Bottlenecks in the Pacific PBEM AAR vs Jansako (J)

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Axe1999

Japanese losses:

I would discount any losses from "unknown" causes unless it is a small xAKL or something. Most ships can survive mishaps like hitting rocks during landings. Did you have any carrier type aircraft ground losses around the time Zuiho supposedly sank?

As for Hosho, it is the smallest, most fragile IJ carrier so yes, it could have sunk from an ammo storage explosion and heavy fires. Check for aircraft losses in the turn reports for the next few days.

[Axe1999]

Zuiho is confirmed scuttled by my opponent after taking two Catalina torps. So two other DDs that are 'unknown' could possibly be scuttled as well.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Axe1999

Allied losses pt1:

You have lost far too many tankers and AOs. Looks like you were risking them to try and get the fuel and oil out of the DEI before Japan arrived. Better, I think, to have a big buffer between those vulnerable and valuable ships and the oncoming IJN. Flee as soon as the IJN could potentially get to them (max sprint distance of 20 hexes or max Nettie range of 26 hexes). Early game the Allies need every tanker to get fuel out to the places they want to keep, and to build a stock at Cape Town for all the ships that transit/repair there.

[Axe1999]

Some of those TK losses were 3000 endurance Dutch ones, I can live without them. And both AOs lost were 11-12 kn ones, fast ones are still around.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Axe1999

Intel screen:

You are doing well in the air - usually the Allied side is losing 2:1 or more at this stage!

Are you saving those PP for something? I find there are never enough PP to rectify all the leaderships and assignment issues in the early game. I buy out a few small units to save them or garrison my logistics hubs, but divisions will have to wait until mid 1942 at least.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Axe1999

Zuiho is confirmed scuttled by my opponent after taking two Catalina torps. So two other DDs that are 'unknown' could possibly be scuttled as well.

Free Intel! I love it! [:D]
I would have expected the Intel report to say the cause of sinking was those torpedoes, but maybe scuttling overrides that.
If you also torpedoed those two Kageros, good on you! Those are his best DDs and always dangerous in a surface battle.

The Akizuki class that arrive later are more valuable because of their rapid firing 8X10cm DP guns, but less dangerous in a surface battle because they have fewer torps.

[Axe1999]

Im saving 1500 PP to buy out 1st Marine Division, as it starts restricted in this scenario. Then off to Suva or Australia, but I doubt he will be bold enough to fire off Australia or Hawaii invasion, with supply as restricted as is in this mod. Americal Division en route from East Coast for Noumea.

Free intel is the best kind of intel, I agree [:D] Sometimes they show as scuttled in tracker despite game showing unknown, and it is the case here... DDs were victim of surface fight if I remember correctly, I will have to comb through combat reporter to check that. One of them may have struck a mine while bombarding Soerebaja as well.

[Axe1999]

January 15th 1942.

• Supply on the move, shipping bottleneck at CONUS is getting better.
• Fighting at Clark Field, first attack gets 1:1 and lowers fort level, second one gets 1:17 and causes 2000 Japanese casualties.
• Manila fell quicker than expected, so Clark has only 50k supply, with Bataan at 23k.
• Japanese tanks will reach Johore line in, I assume 4-5 days. Only 400AV there so its nothing but a delaying force.
• CA raid at Rangoon sinking 8 valuable 14kn xAKs. My fault for having Blenheims on ASW and not search.
• 18th Division unloaded at Colombo, 770AV there for now. Hope to bring it to 1000AV come spring. Not yet sure what to do with Aus I Corps.
• Chengchow still holds and is reinforced from Loyang and further north. Kweisui fell. Cat and mouse game with his bombers and Flying Tigers.
• S-Boats hitting multiple valuable targets around Port Moresby and Rabaul, including 2 fleet oilers, large xAP and an xAK.
• Noumea has basic garrison unloaded, to be reinforced with 164th and 182nd Regiments. Suva and Pago Pago have some 300AV so far, with more on way. He seems to be eyeing Espirito Santu, not much to be done to defend it yet.
• B-17s raid Port Moresby to limited effect.
• Carriers patrolling Coral Sea with Kido Butai at Truk, hoping to hit any incursions down south by raiders/bombardment groups.
• A lot of AVP/AVD shuffling around to get better coverage in SoPac and CentPac.

[Axe1999]

Last update for a while. Leaving for military for 8 weeks, but I really hope to continue this game when I get back, by far most enjoyment I ever got out of WITP.

[BBfanboy]

Hope your deployment is enjoyable, if that is possible! [:)]

[Axe1999]

Finally back home.

Unfortunately, the game looks like a dead end. My training got a bit accelerated due to world situation right now, so I have 12 weeks of field starting May 1st, short break then 10 more weeks, so there is not much point of continuing it now.

Big thanks to Jansako for being such a great opponent and hope we can do something like this in some better times.

[BBfanboy]

You might consider posting in the Opponents wanted area for someone to take on your game as it stands rather than starting anew.

Good luck with the training - and hopefully a promotion at the end of it!

[Axe1999]

LST will be continuing this campaign in my place.

[LargeSlowTarget]

I have taken over this game from Axe for playtesting my mod and promptly found two database issues concerning B-17s and the NZ 3rd Division which will be fixed in the next update.

Axe has done a good job rushing reinforcements to the SoPac area, for example I found Canton Is. well defended with Marines, AA and arty (I usually evacuate because too exposed) and lots of convoys at sea.

Convoy composition however is a mess IMO, ships of different sizes and speeds and nationalities mixed together and some going to strange places - that will need some time to be sorted out.

There are still a lot of Civilians left in the SRA to be evacuated, but judging from the list of ground units destroyed and losses among the xAKL and xAP(c) it was not for a lack of trying. Will see what I can save.

Also found lots of LCUs moving that shouldn't - esp. the "named" base forces in Australia. The Port Augusta base force for example should stay at Port Augusta and not find itself at Brisbane. The named base forces represent fixed "peacetime" support infrastructure which is not supposed to be mobile. Guess I will render them static in the next update.

I probably won't do daily AAR updates for this game, maybe monthly sitreps, newflashes when something big happens or other mod glitches are being discovered due to time restraints - I have another PBEM going and recently purchased Panzer Corps 2...

[BBfanboy]

Kudos for stepping in. It proves the old saying: "If you want something done, give it to a busy person!"

[Axe1999]

I have taken over this game from Axe for playtesting my mod and promptly found two database issues concerning B-17s and the NZ 3rd Division which will be fixed in the next update.

Axe has done a good job rushing reinforcements to the SoPac area, for example I found Canton Is. well defended with Marines, AA and arty (I usually evacuate because too exposed) and lots of convoys at sea.

Convoy composition however is a mess IMO, ships of different sizes and speeds and nationalities mixed together and some going to strange places - that will need some time to be sorted out.

There are still a lot of Civilians left in the SRA to be evacuated, but judging from the list of ground units destroyed and losses among the xAKL and xAP(c) it was not for a lack of trying. Will see what I can save.

Also found lots of LCUs moving that shouldn't - esp. the "named" base forces in Australia. The Port Augusta base force for example should stay at Port Augusta and not find itself at Brisbane. The named base forces represent fixed "peacetime" support infrastructure which is not supposed to be mobile. Guess I will render them static in the next update.

I probably won't do daily AAR updates for this game, maybe monthly sitreps, newflashes when something big happens or other mod glitches are being discovered due to time restraints - I have another PBEM going and recently purchased Panzer Corps 2...

In all my games I try to keep Canton, as I usually focus heavily on SoPac that keeps LOC a bit cleaner. Same with this game, my first planned thrust was supposed to come from South, so primary reinforcements were on the way south...

Convoys were like that because sometimes I just scrounged whatever I can to get stuff moving, no time to waste

Civvies were left to die, some were saved, some werent so lucky and at one point I just got tired of trying haha

Once again good luck and I hope to see your progress every now and then, be it in this thread or your own

[LargeSlowTarget]

Jan and I have continued this game for a few weeks, but decided to drop it. Not because of any mod issues or the strategic situation or actions and decisions Axe has made, but simply because we have other games going on for the same sides and roughly the same time period - and we have a hard time keeping the games separated in our minds, we both have issued wrong orders on more than one occasion because we are confusing the two games.

But we have found a solution - we will restart and switch sides, so each of us has a game playing the Allies and another game playing the Japanese. So, soon on this channel a new AAR which will be titled "An Albatross around my (bottle)neck."