Tom & Blackwatch Lessons from War

Post descriptions of your brilliant successes and unfortunate demises.

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Gen.Hoepner
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Gen.Hoepner »

[:(] I guess Mr. Frag when speaking of "sunk ships" was refering to Sunk CVs.....has Blackwatch lost any Carrier? If not........we're all in big troubles[:(][:(][:(]
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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Blackwatch_it »

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

[:(] I guess Mr. Frag when speaking of "sunk ships" was refering to Sunk CVs.....has Blackwatch lost any Carrier? If not........we're all in big troubles[:(][:(][:(]
Yes lost some CVLs and CVEs
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Tom Hunter
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Tom Hunter »

In February 42 Blackwatch lost all of Baby KB.

More recently he traded Hiryu and a CVL Unyo in exchange for Wasp, Hornet, Yorktown and North Carolina. That was only a game week ago so it has not had much effect on us, but the CVEs and CVLs of Baby KB may have stripped several hundred Zeros from his OB.

This problem is made worse for him because I have been putting a lot of effort into attritting his forces, the bug would have less impact if I played a Fabian strategy.

We are stopping our game on Sept 20th 1942 to wait for 1.5 I will bring the AAR up to that date and then we wait for the patch.

This is already very annoying, Blackwatch has 5 unconverted units flying Claudes. He can't send these up against the Hurricanes and Spitfires that are swarming over Malaya. As a result his air attacks are weakly escorted and as you will see when I bring the AAR up-to-date this has a big impact. Even with escorts I am not sure Blackwatch could win this battle, but it would certainly be tougher for the British, with much higher casulaties.
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Tom Hunter
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September 18 1942

Post by Tom Hunter »

Now we move into the last 3 days of our AAR until the problem with the A6M2 disapearing is resolved.


South of Malaya Dutch Catalinas observe large concentrations of Japanese shipping, near Palembang and the islands to the immediate East.

Allied aircraft hit a few ships that have come too close to Malaya, and a group of LB30s bombs Palembang in the first Allied attack on this vital oil center.

The Japanese continue to pound Koepang back into the stone age with heavy bomber attacks, they meet Allied CAP but brush it aside and blow the airfield to peices yet again.

The Allies and the Japanese are fighting in on the ground in 5 locations right now:

Yenen:
Japanese (attacking) force 163268 troops, 1665 guns, 0 vehicles
Chinese (defending) force 128743 troops, 824 guns, 0 vehicles

50,27 Rail line just East of Yenen
Allied Attacking force 29098 troops, 192 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese Defending force 16690 troops, 165 guns, 0 vehicles

Koepang:
Japanese Attacking force 47131 troops, 494 guns, 7 vehicles
Allied Defending force 16111 troops, 84 guns, 2 vehicles

Kuantan:
Japanese Attacking force 1524 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles (defenders is 27,000)
Allied Defending force 9859 troops, 77 guns, 0 vehicles (attckers just under 5,000)

Singapore:
Allied Attacking force 15021 troops, 184 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese Defending force 14768 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles

In Yenen the Japanese are out of supply and have been since about September 10th. So far this has not slowed their daly bombardment attacks. The rail hex is important because that is the Japanese retreat route.

Kuantan is an Allied holding action while the main force races to take Singapore.

Singapore is a key battle, if the British take it then they have a major base astride one of the main convoy routes to Japan. Right now the odds are close to even and the Brits are disrupted from crossing the causeway and fatigued as well. But more troops and lots of artillery are on the way, plus there is a lot of air support in the area as well.


Koepang is a very important location for both sides. If the Japanese can take it quickly they can probably take Lautem and have a decent shot at either reinforcing Malaya or starting a count offensive of some sort against the British. If it holds out then over 50,000 badly needed troops are kept busy.
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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Blackwatch_it »

Five Claude groups mean 135 planes. You should add to this that the seven CV based groups flying A6M2 have 65 planes available intead of 167. The eleven land based groups flying A6M2 have a total of 123 planes instead of 253. Moreover I have three groups of 27 planes each planned as reiforcements in less than one month.

This is making me think that the situation is critical....
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Tom Hunter
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Move and Counter Move

Post by Tom Hunter »

The first news is a pleasant suprise, Allied PTs go into action off Koepang and they don't get massacred. This is the second fight of what we hope will be a new trend for the glamour boys in the PT boats.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 28,77

Japanese Ships
AG AG-5048
AG AG-5049
AG AG-5050
AG AG-5051
AG AG-5052
AG AG-5188
AG AG-5189
AG AG-2054, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AG AG-2055
AG AG-2056, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
PT PT-66
PT PT-68
PT PT-74
PT PT-75
PT PT-76
PT PT-77

Sure its only a couple of barges but at least we are not all dead.


British ships showed up off Singapore in an effort to keep the Japanese from bringing in re-inforcements. The Japanese convoys stayed South but the British found a lone merchant ship:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Singapore at 23,50

Japanese Ships
AK Tekkai Maru, Shell hits 4, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign
CL Java
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Mugford
DD John D. Ford
DD Arrow


As those who follow this AAR may remember this was originally a force of 3 BBs but two of them took torpedos from Blackwatch's Betties early in the operation. Blackwatch has godo reason to be happy about that now as he faces one BB patrolling the approaches to Singapore instead of 3.

In a development that must worry the servants of the Emporer Allied twin engine bombers from Johore Baru struck South to the area near Palembang:

Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 8


Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Bomb hits 2

I doubt they hurt the Ise much but the fact that they are operating near Palamebang shows how dangerous Singapore could be to the Japanese economy if its held by the British.

The first Japanese surface combat TF to come North from the Java Sea is intercepted by Allied aircraft:

Day Air attack on TF at 24,52

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
Mohawk IV x 9
Kittyhawk I x 9
Beaufort I x 6
Beaufort V-IX x 7
A-24 Dauntless x 10
B-25C Mitchell x 4
B-26B Marauder x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 12 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort V-IX: 5 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Jintsu
DD Minegumo
DD Urakaze

Sendia will go to the bottom before the end of the day. A second round of attacks hits in the afternoon:

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
DD Kuroshio
DD Tokitsukaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hayashio
DD Hamakaze
DD Kagero, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Natsugumo
DD Urakaze, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


In the same hex a convoy bringing troops to Singapore is also hit by a similar force of Allied aircraft:

apanese Ships
ML Kamome, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tsuyama Maru
AP Anzan Maru
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Kyushu Maru

Not enough damage to stop the Japanese but they are still South near Singkep Island.

The Japanese are coming North with CLs, DDs and transports and they are also bringing at least one BB. Allied air recon shows 6 CAs with the force but its not very believable. Meantime the British already have one BB TF off the port and the second BB TF with Valiant and Warspite has been ordered South at full speed. They are 4 hexes away and can easily reach Singapore by nightfall. There is also a PT boat force coming South with orders to pick off any damaged Japanese stragglers.

The British CVs are only 2 hexes inside the Malacca straight and are ordered to take up a position in open water East of Singapore. If all goes well on the 21st the Japanese will meet the British BBs and then get hit by airstrikes from Johore Baru to the North and from Fleet Air Arm flying in from the East.


At Timor the Japanese continue to blast Koepang airfield. This time there is no CAP, the airbase is once again shut down and the Japanese blast the place at will.

Then the infantry goes in:
Ground combat at Koepang

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 51828 troops, 497 guns, 7 vehicles
Defending force 16283 troops, 88 guns, 2 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
153 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Once again the Diggers hold on in the face of Japanese assualt. How long can they last?
Notice that the numbers have not changed, the Japanese are bringing in supply but no more troops.

But in two places the numbers do change:
Ground combat at 50,27
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 74885 troops, 517 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 16683 troops, 164 guns, 0 vehicles

This is the rail hex East of Yenen. With these numbers the Chinese have a good chance of throwing out the Japanese and further isolating the Japanese army in Yenen.

The other change is in Singapore. Japan may not have reinforced but the British are racing to bring in more troops.

Ground combat at Singapore
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 26542 troops, 349 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 14270 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Japanese ground losses:
361 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
195 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

The number of troops goes up by 10,000 and the number of guns doubled. Some of these are big guns too, 4.5" and even 6" howitzers.

There may be a major collision between the two Empires off Singapore on September 20th 1942, who would have predicted that the city would be Japanese on that day and that Japanese troops would be rushing in by sea to protect it from from a British invasion coming over the very same causeway that the Japanese used in January?
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walkerd
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RE: Move and Counter Move

Post by walkerd »

Just wish to post my support for an excellent AAR.

Well done to both of you and to Tom for such excellent writting.
"Carpe diem" - Seize the day!

"Carpe Cerevisi" - Seize the beer!
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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Move and Counter Move

Post by Blackwatch_it »

ORIGINAL: walkerd

Just wish to post my support for an excellent AAR.

Well done to both of you and to Tom for such excellent writting.
Walkered, I spent four months in Oz in 2000, so you should be on my side.......[;)]
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Tom Hunter
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Zero problem

Post by Tom Hunter »

Here is what I know about the zero problem.

Blackwatch has a theoretical maximum of 555 Zeros on the map according to his post up above. Right now he has 188 Zeros on the map also according to the post up above.

So far he has lost 1415 Zeros to all causes. Current production is 392 a month, or 13 a day but he only got 2 of them yesterday. I don't know what total production is, so I don't know what the gap is but it does seem pretty clear that he is missing a very large number of aircraft from the pool, maybe as many as 1500, or maybe only 1,000.

Of course if these planes had been in play earlier many would already have been shot down, along with many Allied aircraft. But still its a big problem I will post more information about Blackwatch's bombing raids and fighter cover when I post the last turn so that you can see what effect the hole in his airforce is having.

The other problem he has is that he lost 100 Zeros during the most recent Coral Sea battle, and the bug is eating up all the replacements so his CVs have no CAP. Effectively this means they cannot operate at all. If he had the planes he could fill 102 slots with Zeros, all flowing by quality 40 pilots, I can hardly wait.
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Tom Hunter
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China Sept 20 1942

Post by Tom Hunter »

China was very dramatic today.

Japanese units opened up the road from Tatung to Yenen creating a viable retreat route for the 170,000 Japanese soldiers there.

The Chinese knocked a Japanese divsion back across the river towards Chenting:

Ground combat at 50,27

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 64330 troops, 442 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 16656 troops, 163 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 5 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
336 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Allied ground losses:
992 casualties reported
Guns lost 22
Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assume an additional 10-20% casualties for the retreat, or 1,600 to 3,200 Japanese troops gone forever. All the action was in the North, the screen shot shows the critical area and also the intelligence snapshot for the campaign so far.



Image

The main thing is that the Chinese are active and continueing to cause trouble. Blackwatch is not going to be pullling 4-5 divisions out of China to help in Malaya.
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Tom Hunter
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Naval Battle of Singapore

Post by Tom Hunter »

September 20th was a very bloody day as the Japanese made a strenous effort to break the British blockade of Singapore and the British fought back ferociously.

The days battles started at 1am when a force of Japanese CLs and DDs escorting a troop convoy was intercepted by Warspite's battle group (this is the same group that lost Sendai to air attack the day before):

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
DD Kuroshio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Shiranuhi, Shell hits 2
DD Amatsukaze
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
BB Warspite, Shell hits 2
BB Valiant, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1
CA Devonshire, Shell hits 1
CL Durban, Shell hits 4
CL Dauntless
CL Birmingham
CL Newcastle
DD Peary, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Inconstant
DD Isis
DD Jupiter
DD Nizam, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Paladin
DD Panther, Shell hits 1, on fire

Combat went 3 rounds with 3 Japanese DDs sinking. Jinstu absorbed tremendous punishment, 13 Shell hits including a 15" shell that destroyed her control room. (how do the British know this? really good lookouts reporting on the fall of shot.[:D])

The Japanese light forces fought very well, too damn well considering they were facing ships with night experience in the 75-85 range and radar but that is the way it goes.

Admiral Pound had replaced the previous commander of this force, who was sacked after defeating the Japanese covering force at Bali and then letting an infantry division ashore unmolested.

This time the covering force did not save the transports and the result was a triumph for the Royal Navy-

Japanese Ships
PC Shonan Maru #17, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
AP Hinko Maru, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AP Meiu Maru, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
AP Taigen Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk

-As the entire headquarters and support element of the Japanese 16th army was sunk.

The Japanese made an effort to shut down the British airbase at Johore Baru:

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 66
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3 Note there are no Zeros here, this is partly because of the bug but partly because Blackwatch is keeping his existing 188 Zeros in other parts of the world. Though I believe I have enough airpower in Malaya to win anyway this is still a complete screw.

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 18
Spitfire Vb x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 40 destroyed, 24 damaged And look what happens to unescorted Betty. My CAP is set at multiple altitudes as well and there is radar and an air HQ. Say bye bye Betty.
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 3 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4

This is a small bombing attack on Japanese defenders at Singapore, its most interesting because of who they are hitting, only 10 Japanese were hit.

Day Air attack on Sasebo 7th SNLF, at 23,50
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 7



Image


A surface TF lead by the BB Ise and escorted by long range CAP was caught 30 miles off Singapore by LBA mostly from Johore Baru.


apanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3

Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 3
Mohawk IV x 5
Hurricane II x 4
Kittyhawk I x 6
Beaufort I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 12
A-24 Dauntless x 2
B-26B Marauder x 3

Planes fell on both sides but the critical damage was the sinking of the Aoba:
Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Ise, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Ise just kept on coming, and a British TF lead by the Royal Soveriegn moved to intercept:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Singapore at 23,50
Some how the British were suprised in broad daylight after the air attack. Maybe they were suprised that anything survived the airstrikes. Either way they recovered pretty fast and prevented the Japanese from accomplishing thier mission though at considerable cost.

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
CA Nachi
CA Mogami, Shell hits 1
DD Akizuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Kikuzuki, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Okikaze, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Hakaze, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 6, on fire
CL Java, Shell hits 2
CL Danae, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Dragon, Shell hits 7
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Shell hits 2
DD Mugford, Shell hits 1
DD John D. Ford, Shell hits 1
DD Arrow, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

Then a group of PTs saw their chance and rushed in to put the Coupe De Grasse on Ise:

Allied Ships
PT PT-116
PT PT-117
PT PT-118
PT PT-120, Shell hits 6, and is sunk

Well maybe not...Try it after dark next time guys.

There were continuous small air to air battles as British, Commonweath and even American airplanes tangled with long range cap on their way to bomb the incoming Japanese ships. There were 7 of these attacks in all, I won't bore you with the details since hits were scored but nothing Japanese sank. There is one result worth seeing though:
Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, WHY WON"T YOU SINK!!

Two big air attacks caught Japanese convoys on the way in, the first was from the Fleet Air Arm:

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 7
Swordfish x 33
Hurricane II x 1


Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Taiyo Maru, on fire
AP Kyushu Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Yamura Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Otake Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AP Tsuyama Maru

And the second included just about everyone else:

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Swordfish x 18
Mohawk IV x 11
Hurricane II x 16
Kittyhawk I x 16
Wellington III x 6
Beaufort I x 7
Beaufort V-IX x 30
A-24 Dauntless x 9
B-25C Mitchell x 6
B-26B Marauder x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Tsunushima Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Kyushu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Tsuyama Maru, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Taiyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Otake Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Anzan Maru

A good sized chunk of the 21st Mixed Brigade went down with the ships.

The Japanese were also active, launching attacks on Royal Soveriegns group:

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 27
Ki-48 Lily x 3

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 3
Spitfire Vb x 11

Where they discovered that the British can use long range CAP too, a few planes did not make it home but no damage was done to the BB.

A small brave group also went after the British CVs where they found a ton of CAP waiting for them.

apanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 13
Ki-48 Lily x 3

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 47

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 20 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable

All I can say is its a good thing there were lots of Fulmars and thier quality is high.

The British are getting ready for a major push on Singapore by land, this turn they launched a prepatory bombardment:

Ground combat at Singapore

Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 26362 troops, 339 guns, 0 vehicles Not a lot of guns, but they are very big
Defending force 13813 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicle
Japanese ground losses:
436 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


In Timor the Japanese plastered Lautem airbase with 200 plane strikes from Kendari, and the Americans sent 100 B17s after the airstrip in Mamuere. The B17s did 31 points damage, which is not even close to shutting the place down but the did kill some planes on the ground. The Japanese turned Lautem into a mimic of the surface of the moon.

The Japanese at Keopang launched another deliberate attack odds are still 0 to 1 but causualties are starting to run in favor of the Japanese:

Japanese ground losses:
676 casualties reported
Guns lost 23
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
797 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 2


The British also stepped up air attacks in Burma but nothing really exciting happened there.

At the end of the day I think the blockade battle went to the British. As near as I can tell they sunk 8 out of 12 incoming transports before any could unload. They also took out a CA and 4 to 6 DDs and badly damaged the ISE which is unlikely to get away from the huge amount of allied air that is based one hex from her current location.

The British also suffered heavily but they started with more shipping and seem to have won or drawn all the battles. If they can maintian the blockade for a few more days it may be too late for the Japanese to recover, most of the defenders of Singapore are base force units that are heavily disrupted after being chased 180 miles from Malacca.

Timor continues to balance on a knife edge. It is pinning down forces that Blackwatch badly needs in Malaya. If he can win Timor quickly then he may be able to save Malaya for Japan which would be a major defeat for the Allies. On the other hand if he loses Timor and Malaya in 1942 then things will turn ugly very fast when the new American CVs show up in 1943.

While we wait for 1.5 to come out I plan to post another of my periodic looks at the loss rates on both sides. I am also working on a good write up of how I put the Malaya invasion together and what I did to try and achieve the suprise that was essential to the success so far.

Finally I will caution people not to assume that Malaya is won for the British. Blackwatch is very good, as I mentioned in a different thread he has actually beaten me in more battles than I have beaten him. This really is not over until the fat lady sings.

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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Naval Battle of Singapore

Post by Blackwatch_it »

No way to avoid the loss of Malaya with this kind of situation.
If I had five full strenght Zero sendais at the start of the battle it would have gone different.
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Tom Hunter
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RE: Naval Battle of Singapore

Post by Tom Hunter »

If you had the 5 zero Sendi they would have been somewhere else at the start of the battle. Even if you had reacted quickly it takes 2-3 days to get the planes into action in Malaya, and I started the invasion with 180 fighters in Sumatra. One of my conditions for launching the attack was to have enough fighter planes to take on a full strength KB. I think you would be in lots of trouble in Malaya no matter what.

But I agree that by now the air battles would be very severe and its really impossible to say what would happen. Its not suprising that I think I would be winning and you think I would not. Its a safe bet that things would not be the same.

For those following this AAR we are considering ending the game because of the Zero bug. Its likely that Zeros have been going to the CVLs that Blackwatch lost in February for a long time, I don't have Blackwatch's production number for Zeros yet but he has 188 on the map, 1415 have been shot down, and by now he should have produced between 2,800 and 3,500. So he is missing 1,200 to 1,900 aircraft.

Of course if those planes had existed in earlier months I would have shot down many of them and lost many of my own. He would have a pilot quality problem, or he would have groups in the rear in training, or both. But no matter how you look at it we would have a different game. For example he might have been able to gain control of the air over Timor and won the battle there by now, or he could be steaming the 4 CVs that came through Coral Sea intact towards Malaya. My CVs are just South of Timor bringing an American infantry division to Koepang and Blackwatch can't intercept because he has only 65 Zeros left on his carriers, though I am not sure he knows that my CVs are down there.

What it all adds up to is we think we are out of luck. This is a shame, because I doubt Blackwatch will ever let Sumatra build up again, and I really liked the idea of taking back Malaya in the fall of 42.
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kaiser73
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RE: Gamey?

Post by kaiser73 »

ORIGINAL: Blackwatch_it

I don't remember any of my opponent complaining about my level of play too. Kaiser73 is right about my mistakes in my game against him: it was my first WITP PEBM. I keep making mistakes in my games: I think that it would be gamey to make no mistakes at all in a game, in the real war everyone makes mistakes, a perfect play would not recreate history.

doesn't matter. i did far more mistakes than you in that game. i hope you didn't take my post as a critic but more like a compliment.
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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Gamey?

Post by Blackwatch_it »

sure I did Kaiser, don't worry[:)]
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Tom Hunter
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Tom Hunter »

This is a repeat of what I just posted on the main forum:

Well its official, we did some diging into the our game and Blackwatch is short by something in the neighborhood of 1,000 Zeros in September 1942.

He is also missing some number of Vals and Kates, maybe even hundreds.

The Americans are probabley missing some 4F4s and Dauntlesses, but not enough to matter. The bug may also be draining Devastators, but if that is true I don't care.

So if you have been following the AAR its over. Thanks to all who read and especially those who added comments.
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Blackwatch_it
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RE: Coral Sea battle Japanese side - Day 2

Post by Blackwatch_it »

ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter

This is a repeat of what I just posted on the main forum:

Well its official, we did some diging into the our game and Blackwatch is short by something in the neighborhood of 1,000 Zeros in September 1942.

He is also missing some number of Vals and Kates, maybe even hundreds.

The Americans are probabley missing some 4F4s and Dauntlesses, but not enough to matter. The bug may also be draining Devastators, but if that is true I don't care.

So if you have been following the AAR its over. Thanks to all who read and especially those who added comments.
Sad to say, but it's true, this is the end.
It was a very good game from my point of view so far. Tom is a very tought player and gave me more than one difficult time.
Thanks to everyone for following this AAR and thanks to Tom for the great time.
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