami, Shell hits 1, on fire
  PG Futami
  PG Ataka, Shell hits 2
  PG Seta
  PG Katata, Shell hits 1
  PG Hira
  
  Allied Ships
  PG Ying Shan, Shell hits 1
  PG Ying Teh, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
  PG Ying Hao, Shell hits 1, on fire
  PG Mei Yuan, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
  PG Yung Sui, Shell hits 15, heavy fires, heavy damage

Philippines

• All quiet today.

Malaya/DEI

• Nighttime ambush at CV TF, unfortunately DD was all I had available, this would have went much better if I had any cruisers available.

  Night Time Surface Combat, near Bandjermasin at 60,102, Range 9,000 Yards
  
  Japanese Ships
  CVL Zuiho
  CVE Hosho, Shell hits 1
  BB Fuso
  CL Oi
  DD Harukaze
  DD Hatakaze
  DD Asagao
  DD Karii
  DD Yanagi
  
  Allied Ships
  DD Van Nes, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

• Advance south down the Malayan peninsula continues, with Ipoh falling without resistance.

CentPac/CONUS

• One ASW DD lost to torpedo.

  Sub attack near Kona at 179,111
  
  Japanese Ships
  SS I-171
  
  Allied Ships
  DD Dunlap, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
  DD Fanning

• Support units at Canton Island finished unloading. 6 AVP/AVD arrive at Canton as well and will fan out to various dot bases to support naval search.

SoPac/Australia

• DD incursion to Port Moresby. PT Boats get the worst of it.

  Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 97,131, Range 13,000 Yards
  
  Japanese Ships
  DD Shiratsuyu
  DD Shigure
  DD Yugure
  DD Ariake
  
  Allied Ships
  PT-29, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
  PT-36
  PT-37, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
  PT-38
  PT-42
  PT-43, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
  PT-44, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
  PT-45
  PT-46, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
  PT-47, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

• Mutsu and Nagato sinking picket ML.
• Carriers arrive at Tonga, AOs are three days behind.
• Suva expands airfield to 3. B-17s from CONUS and Hawaii transit Suva towards its permanent base at Charter Towers.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Axe1999

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

If you are not aware, both Aden and Abadan will need fuel shipped to them to be able to refuel ships going back on map. The British have lots of large tankers going to Abadan so I send a few of the biggest ones (empty) to CT with "do not refuel set" and when they arrive I send them on to Eastern USA. When they arrive there I refuel them and load with fuel, make EUSA their home port, send the to CT and change them to a CS convoy by clicking on the "Player Control" text. It will take nearly 8 weeks into the game before the tankers begin delivery to CT. CT has enough fuel to get by for that long, but Reinforcement convoys that arrive there do not bring enough for the large number of ships transiting the port.

From Abadan, I just send a couple of the bigger tankers as CS fuel convoys directly to Aden. If you are using the extended map, you will not be able to set up a CS convoy from Abadan to Aden and will have to manage the on-map leg of the journey. That might mean longer routing to avoid Japanese subs.

I use the biggest tankers off map initially because Japanese subs are interdicting the big ports and I don't have the ASW forces to beat them back in the early game. And the big tankers cannot dock at the smaller ports so it would take forever to unload them.

Why should Abadan get shipments? I assume you meant Cape Town?

Im planning on diverting a couple TKs to run EC - CT, and Aden so far in my campaigns I mostly managed with occasional run from Abadan, I didnt have the need for continuous fuel shipments. Guess we'll see how busy it becomes.

Yes, I meant CT! [:D]


I also send lots of xAKLs and large xAPs to Eastern USA to haul supply to CT. Then longer-ranged ships haul the supply on-map and that requires that CT have more fuel - so that is the reason I need a CS hauling fuel there.
Aden gets a lot of reinforcement units - both land and air - so I send some xAPs and xAKs and a couple of AKVs there to haul them on-map. They drink a lot of fuel!

[Axe1999]

I do it similarly, smaller slower xAKLs are pretty useless till I can set up hub&spoke so they haul EC - CT. xAPs though are concentrating at SF as troop transports are at the premium early game, I have maybe 6-7 LCUs standing by as transports are getting their AA guns

[Axe1999]

Small update. Not at home currently and on my old laptop, cant get Combat Reporter and Tracker to cooperate so no detailed reports.

Its currently January 2nd 1942, and Empire is slowly progressing down Malayan peninsula. No contact at our main line on Luzon yet, no invasions of Java or Sumatra. Canton Island is still missing combat part of its garrison.

Port Moresby is getting increasingly harder to reinforce and resupply, with Kido Butai and multiple SAGs roaming around Solomon Sea, and Betties at Rabaul. 22nd Aus Bgd got in at least, multiple LCUs waiting down south boarded on transports for an opportunity to sprint in. 40k supply available. No hope of reinforcing Milne Bay.

Rangoon defenses in place, with some 150k supply on its way, 60k already available. Flying Tigers are scattered around Burma, Calcutta and China to fly point defense.

Supply and fuel is getting better at CONUS, with regular shipping to Hawaii and fuel for Suva, Auckland and Sydney. Subs are still aproblem though, finally killed one in Port Moresby harbor. Carriers Saratoga, Lexington and Enterprise just RV'd with their oiler group at Tongatapu and will keep station in Coral Sea for opportunistic strikes if Kido Butai doesnt venture south. I thought about Marshalls raid but I dont think its worth exposing position of my CVTF.

Leaving for military service in a week so PBEM will be put on hold for couple months.

[Axe1999]

Interesting two next turns. Not too much fighting, but a lot of behind the scenes stuff.

• Flying Tigers in China and are intercepting raids on Wenchow and Changsha, with decent success.
• Due to lack of escorts on West Coast, I opted to run single mega convoy of troops, aircraft, fuel and supply to SoPac, instead of individual convoys. I know this may tip off SigInt and is vulnerable but for now subs are bigger threat than SAGs or carriers. In Pearl convoy will get air cover by Yorktown and surface cover by few cruisers. Once it reaches Samoa it will fan out to its respective destinations (Noumea, Auckland, Suva, Pago Pago, Melbourne). 10 air groups, Marine Regiment, Air HQ, and several base forces and engineer units are on the move. Next big move is 1st USMC Div in about a week when I get enough PPs.
• Started developing Addu as alternate anchorage to Colombo and Triconomalee, mostly as it is a bit safer harbor since air search in Bay of Bengal isnt too good.
• Looks like Port Moresby invasion has rounded eastern tip of New Guinea, with Banshees attempting a run at few transports and a battleship. Invasion seems to have full Kido Butai support. Port Moresby sits at 38k supply, about 230AV and lvl 2 forts. Dont think it will hold.
• 34VP fast xAP ran out of fuel unloading last heavy guns of 22nd Brigade and will probably meet its fate off of Port Moresby. Hope it was worth getting those extra troops in.
• Noumea garrison began unloading today, when some AV support is in place it will get a squadron of P-40Es that are near Brisbane crated in xAKs.
• Troops in contact at Manila. Empire has 1400AV there, to 800AV of the Allies behind lvl 3 forts.
• Fought off an attack at Wenchow, 2000 Japanese casualties to only 125 Allied ones.
• Merchant shipping is still in very short supply at CONUS, most xAKs are ferrying aircraft to Australia.

[traskott]

Suscribed!

Good luck.

Are u sure about deploy 18th UK Brit Div at Singapore? It can bougth u time but will never got enough squads to replace it...

[Axe1999]

Thank you!

18th is currently en route to Colombo, I thought of sending it to Singapore but its not worth it. Even if I wanted to by the time it arrives in this scenario its more likely that they would be sunk underway than it is to arrive safely.

[Axe1999]

January 6th 1942. Interesting few turns.

• Fighting in Manila. In two consecutive attacks Japs get 2:1 and 1:1. Forts are at lvl 1 and Im doing a fighting retreat towards Clark Field.
• Fighting at Port Moresby as well. Shock attack held but Japs have two entire divisions ashore and its only a question of time. All planes that can fly are evacuated. Invasion has been heavily supported by cruisers and almost full Kido Butai. Fortunately no important targets for air strikes around.
• Large troop and aircraft convoy bound for Melbourne just arrived at Hawaii and will get Yorktown TF as escort.
• Empire reaches Kuala Lumpur in Malaya and works on clearing out Borneo.
• Couple of torpedo hits by both submarines south of Honshu and Manila based Catalinas. All on Marus.

[Axe1999]

January 11th 1942. Fall of Manila and Port Moresby.

• Manila falls after two more deliberate attacks. Subs have been permanently rebased to Soerebaja, and from there will go to Darwin, Freemantle and Port Hedland.
• Port Moresby falls after one deliberate and one shock attack. 22nd and 30th Brigades were no match for two full Empire divisions and Kido Butai support. B-17s in Charter Towers and Townsville immediately strike port facilities to slow down unloading of second wave.
• Supply convoy bound for Suva carrying 60k supply from San Diego. AO Guadalupe torpedoed and sank entering map from Panama.
• Kido Butai puts fear into the bones of every skipper south of Townsville as it skirts Great Barrier Reef, sinking 8 medium sized xAKs. Aircraft transports have been diverted to Melbourne and Australia finally got 75 fighter airframes. Lost sight of Kido Butai as last sighting had it heading east. Maybe Fiji/Samoa strike is in order? Three USN carriers are at Suva and naval search is strengthened, with carriers topped off from an AO and ready to flee. There are also troops unloading at both Suva and Pago Pago.
• Heavy fighting at Chengchow. Supply is low, but Chinese weathered shock attack and another deliberate attack, causing 8-9k thousand casualties to Japanese, even though enemy AV was 2700:1600. Wenchow still holds and has about 900:350 AV.
• Lone Dutch DD ambushes CVE Hosho TF in Makassar Strait and a single 12 cm hit causes ammo explosion. Could it be enough to go under?
• Multiple divisions planning for Pearl Harbor, Hilo and Lihue. Should I be worried?

[Axe1999]

Losses so far as per Tracker:

[Axe1999]

Japanese losses:

[Axe1999]

Allied losses pt1:

[Axe1999]

Allied losses pt2:

[Axe1999]

Intel screen: