Hurt, But Not Beaten! - An Allied '44 Counter-Offensive AAR - SolInvictus202 vs jdsrae - concluded

[SolInvictus202]

thanks for the reply CptBeefheart;

Yes - the explamation marks were also a surpise to me, but I believe it has mostly to do with the fact that both port and airfields are completely trashed - there are over 60k supplies in either hex - with the armies there projected to use 20k per battle - which most likely results in the red and yellow signs.
Millions of supplies are on their way - new convoys have already left the West Coast even to get there directly - and some supplies will arrive via barge as early as this turn.

Thanks for clearing up the whole base/coast hex CV thing - I just had remembered that smth was special for CVs about these hexes - but apparently had it wrong.

as for Tokyo - indeed - I recall telling my opponent that it was my main goal to do so when taking over the game - and it is definitely due to his determination and endurance that we are able to proceed down this line.
a huge thank you to him for sticking with a rather hopeless situation - I can only recommend him for future games and other opponents - he does not quit - which is even more impressive considering this is his first PBEM (which he already WON as well)

[BBfanboy]

Well done! The only surprise is the red and yellow exclamation marks on your bases.

Your CV TFs work fine everywhere, including coastal hexes, except in base hexes. I also think the malus from base hexes is limited to air strikes. As far as I can tell, CV TFs put up all their CAP in a base hex. CVE TFs have no malus in base hexes. Feel free to consult the manual, of course.

Good luck getting to Tokyo. Only a handful of AARs have gotten that far.

Cheers,
CB

My understanding of the base hex malus is that the CV is limited to 50% of its normal air operations. So in a CV with bombers and fighters and the bombers stood down, the full CAP might be available, but if the CV is carrying all fighters, only 50% would operate.

[SolInvictus202]

JANUARY 24, 1945:

The entire day was a bit of a no-show to be honest:

NAVAL OPS:

Well.. we didn't catch the retreating Japanese forces from Hachinohe - it was always a long shot, since I had 2 hexes to cover to get to them - and my PT Boats - while trying - did not slow any of the TFs down enough for the main force to catch up.

My opponent announced: "The Japanese Fleet lives on to fight another day" - what day would that be I wonder? I replied: "How are you going to sell to the Emperor that the Japanese fleet is mostly intact, while there are 500k Allied troops ashore on Honshu?"

The only action of note was us sinking the damaged ships falling behind: a TF around the BB Massachusetts alongside BB Indiana sank one CA and one CL with a few escorts along with it.
we damaged another CA this turn with torpedoes.
so nothing spectacular at all - all BBs are intact and managed to get away...

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sub-wise we lost another 2-3 I believe and sank a score of Midget-Subs - but who cares really -those are useless anyway.

AIR OPS:

No CV Strikes today from either side - and only a few more uncoordinated strikes against the beacheads at Akita and Hirosaki - we shot down 200 for our 30 or so.

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LAND OPS:

We cleared the remaining troops around the two captured bases - also eliminating the dreaded "red and yellow" supply indicators. We issued orders to take Ominato (which has almost no troops left in it) and to reinforce Hachinohe.
We also spotted an arrow indicating that there is movement from the land base at Yamagata either towards our roadblock or even Akita - recon puts around 100k troops at that base.
I doubt there will be any offensive move besides maybe trying to bag the roadblock - but we moved in some reinforcements anyway.
It is way too late to deal any harm at the captured bases by now - he would have had to reinforce them BEFORE I took them - retaking them will be utterly impossible.


So in general I believe we can now announce that we successfully invaded Japan and we will have Tokyo at least besieged before Summer. With the arrival of the P-47N in large numbers within a month we will also finally be able to completely dominate the skies over Honshu for good - now that everything as of yet untouched is well within range of my fighter sweeps WITHOUT drop tanks - so let the fun times begin

[CaptBeefheart]

My understanding of the base hex malus is that the CV is limited to 50% of its normal air operations. So in a CV with bombers and fighters and the bombers stood down, the full CAP might be available, but if the CV is carrying all fighters, only 50% would operate.

That's possible. I rarely tee up naval attacks when operating near Japan--too many possible CAP traps for too little potential sinkage. I let the SAGs handle any IJN incursions.

The IJN will indeed live to fight another day, after hiding out in Port Arthur.

Well played, Sol.

Cheers,
CB

[SolInvictus202]

thanks Cpt Beefheart - I must say I am very much stunned myself. I actually had a lot of respect going into this - I have never undertaken a landing on Honshu before and I knew that both the Air Force and the Navy was very much still present.
Furthermore my opponent has proven in his AAR that he is both a competent player as well as someone who is able to plan very complex operations successfully as well.

My biggest fears were however apparently unfounded - as both the Navy was too late to the party (being able to offload 10k AV within 1 day pratically (as the landings were spread out over two) with over 200k supplies offloaded in total as well is simply AWESOME!) and the Air Force was practically a no show - they tried - but let's face it - they didn't REALLY try

- no hordes of Kamikazes (which he definitely would have time to train by now - as the landings in Hokkaido were 2 months ago and the ones in Shakalin even more)

- no low nav armored Frances spam (although my B-29s were definitely helping with this issue ) - and I do hate the Frances from other games before.

- no sacrifical Yamatos going in at the Beachheads protected by sacrifical CVs which soaked up all the ships and planes I could throw at them...

nothing... I keep looking over my sholder - but even if he did smth hillarious as go for my supply lines - there is nothing there - as all the valuable ships are already here - so he might as well invade San Francisco

anyway - back to the current events:

JANUARY 25th, 1945:

Another uneventful day - yet highly productive on my side, as most of the amphib TFs are back at Shikuka, taking on the 2nd load of troops now in "transport" mode - I cannot quite disclose how many more troops are available, but let's just say - it is quite a lot still - and enough aviation support to bring every base on Honshu to max support as well

but let us approach this in our usual fashion:

NAVAL OPS:

Not a lot going on - we managed to squander a few more DDs due to failed high speed runs (I have no idea why they worked so well in turn one of the battle and failed miserably on turns 2 and 3... oh well - the escorts are falling back, so the TF runs are no longer needed)

other than that - it appears that the enemy battle fleet has concentrated in Nagoya:

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while I was briefly considering to go after the damaged ships spotted in Yokohama I opted against it, since there is no real rush and definitely no need to risk my bomber force over some useless ships anyway...

All I need to do is burn the remaining supplies on Honshu and then simply march into Tokyo to raise the proper flag!

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AIR OPS:

We slowly but steadily start to move in fighter planes. all in all I now have about 500 directly on Honshu with another 2000 well in range of the bases still positioned in Hokkaido - there are still more on Shakalin as I will most definitely not leave my bases undefended in the rear - should my opponent get any ideas that is!

I believe we only lost 20 planes today - to his 50 or so - but I already forgot - it was a non-event.

I see no real rush to start sweeping his bases and engage him - weather is still terrible - we get Thunderstorms 5 out of 5 days - so why rush - might as well wait until conditions improve and let both the navy and the army do the work for a while....


LAND OPS:

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Our advance troops reached Ominato yesterday already - some 360 AV worth of tank bataillons - with over 2000 AV arriving today, too late to join the first attack.
Although we did not take the hex with our tanks alone, we got really close - so Ominato will be ours tomorrow for sure

Meanwhile bombardments in Hachinohe continue to do acceptable damage - inflicting over 300 casualties today alone - this means that the 1000 AV present will not stand once I have concentrated my forces.

The Japanese also tried to clear the roadblocks today - while I did lose one - I managed to reinforce the other with a tank bataillon, which was able to beat back the attack and will consequently counterattack today.

It appears that the Japanese are planning on defending the Yamagata-Iwaki line - since it is a wooded hex and provides maximum bonuses available until we reach the mountainous areas around Tokyo.

I welcome this strategy as these hexes are well within the range of my bombers and it will give us plenty of opportunities to inflict massive casualties amongst his remaining Air Force well away from his main bases!

[SolInvictus202]

The Empire of Japan has surrendered

It is both with a happy and a sad heart that I am here today, to announce the surrender of the Emperor of Japan in a small hut outside Ominato to General Field Marshal the Lord Douggie McArthur.

Following the successful invasion I have reiterated the offer for ceasing hostilities again (just like I did after Hokkaido's ivnasion) and this time the Japanese have accepted - stating the following grind towards Tokyo, which would most likely take the better part of half a year as one of the reasons for it.

I would like to take this moment to thank both my opponent for an enjoyable time and also you, dear readers, for following this report.
It was a great challenge initially and I have to say highly rewarding towards the end - I can tick off the "invasion of Honshu" from my list of things to achieve in a PBEM grand campaign - which means I am only missing one last thing: to drop the bomb... I did have the squadron for it - but no bombs...

oh well - not such a big deal since I am personally not a real fan of those anyway.

Unfortunately this also means the end of this AAR - I am unsure when/if I ever start another game - but who knows - I am still somewhat young

[Warofthe2ndWorld]

What are the conditions of the surrender, Supreme Commander Sol?

[SolInvictus202]

definitely unconditional... all we decided on our own is that we let the Emperor live... for now....

as for the rest I have specifically ordered that the Yamato and the Musashi be stripped of its guns and publically sunk within Tokyo bay - the public is ordered to attend at the pain of death.

in all seriousness I again offered to conlude the game since what is coming now is only a time-consuming grind - with the outcome having been decided quite some time now. Very few players would have continued after the invasion of Shakalin - even fewer after Hokkaido fell... so it was onlyl fair to offer again.

[Warofthe2ndWorld]

Wait, why not save one of the two super battleships and turn it into a museum?

And what of the rest of their fleet? Cruisers? Destroyers? And more importantly, the remaining carriers?

[Capt. Harlock]

Wait, why not save one of the two super battleships and turn it into a museum?

And what of the rest of their fleet? Cruisers? Destroyers? And more importantly, the remaining carriers?

And what is the VP count?

[SolInvictus202]

- you are correct - I should have thought of that - shame on me - even worse considering I am a historian IRL... bad bad Sol... maybe Yamato gets to stay afloat after all

as for VP Count: with the capture of Ominato in the last turn the Allied managed to move past the Japanese for the very first time since I took over, but let us take this moment to present a final map overview- including all the deceptions and misinformation I passed on to my oppponent

BURMA:

Up to this day I have no idea why the Japanese ever withdrew from the borders to India... I figured I would be stuck around Akyab until the end of the game - as I had absolutely no naval assets assigned to the theatre any invasion to outflank him near Akyab was utterly out of the question.

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Once we took Rangoon however he stopped at the Moulmein line- having left units to defend the approach towards China as well.
ALl these units were undoubtedly restricted and could not have helped in Japan as it is. and that was definitely probably about double the AV I had in Burma. which was a grand total of about 3500 AV I think - maybe 4k - all units of lesser value except one good Australian division and a few British tank units.

I am still impressed to been able to take Rangoon with the little I had, without actually fighting once - and it definitely helped with the VP count.
I never had any intention (mostly because I didn't have the means) to actually go for Singapore - as I am someone who likes to ensure maximum effort for what really counts. and all Singers would have given me was VPs.

I also only pushed as far as I could towards Moulmein - I overextended one hex and paid for it with one defeat. but that is it. he eventually counterattack from China as well - but I fell back into the open bringing up the Australian reserve division - had he opted to push out I probably would not have been able to stop him - I do not know why he did not. there was a grand total of 100 planes in India/Burma.

DEI:

All units that supported the invasion of Sumatra moved to the west to ensure a maximum effort could be made for Japan itself - this means that only a few worthless xAPs stayed there to hlp me go and invade Java (which was all evactuated when he hastily moved back to Japan all over the map)

We also moved in from the east - and managed to take over 10 bases using the 3rd Motor Bde -only once we had to fall back - frm Balikpapan - as there was still an Ind Bde there.

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NEW GUINEA and CENTRAL PACIFIC:

pretty much the same - we moved up and took bases likes Port Moresby and Rabaul - just to help equalize the VP count - no resistance was to be found and we pushed as far as Manus before we opted to push more into the DEI.

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JAPAN and KURILES:

There was about 4000 AV more to be sent to Japan via Shikuka - bringing the total up to 14k - I have no idea how much Japan had at the end left. all Marine Divisions were present and all artillery units of not, as well as the combat engineers.
This is one of the main reasons as although the invasion has taken place it would probably have turned into a stalemate once we reingaged at the Yamagata line or the latest closer to Tokyo. This stalemate would have most likely been broken with the units from 1st US Army and the reinforcements from the British, Canadian and French.
These would not have arrived before mid to end of '45

Until then I would have most likely achieved complete air superiority and bombed the rest of factories into dust - doing what we have been doing before the weather got terrible in winter and now without drop tanks - making our planes a lot more powerful.

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FINAL VP COUNT:



With the capture of Ominato I managed to overtake the Japanese for the very first time. The failed attacks on my landing fleet also pushed the aircraft ratio into my favour as well.

The one big issue I can now safely mention is pilots. I was never able to achieve the level of pilots I normally have due to not have ANY useful reserve when I first took over and due to the ensuing combat losses I never managed to catch up.
This meant that I had to resort to ridiculous moves as manning escort planes such as P-39s and P-40s with raw recruits so that the actual sweepers could be manned with proper pilots - which were still lacking in Def skill most of the time.

During late '44 I did not have a single Marine Pilot in reserve either - annoyed the heck out of me since the engine always sent in the Marine squadrons first - for whatever reason, leaving most of the losses with them. They were brave and useful, but this meant that they were always out of planes and pilots.

The Army wasn't really off much better, since I barely managed to keep my sweepers going. the gap in the production of the Thunderbolt also meant that I was basically ONE big battle away from having to stop the air offensive entirely.
the arrival of the P-51D helped a lot with that, but I never accumulated more than 50 plans in reserve. bombers were always completely deployed - not a single one in reserve - so again - one big battle away.

Still, despite all these issues I managed to halt his R&D efforts and crush most of his fighter production - which undoubtedly made the Japanese a lot more defensive than they should have been.

Up to date I was most amazed with the effectiveness of Japanese ASW efforts. my subs scored very few hits - undoubtedly he had his best captains in those destroyers and escorts - but that I would not even get to shoot is smth my ships did not managed to do. yes, my ASW was very effective as well, but still - his was also pretty much unpenetrable.



I offered my opponent to exchange passwords so we could inspect each other's side - let us see if wants to do that or not.

[SolInvictus202]

the pic of the final VP count since it wouldn't let me edit into the last post:

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also the final count of damaged ships - mostly from his KB strike towards my CVs near Hakodate:
CV Hornet does not show since she is repairing pierside in Hakodate. she has 76 sys damage I believe.

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[CaptBeefheart]

Well played and congratulations! You did well with some serious handicaps.

It's a shame he didn't toss all of those naval assets and a bunch of kamis at you at the end. He still had a pretty decent fleet. He might have put a dent in your invasion force. With over 30,000 in ground loss points, I imagine your device reserves are low, and you mentioned your pilot reserves are low. The fight on Honshu could have been close.

One thing in your favor would have been the A-26 used for ground attacks. I love those airplanes. They seem to be much tougher than other twins and have the payload of a B-17.

Cheers,
CB