Another quiet turn today. Nothing happened in the air (other than an occasional bombing of LCUs to little effect or ships to no effect). We lost an AP to old damage (from OS2Us).
On the ground, Faber took Clark Field which the Allies had abandon, leaving 5 P-35As for us to torch. We also took Dili. Bruce discovered that the Allies withdrew from Johore Bahru (to Singapore). Bruce will take it next turn. I finally destroyed 2 beat up Chinese Guerilla Cps. SE of Tsinan. This frees up forces between Tsinan and Tsingtao (minus garrisons, of course) to move to Suchow. Then, a force of about 2 Divisions and 1 Brigade will move south to open the rail line linking North and South China. My force is still slowly congregating at Sinyang to push north to Honan.
Note the hex east of Ichang. Robert constantly moves forces to attempt to cut off portions of my forces. Ichang is not in danger, but I'll push him out.
27 Dec 41
More quiet today. The air force did a bit, but not much. Our Nells put a 250 kg bomb into an AK and a Brewster 339D put a 100 lb bomb into one of our AKs. A couple of Zeros each shot down a Brewster 339D. It's very disconcerting how few planes we can shoot down. The Allies are having problems too, so I suspect it has to do with the mod.
In the sub war, the Dutch KXVI caught a supply convoy and put a torpedo and 5 shells into an AK.
Our rowboat corps struck again, this time taking Galeia. Bruce captured Johore Bahru and I took Wewak. In China, I pushed the Chinese out of the hex east of Ichang re-opening the supply line to that city (see map above).
Greatly enjoying this AAR from the Japanese perspective, as my PBEM with Cantona is also CHS, also NikMod, in which I play Japanese. Love the rowboat corps! Looks like I've been adopting exactly the same tactics along N shore of New Guinea.
Look forward to further posts from the Animals!
28 Dec 41
Hi guys. Sorry for the delay but I've been away at an army school for the past couple of weeks and haven't had time to update.
Local Yokel, thanks. It's nice to see that people actually read this.
Ok, back to the war....
The Dutch sub KXVIII put a torp into the AP Katori Maru off Kuching. She had troops aboard and will easily make Kuching.
Our Bettys put two torps into an AK and put her down off Bali.
On the ground, The rowboat corps struck again, this time taking Butung. In addition, Faber took Batan and torched 6 PBYs to boot. He also landed at Makassar. Bruce moved into Singapore triggering a shock attack. We discovered the fort level is currently 5. Bob attacked my forces in the boonies NE of Honan unsuccessfully.
29 Dec 41
Today we received a small AK.
The Dutch sub KXIV put a torp into the AP Ryujo Maru. We also lost an AK to old damage (the Dutch sub KXVI two days ago). Gotta do something about those Dutch subs. They're becoming a pain in the butt. Our ASW forces managed to do some minor damage to a couple of subs - yup, Dutch subs again - the KXIV and KXVIII.
We had some fun south of the Philippines today. Four DDs caught 5 US PT boats and sank them all for no damage. Then, Natori and 4 DDs caught 6 Dutch MTBs and sank 2 of them.
On the ground, Faber continued to land troops on Makassar. My two cohorts in crime bombed Singapore and Manila.
The Cachalot found the Port Moresby invasion force, escorted by a bombardment force, to no avail. She took a bit of minor damage from a depth charge near miss.
Some P-35s attacked an AK and hit one with a 100 lb. bomb. We lost an AP to old damage too. Bruce's (or maybe Faber's) Nells caught a couple of AVDs at Tjilitjap and sank the Sirius (that's 5 sunk so far) and damaged the William B. Preston. KB sent their 142 DBs to attack PM. PM now has damage to repair but the best part is that they took 13 supply hits. Next turn I'll hit PM with the Kates.
On the ground, Faber attacked Manila (fort level = 1) and more troops moved into Singapore triggering another shock attack. Faber attacked Makassar reducing the fort level to 1. Finally, in China, I pushed Bob out of the hex NW of Suchow. My troops there continue to crawl toward their starting locations to cut off big tracts of land full of (hopefully) starving Chinese.
Edit: Next turn I'll add the first in our monthly installment of stats to show our progress.
Just an aside for those of you who graciously follow this (and our opponent's) AARs. If you'd like to see some good natured bantering, go to the Bob thread in the War Room. That's the thread we use to harass each other in the game. Currently, the Allies are attempting to find out who's running the attack on PM. We're not telling, but we are attempting (and succeeding, I think) to drive them nuts. [:D]
31 Dec 41
Exceptionally quiet turn. No ships sunk (or damaged) on either side. On the ground, We landed troops at Legaspi and Tarakan. Manila and Singapore were bombarded by artillery and Faber took Makassar destroying a couple of Brewster 339Ds on the ground. KBs Kates (about 150 of them) bombarded Pt. Moresby destroying about a dozen planes on the ground (including 4 of the 1000 lb. toting A-24s [:D]) and adding to the general damage on the ground. The engineers there can't keep up with the damage we cause each turn. The invasion and bombardment fleets are 2 days out. I'll bomb with all of KBs Kates and Vals over the next two turns until the invasion fleet hits. The day after they land, the bombardment fleet (2 BBs and an assortment of CLs and DDs) will blast them and KB will blast them. Hopefully, it'll be a quick and violent assault to take PM. Faber has allocated to me an additional Daitai of Bettys and another Chutai of Mavis as well as more construction engineeers. That brings my air forces in the region to 54 Bettys, 27 Zeros, 27 Claudes (soon to be upgraded to Zeros), 18 Mavis, 9 Dinahs and 9 Jakes.
Yeah, and keep in mind that air and ground units don't move to a theater until we spend the PPs to transfer them to that command. It's a shoestring event, but KB is there to make it stick. The only concern I have is that there may not be enough ground forces to take PM. We're using the South Seas Detachment, a SNLF and a couple of NLFs (which are far more robust in CHS) for the invasion.
Edit: Also enroute is a full base force and a construction bn to build up and garrison the base.
In principle I applaud the HR that only permits units to change theatre after payment of PP. I think the skimpiness of the game's command structures and their effects upon ops represents a missed opportunity in its development, the more so in view of the prominence given to logistics. HR's can only replicate those effects in part, I suspect. How do you define theatres' extent - is it by arbitrary partitioning of the map? What do you do about anomalies? E.g. 38 Div is a Southern Area Army formation starting in China Exped. Army base at Canton. Do you allow it to participate in attack on Hong Kong? If so, can it do so alongside CEA units? And if so, would it also be permissible for 33 Div at Shanghai, attached to Burma Area Army, also to join the party?
We are rather vague about the borders between different commands. The 38th Division historically attacked Hong Kong so I didn't have a problem using a Southern Area Army unit in the attack on HK. Assuming HK was a part of China, I reinforced the 38th with some units from the China command. After I took HK, it turns out that HK is a part of the Southern Area Army. Go figure. The 38th has since moved on to bigger and better things. To be honest, I can't remember whether the 38th has gone to the Philippines or toward Java/Summatra.
The 33rd Division is off limits to any attacks in China (unless spending the PPs to transfer it to the China Army). It started loading on 8 or 9 Dec on transports and is currently offloaded in northern Malaya and headed to Burma.
1 Jan 42
We continue to plod forward to secure the SRA as well as our defensive perimeter. Our valiant Ro class subs took a bite out of our opponents today. In the Aleutians, Ro-33 caught a small TF and put a torpedo into the PG Haida, which left her heavily damaged and burning. I suspect she'll sink, but haven't gotten confirmation.
In the air, our opponents had a little success, but it's only temporary. A recon plane put a bomb into an empty AP slightly damaging her. Also, some A-24s out of Tarakan put a 500 lb bomb into the Yura causing 16 sys damage. She'll join the succession of damaged ships heading to port to repair. They also put 3 500 lb bombs into Furutaka but none penetrated. Furutaka will remain on station with 6 sys damage and 1 fire damage (not sure how much sys damage she had before the attack).
On the ground, Faber landed on Lamon Bay. It's not occupied by the Allies, so it'll be taken tomorrow. More forces moved into Singapore causing another shock attack to no avail. The fort level is still 5. Faber attacked Tarakan with 2 SNLFs and a NLF causing the Allies 159 casualties and 5 guns to our 28 casualties. The fort level fell from 2 to 1. I suspect it'll fall tomorrow also. More bombardment occurred at Manila. Legaspi fell and now Faber will move up the peninsula to isolate the Americans in Manila. Bruce's 55 Div. took Tavoy and will now move north into Burma. Port Moresby was attacked by about 50 Bettys 150 Vals and 150 Kates wich destroyed some 8 aircraft including 4 A-24s as well as doing a lot of damage to the airfield. The Allied air force at PM hasn't attempted to engage our air forces. This attack cost us 1 Kate. The demoralized engineers there are attempting (unsuccessfully) to repair the airfield damage.
The PM invasion TF and the PM bombardment TF are both 2 hexes from PM. I switched the bombardment TF to a surface TF for next turn. Here's the plan for the next couple of turns:
2 Jan: Invasion force begins to land. Surface TF (2 BBs, ~3 CLs and several DDs) covers force in PM hex. KB sends 150 Vals on ground attack and 150 Kates on naval/airfield attack. Rabaul sends 50 Bettys to PM on ground attack.
3 Jan: Invasion force continues to land and assaults PM. Surface TF changes to bombardment TF and bombards PM. 150 Vals and 50 Bettys on ground attack and 150 Kates on naval/airfield attack as before.
4 Jan: Continue attack if necessary.
7 Jan: 8 BF and 24k supply arrive at PM to provide garrison (along with assault forces).
The intent after this attack is to secure the Solomons as well as all the other bases in the area. We have no plans in place after this operation. I suspect Faber will take KB away from me for other operations after PM is secured. I currently have a shortage of infantry in the area (like I said earlier, this operation is on a shoestring). There is 1 NLF in Rabaul, 1 NLF in Kavieng, 1 Naval Guard in Truk and the South Seas Detachment, 1 SNLF and 1NLF in the PM assault force. There is a big BF in Truk, Rabaul, Lae and enroute to PM. I also have a construction Bn in Rabaul, Truk and enroute from the Home Islands. Fortunately, I have a lot of ground reinforcements on their way. They include 3 SNLFs, 1 BF and a Special BF enroute and a Naval Guard drawing replacements that will arrive later. Later this month I'll get 4 SNLFs, a Naval Guard, a Special BF, a construction Bn and some CD. This should be enough to hold the area until I can get more substantial ground forces.
I have production data that I'm going to post as soon as I have the time to do so.
2 Jan 42
The war continues. Bruce has been watching 5 Allied LCVPs tooling around south of Singapore and did something about it. He put a Sentai of Oscars on Naval Attack and they hit 3 of them at Singkep. We saw 2 sink, taking some troops with them.
The S-37 found an AP and put a torpedo into her near Sansapur. We lost 42 troops in the attack but the AP should make port.
On the ground, Singapore and Manila were bombarded causing 250 Allied casualties to 140 Japanese casualties. We also took Lamon Bay and Tarakan. At Tarakan, we captured the garrison of about 2700 + 10 guns and destroyed a couple of planes on the ground. In China, a Chinese force was pushed out of the hex SW of Suchow causing them 273 casualties and 5 guns.
My timetable at Pt. Moresby has already gone out the window. My planes refuse to fly against ground units. The 150 Kates from KB attacked the airfield again. I'm pretty sure the airfield is out of commission now. The Vals and Bettys refused to fly. [:@] The transport TF also did strange things. It was composed of a number of APs holding the assault forces and 3 AKs full of supply, as well as escorts. The APs all began unloading but the AKs didn't unload, so the ground forces had no supply. I decided to postpone the attack until 4 Jan. We'll see what happens.....
3 Jan 42
Very little happened today. A naval search Alf hit the SS Sculpin with a 30 kg. bomb. Hopefully, enough damage was caused to force her to return to port, but I'm not holding my breath.
At Pt. Moresby, the assault forces finished landing. The 3 AKs finally decided to land supply, as well as the APs, as they finished unloading troops. The assault will commense on 4 Jan. The BB TF will bombard next turn to maximize disruption and the Bettys and Kates are set to ground attack with the Vals set to naval attack, just in case. Fingers are crossed hoping the air units actually perform the ground attack this time.
At Singapore, bombardments occurred on both sides causing the Allies 244 casualties and 3 guns to 134 casualties and 1 gun to the Japanese.
At Manila, the Japanese bombarded causing 239 casualties, 4 guns and 1 vehicle.
Tomorrow should be interesting.....
Dec 41 Statistics
Here's some of the stats I've been tracking to date:
Allied ship losses: 73 including 3 CLs, 4 DDs, 6 APs, 30 AKs, 2 AOs, 5 TKs, 2 SS, 1 AR, 5 AVDs, 1 DM, 1 ML, 2 MSW, 1 PC, and 10 PG. I estimate they gained 78 ships as reinforcements. They're already gaining on us.
Japanese ship losses: 25 ships including 1 DD, 11 AP, 7 AK, 3 SS and 3 MSW. We gained a whopping 5 ships. [:(]
Allied aircraft losses: 352
Japanese aircraft losses: 256
CHS has totally eliminated the ability of fighters to shoot down aircraft. I'm concerned that this may skew the air war in the near future.
Japanese score: 3,863 (+2,834)
Allied score: 6,308 (-1,247)
Supply: 2,443,300 (-480,650) Supply is starting to level off with the increase of resource centers.
Fuel: 4,067,738 (-525,019) ditto fuel
Manpower centers: 743 (+15)
Manpower points: 89,728 (+1,748)
HI Centers: 12,890 (+100) Hong Kong
HI Points: 33,456 (+15,476) average gain of 619 per day
Resource centers: 13,277 (+1,737) We need to gain another 2,963 resource centers to break even.
Resources: 1,514,850 (-126,150)
Oil centers: 954 (+524) We need to gain 1,195 oil centers to break even.
Oil: 2,918,062 (-663,974)
Naval Shipyards: 1,225 (+36)
Naval shipyard points: 284 and steady (Currently halted Shinano and accelerated Taiho, Amagi and one other CV)
Merchant shipyards: 1,019 (+14)
Merchant shipyard points: 382 and steady
Shipyard repair yards: 634 (+63)
Armament factories: 520 (+17) and rising
Armament points: 7,149 (-12,851) and dropping. Kind of concerned about this and taking action to fix it.
Vehicle factories: 104 (+14) Tk regiments slowly upgrading to better tanks
Vehicle points: 343 (+343) slowly rising
Aircraft engines: 1,663 (+39) increasing Nakajima factories
Aircraft assembly: 725 (+264) and rising about 1 per day
R&D: 79 (+78)
Mitsubishi factories: 872 (+0)
Mitsubishi need: 444
Mitsubishi Pool: 500 (+400) and increasing
Nakajima factories: 444 (+78) and increasing 3 per turn
Nakajima need: 593 (+263)
Nakajima pool: 30 (-70) and still declining
Kawasaki factories: 150 (+0)
Kawasaki need: 0
Kawasaki pool: 128 (+128) and rising
Aichi factories: 20 (+0)
Aichi need: 0
Aichi pool: 17 (+17) and rising
Good to see your Dec 41 stats. I have only been tracking stockpile levels in my game with Cantona, but can offer some stats of my own for comparison:
Supply: 2837797 - slowly increasing throughout December
Fuel: 4287417
Manpower points: 119944
HI points: 45165 - gaining 1000-1100 per day during the month
Resources: 1513766
Oil: 2885533
Naval Shipyard points: 1018 - Shinano halted, only Hiyo accelerated during December
Merchant ditto: 2618
Ship repair yards: 596
Armament points: 21047
Vehicle points: 1735
A/c engines: 1585
A/c assembly: 650 rising at about 2 per day
The most striking disparity is in armament points. Don't recall number of my armament factories at the time; think fewer than in your game. So how on earth did you burn off so many points? Were all units set to accept replacements and sucking stocks dry as soon as they were produced?
CHS has totally eliminated the ability of fighters to shoot down aircraft. I'm concerned that this may skew the air war in the near future.
Agreed! CHS makes good the inter-war watchword "The bomber will always get through."
The most striking disparity is in armament points. Don't recall number of my armament factories at the time; think fewer than in your game. So how on earth did you burn off so many points? Were all units set to accept replacements and sucking stocks dry as soon as they were produced?
Hi Local Yokel,
Sorry for the delay. Typically, I select specific units to set to accept replacements, and I think the others do that too. The problem I see is that we don't talk about what we set to accept replacements and collectively we may have set too many units, which has drained our armament points. I changed my priorities and turned off replacements on some of my units. The pool is now starting to slowly increase. Our supply levels are beginning to rise. Once the supply levels begin to rise more quickly, I'll increase the armament factories to build up the pool more rapidly.
4 Jan 42
We move forward. Our Oscars hit the 3 remaining LCVPs and 2 sank, with the help of bomb hits from recon aircraft. The last remaining LCVP (#185) is limping toward Singapore. A Nell put a torpedo into the Dutch DD Witte de With near Merak. To top off the day, Some Nells and Bettys put 2 torpedoes into the Houston, badly damaging her. The bombers were escorted by Zeros, which caught LRCAP over the Houston. Our Zeros shot down 7 Warhawks for the loss of 1 Zero. In addition, 2 Bettys were lost to Flak.
The S-23 had been tooling around east of Attu looking for trouble and I sent 2 PCs after her to give her some. They hit her twice along with one near miss. She was last seen limping off to the east. Hopefully she won't make port.
On the ground, Faber took Naga, capturing all 100 resource centers intact. Manila was attacked, reducing the fort to 0 but the ground forces will need some time to recover their fatigue. Singapore still has a fort level of 5, so it'll be awhile before it falls. The attack on PM failed, but the bombardment continues. PM is cut off and it's supplies will run out eventually. Finally, I was able to clear the main N-S rail line of pesky Chinese. The remainder of my forces are still moving to their jump off point to attack toward and capture Honan, which will cut off a significant portion of the Chinese Army.
