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

[M Peaston]

Thanks guys!

[M Peaston]

7th May 1942



ABDA

Japanese reinforcements land at Bandjermasin



SWPAC

Another reinforcement convoy arrives at Melbourne. There are no major units on this one, but lots of useful bits and pieces:

12th, 13th and 14th Marine Air Groups,
96th AA Rgt
1/30th Coastal Artillery Bn
2nd Marine Amphtrac Bn
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Bn
97th Field Art Bn
Banshee Squadrons x2
Airacobra Squadrons x2

Oh, and Ersatz MacArthur, or perhaps we should call him ‘I can’t believe it’s not MacArthur’. Anyway, he’ll spend a couple of days in Melbourne before heading off to Sydney and a meeting with Blamey.

Zeros sweep over Milne Bay. There’s no Allied fighter opposition; there’s no need to oppose them at the moment.



NOPAC

At Adak, Rear-Admiral Theobold is expecting replacements for NOPAC’S picket submarines which were assigned to NEPTUNE and never returned. They don’t seem to have arrived yet; all he can see in the harbour are about half-a-dozen trawlers. His staff are engaged in rock, paper, scissors to decide who is to tell him that these are the reinforcements……



SUBMARINE WARFARE

S-36 torpedoes and sinks xAK Nagisan Maru at Kendari.
I-158 manages to avoid two motor launches at Colombo
O-16 detects what appears to be an invasion force assembling at Manado: xAP x2, AMCx2, AKx4, xAKx2. O-16 took 6 hits from the escorts, forcing her back for repairs.

[M Peaston]

8th May 1942



INDIA/BURMA

Japanese capture Yamethin

RAF Blenheims and RAAF Hudsons based at Chittagong bomb the advancing Japanese 18th Division at Taungdwingyi.

There are no signs of any Japanese ships in the Bay of Bengal or the Indian Ocean; Vice-Admiral Layton orders the RN carriers and battleships back to port. RAF reconnaissance flights show approximately 25 Japanese ships at Rangoon, mostly sloops and small to medium sized transports. Cleary Eastern Fleet’s control of the sea isn’t quite as complete as Layton claims it to be.


ABDA

The Japanese 21st Division bombards the defenders at Bandoeng.

A Deliberate Assault at Soerabaja is beaten back:


Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 11711 troops, 139 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 565

Defending force 14238 troops, 182 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 334

Japanese adjusted assault: 295

Allied adjusted defense: 1669

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5 (fort level 3)

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

Japanese ground losses:
473 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Vehicles lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
265 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
4th Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards' Division
15th Ind Engineer Regiment
2ID 16th Infantry Regiment
43rd Ind.AA Gun Co
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
6th KNIL Regiment
Lijfwacht Cav Sqn
4th KNIL Regiment
Roodenburg Cdo
Marinier Battalion
Tjepoe Cdo
Madoeng Defenses
Soerabaja Defenses
Soerabaja KM Base Force
4th Avn Sup Groep
2nd Avn Sup Groep
KNI Leger
Teloekbetoeng Base Force
KNI Zeemacht /1


How long can the Dutch hold out?



SWPAC/SOPAC

Again, Zeros sweep over Milne Bay unopposed.

Marine Vindicators find some Japanese troop transports still at Cape Gloucester as they were two or three days ago. xAP Hake Maru, APD Shimakaze and E-Yuago were all hit. One of the Vindicators crashed on landing at Port Moresby.

A convoy carrying the 24th Separate Rgt arrives at Suva.

[CaptBeefheart]

The Vibrators were not too well liked by Corps pilots in real life, but in this game they are pretty good with their long range and ability to hit targets targets as well as Dauntlesses. They are great for staging long distances and hitting TFs without air cover. That said, once they hit a well-protected TF, they tend to drop like flies, like any other DB.

Cheers,
CB

[M Peaston]

The Vibrators were not too well liked by Corps pilots in real life, but in this game they are pretty good with their long range and ability to hit targets targets as well as Dauntlesses. They are great for staging long distances and hitting TFs without air cover. That said, once they hit a well-protected TF, they tend to drop like flies, like any other DB.

Cheers,
CB

Hi Captain Beefheart, sorry for not replying sooner.

By his own admission my opponent became fixated on Port Moresby and overlooked providing fighter cover for his APDs.

I’ve got four fighter squadrons at Port Moresby - one of them (currently the Kittyhawks) is tasked with escorting the Vindicators, so they are not completely vulnerable. I agree though, I don’t expect the dive-bombers to last long when encountering serious fighter and/or flak. Still, Zeros protecting shipping are Zeros which aren’t sweeping my airfields.

[M Peaston]

Apologies to all for the lack of any updates.

Somehow I had managed to overlook this last turn:


9th May 1942.



INDIA/BURMA

RAF Blenheims and RAAF Hudsons attack the 10th Tank Rgt at Yamethin advancing towards Mandalay. Japanese losses, if any, aren’t known (thunderstorms didn’t help) but there was no fighter opposition and no Allied aircraft were lost.



ABDA

Japanese fighters sweep over Soerabaja, but there are no bombing raids in support of Japanese ground forces.

The Japanese 21st Division assaults the Dutch defenders at Bandoeng but is held off - for now. I think the Japanese have made a mistake splitting their forces on Java as they have. As far as I can tell, Japanese combat forces on Java (excluding AA, Base and construction units) are:

Two Infantry Divisions (21st and Imperial Guards) - the Imperial Guards at Soerabaja and 21st at Bandoeng

Two infantry regiments (16th and 24th) - one at Soerabaja, one heading to Bandoeng

One Tank regiment (4th) - Soerabaja

Two Medium Field Artillery regiments (3rd and 8th) - one at Soerabaja, one last seen at Semarang.

One Mortar Bn (14th) - last seen at Semarang

One RF Gun Bn (8th) - heading to Bandoeng

Two Engineer regiments (15th and 23rd) - one at Soerabaja, one at Semarang.


I’m doubtful whether the Japanese have committed sufficient force to either Soerabaja or Semarang to be able to rapidly overrun either. I think it’s more of a case of how long the supply will last out. A prolonged siege means more delay to the Japanese advance, and I'm hoping (and planning) to stop it dead soon enough. Quite honestly I didn’t think Java would still be holding out by now anyway.

On the Eastern side of the DEI things are moving - Japanese carrier aircraft hit the airfield at Ambon, possibly in preparation for a landing here.

Ambon.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 28 times

SUBMARINE WARFARE

I-166 tried to torpedo a motor launch off of Trivandrum, but there were no reported hits on either side.

[M Peaston]

Checking back on my emails, I sent off the 10th May turn seven weeks ago.

I have had contact with my opponent, so he hasn't disappeared, and I have been assured the turn will be forthcoming. I have no idea when.

To paraphrase the headmaster played by John Cleese in 'Clockwise':

It's not the despair - the despair I can cope with. It's the hope I can't stand.