Hunting the AuTiger - an AAR (no Tigers please)

[Dive Bomber1]

November 6, 1942 - There was some "enjoyable" action this night phase as a US DM hit a mine at Utupau. The DM limped home badly damaged, and I re-directed another mine-laying sub that was in the neighborhood to drop some fresh mines off at Utupau. It looks like AuTiger will go after Utupau and Ndini sometime in the near future; good for him. I can't wait to pull my troops out of those sink-holes. [:D]

AuTiger demonstrated more interest in the South Pacific as 63 B-17s hit the air field at Tulagi. Only very recently did I finally get the air field up to level 1, and there must not have been much there for the Forts to hit, so the damage was quite light. The Forts also took a fair amount of damage, so that will keep them at home and licking their wounds for a while.

Otherwise, things were quiet again other than various recon flights crisscrossing the map. AuTiger is keeping his CAP levels very low in China. Is he resting his P-40s or does he have them on LR CAP over places where I'm not flying recon?

A very strange, but ultimately pleasant thing happened this turn. While I was doing my usual occasional checks of my units in different places, I looked at the three parts of the Imperial Guards in Rangoon again, just to see if they had reached equal levels of upgrades and enhancements. They hadn't, and the situation was still the same with each part being slightly different. But then I noticed that the "A" part had the "Rebuild" option available. Huh?!!!! [X(] [X(] [X(] [X(] [X(] I wasted no time pushing the button and to my great surprise, the three parts reformed into the complete Imperial Guards division!

What was even stranger was that the freshly reformed Division had marching orders to go to Lashio, and had 37 elapsed miles completed. Huh???!!! [X(] [X(] [X(] [X(] [X(] The only thing that I can think is that the IG must have been this way when I split it up, way back when. I don't want it to go anywhere so I reset the objective to Rangoon. In any event, this gives me the hope that the 116th will also eventually rebuild, whenever the 116th/A finally rejoins its B and C parts.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 7, 1942 - This was an unpleasant return to night action for my side. First off, a DD in an ASW TF that was hunting for a sub off of Palembang hit a sub-laid mine. The sub cleanly disappeared. Then the sub that I sent to lay more mines at Utupau hit a mine and sank. It didn't occur to me until afterwards that the DM that hit the mine at Utupau last turn was laying mines, not cleaning them out. Duh! And finally, an MSW that was on its way to do some more sub hunting found mines at Kuala Lumpur. So now the MSW will be sweeping sub-laid mines rather than hunting subs.

And that was "it" for action this turn. Neither side sent out any bombing attacks this turn and even the usual numbers of Recon flights were reduced thanks to the return of lots of really bad weather.

In LCU news, the 116th/A suddenly moved from 4 elapsed miles to 9 elapsed miles this turn. Maybe the AI suddenly woke up to the fact that the unit is on a trail. And the Kure 2nd SNLF/1 moved some more without losing any more squads. Watch it disappear a hex or so from rejoining the rest of the unit in Bangkok.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 8, 1942 - The night phase found both sides sweeping mines. The Allies were sweeping mines at Dutch Harbor, where despite having a flotilla of MSWs along an AP hit a mine anyway. My MSWs were busy at Muntok, where my other ships were lucky as they passed through the sub-laid mine field.

Daylight brought map-wide bad weather that interfered with the morning air attacks by both sides. However, eventually a small Betty group got off the ground to do a nuisance raid in China, and the Allied Heavy Bombers in Northern Australia got off to hit Kendari again.

This time there were 42 Liberators along with 131 Flying Fortresses. Facing them were 26 A6M2s on LR CAP. These were the same Zero Daitais from the last confrontation over Kendari and my pilots once again held their own nicely. I was quite happy with the results:

- 12 Forts lost, 9 air-to-air and 3 Ops
- 4 Liberators lost, 3 air-to-air and 1 Ops
- 8 A6M2s lost, 5 air-to-air and 3 Ops.

In addition, plenty of 4Es received Operational damage. Now, the poor troops on the ground in Kendari might not think that the result was so impressive, because Kendari was hammered mercilessly again by all the bombers that got through, but I am trying to stay on the "bright side" of things here.

In other news, some of my Recon planes in China spotted P-40s on LR CAP again, so I guess that my constant "shell game" tactics are getting a response of sorts out of AuTiger. And in the Bering Straight, one of my mine-laying TFs ran over an Allied sub and actually hit it with a depth charge.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 9, 1942 - I had a couple of pyrrhic victories this turn. First off, during the night turn, my Naval forces were busy with Allied sub-laid mines all over the place, for the most part successfully. But two of the DDs that were part of the Fast Transport TF that I sent to Ndini hit mines and were badly damaged. I'm not certain if they will make it back to safety. However, the overall objective of the mission was achieved and the NLF that was on Ndini was retrieved and is riding back to Shortlands aboard the undamaged ships in the Fast TF.

The day turn brought the culmination of a lot of planning, maneuvering, deception, and general risk as I threw almost all of my Air Force against the Spitfires that had been flying CAP over Yenen for the past couple of Game Months. I had tried similar mass air attacks in a couple of my other pbems recently with mixed success; my losses were often fairly heavy, but the "shock effect" upon my opponents was quite good never-the-less.

So I moved air unit after air unit to my five air bases closest to Yenen, and staged the shortest range planes up close, followed by my longer range planes, followed by my longest range planes. I put bombers, recons and fighters in each base. In each base I had the best fighter unit set to sweep and the other fighter units set to escort. I had all of my planes grounded prior to last turn in order to rest them up as much as possible. I had also checked all of my unit commanders and tried to put in the best commanders I could find in each air unit.

Of course, this being an "Advanced Weather On" pbem, weather was going to be a huge risk factor, but there had been lousy weather for the past several days everywhere, so the odds were getting better that I would get my attacks off the ground. I also had a couple of Air HQs in the area. And my attacks flew as planned.

The first attack brought the planes from the two closest bases in against the full Spitfire CAP:

Day Air attack on Yenen, at 50, 26

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 33
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 62
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 95
Ki-49 Helen x 32
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3
Ki-36 Ida x 1

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vb x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 8 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 25 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 25 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vb: 34 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16

The second attack brought the planes from the two middle-range bases against the remaining Spitfire CAP:

Day Air attack on Yenen, at 50, 26

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 98
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 44
Ki-21 Sally x 39
Ki-46-II Dinah x 5

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vb x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vb: 7 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 40

The final attack came from my most distant base and by this point the Spits were finished:

Day Air attack on Yenen, at 50, 26

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 100
A6M3 Zero x 25
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 27
Ki-21 Sally x 20
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vb: 2 destroyed

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 66

Of course, Combat Reports always have a fair amount of error in them, and the actual losses from the INTEL air table were 45 Spitfires destroyed at the cost of 29 Tonys, 29 Tojos, 9 Oscars and 3 Zeros. Surprisingly enough, there were no bomber losses.

From the look of the Pilot Experience Averages of my fighter units, it appears that the bulk of my losses were amongst my weaker pilots, and only one Tojo Daitai actually lost more than a handful of planes and pilots. Considering that the Tojo and Tony Daitais typically had Pilot Average Experience levels in the low-to-mid 60s going into this fight, the results were actually quite reasonable. Essentially, I was finally able to decimate a number of good Allied air units through the use of surprise and overwhelming force.

So I was generally satisfied with the results of this "experiment" and so I started to re-position my air units again. I'm not going to bother sending more planes against Yenen, nor will I try another "Mass Air Sneak Attack" in China for the next while. Instead I'll gradually pull my air units out, rest them up, and position them to be able to respond either to other opportunities that appear like this one did, or to any Allied invasions.

BTW - AuTiger is still flying Recon over Kendari. This turn I didn't have any LR CAP flying, but next turn I will, with a few extra surprises in the air.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 10, 1942 – The night turn was quiet again except for more minesweeping at Muntok. Unfortunately, it wasn't "enough" minesweeping and a tanker in the Transport TF that followed the Minesweeping TF hit a mine anyway and was badly damaged. The Day Phase was also quiet and there were no attacks anywhere; instead it was the Recon that went on that was important.

First off, in China AuTiger pulled back his air forces a bit. All the planes in Yenen were pulled out, and AuTiger also pulled out his bombers from Changsha. I guess he wanted to avoid having them caught on the ground by another mass-attack. But I'm not interested in more "Air Banzai" attacks in China at this time, so I continued to re-position my air forces in order to rebuild the air units that took heavy losses in the Yenen attack, as well as to bring my other air units towards the next areas of interest.

AuTiger send F-5A recon planes over Kendari again today, but no bombers. His Recon planes were met by Zeros and Oscars. I'm betting that the presence of the CAP will discourage AuTiger from risking his Heavies next turn, so I set my fighters back to normal CAP over Macassar in order to rest them a bit. We'll see next turn if I am right or wrong.

More interesting things are occurring in Burma. A F5-A Recon unit flew over Mandalay again, but the bombers didn't follow. However, seven Allied LCUs suddenly showed up in the hex next to Akyab! Yes, AuTiger has decided to take his chances with the Ground Movement, Supply, and Land Combat rules in the coastal jungles of Burma. This is actually something of a "relief" for me, because I was expecting him to stage some sort of Amphibious invasion in the region, and seeing those LCUs committed on the ground means that they aren't boarding ships somewhere.

So I've assigned some Recon Air units of my own to check out the Allies in the morass to the north of Akyab. I expect that AuTiger will have LR CAP over those units, so I'm not sending out any bombers yet. I want to bring up some of my better fighter units first and have them try to intercept any Allied fighters over the Allied troops.

BTW – Does anyone know if it IS possible to intercept enemy planes on LR CAP over a target? I have observed that opposing Fighter units on LR CAP over the same target never appear to engage. Will fighters on Sweep engage the LR CAP, or do I have to send fighters on Escort?

In other news, one of my DDs that hit a mine at Ndini sank on the way back to Port this turn. The other DD may still sink. However, the rest of the Fast Transport TF made it back to base and will unload the NLF.

In more promising news, I upgraded my first Carrier Air Fighter unit from A6M2s to A6M3a fighters this turn. I hope that the slight increases in speed and manoeuvrability help a bit in future air engagement. Now all I need is a couple of month's worth of additional time so that I can upgrade the rest of my carrier planes. (I wish! [&o] )

[Dive Bomber1]

November 11, 1942 – This was yet another quiet turn. All that happened in the night phase was some minesweeping and sub chasing by my forces, and the day phase consisted solely of Air Recon by both sides, along with a bit more sub chasing by my forces.

Of course, where the Minesweeping and Recon occurred is important. For example, my lone MSW in the Aleutians swept a mine at Atka this turn, which is the first activity in the area in a while. Despite a sudden improvement in the weather from "Blizzard" to "Overcast" there were no LBA attacks upon my lone little ship. There was, however, an F-5A recon flight over Kiska that was met by a number of A6M3s on CAP. Will AuTiger "test" my CAP over Kiska again before the Aleutian winter weather closes down the air fields once more?

I had dozens of Recon flights going all over China this turn. The only locations that had Allied CAP were Changsha, which had a handful of P-38s in the air, and Chungking, which had some Spitfires and other miscellaneous planes in the air. There are still a fair number of fighters at Changsha, but no bombers. This meant that I could continue along with my general withdrawal of air forces from China.

This withdrawal and repositioning is critical because I want to get my better air units in position to address any Allied air offences, particularly in Southeast Asia, and also because the number of my fighter units that have an average experience level of less than "60" jumped in the aftermath of the Yenen attack from six to eleven. And most of those air units are Army units flying Second Generation fighters. So I want to get those air units safely out of China and into large, well-supplied and safe air bases behind the lines.

BTW – I now have a fair number of Nate units with decent experience levels, thanks to continuous training in backwater bases for the past couple of Game-months. Now, if the Oscar II factories would only come on-line a month early! ( [&o] )

In Burma F-5As flew recon over Mandalay again this turn, but once again no bombers flew. Surprisingly, my recon flight over the Allied troops that are north of Akyab didn't run into and LR CAP. So I ordered a couple of my Army Divebombers to try to hit those Allied troops next turn. It will be interesting to see if AuTiger "snookers" me again as he did over the 34th Division during its last days.

The overall air losses for both sides were very light this turn, but AuTiger did lose a Dakota to Operational damage. I wonder where and what the Dakota are ferrying around? Is AuTiger trying to fly supplies to his Adventurers along the malarial coast of Burma north of Akyab? (I was never successful at dropping supplies to my troops that were in the bush.) I should be in a position to fly some LR CAP in the region myself next turn, so we'll see what turns up.

BTW II – the Kure 2nd SNLF/1 is still holding at 4 squads as it makes its way down the rail road to Bangkok. There are only a few hexes left; will it make it? Also, the 116th/A is now at 20 elapsed miles on its way to Lashio. Movement has been erratic with the unit gaining several miles some days, and only two miles the next.

BTW III – AuTiger sent F-5As over Kendari again today, and this time there was no CAP waiting for them. Of course, my fighter units were back at Macassar, resting and preparing. Will AuTiger take a chance and send his 4Es over Kendari again next turn, or will he wait to see what I do? In any event, I'm sending out my "refreshed" fighter units on LR CAP over Kendari next turn, just in case.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 12, 1942 - The night phase had the usual minor minesweeping activities going on around various locations, but then the recent quiet was interrupted by the arrival of a very large bombardment TF at Akyab. Most, if not all, of the British Far Eastern fleet arrived to shell the base: 5 BBs, 7 CAs, 3 CLs, 5 CLAAs, and 5 DDs. As has unfortunately happened to me in past Allied naval bombardments, the Allied ships eluded the mines that I had at the base, and none of my local LBA took off afterwards to hit the retiring ships.

Fortunately, the damage was rather minor. If AuTiger was hoping for a "nuclear" attack, he didn't get one. I suspect that one reason is that he hasn't been flying recon over Akyab, probably so not to tip me off that he was planning the naval attack. Also, I don't have any support troops at Akyab, and support troops are hit harder than combat troops during naval bombardments. In any event, damage was minimal, and the worst effect was that all of the supplies were wiped out. So I brought a transport air unit up to Bangkok and I'll have it start to fly supplies in next turn.

Other than that naval bombardment, nothing happened this turn other than the daily recon flights, although the number of recon flights was reduced, probably because of bad weather in most regions. Even the usual F-5A recon flights over Kendari didn't appear. My fighters at Macassar that were on LR CAP over Kendari received some Operational losses and fatigue due to the bad weather, so I set them back to low-level local CAP for next turn in order to rest them. If AuTiger can fly his 4Es to Kendari in the thunderstorms next turn, so be it.

In other news, P-40s showed up on CAP at Changsha this turn for the first time in several turns, but no bombers showed up so the situation in China remains static, which is too my liking at this time. I did receive a big Armoured Division at Peking this turn. It arrived fully equipped, which isn't surprising because I have a huge surplus of Armaments and Vehicles in my inventory. But what was surprising was that those huge surpluses didn't seem to go down any, even though I have all of my Armament and Vehicle factories turned off. I wonder if I'll see the reduction next turn?

In other news, one of my mine-laying subs was hit by an air attack and received some serious damage while on its way to lay fresh mines at Trimcomalee. So I ordered it back to lay its mines at the Andaman Islands and then go home to Singapore for repairs. I also recalled to Singapore a number of minelayer ships that I've had spreading mines around Java and Sumatra. I'll have them sail out and lay fresh mines at my Indian Ocean bases again.

Finally, the second of my unfortunate DDs that hit mines at Ndini while attempting to withdraw troops arrived at the port at Tulagi this turn. But the damage was so great that I just scuttled the ship. Tulagi is well within reach of devastating bomber attacks from New Caledonia so there was no way that I could repair any ship damage there anyway.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 13, 1942 - The night phase was all mine warfare as various minesweepers on both sides cleared mines and various ships on both sides hit mines. The evacuation of Ndini continued to be unconscionably expensive for me as two more DDs from the latest Fast Transport hit mines at the miserable piece of flotsam. This time it looks like the DDs might have a chance of survival, but there are also plenty of Allied subs in the region so I may still lose them. At least the rest of the Fast TF took off part of the Base Force from Ndini. At the same time a bunch of Allied MSWs cleared sub-laid mines from Derby, but a PG hit one, so not all went in the favor of the Allies this evening.

The day phase was surprisingly quiet again as bad weather, or the general fussiness of the Air Attack routines, grounded the two attacks that I wanted to make, while no Allied bombers flew either. Once again the skies over Kendari were empty, but the Air Balance over Darwin is astronomical, so I expect the Heavies to show up again sooner or later. Therefore, I set my fighters at Macassar to fly LR CAP over Kendari again, just in case I guess right.

BTW - I am starting to replace my "acceptable" fighter units in the DEI with better units. As long as AuTiger gives me time to prepare I will do my best to provide a stiff opposition.

BTW II - I finally received a Tony reinforcement Daitai. As luck would have it, it belongs to the Manchurian garrison. But since the average experience of this unit is fairly mediocre, I won't bother to pay Political Points at this time for the privilege of moving it somewhere else to train.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 14, 1942 - There was the usual minesweeping at the usual places during the night phase, but no other action. The day phase brought lots of Air Recon, and a few Air Attacks, thanks to a general clearing in the weather.

It appears that Burma will be the next major area to receive "attention" from both sides. A typically large, 100+ 4E bomber attack hit the air fields at Rangoon first. The Libs and Forts were at 9000 feet so they got hit by flak, with a number damaged and one Liberator lost. All that was on the ground at Rangoon were a few Babs, so the losses weren't significant, although, as usual, I've got to wonder why any of the recon planes were caught on the ground at all, since they were all supposed to be flying.

Then, with the clearing weather, my little Army Dive Bomber attacks flew against the Allied troops in the jungle to the north of Akyab. A Sonia Chutai flew, followed by an Ann Sentai. They caused casualties to a Chinese Division. As usual, AuTiger is once again using Chinese LCUs as his main offensive units, probably because losses to the Chinese don't "count" as much as to other Allied LCUs. AuTiger is quite "shameless" about using Chinese troops everywhere in Asia. I've bugged him in the past that if I were ever able to invade North America, I'd probably find Chinese troops there too.

For the first time in a long time some British 2Es attacked the 116th/A along the jungle path to the east of Lashio. I didn't pay enough attention to the attack at the time and only realized that the bombers were at 1000 feet once I read the Combat Report just before starting to write this entry for the AAR. This means that the Zeros that I've set on LR CAP over the 116th/A will likely be too high to attack the Brits next turn. Oh well, another lesson to be remembered.

In addition to the LR CAP over the 116th/A, I also ordered some Bettys to hit the air fields at Myitkyina next turn, in the very slight hope that they can catch some of the Brit 2Es on the ground. I also sent more Zeros on escort over Myitkyina, just in case AuTiger moves some fighters in there too; this turn there were none present.

F-5As flew over Kendari again this turn, but no 4Es, so my LR CAP pilots got some flight practice but no gunnery practice. I've set my planes back to local CAP again. I am slowly moving better fighter units into the region, and I am also moving more air support to Macassar, so I hope to be able to rotate continuous LR CAP over Kendari soon.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 15, 1942 – The night turn brought some fairly intensive mine clearing at Ndini by one of my minesweepers. But beyond that, there was a rather satisfying occurrence in the Aleutians; my Naval Bombardment TF hit Adak (without hitting any mines) and caught a bunch of Allied planes sitting on the runways for a change. Fifteen Tomahawks and 4 Kittyhawks were destroyed on the ground. That's a month and a half worth of Tomahawk production, so I'm quite pleased with the results. And the generally lousy weather meant that none of the bombers back in the Eastern Aleutians flew to harass my retiring ships. I suspect that AuTiger will be more attentive the next time I send an MSW in to clear mines at Adak. [:D]

The day phase brought some nice nuisance air raids in the Far East as Japanese bombers hit the airfields at Wuchow, Yunan and Myitkyina. There were no Allied planes in those bases, but the air attacks did cause damage which will have to be repaired. I also sent a couple of Sonia Sentais off to hit the Chinese troops that are out in the open along the rail road south of Hengchow. These attacks help to keep AuTiger from getting too "cute" with his air defenses, as was shown this turn where he moved out his bombers from Ledo and replaced them with over a hundred fighters, but I only sent Recon planes and not any bombers.

As I expected a large number of P-40Bs showed up on LR CAP over the advancing troops in the jungle north of Akyab this turn. Although I had plenty of Recon planes flying over the troops I didn't have any bombers, so the Allied effort just brought AuTiger's fighters more Operational Damage and fatigue. British light bombers did attack Akyab this turn, so I brought up some good Zero units to provide LR CAP next turn. This time I've got my fighters set at relatively low altitudes so that they have half-a-chance at catching the 2Es at 1000 feet.

In Land News, the Kure 2nd SNLF fragment rejoined its parent at Bangkok this turn, so that withdrawal ended up a success. I'll let the unit rest a while and then reposition it. Speaking of fragments, in the absence of an air attack this turn the 116th/A reached 34 elapsed miles on its way to Lashio. Once the unit finally reaches Bangkok I'm going to send it by ship back to China where it can finally rejoin its other two parts at Nanning.

In Naval News, my second heavily damaged DD from the last Fast Transport trip to Ndini made it to Tulagi this turn. I disbanded the ship to join the other DD in port. The weather is lousy in the region so I'm hoping that AuTiger can't get any long range bombers to fly out of Luganville at this time.

More importantly, it appears that an Allied Naval Bombardment TF is on its way to hit Akyab again. I had just moved a Surface Combat TF to the Andaman Islands in the hopes of intercepting the next incoming Bombardment TF, but I realized this turn that even a fast cruiser TF can't reach Akyab from the Andamans in one turn, so I'm out of luck. Instead I've ordered more of the subs in the region to move to the incoming pathway and as well brought more Bettys and Nells in to local air bases. But AuTiger is unlikely to have sent out that TF without any LR CAP, and given that the weather is generally bad in the region, it is unlikely that any of my LBA will fly. Oh well, maybe I'll use my ships to bombard AuTiger's troops along the coast the turn after next. [;)]

And finally, there has been a small Allied TF hanging out half way between the northern Australian coast and Timor for the past couple of turns. Last turn my Air Patrols reported that it was a PT TF. This turn my Air Patrols reported that it is a Transport TF. In any event, last turn I moved a couple of cruiser Surface Combat TFs into the region, and this turn I sent them off to patrol around the western tip of Timor, just in case. I've also ordered the portion of the KB that has been resting in Palau to head off at flank speed towards the DEI. If AuTiger is planning any invasions in that region I hope to give him a very unpleasant surprise. [;)]

Oh yes, F-5As flew over Kendari again this turn, but no bombers flew. So I reset my fighters at Macassar to fly LR CAP over Kendari again, just in case AuTiger "zigs when he should have zagged".

[USSAmerica]

Still reading and enjoying your AAR, Dive.  [:)]  I like your turn reports combined with plans.  That's when I can learn from other's experience.  [8D]

[Dive Bomber1]

ORIGINAL: USS America

Still reading and enjoying your AAR, Dive.  [:)]  I like your turn reports combined with plans.  That's when I can learn from other's experience.  [8D]

I'm not sure that you should really call what I am doing "plans"... [;)]

Actually, right now I'm just waiting around for AuTiger to make a serious move so that I can find out if my preparations are good enough to cause him some grief.

To give you an overall assessment, let's look at the Positives of this pbem so far:

- I've captured almost all of the Historical objectives, and a little more, including Gili-Gili and Port Moresby
- I've hung on to almost all of my captures
- I've only lost one CV
- I've only lost 3 LCUs (a para unit and an armored unit back in my Indian "adventure", and recently the 34th Division in China)
- I've lost no major surface combat ships
- Around half of my air units have half-way decent experience
- I currently have reasonably good levels of supplies, fuel, resources and oil

Now let's look at the Negatives of this pbem so far:

- I've only captured the Historical objectives, and a little more, and failed to expand beyond them in China, India, the South Pacific and the Aleutians, again with the exception of Gili-Gili and Port Moresby.
- I threw away one of my captures in Burma through dumb movement orders, and AuTiger hasn't bothered to recapture the bases that I've abandoned in the South Pacific.
- AuTiger has only lost one US CV and one British CV
- The Allies haven't lost any LCUs beyond the Historical losses, and I believe that AuTiger saved a number of units in the Philippines, the DEI and Malaya from loss by pulling out fragments
- AuTiger has lost no major combat ships
- Around half of my air units have uncompetive experience
- During the critical mid-1942 months I ran out of supplies, fuel, resources and oil, which stopped my advances dead

I have another pbem going which is very similar to this one because I didn't learn enough lessons soon enough...

Unfortunately, the other two pbems where I've applied many of the painful lessons that I learned from AuTiger are in a state of hiatus. C'est la vie...

Thanks for the comments, and for continuing to read this AAR.

[Dive Bomber1]

November 16, 1942 – The night phase started out with more minesweeping at Ndini, followed by the expected Naval Bombardment by the Brits at Akyab. But then two new reports came in: minesweeping at Koepang by many Allied MSWs and reports of ships at Lautem. What was particularly surprising was that my Surface Combat TF at Koepang reacted to a report of an enemy Task Force, but didn't engage any ships during the night phase.

The day phase then brought plenty of Air Recon all over the map, but the only air attacks were my LBA striking at and missing an MSW at Koepang, and then striking and hitting an Allied DD with a bomb at Lautem. And just when it appeared that the Allied ships at Koepang might get away with whatever they were doing, a late-day naval engagement started between my Surface Combat TF and an Allied TF consisting of eight DDs.

I had 2 CAs, 1 CL and 5 DDs in my TF. My ships got off the first shots at long distance and started to hit the Allied DDs immediately. Multiple engagements ensued at varying distances. Finally, after several fairly one-sided engagements one of the Allied DDs sank. But the Allied DD TF didn't break off and instead started to finally fire back. More engagements followed with a second Allied DD finally being sunk. Then there were yet more engagements followed by a third Allied DD being sunk. This went on and on until all eight Allied DDs were sunk one-by-one. The battle felt like it was taking forever because my ships missed with their torpedoes and had to sink the enemy ships with gunfire.

Then my now damaged SC TF, which was also low on ammunition, engaged the Allied transport TF which was escorted by 4 AVDs, 12 MSWs and 3 SCs. Another set of firefights started, with my ships emptying out their magazines. Before the Allied transport TF finally broke off my ships had sunk 3 AVDs and 2 SCs, and had damaged a number of other of the escorts. My ships had stopped the invasion at Koepang but four out of five of my destroyers were heavily damaged.

Then the unmolested Allied transports at Lautem started to land their troops. I had another Surface Combat TF in the neighbourhood which could have reached Lautem in time this turn, but I didn't think that AuTiger would try two simultaneous invasions so I had the second Surface Combat TF heading towards Koepang to back up my first TF.

So now I have ordered the second SC TF to head to Lautem. It will arrive too late to stop the invasion, but it ought to be in a position to hit some of the Allied ships. We will see if the commander of the second TF is as good as the commander of my SC TF at Koepang. I also replenished my first TF at Koepang, split off the four badly damaged DDs and sent them home, and set the three cruisers and the remaining DD to Patrol the waters at Koepang.

BTW – I also have two BB-lead surface combat TFs that were sailing leisurely down either side of the Celebes. I have given them orders to now move at flank speed into the region around Timor and they ought to be in position to join the fray in two day's time. In addition, The "KB West" is just outside of Menado, so I ordered it to steam at full speed towards Timor too. Unfortunately, the Game AI has decided that the CVs must steam a long and circuitous route instead of the direct route, likely due to the unintentional, but totally idiotic, effect of the "coastal avoidance" rules for CV TFs.

I also sent more planes into the region. The air fields at Kendari are still closed, but I've got other nearby bases where I can base planes. I set fighters to fly LR CAP over both Koepang and Lautem. The weather is still bad in the region, which ought to inhibit Allied air attacks from Australia, but I don't like to take chances. And I brought in more LBA too, just in case they get lucky; but LBA never stops an invasion, surface combat ships are needed for that.

Which brings up the question: why did AuTiger attempt such an important and complex operation without strong Naval Combat forces present? Did he think that I still had my combat ships up in the Aleutians/Kuriles? When my BBs and the KB West come in "to play" this ought to really make AuTiger think.

In any event, unless I get a truly fortunate "blessing from the Gods", AuTiger's forces ought to capture Lautem next turn since I only have a base force there. But that is actually the best case scenario for me, because Lautem is still only a Level 1 airfield, and I will be able to keep it closed with Naval and Air Bombardments. Maybe for once I will get an opportunity to "train" my forces on some Allied troops that are stuck out in the open, instead of the other way around. I also have a fully rested Division sitting back at Soerabaja, just in case for some reason I decide to try to retake Lautem, but I can't see a good reason to do that in the near future.

BTW II – back in Burma, my surface combat TFs missed their opportunity to catch the Brits at Akyab, and as usual, my LBA didn't fly. However, my two SC TFs were only a couple of hexes away from Akyab, so I decided to "experiment" and I set both TFs to do Bombardment attacks on the Allied troops up the coast from Akyab. I have no idea if this will work since I've never seen any mention of Naval Bombardments of LCUs outside of base hexes, but it seems worth a try for little risk. And won't AuTiger be surprised if this does work! [:D]

Finally, for those folks who want to see the Combat Results for the naval battles at Koepang, I'll past the relevant sections from the Combat Report below. What the Report doesn't show is that this was the result of many, many consecutive naval engagements. What the Report does show you is that some of those Allied DDs were very tough and very hard to sink!

Day Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 28, 77

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 1
CA Kumano, Shell hits 4
CL Kuma, Shell hits 3
DD Isonami, Shell hits 6, on fire
DD Manazuru, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tomozuru, Shell hits 1
DD Kiji, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kamo, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
DD John D. Ford, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
DD Peary, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
DD Whipple, Shell hits 33, and is sunk
DD Stuart, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
DD Vendetta, Shell hits 25, and is sunk
DD Nepal, Shell hits 19, and is sunk

Day Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 28, 77

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CL Kuma
DD Isonami, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Manazuru, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tomozuru
DD Kiji, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kamo, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AVD Hulbert, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
AVD Williamson, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
AVD William B. Preston, Shell hits 6, on fire
AVD Heron, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
MSW Junee, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Kapunda, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Katoomba, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Latrobe, Shell hits 1
MSW Rockhampton, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Shepparton
MSW Stawell
MSW Wallaroo, Shell hits 1, on fire
MSW Warrnambool
MSW Bobolink
MSW Agra
MSW Rampur
SC SC-699, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
SC SC-700, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
SC SC-701
AP William Ward Burrows
AP President Monroe
AP Manoora
AP Katoomba
AP Westralia

[USSAmerica]

Congratulations on repelling the Koepang invasion! 
 
As you mentioned, it is very strange that they didn't have heavier SC escort than 8 DD's.  [&:]

[Dive Bomber1]

ORIGINAL: USS America

Congratulations on repelling the Koepang invasion! 

As you mentioned, it is very strange that they didn't have heavier SC escort than 8 DD's.  [&:]

My guess is that AuTiger thought that he would surprise me. But then, I've been expecting some sort of attack in that region for ages, so I was somewhat prepared. If I had been given a couple more days I would have been Very Prepared... C'est la vie!

Thanks for the comments - DB

[Dive Bomber1]

November 17, 1942 – Things didn't work out so well for me this turn, as a combination of strange fortune and the Coastal Avoidance Rules caused me to not make as much progress as I had hoped against the Allied invasion of Lautem.

First off, again despite the presence of my Surface Combat TF, the Allied landings continued unabated at Lautem. AuTiger obviously has very good Commanders of his Transport TFs there. Allied Minesweepers continued to sweep mines at Lautem, but one Allied AVD hit a mine anyway.

Then the Naval Battle of Lautem started, between 7 Allied Destroyers and my Surface Combat TF consisting of one CA, 2 CLs and 5 DDs. But this time AuTiger appeared to have a better Commander of his DD TF, and I a worse Commander of my TF, because in both engagements the Allies achieved "Surprise" and got the first shots off. What was very strange and rather incomprehensible to me was that in both engagements I received a report that the "Japanese Radar Detects Enemy Ships", but despite those reports the Allies still were given the Surprise. I presume that this one yet another of the "Proprietary" bits of code in the Program that the Customers have to guess and figure out by trial-and-error.

In any event, despite the Allied DDs getting the Surprise and the first shots, my ships still sank an Allied DD in the first engagement, but as with the naval battle last turn, the Allied TF didn't break off from the battle. Then in the second engagement my ships sank three more Allied DDs, but one of my DDs was sunk so my ships then retired rather than face the Allied Transport TFs. So in the end AuTiger got to continue to unload his troops without bother.

And AuTiger unloaded a lot of troops – not only combat units but a British Naval Base Force (that I suspect was saved from Malaya) and several Engineering units amongst others. AuTiger obviously wants to bring the Air Fields up to bomber-capacity very quickly. Of course, with so much firepower on the ground my Base Forces was easily pushed out of Lautem.

Now, did my CVs make the short and easy trip to be in range of the Allied invasion? Of course not – they wandered all around and are still probably two day's sailing away, thanks to the Coastal Avoidance Rules…

And as luck would have it, neither of my BB TFs got close enough to be in a position to hit Lautem next turn, once again thanks to more of the "wonders" of the naval movement system. So I decided to send my TF that was covering Koepang to hit Lautem this turn. Maybe the better Commander will bring better results next turn.

The weather cleared over the region too, but while Allied planes got off the ground, none of my LBA flew to challenge the Allied ships at Lautem. AuTiger did have a handful of Lightnings on LR CAP over Lautem, but I had Zeros on LR CAP too, although that didn't seem to make a difference, and as I have seen before, two opposing air units on LR CAP over the same target won't engage.

So while my bombers were sitting around AuTiger got off a massive air attack of 48 B-24s and 144 B-17s to hit the air fields at Amboina. I had a decent Zero Daitai on 90% CAP, so a dozen of the fighters were in the air to intercept the 4Es. As is typical, the Air Fields at Amboina were pulverized by the "Death Flight", and I lost a couple of dozen planes on the ground, but my fighters shot down 8 bombers and damaged many others, and the flak caused more losses to AuTiger's planes, so I don't expect to see a similar attack for the next couple of turns.

In addition, a few Hudsons flew to Koepang and tried to attack my ships that were on patrol there, but my Oscars on LR CAP disrupted the attack and damaged several bombers, although none were shot down.

Finally, two more retiring Allied MSWs sank on their way back to Australia from the aborted invasion of Koepang last turn. But that is nothing to "gloat" over because I will certainly lose several more DDs from the results of the past two day's worth of naval battles.

In other news, my bombardment TFs did not attack the Allied troops along the coast north of Akyab, so I reformed the two TFs into one Surface Combat TF and sent them steaming back to Rangoon to refuel. That was a bit disappointing, and also a bit inconsistent with how the Naval Bombardment model "appears" to work, but no real loss otherwise.

In the South Pacific my lone MSW continued to sweep mines out of Ndini, while my Fast Transport TF picked up most of the rest of the Base Force that was there. All that is left is a few disabled Support squadrons and the "Large Pair of Ears", so that ought to provide confusion for AuTiger.

Likewise, in the Central Pacific my Fast Transport TF pulled out most of the rest of the Base Force that had been at Baker Island. There are a few bits and pieces left, including yet another "Large Pair of Ears" to help keep AuTiger off guard in that region too. But the main parts of my objectives have been accomplished and the combat troops and base forces that used to be isolated on Ndini and Baker are on their way to non-malarial major bases well behind the Lines so that they can rebuild and be reused in more useful locations.

In the Aleutians a large Allied Naval force swept the sub-laid mines from Adak again, although one AP in the TF hit a mine and suffered a number of troop casualties. I had my local MSW on its way to sweep more Allied mines out of Adak, but I ordered it home because the weather cleared. I'll send out my Bombardment TF again once the weather returns to its usual winter conditions.

In other news, a number of my planned light bomber attacks flew this turn in China, causing damage but not really doing much more than letting AuTiger know that I still have bombers in the region. My Army Dive Bombers didn't attack the Chinese troops in the field along the railroad, and those troops retired back to an Allied base, so that cuts down my targets in the region.

In Burma I had several Zero Daitais on LR CAP over various potential targets in the region, but no Allied bombers flew, so I sat down my planes to let them rest during the current period of bad weather. Watch – the Allied bombers will probably fly again next turn.

And finally, Allied subs are becoming more prevalent in the shipping lands between the Philippines and the Home Islands, and this time the subs aren't just travelling around to deposit mines. One of my tankers was torpedoed and is now limping to a nearby base. I guess that this is just a "taste" of what is truly yet to come.

[Zebedee]

Just think Admiral's Edition... and pray that those AI pathing routines are sorted out...
 
Enjoyed this AAR as I've been trying to catch up on patch changes and strategies now popular since I was last on these boards. Huge thanks for a pleasant mix of useful info and also the reasoning you give behind your moves.
 
Still confused by the Allied move for Lautem with seemingly so little cover by surface fleet. Any ideas on what's about in that part of the world which could worry you?
 
Likewise the move up north has all the signs of a feint but is mighty peculiar. A few large calibre shells landing on the runway ought to tell whether it's a bluff or not [;)]

[Dive Bomber1]

Still confused by the Allied move for Lautem with seemingly so little cover by surface fleet. Any ideas on what's about in that part of the world which could worry you?

I just think that AuTiger "guessed wrong" and assumed that:

a) I didn't have much force in the region

b) Closing down the air fields at Kendari would take care of any threat

c) He could grab both Koepang and Lautem before I knew what was happening

Koepang is the real "prize" of course, because it already has a level 4 air field and a level 3 port. And it is also farther away from the bases at Kendari, Macassar and Amboina. But I'm using a nearby level 1 base for my LR CAP and I never count on air power to stop invasions anyway.

Sure, AuTiger could probably stop an invasion of Darwin Dead (with a Capital "D") with his 2Es and 4Es, but I know that there is no hope of doing that with my 2Es.

I also suspect that AuTiger has his major naval forces tied up elsewhere, because he doesn't know where most of my naval forces are located. Once AuTiger sees more and more ships show up in the DEI he might try something elsewhere, but I actually have a lot of forces in other locations too. Notice that I don't send "monster" 25-ship TFs into surface combat.

Likewise the move up north has all the signs of a feint but is mighty peculiar. A few large calibre shells landing on the runway ought to tell whether it's a bluff or not

Remember, the last thing AuTiger knew, I had at least 3 Divisions and a Brigade in the region, and I successfully pulled them all out of Adak. So as far as he knows, I am just building up in preparation for a new, stronger and more intense attack on Adak. So he wants to reinforce Adak, as well as try to build it up.

But he has the Weather against him, not only because it essentially stops all serious air attacks, but it also:

1) Allows Naval sneak attacks on a regular basis

2) The winter weather slows down repair and build-up of bases and also increases wear-and-tear on the LCUs up there.

So AuTiger can't ignore the region and yet he can't seriously attack either. So this way a lot of his forces are tied up where they can't be used for months.

Thanks for the comments - DB

[Zebedee]

Thanks for the explanation DB - always useful to get an insight into how you're seeing the situation.
 
It seems like you have the tiger by the tail...
 
Especially in the north, you might actually force him to push much harder there than he would otherwise be inclined. Although I certainly wouldn't want to try to invade the home isles that way!
 
Really found the dash to Lautem with such weak protection odd. Risky move on his part for sure - especially if he hasn't got a clue where your big ships are. Unless he's trying an oddly expensive version of reconnaissance in force to try and bring your big ships to battle! Even his destroyer flottillas didn't have the CA or CL I would usually expect to see leading them. They shouldn't all be in for upgrades, surely?
 
Things are looking good so far for you though. Hope it continues like that!

[Dive Bomber1]

Especially in the north, you might actually force him to push much harder there than he would otherwise be inclined. Although I certainly wouldn't want to try to invade the home isles that way!

The "Northern Route" always looks interesting and promising. In theory it ought to be straight-forward for an Allied player to march along the Kuriles and eventually Sakahin Island and mount an early Air Campaign against the main Home Islands. AuTiger seems to be the sort of player who might try that, so I have been building up my fortifications in the Kuriles from Turn 1. I've got troops on all of the Islands in the chain, any my bases on Sakahin and Hokkaido are all well defended and fortified.

Because the Weather in the North is even lousier than it is in the CBI, Offensive Air Operations are very difficult, which means that Operations in the North turn into Naval Battles, which means that the huge advantage in Bombers held by the Allies is balanced a bit. So I have been hoping that I could aggrevate the situation in the region enough that AuTiger would commit more force there, where to a good extent it is wasted, and less in other regions.

This plan appears to have worked to a good degree, but not exactly how I had hoped, because it appears that AuTiger has stripped his Eastern Defenses. Unfortunately, the Game doesn't prevent the Allied player from stripping North America of everything that isn't "nailed down", and there is no real chance that a Japanese player could ever invade North America against a pbem player to counter this strategy by the Allied player. AuTiger has also ignored the South Pacific to a good extent and only fortified the high Victory Point bases. So while my Northern Strategy has re-directed some Allied forces away from the Australian/DEI theater, it hasn't done enough.

Oh well, we'll see if I prepared the DEI well enough to stop AuTiger from capturing it in 1943.

Thanks again for the comments - DB