Sardaukar's Newbie Tutorial AAR for Newbies (vs. IJ AI)

[Sardaukar]

First turn save is now available at: http://sardaukar.suntuubi.com/datafiles ... pae014.pws

Remember that if you already have game saved in slot 14, you need to renumber the save for free slot before saving it to your SAVE-folder, to avoid it overwriting your stuff.

Note that you can change preferences when you have loaded up the game. For example changing message delays, combat animations ON and even switching to 1-day turns is possible since game is against AI. Press P on keyboard or click the appropriate icon.

[cantona2]

RE Manila subs

Set the 12000 endurance subs positions in and around the Yellow Sea, the 11000 endurance subs in the HI waters and into the sea lanes leading into Cam Rahn Bay while leaving your S Boats, the ones with fish that work, to attack the Ts heading to the PIs. The fleet boats, despite the dud rate can sometimes come good and any TF they enocunter is good intell and recon.

[LoBaron]

Great project man!

I am sure that it will help a lot of people.
Especially like your suggestions how to NOT game the AI. Really a good
advice for someone willing to enter the realm of PBEM.

Keep it up!

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

RE Manila subs

Set the 12000 endurance subs positions in and around the Yellow Sea, the 11000 endurance subs in the HI waters and into the sea lanes leading into Cam Rahn Bay while leaving your S Boats, the ones with fish that work, to attack the Ts heading to the PIs. The fleet boats, despite the dud rate can sometimes come good and any TF they enocunter is good intell and recon.

Yes, that is good thing to do. Here, during the first days, most of the boats are heading to interdict landings in north, especially S-boats (they have the good torpedoes). I will make changes in their patrol coverage after initial deployments.

[Sardaukar]

Dec 7-8 1941

First 2 days of war were not as bad for Allies as predicted. two instances of bad luck were more than balanced by rather light damage in Pearl Harbor. Some excerpts:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 07, 41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Midget Sub attack inside harbor of Pearl Harbor!!!

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-14

Allied Ships
BB Tennessee, Torpedo hits 1


Damn midgets, but I guess they have to succeed sometimes! [:D]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Kota Bharu at 53,74

Japanese Ships
xAK Ayatosan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Isonami
DMS W-2
DD Ayanami
DD Shikinami
PB Tatsumiya Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXI, hits 7

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Dutch sub draws the first blood in war on Allied side, but takes 7 hits from depth charges in shallow water. SS KXI is now cripple with 20 sys, 47 flt damage and is heading back to Soerabaja for repairs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
B5N2 Kate x 144
D3A1 Val x 126



Allied aircraft
P-36A Mohawk x 2
P-40B Warhawk x 8
F4F-3 Wildcat x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 14 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-36A Mohawk: 2 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
P-40B Warhawk: 3 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 9 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground
B-18A Bolo: 5 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 4 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AO Ramapo, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
BB California, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AE Mauna Loa, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DMS Wasmuth, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DM Montgomery, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Patterson, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 1


Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Repair Shipyard hits 3
Airbase hits 31
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 165
Port hits 12
Port fuel hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x A6M2 Zero bombing from 100 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
26 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
5 x A6M2 Zero bombing from 100 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
18 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
2 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
18 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
26 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-211 with F4F-3 Wildcat (1 airborne, 2 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 72 minutes
18th PG/19th PS with P-40B Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
18th PG/44th PS with P-40B Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
15th PG/46th PS with P-36A Mohawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
15th PG/47th PS with P-40B Warhawk (1 airborne, 2 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 103 minutes
18th PG/73rd PS with P-40B Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

Despite successful midget sub attack, air attacks are spread quite evenly, resulting lot of damaged ships but none is in danger if sinking. We escaped with very light damage. Unfortunately KB is still hovering around and while it didn't renew attacks on Dec 8, there is still possibility of follow-on attacks. As you can see, none of damaged ships is in danger of sinking.

[Sardaukar]

Wake I. Marine Wildcats extract some retribution against unescorted Nell-raid:

Morning Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 27



Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 4 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 27

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 2000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-211 Det with F4F-3 Wildcat (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 73 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not so good day on west coast of Malaya, these ships were going to Singapore to assist with evacuation of Australians... This doesn't bode well for that...

Morning Air attack on TF, near Georgetown at 48,76

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 27



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAP Hong Siang, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Ellenga, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Demosthenes, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Kelantan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Wing Sang, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Nam Yong, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
27 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

There are multiple air attacks against scattering Allied shipping near Hongkong and Philippines, fortunately RN DDs seem to have escaped unscathed so far. Also, Japanese planes hammer Iba and Clark Field in Philippines, but results are not very spectacular. Allied counter-strikes are even less spectacular..

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 4



Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 12
Hudson I x 10


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
AK Sakura Maru
BB Kongo



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Hudson I bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
4 x Hudson I bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
12 x Blenheim IV bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-27b Nate (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

Japanese Capture unoccupied Bataan I.:

Ground combat at Batan Island (85,70)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1474 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 69

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 56

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 56 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Batan Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+)



Assaulting units:
Sasebo 1st SNLF /3
24th JAAF AF Bn /1

That's about it for Dec 7.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 08, 41

Betty menace continues around Malaya/Hongkong and "wire-guided torpedoes" sink assortment of fleeing transports. Nothing unexpected. I consider this a bit of overkill, though...[:D]:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tandjoengbalai at 47,79

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 14



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
HDML Panji, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
HDML Pahalwan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
HDML Panglima, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Small Japanese CV TF sinks several fleeing ships around Philippines, unfortunate, but also unavoidable. This will hurt me, though, since those ships were for evacuation of Cebu Base Force:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Cebu at 80,86

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 16



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAP Neptuna
xAP Rochambeau, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Capillo
xAK Tantalus, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

Japanese capture empty Makin I, but major butt-kicking happens in Kota Bharu:

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4564 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 155

Defending force 3795 troops, 40 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 203

Allied adjusted defense: 32

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kota Bharu !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), preparation(-)
fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), morale(-)

Japanese ground losses:
206 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2677 casualties reported
Squads: 115 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 32 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
56th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
FMSV Brigade
8th Indian Brigade
3rd ISF Base Force

You can directly see the result of poor experience and poor morale, combined with poor leaders here. About equal force in numbers smash the defenders and FMSV Brigade exists no more. You need to pay attention to leaders, morale and experience and not to ask too much from your troops. If fight is important, be sure to check the units and replace bad leaders. You'll see that a lot in China if you do not pay attention to this.

[littleike]

Ok, looking to this action report I take an example of an air raid and I try to ask some clarification.
For better reference I numbered lines. Here is the segment of report
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

01 Morning Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

02 Weather in hex: Clear sky

03 Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
04 Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

05 Japanese aircraft
06 G3M2 Nell x 27



07 Allied aircraft
08 F4F-3 Wildcat x 6


09 Japanese aircraft losses
10 G3M2 Nell: 4 destroyed, 6 damaged

11 Allied aircraft losses
12 F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 damaged
13 F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground



14 Airbase hits 3
15 Airbase supply hits 2
16 Runway hits 27

17 Aircraft Attacking:
18 22 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 2000 feet *
19 Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

20 CAP engaged:
21 VMF-211 Det with F4F-3 Wildcat (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
22 2 plane(s) intercepting now.
23 Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
24 Time for all group planes to reach interception is 73 minutes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are my doubtful explanation, (please confirm or correct) :

This is an allied report so line 01 to 04 tell where the attack take place, weather in the hex , and spotted incoming jap airplanes (forward observer? Radar? ) with an extimated time to the objective.

Line 05 to 08 list all the units who are involved in this action
Line 09 to 13 list the result of the combat with damage and losses.
Line 14 to 16 list the damage to the airbase structure.
Line 17 to 24 describe the action and here I have doubt:
Line 17 to 19 22 x G3M2 bombing (they were 27 where are the others? We have to suppose they have been shot down or damaged and turned back home without reach the objective?)

Line 20 to 21 CAP …and here not all is clear Det?? What Det?? ( what airborne? ( two F4F-3 take off before enemy arrives? , 4 standby what does it mean? Are they ready near the tarmac waiting for pilots? , scrambling What scrambling? What difference with airborne? Please explain.
Line 22 The Two planes airborne go to intercept incoming enemies.
Line 23 Enemy aircraft are at 15000 ft and there are going the two planes I think.
Line 24 What time is this? When the two planes catch the japs? What about time to target 10 min in line 04 and this time?

Thanks for your explanation ( I am not English so some words may not result as clear as you )

PS: Great AAR this!!!!!!! Don’t stop it until 1945!!!

[Walker84]

Really like the step by step guide. I am currently into my second PBEM as the Japanese player but will try this out to get some experience of playing the Allies vs the AI. Have downloaded the file and will be staying in tonight!
 
Thanks again.

[MaB1708]

Sardaukar,
thank you so much, I consider this AAR, pardonnez-moi... introduction very helpfull for me as I currently try to seriously manage the beast. Coral Sea, Guadalcanal are in the works currently but what I needed to take the next step was sth as helpfull as this guide, esp on the strategic views.
Also an answer to littleikes question above would in that case make at least 2 subscribers happy.
Keep it up,
Kiitos,
Martin

[DOCUP]

Nice AAR, Remeber you have a transport plane in china so you transport supplies. there is also one in india that can be used to transport supplies from india to china. just a mention you can use the pbys in the pi to transport troops or as raiders with there torps. just a tip i found out

doc

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: littleike


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are my doubtful explanation, (please confirm or correct) :

This is an allied report so line 01 to 04 tell where the attack take place, weather in the hex , and spotted incoming jap airplanes (forward observer? Radar? ) with an extimated time to the objective. (No radar in Wake, so it was visual sighting, probably by CAP)

Line 05 to 08 list all the units who are involved in this action (Yes)
Line 09 to 13 list the result of the combat with damage and losses. (Yes, but remember that combat repots are subject to Fog of War and often quite inaccurate)
Line 14 to 16 list the damage to the airbase structure. (Yes)
Line 17 to 24 describe the action and here I have doubt:
Line 17 to 19 22 x G3M2 bombing (they were 27 where are the others? We have to suppose they have been shot down or damaged and turned back home without reach the objective?) (Yes, there were 27 originally, so 5 were either shot down or turned back)

Line 20 to 21 CAP …and here not all is clear Det?? What Det?? ( what airborne? ( two F4F-3 take off before enemy arrives? , 4 standby what does it mean? Are they ready near the tarmac waiting for pilots? , scrambling What scrambling? What difference with airborne? Please explain. (VMF-211 Detachment is the name of the unit on island, it was 12-plane unit detached from VMF-211, airborne is planes alresady on air, standby are those immediately ready to take off, scrambling means planes that were not immediately ready but could take off before raid arrives, in this case none. Since raid time to arrive was only 10 mins, they managed to put up only 6 ready fighters.)
Line 22 The Two planes airborne go to intercept incoming enemies. (Yes)
Line 23 Enemy aircraft are at 15000 ft and there are going the two planes I think. (No, enemy is at 4000ft, this just indicates CAP altitude and the altitude fighters are trying to climb)
Line 24 What time is this? When the two planes catch the japs? What about time to target 10 min in line 04 and this time? (The time is when even the last fighter could make it into combat, since it's 73 minutes versus raid arriving in 10, it indicates that not all Wildcats did make contact to enemy. This could be confirmed by watching combat animations, but I am too impatient for that..)

Thanks for your explanation ( I am not English so some words may not result as clear as you )

PS: Great AAR this!!!!!!! Don’t stop it until 1945!!!

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Nice AAR, Remeber you have a transport plane in china so you transport supplies. there is also one in india that can be used to transport supplies from india to china. just a mention you can use the pbys in the pi to transport troops or as raiders with there torps. just a tip i found out

doc

That is true, flying boats make great troop transports. And even better, they can transport troops when target base does not have airfield (size 0 AF). I am using Catalinas in Port Moresby to evacuate troops from Kavieng and Rabaul. I will use Dutch flying boats for that purpose too later.

As naval attack with flying boats, it's bit controversial, since they tend to take heavy casualties. Replacements are not exactly abundant and that could lead you to having lack of patrol assets when you need them most.

[Sardaukar]

Now I'll start to give orders for next turn, first we see what reinforcements we got. You should get into habit of checking Operations report after every turn.

AVG/1st Sqn arrives at Rangoon
No.62 Sqn RAF arrives at Singapore
No.1 Sqn RAAF arrives at Singapore
D.Vl.A arrives at Soerabaja
No.6 Sqn RAAF Det arrives at Sydney
2-Vl.G.IV arrives at Soerabaja
110th USA Base Force arrives at San Diego
111th USN Base Force arrives at San Francisco
112th USA Base Force arrives at San Francisco
113th USAAF Base Force arrives at Los Angeles
118th USAAF Base Force arrives at Pearl Harbor
119th USAAF Base Force arrives at Pearl Harbor
1st /101st PA Battalion arrives at Davao
2nd/101st PA Battalion arrives at Dadjangas
3rd/101st PA Battalion arrives at Cotabato
B Det USN Port Svc arrives at Seattle
C Det USN Port Svc arrives at San Diego
D Det USN Port Svc arrives at Pearl Harbor

VMF-111 arrives at Eastern USA
VMSB-131 arrives at San Francisco
VMSB-132 arrives at San Francisco
VP-51 arrives at San Francisco
VP-71 arrives at Eastern USA
VP-72 arrives at Eastern USA
VP-91 arrives at San Francisco
2-VI.G.II arrives at Malang
3-Vl.G.IV arrives at Madioen
Vk.A.4 arrives at Kalidjati
No.7 Sqn RCAF arrives at Prince Rupert
No.9 Sqn RCAF arrives at Bella Bella
No.4 Sqn RNZAF arrives at Suva
22nd BG/2nd BS arrives at San Francisco
22nd BG/19th BS arrives at San Francisco
22nd BG/33rd BS arrives at San Francisco
22nd BG/18th RS arrives at San Francisco
31st PG/39th PS arrives at San Francisco
31st PG/40th PS arrives at San Francisco
31st PG/41st PS arrives at San Francisco
22nd BG/Hq Sqn arrives at San Francisco

We have quite a few units arriving, not all are reinforcements, some are just units I transferred from base to base during first turn.

B Det USN Port Svc arrives at Seattle
C Det USN Port Svc arrives at San Diego
D Det USN Port Svc arrives at Pearl Harbor

Those are very useful when you need to land heavy stuff on size 1 or 2 port without integral amphibious capability (no AK, AKA, AP, APA, LSI(L), LST, LSD etc. ships). If you land one of those first, the Naval support squads in unit will help unloading (and loading). Some heavy equipment is notoriously slow to unload (and often impossible) to small ports (Motorized Support, Radars, Engineering Vehicles etc.).

Unfortunately, during December, we are not only hampered by lack of units, we are even more hampered with lack of transports. So choose carefully where you want to transport and what.

[Torplexed]

*Sigh* How I could have used a thread like this back in March when I started my first game against the Japanese AI. I remember how long that first turn took to set up and I didn't think of nearly half of the good suggestions there are here. [:D]

Do you have any plans for the two Australian coastal gun batteries that can be bought from restricted command early in the game with enough political points? If I remember correctly, they are the 6th and 7th RAA Coastal Regiments. One starts at Perth and the other in Portland, Australia. In my game after shipping them north, and planting them at the opposites ends of Java, (one in Merak and other at Banjoewangi) they came in pretty handy in repelling landings, and making sure Japanese troops never got a foothold in Java.

In any case, I'm following this AAR with interest. Thanks. [8D]

[Sardaukar]

Turn 2 orders:

There is very little to do yet. Generally checking that land/air/naval units have appropriate orders and filling air units with extra pilots.

China

- set some more units to Rest & No replacements.

Malaya

- just checked the units and set some that had arrived to Singapore to Combat orders.
- checked that air units have appropriate orders, you can check my defaults from previous posts.
- augmented Force Z is still waiting outside Kuching what will transpire there.

There is still lack of transports and neither of AUS brigades have arrived yet. Lot of units on move or strategic move but few arrived yet (understandably).

DEI (this stands for Dutch East India, nowadays Indonesia mainly):

- set couple more subs and minelayers in action that I had missed last turn.

- set some units I plan to air transport to Soerabaja to have their Target set as that place.

- recombined 2 Dutch Surface Combat TFs to one.

- sent more transports from Soerabaja to Singapore (and hoping most of them make it).

Philippines

Allied shipping is scattering around and running like bunch of cockroaches.

- checked air units, started to transfer P-40s from Iba to Manila.

- disbanded Transport TF in Cebu, in vain hope that evemy carrier planes will ignore

Other areas:

- I have 34th Inf Rgt in SF ready to ship to PH...but cannot do it until Kido Butai withdraws from Hawaii area.

- Hawaii air units filled with pilots (even if 25 exp), fighters checked that set to standard CAP settings. Lot of other air units still have just couple of planes, so they are at 100% until they fill up.

- damaged ships in PH are still kept in Readiness repairs, since I need every AA gun available if KB attacks again, disbanded ships contribute 50% of their AA power to base defense.

- sent Port Service Units to SF

- "upgraded" (actually downgraded) VMF-111 in Eastern USA to F2A-3 Buffaloes to dump some badly needed F4Fs into pool. This was historical, some USMC air units were stripped of more modern planes to fill up CV squadrons and upgrade paths are set accordingly. Also transferred most of the 50 exp Marine pilots to General Reserve and filled unit with total rookies.

- set West Coast/ CONUS units to 100% training in appropriate areas, if not needed for Naval search.

Note that I am not using 100ft Naval attack (skip bombing) at this stage of war. I am not using B-17s in naval Attack either yet, just Naval Search. Reasons for those are several, but mainly:

- skip bombing didn't belong to the doctrine of units I have in appropriate areas, like Dutch, won't set Dutch to skip bombing. But for example, when I get my B-26 Marauders to SW Pacific, I will train them to skip bombing and use them as such. But training them takes time.

- I won't use B-17s as skip bombers and if needed, doing Naval Attacks with them only from 6k and above. They are too valuable Search assets and achieve decent number of hits against enemy shipping when doing Search. You'll notice that with in-game message like "B-17E spots xAK Tomonaga Maru at xx,xx ...xAK Tomonaga Maru is HIT". This means plane spotted ship during it's search and also attacked it successfully. Of course lot of that is Fog of War, but not all. Armed reconnaissance is the name of that game. [8D]

- it is always good to impose some restraints on yourself when playing against AI. Even when I take advantage of hindsight about Japanese opening moves (but I still cannot be sure which of 13 main AI scripts was selected at start of the game), I try only to do things I think would be in realm of possibility during that time.

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: Torplexed

*Sigh* How I could have used a thread like this back in March when I started my first game against the Japanese AI. I remember how long that first turn took to set up and I didn't think of nearly half of the good suggestions there are here. [:D]

Do you have any plans for the two Australian coastal gun batteries that can be bought from restricted command early in the game with enough political points? If I remember correctly, they are the 6th and 7th RAA Coastal Regiments. One starts at Perth and the other in Portland, Australia. In my game after shipping them north, and planting them at the opposites ends of Java, (one in Merak and other at Banjoewangi) they came in pretty handy in repelling landings, and making sure Japanese troops never got a foothold in Java.

In any case, I'm following this AAR with interest. Thanks. [8D]

I have one on-going game vs. AI like that. It took me about 6-7 divisions worth of extra troops in Java to actually stop and smash AI. And it was lot of fun but wildly unrealistic. [:D]

I try to play this campaign as bit of "role-play" as recently appointed "SACPAC" (Supreme Allied Commander, Pacific). Bearing that in mind, I doubt I could convince Australian Prime Minister Curtin and Gen. Blamey to strip off CD defenses, when 4 of best AUS divisions (6th, 7th, 8th and 9th) are abroad and Japanese are breathing down from Truk. [:D] No way in hell they'd agree to send them to Java...not even Jesus could talk them to that. [8D] Even sending 5th AUS Division to PM is bit controversial, because Militia troops were only required to serve on AUS soil..but since it was later remedied to include Solomons & PNG, I think I could push it a bit. Similarly, evacuating 27th & 28th AUS brigades from Singapore would make Churchill scream, but it would be possible if Australian Government really wanted it. [8D]

So, what I need my Political Points for in immediate future, is to recombine 5th AUS and send it to Port Moresby. I really want to keep it. [8D] This will later also free 6th and 7th to use if I need to defend against Japanese in Oz or elsewhere in SW Pacific.

[Sardaukar]

Dec 9-10 (note that I am not pasting all combat reports, only those I deem important to comment)

Wow, we are having good times! But also, as explained later, "Houston, we have a problem!"

Japanese unopposed landings during 2 days:

Japanese forces CAPTURE Tarawa !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Aparri !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Vigan !!!

Japanese forces CAPTURE Miri !!!
Japanese forces CAPTURE Legaspi !!!

We have been lucky so far, but this would have been lucky indeed!:

Sub attack near French Frigate Shoal at 173,100

Japanese Ships
CV Akagi
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
CA Chikuma
DD Isokaze
DD Kasumi
DD Arare
DD Tanikaze
DD Hamakaze

Allied Ships
SS Pompano



SS Pompano launches 4 torpedoes at CV Akagi
Pompano diving deep ....
DD Kasumi fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Arare fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hamakaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Arare fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tanikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Arare fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Marine "Wind-Indicators" try to stop IJN landing at Wake I...not very successfully:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 6
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 12


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu
AMC Kongo Maru
CL Yubari
DD Kisaragi



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

However, CV Lexington gets into action and sends in coordinated strike, no less (doesn't really matter this time, since IJN TF doesn't have air cover):

Morning Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes


Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SBD-2 Dauntless x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 14
TBD-1 Devastator x 12


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AMC Kongo Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Kinryu Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Tenryu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Hayate, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PB Kaikei Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mochizuki

Japanese ground losses:
183 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
12 x TBD-1 Devastator launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AMC Kongo Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Hayate

Now you see why I was contemplating about setting Devastators to carry bombs, combined effect of Devastators and Mk13 torpedoes is decidedly underwhelming...

Marines from Wake get again piece of action:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 8
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 11


Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu, on fire
DD Hayate, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Kinryu Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
3 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Hayate
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AMC Kinryu Maru

Kido Butai is retiring, but sends last delivery:

Afternoon Air attack on Lihue , at 178,106

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
B5N2 Kate x 139



Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 14
Port hits 17
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 4000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 3000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
18 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 20000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
26 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 20000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
21 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 4000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 3000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 2000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 2000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 6000 feet
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 2000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 3000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-211 with F4F-3 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

Lost one stray Wildcat, but I am happy KB used lot of ordnance there.

Now CV Lexington send in afternoon strike, again coordinated, and again, Devastators suck:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 136,98

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
F4F-3 Wildcat x 3
SBD-2 Dauntless x 12
SBD-3 Dauntless x 13
TBD-1 Devastator x 11


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AMC Kinryu Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMC Kongo Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Hayate, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Tenryu, on fire
DD Yayoi
CL Tatsuta
DD Kisaragi, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
937 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 34 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 45 (45 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
10 x TBD-1 Devastator launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AMC Kinryu Maru

SS Pickerel has bad day in office, returning to Manila as Cripple, 35 ys, 46 flt damage:

ASW attack near Aparri at 82,73

Japanese Ships
DD Matsukaze

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel, hits 7



SS Pickerel is sighted by escort
Pickerel bottoming out ....
DD Matsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Matsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Matsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Matsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Matsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Despite losses, Japanese are still landing on Wake I, garrison is giving them warm welcome:

Pre-Invasion action off Wake Island - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

71 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari, Shell hits 4
CL Tatsuta, Shell hits 1
DD Oite, Shell hits 1
DD Yayoi
DD Mutsuki
PB Kaiun Maru
PB Ikunta Maru
PB Hakkaisan Maru
PB Fukui Maru
DD Hayate, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


CL Yubari firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion
1st Marine Defense Battalion firing at CL Yubari
CL Tatsuta firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion
1st Marine Defense Battalion firing at CL Tatsuta
1st Marine Defense Battalion firing at DD Oite
DD Oite firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion
DD Yayoi firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion
1st Marine Defense Battalion firing at DD Yayoi
DD Mutsuki firing at 1st Marine Defense Battalion
1st Marine Defense Battalion firing at DD Mutsuki
PB Kaiun Maru fired at enemy guns
PB Ikunta Maru fired at enemy guns
PB Hakkaisan Maru fired at enemy guns
PB Fukui Maru fired at enemy guns
DD Oite fired at enemy guns
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

First wave of Japanese assault is wiped out:


Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 197 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Defending force 1076 troops, 25 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 23

Assault collapses, attacking force wiped out

Japanese ground losses:
236 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1



Assaulting units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /2

Defending units:
Wake USN CPNAB
1st Marine Defense Battalion

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 10, 41

Japanese continue to land Wake:

Invasion Support action off Wake Island

19 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
PB Fukui Maru, Shell hits 1
CL Tenryu
DD Hayate, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Kaiun Maru
PB Ikunta Maru
PB Hakkaisan Maru
DD Oite

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



5in CD Gun Battery engaging PB Fukui Maru at 5,000 yards
DD Hayate firing to suppress enemy battery at 5,000 yards
PB Kaiun Maru fired at enemy troops
PB Ikunta Maru fired at enemy guns
PB Hakkaisan Maru fired at enemy guns
PB Fukui Maru fired at enemy guns
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

Fleet boats are not totally hopeless:

Submarine attack near Laoag at 79,69

Japanese Ships
xAKL Hinode Maru #20, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Salmon



xAKL Hinode Maru #20 is sighted by SS Salmon
SS Salmon launches 4 torpedoes at xAKL Hinode Maru #20

Dutch boats are good asset:

Submarine attack near Patani at 53,72

Japanese Ships
xAP Hakozaki Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXII



xAP Hakozaki Maru is sighted by SS KXII
SS KXII attacking on the surface

Same with S-boats:

Sub attack near Laoag at 81,71

Japanese Ships
xAP Teikyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Kenkon Maru

Allied Ships
SS S-37

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



SS S-37 launches 4 torpedoes at xAP Teikyo Maru
S-37 diving deep ....
PB Kenkon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kenkon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kenkon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kenkon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kenkon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

CV Lexington gives another delivery of good news for retreating IJN units near Wake, this time enemy is out of range of fighters and TBs:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Eniwetok at 131,102

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu
CL Yubari, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Tatsuta, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Japanese discover that Betty is very fragile bomber when confronted by fighter opposition , twice...:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Bataan at 77,77

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6



Allied aircraft
P-26A x 3
P-35A x 5
P-40B Warhawk x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 20


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed




CAP engaged:
24th PG/3rd PS with P-40E Warhawk (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
24th PG/17th PS with P-40E Warhawk (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(9 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
24th PG/20th PS with P-40B Warhawk (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
35th PG/21st PS with P-40E Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
35th PG/34th PS with P-35A (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
6th PS PAAC with P-26A (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Bataan at 77,77

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6



Allied aircraft
P-26A x 3
P-35A x 4
P-40B Warhawk x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 20


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed




CAP engaged:
24th PG/3rd PS with P-40E Warhawk (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
24th PG/17th PS with P-40E Warhawk (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
24th PG/20th PS with P-40B Warhawk (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes
35th PG/21st PS with P-40E Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
35th PG/34th PS with P-35A (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
6th PS PAAC with P-26A (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes

Another attack against fleeing IJN by CV Lexington, those guys really earned their paycheck during this turn (CV Enterprise didn't get into action yet):

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Eniwetok at 131,102

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Tatsuta, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Kaiun Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Tatsuta
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring PB Kaiun Maru

Finally CV Enterprise closes in and sends strike against same targets (as you can see from * in combat report and the use of 500lb bomb, strike was send from extended range, thus no fighter escort or TBs, they lack range):

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Eniwetok at 131,102

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-2 Dauntless x 15


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Tatsuta, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Kaiun Maru, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Tenryu
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Tatsuta
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring PB Kaiun Maru

In HK, japanese are serious about capturing it..and since it is already 1-1 attack and forts are reduced, we can expect HK to fall in few days:

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 15975 troops, 277 guns, 202 vehicles, Assault Value = 634

Defending force 6637 troops, 132 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 229

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 586

Allied adjusted defense: 473

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
441 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled


Allied ground losses:
194 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Assaulting units:
38th Division
66th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
5th RF Gun Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
1st Middlesex Battalion
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
Hong Kong Fortress
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force

Miri in Borneo is captured by Japanese:

Ground combat at Miri (64,87)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1169 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 42

Defending force 112 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 6

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Miri !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
I./124th Infantry Bn /4

Defending units:
100th RN Base Force

Japanese desperate Banzai-attack in Wake fails:

Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 359 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Defending force 1088 troops, 25 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 24

Assault collapses, attacking force wiped out

Japanese ground losses:
484 casualties reported
Squads: 44 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1



Assaulting units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /2

Defending units:
Wake USN CPNAB
1st Marine Defense Battalion

[Sardaukar]

And now, to the part: "Houston, we have a problem!"

[Sardaukar]

I think lot of AE players see immediately my dilemma. I took calculated risk to intercept Wake landing with my CVs. Now, I have to consider following:

- Wake I. supply is red and I don't have much chance to supply it before Japanese strike again. This will shut down air ops in no time. Thus, I am evacuating USMC air units back to CVs if possible. Mission accomplished, well done Jarheads!

- Supporting Wake defense I put both Lexington and Enterprise into danger, as seen in above picture. There is real danger now to lose one or even both of those CVs.

- By historical hindsight, I know that my 2 CVs cannot take on 6 IJN fleet carriers, even if they have depleted lot of their ordnance. Especially when they'd be flying F2A Buffaloes against Zeroes. So, we'll run.

- Now, problem is run where? Running to SW, SE or W would put us deeper into Japanese air search network and increase the chance of Kido Butai to react to our presence. Not to mention possibility of land based Torpedo Bomber strikes. Running to E would put us straight into path of last reported course of KB. Running to N or NE might put us straight into them if they are just returning to Japan.

- We could split our forces (as they are now) and go to different directions, maximizing the chance that at least one CV would make it to PH. On the other hand, this would enhance the possibility, that at least one CV would be attacked and most likely sunk.

- Decisions, decisions..life of SACPAC is not easy. [8D]

[cantona2]

Head NW at full speed then wheel about back to the East, towards Midway. Starting loading up the AOs at Pearl with fuel and get them heading to Midway ASAP as you'll need to top up the carriers after their dash. I managed to get the Saratoga out of danger in a similar situation in my ongoing game with Ramon (Fletcher) in this way. Make sure all fighters are on 100% CAP as you go near Marcus Island.