CHS - Extended Map Play

[Jim D Burns]

This is a game between Treespider and myself. I will be playing the Allies against Treespider’s Japanese and will be the main poster to the thread. Treespider will post his remarks as appropriate from time to time and will actively view this thread, so my remarks will be general in nature about ongoing events without going into a lot of detail about future operations.

However as this is my first venture into Andrew Brown and company’s massive modded CHS scenario, I felt some pre-game discussion about my musings wouldn’t be a problem as I haven’t really settled on my strategies yet. After much haggling and jockeying, we have settled on the below pre-game settings and rules:

We are playing scenario 155 with Andrew Browns Extended CHS map.

Turn 1 rules:

1. Only PH may be port attacked on turn 1. All the Pearl Harbor aircraft are to be stood down by the allied player on turn 1. It was a surprise attack and the ability of allied air to naval strike Japan on day 1 near pearl is ridiculous. This also helps if there is a bad escort roll for Japan by not crippling his pilot pool with heavy air losses to unrealistically high allied CAP.

2. Allies may not move/rebase any air units on turn 1, but may set missions/altitudes for all non-pearl air units.

3. Only existing allied task forces may be moved on turn 1. No new task forces may be formed.

4. Only Chinese land units may have orders plotted on turn 1. No other allied land units may plot orders.

5. Japan may conduct non-historic landings on turn 1 anywhere in the SRA, Philippines area and Eastern Malaya. All historical landings that took place in the first week or so (Guam, Wake, etc.) may also be conducted. Anywhere outside of these areas Japan may move no closer than 6 hexes of a destination base in preparation for landings on following turns. In all cases Japan will attempt to load and land complete formations (turn 1 limitation only). If unable to do so, the largest fragment possible will be landed and no additional landings will be assigned to that formation (i.e. only 1 part of a unit may be loaded and given a destination). This is to prevent a mass landing shotgun effect strategy by many small fragments due to the unstoppable warp move on turn 1 that allows deep penetration into allied territory with no ability to respond. In all cases the sole intent of this rule is to prevent gamey play which takes advantage of turn 1’s warp move.

Our house rules:

6. The Allies must form Task force Z on turn 2 and send it against the landings on Eastern Malaya. If no landings are taking place, the task force need not be formed.

7. Japan may never occupy the Middle East, Aden, or the Russian reinforcement city Skovorodino with land combat troops. They can bomb them to the stone age but no LCU’s in those city hexes which represent the off map production of those countries.

8. Chungking may only be entered by land combat units after all other Chinese cities except Tsuyung, Kunming, Changtu, Lanchow, Kunchang, Sining, Hami and Urumchi have been captured. Rule prevents knocking out Chinese reinforcement arrivals when a large part of the country still remains in allied hands. However Chungking must be garrisoned by at least 1 full Corps to keep this rule in effect.

9. No sub commando invasions. Cadre withdrawals or reinforcement/supply deliveries at friendly bases are fine, but no invasions by subs.

10. Units may not amphibiously invade from non-traditional invasion transport type ships (i.e. AP, APA, APD, LCI, LCM, LCT, LCVP, LSD, LST, etc.). Units may be transported to a friendly base via any available cargo type vessels, but invasions must be conducted via the previously mentioned vessel types, and other similar vessel types specifically designed for assaulting beaches themselves or with their accompanying landing craft intrinsic to the vessel. For definition purposes any landings at a non-friendly base/dot hex is considered an invasion, even if other friendly troops are already ashore. Additionally troops may only invade base and dot hexes, no landings at non-base/dot hexes are allowed.

11. No more than 4 allied ships may be placed in an ASW type task force. There is no such limit to escorts placed inside task forces of non-ASW type. This is an optional rule for Japan to be used or not at the player’s discretion. The allied player must adhere to this rule at all times though.

12. Japanese Manchurian garrison units may not leave Manchuria without first paying PP to switch to another HQ first (any HQ will do, no sense switching to another restricted HQ, the intent is simply to lower the garrison value in Manchuria if units decide to leave). Conversely Chinese units may not leave China (exception Indo-China invasion or historical divisions (22nd, 92nd, 200th, 49th, 55th, 93rd, 28th, 38th and 29th) sent to Burma in 1942) without first paying PP to switch to the appropriate allied HQ first. The appropriate HQ would be whichever HQ controls the area being entered. Chinese units may launch an attack into Indo-China (Vietnam) without having to switch HQ’s, but they may not leave indo-china except to re-enter China unless they switch HQ’s first. Units forced to leave Manchuria/China through combat results do not have to switch HQ’s, but they must re-enter their commands territory at the earliest opportunity.

The Game Settings:

Realism options:

Both sub doctrines off
FOW on
Advanced Weather on
Allied Damage control on
Historical 1st turn off
Player upgrades on
December 7th surprise on
Variable set up off
Fixed reinforcements

Game Options:

Combat reports on
Auto Sub ops off
Task force move radius on
Plane move radius on
Expand facilities on
Automatic upgrades off
Accept air and ground replacements on
1 day turns

Preferences:

Show Combat Animations on
Show Combat summaries on
Show Clouds on

[Jim D Burns]

Pre-game musings.

India

Looking over the map of India shows many changes to the standard WitP map. The main thing that jumps out at me is that there is pretty much nothing but rail lines throughout the country, so there will be lots of fast maneuvering going on if the Japanese manage to break into the interior of the country. So holding him at the border/coast will be vital. Also a new restricted HQ controls most ground forces in India/Burma now, the new India Command (IC). This is good news for two reasons in my mind.

First I can now have two command HQs targeting two separate bases in the region as their objectives, giving ground combat units a considerable boost in combat as the command HQs PP go up. So for example having one target Mandalay and the other Myitkyina should help in defending northern Burma in the opening months of the war quite a bit. More than likely Japan will have only 1 of those two bases prepped for by his troops, so I’ll be able to force him to stop and build up some PP towards the non prepped base for a month or more if I manage to keep my units in fighting trim.

Second I can try to stockpile 25k plus of supplies at two separate bases as well. This should greatly enhance my early abilities to try and resist the Japanese onslaught by getting needed supplies forward via the auto rail system much quicker now as well. It should also cut down on the need to sail supply into eastern India and save on sunken transports from Japanese land based air (LBA) once he takes Rangoon.

IC has 12 brigades and 4 divisions at start. 5 of the brigades start in Burma and will remain there. IC receives 1 additional brigade about 4 months into the war (I believe Japan needs to attack early to make an India campaign work in the overall scheme), so that leaves 8 brigades and 4 divisions (a fleshed out assault value (AV) of 2532) to defend India with in addition to any Southeast Asia (SEAC) units I may use. With a total of 10 coastal bases to defend that stretches India’s strength pretty thin. Not to mention the fact it will take more than a year to fully flesh out the 4 divisions. Each starts at approximately brigade strength.

IC also has 2 tank brigades and 2 (very under strength) tank regiments for a total AV of 125 combined between them at start. I doubt they’ll be able to get fleshed out within the first 4 months as Grant tanks aren’t even available yet and the other tank types trickle in in very low numbers, so they might be worth a combined total of 200 AV by the end of 4 months assuming no combat.

SEAC has a total of 15 brigades on map at start, 1 of which starts in India, 2 in Burma and the rest in Malaya. In addition they get 4 Chindit Brigades, 2 divisions and 1 tank brigade within the first 4 months of the war (total AV of 1570 for India). SEAC’s 3rd Carabineers rgt will be worth perhaps 25 AV once it gets fleshed out.

So assuming I can’t evacuate anyone from Malaya or Burma, I’ll have about 3500-4000 AV (depends how fleshed out the Indian divisions are) total in India not including garrisons and other minor AV troop types. Due to the fact I will have units spread pretty thin, He can probably successfully land at any 1 base with about 1-2 divisions. The key then will be the size and positioning of my reserves. I’ll create 1 or 2 large reserve groups and station them inland to react to potential threats. Northeast India will get the lion’s share of these units of course due to the threat to my industry there.

Burma

With a total of 7 brigades in Burma, it’s tough if not impossible to stop the Japanese. I’ll bring as many Chinese divisions as I can to Burma, but in the end it all depends on Malaya. Once those Japanese troops are freed up, Burma is just a matter of time. Prior to that I can delay whatever he sends but once those large divisions of his get headed north it’s a fighting withdrawal back to India. Preserving as much combat power as I can while delaying his advance will become my main objective in Burma once Malaya falls.

In my mind the new map is both a blessing and a curse in Burma. In standard WitP there is no doubt in my mind to flee at the first sign of Japanese troops headed my way to make a stand at Akyab and Mandalay. But the new map makes holding at Moulmein look very possible and will probably be easy until Malaya falls. But after Malaya falls the threat of a naval landing at Rangoon becomes a very serious one.

This means I’ll need at least 2 if not 3 of my brigades to defend Rangoon then, thus weakening Moulmein considerably. In the end I guess it depends on China and how much support they will have on scene by the time he attacks as to whether I’ll try to hold or run back to Mandalay. I wish I had played this map before so I’d have some advance idea of what to expect, but uncertainty will definitely spice up the Burma campaign for me.

Of course if I were Japan I probably wouldn’t even bother marching overland anymore as my troops would be stuck on the jungle trails for months allowing allied air to train up. I suspect my opponent may think the same thing and perhaps a naval landing at 1 or both bases is what I’ll be facing.

[Jim D Burns]

Malaya

I suspect Malaya is going to be a total disaster. With a rail line cutting across the peninsula, there is no sense at all trying to hold in the north. My strategy here will totally depend on where he lands and how much he lands with. If he lands in the south then I’ll probably head north and create a strongpoint from which I’ll evacuate as much strength as I can. If he lands in the north then I’ll probably be forced to flee back to Singapore immediately and try to hold out as long as possible there.

My experience against a human opponent has shown it is very difficult to try and pull anything out of Singapore. And with the massive number of Nell bombers in this mod, I suspect any shipping as far south as Soerabaja will probably be swimming with the fishes soon anyway.

SRA

My limited experience with Treespider thus far via email exchanges and reading his other AAR here, tells me he’s probably an aggressive style player. So as in Judo I intend to try and turn his aggression against him.

If he grabs oil early then I’ll hit it with everything including the kitchen sink as often as possible. Casualties be damned, the junk I start with gets slaughtered eventually anyway, so I might as well spend it trying to hurt him long term via the oil damage instead of hoping to slip past his zeros later and sink a few ships when the unstoppable Java landings commence.

If he over-reaches with some landings then surface forces and air will try to make him pay. But in the end the SRA is a goner. I’ll try to pull a few unneeded units out for backwater bases, but I don’t want to risk a lot of shipping loitering around here unless he proves to be less aggressive in the SRA than I suspect he’ll be.

China

Wow what a difference. China has basically been split into two separate theatres with the new map. My unit deployments in the North (Sian, Honan, Yenen, etc.) are pathetic and I’ll probably have no choice but to go on the defensive there. The South on the other hand has some possibility. If I can get my units out of the open countryside before he gets rear area reinforcements up, then a forward defense (moving to his bases and digging in) is a real possibility. But everything depends on how fast I can get my units organized.

I don’t hold a lot of hope for China, but if I can pull off a few surprises early on I might be able to bog him down in the South while conducting a fighting withdraw into the Northern mountains.


Philippines

As in the SRA, everything depends on how my opponent attacks me here. In my current standard PBEM game, my opponent came heavy and very nearly caught me off guard in the first week or so. I was barely able to fallback to Manila in time and was reduced to 1 hex (Manila) by January. That happened because I tried to defend forward; I don’t think I’ll try that again, so it’s bunker tactics in the PI’s. Very few units outside of 1 or 2 hexes from Manila, the rest digging in as fast as possible in the city and Clark hexes.

Australia

I fully expect Treespider to take Darwin eventually. It’s simply too easy with this map, so trying to stop him might cause me more casualties than I want. Instead I’ll try to build a roadblock of units south at Daly Waters that can counter-attack if he fails to defend Darwin once he has taken it. That will hopefully cause him to keep more assets in Australia than he otherwise would want to without my having to strip the east coast too much early on in the game. Later on I can retake it at my leisure.

Northeast Australia is also very different then in standard WitP. With both Cooktown and Cairns now within B-17 range of Port Moresby, a Japanese capture of that base is not as bad as it was in the standard scenario. So building up those bases to support bombers will be my main priority.


Southwest Pacific

Port Moresby itself has a much weaker garrison than the standard game, so I will probably not try to hold it if he comes early. If I manage to keep it through August or so, I’ll switch to increasing the airfield, but I’m not going to build up the base size until I have a fighting chance at keeping it. So digging in is the main action here.

I’ll also only use fast transport task forces of DD’s to supply the base barely keeping it at minimal levels of supply. No sense providing him with thousands of tons of bombs to sink my ships with.


South Pacific

Another area he can take if he wants. Units are scarce and supplies low. Build up on the west coast will be the plan here. Once I have enough units, planes, etc. to hold an isolated base with, then I’ll bring them out and dump them on their base all at once. A staggered piecemeal buildup in the South Pacific only sets myself up for potential disaster by handing him piles of victory points when units surrender.

Central Pacific

After the steel rain finally lets up, getting my patrols up and running will be the main priority. Too many times I’ve seen eager allied players send transports to Pearl only to have the KB reappear and sink everything mid-ocean. Once I’ve got my eyes in the sky, locating KB will dictate what I do in the Central Pacific and when I do it. I have enough force and air to hold what I have, just as long as I can get things where they need to be intact.

North Pacific

Not a lot to be gained by taking these bases for Japan, so I doubt I’ll commit more than what is already earmarked for the North Pacific here. Defend and build, that’s the mission.

West Coast

A lot of stuff starts assigned to the West Coast that needs to eventually get taken to sea. I’ll need to spend some considerable time deciding what to keep for defense (I never leave any coastal base undefended here), and what to send out to the Pacific (PP’s are scarce). There is simply too much I don’t know about what I have and where I have it yet for me to know what to do on the West Coast, so I’ll take it slow and make decisions as things become apparent to me.

US CV’s

Heh, wouldn’t you like to know Treespider? LOL

So these are my musings after perusing the map for a few days. Treespider is working on his first turn and we should be underway by this weekend. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Jim

[witpqs]

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the musings. Very educational. I know this is an AAR, but can you help me understand something you wrote?

"First I can now have two command HQs targeting two separate bases in the region as their objectives, giving ground combat units a considerable boost in combat as the command HQs PP go up."

I thought HQ's prepped for the base they were in, then had a positive effect out to their Command Radius. What you wrote is a different take on it, and I may have been proceeding under the wrong impression.

[Lemurs!]

Jim,

I enjoyed your comments on the ground units and the map.
We put a good deal of effort into adjusting both sides ground forces
in our mod and i have been surprised how few players even comment on these changes.

I guess the new ships and planes are more 'chrome'.

Hope you enjoy the scenario.

Mike

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the musings. Very educational. I know this is an AAR, but can you help me understand something you wrote?

"First I can now have two command HQs targeting two separate bases in the region as their objectives, giving ground combat units a considerable boost in combat as the command HQs PP go up."

I thought HQ's prepped for the base they were in, then had a positive effect out to their Command Radius. What you wrote is a different take on it, and I may have been proceeding under the wrong impression.

Do a search (ctrl-f) in the E book for Planning points. On page 150 you'll see this sentence in the relevant paragraph:

"There is also value obtained if a nearby HQ has Planning points accumulated towards the objective when combat takes place there."

Command HQ's are generally the only ones with ranges greater than 1, so having two in the area is a boon in my opinion.

Command HQ's also give radius bonuses, but the bonus depends if a corp HQ is present or not. Page 143 discusses HQ bonuses, but it is not a well written passage. I think the corp bonus is 10% + whatever command bonus (up to another 90%) based on the command HQ's leader if it is within twice its range to the Corp HQ. Otherwise a command HQ can add a bonus like a corp HQ (i.e. only within its normal range) just 10%. So you need 2 HQ's working in tandem to get the big bonus via a radius boost.

Jim

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Jim D Burns
Do a search (ctrl-f) in the E book for Planning points. On page 150 you'll see this sentence in the relevant paragraph:

"There is also value obtained if a nearby HQ has Planning points accumulated towards the objective when combat takes place there."

Command HQ's are generally the only ones with ranges greater than 1, so having two in the area is a boon in my opinion.

HQ's also give radius bonuses, but the radius used depends if a corp HQ is present I believe. Page 143 discusses HQ bonuses, but it is not a well written passage. I think the corp bonus is 10% + whatever command bonus (up to another 90%) based on the command HQ's leader if it is within twice its rang to the Corp HQ. Otherwise a command HQ can add a bonus like a corp HQ (i.e. only within its normal range) up to 90% depending on leadership.

Jim

Thanks, Jim. I've read the manual cover to cover more than once, and I guess I just missed that. Sorry if I made you look it up!

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Thanks, Jim. I've read the manual cover to cover more than once, and I guess I just missed that. Sorry if I made you look it up!

No problem, re-read what I said above. I've edited it twice now as I tried to understand the rule so I've learned something too.

Jim

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: Lemurs!

Jim,

I enjoyed your comments on the ground units and the map.
We put a good deal of effort into adjusting both sides ground forces
in our mod and i have been surprised how few players even comment on these changes.

I guess the new ships and planes are more 'chrome'.

Hope you enjoy the scenario.

Mike

No problem thanks for the massive amount of time you guys have spent on this.

Chrome? [&:][X(] I think not. I simply have had no time to sink my teeth into the massive change to ships yet. That'll have to wait till I start playing, it's too big of a change for me to even remotely be aware of the changes in just the few days I've had the mod installed.

Jim

[treespider]

After working on this for around 8 hours or so I needed to take a break. I've currently completed orders for the South Pacific, Central Pacific, the Phillipines and a portion of SE Asia. Still have Hong Kong, China, Manchuria and the Home Islands to complete, but these areas should go fairly quickly. I'm not planning anything earth shattering for Jim. My other PBEM game has been a tremendous learning tool for me and hopefully I will not commit the same errors twice. I'm trying to be a little more fastidious in my preparation for this game as Jim seems to have a thorough understanding of the game. I'd still appreciate if Matrix provided a command staff to go along with the game, perhaps they could entice some leprachauns they might fit in the packaging.

[CapAndGown]

Nice summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the allied position. I shall be following this campaign with interest.

[treespider]

"Cry 'Havoc', and let slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial"

The turn is being transmitted as I type. As I mentioned in an earlier post there will probably be nothing unusual or out of the mainstream I would think.

Concerning IJ Aircraft production...

I converted the Nates at Harbin and Gumma to Oscars.
I converted the Claudes at Nagaoka to Zero's
Expanded Zero production at Ise (ouch)
Converted the Hitachi factory at Tokyo to Nissan (Adv Mitsubishi)
Converted the Thora to Topsy
And expanded the Kate's at Hiroshima.

Hopefully these changes don't sink me.

Treespider

PS For insight on IJ Strategy feel free to PM me.

[Jim D Burns]

12-7-41

We begin our game and I am delighted to see the allied draw first blood. In the narrow passage between Borneo and the Celebes a Japanese sub fires two torpedoes and misses and is subsequently sunk by a USN destroyer squadron on route to their Asiatic fleet bases in the PI’s. A bit odd to see this as the first action of the war, but at least the sub did fire first.

80 Nells attacked Singapore without escort. The brave RAF and RAAF buffalo pilots rose up to defend their base. Although no kills were scored several Nells were damaged and the attacks bomb run was seriously disrupted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore, at 22,51

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 80

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 18 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
20 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
19 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
5 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
10 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
4 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
2 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
2 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet


Japanese baby flat tops conducted air raids on both Manado and Cagayan. While not a lot of damage was done, it did prevent the B-17’s from performing any naval attacks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manado, at 39,67

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 13
B5N2 Kate x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Cagayan, at 43,59

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 12
D3A2 Val x 12

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet


Clark field was struck hard twice and effectively closed down for the foreseeable future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66
G3M Nell x 48
G4M1 Betty x 46

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 3
P-35A x 3
P-40B Tomahawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 8 destroyed
P-35A: 8 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 6 destroyed
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 33
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 128

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
18 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
11 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
15 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
8 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
7 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
10 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
8 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
2 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 24

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 46

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
6 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet


With no air opposition over Pearl Harbor, Japan’s surprise was complete. Almost 100 planes were destroyed on the ground and the airfield was nearly obliterated. The USN Pacific fleet sustained very heavy damage though none of the battleships were sunk. Allied command expects follow up attacks to occur over the next several days.

With a lack of air cover to oppose them, Japan’s carrier planes suffered exceptionally light casualties with only about a dozen reported shot down.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 114,72

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
D3A2 Val x 137
B5N2 Kate x 157

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
D3A2 Val: 6 destroyed, 55 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 31 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 28 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 16 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 4 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 9 destroyed
B-18A Bolo: 7 destroyed
C-47 Dakota: 1 destroyed
P-26A: 3 destroyed
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 3 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 5 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB California, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Utah, Bomb hits 15, on fire, heavy damage
AVD Hulbert, Bomb hits 2, on fire
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 16, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 1
AVD Swan, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DMS Zane, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Selfridge, Bomb hits 1
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 9
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DMS Trevor, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Conyngham, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Farragut, Bomb hits 1
DD Phelps, Torpedo hits 1
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1


Allied ground losses:
147 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 49
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 320

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x A6M2 Zero attacking at 100 feet
18 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 9000 feet
15 x A6M2 Zero attacking at 100 feet
23 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
28 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 9000 feet
19 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
21 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 9000 feet
18 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
20 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
27 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
29 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 9000 feet
26 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
28 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 9000 feet


Elsewhere Japans planes wreaked havoc on allied shipping at sea near China. Dozens of ships were hit though only the PG Wake and 2 AK’s were sunk outright. Many of the damaged ships will not make port however, as the damage they sustained was severe.

In Luzon, Japan has commenced landings in the northern Philippines at Vigan, Appari and Bataan Island. Additionally landings are occurring at Naga in southern Luzon as well.

On Mindanao, Japanese forces have landed at Dadjangas. Additionally fleet units have bombarded Davao. Spotter planes have sighted troop transports 120 miles southeast and landings are expected to occur here on the 8th.





I am surprised to see so few sinkings on turn 1 (1 Jap sub, 1 allied PG and 2 allied AK’s reported), but with the damage done to shipping in and around China, the next turn or two could see dozens of AK’s sunk from massive floatation problems. I generally don’t like to scuttle a ship unless it’s worth well over 50 points. The amount of victory points saved is negligible and every once in a while one of those low value lost causes actually makes port.

CHS has greatly increased the number of ships the allies begin the game with in and around the PI and the SRA (and elsewhere too of course). I created well over 300 task forces during my 8 December orders phase. I expect the carnage in the SRA and PI area will be very hard to watch over my next few turns. I find myself wondering if the added victory points Japan is going to score due to all this new shipping will end up skewing the games auto victory.

As things start to develop in earnest I will begin breaking my reports down by theatres of operation, but for now I’ll simply focus on the highlights.

I made a bonehead mistake while plotting task force orders on 12-7-41. The BC Repulse and 2 DD’s start the game at sea 4 hexes south of Singapore. Trying to be sly I re-routed their default move path west of the island below Singapore (total move path was still only 4 hexes to Singapore), in an attempt to dodge any subs Treespider may have placed in their path. The task force had Singapore set as its base and retirement allowed orders with a destination 2 hexes away leaving an additional 2 hexes to go to get to Singapore.

For some reason the task force did not return to Singapore, I found it 2 hexes south at the start of my Dec 8th plot phase. So in an attempt to follow the intent of our house rules, I still created Force Z with Prince of Whales, CL Danae and 4 DD’s at Singapore. Both force Z and BC Repulse have been plotted to move to the landings in NE Malaya, thus allowing Japan to get a shot at sinking them as intended. There will simply be 2 task forces thus penalizing me (for my bonehead move change) by reducing overall AAA.

I have no idea why Repulse failed to return to base at Singapore, their move rate is 5/2 it should not have been an issue as the total move was only 4 hexes.

Jim

[CapAndGown]

On turn one movement only occurs during the day phase, not the night phase, so your ships only move about half a far as normal (unless you are the Japs, of course).

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

On turn one movement only occurs during the day phase, not the night phase, so your ships only move about half a far as normal (unless you are the Japs, of course).

D'oh! Well that explains it. Thanks Cap.

Jim

[Lemurs!]

That was a really odd Pearl Harbor result.
Usually as Japan I lose twice as many aircraft but i also destroy almost twice s many.

Not sure if your result is good or bad. Very extreme.

Mike

[treespider]

ORIGINAL: Lemurs!

That was a really odd Pearl Harbor result.
Usually as Japan I lose twice as many aircraft but i also destroy almost twice s many.

Not sure if your result is good or bad. Very extreme.

Mike

My Aircraft settings were as follows:

Akagi & Kaga
Zero - AF Atk - 100ft
Val - Pt Atk - 10000ft
Kate - Pt Atk - 9000ft

Soryu & Hiryu
Zero - Sweep - 15000ft
Val - Pt Atk - 10000ft
Kate - Pt Atk - 9000ft

Shokaku & Zuikaku
Zero - Escort - 15000ft
Val - Pt Atk - 10000ft
Kate - Pt Atk - 9000ft

I normally play a December 8th start so I don't believe I altered the initial settings, perhaps in hindsight I could have changed the sweeps and escort missions to something else as all of his AC at Pearl were stood down per our house rule.

[treespider]

Japanese baby flat tops conducted air raids on both Manado and Cagayan. While not a lot of damage was done, it did prevent the B-17’s from performing any naval attacks.

Don't believe everything the Allied propagandists try to tell you....

________________________________

Day Air attack on TF at 40,65

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 5

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 8000 feet
_______________________________________

I was hoping for a relatively unevently first day instead I am treated to I-123 getting sunk and CL Nagara being put out of action for a couple months. In addition his P-40's out of Manilla were fairly active strafing my invasion fleets.

_______________________________________

Day Air attack on TF at 44,48


Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9


Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Akashi Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
113 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P-40E Warhawk bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Naga at 44,53


Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Jinshu Maru
AP Kizan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P-40E Warhawk bombing at 2000 feet
9 x P-40E Warhawk bombing at 2000 feet

___________________________________

C'est la Guerre.

[Jim D Burns]

12-8-41

Not a lot new this turn, Japan continues to build up strength at all their landing points. In addition troops storm ashore at both Davao and Cagayan. Looks like he’s going to overrun the island pretty quickly there.

The Japanese carrier fleet is seen fleeing West towards Midway after their cowardly suprise attack on December 7th left a large chunk of the Pacific fleet in flaming ruins. Allied high command speculates they will probably return within the week. All over Hawaii preperations are being made to repel the expected air attacks.

An ASW attack on a previously spotted sub results in it sinking.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 24,50

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 2

Allied Ships
MSW Maryborough
MSW Goulburn
MSW Burnie
MSW Bendigo



Japanese air attacks on Singapore (again unescorted), Cagayan and Manila all fail to do any real serious damage. Warhawks defending Cagayan catch the Japanese unawares and manage to shoot down 5 Val dive bombers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 22,51

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 15

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Cagayan , at 43,59

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 12
D3A2 Val x 12

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 damaged

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
G4M1 Betty x 51
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 20000 feet
13 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 16000 feet
9 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 16000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 16000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
C5M Babs x 1

No Japanese losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 19

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
6 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet

There was one bright spot for the allied ground forces this turn. Our troops managed to repulse Japanese troops attempting to break out of their beachhead at Khota Bharu.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kota Bharu

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9504 troops, 92 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 5066 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)


Japanese ground losses:
331 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Allied ground losses:
251 casualties reported
Guns lost 5


In a test of the new river crossing rule, Japanese troops storm into Hong Kong against fort level 9 troops and manage to reduce the fortifications to level 6. The shock attack caused heavy casualties on both sides but is far from a game stopper looking at these results.
-----------------------------
Ground combat at Hong Kong

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 36622 troops, 406 guns, 17 vehicles

Defending force 16263 troops, 121 guns, 2 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 8

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 6


Japanese ground losses:
539 casualties reported
Guns lost 19

Allied ground losses:
547 casualties reported
Guns lost 21



All over the SRA and Philippines Sea, allied shipping gets pounded by the air and sea. Several PT boat task forces are surprised off the coast of Lingayen and 6 boats are sunk. I am so used to Guam falling on turn 1, I never looked at it during my plotting for 8 December, consequently the allies lose a 12,000 ton AO and an MSW to auto scuttling that they might have been able to save. Grrrrr.[:@][:@][:@]

With transport ships like these, who needs CA’s and BB’s?

Jim

[Captain Cruft]

I like it (AP Manoora that is) and hadn't noticed it in my CHS Allies game, d'oh! The only problem is, with exp ratings like that it's not going to be of any use whatsoever in combat.