Imperial Japanese Noob: rattovolante (J) vs. hartwig.modrow (A)

[rattovolante]

China plans
I'm beginning to elaborate a strategy for China. I don't know yet what I'll end up doing here, if I'll escalate the war or a drain the theater of troops for use overseas.
Thus so far I'm setting short term goals. First goal is of course liberating Hong Kong from western invaders.

I will also try to turn the Chuhsien area in a big pocket, by holding a few strategic crossroads. The main objective is to starve the Chinese units in the area - if I understand the game mechanics, this should disable them with no significant risk, especially if combined with harassing/bombing/strafing by all those Idas/Anns/Maries/Nates (I might even try Alfs and Jeans...) for which I don't find any better use.

From the coast I'm moving 19th Ind. Mixed Bde. (AV 166) from Swatow, 102nd Inf. Regiment (AV 106) and 51st Recon Regiment (AV 31) from Amoy. I'll also ship 1/3 of 21st Div (AV 143) from Shanghai to Amoy and 1/3 (also AV 143) to Kiukang. This last unit will replace 39th Division which will attempt to achieve a breakthrough SW of Nanchang.

Chinese warlord units in the area have much higher nominal AVs, but wooded terrain and air superiority should help.

[rattovolante]

Many moderately bad news this turn, although things might have been much, much worse.

December 9 - Pearl Harbor area
Night:
SS Pollack intercepts KB, manages to outmaneuver escort, launches 2 torpedoes at CV Shokaku and hits with one. Luckily (for me) the torpedo does not explode. ASW retaliation is ineffective.

Morning:
KB stumbled upon a badly damaged CA New Orleans and its lone escort near Lahaina. KB spots Allied task force at 29,000 yards and evades combat before being spotted itself. Unfortunately, WitP engine that even if KB was not noticed, my opponent gets the combat report and KB is now reported as "detection level 7/7, TF spotted"

So I expect next turn every sub, plane and PT available will vector to the spot at full speed.

Afternoon:
Kates from KB strike CA New Orleans and its escort DMS Wasmuth; both are reported sunk.


Situation while giving orders on Dec 10:
weather forecast is overcast.
I located one of the USN CVs, it's near Midway. I don't think I can linger anymore. I have to either strike PH now or withdraw, I need my CVs elsewhere.

[rattovolante]

Orders for December 10 - Kido Butai's last gamble
I plan to order a deliberate gamble with KB next turn. The plan is to sail at full speed, pass south of Hilo, and reappear to the west of Pearl Harbor and launch one last port strike.

I have exactly 100 operational Zeroes left, average fatigue is about 5-6. I expect he might have up to 110/120 fighters, although I hope some will be damaged and fatigue might be higher. Mouseover intel reports 29 fighters and 38 airfield damage, but I don't trust this at all because of the previous misleading report for Wake, where I lost a lot of Nells for nothing.
For the strike I have 128 Vals (average fatigue about 2) and 138 Kates (average fatigue about 4).

I haven't decided yet the strike altitude and composition (i.e., how many fighters on CAP). I will be within strike distance for PH LBA aircraft. I expect all his bombers to be fully rested, they never showed up so far.

I will place a THICK submarine screen in front of KB.

Whatever the outcome, this will be my last gamble with KB - it will leave PH after this. I hope my losses will be light...

[krupp_88mm]

cool AAR.. you might want to go 'easy' on mentioning "moderately bad news" every time i hear that i fear one of your task forces got whacked or a CV got torped... i think i might describe your news as "troubling"[8D].. why not risk the KB and send out one or two carriers on raids and then head back to port as soon as their sighted.. would be fun and even if you loose a carrier i think it will be more than worth it to screw up all his early plans... GL im pulling for you..

[rattovolante]

ORIGINAL: krupp_88mm

cool AAR.. you might want to go 'easy' on mentioning "moderately bad news" every time i hear that i fear one of your task forces got whacked or a CV got torped...

but a CV did get torped here! It just didn't explode

The problem is I now realize I'm not familiar enough with the game engine to understand all the implications of some game events. For example, due to the non-engagement between KB and New Orleans USN top brass at PH know the exact KB location, heading and everything. What can exactly be the consequences of this?
In RL I suppose it would mean surprise completely lost, so a second port strike would be near pointless.
In game I think the consequences might possibly be nothing more than urging Hartwig to keep CAP high, set patrol arcs to SE, and send out all PTs and SSs to south/east at max react?

PS: lol, the TV here is showing Tora! Tora! Tora!. This is clearly a message from the heavens (or from my aging neighbors, which are apparently watching it at full volume through the thin walls...). Either way, it is decided, Kido Butai will strike Pearl Harbor again

[rattovolante]

December 9 1941 - Midway area
AO Shiriya is sunk by dive bombers as soon as it meets the DDs it's supposed to refuel. This induced me to finally wonder "what the heck was an AO doing at Midway on december 7 anyway?", and I still have no clue at all. If anyone has an answer please post here: tm.asp?m=2245380

Anyway, even if at the cost of an AO [:(] this provided some valuable intelligence... 15 Buffaloes and 12 SBD-3s attacked the replenishment TF in the morning, sinking Shiriya, then attacked the DDs in the afternoon (no result).

Lexington must be near Midway... considering the ranges of aircrafts involved, it probably is at 7 hex distance. Enterprise's planes (Wildcats and SBD-2s) have lower range, so both CVs might be out there.

[rattovolante]

December 9 1941 - North of Samoa Islands
SS I-10 torpedoes xAK Meigs. Ship presumed sunk. Another xAK was in the same TF, I-10 will try to pursue.

December 9 1941 - Marshall Island area
It turned out I was wrong, and there are no USN carriers near Wake. I could go on with the invasion but I prefer to add a second Naval Guards unit to it. It will be picked up by the Tarawa invasion TF, which finished unloading and is returning to Jaluit.

No USN CAs showed up at Tarawa/Makin.

An invasion TF should reach Nauru tonight. It's covered by a CL, a 2-subs screen and air support (Mavises and Nells).


December 9 1941 - Truk area
Last turn I forgot to check the progress of the various invasion TFs. Kavieng invasion went way too far towards its target, I forgot to set it at "do not retire" on an intermediate hex while it waits for its cover to arrive from Guam. I have sent it back, I hope it won't be spotted.

I noticed I also forgot to properly divide the Guam invasion TF in a "fast" TF and a "slow" followup TF. It still hasn't even reached its target. I need to free up its escort for Kavieng-Rabaul operations

[rattovolante]

December 9 1941 - Sulu Sea and North Borneo
CVL Ryujo crosses the Sulu sea without encountering any opposition, no subs, planes, warships, nothing at all. Weird, I thought that even with the escorts it presented an easy target... is the enemy on a full Sir Robin?

Its Kates don't find any warship in torpedo range, but attack a bunch of merchants northeast of Brunei. Unfortunately this means that the onboard torpedo stock is depleted.
Ships hit by Ryujo's Kates this turn are:
AO Pecos (hit)
AS Canopus (hit, reported sunk)
TK Gertrude Kellogg (hit, presumed sunk or sinking)
AO Trinity (hit)
PG Tulsa and 2 xAK escaped unharmed

On top of this I-124 torpedoed a xAKL in the Sulu sea (presumed sunk or sinking).

Last turn I didn't do a great job of coordinating the various TFs operating in this area so the situation is a bit messed up. Anyway, I don't expect any nasty surprises... well, I hope so.

[rattovolante]

Dec 9 1941 - Formosa & Luzon area

I made a fine mess at Takao. As the dear reader might know from tm.asp?m=2245004, I had left 2 TFs docked in port with no escorts thinking that since they were docked they were safe from SCTF or submarine raids. Instead one of them was attacked and sunk by British DDs raiding from Hong Kong.

The losses weren't critical, I lost 2 Aden Cargo class xAKs and 21st Air Flotilla. Strangely enough, I lost the whole HQ unit (no fragments left in Takao) even if the combat report said that the "Japanese TF suspends loading operations and begins to get underway" (so I supposed a part of the unit was still on land, the TF was set to load only troops) and the losses reported 2 squads destroyed vs. 82 squads disabled. Apparently they were all destroyed

The HQ unit was scheduled for Ambon. No major loss, it will respawn, I'll send the 23rd Air Flotilla to Ambon instead.

From this accident I learnt to keep docked TFs covered anyway, regardless of the port they're in (size 4 + minefield + CD, I thought they were safe while docked)

On the other hand, I now have a lot of doubts about the difference between docked and disbanded. Can disbanded ships be engaged by a surface combat task force?




Apart from the Takao accident there was a lot of action in this area today.

Two of the three DDs raiding Takao (Scout, Thanet and Thracian) were reported sunk: Thracian hit a mine while leaving Takao hex, then Thracian and Scout were torpedoed and sunk by Betties.
I think Thanet managed to reach Iba (recon reported a 1-DD TF there).

A number of encounters between my surface patrol TFs and transports fleeing Hong Kong resulted in no combat. DD Thanet stumbled on an escorted, empty amphibious TF returning from Bataan but my ships avoided combat.

Many ASW/sub skirmishes in northern Luzon:
- 2 USN spotted and attacked without effect: S-36 at Aparri, S-38 at Laoag
- SS Porpoise torpedoes and sinks xAK Ohio Maru (another Aden Cargo class), then is hit hard by ASW, although it's not reported sunk. Luckily Ohio Maru was almost empty, a single AAMG squad sunk with it.
- SS S-41 attacked and lightly damaged by ASW at Laoag
- SS Perch attacked at Vigan, with one hull penetration. Presumed sunk.

2 USN DDs avoid my surface patrols and bombard Laoag, dealing light damage. Supply level is now very low, but I have an amphibious TF unloading supplies over the beach.

Zeroes sweep over Clark Field, finding light CAP (... I could have brought bombers too) and downing 3 P-26, 1 P-40B and 1 P-40E for no losses.

Kanno Detachment and a Shipping Engineers Regiment land at Vigan, finding one enemy unit there! Recon reports more enemy units moving northeast from San Fernando. I expect heavy air combat here next turn, which suits me well - fighting here rather than at Clark Field means less fatigue for my units.

Aparri invasion TF lands and completely unloads at Aparri. Enemy forces reported marching from Tuguegarao to Aparri.

[rattovolante]

December 9, 1941 - Terror bombing of Bangkok!

British bombers escorted by a number of fighters bearing warlord Chinese markings took off from the RAF base of Tavoy, violated neutral Thai airspace and bombed the city of Bangkok at dawn!

The decadent western pilots were unable to cause damage with their bombing, but Thailand will remember this fateful day in years to come.



(I guess you need to be younger than about 35 years old to get the joke unfortunately...)

[rattovolante]

This is the combat report:

Morning Air attack on Bangkok , at 56,62
 
Weather in hex: Severe storms
 
Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      Ki-27b Nate x 4
 
Allied aircraft
      H81-A3 x 8
      Blenheim I x 3
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed
 
Aircraft Attacking:
       3 x Blenheim I bombing from 15000 feet
               City Attack:  4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
 
CAP engaged:
77th Sentai with Ki-27b Nate (1 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
      1 plane(s) intercepting now.
      Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
      Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes

I will need to move some Oscars here. I have a unit that just converted to Ic, the extra 12mm MG could be handy.
Tavoy had a high detection level so I know the strike was based on that airfield.
I will order a night airfield bombing, although I don't expect much out of it.
 

[krupp_88mm]

hurry up with the pearl harbour report already.[;)]

[rattovolante]

[:)] sorry you'll have to wait krupp... I haven't even completed and sent my turn, I've been busy these days. This is supposed to be a 3 turns/week game so I'm more or less on schedule. For some reason I take much longer to complete PBeM orders than AI orders - against a human opponent some hidden "paranoia routine" kicks in and I tend to double check everything, then triplecheck everything, then quadruplecheck...

In the meanwhile...

December 9, 1941 - Malaya area
I-121 and I-122 keep finding easy targets in the straits of Malacca. I-121 torpedoes xAK Zannis Cambanis, ship presumed sunk.

Dutch submarines harass japanese-held ports.
- in a daring move, O20 enters the Mekong delta and approaches Saigon, where it is spotted and attacked by DD Shikinami. O20 withdraws with 11 hits, but it is reported to have later hit a mine and sunk.
- in another daring move, KXI tries to torpedo a sub chaser (!!), but misses and is heavily hit by the ASW TF. 2 hull penetrations, underwater explosion, debris and oil on the surface reported. No lingerie was found among the debris [:D]
- O19 torpedoes and sinks a Kiso class PB at Soc Trang

These Dutch submarine crews are daring... engaging ASW TFs and enter river ports!

2 unescorted Vildebeest try to torpedo a DD near Kota Bharu, 1 shot down by Nates on CAP, the other is damaged by flak. No hits on the DD.

Nothing relevant to report in China.

[loricas]

there is a little bug that when whole unit is lost fragment disapperar or surrender also maybe that appen to your Air HQ. have fixed for surrender in next patch. don't know if also in every case

[rattovolante]

This turn we encountered a weird problem while executing the turn - turn execution and replay run without neither combat animations nor combat summaries.

After executing the turn the preferences screen show both settings to be switched OFF. The strange thing is that in my pre-end turn save both settings are shown to be ON.

At first I thought I messed up with the preferences, but I'm starting to suspect this might be a bug.

Anyway, Hartwig and I have decided to keep this turn's result and try to set animations and combat back to ON. If this does not work and they stay OFF we will attempt to re-enter this turn and rollback to try to avoid the issue.

So all the results I will post until further notice are sub iudice and might be discarded if the problem persists.
But since people (krupp ) expressed interest in the outcome of my PH attack I thought to post them anyway.

I have to say that this issue confirmed Hartwig to be a real gentleman. I am very glad to have him as my first PBeM rival.

[rattovolante]

December 10 1941 - Pearl Harbor
KB ended last turn E of Hilo, spotted by the enemy. During the night it moved at full speed making a detour S of Hilo and ended movement WSW of Hilo. Even if a couple hex short of its expected full move, and thus outside the sub screen I had prepared, it happened to nevertheless be in range of Pearl Harbor.



Strike orders and losses were:
[IF = initial fatigue, FF = final fatigue
losses are actual MIA/KIA pilots only, WIA and plane writeoffs not included
all strike planes were at 21k ft.]

Zeroes on sweep:
Akagi-1: 18 planes, 4 IF, 4 losses, 17 FF

Zeroes on escort:
Hiryu-1: 18 planes, 4 IF, no losses, 8 FF
Zuikaku-1: 18 planes, 6 IF, no losses, 10 FF

Planes on Airfield attack:
Kaga-1: 18 Zeroes, 4 IF, no losses, 8 FF
Kaga-2: 24 Vals, 2 IF, no losses, 6 FF
Shokaku-2: 27 Vals, 2 IF, 1 loss, 6 FF
Zuikaku-2: 26 Vals, 3 IF, 1 loss, 6 FF

Planes on Port attack:
Akagi-2: 17 Vals, 1 IF, no losses, 6 FF
Hiryu-2: 17 Vals, 2 IF, no losses, 6 FF
Kaga-3: 27 Kates, 7 IF, 5 losses, 9 FF
Shokaku-3: 27 Kates, 3 IF, 2 losses, 6 FF
Soryu-3: 18 Kates, 2 IF, 5 losses, 6 FF
Zuikaku-3: 27 Kates, 3 IF, 4 losses, 7 FF

Other planes:
Shokaku-1: 10 Zeroes, on 100% CAP
Soryu-1: 18 Zeroes, on 100% CAP
Soryu-2: 17 Vals, on ASW/Naval Search/Rest
Akagi-3: 23 Kates, on ASW/Naval Search/Rest
Hiryu-3: 16 Kates, on rest.


Akagi-1 sortied first on sweep and hit a sizeable CAP in thunderstorms (forecast was "overcast"...). I guess they had altitude advantage since losses were limited:

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
P-36A Mohawk x 3
P-40B Warhawk x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 21000 feet

CAP engaged:
18th PG/44th PS with P-40B Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters to 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
18th PG/19th PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 1 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 24000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
18th PG/44th PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
15th PG/45th PS with P-36A Mohawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
18th PG/73rd PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 2 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 18000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 15 minutes
18th PG/78th PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes

Then the main strike hit. Note that my actual losses were about double the reported ones (I'm ignoring damaged planes). CAP was lower after the sweep, but weather was bad

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 66 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54
B5N2 Kate x 99
D3A1 Val x 111



Allied aircraft
P-40B Warhawk x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 8 destroyed, 31 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 24 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
BB California, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
BB Pennsylvania, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Raleigh, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP St. Mihel, Torpedo hits 1
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 2
DM Gamble, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AV Tangier, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk



Repair Shipyard hits 4
Airbase hits 17
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 79
Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
Port Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
14 x A6M2 Zero diving from 21000'
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
24 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
23 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
16 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
10 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 21000 feet
8 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
City Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
27 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
26 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 21000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
26 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
23 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
9 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
Port Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
City Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x A6M2 Zero diving from 21000'
Airfield Attack: 1 plane(s) with no ordnance
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
12 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 21000 feet

CAP engaged:
18th PG/44th PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes
18th PG/73rd PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes
18th PG/78th PS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes

Training flight from 18th PG/78th PS has been caught up in attack

No afternoon strike flew. Weather in PH hex in the afternoon was severe storms

USN BBs record of hits
Arizona: 6 bombs (dec. 7) + 2 bombs (dec. 10), 2+2 torpedoes
California: 5+0 bombs, 3+2 torpedoes
Maryland: 3+1 bombs, 3+0 torpedoes
Nevada: 14 bombs, 1 torpedo on Dec. 7, not spotted on dec. 10 (sunk?)
Oklahoma: 6+1 bombs, 3+2 torpedoes, reported sunk
Pennsylvania: 10+0 bombs, 2+2 torpedoes, reported sunk
Tennessee: 12+2 bombs, 2+4 torpedoes, reported sunk
West Virginia: 12+0 bombs, 2+3 torpedoes, reported sunk

[vlcz]

ORIGINAL: rattovolante
(I guess you need to be younger than about 35 years old to get the joke unfortunately...)

37 qualifies[;)].. btw greets for the good AAR, great work with the map image edition showing planned path for invasions

[rattovolante]

thanks vicz
actually I think my image editing skills are still lacking, some other AARs have extremely clear pics, my ones are a bunch of crisscrossing arrows

8 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000' *
City Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Noticed this only now. Apparently some planes switched to city attack on their own initiative? I gave no city attack order.
Also note Vals flew at extended range since KB did not reach the target hex :\

[Blind Sniper]

Nevada: 14 bombs, 1 torpedo on Dec. 7, not spotted on dec. 10 (sunk?)

I do not think, just one torpedo.

BTW, nice Street Fighter picture [:D]

[elpaco]

ORIGINAL: rattovolante

CL Raleigh, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

I thought it was already reported sunk ...
this is one of the big difference with witp : don't trust any report ...[:D]

great AAR btw, I'll be following you [:)]