Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

[apbarog]

10 Dec 41 - Timor

4 days into the war, and Timor has been invaded.

[apbarog]

11 Dec 41

A few more small ships lost near Cagayan to the enemy cruiser force.

East of the Philippines, battleships Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise, and Hyuga hunt down 6 or so xAKs and AM Quail.

Near Balabac, S-40 torpedoes APD Fuji. It had men on it.

DD Thanet hits a mine laid on the Borneo coast east of Tarakan. Thanet sinks.

Dutch torpedo boats run into BB Kongo and Haruna and escorts, moving with KB. No hits for either side. Kongo and friends then sink 2 TKs in the area.

The US cruisers charging into Koepang don't get that far. Enemy cruisers intercept west of the base. In the first combat, there are just a few minor hits. One on CA Ashigara, 2 on CL Boise, and 1 on DD Parrott. In a second battle, the Japanese get the advantage.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 67,117, Range 21,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Shell hits 2
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 1
CL Naka, Shell hits 2
DD Murasame
DD Harusame, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 8, on fire (SYS 49/FLOT 10-0/ENG 18-1/FIRE 29)
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 1
CL Boise, Shell hits 1 (SYS 11/FLOT 1-0/ENG 2-2/FIRE 0)
DD Barker, Shell hits 1
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 1, on fire (SYS 16/FLOT 8-1/ENG 8-0/FIRE 0)
DD Stewart
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 1
DD Parrott, Shell hits 1, on fire (SYS 11/FLOT 24-10/ENG 7-0/FIRE 1)


Boela is invaded, as is Babo.

More troops land at Ambon. I knew that reinforcements would be coming, but didn't expect them immediately. CL Abukuma is hit hard by CD guns, and may have been sunk.

Zeros from KB sweep Soerabaja, downing many Dutch fighters and lose nothing.

Kates bomb Singapore's port, hitting the same damaged ships, sinking a couple.

Many airstrikes on Chinese ground units in clear terrain. Kweiteh is lost.

Koepang is lost. Cagayan is attacked by falls just short of a 2 to 1. Equal losses but the base is about lost. Guam is captured. My counterattack at Ambon was ill advised, with the enemy landing a bunch of new troops. The Dutch units are decimated, and the base will fall tomorrow. The CD guns did good work though.

[apbarog]

11 Dec 41 - Java to Timor

[apbarog]

11 Dec 41 - Philippines

[apbarog]

11 Dec 41 - China

[apbarog]

12 Dec 41

S-38 hits and probably sinks ADP Hagi near Balabac. This is the second APD hit in this area, and both had men loaded. They seem to be standing off and waiting for something.

Near Morotai, NE of Ternate, US 3 DDs engage 4 CAs and 4 DDs. The fighting is inconclusive, with one minor hit on DD Kikuzuki, one hit on DD John D. Ford, and two hits on DD Pillsbury (SYS 11/FLOT 5-3/ENG 5-0/FIRE 0).

In the same area, Dutch CLs Dragon and Durban and 3 DDs engage the same enemy TF. CA Kinugasa is hit 4 times, but many did not penetrate, and CA Kako was hit once. Dragon and Durban were hit 2 times and 1 time respectively. DD Express was hit once. Damage is light to all ships.

South of Mataram, on the eastern flank of all of the ships fleeing Java, another engagement occurs.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Mataram at 58,115, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Kuma, Shell hits 3
DD Satsuki
DD Minazuki
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 1
DD Nagatsuki

Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 1
DD Piet Hein, Shell hits 2
DD Kortenaer
DD Witte de With
DD Banckert, Shell hits 1

Damage is fairly even. This is a different TF from what engaged Houston near Koepang. Aurorus is searching for fleeing ships, no doubt. He could continue with this TF, as damage is not great for either side. I don't spot his ships here today.

Dutch torpedo boat TM-5 hits a mine in the strait SE of Palembang. If this mine was laid on 7 Dec, it would turn out to be fortunate that Prince of Wales went south to the east of the strait. Maybe the crew of the Repulse feels differently though.

Soerabaja is swept by KB's Zeros. Hong Kong and Singapore are bombed. More enemy bombing of Chinese troops in the open.

KB Vals, escorted by Zeros, hit DD Pope at Balikpapan. Pope was already damaged, and had moved from Tarakan to refuel, and hopefully sprint south past the danger. Didn't make it.

Palembang was bombed.

Far east of Legaspi, Kates sink AV Langley, which zigzagged south hoping the enemy CVL would jump north. It didn't.

Cagayan was captured, as was Ambon and Boela.

Positive note for today: An xAKL loaded supply at Hong Kong and make it to Pakhoi and is unloading 1000 supply for the Chinese. A small success.

[apbarog]

Here's all of the Allied ships sunk so far. Many started at Singpore and Manila. I'll detail what got away sometime soon.

[Bif1961]

If you have less than 100 ships sunk I would say you are doing well. Also since PH wasn't attacked he can't allow the KB to stay here more than 30-45 days without splitting some of to deal with the 3 American carriers.

[apbarog]

13 Dec 41

South of Mataram, CL Kuma and 3 DDs engages CL De Ruyter and 3 DDs, same as yesterday. Results are similar, with just minor damage on one ship for each side.

South of Japan, east of the Philippines, CL Tama and 3 DDs track down 2 tankers fleeing from the Philippines. Aurorus kept good detection on these ships, and is willing to go to great lengths to track down each and every ship. All I can do is run and make it a timeconsuming effort for him. Only a few ships that ran east of the Philippines are still afloat.

Near Hong Kong, BB Nagato and 5 DDs intercepts 8 Brit MTBs transiting from Hong Kong to the Philippines. Hong Kong is about to fall, and it was time to leave. Nagato engages several times, and about half of the torpedo boats are lost. Nagato must be patrolling to engage this many times. Couldn't have been coincidentally moving south.

Near Sarmi, 3 enemy CLs get xAK Governor Wright, a Philippine escapee. These cruisers then get 2 xAKLs, and then run into DDs John D. Ford, Peary, and Pillsbury. DD Mutsuki is hit twice, and reports heavy fire, but all US destroyers are sunk.

Lots more bombing of Chinese troops in open terrain. Running for the woods, but we all know that a lot of Chinese start in poor positions. It's easy to forget that the war in China did not start with Pearl Harbor. Lots of bombing of troops in Hong Kong also.

DD Scout moved into Donggala, and KB moved very close. 17 Vals amazingly missed the destroyer. Now Scout will make a full speed run to Soerabaja, hoping to not be intercepted. That is unlikely to happen, with Aurorus' heavy use of combat ship patrolling.

Hong Kong was attacked, and the Brits did fairly well, considering.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24109 troops, 302 guns, 151 vehicles, Assault Value = 667

Defending force 7793 troops, 130 guns, 72 vehicles, Assault Value = 224

Japanese adjusted assault: 826

Allied adjusted defense: 253

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1300 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 122 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
650 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
66th Infantry Regiment
38th Division
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
1st Ind.Inf.Group
20th Ind Engineer Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
23rd Army
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

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

I've started to compile a list of all of the ships that have successfully escaped the Philippines, the Java area, and Singapore. I will post the list when everything had made it to safety. I've lost a lot of ships, as was posted yesterday, but the value of most of the ships lost is very low. I've saved a lot of higher value assets.

Significant SigInt today. 33 Division is planning an attack for Rangoon. I don't know if this will be an overland attack or a naval landing. I still see nothing approaching Moulmein by land.

[apbarog]

14 Dec 41

CL Tama and 3 DDs hunt down TK Gertrude Kellogg, sinking her. The tanker made it to a point SW of Iwo Jima.

Lautem was invaded.

Enemy bombers continue to pummel Chinese units in clear terrain, mostly in the area south of Nanyang. I count 185 bombers today. This does not count a sizable number of bombers hitting Hong Kong. They'll will be freed up very soon when Hong Kong falls.

Something good to report! 4 Seagull float planes, flying from Davao, hit xAK Venice Maru to the east of Mindanao. 2 250 pound bombs hit, doing heavy damage to the ship. And the ship is loaded with troops.

2 Dutch search planes bombed Ambon's port. There was no CAP, and there were ships in port, but bombs miss. Just a nuisance attack.

South of Mindanao, carrier Vals sink AG Gold Star.

Aurorus bombed a number of ports in the Celebes area today. He'd seen the Allied DD in the area, and small ships moving here and there, and is trying to hunt them down. Makassar is hit, but no ships there. Then Loewoek. Nothing there. Then Talaud-eilanden. Nothing. Then Davao. Nadda. Then Cotabato. Nothing. Then Donggala. The DD had left.

West of Luzon, 15 P-40Es fly a strafing mission against CL Isuzu and some TB boats. Got 2 gun hits but no bomb hits.

Manado was invaded.

A Chinese corp was routed in the clear terrain south of Nanyang.

Another attack at Hong Kong, but it wasn't quite enough to take the base. It will fall tomorrow.

Today's SigInt says that the enemy Botanko Hvy Artillery is at Port Arthur. This is one of the really big gun units. They've been moved to Port Arthur to be picked up, no doubt. If I can keep track of this unit, I may get a good idea where Aurorus is going to commit.

[apbarog]

14 Dec 41 - China

Japanese forces are moving quickly in the central plains.

[apbarog]

15 Dec 41

Enemy troops land at Manado. Sub Perch fires at some TBs near Manado, but misses. Manado is bombarded by cruisers Kako, Furutaka, Kinugasa, and Aoba.

Near Biak, off the eastern side of New Guinea, cruisers Myoko, Haguro, and Nachi, and 6 DDs, tracks down AM Lark, sinking her. Then they sink AO Trinity in the same hex.

Enemy troops unload at Makassar.

Zeros sweep Clark, but find no CAP.

36 Nells bomb the port at Sabang, on the northern tip of Sumatra. Must have thought I was hiding ships there. None.

More bombing of Chinese troops in the clear, and bombing of troops at Hong Kong.

Troops at Alor Star are bombed.

Nates sweep Nanyang. No CAP.

3 Seagulls at Davao try again to hit shipping, this time at Davao, but a few Zeros are on station and no bombs are dropped. One or two float planes are lost.

Vals find 3 AMc's hugging the western coast of Sumatra, trying to flee to the north. All of the tiny ships are sunk.

The port at Siargao is hit by Vals. No ships hiding here.

A large KB strike of 89 Kates bombs troops at Manado.

Vals then attack Davao's port, but find no targets. Other Vals hit Zamboanga, and find 2 xAKLs there. Both are heavily damaged.

52 Kates hit Toboali's port, and hit an xAKL, sinking her.

19 Kates with Claude escorts hit troops at Makassar.

Enemy troops land at Davao.

Kluong is lost, north of Singapore. The peninsula is cut and many troops are at Mersing and nearby. SigInt reports that 21 Division is headed for Mersing.

The Japanese rest for a day at Hong Kong, and just bombard. The end is near.

The enemy attacks at Sinyang in China, but come up short with a 1 to 2 attack. Chinese casualties are still almost twice the enemy.

Makassar falls easily to the 2nd Formose Inf. Regiment.

Manado barely holds, with ten times more casualties for the Dutch there. They are gone tomorrow.

Undefended Lautem on Timor is lost to II/81st Naval Guard Unit.

The four enemy battleships spotted earlier in the week heading south from Japan toward Babeldaop have not been seen since. Could have gone to Babeldaop, or to Truk. They most probably were not headed to the Singapore area. I think that may be an indication of a commitment to something other than an immediate push to India. Too early to tell, but they could have been sent to Southeast Asia.

[apbarog]

16 Dec 41

Landings continue at Davao and Manado.

Near Waingapoe, CL Kuma claims another xAKL fleeing toward Australia.

Near Boela, 4 BBs engage the last big convoy fleeing the Philippines. Results are as expected. It is worth noting that the position of the big boys, and that they are coming south with other TFs.

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
BB Hyuga
CA Chokai
CL Kitakami
CL Oi
DD Fubuki
DD Shinonome
DD Usugumo
DD Shirakumo
DD Isonami

Allied Ships
PG Tulsa, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Don Jose, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
xAKL Paz, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
xAKL Anakan, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Bisayas, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
xAKL Corregidor, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Dona Nati, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
xAKL Palawan, Shell hits 20, and is sunk

A TF with BBs Haruna and Kongo are engaged by subs KXVIII and Pike. Both subs fire at destroyers and miss.

PC Formalhaut, with nowhere to run and guns ready to fire, storms into Davao, hoping to break up the invasion convoy.

Japanese Ships
PB Kyo Maru #8
PB Kyo Maru #10
PB Shoei Maru
PB Shotoku Maru
PB Sonan Maru #5
PB Sonan Maru #6
PB Shuko Maru #5
AV Kiyokawa Maru
xAK Yokohama Maru
xAK Matsue Maru
xAK Nishimi Maru
xAK Daifuku Maru

Allied Ships
PC Formalhaut, Shell hits 1 (one hit from an xAK and Formalhaut runs away)

More of the same bombing of Chinese troops in clear terrain. Some bombing of troops north of Singapore. A big Kate strike on troops at Davao.

Vals hit ports at Ternate, Morotai, and Lolobato. An AVP is hiding at Morotai, supporting a couple of Dutch seaplanes which are providing excellent coverage. The AVP is not spotted or hit.

Hong Kong is lost. Davao is attacked but holds for now. Victoria Point is lost. Manado is lost.

[apbarog]

Lessons Learned After One Week

1. No Wake. No Tarawa. No Philippines. Aurorus has other designs.
2. Aurorus is aggressive operationally, going for deep bases first, but careful tactically, covering his landings and effectively guarding the naval routes from what he wants to block, like the Philippines.
3. Aurorus uses the Pursuit attack option. I've always declined to use this in past games, thinking that it speeds up the attacks more than I thought reasonable. He uses Pursuit. I will use Pursuit.
4. Despite the aggressive Japanese opening, no paras have been used. Port Blair was not invaded by paras, which is something that can happen very quickly. Why not? Must be planned for something big. A Port Blair assault immediately telegraphs intentions in that direction. It could still happen though.
5. Aurorus uses bombers very heavily against troops in open terrain. Needless to say, this is very effective. This is another thing that I've always tried to do in moderation. And not use heavy bombers for it. He's doing this very heavily, almost exclusively. I will do the same when it comes time. And as the Allies, this will be repaid tenfold. Particularly since there is no limit on 4 engine bombers in our game.
6. Aurorus uses night naval search for his planes on combat ships. This is the first game in a long time where I've been in a game that allowed night missions. He has been effective with this. It has helped him a lot with shutting down the escape from the Philippines. Night air finds my ships, then the patrolling combat ships intercept. I will use this in the future, when it becomes advantageous for me.

Some Good News

There have been some small victories to savor as the Allies. Mostly in saving ships. I've detailed the many ships lost in the exodus from the Philippines, and the slaughter of the ships caught at Singapore from day one. Aurorus bombed Manila's port on day one (and maybe day two also), and hit many ships, including many subs. I evacuated everything I could, and all of those are safely nearing Australia. There were three subs that were heavily damaged. They stayed in the shipyard at Manila, and after the great Manila exodus began, Aurorus stopped bombing the port. These three US subs were repaired completely and are now patrolling.

BB Prince of Wales escaped KB's day one attack, and is safely in Australia. It arrived there with 4 US destroyers. Many valuable xAPs and TKs survived and escaped. A bunch of xAKs and xAKLs survived. Smaller craft, like short-legged AMs made the trip, escorted by a long range cargo ship. An AR made it to Australia. Several ARDs are enroute. Several CMs survived. Most of the Dutch navy survived, although somewhat banged up. A few AS made it. A big fast xAP from Manila did escape to the east, and has made it past Marcus Island unseen. It should make it to safety. DD Scout made an incredible sprint past KB to safety. It avoided a big Val attack, and then ran away. So there have been some quiet successes.

An xAKL sneakily moved 1000 supply from Hong Kong to Pakhoi for the Chinese. Aururos stopped doing naval search in this area. Now two tiny TKs and an small cargo ship are almost to Pakhoi, having loaded up fuel from Manila. And it looks like they will make it safely around Hainan Island. Pretty amazing, I think, even if it is insignificant.

[Dirtnap86]

Man, as an Allied player vs the AI, all of that sticks in my craw. I'd much rather eat a few old BBs lost than all the good units that can be saved from Singers.

[Macclan5]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

PDU - OFF

Subscribed. Looking forward to this AAR.

Interesting.. very interesting...second such AAR I have read.

I do imagine it takes a very skillful opponent of the Japanese side to manage this ~ PDU off.

I opine that despite the a-historical start and advantages thereof for the Japanese side; PDU off possibly is the greatest historical "balancer" tool in game though I have no H2H experience.

Hellcats and Corsairs will establish air superiority by June 1943 in both numbers and quality. i.e. not seeing the "optimized" Japanese aircraft production mini-game.

I congratulate both your daring.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Lessons Learned After One Week

1. No Wake. No Tarawa. No Philippines. Aurorus has other designs.
2. Aurorus is aggressive operationally, going for deep bases first, but careful tactically, covering his landings and effectively guarding the naval routes from what he wants to block, like the Philippines.
3. Aurorus uses the Pursuit attack option. I've always declined to use this in past games, thinking that it speeds up the attacks more than I thought reasonable. He uses Pursuit. I will use Pursuit.
4. Despite the aggressive Japanese opening, no paras have been used. Port Blair was not invaded by paras, which is something that can happen very quickly. Why not? Must be planned for something big. A Port Blair assault immediately telegraphs intentions in that direction. It could still happen though.
5. Aurorus uses bombers very heavily against troops in open terrain. Needless to say, this is very effective. This is another thing that I've always tried to do in moderation. And not use heavy bombers for it. He's doing this very heavily, almost exclusively. I will do the same when it comes time. And as the Allies, this will be repaid tenfold. Particularly since there is no limit on 4 engine bombers in our game.
6. Aurorus uses night naval search for his planes on combat ships. This is the first game in a long time where I've been in a game that allowed night missions. He has been effective with this. It has helped him a lot with shutting down the escape from the Philippines. Night air finds my ships, then the patrolling combat ships intercept. I will use this in the future, when it becomes advantageous for me.

Night naval search is critical for both sides. Japan always has an advantage off ships here, since your range is less.

You will payback Japan in spades using the pursuit option and ground bombing - and it is a lot of fun and not really gamey (at least to me). But Aurorus is a very honorable gamer, he doesn't supersize float plane groups for example but he has meta gamed the opening pretty heavily.

So, in other words, you are in for a great game with a very worthy Japan.

Enjoy, I am sure there are plenty of AFBs out there that are very envious.[:)]

[BBfanboy]

I would not count those ships reaching Oz as safe. All too often KB finishes covering the first wave expansion and takes the orbit of OZ tour to smack whatever is in port or nearby.
Oz has virtually no defences and no fuel so the best thing is to send them to Capetown straight away and then split them among the IO and US West Coast (with a few hauling fuel and supplies from EC USA). The AR is needed in this theatre but I would hide it in southern NZ for the first six months or so until KB's touring is finished.

[apbarog]

I don't consider any port in Australia completely safe. The good news is that I have better than average search coverage up around Australia, for this early in the war. All of those Catalinas that normally get destroyed in a Pearl Harbor attack did not. 3 full squadrons moved to the South Pacific and Australia. If KB does take the world tour around Australia, I will see it coming. Except for a possible surprise raid to Perth, which can always happen. I certainly do not consider Perth safe. I expect to lose it against this aggressive opponent.

[apbarog]

17 Dec 41

Dutch torpedo boats engage bigger task forces twice near Makassar. First 6 TMs battle 4 enemy CAs and 4 DDs. The fight is at night, and at only 1000 yards. TMs do launch some of their torpedoes, but all miss. One minor hit on a TM. Then BBs Kongo and Haruna, 2 CAs, 1 CL, and 6 DDs engage. This fight is during the day, and starts at 19000 yards, and as expected, goes badly for the Dutch, who can't get close during the daylight. 4 TMs are sunk. 3 retire toward Soerabaja but run low on fuel on the way.

Between the Philippines and China, xAKL Dai Lee runs into 3 enemy AMc's. Neither side wants a fight. The enemy ships are probably going to Hong Kong to sweep mines. The xAKL was the one that successfully moved 1000 supply from Hong Kong to Pakhoi. It is headed to Manila.

Dutch sub KXVI gets into a carrier TF near Ketapang, but is spotted, and doesn't get a shot off. No damage to the sub.

The usual bombing in China and near Singapore.

Near Sampit, 6 Hudsons go after cruisers in or near a carrier TF. All evade the 3 Zeros on CAP and drop their bombs, but all miss. The Zeros eliminate one or two of the bombers on the way out.

2 Chinese corps are defeated near Sinyang, and a small Indian unit is defeated in the jungle near Georgetown.

Here's the big fast xAP that escaped from the Philippines and is almost to safety.