Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

19 November 1944

The story of the day would have been the RN CV's being attacked out of Cam Rah Bay as they make there way back to the PI. Two attacks were both wipes.

The Soviet AF decided to steal the thunder though as Larry discovered IL-2's were dangerous even though they are very short ranged. CV Aso took 23 500 lb hits. CVE Shinyo took 6 hits. BB Mutsu took 6 hits and is on fire. BB Hiei took one hit. CV Kasagi was present but the bombers liked Hiei in her TF better. The Japanese are working over the AB at Vladivostok pretty hard. Air losses were 115 Allied to 95 for Japanese. Tere is a huge army NE of Vlad over 100 k strong. Troops are being moved into place to protect Suchan and Vlad. Wish there was a reinforcement acceleration claus for invading USSR because there is a huge group of 1100 AS strength Rifle Corps due in 190 days. Oh well

Deliberate Attack at Iwo reduced forts to 5.

[Capt. Harlock]

CV Aso took 23 500 lb hits.

Wow -- that's gotta sting!

Is Larry diverting troops from China for this little exercise? Maybe now is a good time to push from the south?

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

CV Aso took 23 500 lb hits.

Wow -- that's gotta sting!

Is Larry diverting troops from China for this little exercise? Maybe now is a good time to push from the south?

No it appears that it is only the Manchuko forces. There are over 100 k Japanese troops attacking Kunchang to no avail and another 100k trapped just south of Hengchow. I am hoping my air lift program will get supplies up enough to maybe move some of these units. China has been a stalemate for almost two years as the Japanese attack was blunted at Hengchow which led to the ongoing standoff at "The Crossroads" just south of Hengchow.

There is only one large stack just NE of Vlad. There are defensive forces elswhere along the frontier but the seaborne assault and this stack seem to be it for now.

[paullus99]

Can you start basing US & UK units out of Soviet fields?

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

Can you start basing US & UK units out of Soviet fields?

Well we have never discussed that but there is quite a bit of air power in the Aleutians that could be diverted. At this point I am almost happy to let Larry have his little Russian adventure. There is enough AS up north to hold his gains at Okha, SUchan and maybe Vlad. Its a race though. He may feel pretty silly make an oil grab when the bombers start ripping aprt the industry on the HI.

[Q-Ball]

Good AAR, keep it up. I have to say though after looking at AE maps for awhile, these old-fashioned WITP maps look so SMALL[X(]

Nice work though

[Canoerebel]

Cool! Go get 'em!

In my game with Miller he invaded Russia late in the game. I learned that my ships could not draw fuel from Russian ports, but I could base West Allied aircraft in Russia. Miller gobbled up Okha and pressed me around Vladivostock, but ultimately it was a Battle of the Bulge type scenario. The Russians were too strong for the Japs.

Continued luck as you bring the Evil Empire to its knees!

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Cool! Go get 'em!

In my game with Miller he invaded Russia late in the game. I learned that my ships could not draw fuel from Russian ports, but I could base West Allied aircraft in Russia. Miller gobbled up Okha and pressed me around Vladivostock, but ultimately it was a Battle of the Bulge type scenario. The Russians were too strong for the Japs.

Continued luck as you bring the Evil Empire to its knees!

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I have to agree this is too little too late. Now if he had done this say six or twelve months ago, I think it would be a different story. As it is I think this will be the fourth large Japanese Army I will have trapped: Kungtang, Crossroads, Malaya, and now USSR. That is over a half a million troops not defending the last islands approaching Japan. For instance, there is one poorly supplied unit at Naha. I am considering canceling the Pagan op and instead going for Amani Is (i think - the island 120 nm SW of Kyushu). This is an SPS 1 AB but would put 200 AC right on Japan's doorstep.

[vettim89]

20 November 1944

I failed to send out the last turn on Sunday so we did not run again until last night. The attached image shows the force NE of Vlad. This attack came off at 4 to1 for the Japanese and the ID retreated but the Corps stayed in place. Bad weather prevented most of the AC in the area from flying. So no ships were hit off Suchan.. I have 6000 AS coming down the road from Irtkut (sp?). Hopefully it will get there in time.

Elsewhere things are about the same at Iwo and Davao. The units at Davao are really beat up. Some of the ID's have nearly 50% disablements. TF's are approaching San Jose Buenavista and Cebu. The Cebu TF is carrying much needed supplies which have held up the attack there.

[vettim89]

21-23 November 1944

The Japanese routed the Soviets from the hex NE of Vlad which the static fortress finally dieing on the 23rd. Blizzard weather in the area kept most a/c grounded. Finally on the 23rd the IL-2's and Pe-2's flew and mauled two japanese TF's off Suchan. So far only a MSW and PC confirmed sunk but a CL took 6 hits and about half a ozen transports took two or more hits. The reinforcement group is at or near Boryza now. Gonna take a few weeks to get them south. I have a stout force heading south to threten Hailar just to keep Larry honest about protecting his flanks. I did a deliberate attack at Suchan on the 21st that hurt the Japanese badly. Another ordered next turn. Only one unit there now so either Larry is evacuating or the first attack eliminated a unit. Unbeleivably the BF at Okha is holding off the highly disrupted Japanese troops. Maybe I should airlift in some reinfrocements

Meanwhile the Allies hit the beaches at San Jose Buenavista unopposed. The battle continues at Davao with just BOMB attacks until my units get their disablements down. Deliberate attack on Iwo reduced forts to 4. Still several weeks of grinding here. Johore Buhtar appears to be a standstill as my 5 ID's can't see to budge the forts there. My hope is just to lock this base down as the bulk of my force turns north. Appears to be easy pickings until I reach Georgetown.

Interesting times indeed.

[vettim89]

24 November 1944

More of the same on most fronts with a few exceptions. The Russian AF pounds more convoys off Suchan. The Superbees get in the act and pound Shikuku on Sakhalin Is. Lost a bunch of B-29's but 61 Japanese a/c were destroyed on the ground. This is hopefully the last B-29 mission up north as I hope they will be on Iwo soon. Speaking of which, the transports departed Chichi Jima for PH. The CVE are escorting them and then will swing south to Marcus to cover another convoy with the 81st ID. This will be added to the Iwo force. I have changed my plans and the troops for Pagan will now be diverted to Amami Island and Tushima. The last one will depend on securing Okinawa and Amami first. The last head of the Hydra will be Pescadores. Too many troops on Formosa.

Meanwhile the BF's take San Jose Buenavista. Troops unloading here will move on Iloila. Continued rebuilding my strength at Davao. Supplies coming ashore at Cebu so my troops will go on attack again soon. Moving transport A/C up to Mindanao to do some paradrops on unoccupied islands in the central PI.

On the Malay penisula, Commonwelath troops take Kuala Lumpur with an overwhelming 4115 to 1 attack. These troops are now moving on Taipeng. The US 41st and 7th ID are at Johore Buhtar and are now being sent north. The Commonwelath "African Divisions" will block this base while I clear the northern part of the penisula. Troops moving south from Ban Don toward Singora where a stack of 17 Japanese units awaits.

In Russia the troops at Suchan Shock Attack and now are the sole occupants. Japanese losses were at 10K. I don't know if Larry was evacuating or I really eliminated that unit. At Hailar, only one Div crossed the river and was routed. There are three Japanese Divisions there but going by the AS, they have to be way understrengthed.

[vettim89]

25 November 1944

NOt much to report this turn. Half of the Commonwealth troops have made it t the hex right in front of Taipeng. Will wait for the rest of them before attacking. Troops are resting at Davao and Iwo before the next deliberate attack. US fleet subs hit three AK/AP plus a MLE off Okha/Suchow. Two of them are heading home badly damaged. There are three more TF off Suchow. Is Larry going to try again? Cannot beleive he would go that route.

I am starting to move the units forward for the Luzon op now. They are spread from Darwin to Weda. Going to move them all to Dadjangas before setting out. Transports are slowly making their way back to PH for the Naha op. CV ANtietam is at PH and is heading off to Midway for the run to Chichi Jima.

Image of my reinforcements. This stack has an AS of 4300. THe stack in front has an AS of 2000. The stack behind has an AS of nearly 1000. The Cavalry is a'comin.

[vettim89]

26-28 November 1944

Days of bombardments, digging in, and moving stufff until the 28th. I had noticed a lot of shipping moving around the southern fringe of Japan. With Larry so heavily commited in the USSR as far as airpower goes I took a chance and sent my CV force to within 180 nm of the coast. Results were excellent! WIth multiple attacks against the same TF's it is hard to tell but a good guess is that the following took either bomb and/or TT hits:

7 PC
13 AK
2 MSW
1 PG
12 AP

At least one BF had to be fished out of the water. I suspect there are a lot more sinkings to come. I pulled back because even though I lost less than two dozen Hellcats, many are damaged. The Japanese hit back at my carriers in several waves but not leakers were achieved. Estimate of Japanese losses for the day were: 18 Francis, 21 KI-61 KAIb Tony, 26 A6M5 Zeke, 25 Ki-43 III Oscar, 52 KI-84 Ia/c Frank, 20 Peggy, 36 A6M2 Zero, 8 B7A Grace, 35 G4M2 Betty, 22 Lily 10 NiKI George.

Attack at Cebu reduces forts to 7. Attack at Iwo reduces forts to 3 with minimal disruption. Attack just south of Taipeng comes off at over 1800 to 1 and routs the defenders back.

[vettim89]

29 November 1944 - 4 December 1944

Well, I went out of town for five days then there was some confusion as to whose turn it was. We are back at it. Not a lot to report. Here are some highlights

* Roxas in the central PI is now Allied
* Troops have move forward from Taipeng and are now invested at Georgetown.
* Forts at Iwo are reduced to 2
* Lift is trickling into PH for the next op which will be Naha.
* Troops slowly trickling north to Mindanoa to for the Luzon op
* Two Russian Corps (one INF, one Armor) are now across the river at Hailor
* Larry keeps pushing more troops into Okha but I still have the upper hand.
* Massive lump of Russian troops are moving toward Vlad. Probably will be on the offensive within ten days.

That is about it

[vettim89]

5-6 December 1944

Interesting developments. Up on the RUssian Front, the Japanese have abandoned Heiho which is right across the river from Blavasomething oranother. The troops at Blav are immediately ordered across the river. An ID has crossed into Hailor. Tow more ID's and some arty plus engineers will cross soon. SLight edge to Russian in AV now. The trailing unit in the big lump of Russian troops is now just 9 hexes from Vlad. This will give me over 11000 AS to put on offensive. This offensive will push north then west to undermine the Japanese rear.

Georgetown is now Allied and troops push toward Aloe Star. The big stack at Ban Don is finally about to break free to rush south towards Singora where 160k tired Japanese are being pinched now from two sides.

Lots of engineers loading in the HI en route to the front. The Naha force is about loaded. It will take a good three weeks to move this mound of troops. Deliberate attack ordered at Iwo next turn which will hopefully lower forts to 1. After recouping I will order a shock attack in about four or five days to hopefully take this base.

The SIlent Service is taking out about two AP/AK every day now. LBA out of China also sank two AK at Takao last turn

[1275psi]

Been catching up -you said japan at end of rope in one post - I think you ar right -glad you have a japanese opponent who fights on!

[vettim89]

7-10 December 1944

Image says it all. Had to trash the AB and Port to get it but the engineers will take care of that soon enough.

Buckeyes beat the Wolverines today for the 8th time in 9 years. DOes it get any better than this?

[gladiatt]

Still reading and liking your AAR [:)];

[vettim89]

11-12 December 1944

The Huge Soviet army has arrived at Vlad. I will let them rest for a few days before heading north then west. Larry contines to pour troops into Okha but I still have superior AS. Even though they are using inferior a/c, the Soviet AF is wearing the Japanese down with shear numbers. I think the pilot quality issue is coming into play here too.

Aloe Star is now Allied. Only Singor and Kuala Lumpur remain up north. The latter is mostly occupied with retreated troops that are without supply. The former has 165k+ and is being met by armies now closing from both sides. Supplies already pouring ashore at Aloe Start to feed my hungry troops.

The lift for the Naha op is apporaching Midway. They will be routed to Marcus Is before pushing off. The runway is repaired at Iwo and the AB is failling quick. Just a matter of days before operations start against the mainland. With Iwo now secured, I now have a firm 1.5 to 1 points advantage. Wondering how far into 1945 Larry will want to go.

[vettim89]

13 December 1944

Not much to report. My subs are taking a beating up north but they are taking a fair number of IJN ships with them. Troops are recovering surprisingly quickly at Vlad. They will head out in a turn or too.

In Malaya, Larry is sending troops south out of Kota Butaar (sp?) heading south. I think he hopes to link up with the troopa at Jahore B^%&%*&. These Malaysia names get me. A blocking force is being sent to stop this notion. In addition, the one para unit in SEAC is being lifted to Malacca to take Mersing. I also plan to lift a couple of Chinese Corps from Tavoy into Malaysia to shore up defense.

In China Larry tries again at Kunchang and gets mauled. If at first you don't succeed: pound your head against that wall a little more. Cannot help but be grateful that this huge stack is tied up here instead of joining the invasion of the USSR.

Iwo's facilities damage is down to 27. Fighters starting to move forward. Gonna sweep the skies over Japan clean before sending in the heavies. If the stupid AB at Chichi Jima would expand a little faster, I could add some more a/c to the fun. Engineers have arrived at Marcus and will head north next turn under CVE cover.