PAW 1941-45 larryfulkerson (Axis) vs warspite1 (Allies)

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Looks like we have a bug. The Dutch cruiser squadron I said I could only move two hexes, is invulnerable to attack. Larry has hit it numerous times this turn - and on previous turns - to absolutely nil effect.

I will move it out of the way and we can ignore it going forwards. EDIT: I've put the unit on the river and it can be left alone by both sides.


I think I've found why I could not move it much at sea! The program thinks these 3 light cruisers and 4 destroyers are some kind of river barge or something....

Surely you can take advantage of this and other bugs? After all, who knows what bugs your opponent is exploiting. (I'm not reading his AAR.)

warspite1

Lolzer (as the kool kidz say) [:)]

To be fair:

a) Larry has already lost a few surface ships (DD I think) and aircraft before either of us knew it was a bug
b) It would be a rather unkind act against an honourable opponent

But yes, I wish I was more Machiavellian - but I am the righteous Allies and playing against the evil Axis after all [:D]

Who cares? Set your invincible ships to Ramming Speed and seek out KB. [:D]

[MikeJ19]

Warspite,

I'm really enjoying your AAR. Thanks and good luck!

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

The Japanese have almost completed the conquest of the NEI. Java is about to fall - my blocking unit was simply brushed aside and, because of the paucity of Allied units, further troops were simply able to walk into my ports. Jakarta is now surrounded.

Note the engagements - nos 12 and 35 - are the attacks on the bugged ships and these cost the Japanese 15 aircraft.

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

In Malaya the end game has almost been reached. The Indian forces are cut-off and the numbers are just overwhelming. With experience of the scenario I would not have tried to defend the north but simply packed the area around Singapore - but I had no idea of Japanese capability. The only positive in all this is at least the Japanese have taken some losses in Thailand/Malaya.

Note: The sea battles mentioned in the table below (battles 2 and 8) refer to the destruction of the old E-class cruiser, HMS Enterprise, that was unable to get away with the rest of the fleet. She survived an initial encounter with 5 patrolling destroyer escorts (sinking 3) but, having been found, she was then sunk by the battleship Yamashiro.

Battle 1 was gun emplacements at Singapore sinking another 2 destroyer escorts that got too close.

Battle 5 was an airfield attack in Burma.

Not sure about Japanese para capability - I know they used them in the NEI and Larry has dropped battalion strength units so may have been feasible.

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

Nothing to show in the PI. The remaining units north of Manilla are dug-in and just waiting for the slaughter to visit them. There are a handful of units on Mindanao waiting for similar.

Before looking at the Chinese I will take a look at the reinforcements to see what sort of things the Allies are getting now.

Commonwealth
New Zealand
First off the HQ of the 3rd New Zealand Division turns up on Vanua Levu in the Fijian Islands along with the 8th Infantry Brigade.

The 14th Brigade is in Delhi along with the divisional artillery and engineers.

India
A battalion of the 11th Indian Division also appears in the Indian capital.

Australia
The 7th Australian Division turn up in Melbourne with two brigades, and artillery brigade and an engineer battalion

United Kingdom
An infantry brigade appears in Delhi and a floatplane unit in Calcutta

United States
An engineer battalion appears in San Francisco along with the 6th Marine Defence Battalion of the 1st Amphibious Corps
The 6th US Army HQ appears in Hawaii

The 42nd Bomber Group from 13th Air Force arrives on Hawaii

The anti-aircraft cruiser San Diego and Destroyer Division 4 appear at Pearl.

Some civil defence units appear in San Francisco

China

A Chinese Division appears in Chungking
Three partisan units appear in Lingling

A Communist Division appears at the western edge of the map

[Lobster]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch



Surely you can take advantage of this and other bugs? After all, who knows what bugs your opponent is exploiting. (I'm not reading his AAR.)

warspite1

Lolzer (as the kool kidz say) [:)]

To be fair:

a) Larry has already lost a few surface ships (DD I think) and aircraft before either of us knew it was a bug
b) It would be a rather unkind act against an honourable opponent

But yes, I wish I was more Machiavellian - but I am the righteous Allies and playing against the evil Axis after all [:D]

Who cares? Set your invincible ships to Ramming Speed and seek out KB. [:D]

That sure looks like a riverine icon to me. It should be light naval. Dollars to donuts if you changed the icon to the proper one the problem would be solved.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

warspite1

Lolzer (as the kool kidz say) [:)]

To be fair:

a) Larry has already lost a few surface ships (DD I think) and aircraft before either of us knew it was a bug
b) It would be a rather unkind act against an honourable opponent

But yes, I wish I was more Machiavellian - but I am the righteous Allies and playing against the evil Axis after all [:D]

Who cares? Set your invincible ships to Ramming Speed and seek out KB. [:D]

That sure looks like a riverine icon to me. It should be light naval. Dollars to donuts if you changed the icon to the proper one the problem would be solved.

warspite1

How would one go about that?

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

China remains a total and utter mess. The Japanese don't even need to attack. I lost about 5 units evaporated just trying to retreat and even more were engaged - and some of those have failed to move and so will be gobbled up next turn. As said, the Chinese can't retreat fast enough.

But then I noticed another paratrooper.....

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

I move a battalion to the undefended island of Tasmania - not even a Civil Defence unit on the island [8|]. The battalion survives three air attacks and lands in Hobart.

I try and move HMNZS Leander to the safety of San Diego to operate with the USN. One has to be careful with movement. The computer decided to send her directly north - straight into the teeth of Japanese land-based air. After the first attack I was able to divert her southeast and she then survived a second attack. She ran out of fuel before reaching San Diego but she is almost there....

Lexington is back in San Diego. She doesn't appear to be damaged (despite what was indicated in the previous combat report) but she is missing her bomber group and status is 'Light Green'. I will keep her in port until she recovers both. Both recent naval additions (mentioned above) are sent to the West Coast too.

And that pretty much completes my turn. I send fighters and bombers to Burma, fighters to Imphal but there appears little I can do. I really need to ensure I see the whole playback - missing that paratrooper is not clever. Plus I need to know where his main carrier force is. The sooner Lexington gets her bombers back the better - the Japanese land-based air are deadly too.

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

[&:] I've sent the turn back but realised I never provided the combat stats for Larry's turn 5 for China, Australia and the PI

Australia + Southwest Pacific

Combat 3 was an attack I think against Darwin - it was certainly one of the few airbases the Aussies have anyway. The Japanese came away with marginally more losses so that's good.

Combat 9 was an attack on the light cruiser HMNZS Leander which saw the ship unscathed and the Japanese lose two aircraft

Combat 29 was the Japanese finished off French resistance in New Caledonia for no loss.

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

China

China is less about the numbers - though they are bad enough and remember are actually much worse because there was a lot of RBC losses too - but more about the fact that so many Chinese are trapped or about to be and so these numbers will increase markedly over time. I can't recall what the massive air battle was (Combat 6) as the Chinese don't have that many aircraft... When I get the turn back I will have a look if the numbers are still available. It was a good combat whatever it was.

[warspite1]

Turn 5
4th January 1942

Philippines and Pacific

The numbers say it all. Despite the bulk of Allied units being concentrated in Manila and environs, the Japanese really haven't had to work to secure the islands.

[Hyding]

warspite, The Japanese started late with airborne forces but made a great effort to create them after Germany's use of them in 1940.

Japan conducted airdrops in December 1941 and in January and February 1942 . The Japanese Army had an airborne division by the start of the war but it consisted only six regiments but they were only battalion sized. One dropped in Sumatra. It was supposed to be supported by another regiment but the other had lost all of its equipment when its transport was sunk enroute to its launch site.

The Japanese Navy made battalion or slightly larger drops (600-850) men in three locations in Borneo and Timor with another airborne unit conducting an amphibious landing in support of one of these.

There were planned airborne operations in Burma but these were not carried out. I'm not aware of any more Japanese drops until the ones against US airfields in the Philippines in 1944 that drop was also of less than 1000 men and less than half of them penetrated US defenses to reach the targets.

There were significant airborne forces available to the Japanese they actually used less than half the trained units available to them. They actually used their airborne units in small packets but they did not have to. There were limited transport but they planned,practiced and did draw on bombers to supplement those assets.

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

Once again I mis-judged massively the amount of time taken to watch the replay and only see the first 4,000 or so moves.... I allowed 30 mins so it looks like one needs about an hour or more.... Ho hum.

We start with China this time and a much lighter turn, but as before, this is only because the Japanese are positioning themselves for slaughtering those units that can't get away. The issue here is where do the Chinese actually run to? The disparity in forces - or at least force capability is enormous.

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

Combat 1 - The turn opens with an attack by the RAF against what turns out to be a large naval task force that includes Kaga and Akagi. I really wish there was more control of aircraft in this game. Unsurprisingly the British lose 20 aircraft for no loss inflicted on the enemy.

Combat 7 - Note this is missing from the map below but was the sinking of two Japanese subchasers at the hands of the guns of Singapore.

Combat 33 and 40 - There are two attacks against the Australian battalion from the 27th Brigade. The Aussies are forced back further from Jambi City.

Combat 36 - Jakarta falls.

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

Combat 5 - A Japanese destroyer squadron sinks two Australian sub chasers in return for light damage.

Combat 6 - Very disappointingly a squadron of 13 RAAF Beauforts not only fail to hit the damaged destroyers squadron but then lose two aircraft in the attack. There was no fighter cover for the IJN vessels.

Combat 13 - A land-based air attack on Darwin sees four RAAF bombers destroyed for no loss.

Combat 14 - things go a little better off Cairns as 17 Japanese fighters are lost attacking an RAAF airfield - only one float plane is lost in the attack.

Combat 38,44 + 45 - all remaining resistance on New Caledonia is ended for little loss to the Japanese.

[MikeJ19]

Rob,

Interesting stuff. It amazes me that amount of detail available in the game.

Good luck,

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

Steady reduction of Commonwealth resistance in Malaya continues. This had been the one bright spot for me (aside from the destruction of three brigades last turn in the Pacific) as I was inflicting losses on the Japanese army. However those losses have much reduced now and its almost over for the Indians in the north who can no longer move.

The three Indian Ocean combats make me repeat my mantra for more control of aircraft - or better decision making by the computer. My aircraft attack a Japanese fleet and get badly mauled for little return. What is especially grating is that a float plane squadron is almost annihilated and left with just two aircraft after an attack....but then the computer decides to send out those two remaining aircraft (why?) just to get evaporated [:@]

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

On Luzon the American/Filipino forces are reduced to two areas north and northeast of Manila. It's likely they will be destroyed next turn.

A bit of success comes courtesy of the newly arrived brigade and HQ from the 3rd New Zealand Division which manages to fend off an invasion attempt.

A land based air attack on the PI cost the Japanese a couple of bombers for no return. With the sheer number of aircraft stationed on Hawaii - and the bombers not having fighter escort, that was a poor return frankly....

[warspite1]

Turn 6
11th January 1942

Reinforcements

I get some more reinforcements this turn, the most notable of which are some US bombers to reinforce Hawaii and India and three battleships - Idaho, Mississippi and New Mexico.


Note the unit missing off the table is a Malay brigade that arrived in India.