A Good Place to Start - Matthew (A) v Fokko (J) - Bottlenecks Mod

[M Peaston]

Thanks again Ranger Joe; more good advice.

I didn’t know that about Chinese HQs - that’s good to know.

Fokko is looking like he is going to be a thorough and methodical opponent, maybe advancing more slowly than otherwise but not giving me much opportunity for the tip and run tactics I was hoping to employ early on. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any opportunities, I’ll just have to pick my moments carefully.



25th December 1941


CHINA

A few minor attacks and air raids. At the moment Fokko looks like he is trying to push me away from his supply lines. Very sensible.


MALAYA

Japan’s 18th Division overwhelmed and destroyed the fleeing 3rd ISF Base Force north of Jeruntur. No air attacks on Georgetown today; instead Japan bombed Bukit Besi on the east coast, which I have already abandoned. I think it may have been bombed for reconnaissance purposes. Zeros and Oscars swept Kuala Lumpar and the New Zealanders lost 11 Buffalos, claiming 6 Zeros in return. This wasn’t as bad as it first seemed; 2 NZ pilots killed, 2 wounded and I’ve still got Buffalos left in the pool so the squadron will soon be back in action. However, I am abandoning all air operations from Kuala Lumpar (apart from a reconnaissance flight of US O-47As), all air Ops are now being run out of Kluang and Singapore.

I recovered 3 more Buffalos from Kuantan - just 4 damaged Buffalos and 2 Blenheims left there now.


PHILIPPINES

My problems in the Philippines stem from my inability to decide on where to make a stand. Originally it was Clark Field, until I remembered that the algorithms don’t always retreat units where I want/expect them to. Not wanting to hand Bataan on a plate to Japan if I’m forced to retreat from Clark Field in an unexpected direction I drew off a portion of the force to strengthen the Bataan garrison. Then I saw an opportunity to keep San Fernando and Lingayen out of Japanese hands - reasoning that these would make a good logistic base for any Japanese assault on Clark Field/Bataan. Finally I noticed that most of my supplies are in and produced in Manila, so I beefed up my defences there too. The result is an ill-thought out, poorly co-ordinated defence. I’m not looking forward to seeing how this plays out.


DEI

The Japanese invasion fleet went for Jolo. Whether there’ll be any immediate follow-on invasions, or whether Fokko will establish an airbase at Jolo first to provide air cover for the next stage remains to be seen. I suspect the latter, but with the battleship group from the South China Sea supporting the invasion and with mini KB lurking near Davao he has the capability of pressing on straight away.

MacArthur had a Christmas day he won’t forget in a hurry, on board PT31 dodging the Japanese Battleships and cruisers in the Sulu Sea. PT31 managed to escape and has nearly reached Balikpapan. I’m sending a transport aircraft there to fly MacArthur to Darwin. Now MacArthur has managed to distance himself from the unfolding debacle in the Philippines I’ll have to get another scapegoat lined up.

Five PT boats made their way from Tarakan (via Sandakan and Jesselton) to speculatively attack any Japanese shipping at Miri. There they encountered and sank DMS W-2, although she destroyed PT 41 in return.

Force Z is going to remain at Soerabaja for. a few more days. Its central location is good for being in a position to challenge any Japanese move past Singapore from the South China Sea, through the Makassar Strait, or towards Kendari/Ambon. However, Hermes is now rounding Java from the South; when she has refuelled she will move on to join the cruiser squadron currently at Palembang. They’ll probably berth at Biliton and can cover the Singapore/South China Sea exit along with the stringbags at Singapore. Force Z can then move to one of the Islands south of Makassar and concentrate on the southern DEI. One advantage of moving Force Z south is that there are less targets there at the moment. I’ve been tempted, very tempted, to use Force Z to attack the airfield at Taiping, or bombard the Imperial Guards Division when it reaches Kuala Kubu, or perhaps sneak along the north Borneo coast and bombard the oil facilities at Miri. The trouble with having 14 and 16 inch guns at my disposal is that I feel an overriding urge to use them, regardless of whether the return is worth the risk…yep, Force Z is definitely heading south; it’s for the best.


SOUTH/SOUTHWEST PACIFIC

KB appears to be retiring and is now northwest of the Bismarcks, the other Japanese TF has moved away too.


CENTRAL PACIFIC

CA Northampton finally limps into Pearl Harbour. Of course, now she is using up scarce dockside space (no room in the repair yards), taking up valuable repair assets and probably won’t be seaworthy again until I have received plenty more heavy cruisers as reinforcements anyway, but that is beside the point. Getting her to safety is a major morale boost and a significant symbolic victory - a Christmas miracle! I would say “trebles all round!” but the heroic damage control parties are celebrating Christmas day by sleeping off their exhaustion. Oh well…just me and the captain then….


SUBMARINE WARFARE

I-122 sank a Coastal Minesweeper near Batavia

KXI attacked xAK Gokoku Maru near Kompong Trach. Eleven shell hits but no torpedoes hit.
KXV was hit near Saigon and is returning to Soerabaja for repairs.

I need to keep an eye on the number of subs being put out of action and review my submarine deployment if necessary. I’ll keep things as they are for the moment.

[BBfanboy]

Don't worry too much about MacArthur - he has a clone. If he dies trying to get South, he will reappear when SWPac HQ appears around May or June 1942 at Brisbane.

I have tried to use Force Z against IJN CAs and BBs but the higher experience level of the IJN ships always meant Force Z did poorly and often got wiped out. It's worth it to remove Adm. Phillips and change the Captain to the best Naval Skilled one you can get (but Leadership also needs to be high). The real value of Force Z early on is (the fleet-in-being concept) that it forces the IJN to heavily escort their convoys - and thus use lots of fuel. I am not sure how well the AI assigns heavy cover forces so you may get some chances against their convoys, but beware the Nells and their 18+ hex range!

[RangerJoe]

The AI does not escort their convoys very well, much to the detriment of a few Japanese divisions as well as other units . . .
"Night Time Surface Combat, near Jolo at 73,91, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CM Ishizaki, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Cuba Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Sinsei Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Momoyama Maru, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Sekiho Maru, Shell hits 25, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Tosei Maru, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Nitiho Maru, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
xAK Hokkai Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BC Repulse
DD John D. Edwards
DD Whipple
DD Stronghold

Japanese ground losses:
12881 casualties reported
Squads: 358 destroyed, 501 disabled
Non Combat: 338 destroyed, 1118 disabled
Engineers: 124 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 250 (248 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 53% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages CM Ishizaki at 11,000 yards
BC Repulse engages CM Ishizaki at 11,000 yards
BC Repulse engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 11,000 yards
DD Whipple engages CM Ishizaki at 11,000 yards
DD John D. Edwards engages CM Ishizaki at 11,000 yards
BC Repulse engages xAK Momoyama Maru at 11,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Sinsei Maru at 11,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Cuba Maru at 11,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards
DD John D. Edwards engages CM Ishizaki at 7,000 yards
DD John D. Edwards engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 7,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Sinsei Maru at 7,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Cuba Maru at 7,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages CM Ishizaki at 5,000 yards
xAK Sinsei Maru sunk by BC Repulse at 5,000 yards
DD Stronghold engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 5,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Tosei Maru at 5,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Sekiho Maru at 5,000 yards
xAK Momoyama Maru sunk by BC Repulse at 5,000 yards
DD Stronghold engages xAK Cuba Maru at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
CM Ishizaki sunk by BC Repulse at 2,000 yards
BC Repulse engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 2,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 2,000 yards
BC Repulse engages xAK Sekiho Maru at 2,000 yards
xAK Cuba Maru sunk by DD Stronghold at 2,000 yards
DD John D. Edwards engages xAK Hokkai Maru at 2,000 yards
BC Repulse engages xAK Nitiho Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Stronghold engages xAK Tosei Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Hokkai Maru at 2,000 yards
DD John D. Edwards engages xAK Hokkai Maru at 2,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Sekiho Maru at 2,000 yards
xAK Nitiho Maru sunk by BC Repulse at 2,000 yards
xAK Sekiho Maru sunk by BB Prince of Wales at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Hokkai Maru at 3,000 yards
BB Prince of Wales engages xAK Tosei Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Whipple engages xAK Tosei Maru at 3,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
xAK Hokkai Maru sunk by BC Repulse at 2,000 yards
xAK Tosei Maru sunk by DD Whipple at 2,000 yards
xAK Tosei Maru sunk by DD Whipple at 2,000 yards
Combat ends with last Japanese ship sunk..."

[M Peaston]

Once again, thank you for your valuable input gentlemen.

I’m not too worried about the fate of MacArthur per se, it’s more the challenge of trying to get him out of the Philippines - a bit o’ fun in an otherwise very serious contest. Although seeing how well a PT boat managed to avoid the swarms of Japanese ships in the Sulu Sea without much apparent difficulty was an instructive lesson for me. It’s making me think about how I might be able to use such small, fast craft deeper into Japanese territory, perhaps later in the war… or perhaps sooner…., how would I fuel them… just a few things to ponder that hadn’t occurred to me before. It might also be a threat that I should be thinking about defending against.

This might be a good point to expand a little on my intentions in the opening stages of the war from a naval point of view. I’m no naval historian or strategist; to be honest I only have a fairly rudimentary knowledge of the Pacific War (a bit more about the Malayan campaign). Although there was some discussion in the British Admiralty in the 1930s of sending a small squadron of fast battleships to Singapore to act as a ‘Fleet-in-Being’ as a practical alternative to the unworkable Singapore Strategy for defending the British Empire in the Far East, this came to nothing as the British Government was unwilling to admit that the Singapore Strategy was dead in the water. Force Z was sent more as a political deterrent rather than with sufficient thought as to how it would actually be employed in the event of war - with disastrous consequences.

On the other hand, the USN Pacific Fleet successfully employed the ‘Fleet-in-Being’ concept during the opening months of the war. Another caveat here; I’ve read a little about, but never actually read Mahan, and although I have perused Sir Julien Corbett’s ’Some Principles of Maritime Strategy’ I can’t claim to have read it cover to cover. Now, I hope I’m not teaching anyone to suck eggs here, but the ‘Fleet-in-Being’ concept, like many concepts, suffers from having been defined and redefined by different people for different purposes at different times as:

1. Contesting the enemy’s control of the sea through harassing operations, counter-attacks, attacks on communications, obtaining local superiority, and generally preventing the opponent from fully exercising his control by keeping his attention occupied in multiple places. This is the strategy pursued by the USN so successfully in the Pacific. This is what I'm aiming for.

2. Exerting influence over the enemy’s plans and operations by the mere presence of a fleet (sometimes called a ‘Fleet-in-Existence’)

3. Maintaining a fleet in port as a deterrent to attack (I believe Mahan referred to this as a ‘Fortress Fleet’, but I could be wrong).

I’ve also seen ‘Fleet-in-Being’ as an umbrella term for all the above, after all, they all share the same fundamentals: an inferior force avoiding a decisive encounter until there’s a significant change in the balance of forces. I am not saying that any one strategy is better than another (horses for courses), or that any one definition is the ‘correct’ one and the others ‘wrong’, I just want to be clearer on what I am trying to achieve.

My view is that, at this stage, Japan can apply overwhelming force at ANY critical point it wants to, but not at EVERY point, at least not simultaneously. I therefore am trying to employ the first definition ‘Fleet-in-Being’ concept in both the Pacific and the DEI to try and force Japan to choose between either expanding quickly in multiple directions and accepting the risk of loss and setback, or concentrating his forces for a more certain but slower rate of advance.

To bring this back to Force Z, I have no desire to go toe-to-toe with Japanese battleships (and thanks to BB Fanboy’s warning I’ll be a lot more circumspect going against the Japanese heavy cruisers too). What I want to try and engineer is something like Ranger Joe demonstrated with his combat report, although I think Fokko is being very thorough and methodical and I don’t think he’ll be giving me many opportunities like that. However, if it slows him down then my strategy will be having an affect.

Admittedly, it is a risky strategy, and I might well be better off just keeping the USN carriers on the West Coast, Force Z in East Africa, and awaiting reinforcements. I’ll just have to look for the right opportunities….and keep my fingers crossed.

As I’ve already said, I’m no naval historian or strategist, and a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing, so I stand to be corrected on anything i’ve written.

[RangerJoe]

First, don't let your enemy feel free to do whatever he wants because you pulled your forces back. Read Lowpe's AAR to see what he did, I think that he usually plays Japan.

For raiding, train some Fletcher class destroyers up to the point where they can be effective, then send them out two at a time on "low" aggression so they will avoid battle with surface combat fleets but will play with enemy merchant vessels. Think of it as a Naval Cavalry Raiding Force.

[M Peaston]

How do I train DDs? Is that the shakedown cruises mentioned in the manual?

[RangerJoe]

That and just by sending them as escorts they will train. When they come in, their crew experience is rather low.

[M Peaston]

Thanks Ranger Joe; my destroyer crews are definitely being kept busy!


The tempo of military operations has dropped off somewhat recently. This is because Japan, Australia, Netherlands, France, England, USA and South Korea all made it through to the Second Round of the World Cup, held at the end of 1941, of which the history books are strangely silent. Communications equipment across the battle zones has been used to tune in to the radio broadcasts from the tournament, and radar sets have been converted into makeshift TV screens….


26th December 1941


CHINA

The 3rd Communist Guerrilla Corps easily fends off a shock attack from the 2nd Independent Mixed Bde at Shuozhou. The 94th Chinese Army is still holding the line at Suizhou, but forts have now been reduced to one. I’ve ordered probing attacks south of Tsinan to threaten the railways and north of Canton against what Allied intelligence has identified as a detachment of the 20th RGC Division.



MALAYA

23 Lilies attack Bukit-Besi (already abandoned). Zeros and Oscars again sweep over Kuala Lumpur. I’ve withdrawn all air units from the base now (bar one reconnaissance unit), so the sweeps were uncontested.

The Japanese advance guard has arrived at Kuala Kubu, where I’ve got the 11th Indian Division and the now deployed (finally!) 27th AIF Bde. RAF Malaya will throw everything at the Japanese here tomorrow, but as my Buffalos are either covering Singapore or rebuilding from earlier losses the strikes will go in unescorted…..this could go horribly wrong. Three gunboats currently off Port Swetenham have been ordered to bombard the Japanese at Kuala Kubu.

Digressing slightly, I do need to make better use of my gunboats. I had assumed that the PG designation applied to small, light craft perhaps mostly suited to coastal/riverine operations. This is not necessarily so. What made me double-check was the RHS Georgios Averoff. I had some vague recollection of reading about the Greek navy employing an armoured cruiser of this name with some success against the Ottoman Empire during the Balken Wars. Looking at the stats, yes, she is indeed an armoured cruiser; too slow for a surface action group perhaps, but with her 9” guns might be quite useful for convoy escort or shore bombardment/naval gunfire support. Having a quick look through other PGs I notice that the Soerabaja carries 11” guns - presumably she was a monitor of some sort - and again might be useful supporting ground operations. At the moment the Georgios Averoff is languishing at Aden and the Soerabaja is at Perth having escorted a tanker there. Both are now going to head towards more active zones, and I’m going to check on the capabilities of my other PGs and make sure I’m getting the best use from them.



PHILIPPINES/DEI

Heavy Japanese air raids at Manila, Bataan and San Fernando; another Japanese Deliberate Assault at San Fernando is held off. The Japanese ground forces at Manila still don’t attack.

The Japanese capture Brunei and Jolo. Fokko currently has what looks like three heavy and one light surface groups around Jolo, with another heavy surface group south of Davao. Mini-KB is midway between Davao and Babeldaob. To me this seems like an awful lot of floating metal just for Jolo, so I am going to assume that follow-on invasions are imminent unless I see evidence to the contrary.



SOPAC/CENTRAL PACIFIC

KB has disappeared from NW of the Bismarcks.

Seaplane tenders are en route to Endlebury Is. and Palmyra, with Patrol squadrons already earmarked. Reinforcements are heading for Suva, Aukland, Canton Is, Palmyra, Christmas Is and Bora Bora. Supply/Fuel convoys are heading for Aukland and Sydney. Everything seems to be ticking along nicely here; I hope Fokko doesn’t try and spoil things.



SUBMARINE WARFARE

I-122 sinks xAPc Princess of Cebu near Batavia; the Civilians on board the transport were rescued.
I-127 sinks xAPc Baynain near Palembang.

[M Peaston]

27th December 1941


Just when I thought I was getting on top of this evacuating civilians lark, it starts to get more complicated. Hundreds have started turning up at places like Singapore, Darwin and Soerabaja. I suppose this represents settlers in outlying areas making their way to larger ports. So far I’ve been predominately using xAPcs (unescorted) to evacuate civilians to a ‘hub’ port, and longer ranged ships on a safer run from there, but I’ve been losing a steady trickle of the xAPcs (another one today), and over time it all adds up. I’ve started allocating more sloops, patrol craft etc as escorts or, if they have a troop capacity, to directly pick up civilians themselves. Of course, this takes them away from other duties. I guess hampering military ops was the idea of including civilians in the mod, so I don’t know why I’m moaning

President Quezon has arrived at Cairns aboard the PG Isabel; he’ll continue to Canberra by train where he’ll form a Government-in-Exile.


CHINA.

Sporadic Japanese air attacks. Japan forces 94th Army out of Suizhou.


MALAYA.

The usual Japanese sweeps of Kuala Lumpur and bombing of Bukit Besi and Georgetown; all to no great effect as far as I can tell. My Blenheims and Hudsons failed to fly. My Wirraways and Dutch bombers did fly, mostly managing to avoid the Japanese CAP (just one Dutch bomber lost) when carrying out Ground Attacks at Kampar. Six B17Ds from Rangoon attacked the port at Kompong Trach, losing two B17s for no tangible return. My gunboats were in action again, bombing the Japanese at Kuala Kubu. Whether it has any effect I’ve no idea.

The Japanese advance guard (1st and 14th Tank Rgt, 5th Recon Rgt and 42nd Inf Rgt) bumped up against my main defence at Kuala Kubu and shock attacked; I don’t think they were expecting 9th and 11th Indian Div with 27th AIF Bde dug in there. It’s III Indian Corps first successful action. I was very tempted to order a counterattack for tomorrow, but as I know the Imperial Guards Div is following on closely behind I decided not to risk it and I ordered a bombardment instead. It will be interesting how Fokko reacts to this. He has the Japanese 18th Inf Div driving down the central route and I’ve got very little at Jaruntur to oppose it. Will he use it to try and reinforce the Imperial Guards, or try and get behind III Indian Corps at Kuala Lumpur, or just continue it’s drive south? I’ll be needing to start pulling back pretty soon whichever option he chooses.


PHILIPPINES.

The Japanese Deliberate Attack at Manila - and meet heavier than expected resistance here too. I’m beefing up my defence of Manila with two battalions of Stewarts from Clark Field, but in hindsight perhaps I should have sent one to reinforce San Fernando. Maybe there’s still time.


DEI

Mini KB attacks shipping off the Moluccas, sinking an xAPc .

Hermes has arrived at Soerabaja. She’ll spend tomorrow on routine maintenance, then join the cruiser squadron at Biliton. Force Z will depart the same day for Salajar (SW of Malacca). I’m arranging fuel tankers for these two locations. Enterprise is just north of Dili, heading for Soerabaja where she’ll refuel and rearm.


SOPAC/CENPAC

My reinforcement convoy carrying 34th US RCT to Canton Island was intercepted the AMCs Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru SW of Palmyra. I had included CA Indianapolis for just such an eventuality; she scored a good hit on Hokoku Maru. One of the two escorting destroyers (Worden) was hit but nothing serious. I thought about detaching the Indianapolis and giving chase, but her primary objective is to ensure the troops arrive at Canton safely, not to hunt raiders. CL Honolulu is at Palmyra with another convoy that has just unloaded there; I’ve detached her and sent her NW in the hope of intercepting the AMCs, but I think she’s too far away.

I think Fokko is likely to deduce that my convoy was heading for Canton Is. There isn’t much else in that direction. I need to be wary of any reaction. I believe KB is currently west of Truk, probably too far away unless Fokko is willing to use it in a sustained high-speed dash just to catch a small troop convoy. Of course, he may have detached carriers or other assets nearby.

I’ve got my long range naval search set up at Fiji and Enderbury Island, and will have at Palmyra in a day or so. I’m looking to push seaplane bases up into the Ellice and Santa Cruz Is. soon, if I can get away with it.


SUBMARINE WARFARE

I-20 sinks AM Gale near Aukland. Queen Elizabeth with 7th Marine Rgt will be approaching Aukland soon, so I’d sent Gale out to harass the sub which I knew was loitering with intent. That worked well, didn’t it?

I-7 sinks xAKL Mauna Ala near Victoria.



Maps to follow…

[M Peaston]

Canton Island Reinforcements.png (1.67 MiB) Viewed 1811 times

[M Peaston]

Ground combat at Manila (79,77) (27th December 1941)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9910 troops, 85 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 466

Defending force 14769 troops, 192 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 495

Japanese adjusted assault: 283

Allied adjusted defense: 301

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
690 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 83 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
250 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
48ID 1st Formosa Regiment
48ID 47th Infantry Regiment
65th Brigade
1st Sasebo Coy SNLF

Defending units:
1st PA Infantry Division
91st PA Infantry Division
71st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Constabulary Regiment
South Luzon Force'
16th Naval Dist.~
Far East USAAF'
1st Marine AA Battalion
Asiatic Fleet'~
US Female Personnel

Philippines.png (480.76 KiB) Viewed 1805 times

[RangerJoe]

You are supposed to repair a damaged submarine, use the submarine to rescue nurses, then paint the submarine pink before it goes to Australia!

[M Peaston]

I had to look it up.....

.....OPERATION PETTICOAT it is then!

Operation_Petticoat_poster.jpeg (108.24 KiB) Viewed 1790 times

I'll just have to make do with pink PT boats though.

[RangerJoe]

I had to look it up.....

.....OPERATION PETTICOAT it is then!


Operation_Petticoat_poster.jpeg


I'll just have to make do with pink PT boats though.

"QUOTES:
01) Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman: You see, when a girl is under 21, she's protected by law. When she's over 65, she's protected by nature. Anywhere in between, she's fair game! Look out!
02) Chief Mechanic's Mate Sam Tostin: A woman just shouldn't mess around with a man's machinery.
03) Fox: [the collision alarm goes off] Collision, sir! Collision! Collision! Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman: Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not even moving!
04) Lt. Nicholas Holden:[finding water all over the floor]: Excuse me, sir, is this normal, or should I be nervous again?"

Free . . .

https://ia802309.us.archive.org/14/item ... 0Grant.mp4

[M Peaston]

Thanks Ranger Joe; I’ve bumped that to the top of my Christmas viewing list!


Whilst waiting for the turn I’ve been having a good look at the Allied setup in Australia. I’ve got my notes here, but not the game in front of me, so this may not be 100% accurate.

From memory, the earliest major, unrestricted Allied ground unit reinforcements are:

18th British Div
7th Armoured Bde
6th and 7th AIF Divs
8th USMC Rgt.
In addition I’ve bought out the 7th USMC Rgt.

The USMC Rgts are heading for SOPAC. 18th Div is slated for the southern DEI, with its leading elements already en route or heading for Perth to be transferred on. 7th Armoured Bde and 7th AIF Div are earmarked for Bengal to form the nucleus of a defence for India. That leaves 6th AIF Div to go to Australia.


The current setup in Australia is as below. Most (if not all) divisions are divided into their Brigade ( or sometimes Battalion) components, and most of the units are now in place.


Northern Command
(Covering Normanton-Cooktown-Townsville)
3rd Div
5th Div
1st Motor Div as Corps reserve at Cloncurry.


Eastern Command
(Covering Bowen to Brisbane)
2nd Div
17th MG Bn.


Southern Command
(Covering Sydney and Melbourne)
1st Div
4th Cav Bde


Western Command
(Covering Perth and all west of the line Esperance-Kalgoorlie-Carnarvon inclusive)
13th Bde
25th MG Bn
10th Cav Recce Rgt
2nd Cav Recce Rgt.


7th Military District.
(Covering Darwin to Exmouth)
4th Div (Much of the Division is struggling overland to reach Darwin)
19th MG Bn
5th RAA (en route by sea to Port Hedland)



8th Military District.
(New Guinea/Bismarcks/Solomons)
30th Bde (at Port Moresby - the final Battalion is unloading there.)
Lark Bn (Rabaul)
Paupa Infantry Bn
NGVR
There’s a Field Artillery Rgt waiting at Townsville to be transferred to Port Moresby.


Command Reserve
1st Armoured Div (at Port Augusta)
2nd Motorised Div (at Toocowmba)
6th Div (not yet in theatre)


Looking back through the order of battle, several things stand out.

1) - Just how thin on the ground everything seems!

2) - my reserve is a lot more powerful on paper than it is in reality. The ‘armoured’ components of the 1st Armoured and 2nd Motorised Divs is mostly Bren Gun Carriers, and the powerful 6th AIF Div is still in the Middle-East.

3) - Western Australia is woefully under-defended. The 1st Armoured Div is at Port Augusta to be in easy reach of Perth if necessary, but that is one long, vulnerable rail line between the two. Do I really need to defend Perth? Is holding Perth vital to the defence of Australia? It probably isn’t - that long, vulnerable railway may be a weak point when defending Perth, but it is a strength when defending against a thrust from Perth. However, I am looking to put up a fight for Timor and the islands north of Darwin (Samulaki and its immediate neighbour), and realistically such operations need to be supported from Perth. Losing Perth while I still had substantial forces in the Southern DEI could prove to be little short of a disaster.

I was thinking of allocating either 1st Armoured or 2nd Motorised Div to Western Australia (probably to Kalgoorlie) whilst the 6th Division replaces whichever one. 1st Motorised Div at Cloncurry will then become part of the Command Reserve.

Now I think about it, I think this scenario started off with some motorised/armoured elements heading for Western Australia. I turned them around and sent them elsewhere…..I didn’t think. In fact, I didn’t need to as clearly LST had already done the thinking for me….

I would like to make a serious effort to hang on to Port Moresby, but with all my early major reinforcements accounted for I don’t think this would be realistic. I thought about diverting one of the Marine regiments there, but I think that would just be throwing away a good regiment for nothing. If I can’t devote substantial forces then it is not worth it, and I’ve chosen to fight in Timor instead so the forces aren’t available. I’ll keep 30th Bde and some supporting units at Port Moresby just to make Japan expend some effort to take it.

[RangerJoe]

You are welcome. There are a lot of old movies at that site that are free. While they may seem dated with their special effects, the ideas that they are trying to get across are still good and the people then were actually actors and actresses who were very good. I posted a few on this thread:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... start=3860

If you are concerned about the Perth area, then build up Kalgoorlie defensively. That can then be the counter attack position as well as your major airbase to pound his ground forces.

[M Peaston]

I enjoyed watching ‘Operation Petticoat’ - it was a good film. No problem about the special effects; I was brought up in the days before CGI, which in my opinion is too often used to compensate for poor storyline/dialogue/acting.


28th December 1941.


MALAYA
Small Allied air raids on advancing Imperial Guards and 18th Divisions are met by Japanese CAP. Losses are low. The Japanese advance guard at Kuala Kubu is waiting for the Imperial Guards Div to catch up.

Japan bombed Georgetown again.


PHILIPPINES
Japanese air raids on San Fernando and Manila - otherwise quiet on the Luzon fronts.

B17s Bomb Jolo for minor damage.


DEI
Japanese amphibious landing at Maokwari in NE New Guinea, supported by CVLs/CVEs SW of Babeldaob.


SOPAC/SWPAC
I’ve created a PT Flotilla at Rabaul to operate against the Japanese foothold in the Solomons (Buka and Shortlands). I assume Fokko will be looking to expand his presence there, and I don’t want him to operate unhindered. I’m sending an AGP to the Solomons - I think it can rearm PT torpedoes. If not then the PTs will be a one-shot weapon, but still of value. Originally I thought Japan’s move in the Solomons was a prelude to isolating and taking Rabaul, but there is no sign of this …….yet! I’ve got Lark Bn and plenty of supply at Rabaul, I’m thinking about reinforcing there. The question is, what with? And can I afford to lose what I send?

AVDs Childs and Thornton are departing Suva for Duff Island in the Santa Cruz to set up a seaplane base.


CENTRAL PACIFIC
A Japanese surface force (4x CA and 4x DD) bombards Wake Island, doing surprisingly little damage to the port and defenders, but sinking xAK Alcoa Prospector and AM Bobolink delivering supplies to Wake. A waste of a minesweeper now I think about it. I should either have sent sufficient force to properly protect the resupply effort, or sent the cargo ship unescorted.

USS Honolulu is about 120nm north of those two pesky AMCs - I think she is in a good position to intercept tomorrow.


SUBMARINE WARFARE
Sigint suggests 144th Rgt is loading at Guam; I diverted SS Searaven and Spearfish there; Searaven shelled and damaged an xAKL. I wonder where the 144th Rgt is heading? Rabaul? Wake Is.? Solomons? Elsewhere?

SS I-162 took a hit from an escorting DD near Palembang.

[BBfanboy]

Yes, AGPs (with adequate supply) can reload PTs with torpedoes. You have only a few AGPs early in the game so keep them hidden, usually in a small undeveloped dot base near their objective. The enemy is less likely to recon those places and spot the AGP. I am not sure PTs can reach Buka from Rabaul and return. Consider one of the dot bases on New Britain before you send your PTs. At some point you are going to be forced out of New Britain, so plan now for how you will extract your PTs and AGP (I'm not sure you can disband the PTs to the pools without an actual port). I would put a small expendable tanker in a dot base in the Eastern Solomons to help get the AGP to Noumea. If the PTs cannot be disbanded to the pools the AGP can act as refueling vessel to get them to the tanker.

[RangerJoe]

Use the "Escort" TF to combine the AGP with the PTs when they retreat . . .

The Dutch have extra AGPs or ships that can be converted to that type.

[M Peaston]

Thanks Guys. I’m planning on basing the AGP at Rendova, and perhaps shuttling the PTs (probably in two flotillas) between there and Rabaul. They can reach Buka from Rabaul, but can’t reach Shortlands. Conversely they can reach Shortlands from Rendova, but not Buka. I had seen a few small ships capable of converting to AGP, but I didn’t pay any attention to this……that is, until I started thinking about how to rearm PTs in remote location.

I’m starting to realise now that getting proper use out of the auxiliary ships is an important part of the game.


29th December 1941.


CHINA
Japanese troop buildup and movements indicate possible offensives westward from Chengting/Taiyuan in the northeast and eastward from Nanchang in the south.

The Allies scored an accidental victory near Kukong. I had moved two squadrons of AVG there for a joint fighter/bomber raid on the airbase at Canton in a day or two, but I had forgotten about the ‘leaky cap’. The result was 18 Lilys/Sonias shot down for no loss and a polite diplomatic note from Tokyo protesting about the presence of the AVG so deep into China on the grounds of logistical infeasibility.

Not knowing too much about the war I had rather naively thought the AVG did operate farther into China, but a quick check on Google suggests that was not so.

We agreed a house rule that the AVG will only operate in China where there is some US air support present. This isn’t necessarily going to be that restrictive. I intended to move the AVG back to Burma/India until the RAF started to build up anyway. Also, the AVG Ground Echelon unit, being entirely aviation support squads, is presumably easily air-portable, so may give me a lot more flexibility with the AVG in China than the Japanese expect. I think it would also be within the spirit of the rules too. The RAF operated several squadrons in South Russia in 1919 using trains as mobile air bases, so I think it would be possible for the AVG to do something similar in China with an air train.

This also encouraged me to take a closer look at my airfields in China. I notice that from Wenchow my DB-3Ms and Hudsons have the range to reach Formosa, Okinawa and even Nagasaki. Hmm….possibilities…..



MALAYA
The RAF continue to attack advancing Japanese troops, losing 1 Blenheim. Japanese fighters sweep Kuala Lumpur to no effect.



PHILIPPINES
The Japanese capture Digos and Iligan on Mindanao.



DEI
Hermes and Force Z depart Soerabaja for Billiton and Salajar respectively. Tankers have been assigned to each base and are currently en route to Palembang to pick up fuel.

Japan captures Manokwari in Dutch New Guinea.



SOPAC/SWPAC
The first squadron of Banshees arrives at Brisbane. I’m thinking of sending them to the DEI.

The USS Pensacola and two DDs (Helm and Mugford I think) are en route to Aukland for troop convoy escort duties for when reinforcements start arriving. The 7th Marine Bde on Queen Elizabeth is due in tomorrow. There’s a very irritating Japanese sub hanging around Aukland. I know I said previously I wasn’t going to worry too much about enemy subs…..but……I’m worried…..



CENTRAL PACIFIC
The USS Honolulu performed her task and performed it well. The AMCs Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru were intercepted and sunk near Baker Island. Honolulu is now returning to Pearl Harbour.

The 34th RCT is unloading at Canton Island. 4th Marine Defence Bn is unloading at Palmyra, unfortunately I’ve got into a bit of mess exceeding the stacking limits there, and with the remainder of the 47th Construction Rgt en route too. When everything’s unloaded there I’ll sort out what needs to be done. I’ve got the 3rd, 4th and part of the 1st Marine Defence Bns at Palmyra. I’ll probably send one of them to Christmas Island.



NORPAC
I’ve now established a seaplane base at Adak. I intend to build up Adak as a submarine base in due course, but not until I get some protection in place. I’ve got a battalion of the 153rd Rgt on the island, but there’s nothing else en route or even allocated as yet.



SUBMARINE WARFARE
SS I-20 sinks xAK Capitaine Illiaquer near Aukland
SS I-122 sinks xAKL De Weert with gunfire near Batavia