Attack Attack Attack - a Hotseat AAR

[Remington700]

Builds
UK: No builds. Saving PPs for naval repairs.
India: No builds
Red China: 2 Supply units.
USA: 2 Supply units. 2 Landing ships.

Convoys
USA: 100 PPs to UK
USA: 10 OPs to UK
USA: 25 OPs to India

[Remington700]

Japan: December 3rd 1944

Indochina
Outside of Battambang the 2nd Division moves south to plug the gap in the line trapping the beat-up 4th Marine Division on the beach. And the 21st Army moves south into the fixed positions along the Saigon railroad. The US 4th Corps is trapped along the harbor and cannot move inland. Supply should be a problem for these units. Bangkok has fallen however that is no reason to pull back and give up on the area. The allies will have to fight for every inch of ground they take.

The destroyers resupplying the US corps are an easy target for the dive-bombers in Saigon, however it is not worth the oil to sink them. Instead, they will leave the area while they can and take up a defensive position in the Western Pacific. The plan remains to keep delaying the allied forces, forcing them to trudge across vast areas at a snail's pace.

East China
Snow returns to the area which will reduce effectiveness of both friend and foe alike. Peking and Changsha are safe for another three months until the start of the spring thaw.

[Remington700]

Western Pacific
Judy dive-bombers ship from Saigon and are transferred to Bonin Islands. The last air group of Zeros stage to Quang Ngai to load up and ship to Yokoyama. From there they will fly CAM over Iwo Jima and the neighboring islands. The Combined Fleet leaves Guam moving to Nagasaki for repair and replacements. They will continue to base out of the home islands and will sortie if fuel allows.

[Remington700]

Truk
British subs are spotted off the coast of Ponape. And while within range of Truk based bombers, they are not worth the fuel to attack them. What little oil is left is used for naval patrols around the island. Airstrikes will be held in check until an invasion fleet approaches.

[Remington700]

Builds
Japan: 2 Supply units. 2 Coastal Defense. Replacements remain at 150.

Oil supply is at 25% of capacity and at the current rate of use can sustain operations until May. This should be long enough to keep the enemy at bay.

[Remington700]

Allied: December 3rd 1944

Indochina
With the surrender of Thailand, the unoccupied hexes turn from Japanese to British control. There are only three so this will not have much impact on the enemy’s supply. Twelve ground strike missions are flown against the positions of the Japanese 18th Army. A joint Anglo-Indian attack hits the disorganized 18th army from three sides. Supported by Fairey dive-bombers the first two attacks do 3 SP damage while receiving 7 SP hits in return. A third and final attack, without air support, is launched and after losing 6 SPs in damage the enemy routes to the east. The fresh UK 10th Corps exploits the breach and hammers the retreating enemy at 11:1 odds doing 3 SP damage. Chasing the routing enemy, the 10th Corps catches them again causing another SP loss. With nothing left, the enemy continues their escape to the east.

The US 5th Corps follows on supporting the shoulders of the penetration. The Imperial 16th Army is now caught in a pocket between five infantry corps. Since the UK 10th Corps is exposed, Bangkok is left open for a retreat option. The US 5th Corps is set to hold at all costs to keep the shoulders of the advance strong.

[Remington700]

China
To the north, outside of Haiphong, the Chinese 5th, 14th and 16th armies assault the positions of Japanese 27th Division. Three attacks fail to budge the enemy, however on the fourth attempt the enemy is forced from the line and pushed to the coast. They have taken 60% casualties and are no longer an effective fighting force. Chinese losses are light, and the 16th Army advances to cut the Haiphong railroad to Vinh. This may have a major effect on the enemy’s supply in the area. Combined with the success in the west, Indochina has just become a major problem for Japan.

While Saigon is still a strong point, we might be able to isolate Haiphong. However, I wonder what will happen to supply when captured by the allies. Some parts of China will switch to Port Supply. And while Kunming is a Main Supply source in my experience Port Supply seems to trump main supply. Although I have read differently on the forums. Guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

Convoy Attacks
Five submarine groups are hunting in a pack to keep losses at a minimum. Only the Devilfish manages to sink a freighter, taking damage from an ashcan in the process. She will return to Rabaul for repairs. With the arrival of the Tang and Finback groups to the area, the Wahoo breaks off and joins them. This creates a second hunter group which may have better luck sinking ships. (At this point I am experimenting with different combinations to find a good mix of soaking off damage and sinking Merchant Marine.)

[Remington700]

Central Pacific
Operation Hailstone continues despite the setbacks. Task Force 57 leaves Rabaul and steams with radio silence (raider mode) to Truk. Arriving offshore Betty bombers from the island attack the fleet. P-51s flying long range CAP, naval CAP and Akk-Akk shootdown 7 SPs and drive the rest away. A6m3s from the Marianas join the fight losing 3 SPs while shooting down two P-51s. Ship losses were light with the Illustrious taking a single hit, however 4 SPs of naval air were destroyed.

Task Force 58, following the first taskforce, leaves Rabaul and arrives offshore of Truk. They have been in constant contact with Task Force 57 and arrive ready for a fight. (Hoping to force a naval interdiction I brought them in using “Fleet Mode” rather than “Raider” however the attempt failed.) The weakened Bettys attack again but do no damage. Again, the Bettys are torn up by the P-51s and carrier-based CAP. Zeros are late to arrive, and two SPs are soon splashed. After losing 4 SPs the Bettys call off the attack and head for home.

On Truk, an intelligence agent conveys information about local ships and improving recon in the area. (I made a mistake forgetting to use the intelligence unit before moving the taskforces. Had the ship been on the map I might have gone about this differently.) With enemy destroyers spotted resupplying the island, B-24 bombers from Rabaul attempt to sink the ships. This proves ineffective as they cannot find a target, so the task is turned over to the carriers. Sorties from Task Force 58 spot the ships and sink the entire Japanese 7th CL/DD squadron. The blockade is now in place.

B-24s from Kavieng and Enewetak pound the defensive positions of Truk. Air losses are high with 8 SPs lost flying four separate ground strikes. However the enemy must have lost effectiveness and with the blockade they will not be able to recover it. B-25 Mitchells (Close Support spec) land at Ponape airfield to stage for ground support missions. Since this is a level 1 Island there is not enough supply for the air unit. The ground unit will receive full supply however the air unit will suffer the restrictions of basic supply receiving no replacements and little effectiveness recovery.

[Remington700]

Builds
UK: 2 Supply units. 2 Oilers.
India: 1 HQ
Canada: 1 Supply unit.
USA: 1 Ground Attack bomber

Convoys
USA: 55 PPs to UK
USA: 25 OPs to UK
USA: 55 PPs to India

[Remington700]

Japan: December 17th 1944

Indochina
After the defeat of the 18th Army and the ensuing breakthrough, the Japanese army is in retreat. The Imperial 16th Army is partially surrounded but manages to move to the east before the noose closes. The 22nd Army crosses the Mekong River soon followed by the 2nd Division which leaves the recently created fortifications north of Battambang. The middle of the line will hold their ground as the beat-up 18th Army moves to plug a gap along the river. Overtime the line will pull to the northeast and the Mekong Delta will become a strong point.

The weak spot is in north Indochina around Vinh and Haiphong. The 42nd Division holds a thin piece of ground keeping the railroad open to Saigon. If this 50 mile stretch of land falls a large amount of supply will be cut to the rest of Indochina. The unit has orders to hold until relieved. The armies in the center will work their way towards Haiphong to secure better supply and prepare for an advance along the Lao Cai Railroad. If all goes as planned the Chinese army will be flanked and Kunming will be vulnerable.

[Remington700]

China
Heavy rain covers most of China. Peking is secure for now however there is concern of a possible amphibious invasion north of the Yellow Sea around either the Bohai Sea or Korea Bay. The 19th Army secures Port Arther however Tianjin is wide open. A unit needs to be sent to this area soon. Looking at the enemy’s strength along the northern line, it is clear there will be trouble when the weather clears. The line will be pushed back so additional troops need to be allocated to this area to keep up a delaying action through the summer of 1945.

[Remington700]

Truk
G4M Bettys launch sorties against the US Fleet blockading the island. Three SPs are lost to Hellcats flying CAP and no damage was done to any ships. One carrier air SP was shot down. The Bettys are down to 11 strength points and at 27% effective. They are pretty much used up. The Japanese 4th CL squadron leaves Saipan in raider mode attempting to reopen up a supply line to Truk. However, the enemy is on alert (naval stack is in Fleet mode) and easily sinks the small taskforce without losing a plane. The island cannot hold out much longer.

[Remington700]

Builds
Japan: 1 Infantry Army. Replacements remain at 150.

[Remington700]

Allied: December 17th 1944

Indochina
With the pullback of the enemy along the western front Anglo-Indian forces advance. The 5th Corps pushes down the Saigon railroad, overrunning fortified positions and capturing the airfield at Battambang. The Indian 5th Corps trails behind bringing up the rear. The British 10th and 12th Corps advance to the west until they hit the enemy line. All along the front allied units prepare to launch a major attack next turn.

China
South of Haiphong the Chinese 5th and 16th Armies, supported by the 4th Indian Corp attack positions of the Japanese 42nd Division along the coast railroad. Preliminary airstrikes soften up the enemy which takes four hits and retreats. The Allied infantry take no material losses. The 32nd Army exploits the breakthrough and attacks the beat-up 42nd Division in Vinh, pushing the unit south along the coast. Advancing into the port the 32nd Army cuts Indochina off from Japanese forces in China, which should have a large effect on enemy supply.

I have just Pandora's Box. Hexes that were once Main Supply will now become Port Supply. This means multiple units will now be reduced to Basic Supply as the Port of Vinh can only provide 20 supply – not enough for even one unit. Since Port Supply seems to trump Main Supply, it will be interesting to see what happens to Kunming – a Main Supply source. However the tradeoff is that most of the Japanese units in Indochina will also be reduced to Basic Supply as the line has been cut to China. I am banking on good supply around Bangkok to keep fresh units pushing Japan’s infantry. And there is now an opportunity, through invasion and blockade, to cut all enemy supply to Indochina. The next couple of turns should be very interesting.

Convoy Attacks
In the East China Sea the Wahoo, Tang and Finback fail to locate targets, hunting at coordinates 68.70. Farther east (70.70) the Skipjack, Bonefish and Pike and hit the motherload. Five Merchant Marine were sunk with only the Pike taking damage. The sub will return to Rabaul for repairs and is replaced on patrol by the Devilfish.

Splitting subs into two stacks of three seems to be working. The damage is manageable, and the larger stacks seem to do more damage. However, the damage results are skewed because I blew it with the Japanese ASW tech. It is only at the 1942 level facing the US 1944 tech.

I am using Long Range Submarine tech to get the higher surface attack factor (more likely to sink MMs) and eight turns without resupply compared to the Attack Submarine tech which has less surface attack (less likely to sink MMs) with much greater defense, but only has five turns without resupply. At first, I thought it was a no-brainer to go with the longer duration LR subs however they are on station only for an average of three turns before taking damage. If the enemy’s ASW is higher, it might make sense to go with the higher defense and possibly stay on patrol longer. But with less surface attack, expected MMs sunk would be less per turn, so both specs may be the same over an eight-turn period. Alvaro has done a great job with subs providing choice but avoiding the cookie cutter build driven by a min/max approach.

[Remington700]

Philippines
B-24 and A-20 Havocs fly six airstrikes against enemy planes in Davao. This will continue next turn in preparation for Operation Victor, the possible invasion of Mindanao. The Philippines will be another tough nut to crack so taking the historical approach is probably the best way to go. Luzon and Formosa are plumb targets but there is too much air on the island to make the northern approach feasible.

The plan calls for capturing Davao to support an airwing of bombers, and then capturing Cebu and Leyte. Palau and Yap will be bypassed as they will be no threat once Mindanao falls. This will be the prelude to the invasion and blockade of Luzon.

[Remington700]

Central Pacific
Operation Hailstone continues. B-24s from the 9th, 10th and 11th bomber groups fly five air strikes against Truk. Losses remain high at 12 air SPs however the enemy is further weakened. The US 7th Corps hits the beach, attacking inland against the Japanese 5th Army. Supported by B-25 Mitchells from Ponape and a massive naval bombardment, the 7th Corps overruns G4M bombers and forces the enemy to surrender. Truk, a key port and VP location is now in allied control!

[Remington700]

Builds
UK: No builds.
India: No builds.
China: 1 Infantry Army.
Red China: 1 Supply unit.
USA: 3 Supply units. 1 Landing ship.

Convoys
USA: 55 PPs to UK
USA: 25 OPs to UK
USA: 55 PPs to India

COMINT
UK: 1 Intelligence agent
USA: 2 Intelligence agents

[John B.]

My goodness, the Japanese oil situation is catastrophic.

[Remington700]

Agree - it is bad. Based on production and upkeep Japan's oil reserves will be depleted by the end of April. At this point all naval and air units will not be able to move, attack or defend. The exception is air units over friendly territory have a 50% chance to use no oil - so this may mean they have a 50% chance to defend. I need to test this to know for sure. Regardless, the IJN is facing a "use it or lose it" situation.

[YueJin]

One trick you can do when the Japanese do actually run out of oil is to keep a reserve of oilers and just never put the fleet back into port. They only need oil to move out of port, once at sea they operate normally even with 0 oil in the stockpile. Obviously you can never repair damage but at that point it's better than the ships doing nothing.