TAIFUN (Axis) vs smckechnie (Allies) Full game 1939

[Taifun]

Army group South August 29 1941.
General von Manstein exploiting his breakthrough captured Krasnodar and isolated the Crimean Peninsula. The Maikop oilfields were not that far…

At the end of this turn the Soviets align 39 land units vs 64 Germans. Russian moral is 79%.

[Taifun]

August 29 1941
China. The Chinese Capital Chungking is evacuated by the Chinese defenders!! Our troops enter triumphal and parade through the streets: the Emperor is exultant! Banzai!!
The timing of this great event could not have been better planned for the Japanese. As the USA mobilization climbs steadily in huge leaps towards war some of our forces could now be released and will be soon sent out of China for more greatness. I was expecting a hard fight for the Capital as the defending Chinese Army was fully entrenched level 6 and could call for reinforcements further north, always a hard nut to crack.

[Taifun]

September 26 1941
The day starts with the message “the USA prepares for War”…
Ready or not Japan must declare war to the USA this turn! The sea around the Hawaiian Islands is stormy and only 4 slots of clear weather close to Oahu are available to launch air attacks. The Kido Butai under Nagumo, by a whisker, nears and hugs the Hawaiian coast launching the air armada and manages to sink the 3 BBs but the CA is only damaged to strength 6. The losses are quite heavy between our plane crews due to an AA unit and alert defending US fighters.

[Taifun]

Elsewhere in the South China Sea, targeting only air units, our Special naval forces landed near Manila, Davao and Soerabaja. They managed to destroy the Philippine US Air Force and the Dutch fighters. In Indochina a new Army Group was operated to start the invasion of Thailand next turn. More Special Landing troops boarded Long Range Amphibians (LRA) transports at Formosa and Palau.
A US destroyer was also sunk near American Samoa. With the limited time available for preparation that was all that could be accomplished this turn.

[Marcinos1985]

Why did US mobilization rise so quickly? Any out-of-the-box move?

[HamburgerMeat]

ORIGINAL: Marcinos1985

Why did US mobilization rise so quickly? Any out-of-the-box move?

I think because the Japanese declared war on the USSR

[Taifun]

That is correct, as HambutgerMeat points out. Since the declaration of war to USSR by Japan the USA mobilized from the 40s% to 99% in just 3 turns..!

[Marcinos1985]

Oh, you DOW'ed USSR with Japan first? Sorry, missed that. So the question is - was it worth it? [:)]

[Taifun]

ORIGINAL: Marcinos1985

Oh, you DOW'ed USSR with Japan first? Sorry, missed that. So the question is - was it worth it? [:)]

I can't answer that question yet as we are presently only April 1942... But no MMPs are arriving the USSR via the Pacific and every MMP that the Russians do not get now helps Germany in the struggle against Stalin now. The USA needs time to organize a second front and anyway it is difficult that USA enters the year 1942 not at war. But I have played very few games pass summer 1942 and I need more games to decide if this strategy is worth it against an experience player. It surely made the Japanese advance through Asia a lot harder as I will soon show...

[Taifun]

September 26 1941
As there has been some communication problems between the Germans and the Finns with General Gariboldi’s staff German General Bush was sent to Helsinki to take command of all troops and operations in Finland and a new Army Group Finland was created. Our troops were slowly pushing back the Soviets towards Leningrad in the Karelian Ithmus.
In the neighboring General Rommel’s Army Group North, after being reinforced with 2 Armies and some artillery, the faltering attack resumed north in muddy weather and successfully encircled the town of Narva and its Soviet defenders. As no additional troops were available for Army Group Center the front froze for many months.

[Taifun]

In Army Group South the advance continued unopposed with the occupation of Salsk and the Maikop oilfield.

At the end of this turn the Soviets aligned 39 land units vs 65 Germans.

Mediterranean area. British reconnaissance troops are seen near Tripoli.

[Taifun]

October 24 1941
At this point the Soviets must be really stretched thin with only 39 land units to defend many important key regions: Murmansk, Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, the Far East (where a significant part of their forces were still based inexplicably) and the Caucasus. They just could not be strong in all those places. Obviously they concentrated around Moscow some of the best troops. It was a critical moment for Stalin with so many “rat holes to watch” and the Germans took advantage of this, creating a strong schwerpunkt towards the oilfields.
The Soviet defensive positions around Grozny were overrun and the city captured by our paras in their second jump of the war. The communications between Baku and the rest of the country were now cut!

Mediterranean area. British reconnaissance troops and some tanks are seen again near Tripoli. Mussolini decides to send additional forces to Libya: a fully rested Army and AA unit take position in the defense of Tripoli.

At the end of this turn the Soviets aligned 38 land units vs 66 Germans.

[Taifun]

October 24 1941
The turn starts with good news. By decoding Allied messages the Japanese intelligence inform that a British carrier is stationed near Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea. After land based Japanese bombers based Saigon sink a US CL near Singapore the CV Soryu is sent to the Gulf of Siam to launch an attack. The Japanese hesitated to send only bombers or a mixed attack from the carrier as no fighter planes were available in the area. At the end the “only bombers option” was decided to maximize the damage to the British carrier. But a second British carrier was near and intercepted our striking force ravaging our air group down to 3 strength!
Note. I very seldom use the mix option but this time it was a much better option.
In Bangkok a defending Allied Infantry corps (I think it was from Malaya) was destroyed but the Capital could not be occupied. Additional Japanese troops continued to arrive Saigon from China. In Brunei was spotted a Congo Belgian Garrison. Soerabaja was captured (not defended) and great news, the port was captured intact level 5.

Japanese Special Landing troops disembark at Guadalcanal only to the find the island already defended by an Australian Infantry Corps.

[Taifun]

The Japanese get lucky during the next Allied turn as the Gulf of Siam is engulfed in bad weather and our CV Soryu can not be attacked from the 2 British CVs. A big multinational naval task force suddenly appears and surrounds the Japanese CV in the Gulf of Siam.
The Allies are serious about the defense of the Thailand/Burma area. US marines were holding Penang. A second Malayan Infantry corps was disembarked in Bangkok to replace the lost one…

November 21 1941
The weather in the Gulf of Siam clears and our land bombers based in Thailand get to work over the multinational naval task force sinking an Australian CA and a Bristish DD. US fighters based Moulmein intercept our raids but are defeated by our zero fighters from Hue (on their way down the peninsula from China). The CV Soryu takes refuge in Camranh Bay port near Saigon.

The newly arrived Malayan Infantry defending Bangkok are easily defeated and the Capital surrenders. At this moment our Japanese paras jump near Moulmein and destroy the US fighters based there. An Indian Army is detected near Rangoon next to US NAVAL bombers.
The Japanese were lucky again as a British CV, positioned near the Sumatra coast, was engulfed in bad weather.

A second unit of Japanese Special Landing troops disembarked at Guadalcanal to help disgorge the Australian Infantry Corps, as it was obvious that the job would be a difficult one.

[Taifun]

At Soerabaja the first reinforcements arrived and an Army and a Japanese HQ disembarked safely. But unit of Special Landing troops was intercepted by a US sub a subsequently sunk next turn… a second unit of Japanese Special Landing troops managed to pass through and although taking serious casualties in the landing cut the road between Semarang and Bandoeng. There seemed to be Indians everywhere.

[Taifun]

November 21 1941 Mediterranean area. Things are getting serious in Lybia. The British started the assault of Tripoli. Reinforcements are on its way in the form of a German panzerkorps (from the Moscow area) that is about to be shipped from Sicilia to Tunis and a couple of Infantry corps plus 2 units of Italian AA all under the command of an Italian General based Tunis.

[Taifun]

The Japanese ran out of luck during the next December Allied turn. The US Naval bombers next to Moulmein hit hard our CV Soryu in port and it was finally sunk later by a British CV operating near Singapore. General “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell took command of US units in Burma from Rangoon. Tripoli falled in Allied hands.

December 19 1941
The Indian Army defending Moulmein was plastered by our bombers and did not resist long. Once the road was opened towards the north, the US maritime bombers were destroyed by our Japanese troops. Additional US fighter wings intercepted our raids from northern Burma. The USA and Indians are seriously involved defending the ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) area of operations. The Japanese are desperately lacking land based zero fighter units and maritime bombers. They only have 1 overworked zero fighter group to defend the whole Empire and no maritime bombers! The Japanese focused too much in the war with China and all MPPs during the first 2 years went to the Army. Now the Navy has absolute priority but it will take some time for new units to be built and to upgrade all our ships…

[Taifun]

A second Japanese HQ is operated to Thailand to help with the supply situation during our push north.
In Java our troops destroyed the isolated Indians between Semarang and Bandoeng. The other half of the big island was still in enemy hands, an Indian Infantry corps defending Bandoeng and an Indian Army defending Batavia together with some Dutch Infantry. A brand new Japanese tactical bomber wing was flow in to speed up the cleaning but we have no fighters available in the area and a British Spitfire fighter wing was based Kuching (Sarawak).

The fighting for Guadalcanal was reaching a climax. Supplies were the mayor issue as all troops on the island, the Australian Infantry Corps and our 2 SLF, were getting less supplies every turn…

[Taifun]

During the next January Allied turn a new Indian Infantry Corps disembarked Rangoon to try to stop the Japanese advance to the Capital. The US marines based Pehang were evacuated by ship and also disembarked Rangoon to bolster the defense. A Malaysian Infantry Corps arrived by ship at Pehang to replace the Americans and defend the isthmus. In Java the surrounded Indian Infantry Corps evacuated Bandoeng strength 4. It is clear that the Allies are trowing every available unit and active to try to stop the Japanese advance in the area.

February 13 1942
One thing that favored the Japanese was the weather: for the 4th consecutive turn the skies were clear over Burma/Thailand. Soon the monsoon will arrive and the skies will be covered for many months. So I would say that by attacking and declaring war to the Allies in September was not that bad as the Japanese could use their bombers to good maximum use.
The freshly disembarked Indian and Malaysian Infantry corps were defeated and the Allied troops invited to our moldy concentration camps.

[Taifun]

To prevent the arrival of more Allied troops the port of Rangoon was rendered inoperative by our medium bombers. By now our zero fighter wing was exhausted strength 6 after flying non-stop without any reinforcements for the whole camping. The same can be said of our bombers with the 2 tactical wings 5-9 and the medium bombers 6-8 strength. The British CVs have retreated to the Bay of Bengal, covering the open Allied flank. The US fighter squadrons operate from the north of Burma.
At this moment I lost the possibility of doing real damage to the Allies. See the Japanese ready to jump? I though for a few minutes to use them and attack the US fighters, possibly destroying them and cutting the retreat road for General “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell. The US troops would have been trapped and destroyed together at Rangoon. But with no fighter escorts available they would have been intercepted by allied fighters and dealt severe damage. Then, and out of supply for a turn or two, easily targeted by allied air power and destroyed. At the end I decided to wait and use them later in the campaign... difficult choice to make...

In Java the evacuated town of Bandoeng was captured and our troops approached Batavia. A 3rd SLF unit disembarked safely Soerabaja as a last reinforcement.

At last some reinforcements arrive to the Philippines (Luzon) and the offensive starts towards Manila. Guadalcanal was captured at last by our starving troops! and as an extra bonus Japan gets a free bomber based Bougainville!