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From the personal diary of Adm. Holden McGroin, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Oct 26th, 1942

It’s been quite some time since I’ve made an entry in my diary; there honestly just hasn’t been time for such malarkey . . . and there was the small issue of breaking both of my hands after smashing the bridge table in frustration when my (ex) bridge partner LtCdr Jablome made the “faux pas” (as he said) of putting up the diamond jack on the opening lead instead of playing the eight. Well, Ensign Jablome can contemplate that “faux pas” while trying to keep warm on Adak Island.

It challenges the imagination to believe that 323 days have passed since the cowardly sneak-attack on Pearl Harbor began this infernal war. Those early months were dark days indeed, with every day bringing a new crisis or disaster. Base after base captured – ships sunk daily – Allied aircraft falling from the skies like pigeon s**t. . The Japanese onslaught seemed unstoppable; and yet, outside of China, it seems that stop is exactly what they have done. Stopped. What is going on one wonders.

Burma:The Japanese juggernaut rolling northwards from Rangoon crushed all in its path. Major General Sir Robin Brave, after bravely running away from Singapore, was re-assigned as commander of the Burma Corps. While he didn’t exactly run-away, his forces didn’t even classify as a speed bump. Rather, they just were pushed steadily towards the Indian border. Such reinforcements that were available were rushed into theater, and the Chittagong-Imphal-Ledo defensive line was thrown into place. The unforgiving jungle terrain gave us time to build up a credible defense. We now have five full divisions along that line, with two regiments of US infantry and the East African Brigade as reserve in Comilla, plus numerous engineers an d base forces. Close to 200 fighters and 50 medium bombers man the lines as well. We were bracing for the attack, as at least two Japanese strike forces were moving through the jungle. Our recon planes successfully tracked them, and we bombed them mercilessly. Brave Sir Robin gambled and committed his main reserve two weeks ago, moving the 19th Indian Div into position to counterattack, but the Japanese have simply melted southwards into the Jungle. Our recon forces are still searching for the elusive enemy. In the meantime we have begun planning an limited counter-offensive for Jan ’43.

Papua New Guinea:
All I can say is God bless those Australian troops! As of today, Buna is ours! Those magnificent Aussies have done what we were told was impossible – marched over two divisions of troops along the Kokoda trail and captured Buna! Also, only a few short weeks ago they absolutely surprised the thin Japanese garrisons and swept into Salamaua and Wau, capturing them as well! Looking back at an entry from Feb, I was desperate to keep possession of Port Moresby. Now it seems the long, bloody months of battle on land, air and sea have paid off and Southern Papua is ours, and the direct threat to Australia has been abated.

What next? I will soon detail plans for our first real offensive of this War in the Pacific . . . Operation Short-Round. The amphibious invasion of the Shortland Island, and the proud return of our remaining fleet carriers to combat operations.


(for those keeping score, here it is)
Turn: 324
Date: 10/26/1942
Japan VP: 18,864
Allied VP: 11,165
Ratio: -1.690 : 1

From the personal diary of Adm. Holden McGroin, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Oct 26th, 1942. 23:20 hrs.

My staff has just delivered the daily ops report. The day has been very quiet, which is a blessing. Our air forces in Papua New Guinea have mainly stood down after months of continuous ops. Likewise, the brave Aussies in Buna are taking a breather. They are physically exhausted, and in the case of the 6th Australian Division, in desperate need of rest and refit – they have done the lion’s share of the fighting in the Battle for Buna. The New Guinea volunteer units were also hard hit. We must decide soon if it better to move them back to Australia for refit, or perhaps just to Port Moresby.

Likewise things are quiet elsewhere. We’ve lost sight of both enemy divisions which were moving north towards the Indian border from Burma. Have they truly retreated? I don’t think that word is in the Japanese vocabulary.

The Japanese are mopping up the last pockets of resistance on the fringes of the DEI. It pains me that the only assistance we can provide those brave men are nuisance sub attacks. The S-37 positioned herself to attack the battleship Ise, but failed to score a hit.

The SS Shad struck a mine off of Lae. Somehow she survived the blow, and is limping to Luganville for emergency repairs. She’ll eventually have to go to Sydney or Pearl for full repairs.

There was some good news from China. Two Imperial Japanese Army divisions launched an attack in Pingsiang, and were repulsed after suffering heavy casualties, while our forces came away with relatively light casualties.

I did receive a letter from one Mrs. Gladys Jablome, insisting that I re-assign her darling boy Heywood to a more temperate climate, as the harsh conditions in Adak are wreaking havoc with his delicate constitution. I think I’ll have him reassigned to Nome.

Here are some of the more interesting actions from the day.



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 26, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 101 encounters mine field at Lae (99,126)

Allied Ships
SS Shad, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Makassar at 65,107

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
BB Nagato
DD Yukikaze
DD Hayashio

Allied Ships
SS S-37

SS S-37 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Ise
S-37 diving deep ....
DD Hayashio fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayashio attacking submerged sub ....
DD Hayashio fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayashio attacking submerged sub ....
DD Hayashio is out of ASW ammo
DD Hayashio fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 83,54 (near Pingsiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 22278 troops, 199 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 458
Defending force 37608 troops, 225 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 949
Japanese adjusted assault: 134
Allied adjusted defense: 1259
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 9

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2348 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 170 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 19 (1 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
235 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Division
21st Division

Defending units:
21st Chinese Corps
78th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
3rd War Area

Very nice. Very ambitious! With your spare time you should AAR Case Yellow...

You need to take it easy on poor Heywood. That USN base force in Nome is harsh duty.

That's some interesting carrier battles you've had there. Any idea on how many flattops ended up in Davy Jones' locker? EDIT: Ah, I should read more closely. You think 2 CVLs.

Cheers,
CC

CS, cool following your developing story! Quite useful for a Rookie like me, I find!

Keep up the good work!

Fred

Kudos.

You have had some truly amazing success engaging the Japanese in carrier battles in early '42 and giving as good as you got.

Very impressed with the 20 hits each on the Japanese big boys in the surface battle as well.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks all! I'll keep the in-character posts coming, as we're back on a good pace after a long slow period (doesn't it suck when life gets in the way of a good game [;)]). We'll hear more from Ens. Jablome and his mom as well.

As to my performance, I've definitely made some mistakes, and I think I've learned pretty quickly from them . . . most notably the loss of the USS Enterprise. One CV is a sitting duck. Never leave home with less than three. I've had some good luck as well. I'm still not convinced the CV Hiyo was sunk, as she was very close to port when I torpedoed her. Either way, I'm sure my opponent howled with rage when his brand new carrier got smacked before she got her first spot of rust That's a lesson I learned playing v the AI and from reading othe AARs . . . when sending a high value TF out of port, always have it follow a strong ASW screen for a good distance out.

Base on current intelligence, here are the carrier losses so far. If I really did get the Hiyo, then he is leading me 1.3:1 in the carrier VP tally. He is at 1.6:1 in total VP, so not too shabby.

CV Enterprise
CVL Hermes
CV Yorktown
CV Saratoga
CV Formidable
1,394

CV Hiryu
CV Soryu
CV Hiyo
CVL Ryuho
CVL Ryujo
1,059


@ Swamp Yankee. What little creative juice I have left will go into this. We'll have to enjoy Case Yellow on our own I'm afraid.

If anybody is looking for a good PBEM opponent, I strongly reccomend 'ol Swampy. We have games going in Combat Mission, Decisive Campaigns: Blitzkrieg, and Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm. Good player, good attitude. Yes, we're having a bit of a bromance. [:D]

Haha! Well the DC:WtP AAR was rather tongue in cheek because I wouldn't be able to read it until after our game. You do have me wondering if I have the mental energy to add WitP to my ongoing games, tho... Question, does the game allow for multiple players to play on the same side & split commands such as 3 different allied players controlling Brits, Aussies & Yanks separately?

ORIGINAL: CrackSabbath
There was some good news from China. Two Imperial Japanese Army divisions launched an attack in Pingsiang, and were repulsed after suffering heavy casualties, while our forces came away with relatively light casualties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 83,54 (near Pingsiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 22278 troops, 199 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 458
Defending force 37608 troops, 225 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 949
Japanese adjusted assault: 134
Allied adjusted defense: 1259
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 9

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2348 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 170 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 19 (1 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
235 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Division
21st Division

Defending units:
21st Chinese Corps
78th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
3rd War Area

Yes, these are the exact sort of battles I remember as the Allies when I played Kaleun before. Completely mismanaged China in my game and in general was far too keen at launching attacks with very poor odds; there were numerous occasions when Dutch or Chinese forces were able to rout full Japanese divisions after their attacks went horribly wrong. Japanese ended up conceding when I was in the process of routing him in China and smashed the mini-KB and an invasion fleet in a botched invasion of Guadalcanal. Rabaul was the furthest advance of the Empire in SWPAC in mid summer 42; that shouldn't happen. Hopefully he has gotten better since then and since you're a beginner it sounds like its a good matchup.

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

Haha! Well the DC:WtP AAR was rather tongue in cheek because I wouldn't be able to read it until after our game. You do have me wondering if I have the mental energy to add WitP to my ongoing games, tho... Question, does the game allow for multiple players to play on the same side & split commands such as 3 different allied players controlling Brits, Aussies & Yanks separately?

Several AARs have featured teams of players on each side. Check out Cap Mandrake and sprior - they have teamed over at least four AARs (two ongoing). Mandrake writes most of the AAR, but they share the command and control.

I am not positive of the mechanics, but I think it involves player one (of the same team) receiving the file, coordinating by e-mail on any loan of units/ships between areas of responsibility, complete actions for player one and send the file on to player two (on the same team) with the password.
After player two completes his actions the file is sent to whomever is responsible for turn execution.
Loaning carriers to cover invasions is a good example of the kind of coordination needed.

Ah, thanks BB. Sounds like that would be a fun way to play.

One thing (among many) that I like about Decisive Campaigns is the built-in ability to split commands, even of one nation.

Back in the day I was part of a group doing an "emailed saved game" round-robin game of Medieval Total War. We would each take turns as a king, and then when he died, write up an account of his life, post that, and email the saved game to the heir to the throne. It made for an enormously enjoyable time.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

Haha! Well the DC:WtP AAR was rather tongue in cheek because I wouldn't be able to read it until after our game. You do have me wondering if I have the mental energy to add WitP to my ongoing games, tho... Question, does the game allow for multiple players to play on the same side & split commands such as 3 different allied players controlling Brits, Aussies & Yanks separately?

Several AARs have featured teams of players on each side. Check out Cap Mandrake and sprior - they have teamed over at least four AARs (two ongoing). Mandrake writes most of the AAR, but they share the command and control.

I am not positive of the mechanics, but I think it involves player one (of the same team) receiving the file, coordinating by e-mail on any loan of units/ships between areas of responsibility, complete actions for player one and send the file on to player two (on the same team) with the password.
After player two completes his actions the file is sent to whomever is responsible for turn execution.
Loaning carriers to cover invasions is a good example of the kind of coordination needed.

Yeah, it can be done. Some of the turns can be monsters in terms of time to complete, so you can save before finishing it off (I recall turn 1 taking me 3-4 hours, and that was using some pointers published in the forum). So doing a co-op would just be a matter of sharing the password and dividing responsibilities. It actually sounds like fun - especially if I don't have to do China. [:D] I'll have to check out that AAR.

As to taking plunge, just remember, WitPAE isn't a game, it's a way of life. It's well worth the $ (though I bought it when it was on sale) [;)]

Indeed, it seems so... I will give it serious thought..

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: CrackSabbath
There was some good news from China. Two Imperial Japanese Army divisions launched an attack in Pingsiang, and were repulsed after suffering heavy casualties, while our forces came away with relatively light casualties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 83,54 (near Pingsiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 22278 troops, 199 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 458
Defending force 37608 troops, 225 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 949
Japanese adjusted assault: 134
Allied adjusted defense: 1259
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 9

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2348 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 170 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 19 (1 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
235 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Division
21st Division

Defending units:
21st Chinese Corps
78th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
3rd War Area

Yes, these are the exact sort of battles I remember as the Allies when I played Kaleun before. Completely mismanaged China in my game and in general was far too keen at launching attacks with very poor odds; there were numerous occasions when Dutch or Chinese forces were able to rout full Japanese divisions after their attacks went horribly wrong. Japanese ended up conceding when I was in the process of routing him in China and smashed the mini-KB and an invasion fleet in a botched invasion of Guadalcanal. Rabaul was the furthest advance of the Empire in SWPAC in mid summer 42; that shouldn't happen. Hopefully he has gotten better since then and since you're a beginner it sounds like its a good matchup.

... For a second there I thought I was on the Battlefront forums... What I like about the Matrix forums is the positive community as opposed to the criticism of fellow players...

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

Haha! Well the DC:WtP AAR was rather tongue in cheek because I wouldn't be able to read it until after our game. You do have me wondering if I have the mental energy to add WitP to my ongoing games, tho... Question, does the game allow for multiple players to play on the same side & split commands such as 3 different allied players controlling Brits, Aussies & Yanks separately?

Several AARs have featured teams of players on each side. Check out Cap Mandrake and sprior - they have teamed over at least four AARs (two ongoing). Mandrake writes most of the AAR, but they share the command and control.

I am not positive of the mechanics, but I think it involves player one (of the same team) receiving the file, coordinating by e-mail on any loan of units/ships between areas of responsibility, complete actions for player one and send the file on to player two (on the same team) with the password.
After player two completes his actions the file is sent to whomever is responsible for turn execution.
Loaning carriers to cover invasions is a good example of the kind of coordination needed.

Actually I am one of the two opponents of Cap Mandrake and Sprior in the AAR titled "At dawn we slept.....in the cab on the way back from Olongapo". Of course I actually haven't read that AAR...

Mechanics wise its pretty simple. Either Rev Rico or I grab the turn from Dropbox, copy it to our own private Dropbox folder, then complete the "half turn". When the half turn is done we upload that one to our Dropbox to let the other person complete it who then sends it off to our opponents. We coordinate through messages in our Dropbox. This game works rather well as a multiplayer game actually and we can turn around turns quicker than we could in a one vs one game since each of us needs to spend less time on it.

It hasn't been too difficult to do a 2 vs 2 as Japan breaking it up along IJN/IJA lines. Air units and naval units are never swapped but occasionally we loan eachother LCUs. IJA is in charge of any land OPs that require maneuver while IJN is in charge of OPs on isolated bases. It works well for us in particular because I have always had a strong focus and feel on land operations and Rev Rico is more of a navy person.

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee
... For a second there I thought I was on the Battlefront forums... What I like about the Matrix forums is the positive community as opposed to the criticism of fellow players...

To be honest I still hold a lot of resentment over that game for a variety a reasons. But I shouldn't air my dirty laundry in public...for that I apologize. I was trying to make a point about previous play and got carried away.

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

Haha! Well the DC:WtP AAR was rather tongue in cheek because I wouldn't be able to read it until after our game. You do have me wondering if I have the mental energy to add WitP to my ongoing games, tho... Question, does the game allow for multiple players to play on the same side & split commands such as 3 different allied players controlling Brits, Aussies & Yanks separately?

Several AARs have featured teams of players on each side. Check out Cap Mandrake and sprior - they have teamed over at least four AARs (two ongoing). Mandrake writes most of the AAR, but they share the command and control.

I am not positive of the mechanics, but I think it involves player one (of the same team) receiving the file, coordinating by e-mail on any loan of units/ships between areas of responsibility, complete actions for player one and send the file on to player two (on the same team) with the password.
After player two completes his actions the file is sent to whomever is responsible for turn execution.
Loaning carriers to cover invasions is a good example of the kind of coordination needed.

Actually I am one of the two opponents of Cap Mandrake and Sprior in the AAR titled "At dawn we slept.....in the cab on the way back from Olongapo". Of course I actually haven't read that AAR...

Mechanics wise its pretty simple. Either Rev Rico or I grab the turn from Dropbox, copy it to our own private Dropbox folder, then complete the "half turn". When the half turn is done we upload that one to our Dropbox to let the other person complete it who then sends it off to our opponents. We coordinate through messages in our Dropbox. This game works rather well as a multiplayer game actually and we can turn around turns quicker than we could in a one vs one game since each of us needs to spend less time on it.

It hasn't been too difficult to do a 2 vs 2 as Japan breaking it up along IJN/IJA lines. Air units and naval units are never swapped but occasionally we loan eachother LCUs. IJA is in charge of any land OPs that require maneuver while IJN is in charge of OPs on isolated bases. It works well for us in particular because I have always had a strong focus and feel on land operations and Rev Rico is more of a navy person.

That sounds like what I am interested in! I'll have to read that AAR now!

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy



Several AARs have featured teams of players on each side. Check out Cap Mandrake and sprior - they have teamed over at least four AARs (two ongoing). Mandrake writes most of the AAR, but they share the command and control.

I am not positive of the mechanics, but I think it involves player one (of the same team) receiving the file, coordinating by e-mail on any loan of units/ships between areas of responsibility, complete actions for player one and send the file on to player two (on the same team) with the password.
After player two completes his actions the file is sent to whomever is responsible for turn execution.
Loaning carriers to cover invasions is a good example of the kind of coordination needed.

Actually I am one of the two opponents of Cap Mandrake and Sprior in the AAR titled "At dawn we slept.....in the cab on the way back from Olongapo". Of course I actually haven't read that AAR...

Mechanics wise its pretty simple. Either Rev Rico or I grab the turn from Dropbox, copy it to our own private Dropbox folder, then complete the "half turn". When the half turn is done we upload that one to our Dropbox to let the other person complete it who then sends it off to our opponents. We coordinate through messages in our Dropbox. This game works rather well as a multiplayer game actually and we can turn around turns quicker than we could in a one vs one game since each of us needs to spend less time on it.

It hasn't been too difficult to do a 2 vs 2 as Japan breaking it up along IJN/IJA lines. Air units and naval units are never swapped but occasionally we loan eachother LCUs. IJA is in charge of any land OPs that require maneuver while IJN is in charge of OPs on isolated bases. It works well for us in particular because I have always had a strong focus and feel on land operations and Rev Rico is more of a navy person.

That sounds like what I am interested in! I'll have to read that AAR now!

Be warned - there are lots of tangents around Cap Mandrake's family, neighbours, incidents at work (he's an MD) and anything he finds interesting. The tangents are usually hilarious and keep the reader from getting bored with too much military mumbo-jumbo!
Sprior has not posted as much recently, but he is an interesting Brit, former nuke sub sailor and now works at a war museum. In a previous AAR he loaned much of the RN to Cap Mandrake who proceeded to get several important ships sunk. It was strategically good - the Allies demolished the IJN invasions of N. Australia and sank a lot more than they lost. But the sniping about losing half the RN went on for days! All in good humour and fun to read![:D]

Hello folks. I received bad news from kaleun today that due to issues in the real world, he is forced to abandon the match. While this is disappointing personally, my thoughts go to kaleun. This is, after all is said and done, just a game. All I can say at this point is that kaleun is a class act, I thoroughly enjoyed the battle, and hope to face him again sometime in the future.

I'll be posting in the opponents wanted section shortly.