Nomonhan Redux: Seydlitz (Japan) vs. MBatch729 (Allies)

[Cathartes]

watchin' this one big time.  thanks for the detailed AAR!

[aztez]

Ouch! I thought the soviet fleet was pretty gone but that raid proved otherwise.

The battle at Birobidzhan was an somewhat intresting since it showed the value of armour and artillery.

Soviets recieve extra reinforcements within months time in this area. So hopefully you are able to push him out rather sooner than later.

His adjusted defensive value was +2000! That is a lot and those howitzers he got here might make this an suitable counterstrike position.

Is he assaulting through north? I mean there some good soviet units laying around there including quite a few tanks.

[Deathtreader]

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

Lots of pics and posts for the turn, but hopefully you found it worth it. The pictures help tell the story and in some cases demonstrate the concept better than words alone. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the AAR.

Not to worry.... this is a great AAR!!

First one on my reading list...........[:)]

Rob.

[Ketza]

This is my favorite AAR. I look at it twice a day for updates as its such an unsual strategy.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: aztez

Ouch! I thought the soviet fleet was pretty gone but that raid proved otherwise.

The battle at Birobidzhan was an somewhat intresting since it showed the value of armour and artillery.

Soviets recieve extra reinforcements within months time in this area. So hopefully you are able to push him out rather sooner than later.

His adjusted defensive value was +2000! That is a lot and those howitzers he got here might make this an suitable counterstrike position.

Is he assaulting through north? I mean there some good soviet units laying around there including quite a few tanks.

Reinforcements are not good. I have a good stack of units moving up north but nowhere near what I have in the south. Hopefully I can just delay and attrit his forces until I win in the south (Vladivostok) and then start rolling up the railroad line to the north. If I can get Okha and Petropavlovsk squared away then I can land on the coast and cut off their supplies from Komsomolesk.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: Cathartes

watchin' this one big time.  thanks for the detailed AAR!

Thanks.
BTW, Bartshe, did you do the aircraft artwork for AE?

[Cathartes]

did the sides, Ian (TheElf) did the tops.

[bklooste]

Reinforcements are not good. I have a good stack of units moving up north but nowhere near what I have in the south. Hopefully I can just delay and attrit his forces until I win in the south (Vladivostok) and then start rolling up the railroad line to the north. If I can get Okha and Petropavlovsk squared away then I can land on the coast and cut off their supplies from Komsomolesk.

WHat about forgetting Burma use Malaysia & Burma for DEI ( you need KB anyway) and bringing PI to help in Russia/China .

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: Cathartes

did the sides, Ian (TheElf) did the tops.

I thought that I recognized your work. Fantastic job. I especially like the different Oscar Is so far.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: bklooste

Reinforcements are not good. I have a good stack of units moving up north but nowhere near what I have in the south. Hopefully I can just delay and attrit his forces until I win in the south (Vladivostok) and then start rolling up the railroad line to the north. If I can get Okha and Petropavlovsk squared away then I can land on the coast and cut off their supplies from Komsomolesk.

WHat about forgetting Burma use Malaysia & Burma for DEI ( you need KB anyway) and bringing PI to help in Russia/China .

I am seriously considering that option. Malaya seems to be taking forever while my troops crawl along the roads.

I have the transports standing by to move troops out of the Philippines after it falls. I probably won't make up my mind where to use them until that actually happens. In fact, if I push him back into the Bataan peninsula, I may just leave a containing force and use him for bomber training. After all, Corregidor held out until May so I should be safe with that. I could probably free up half the troops on Luzon.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 34... Jan 09, 1942--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not a very eventful turn. The main things that happened during the turn were a bunch of night raids by me on Vladivostok and a daytime fighter sweep.

I must be hurting him with my night port attacks as he switched some fighters over to night cap.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 09, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 14


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 6 damaged




Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
8 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 16
G4M1 Betty x 9


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 2


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged


Allied Ships
DD Rastoropnyi, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
9 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 13


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16m24: 1 damaged
I-16m24: 2 destroyed on ground
MBR-2: 2 destroyed on ground
SB-2: 3 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 3
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16m24: 1 damaged
Do J Wal: 1 destroyed on ground
R-10: 1 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 20


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 3
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 7 damaged


Allied Ships
TK TP-117, Bomb hits 1
SS ShCh-107, Bomb hits 1
DD Tblisi, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage



Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 7


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 3
I-16m24 x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 100 kg GP Bomb

[seydlitz_slith]

Here are the daytime sweeps

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

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

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 7
I-153 x 22
I-16m24 x 3


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 2 destroyed
I-153: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 2
I-153 x 15
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Birobidzhan , at 117,39

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
Ki-27b Nate x 107



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 55
I-16m24 x 14
Mig-3 x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27b Nate: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 4 destroyed
I-16m24: 1 destroyed
Mig-3: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
8 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
12 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
18 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
8 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
8 x Ki-27b Nate sweeping at 9000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 1st Amurskaya Tank Brigade, at 117,39 (Birobidzhan)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 25



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 33
I-16m24 x 8
Mig-3 x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 2 destroyed, 12 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 4 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21-Ic Sally bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x Ki-21-Ic Sally bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 34th Rifle Division, at 117,39 (Birobidzhan)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 16
Ki-30 Ann x 12
Ki-36 Ida x 15



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 17
I-16m24 x 7
Mig-3 x 2


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 7 damaged
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Ki-36 Ida: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 1 destroyed
I-16m24: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
14 x Ki-36 Ida bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 30 kg GP Bomb
12 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 1 x 100 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 2
I-153 x 9
I-16m24 x 1


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 1 destroyed
I-153: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 14000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 102nd Region Fortress, at 117,39 (Birobidzhan)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 13
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 15



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 15
I-16m24 x 5
Mig-3 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (0 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21-Ic Sally bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
15 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28



Allied aircraft
I-153 x 2


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-153: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
27 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 16000 feet

[seydlitz_slith]

He ran ground bombing attacks on all of my major stacks. The units at Birobidzhan were already in disarray from the failed ground attack plus his counterattack. The multiple bombing raids that he did further confused the situation. I have several units in the stack that have between 88 and 92 disruption. Casualties are not that high, but the disruption is extreme. The highest that I have seen.

Here is a summary of the aircraft kills during the turn. As you can see I am continuing to attrition his fighter forces.

[seydlitz_slith]

Final screen is ships sunk during the turn.

Two things to note here.

First, the AMC that sank was the one that was damaged a while back during the engagement with the ANZAC cruisers at Shortland Islands. Since the patch removed the repair yard at Truk, she was heading home for repairs and foundered.

Second, the HDML was his own version of bait. He created a TF of two HDMLs and left them in the Singapore hex to see if I still had planes on Naval attack. Of course my Betties at Saigon took the bait and launched torpedo attacks in the harbor at Singapore to try and destroy the HDMLs. His heavy flak accounted for most of the Betty losses during the turn.

[castor troy]

I´ve got the feeling that night bombing is FAR too effective in AE. Just like it was early on in WITP. Wait until 100 B-24 will bomb Rabaul at night scoring dozens of hits on shipping...

When there are only a good dozen Betties achieving a dozen hits on an airfield then this is nowhere worse than what they achieve in daylight it seems.[&:]

[Ketza]

I tend to keep my Betties one hex short on range for Singapore so they dont get sucked in by bait. When its time to make an attack on my terms I increase the range. This also works well in helping with coordinating attacks. Set all the ranges of aircraft in the same base or ship to the same range. They tend to go in together in a more coordinated effort that way.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: Ketza

I tend to keep my Betties one hex short on range for Singapore so they dont get sucked in by bait. When its time to make an attack on my terms I increase the range. This also works well in helping with coordinating attacks. Set all the ranges of aircraft in the same base or ship to the same range. They tend to go in together in a more coordinated effort that way.

I usually do the same but in this case I was hoping to catch him if he tried to evacuate the Prince of Wales.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 35 10 Jan 1942

I continued my night bombing of Vladivostok port with some success.

Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 16


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 7
I-16m24 x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
SB-2: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
xAKL PK-44, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
7 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 12


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 6
I-16m24 x 2


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 5 damaged




Aircraft Attacking:
12 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 10


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged




Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 11000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
6 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 8


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16m24: 1 damaged
I-16m24: 1 destroyed on ground



Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 13


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 4
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged


Allied Ships
TK TP-117, Bomb hits 1
SS ShCh-105, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 10


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 3
I-16m24 x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 2 damaged


Allied Ships
xAK Karlotta, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 100 kg GP Bomb

I also hit Singapore port hoping to flush out the Prince of Wales.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Danae, Bomb hits 1
TK Pinna, Bomb hits 1



Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

His Soviet TF did a bombardment run on Rashin, and the unit of bombers that I had stationed there on night naval attack did absolutely nothing. Same with my nearby subs and a surface TF two hexes away.

Luckily he did not do very much damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Rashin at 110,46

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
DD Revanch
DD Stalin
DD Buistro
DD Rezhtelnyi
DD Ryanyi

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



Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 38

DD Revanch firing at Rashin ...
DD Stalin firing at Rashin ...
DD Buistro firing at Rashin ...
DD Rezhtelnyi firing at 4th JAAF Base Force...
DD Ryanyi firing at Rashin ...

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 35 10 Jan 1942

Down south, Hiei and Kirishima bombarded Tarakan in support of our troops while an amphibious TF landed additional troops and transports dropped in paratroopers from Miri.

However, just after daybreak, ABDA showed up to break up the landing force and ran headlong into my battleship TF

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Tarakan at 67,91, Range 12,000 Yards

[seydlitz_slith]

The battle became intense as the ships closed.

Reduced visibility due to Rain...
Maximum visibility in Rain: 13,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 30,000 yards...
Range closes to 24,000 yards......
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards......
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 12,000 yards......
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 12,000 yards...
Allies open fire on surprised Japanese ships at 12,000 yards...
CA Houston fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL Boise fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL Marblehead fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL Mauritius fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL Dragon fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL Tromp fires at CL Abukuma at 12,000 yards...
CL De Ruyter fires at DD Kawakaze at 12,000 yards...
BB Prince of Wales fires at DD Yamakaze at 12,000 yards...
BB Prince of Wales fires at DD Tokitsukaze at 12,000 yards...
CL Boise fires at DD Yukikaze at 12,000 yards...
BB Prince of Wales fires at DD Kagero at 12,000 yards...
DD Edsall fires at DD Kagero at 12,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
BB Prince of Wales engages DD Yamakaze at 6,000 yards...
CA Houston engages CL Abukuma at 6,000 yards...
CL Abukuma engages CL Boise at 6,000 yards...
CL Boise engages CL Nagara at 6,000 yards...
DD Shiokaze engages DD Edsall at 6,000 yards...
DD Suzukaze engages DD Edsall at 6,000 yards...
CL Tromp engages CL Nagara at 6,000 yards...
CL De Ruyter engages DD Kawakaze at 6,000 yards...
DD Yamakaze sunk by BB Prince of Wales at 6,000 yards...DD Tokitsukaze engages DD Jupiter at 6,000 yards...
DD Jupiter engages DD Yukikaze at 6,000 yards...
DD Kawakaze engages DD Electra at 6,000 yards...