A Good Place to Start - Matthew (A) v Fokko (J) - Bottlenecks Mod

[RangerJoe]

Hi Ranger Joe,

My head has already exploded from the mind-boggling complexity of this game.

Operation PETTICOAT is not going well at the moment…

Talking about the painting of Submarines, as an aid for my search pilots (who do not seem to be particularly skilled in ship recognition) I’m in the process of colour-coding all Allied subs. All USN subs will be painted pink in honour of the exploits of USS Sea Tiger. There’s no need for a yellow submarine to pick up MacArthur - he is already in Darwin - but at the behest of another Macca and his chums all RN subs will be Yellow Submarines, Yellow Submarines. I’m not sure about the Dutch subs, the best I could come up with is Shocking Blue. I’ll see if Fokko has any suggestions.

I’ve already bought out some of the Dutch support units, they were cheaper than I thought, and I never seem to have enough aviation support where I really need it. I need to decide which units are going to slug it out in Singapore, and which to evacuate. I want to leave sufficient force to put up a decent fight, but withdraw most of the support units not necessary for its defence. Most if not all of Malaya Command is restricted, so PP availability will be big factor in what stays and what leaves.

I’ll be sure to look at the device path upgrades…..even if my head will hurt just that much more…..

Well, the game is supposed to be challenging otherwise it would not be much fun.

But those are good colours for the subs . . .

Joe

[M Peaston]

Note the Dutch bomber squadrons that can upgrade to B-25Cs! You can reduce PP use somewhat by changing an Australian air base or two to ABDA command (unrestricted). Then the Dutch squadrons can fly there and change their HQ later when they are trained enough to go to the front.

That is useful to know; I hadn’t paid much attention to how the Dutch bombers upgrade. Thanks for the tip regarding changing the bases’ HQ - I’ll look into that.

[M Peaston]

Hi Ranger Joe,



Well, the game is supposed to be challenging otherwise it would not be much fun.

But those are good colours for the subs . . .

Joe

This game is definitely very challenging, and very good fun too.

[M Peaston]

4th January 1942



STRATEGIC/OPERATIONAL ISSUES.

The transport system on Java has been stretched to almost breaking point since the Allied High Command suddenly announced that Tjilatjap rather than Batavia would be the debarkation port for civilians fleeing to India, with shipping diverted at the last minute. Using Tjilatjap and avoiding the Japanese subs operating around Batavia/Oosthaven is much safer, but it has left thousands of refugees crowding off the trains and camping around the quayside at Tjilatjap.

There’s a bit of a shortage in troop transports at the moment, or at least they never seem to be enough of them in the right places at the right time. Transporting refugees, 18th Division from Cape Town to Perth/Timor, waiting for I Australian Corps at Aden, transporting US reinforcements to Australia/South Pacific (I’m using the safer route via the Marquesas/Society Islands - safer, but ties up shipping for longer), working up plans for a partial evacuation of Singapore, and now my shipping is feeling the strain. I had some troopships at Sydney which were waiting to go to the USA with a return convoy so they could be escorted; I’ve sent them on the USA unescorted. I’m also temporarily bringing back on line a few AMCs/APs which convert to APAs that I had tucked away somewhere for safety. In the medium term I need to have a good look at my troopship allocations/dispositions and make sure I’m getting the best use out of them.



CHINA

84th Army’s attack at Tuanfeng (Southeast of Hankow) found ‘A’ Detachment, 11th RGC Div dug in there. Forts were reduced to zero so we’re attacking again tomorrow.

So far I’ve detected 3rd Tank Rgt and 26th Engineer Rgt on the main road towards Hami, and 23rd Tank Rgt on the Lanchow Road. I wasn’t sure if the Japanese were just pushing out scouts/pickets; but the engineer rgt suggests it might be a more serious push. I was going to try some bombing runs but I decided not to; I don’t think my inexperienced Chinese pilots would achieve much in the blizzard conditions predicted.



MALAYA

Japanese 2nd Recon Rgt captures the iron ore mine at Bukit Besi.

I’ve started migrating some of the Stringbags to the DEI.



PHILIPPINES

No ground attacks on Luzon today.

A single Beech transport aircraft has arrived on Cebu. In a day or two it will try to fly out the nurses stranded at Clark Field.



DEI

A large surface force, including the Battleships Haruna and Kongo, and the Heavy Cruisers Chokai, Atago and Takao hit Manado hard, followed up by a landing with 4th Infantry Rgt. I’d already evacuated the few P40Bs I had there, all that is left is the Manado Commando and a small BF. I’ve also evacuated Ternate apart from the Commando there.

The Japanese have also landed at Sandakan in North Borneo. This is a problem for the Lanakai as she was headed there. She’s been diverted to Tarakan.

B17Ds from Kendari have bombed Jolo, doing minor damage to the port and setting an xAK on fire. The B17s have now withdrawn to Soerabaja. The B17Ds at Rangoon weren’t achieving much there and have relocated to Batavia.



SOPAC/SWPAC

Lexington is heading for Rockhampton, where she’ll be better placed to operate in the Coral Sea should the need or opportunity arise, and may be able to link up with Enterprise more quickly if she has to.

A Japanese mini-sub hit a mine at Wellington. The most valuable target I’ve got at Wellington is a floating dock, otherwise there’s just a couple of local minesweepers and an AG (which I had forgotten was there).



CENTRAL PACIFIC

Yorktown and Saratoga are heading for Pearl Harbour, hoping to slip past the Japanese subs hanging around LA/San Diego. I want them at Pearl to:

a) assist in the defence of Hawaii should the Japanese attack (which I don’t think is likely at all but I can’t completely discount this).
b) support operations to reinforce the line islands if required.
c) be better placed to help protect sea communications to Australia/New Zealand.
d) to be able to link up with Lexington more quickly if needed/desired.

Of course, all while avoiding a clash with a superior enemy carrier force. I'm nothing if not demanding of my commanders....



SUBMARINE WARFARE

I-121 hits a YO near Biliton with a dud torpedo.

My submarines have managed to avoid those pesky marauding Japanese merchant ships this turn.

[M Peaston]

The refugee problem at Tjilatjap.

Refugees on Java.png (1.51 MiB) Viewed 1511 times

[Mark VII]

G'day,
I like the addition of the refugee problem to this mod, I am currently exploring the Allied side trying to figure out all the extra units.

However, you should be able to combine them into a larger unit, maybe by nationality. Seems silly to be forced to use a larger transport to evacuate only 30 civilians. During those desperate times they were packing every person possible on ships departing for safer ports............(I have only practiced to turn 2 so have not been able to get any in to the same hex so don't know if combining them is already possible.) thanks

The refugee problem at Tjilatjap.


Refugees on Java.png

[Mark VII]

G'day,
I like the addition of the refugee problem to this mod, I am currently exploring the Allied side trying to figure out all the extra units.

However, you should be able to combine them into a larger unit, maybe by nationality. Seems silly to be forced to use a larger transport to evacuate only 30 civilians. During those desperate times they were packing every person possible on ships departing for safer ports............(I have only practiced to turn 2 so have not been able to get any in to the same hex so don't know if combining them is already possible.) thanks

The refugee problem at Tjilatjap.


Refugees on Java.png

[JanSako]

I play the Allied side in a game w/LST, now in March '42.
We have a (voluntary) HR for the Allies, where only (x)AP's are to be used to transport units, except in emergencies. U bet I packed them civvies into anything that floats . APc's, xAKL's, whatever... there is plenty of shipping in DEI for them.

Just remember there will be another wave of coming later. I was not able to pull all of the last one that spawned in Singers & now they are cut off...

What you are proposing though is not possible because of the code, unfortunately. It would be realistic, certainly, but then you 'could' do the same with military units too...

[M Peaston]

Hi Mark VII,

As JanSako says, I don’t think it can be done.

I think I’ve been reasonably successful in evacuating civilians, the small xAPc and xAKLs (many of them sailing vessels) have proved invaluable and have borne the brunt of losses to Japanese submarines. Even the PanAm yacht “Southern Seas’ has done sterling service picking up civilians in the South Pacific. My problem is I underestimated how much longer-ranged shipping it would take to do the round-trip to Madras from the staging ports in Java, and with the issue not being high enough up my priorities the backlog has built up over time.

The refugee problem has certainly added to the challenge - and the fun!

JanSako, thank you for the warning of more civilians to come - something else to keep me awake at night….

[M Peaston]

Southern DEI.

In Darwin, MacArthur has been tasked with setting up a new command covering the northern Australian ports and the DEI south of Java and Makassar strait. Overhearing his staff mention something about a ‘Wallace Line’, MacArthur immediately fires off a telegram to Washington demanding Wallace’s immediate dismissal and that it must be renamed the ‘MacArthur Line’ instead…..

My plan is to try and draw as many Japanese forces to the Southern DEI as possible, and keep them there. To do this I’lll fight for Timor, Samulaki and Babar to create the impression that I’m trying to retain a lodgement in the DEI to threaten the resources/oil there; later on I’m looking at the Southern DEI being the target of diversionary offensives. Of course, Allied High Command has been very careful not to use words and phrases like ‘diversion’ and ‘secondary front’ in MacArthur’s earshot.

I don’t actually realistically expect I’ll be able to hold north of Australia, or even northern Australia (depending on Japanese plans); the key thing is to give the impression that this area is the focus of Allied efforts.

Plans for the defence are shaping up as follows:

18th British Division is heading for Koepang (53rd Bde is just 2-3 days away, the remainder of the Division is going via Perth), with one of the Division’s Bdes allocated to Dili. The two Australian Bdes in Malaya will be evacuated and sent to Babar and Samulaki. A Base Force and Coastal Artillery Rgt are unloading at Koepang, with AA and an Air HQ en route.

To gain time to establish my defences in this area I’m preparing to defend Ambon and Kendari. Each has an Australian Bn to augment the Dutch defenders. A squadron of Vildebeests and has arrived at Kendari to join the P40Es there with more stringbags to follow from Singapore, a Dutch air HQ is being transported to Makassar and there’s a group of Banshees at Darwin, hurriedly training up on naval bombing.

The trouble is, the Japanese are showing signs that they may not be playing the part allotted to them. The attack on Manado is not of any real concern in itself; it is only to be expected at an early stage, and I don’t intend to offer any more than token resistance at the eastern end of the DEI. However, the Japanese fleet seems to have brought an awful lot of firepower with them just for Manado - if Fokko has decided to push on through to Kendari, Ambon and towards Darwin and Timor to secure his southern flank early on that could prove a bit awkward, and I’ll probably have to have a rethink. We’ll see.

[JanSako]

The refugees do not have to go to India, just FYI. They can be disbanded in Sydney just fine. As long as you make sure the fragments don't go to different places.

IMO Manado & Kendari is not really defensible, not even much of a speedbump since he can support the invasions with BB's & CA's. The oil in Babo & Boela is vital to IJN so their effort should based on that. Yes, the fields can be reached by heavies from Darwin but it will be a while until you can cover them & have enough of them. Yes the less than 100 oil does not sound like much, but trust me, it makes a lot of difference later on.

If Japan player knows what's what, he will blaze through Southern DEI with the SNLF landing forces (he has many) before you can garrison it properly to get to Java & cut off fuel shipments from Sumatra. You have been shipping fuel out of Oosthaven since day one, right?

[CaptBeefheart]

The civilians add an interesting problem for the Alllies.

On those future APA vessels, some players put them to work on the off-map routes until amphib invasion season. I'm not sure of this mod, but usually you need to set up East Coast or UK to Cape Town or Cristobal supply and fuel runs.

Cheers,
CB

[M Peaston]

The refugees do not have to go to India, just FYI. They can be disbanded in Sydney just fine. As long as you make sure the fragments don't go to different places.

IMO Manado & Kendari is not really defensible, not even much of a speedbump since he can support the invasions with BB's & CA's. The oil in Babo & Boela is vital to IJN so their effort should based on that. Yes, the fields can be reached by heavies from Darwin but it will be a while until you can cover them & have enough of them. Yes the less than 100 oil does not sound like much, but trust me, it makes a lot of difference later on.

If Japan player knows what's what, he will blaze through Southern DEI with the SNLF landing forces (he has many) before you can garrison it properly to get to Java & cut off fuel shipments from Sumatra. You have been shipping fuel out of Oosthaven since day one, right?

Civilians from New Guinea/South Pacific and the Southernmost DEI Islands have been routed to Sydney via Cairns/Rockhampton. As this has been proceeding more slowly I haven’t built up any bottlenecks - yet. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the title of this mod; I’m starting to think LST has deliberately set out to make things more awkward…..

I’ve been trying to suck as much fuel out of Palembang, and the DEI generally, as I can. I never thought of using Oosthaven.

[M Peaston]

The civilians add an interesting problem for the Alllies.

On those future APA vessels, some players put them to work on the off-map routes until amphib invasion season. I'm not sure of this mod, but usually you need to set up East Coast or UK to Cape Town or Cristobal supply and fuel runs.

Cheers,
CB

Hi Capt Beefheart, thank you for your comments. I’ve started to get supplies/fuel moving off-map to Cape Town/Panama - probably not enough but I’ll see how it goes and adjust as necessary. That is what I had planned for those future APAs; bringing them back as troopships for now is just a ‘temporary expedient’. I know…… temporary measures have a nasty habit of becoming permanent, and I’ll be kicking myself in a year’s time when my amphibious assaults are relying on ships like the River Clyde at Gallipoli…… sigh……

[M Peaston]

5th January 1942


CHINA

Second time lucky - 84th Army defeats the auxiliary force at Tuanfeng and cuts the high road between Hankow and Anking. Unlike the other Chinese attacks this is not going to be a straight ‘tip and run’, this is more difficult terrain and I’m hoping that hindering the Japanese supply here might delay their attacks north of Hankow. 84th Army will stay put for now and I’m starting to resupply by air.


MALAYA

I managed to snatch a disaster from the jaws of defeat at Kuala Lumpur. 9th Indian Division received the ‘Move’ order the same as everybody else, but apparently didn’t receive orders to go to any particular location, so just sat there. I noticed this last turn so there was just enough time to set the orders to ‘Combat’ and wait….. I didn’t have to wait long for the Imperial Guard to force its surrender. Okay, it’s not exactly a disaster, but it’s certainly a setback. I was hoping my defence in central Malaya would hold out for a few days longer than it did but at least I had thought I had managed to avoid any major loss - and would have avoided it if I hadn’t been so careless. I was looking to partially evacuate Singapore to reinforce the southern DEI whilst still leaving a decent garrison behind to try and hold out for a respectable time. I’ll have to have a rethink.

The Malay brigade at Jeruntur did better, retiring in good order towards Kuantan when attacked by 18th Division. The Japanese took Georgetown, although here too the Volunteer brigade put up a reasonable defence.

The remainder of III Indian Corps has reached Singapore. The Australian rearguard at Kluang is now packing up to head for Singapore; leaving behind the 1st Mysore Bn and 5/2nd Punjabi Bn to hinder any Japanese attempt at moving by rail. 4/19th Hyderabad Bn and 2/17 Dogra Bn are still to the north but should make it back in time.


PHILIPPINES

Heavy air raids on Bataan and Clark Field, but no land attacks at Manila or San Fernando today. The Japanese appear to be landing more reinforcements at Subic Bay, judging by the mouseover unit count.



DEI

The Manado Commando holds out against Japan’s 4th Infantry Rgt. Japan now lands at Ternate, where there’s only the Ternate Commando. I’m not going to react unless the Japanese try and push on towards Ambon and/or Kendari straight away.

Sandakan in North Borneo falls to the Japanese.


SOPAC

Other than a Japanese submarine hanging around Aukland and another around Suva there is no known enemy activity. I had thought the Japanese might be using the opportunity to build up there forces at Buka/Shortlands ready to expand in the Solomons/Bismarcks, but my patrol aircraft, PT boats and subs haven’t detected any signs of Japanese shipping. HMAS Perth is going to swing by too - if something’s going on I want to know what, and equally importantly, I want to know if nothing is going on.

I’ve been using Rabaul as a base for flying recon over Truk, where KB has been based, but for for the last few days I’ve lost all trace of KB.


CENTRAL PACIFIC

42nd Base Force and 205th AA Rgt depart San Francisco bound for Christmas Island.


SUBMARINE WARFARE

Several attacks by both sides at various locations, but no hits. Sailfish reaches Wenchow and goes into pierside repair. A submarine Tender and tanker have reached Midway; I’ve reset the home port to here for a handful of subs operating off Japan and I’ll gradually build up the numbers as my logistical support. allows.

[M Peaston]

The situation in Malaya and Luzon.

Malaya.png (1.5 MiB) Viewed 1365 times

Subic Bay Landing.png (1.43 MiB) Viewed 1365 times

[M Peaston]

6th January 1942

A very quiet turn - which I think at this stage of the war must suit the Allies far more than the Japanese.



CHINA
Japanese planes and gunboats bombed the 84th Army at Tuanfeng on the Hankow road. Chinese gunboats were on the Yangtze nearby but failed to intercept the Japanese flotilla. Fokko has reacted more swiftly to this than he has the other Chinese pinprick attacks - I think he may be more worried about this one.

Japan Captures Lu’an East of Hankow.



MALAYA

Japanese fighters sweep Kuantan. I abandoned the base a long time ago. All I’ve got there are two damaged buffalos.


PHILIPPINES

US Kingfishers attack Japanese shipping at Subic Bay with no effect.



DEI

Japan captures Manado, with the brave defenders retreating into the jungle. At Ternate the Dutch hold out against the Bandasan SNLF.

Japanese Zeros from Miri sweep Kuching. This could be Japan’s next target.

Mini-KB is now in the Celebes Sea. I think the risk of Japan pushing straight on to Kendari/Ambon is receding.


SOPAC

The 8th Marine Rgt is now safely ashore at Suva. Elements of 7th Marine Rgt are at Noumea, with the rest en route from Sydney (apart from the CO stuck in San Francisco looking after three trucks).


CENTRAL PACIFIC

Sigint picked up heavy Radio Transmissions at 128,100 - pretty much in a straight line between Truk and Wake Island. Is KB covering an invasion of Wake? SS Triton is on patrol nearby has been ordered to try and intercept. SS Barracuda is not too far and is now heading for the area.



SUBMARINE WARFARE

A Japanese mini-sub was damaged by three USN Destroyers at Suva.

[M Peaston]

A look at the air losses for the first month of the war.

They reflect that much of the air war has taken place over Malaya.

Note how few Allied aircraft have been destroyed on the ground. On closer inspection, ALL of them are floatplanes, and were probably destroyed at sea.

Losses December 1941.png (1.55 MiB) Viewed 1338 times

Losses Dember 41 2.png (1.77 MiB) Viewed 1338 times

Losses December 1941 J.png (1.76 MiB) Viewed 1338 times

Losses December 1941 J2.png (1.48 MiB) Viewed 1338 times

[CaptBeefheart]

Interesting game, especially with no ground losses of your aircraft (except sinkings). I've never seen that. Air losses across the board are quite low.

On the APs (proto-APAs), I also carefully use them to bring troops to SoPac and SWPac. To me they are needed for that in the early days. Just try to avoid losing any.

Cheers,
CB

[M Peaston]

I think there’s a combination of reasons for the low air losses.

Firstly, I’ve tried to avoid going toe-to-toe with the Japanese air force as I think that is a losing proposition for the Allies in the first days of the war. I mostly evacuated the USAAF from the Philippines early on and in China I’ve largely concentrated on training. I’ve been more aggressive with the airforce in Malaya, but after attacking the initial Japanese landings started producing diminishing returns I’ve concentrated on bombing the advancing Japanese ground forces. I didn’t think about this at the time but this does seem to avoid Japanese fighter concentrations.

Secondly, poor Japanese intelligence. They’ve focused on sweeping/bombing bases that have either not been used or have already been evacuated, whereas bases with larger concentrations of Allied planes (e.g. Kuantan, Kluang) were ignored until too late.

Thirdly, Japanese strategy/tactics. Fokko is being very conservative with his air force. The pattern seems to be: sweep a base for several days, then bomb, occupy, set up a new airbase, and repeat. I rarely see Japanese bombers operating outside of fighter range, and they do not often bomb at anything less than 10,000 - 15,000 feet. (Conversely, I’ve been setting my light/medium bomber much lower - generally 2,000 - 5,000 feet. My opinion is that if a target is worth hitting then it’s worth risking the losses for. If it’s not worth the losses then is it really worth attacking? I’m not sure that my pilots agree with this philosophy…).

Other than an air strike on Wake, KB has not been in action. I’m not complaining

Fourthly, this scenario starts on the afternoon of 7th December; losses from Pearl Harbor are factored in to the scenario but don’t show on the loss records.

Putting the pieces together, I’m beginning to think Japanese strategy is shaping up as follows: a slow, low-cost, irresistible expansion to a relatively limited but easily defended perimeter, dig in and hold out for auto-victory in 1944. We’ll see…..I don’t have enough evidence to reach any firm conclusions on this at the moment and how it might impact on my strategy, but I do think Fokko is playing the long game here.