On occasional occasions – NO RATTOVOLANTE, PLEASE

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

just sent the new turn to my opponent, thus now I can provide info on another theatre: The Japanese march on Singapore.

Here's the map:



I guess pretty much a standard approach, I guess in a historical turn 1 game this may be expected as in limits the leeway of Japanese operations. The drive towards Temuloh is conducted by 56th Inf. Rgt. only; I hope/believe them have enough in place at that base to hold against them.

The problem is, of course, that the march down the west coast of Malaya is conducted in strength. Cursor intel says the spearhead is now formed by 5 units, 1st and 6th tank rgt and 5th recon were positively identified. In Georgetown, there are 6 units, just as many are in Taiping.

Naturally, I do not wish that the defenders of Temuloh end up isolated, and Kuala Lumpur will not hold against the number of troops that may be descending on the base. Therefore, I will probably end up withdrawing from both Temuloh and Kuala Lumpur towards Malacca. I hope that before that happens there will be a failed attack against Temuloh, but I am not sure that wish will be granted. The move towards Temuloh seems to occur very slowly, thus I can imagine Rattovolante is waiting for the main thrust to get into position. Accordingly, I am trying to slow that prong down. Here's a typical sequence of air strikes conducted for that purpose from the December 30th combat reports:

[font="Courier New"]
Morning Air attack on 5th Recon Regiment, at 49,76

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 1

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Also attacking 1st Tank Regiment ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 6th Tank Regiment, at 49,76

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 4

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 18
Vildebeest III x 12
Wirraway x 6

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Also attacking 5th Recon Regiment ...
Also attacking 6th Tank Regiment ...
[/font]

I hope that I may be in a position to delay a possible Mersing invasion sufficiently long to prevent units from getting cut off; but of course in view of the quality or lack thereof in the performance of my LCUs so far, I cannot rule out that something bad may still occur there.

Relating to my opponent's air activities in the theater, he might have started to concentrate on Singapore, but his day attacks so far took at least some toll.

[font="Courier New"]
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

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

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 28
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 19

Allied aircraft
Walrus II x 1
Buffalo I x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAK Demodocus, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Marudu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
--------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

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

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 14

Allied aircraft
Walrus II x 1
Buffalo I x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
[/font]

He has also started considerable night bombing activities though both here and in the Rangoon area, which are much more successful (specifically relating to scoring hits on ships disbanded in port) than I would like. Here's a collection from several days:

[font="Courier New"]
DECEMBER 30

Night Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 56

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Demodocus, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Port hits 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 7
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 18

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 16

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Runway hits 2
-----------------------
DECEMBER 31st

Night Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 60


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Sin Kheng Seng, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
HDML 1062, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Bust, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 10
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 40

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed on ground
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 10
[/font]

Not much I can do against that, I guess. So far, my attempts to pay back using the same coin failed miserably - I guess, exp is just too low. Note that at Singapore there are Flak losses, whereas at Rangoon there are none, reflecting the (considerable) difference in AAA strength.

Ok, that's all I want to say re. Malaya right now. Thanks for your interest !

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

still no news from my opponent (not even the .001), thus another map:



I don't think there's much I can comment. Frankly, I have been quite surprised that as of yet there has been no attempt to invade Tarakan, Balikpapan and Samrinda (sp?). I use these bases to harrass Miri and the bases next to it every now and then, which seems to keep a zero daitai on CAP duty there. I think I like that, even though I think the best defence of the oil at Miri would be to take the bases at the southern rim of Borneo. But I'm definitely not complaining [:)].

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

here's yet another map from my war: Celebes and nothern part of Banda Sea.



Again, I think there's not too much to say. The bases taken by my opponent appear to be a standard set. Personally, I was a bit surprised to see that he went after the beat up defenders of Manado - or maybe he wants to build the dot base southwest of the place.

Ambon is according to cursor intel still not in good shape. I kept putting pressure (as far as that's possible with my air assets) on airstrip and port in order to negate the use of this good airfield as long as possible. I expect a move on Kendari and/or the along the southern rim of Borneo next, but let's see, perhaps there's a surprise for me in store. After all, slow progress of the Japanese may also indicate that the assets are to be used at other locations hitherto unknown to me.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

yet another piece of the puzzle you'll have to put together in your mind when getting the total picture of the situation at the beginning of 1942... Bismarck sea/Solomon sea/PM area.



Not too many surprises here. I formed the PM brigade and evacuated much of the Rabaul base force as well as a fragment of the batallion defending Rabaul (Lark ?) before the base was taken. I should add that there is also a landing at Tulagi that should take the place upon execution of the current turn.

Still, to keep my esteemed readership from discarding my prattling right away, here's a juicy confession for you:

ALLIED CINC SENT HMAS ADELAIDE TO CERTAIN DEATH

Yep, that's what I did. Knowing a Japanese surface TF centered around two CAs was around, she was sent to Rabaul.

This was my reasoning behind this suicide operation: I had seen that my opponent formed a guard TF after my raid to Ambon had occurred and kept it in place since then (by now that's for more than 4 turns). Maybe my set of mind is completely wrong in this context, but I actually consider this to be a waste of assets. Even if I would come for another visit immediately, this would only inflict minor damage on a base that is no longer contested, whereas new operations could be conducted without being disturbed. I think the best way to make sure I don't hit him there would be to bind my forces elsewhere, to dictate my moves rather than to prepare for a defense against them.

As I think I profit from it, I would like to enhance this approach (which is in my opinion related to the use of a daitia of his best fighters to defend Miri), because this binds his surface assets, which on the other hand he tends to use intensively for support of his invasions. Thus, by doing so I hope to slow down his pace. Upon execution of this turn, another surface TF should bombard his new invasion at Tulagi (maybe even catch a ship or two in the process), indicating the presence of further assets in the vicinity and thus the need to keep a strong presence or even reinforce there.

Admittedly, I had hoped that Adelaide would also inflict at least a single shell hit or even two... but that was not to be - she ate two fish early in the battle and succumbed quickly to that damage...

That's my update for now. Whereas I still have a partial map or two, I hope that soon I will be able to report about further developments in this game...

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

a worthy addendum to the last post, as said exciting action took place on the unexciting map... I received the .001 file, looks like Tulagi was covered by some Japanese Carriers, so the bombardment was not to be and I lost a US CA and at least one CL from New Zealand (probably Leander)... I am really surprised, if they are used in the theater I would have thought they are further up north. Thus the question is whether perhaps my opponent is planning for an early move on Noumea and/or the Fijis. Let's wait and see...

Interestingly, these strikes have generated a large number of damaged Kates, I do hope for some op losses. Does anyone know how quickly the Japanese AV support on board the carriers works ?

Other than that, Kendari was bombarded to little effect by 3 BB and hardly any of my airstrikes took off. Also, some action on the ground in China, but that story is better told in connection with the corresponding map in the future.

Regards

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

a short heads-up... (well, actually I fell of the first page of the AAR section with my AAR and can't have that...[:D]):

We are suffering from patch-induced trouble... apparently, after patching Rattovolante thought his machine was running slower (not sure whether it really did, probably not) and started an optimization process which apparently was not to the benefit of his computer... he's trying to get a replacement now, but not sure how long this will take.

Ironically, simultaneously access to these forums was not working for me (some website trying to sell Matrix's domain popped up instead). Thus, no game to play nor games to read about... really scary...

In principle I could still write a line or two about remaining areas on the map at the beginning of 1942... maybe that's what I should do.

Regards

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

here's another part of the map at the beginning of 1942: PI.



I think what the above map indicates is that Rattovolante is in process of concentrating his troops to one massive stack, just leaving minimal assets covering the flanks. The question is whether he will go for Clark or Manila first. What the map does not indicate clearly is my disposition of troops at the moment, which is probably a mess due to several reasons.

In some respects, this AAR is really a collection of what a good commander should not do. PI is one example for that, because I went into this campaign pretty much in the same way as in good old WitP days, without paying sufficient attention to differences in the approach needed, thus I ended up switching the plan and probably threw away a number of important prep points. Proper research ahead of planning could potentially have avoided this.

But no, that sounds too just bad. So scratch the above lines and let's start over:

In some respects, this AAR really represents a textbooks for what good commanders should do. Nothing is more important than the ability to adapt in a flexible way to a situation and discard old strategems (sp?) once it becomes clear they don't work any more.

My standard WitP approach was a to split the troops between Clark and Manila, try to run an AK to Manila every now and then and try to extend the siege for as long as possible. Bataan never played an important rule in my previous approach to this theatre, and so what I did was reset the objective for the troops preparing for Bataan to Clark and Manila, respectively.

By now, I really do regret that decision. Little was I aware how important the ability to improve the skill of your LCUs is in AE is for the Allied early in the war, and I think I have wasted a lot of that potential. As I see things now, using Bataan as your final stand may have a number of advantages (and I think I recall reading some developers in a similar way somewhere in these forums):

a) if you manage to delay the enemy for 50 days before he enters Bataan, there's a ton of units which can gain experience.
b) reinforcements that flow into Bataan (e.g. 2 engineer units) can be put to use there immediately. Along with the additional time one may attempt to buy at Manila/Clark and the fact that Manila/Clark are likely to work well as magnets attracting the enemy air strikes, thus allowing fortifications to grow nicely.
c) to make use of Manila as a nice port, Bataan must be taken. With the increased importance of ports, it may be less attractive than it used to be to just let a sufficiently big garrison in siege and move the bulk of the troops elsewhere
d) looking at what artillery seemed to be capable of doing at least pre-patch, you may profit considerably from the static artillery at that place - there seem to be quite a few nice guns.

To be continued once my daughter is in bed... which is done now. Amazing how much energy an 18 month old girl can develop when not being confined to her bed is at stake...

Unfortunately, the above reasoning was not quite as evident to me when I started the game as it is now. What reinforces said reasoning is the fact that as you know from my previous reports, some of the PI divisions got roughened up due to the fact that hex size in AE is 46 miles rather than 45, so there are units which need a bit of time to recover...

For this reason, right now my forces are spread out between Bataan (mostly recovering units plus the recen arrivals), Clark and Manila (both of which managed to get to fortification level 3, but I doubt that they'll make it to four, and doubtless my esteemed readership is completely aware of the fact that forts are brought down with relative ease in AE.
I hope that Manila is attacked first, allowing for a fall-back to clark and then on to Bataan, but if that is not to happen and Clark gets attacked first, I will probably try to move back to Bataan before the units get thrashed.

Note that the naval support Rattovolante provides for this operation is relatively light, about 3 CL and a couple of DD. (probably rightly so, because Bataan's big guns make passing that fortress a bit of a gamble and thus they offensive possibilities are limites). The fact that these ships are still around is most likely due to the fact that I still have PT boats and a lone destroyer operating out of Manila, trying to get the attackers disrupted a bit every now and then and demonstrating a threat to supply shipments via Vigan and the ports of northern PI. I sort of like the idea to bind these forces with minor assets. Subs are also patroling in regions in which I assumed supplies would be shipped, but not providing hits or even sightings so far.

Air force in the area is pretty much reduced, mainly, the fixed fighter squadrons are still around. I moved a B17 squadron into Clark recently, because I wanted to get successful night port attacks (night bombing has been very successfully performed by my opponent), but so far they did not fly.

This much for the situation in the PI. Thanks for your interest.

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

just a short note relating to the status if this game: As I wrote previously, Rattovolante has ongoing computer problems, he is now playing on a machine that he can borrow from time to time. I received another .001 file on Friday, still waiting for the game file [:(]. He is preparing Kendari for invasion by repeated shelling with heavy surface assets, I assume he will go in at that location soon.

We did the Patch 2 upgrade and probably will also apply the hotfix this turn or next turn. During the Christmas holidays, I don't know how much can be done. So probably near the end of the year the next update of this AAR may occur.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Genlemen,

in spite of invasions of respective relatives at both our homes, I received the January 5th combat report tonight and managed to look at it. As I had mentioned previously, the invasion of Kendari was clearly about to begin, so I sent some units in stir up some trouble. A group of PT boats drew the SC screen Rattovolante had provided away from a transport TF, which was then attacked by a surface TF led by the pride of the Australian navy, Canberra and Australia. This is how things looked near the end of the battle:



This is the corresponding section of the combat report:

[font="Courier New"]Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 70,106, Range 22,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 5
CA Chokai, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage
CM Itsukushima, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
DD Kuroshio
DD Sawakaze
DD Tachikaze
DD Hasu
DMS W-13, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tarayasu Maru
xAKL Yagi Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Fukuyo Maru, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Tango Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Australia
CA Canberra, Shell hits 17, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Dragon, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 1
DMS Southard, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage



Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 22,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 22,000 yards
...
Task forces break off...[/font]

I lost Canberra and Southhard sunk later on. On the side of the enemy, apart from the xAKL reported to have been lost, the xAP was caught by a British torpedo bomber later on with a bomb and is reported as sunk now. DMS W-13 and CA Chokai are likely to be in trouble as well, about 50% of the hits on the CA were penetrating 8 inch hits. No idea about the CM, the hits reported during the replay looked more promising than the damage message.

Evaluation: Well... difficult to say with FOW.. (did I mention that most of the Japanese combat ships reported as sunk first were later on reported to be still in service ?). If in fact Chokai was hit hard, I think this was an Allied success, even though I do not really think it will enable Kendari to hold longer. Even if Chokai was not hit hard, I think I may have delivered once more the message that the Allied still has options against which cover must be provided, which may in the end slow down my opponent after all. We will see...

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

by now I received the January 6 1942 turn resolution (still waiting for the game file), in which another surface battle took place - not Kendari but Singkawang. I had sent a SCTF there, because the base has been taken very recently, so I thought maybe I can catch some DMS and/or transports and bombard the airstrip a bit. There was a Japanese SCTF that had supported the landing, but I had thought it would have been moved. These are the results:

[font="Courier New"]Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 2
CL Boise, Shell hits 4
DD Alden, Shell hits 1
DD Edsall
DD Parrott, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk


Improved night sighting under 82% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 82% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 10,000 yards
...
[/font]

What is not clearly visible from these numbers is that Houston and Kumano exchanged 1 critical hit. My opponent commented on the critical Kumano hit (which was reported to have induced engine damage), so maybe she will need some yard time. That would be good - Haruna and Maya should also need some (even if previous sunk reports on them have been false) already and Chokai is currently reported as sunk (probably will be identified as a false report any time soon, but should be indicative of her having received some amount of damage).

I am not sure how these results should be interpreted. On the one hand, they still drive the message that conquered places and invasions should be guarded well, which message should slow down the speed of the enemie's perations. On the other hand, depending on what the hits on the other cruisers did (don't know yet) , it may be that the surface units that started in the DEI and the ones starting sort of close to it (Australian navy) are neutralized for a week or two, it will be interesting to see whether Rattovolante shakes off the feeling of the need to defend and makes use of this opportunity.

Thanks for your interest - I hope that now that the holiday season is sort of over, this game will pick up some more speed again.

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

this was the situation after execution of the January 5,1942 turn in Burma:



After studying the results of ground combat involving typical Allied units at the beginning of the war in other AARs (latest prominent example is the fall of Darwin in Andy Mac's AAR vs String, where 18th UK division was just blown away), I decided to evacuate Pegu after all (even before the Regiment cutting through the woods up north appeared where it is now), because I became quite concerned that I might not be able to withstand even the first attack of Imperial Guard there.

As you see, part of the force is marching north now, the rest reinforces Rangoon. I guess making a stand there is the best bet I can take in Burma (even though it's a death trap). By doing so, I hope that I'll be able to cause at least some headaches for the northern prong - from everything I have seen so far I doubt that Burma Division will be able to stop a Japanese Rgt, even if helped by some additional small Burmese units. In addition, Rattovolante brought few units to Burma so far (even though this is the theater in which he moved most quickly), he may decide he does not want to split them between two targets, and if he should be marching North, bypassing Rangoon, he may be cut off - so I hope I'll manage to hold Rangoon for a while until he brings more troops.

As you also see in the southern part of the map, I'm trying to block supply lines. Nothing much available to do so, essentially a Burmese Btl, but blocked supply path is blocked supply path. I hope my opponent will have to move at least some units back, away from where they are needed to resolve this quickly.

By now, the January 7th turn has been executed, in which the Japanese took Pegu. Let's see where they will head next...

Thanks fot your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

I guess it's about time I provide another update... I was out of town during the last week or so which meant relying on mobile internet access, which for some reason does not allow me to answer the security challenge correctly during login, thus my extended silence. Still, we were able to do another turn or two, so that by now, we are about to process the January 11, 1942 turn.

This is just a short heads-up on recent events. I'll try to find the time to provide some more insight into the Malaya campaign (where I am in big do-do) and into the events in Burma (where I am trying to create a situation that looks complicated) during the next few days, hopefully I'll manage to do so.

What I want to report here is some more action in the Ambon/Kendari region. As stated previously, my aim here is to slow down the enemy by creating the impression that guarding his moves with surface assets is a must. During the January 9 turn, I had obtained intel that my opponent was evidently sending another invasion wave against Kendari, where his previously assigned assets (16th Naval Guard and 9th JNAF Coy) are insufficient to take the place (I had the Sparrow Battalion reinforce it), which was about to beach next turn. Also, I knew that the "Guard TF" at Ambon mentioned in previous posts had seemingly disappeared after the first sea battle at Kendari, whereas cursor intel seemed to indicate that the number of units at Ambon may be in process of being reduced. Thus, I decided to send in one TF to Kendari to interfere with the landing and one TF to Ambon to interfere with the loading. As a consequence, a long series of surface battles took place. The ones at Kendari were inconclusive, I guess it's a clean draw and I was unable to interfere with the invasion (mining the place did not help either, DMS in an invasion TF do their job proper). At Ambon, I was more successful, but unfortunately two of the cruisers involved got torpedoed afterwards. Let's see whether I can save them. So far, the entire operation might have bought once again a bit of time and stressed the message I want to send.

I'll use the combat report for more details:

[font="Courier New"]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 10, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 70,106, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CA Myoko
DD Akikaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
PT TM-10
PT TM-11
PT TM-12, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
---------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kendari at 70,106

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
SS O20

SS O20 launches 4 torpedoes at CA Atago

-------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 70,106, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago, Shell hits 2
CA Myoko, Shell hits 13, on fire
DD Akikaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 2
CA Australia
CL Marblehead
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1
CL Honolulu, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Phelps, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Alden
DD Edsall, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DMS Dorsey

-----------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Shinko Maru #3, Shell hits 19, and is sunk
PB Shinko Maru #5, Shell hits 29, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CL Java
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
DD Vampire
DD Vendetta
DD Witte de With

---------------------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 6, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
SC Ch 19, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
xAK Yamabiko Maru, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Kasado Maru, Shell hits 31, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CL Java
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
DD Vampire
DD Vendetta
DD Witte de With

Japanese ground losses:
409 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (4 destroyed, 10 disabled)



Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends loading operations and begins to get underway
Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!

----------------------------------------------------

Naval bombardment of Ambon at 76,109

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CL Tromp
CL De Ruyter
CL Java

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17

CA Minneapolis firing at Ambon
CL Tromp firing at Ambon
CL De Ruyter firing at Ambon
CL Java firing at Ambon

---------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Kendari

7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
CA Haguro
DD Yukaze

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



CA Ashigara firing at Sparrow Battalion
CA Haguro firing at Sparrow Battalion
DD Yukaze firing at Sparrow Battalion
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Kendari

TF 147 troops unloading over beach at Kendari, 70,106

Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



6 troops of a SNLF HMG Squad accidentally lost during unload of Sasebo 3rd SNLF
6 troops of a SNLF HMG Squad lost in surf during unload of Sasebo 3rd SNLF
17 troops of a SNLF Squad lost in surf during unload of Sasebo 3rd SNLF /2
17 troops of a SNLF Squad lost in surf during unload of Sasebo 3rd SNLF /2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Kendari
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft

3 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
CA Haguro
DD Yukaze
DD Tokitsukaze



CA Ashigara firing at Sparrow Battalion
CA Haguro firing at Sparrow Battalion
DD Yukaze firing at Sparrow Battalion
DD Tokitsukaze firing at Sparrow Battalion
DD Yukaze firing at enemy troops
DD Tokitsukaze firing at enemy troops

------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 70,107, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CA Myoko
DD Akikaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
PT TM-10, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-11

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 16,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Katori, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage[:)]
CL Kashima, Shell hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage[8D]
CL Kashii, Shell hits 17, heavy fires, heavy damage[:D]
DD Hatsukaze, Shell hits 3
DD Natsushio, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 4
CL Java
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Tromp, Shell hits 1
DD Vampire, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Vendetta, Shell hits 3
DD Witte de With, Shell hits 4, on fire

-----------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 71,107, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CA Myoko
DD Akikaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
PT TM-11
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Kendari at 70,106

Japanese Ships
xAK Katuragi Maru, Torpedo hits 1
DD Yukaze
DMS W-4
DMS W-1
DD Tokitsukaze

Allied Ships
SS KXVI
-----------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Moa at 73,117

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M2 Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
CW-21B Demon x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
CW-21B Demon: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Java
CA Minneapolis
-----------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Moa at 73,117

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
CW-21B Demon x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
CW-21B Demon: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage [:@]
CL Java
CL Tromp

-------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Ambon at 76,112

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34

Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage [:@]
DD Vendetta


SS RO-34 launches 2 torpedoes at CL De Ruyter
[/font]

What a turn to watch [:)]

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

I guess it’s about time to update this thread once again. Sorry about the delay, we were moving ahead very slowly recently, as both of us had problems to solve on the map. From my point of view, one of the things I was most occupied with was the requirement of determining how to best assign the available devices and equipment to get a number of strong units, specifically for India and Australia, and how to add additional items to the pool (by means of disband) in order to enable this.

I actually believe that his is an aspect which is of much higher significance than it used to be in WitP. One of the reasons for this is that there are more notable variations of the quality of the available ground units and at least a perceived more pronounced shortage of devices (no idea whether this is real, but right now I really really really feel the need for additional devices (even if it’s just 18 pounders, though 25 pounders would be better) and upgrades, e.g. of the improvised “armor” to real tanks, Australian militia to regular infantry and the like). Unfortunately, I discovered this only quite recently (thanks to Andy Mac, it’s essentially a consequence of his AARs). This is a great new aspect of the game when playing the Allied side, thanks for adding it!!!

Unfortunately, my first approach to the problem involved disbanding units with a withdrawal date (which I noticed when they were at the location for disbanding and the disband option was not available), thus evidently I had to do it all over again and find a new solution, especially in view of the garrisoning requirements of India.

Anyway, we are now about to process the January 14 turn, and I had promised you for a while to tell you about the FUBAR situation in Malaya (actually I feel it has been improved last turn, but that’s not due to my achievements but rather due to something I presently consider to be an error of my opponent. To start with, here’s a map (admittedly not the most beautiful one ever made) which sort of shows the developments on the ground in that theater during the last few days . I’ll walk you through the events using the yellow numbers in the next couple of posts. Another map with comments on the situation as of January 14 will be provided as a separate post.

Thanks for your (renewed) interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

Let’s start the walk through the numbers…

After the New Year’s party of the garrison of Temuloh – 3 Brigades plus 1 artillery unit – was over, orders were received by the local commander to march directly to Kuala Lumpur. Actually, I found out too late that that point of time was too late – actually, there would have been no real chance to arrive there in time to reinforce the troops there. A more careful look at marching speeds in the manual would have told me so…

There were two Japanese prongs of attack on January 3rd:
No. 1 on the map, consisting of 1st and 6th Tk Rgt, 5th Recon Rgt, 42nd and 21st Inf Rgt (though at that point of time I was not aware of the identity of the 2 Inf. Rgts)
No.2 on the map, the 56th Inf. Rgt.

The opposing (hopefully) blocking positions were
No.3 on the map, 2 Bdes, the SSVF Btl and an ISF BF behind lvl 2 forts
No.4 on the map, the Temuloh garrison as described above.

At that point of time, I hoped that perhaps my opponent was about to use part of 1) against Temuloh in order to be able to shuttle troops to Temuloh via the railway from Kota Bahru, even though I believed the thing to do was to continue the drive down the west coast of the peninsula in full strength - what he did.
To be on the safe side, though, in spite of these hopes I also decided to send another Bde from Malacca to Kuala Lumpur (No.5) on the next map.

On the January 5th map you see that a) my additional Bde (5) still did not manage to get 1 hex closer to Kuala Lumpur and that Temuloh was now under siege (6). Note the little arrow at 5), it will become a reason for griping later on. You can also see that I am trying to retreat from Temuloh now via the railway line (also quite a slow move, but faster than before).

On the January 7th map, No. 7) shows my reason for griping. I don’t know why, but the additional Bde decided NOT to walk the quick way, as previously indicated by the movement arrow, but to get into the woods. It was quite clear now that these reinforcements probably would not make it to Kuala Lumpur in time, so I tried to walk the Kuala Lumpur garrison out of the place. On that map, you also see that the first Japanese troops had arrived at Kuala Lumpur.

Now, probably everyone out there can say what started to happen at Kuala Lumpur:
Execution of 7th January turn: Waiting for everyone to arrive (probably Rattovolante had just tanks in the hex at that point of time, thus no bombardment)

Execution of 8th January turn: deliberate attack:
[font="Courier New"]Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 9728 troops, 54 guns, 267 vehicles, Assault Value = 415
Defending force 5197 troops, 27 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 238
Japanese adjusted assault: 202
Allied adjusted defense: 91
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
99 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
817 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 39 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 55 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
[/font]

Not only do the forts get reduced, also the green troops experience disablements that really cut into the available AV. In contrast, the Japanese AV is down by only 10 even though 1 unit is set to reserve/pursue. (for details of both, see the excerpt of the next combat report below)

Execution of 9th January turn: another deliberate attack that takes the place, including one unit (5th Recon Rgt) set to pursue.

[font="Courier New"]Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 8514 troops, 52 guns, 201 vehicles, Assault Value = 403
Defending force 4612 troops, 27 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 195
Japanese adjusted assault: 201
Allied adjusted defense: 63
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kuala Lumpur !!!
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
140 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (0 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Units pursuing 1
Allied ground losses:
1503 casualties reported
Squads: 40 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 109 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (10 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4[/font]

Sorry, running out of time here. Will continue my report later.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

As previously promised, I’ll continue the walk through the numbers on the map provided two posts ago to give you some impression on how the last 10 days or so of the Malaya campaign were running on the ground for me.

As stated in my last post, during execution of the January 9th turn Kuala Lumpur fell (c.f. No. 8 on the January 10 map). My beaten troops decided not to retreat along the route that was surprisingly favored by the Bde marching towards Kuala Lumpur, but rather walked along the coast with the 5th recon Rgt (No. 9 on said map) in pursuit. Accordingly, the rescue Bde started to walk back towards Malacca.

This started a number of worrisome (sp?) days for me. My units in that clear hex were in bad shape with respect to disruption and fatigue, I guess if Rattovolante would have pressed on with his unit, he would have blown me out of the hex. I tried to suppress that unit best I could from the air, not sure whether this made his own disruption grow a lot so that he did not or whether he wanted to stay on the save side, in any case so far the attack did not come in, and my units in the hex in question have recovered quite a bit by now.

At the same time it became clear that now the troops at Temuloh were in a race against being cut off… so time to rethink plans there…

However, the being cut off got much worse during the next turn. Out of nothing, an invasion TF appeared at Mersing (No.10 on the January 11 map) during execution of the January 10 turn. I had mined Mersing sort of heavily within the limitations the game provides for and had an alibi unit there to suggest the place is defended. Well, I received only news of a single DD hitting a mine, so it seems that the mines did not work too well. I tried to walk the current garrison of Kuala Lumpur towards Johore Batu before the Mersing invasion forces, which took Mersing during execution of the January 11 turn, would be able to block the hex.

At that point, things in Malaya were really looking nasty for me, my entire forward defense was crumbling down and being cut to pieces.

To be continued…

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

At the end of my last post, I left you looking at my unpleasant situation (to say the least) in Malaya. Looking back at that post, I think I should have provided you also with the available intel on the Mersing invasion forces:

22nd Recon Regiment, 23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment, 55th Infantry Rgt (not yet fully unloaded at that point of time and 11th Shipping Engineer Regiment. On the day Mersing was taken, 183 AV (before adjustment). Most likely not enough to take Johore Batu or Singapore, even when bearing in mind that some of the more potent potential defenders are cut off further north on the map.

Below is the January 14th map – and I was pleased to see it, because it seems to indicate that Rattovolante diluted his strength. Only 2 units left at Kuala Lumpur (No.1), the likely candidates are the Inf. Rgts. At no. 2 and no. 3 there should be one Tk Rgt each, cursor intel reports high numbers of vehicles there. No. 4 is still the 5th Recon Rgt.
No. 5 should be the 22nd Recon Rgt, No. 6 the rest of the troops mentioned above in relation to Mersing. Note that there are more units marching to the west from Mersing. No.7, as before, a single Japanese Rgt.

What I was most afraid of was a more massive push south towards Malacca. Now, two of his tank units are doing a tour through the jungle instead. Fine with me, perhaps Malaya will take him still more time than I assumed. Even though the next map (which I can already look at) will possibly lead to a more differentiated view on that, so no detailed comments as of yet relating to details…

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

Time to finalize my little series on developments in Malaya. Below, you see the map as after execution of the January 16,1942 turn.

As you see, there are two batches of cut-off units now. Also, it looks to me as if Rattovolante is going to eliminateTemuloh first, there’s a number of his LCUs converging towards the place and he has started to apply a lot of pressure from the air. Not sure whether this is the thing to do for him – I would probably just have left a pinning force there and continued south, leaving Temuloh to be mopped up later. Temuloh has a lot of supplies, so let’s see how much Rattovolante has to commit there to crack it. He bombarded for a while, so exp of the defenders is not as bad as it may have been otherwise.

As of yet, the Japanese blocking force south of Malacca still consist of just one unit; but he is definitely marching there with additional assets. I think I can still enter the hex from Malacca, as a matter of fact I think that may be worth trying. Forts at Malacca are just lvl2 so far, so I guess the terrain bonus in the hex south of it will be more profitable for the potential defenders in that hex than the forts at Malacca. Also, perhaps they will retreat in the right direction... At the same time, in the two hexes north of Malacca there is presently only a total of three units, so if I can make it to that hex, perhaps it might take a while until he has mustered the force to expel me from there.

Looking at this map, I believe that it may take longer than I feared just two or three turns ago until Singapore is actually subdued. That’s good, I do still need to get some repairs done on a sub or two there. I’ll keep you posted…

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

When Rattovolante sent the movie file for the January 16 action (which was actually lacking action for most of the part), he commented on the courageous and gallant performance of Dutch DD van Nes. While this is the story that will make it to the newsreels in the Allied countries, in the seclusion of this thread I will tell you the truth behind it…

As a background information, you need to know that my opponent noted that in general he was facing more resistance than expected in the Moluccas and decided to counter this by raising the stakes there himself. He has moved on Koepang, orginally using the 65th Bde to really break whatever is there, and is now in process of reinforcing this unit by an SNLF, as -you guess what-, he met more resistance than expected [:D].

Right from the start, he also committed part of his carrier force (most of baby KB plus a second TF that does not look like the entire KB, but is sufficiently potent to field an escort of 36 Zeros for a strike mission and seems to contain Akagi (unless squadrons were swapped)) – I assume this is a) in order to prevent those nasty SCTF interventions I pulled off at Ambon and Kendari and b) because the only airbase he holds in the region is Ambon, as Kendari is still mine (probably not much longer though, as it looks as if his second reinforcement, after the first reinforcement got stalled just like the units he had assigned originally, may be strong enough to do the job).

Unfortunately, I had expected that Kendari would be taken first before the move on Koepang would take place, so there were still a few naval units left disbanded at Koepang, which tried to run…

Thus actually, the DD was all but courageous and gallant. It was trying to get away… but ran into evil foes… repeatedly…

[font="Courier New"]Night Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 68,118, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1
CA Tone
DD Ushio

Allied Ships
DD Van Nes
Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Task forces break off...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 67,117, Range 16,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1
CA Tone
DD Ushio

Allied Ships
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 68,116, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
CA Haguro, Shell hits 1
CA Ashigara
CL Kinu
CL Kiso
DD Kuroshio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Natsushio
DD Hibiki

Allied Ships
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 11, and is sunk

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards[/font]

And thus ends the heroic war effort off DD Van Nes… [8D]

Thanks for your interest
Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

as you know from my previous posts, I am currently trying to fortify the message in my opponent's mind that it is necessary to provide good naval cover for each and any invasion he starts, thus slowing down his pace of operations due to his limited amount of available surface assets.

Do you know where the base of Billiton is located ? Last turn, Rattovolante sent a small invasion TF there. He took the undefended base this turn (execution of January 19 1942). I'll show you the part of the combat report to illustrate the magnitude of that invasion:

[font="Courier New"]
Ground combat at Billiton (52,93)
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 504 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 22
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 8
Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 8 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Billiton !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
I/81st Naval Guard Unit[/font]

Not the most significant invasion for the probably not most significant base on the map.

Still, I happened to have the Dutch CLs and a lone Dutch DD in striking range - just the right assets to risk to repeat my message once again. They did well (with a bit of luck, but supposedly that's helpful in conducting a war). See for yourself:

[font="Courier New"]Day Time Surface Combat, near Billiton at 52,93, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 14
DD Oyashio
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Asashio, Shell hits 1
DD Yugiri
E Tsuta, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAKL Miiko Maru, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nissen Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Java, Shell hits 10
CL Tromp
DD Banckert, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
[/font]

I think this result suggest success [8D]. Specifically, as the single hit on Maikaze seems to have scored a bit of damage, Java did not receive any penetrating hits - and there was a CA present to cover the invasion. I guess two would have been better[;)]

In other news, Suva was raided by the second half of KB, which met a troop convoy that was at best partly unloaded - need to check the game file to be able to say more. Interesting intel. We'll see what that CV TF does next.

Hartwig

[Alfred]

At this stage, Billiton is an unnecessary distraction for Japan.  However now that he has it, he may as well use it to station some float planes to give himself eyes over the west coast ports off Sumatra and Java to peek at enemy naval movements.
 
Alfred