Lunacy in the Pacific: Mogami vs. Oleg

[Oleg Mastruko]

24 Jan. He finally decided to move on to Batavia, and it won't hold out much longer. He had tons of troops on Java for some time - the reason why he postponed the attack on Batavia, I believe, is that he captures more resources and oil - unfortunatelly no way for me to turn the production OFF in a base I expect will be soon captured.

Elsewhere, except for some small actions in China things are eerily quiet.

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Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 70911 troops, 718 guns, 135 vehicles

Defending force 20211 troops, 218 guns, 15 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1571 casualties reported
Guns lost 46

Allied ground losses:
993 casualties reported
Guns lost 49
Vehicles lost 1

[Admiral DadMan]

ORIGINAL: Mogami

Hi, I played 40 games as Allies in UV and I think I lost around 6 but in almost all of them I lost the early USN CV. (Dadman sank them everytime but the Allies still won)

HAHAHA! I seem to have a knack for carrier tactics, but I blow in almost every other facet.

[Oleg Mastruko]

I am pleased by how I am doing in this game so far. I am disappointed in that I seem to be the slowest of all three Allied players in lunacy series. Nomad and Tom are already deep into February, I am still stuck in January. I consider myself to be fast player so I don't know why it is so...

I actually wanted to be Allied "ice breaker" ie the player who will get Mog's surprises first. Being the last of all three players may have it's advantages too, of course, but I think I can anticipate Mog's moves even before I read about them in other player's AARs [:D] Never mind, three lunacy games are somewhat different already, and will diverge even more thru time...

Oleg

[Oleg Mastruko]

Time for smallish update... 25th and 26th and 27th January.

Whoever invented "auto river crossing attack suicide lunacy moronic du*bshit" rule should be eternally damned. OK, I know many will disagree and also think I am being rude, but one of the "rules" Mogami and I agreed when starting the game was that I have to write an AAR, and I may not whine in mails, but am fully free to whine in AAR. So that's what I am doing now – whining about this stupid rule as I did several times before (to no avail).

25th Jan:

Ground combat at 50,31

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 9106 troops, 70 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 208469 troops, 2403 guns, 37 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
2419 casualties reported
Guns lost 29


On 26th he simultaneously did three large shock attacks, finally taking Batavia:

Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 69700 troops, 663 guns, 137 vehicles

Defending force 18110 troops, 132 guns, 14 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Batavia base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
656 casualties reported
Guns lost 20
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
31626 casualties reported
Guns lost 124
Vehicles lost 5

Expelling my Chinese forces from Nanchang (I wasn't holding the base, I merely had some units in his hex):

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Ground combat at Nanchang

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 104629 troops, 1508 guns, 14 vehicles

Defending force 48815 troops, 341 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
2564 casualties reported
Guns lost 45
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
837 casualties reported
Guns lost 16


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

And capitalising on the moronic attack from previous turn in one of "Homan crossroads" hexes:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 50,31

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 208983 troops, 2413 guns, 40 vehicles

Defending force 70593 troops, 437 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
5747 casualties reported
Guns lost 98
Vehicles lost 7

Allied ground losses:
2054 casualties reported
Guns lost 33


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

If it is of some consolation, he paid a price in each of those attacks (except Batavia).

He used 200k+ troops in Homan railroad attack, so I guess it must be important to him – which is good to know...

Yet another SU related intel tidbit:

28th Division is planning for an attack on Khomsomalsk.

Will Stalin finally realize we are telling the truth when we inform him Japs are about to attack his commie empire?!??

Aparently Canadians are up to no good as well, but so far no transmissions have been decoded. Commonwealth codes are tough nut to crack...

Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.
Radio transmissions detected at Vancouver.

[Oleg Mastruko]

With points invested for destroyed Dutch troops in Batavia, I think he went into lead VP-wise for the first time in this turn (27th Jan).

This is unsettling, not because he went into lead (we all expect this right?) but because I hate losing large numbers of western soldiers as it brings him mucho points.

Destroyed units are unglorious and unsung source of MANY VPs. In my games as Japs, as much as 50-60% of VP total comes from destroyed enemy units. So, I am somewhat relieved that Batavia was next to last of large groupings of western forces (the only surviving such group is in Manila). After Manila falls, there should be no easy sources of VPs for him...

LOL this is fun:

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Pakhoi at 39,39

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Nagato
BB Mutsu
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Chokai
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Jintsu
CL Isuzu
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio

Allied Ships
AK De Klerk, Shell hits 19, and is sunk

Note where this evaporation attack happened. Pakhoi – Chinese got themselves a harbor and Allies are sending AKs manned by suicide volunteers, death row prisoners, and experimental pilot-less remote navigation systems to send some stuff to Pakhoi, in the very center of Jap empire, to unload some stuff to starving Chang Kai Shek men.

[Oleg Mastruko]

First Allied aerial victoty of the war...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/27/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 14
B-25C Mitchell x 12
B-26B Marauder x 48
I-153c x 14
SB-2c x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 6 destroyed
Ki-48 Lily: 5 destroyed
C5M Babs: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SB-2c: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 32

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
27 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
9 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
2 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet

Loss ratio gets better slowly - we're curently at around 2,5:1.

O.

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: Mogami

Hi, Just so the readers understand. There were 40,000 Japanese on Java by Dec 9th. (and more arriving everyday)

Yeah, the 1st turn bonus move for Japan is hooey. Man, does this example ever highlight the fact glaringly. Should have been allowed to specific TFs only, like KB. After all, the bonus was to allow KB to reach PH...unfortunately, the designers allowed all ships to move.

Interesting at any rate. Have fun.[:)]

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Yeah, the 1st turn bonus move for Japan is hooey. Man, does this example ever highlight the fact glaringly. Should have been allowed to specific TFs only, like KB. After all, the bonus was to allow KB to reach PH...unfortunately, the designers allowed all ships to move.

To tell you the truth Ron... I may win this game or I may lose this game, whatever, but I am absolutely *shocked* to see all the wonderful gamey, semi-gamey, unhistorical, tricky and borderline gamey stuff Allied player has at his disposal. It's like 5:1 in Allies favor in "gameyness options" in this game. Japanese turn 1 bonus is nothing compared to what Allied players can do each and every day. Since this is "anything goes" kind of game, I get the joy of trying and using all them and having fun.

Stuff I do each turn I don't report, but rarely a turn passes without me giggling evilishly after something outlandishly unhistorical I've done...

Believe it or not, on top of what I do anyway, I received some suggestions via PM that were so dirty, I decided not to use them not even in a game like this [;)] (You know who you are and thanks for the tip anyway. [8D])

So please don't tell me about IJN bonus...

Oleg

[Oleg Mastruko]

Okay, 29th Jan 42 and we had the most eventful turn in the game since, I don't know, perhaps 9th Dec 41 or something?

8kB combatreport.txt file (I usually judge the turn by the size of combatreport.txt files [:D]) 8kB is still very tame compared to some other my games where I regularly got 16kB combatreport.txt files for like 2 months in a row...

Anyhow...

It started by him discoverind another one of my AKs sneaking to supply Chinese via Pakhoi:

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Pakhoi at 39,39

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Nagato
BB Mutsu
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Chokai
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Jintsu
CL Isuzu
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio

Allied Ships
AK Empire Parsons, Shell hits 19, and is sunk

+ bombardment of Pakhoi:

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Naval bombardment of Pakhoi, at 39,39

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio
DD Oshio
DD Asashio
DD Hagikaze
DD Arashi
DD Nowaki
DD Maikaze
CL Isuzu
CL Jintsu
CL Naka
CL Sendai
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Chokai
CA Atago
CA Takao
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
2306 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 44
Port hits 21
Port supply hits 14

Pretty devastating by wussie western standards, but those are Chinese, they'll regenerate quickly...

Noticing he keeps 6 BBs on Canton-Pakhoi route Australians (+ large Free French DD) mounted a small scale surface action in DEI, scoring a first significant Allied naval victory of the war!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 33,71

Japanese Ships
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Matsukaze
DD Hatakaze, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Australia, Shell hits 1
CA Canberra, Shell hits 1
CL Leander, Shell hits 1
CL Achilles
CL Perth
DD Bulmer
DD John D. Edwards, Shell hits 1
DD Paul Jones
DD Parrott
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Pope
DD Le Triomphant, Shell hits 1, on fire

+ bombardment of Kendari:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Kendari, at 33,71 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Ki-48 Lily: 1 destroyed

23 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
MSW Hagoromo Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
PG Hirotama Maru, Shell hits 2
AK Yasukawa Maru, Shell hits 2
MSW Toroshima Maru, Shell hits 1
MSW Tama Maru, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Perth
CL Achilles
CL Leander
CA Canberra, Shell hits 11
CA Australia, Shell hits 2

Japanese ground losses:
205 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 6
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

2 DDs sunk, one heavily damaged, + couple aircraft destroyed, and some lighters damaged - not bad.

He intercepted one Allied medium sizer raid to Canton, remainder of larger raid couple days ago:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 6
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 3

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 13
B-25C Mitchell x 12
I-153c x 13
SB-2c x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 destroyed
Ki-48 Lily: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
I-153c: 12 destroyed
SB-2c: 3 damaged

Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet

Chinese fighters got the worst of it...

I am constantly sneaking some loaded transports to Manila on suicide missions (no secrets there, but how about that for gameyness, not being regulated by any house rule anyway Ron?) - he usually sinks them, in various stages of unloading.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Manila at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Empire Audacity, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

[PimpYourAFV]

Good to finally see some naval action. Compared to a Feinder or pauk game, you guys are having a real naval drought. As for sending single APs to supply Manila I don't see anything at all gamey about that. In real war, people do some pretty self-sacrificing things for the sake of their comrades. Like would you rather skipper one of those APs or volunteer to be a kamikaze pilot? As for allies, I think being in the first wave going up the slope at Iwo Jima was getting yourself marked for death. At least the AP has a small chance of getting through and they probably jump overboard anyways at the first sign of an enemy attack (to be eaten by sharks or drown [:D]).

[mogami]

Hi, Chinese eat supply just like everyone else to "regenerate"

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: Mogami

Hi, Chinese eat supply just like everyone else to "regenerate"

Yes but they don't all die, they are mostly just disabled.

I hope they don't eat supply to become "un-disabled" again?

O.

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Yeah, the 1st turn bonus move for Japan is hooey. Man, does this example ever highlight the fact glaringly. Should have been allowed to specific TFs only, like KB. After all, the bonus was to allow KB to reach PH...unfortunately, the designers allowed all ships to move.

To tell you the truth Ron... I may win this game or I may lose this game, whatever, but I am absolutely *shocked* to see all the wonderful gamey, semi-gamey, unhistorical, tricky and borderline gamey stuff Allied player has at his disposal. It's like 5:1 in Allies favor in "gameyness options" in this game. Japanese turn 1 bonus is nothing compared to what Allied players can do each and every day. Since this is "anything goes" kind of game, I get the joy of trying and using all them and having fun.

Stuff I do each turn I don't report, but rarely a turn passes without me giggling evilishly after something outlandishly unhistorical I've done...

Believe it or not, on top of what I do anyway, I received some suggestions via PM that were so dirty, I decided not to use them not even in a game like this [;)] (You know who you are and thanks for the tip anyway. [8D])

So please don't tell me about IJN bonus...

Oleg

The IJN bonus is bad, but I'll agree there are so many on either side that the situation becomes rather overwhelming. What are the wild Allied ones you mentioned? Perhaps some of the most glaring can be aded to a revised house rule list. Thanks

[Ron Saueracker]

I am constantly sneaking some loaded transports to Manila on suicide missions (no secrets there, but how about that for gameyness, not being regulated by any house rule anyway Ron?) - he usually sinks them, in various stages of unloading.

This one is questionable at best. If you run them, you will lose them. Had there been crew factors and check rolls for civilian manned merchies to see whether they actually follow such suicidal orders, this would be less of a concern. The VPs for merchants (any ship actually) would double with loss of crew factors.

Anyway, given the fact that TFs always engage any and all enemy TFs in a hex, why doesn't Mog just station a few DDs in the hexes outside Manila? Too bad the ability of a stationary patrolling surface TF does not have the same ability to intercept enemy TFs traversing their hex like subs do. Can't understand why this was not added.[8|]

[rtrapasso]

This one is questionable at best. If you run them, you will lose them. Had there been crew factors and check rolls for civilian manned merchies to see whether they actually follow such suicidal orders, this would be less of a concern. The VPs for merchants (any ship actually) would double with loss of crew factors.

Actually, this kind of stuff DID occur in the PI campaign. And yes, it usually ended with a sunk merchant ship.

[mogami]

Hi, Both Oleg and Tom are sending AK to PI. I don't clamp down too hard because I don't want them to stop. In order to maintain supply in Manila they need to send 20k+ supply per month. If I sink half the transports they send I'll get 30 or 40 VP per month and in the end I'll still get PI. If I decide to go 100 percent I'll close the port
For the same reason I let them run a little free in China for a few weeks it looks amazing but then the supply kicks in. Better to have them using it up running up and down RR then repairing damaged combat factors and building forts.

This is not my first rodeo in China. Re-read Svient-Mogami. He had a blast for a while. He even claimed victory in China, it was just before the great retreat (rout) back to Chuingking.
I have many games without AAR. But none of these Allied players will post anything new. Most games are the same. The Allied player runs wild and then after a few major defeats agrees to let China go back to sleep.

When requesting Allied players I think it was clear I intended on attacking Soviets. Only Nomad has kept to the plan. Both Tom and Oleg have preempted the Japanese strike against Soviets. But the result will be a major Japanese operation in China.

"You can't win, my friend
you can't win.
So why even try?
If you are lucky enough
to live through today
tomorrow you will die"

[Oleg Mastruko]

I won't discuss what's gamey what's not because that's beside the point in this thread, and I don't want to turn it into United Allied Fanboy Whiners Club. I mentioned some examples of gamey techniques in my posts already (how about sending aircraft to China and India using Soviet bases as refuelling bases?), some will remain secret as I don't want to tell too much...

Suffice it to say I don't think there would be too many volunteers among Allied merchant sailors to serve on blockade runners to Manila or (god forbid) Pakhoi, yet here I do it routinely, sending whole "chains" of ships to their certain deaths, in the middle of IJN empire...

Anyhow, I still need more volunteers for such certain death mission, as Manila is slowly cracking

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Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 260721 troops, 2976 guns, 337 vehicles

Defending force 88597 troops, 932 guns, 226 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 5

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 5


Japanese ground losses:
12154 casualties reported
Guns lost 320
Vehicles lost 24

Allied ground losses:
1377 casualties reported
Guns lost 49
Vehicles lost 3

Tom is more successful than me in sending blockade runners to Manila...

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: Mogami
When requesting Allied players I think it was clear I intended on attacking Soviets. Only Nomad has kept to the plan. Both Tom and Oleg have preempted the Japanese strike against Soviets. But the result will be a major Japanese operation in China.

Hey, about couple days into the game I got my first Intel report about some division preparing for Vladivostok [:D] After that I got around dozen or so reports about various divisions preparing for USSR, so.... [:D]

[mogami]

Hi, The opponent wanted request was for Lunatic Allied players. I never claimed to be the lunatic. (I am a maniac) A lunatic is an insane person with periods of sanity. A manaic is Someone affected by an uncontrollable desire for, or with great enthusiasm for, a specified thing.

Example: pyromaniac

[Oleg Mastruko]

LOL Mogami [:D]

lunatic

lunatic [lnətik]
adjective
1. thoughtless: thoughtless, ridiculous, or reckless
2. offensive term: an offensive term formerly meaning affected by a psychiatric disorder (archaic)


noun (plural lunatics)
1. offensive term: an offensive former term for somebody who has a psychiatric disorder (archaic offensive)
2. irresponsible person: somebody who is regarded as behaving in a wildly reckless manner (informal insult)


[13th century. Via French lunatique from late Latin lunaticus , literally ‘moonstruck’, from Latin luna ‘moon’ (see lunar). From the belief that the changing phases of the Moon caused periodic symptoms.]
Microsoft® Encarta® Premium Suite 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

You asked for "lunatic player" so I believe it's adjective?

lunatic [lnətik]
adjective
1. thoughtless: thoughtless, ridiculous, or reckless
2. offensive term: an offensive term formerly meaning affected by a psychiatric disorder (archaic)

Hmmm.... "thoughtless or reckless" - I guess no WITP players are "thoughtless or reckless" otherwise there's no point...

So I accept in my case lunatic to mean this:

2. offensive term: an offensive term formerly meaning affected by a psychiatric disorder (archaic)