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This is to set up an AAR between myself and Riva. It uses the CHS scenario 158. Whilst I have several moderately successful campaigns under by belt using the standard set up this will be my first PBEM using CHS. Riva is fairly new to the game. This will not be a copy and paste combat report style - that's not the way I do things - but quite what style will develop is yet to be seen. It is also a joint AAR so Riva is welcome to post in here and bear that in mind.

People are always interested in the 'house rules' and set up. We both seem to want a braodly historical game so this is what we have agreed.

First turn, Scenario 158. Vary Setup Off, PDU On, Reinforcements Extremely Variable, Sub Doctrines On, Allied Damage Control On, Historical First Turn Off, Dec 7 Surprise On, Weather On, FoW On. Allies should be restricted to moving only TF at sea on first turn, no creating new TF or changing Air Unit orders. Mimic surprise of the first turn with TF at sea only folks that are able to react.


House rules agreed

1. No bombing empty bases to artificially enhance pilot training.

2. All Chinese land and air units that are assigned to China Command HQ are only permitted to move, or base, within China, Japanese Occupied China or Manchukuo. Chinese land and air units can ONLY move to locations outside China if they are first transferred to another HQ.

3. Air units belonging to China Command are allowed to fly missions to hexes outside China.

4. All Australian nationality Brigade and Division LCUs are only allowed to move within Australia Proper, DEI, Solomon Islands, New Britain, New Guniea (For flexiability purposes, I could reason that Australia would see those as part of it's expanded defense perimeter). The exception is all Australian LCUs of this size that are designated as AIF units, e.g. 9th Division AIF; the two AIF Brigades that start in Malaya. This restriction is even if the units are reassigned to a HQ other than ANZAC Command, and still applies even if a Division or Brigade is split into smaller units. This restriction is until January 1943 to represent the initial views of Australia regarding its own defence. Once 1943 comes round it is expected either the Aussies will still have thier hands full throwing back the 'yellow peril' or the Allies will have pushed back and be wanting more strategic options for use of the Aussies.

5. There are no restrictions for Australian air units, other than the normal restrictions that apply to air units that are assigned to the ANZAC Command restricted HQ.

6. Canadian land and air units can only be deployed in North America, including Canada, the USA, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. This restriction is permanent, even if the units are reassigned to a HQ other than Canada Command.

7. Japanese land and air units that are assigned to the Kwantung Area Army HQ can not leave Manchukuo. They may leave if they are transferred to another HQ.

8. If playing as the Japanese vs. the AI or a PBEM opponent, then if the player decides to attack the Soviet Union (including the base of Urumchi in Western China), they should ensure that the first, or equal first, hex they enter is hex 65,32 (this hex is easy to enter, using the railway from hex 64,31). This will ensure that Soviet Union entry is properly triggered.

9. No Naval Attack missions by 4 Engined Bombers under a minimum ceiling of 10,000 feet.

10. B29 only on level 6 or 7+ airfields, this should limit them to places that were big enough in real life.

11. Restriction of 3 AA units per Hex (to mitigate Allied Super AA concentrations in Nikmod)

12. No Japanese Surface Movement past Singapore until it has fallen.

13. No more than x50 aircraft per airfield level (does not count aircraft transiting on through).

14. The Empire of Japan will not attempt to go towards Panama or Aden or station surface TFs at the entrance of the tracks. The exception being Submarines which they may send down the tracks entirely at their own risk!

These were broadly as proposed by Chris though I negotiated one or two slightly.

Ok the first turn is off and running. Lets see which bits of paradise get set ablaze first!

Roger

Regarding your rule on the Australian Forces deployment, your rule is more flexible than the historical situation.

In Australia prior to February 1943, there were two effectively seperate armies, neither of which were the pre-war regular army, which was essentially a training and staff officer cadre.

1) The 2nd AIF raised in 1939-40 ( the 1st went to WW1) consisting of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th infantry divs (1st to  5th AIF Infantry, and 1st AIF Cavalry divisions went to world war 1) , and 1st Armoured division. This all voulnteer force could be sent anywhere - North Africa, The UK, Syria, Greece, the planet Mars, wherever required. 6,7, & 9 went to North Africa/Mediterranean theatre, two brigades of the 8th went to Malaya. The remaining brigade of the 8th stayed in Darwin (23rd IIRC), but its three battalions were detached with slices of the brigade support units such as AAA, each becoming part of Lark, Gull and Sparrow force, and despatched northwards to Rabaul, Ambon, and Timor respectively. It then took on AMF (see below) battalions and became effectively an AMF brigade. The sub-units in the 2nd AIF were all called 2/* battalion etc to differentiate them from the 1915 version. Black Force in Java, commanded by Brigadier Blackburn, VC, actually consisted of three pioneer (engineer) battalions on their way back from the AIF base in Egypt.

2) the AMF (Australian military forces) also called the Militia. The AIF called them "Koalas" - not available for export. The AMF was a conscripted force, consisting of 1st to 5th AMF divisions ( not to be confused with 1st to 5th AIF from 1915), and various brigades appearing in the game. The AMF units were not legally available for use outside Australia and its immediate territories, including in particular Papua, where AMF units served at both Kokoda and Milne Bay.

3) any infantry brigade with a number between 16th and 29th was basically an AIF unit at least to start with.

4) The 1st Armoured division  formed on 1 July 1941 consisting initially of 1st and 2nd Australian Armoured Brigades. The original pre 7 December 1941 plan was to deploy this formation to North Africa in 1942,  but it remained in Australia until disbanded in September 1943. There is a more fulsome OB here: http://home.adelphia.net/~dryan67/orders/aif2.html#anchor533107, a number of the sub units appear in scenario 15 as seperate entities. The division was to have shipped to Egypt in December 41 and March 42, without tanks, to be equipped with UK sourced vehicles. After Pearl Harbour, those plans were scrapped, and the division which at the time only had bren carrier APCs for training purposes, was later fully equipped (by July 1942) with M3 Grant tanks. After disbandment a number of the subunits were assigned to 1st Armour brigade, and deployed seperately to support the infantry.

There was a second armoured division, an AMF unit, and a 3rd armoured division with a mixture of AMF and AIF battalions, formed in 1942, from the 1st and 2nd Motororised divisions, respectively, which themselves had been fromed from the 1st and 2nd cavalry divisions. These were equipped with Grant and Stuart tanks, and were fromed on the UK "two brigade" model. They were both disbanded in 1943 (one was disbanded on 19 February - see below) when the threat of invasion had receded and there was no role for large armour formations in the jungle. (the only example I can actually think of, leaving the CBI out,  was the US 1st Cav's 'flying column' task force on Luzon in 1944). 2nd armoured division's 6th armoured brigade became 4th armoured brigade group HQ. Once again, some of the subunits from these divisions are seperately depicted in the game, however the two cavalry divisions hang around as weak infantry divisions instead of disbanding.

5) there were two different 10th divisions formed during the war. The first was an AMF HQ formed to control AMF brigades, but it was found to be unnecessary and disbanded. Later, another 10th division was planned, this time an AIF division drawing its personell from the older 6th, 7th and 9th divs. It was slated to form (with 3rd UK and 6th Canadian) the Commonwealth corps for use in Operation Coronet. Obviously that unit is not needed for game purposes, just use one of the others.

6) AIF and AMF units fought mixed up (including assigning AMF battalions to AIF brigades, and AIF officers and NCOs to AMF battalions but usually not vica versa) in Papua and in the Northern "mandate" part of New Guinea, being areas where the AMF could serve.

7) in February 1943 the Australian Parliament passed an Act which allowed AMF units to be used in the SWPAC area: the Act defines this as a triangular slice of territory with the base on the equator and the apex at the South Pole, taking in Malaya, the NEI, and the Solomons. After this Act AMF units were deployed to the Solomons, eg Bouganville.

8) Throughout 1943 and 1944 a significant proportion of the AMF was disbanded (as was the 2 brigade NZ 3rd division after it invaded Green island in early 1944), and troops who did not volunteer for AIF duty were released and more efficiently employed in primary and war industries. However, a sizable AMF force was maintained and the US forces holding down the remaining Japanese troops in the Solomons were replaced by about 5 AMF brigades.

So, in short, your rule allows the post February 1943 situation from the beginning, and if anything is too flexible.

If you haven't started the game you can use the database editor to set a change of HQ - the port and airfield value columns for LCUs can be used to set a reassignment date and new HQ. Further, by etsablishing a TOE in one of the spare TOE slots for an ANZAC Armoured Division, you can include a TOE with Grant  and Stuart tanks, etc, in the right proportions. 1st is a new unit, 2nd and 3rd paste over the cavalry divisions. If you set the formation TOE to include the appropriate number of tanks etc (combine an armoured brigade and an infantry brigade toe, and add in the extra divisional assetts such as AAA and an A/T regiment with 2 pounders) then start them all off with 1 Grant and 1 Stuart it should take a roughly historical time for them to fully form. It is also probably possible to just edit the cavalry division formation OOB to the same effect, but I haven't tried that.

Of course if you do that you will need to take out of the game a number of seperate armour, AAA, AT etc units that appear in the reinforcements and were part of these three divisions to balance things.

Wow, I knew nothing of all of that Ian, thanks.

My intention is simply to free up possible future troop deployments post 1942 December - but any such deployments out of the HQ area would have to still pay the Political Points, as such its unlikely much will be used - unless I have amassed a vast amount of them - the cost of conversion of one division is massive!

I like to keep things simple, but I'm sure Chris will reflect upon what you say also and may come back at me. The thought of changing databases does not fill me with enthusiasm, and it was not our intention to change things, I merely responded to what I thought was an overly tight definition of Aussie troop use in Chris' original posting in the Opponents Wanted section. His original proposal was:

All Australian nationality Brigade and Division LCUs are only allowed to move within Australia Proper, DEI, Solomon Islands, New Britain, New Guniea (For flexibility purposes, I could reason that Australia would see those as part of it's expanded defense perimeter). The exception is all Australian LCUs of this size that are designated as AIF units, e.g. 9th Division AIF; the two AIF Brigades that start in Malaya. This restriction is permanent, even if the units are reassigned to a HQ other than ANZAC Command, and still applies even if a Division or Brigade is split into smaller units.

I suspect there may be other aspects of the 'house rules' we will have to look at as we go along.

Fabulous. Another ass-kicking from you Roger, and as always (hopefully) in a wonderful readable and beautiful format! [8D]

edit: Imho, the 3 unit AAA rule shoudln't apply to jap home island bases, or atleast Tokyo, and US west coast.

6. Canadian land and air units can only be deployed in North America, including Canada, the USA, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. This restriction is permanent, even if the units are reassigned to a HQ other than Canada Command.

I am curious about this rule as Canadian troops were sent to defend Hong Kong in 1941 (and subsequetly captured). I don't own WITP (I have WPO) so I don't know if the game already has those troops in Hong Kong or not.

The units involved were The Winnipeg Grenadiers and The Royal Rifles of Canada
Here is some brief info from this web site:
http://www.answers.com/topic/battle-of-hong-kong

Canadian involvement
The defence of Hong Kong saw the first commitment by Canadian troops to battle during the Second World War. In Autumn 1941, the British government accepted the Canadian Government's offer, mediated by a former General Officer Commanding in Hong Kong and Canadian, Major-General A. E Hassett to send two infantry battalions (1,975 personnel) to reinforce the Hong Kong garrison. The force departed North America on 27 October and arrived 16 November. They did not have their full equipment: a ship carrying all their vehicles was diverted to Manila when war began. The soldiers were still undergoing training and acclimatisation. The major Canadian units involved in the defence of Hong Kong were:

Winnipeg Grenadiers
Royal Rifles of Canada
In addition to this the Canadians provided a Brigade HQ. The Canadians were initially positioned on south side of the Island to counter any amphibious landing. Ironically this would mean that when the Japanese invaded the island they were the units called upon to counter attack. On 8 December, Japanese aircraft destroyed a nearly-empty camp at Sham Shui Po where two men of the Royal Canadian Signals were wounded, the first Canadian casualties in the Pacific theatre, and the first Canadian army casualties in combat. On 11 December, the Winnipeg Grenadiers became the first Canadian Army subunit to fight in battle in the Second World War, with D Company acting as a rearguard during the retreat from Kowloon. Private John Grey was killed during the evacuation. It is unknown how he died but guesses have included mobs, fifth columnets, and being executed by the Japanese.

In the subsequent fight for Hong Kong island, the Canadians lost 290 personnel of which 130 were from the Grenadiers. The commander of West Brigade HQ, Brigadier John K. Lawson, was killed. The remaining Canadian soldiers surrendered to the Japanese on Christmas Day. A Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously to Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who threw himself on top of the grenade, saving the lives of the men around him. A statue of Osborn can also be found in Hong Kong Park. In addition to this two Distinguished Conduct medals, two Distinguished Service orders, twelve Military medals, seven Military Crosses were awarded to Canadians. As well 29 Soldiers were mentioned in dispatches.

Roger,
 
I have managed to hold Timor by spending all my PPs putting the cavalry divisions, an AIF brigade, and a number of other tank and artillery sub-units there, along with as much NEI stuff (particularly engineers) as I could get there, remnants of the 4th Marine Regiment by sub, etc. Most importantly, the NEI airforce, which when concentrated is a powerful force, particularly after it upgrades to Kittyhawks and Mitchells, and the USAAFFE from Luzon. Timor then becomes an unsinkable aircraft carrier in heavy bomber range of Balikpapan, Ambon, and various other sources of oil. 
 
The fact is though that only the brigades from the 6th and 7th divisions could really have been deployed there (instead of in PNG) along with some of the subunits from the armoured divisions that are seperately represented in the game, the latter from about May or June 1942.
 
 

Well I am not going to underestimate my opponent.... and as always the initial months will be brutal for the poor allied underdogs..... I am just not yet certain which format my AAR will take on this one, having experimented with a variety of styles now.

Happy to have anyone's preference aired....

• Newspaper style?
• First person perspective - Flashman flies again?
• Overviews of operations?
• Military briefings?
• Comms from the front?

As regards the AA - its not something I've paid a great deal of attention to - never got further than 1942 latish to date so raids over Japan haven't featured - and the only air raid on the West Coast was a bit of a damp squib. However these were all under the standard scenario....Nikmod I gather is somewhat different.

I'm away from tomorrow morning till late Friday in London so probably little will happen here until next weekend.

Roger

No there are no Canadians in Hong Kong. I too am puzzled by this as I recall mention of them and a pretty grim fate following the capture of the City in a TV documentary.

Roger

In a separate game, using standard game scenario I have also converted Timor into a real welcoming position for my Jap opponent. Disappointingly he did not oblige and I have had to send some of these force further afield to annoy his forward troops. They can always go back there if they want to as the infrastructure and support is there, not to mention a load of supplies and fuel.

Roger

Hi Roger,

good luck for your war !

As you asked for preferences re. style: While I do/did enjoy your "military briefing" style in one of your more recent AARs, I think a combination of overviews on operations and comms from the front might become an extremely good read, as there tends to be some difference when viewing the same event from these two angles. Consequently, there's much room for fun...

Just my 2cts...

Thanks for posting this AAR in ANY style anyway [&o]

Regards

Hartwig

ORIGINAL: Roger Neilson II

Well I am not going to underestimate my opponent.... and as always the initial months will be brutal for the poor allied underdogs..... I am just not yet certain which format my AAR will take on this one, having experimented with a variety of styles now.

Happy to have anyone's preference aired....

• Newspaper style?
• First person perspective - Flashman flies again?
• Overviews of operations?
• Military briefings?
• Comms from the front?

As regards the AA - its not something I've paid a great deal of attention to - never got further than 1942 latish to date so raids over Japan haven't featured - and the only air raid on the West Coast was a bit of a damp squib. However these were all under the standard scenario....Nikmod I gather is somewhat different.

I'm away from tomorrow morning till late Friday in London so probably little will happen here until next weekend.

Roger

Hi Roger,

If I can be so bold as to suggest, how about a combination of Overviews of Operations by theatre plus "letters to home" from the front? And pictures and maps are always fun to see and help me to get a broader sense operations.

Also, I know it's difficult in a joint AAR to post current plans/ops - but maybe some stuff could become de-classified after 4-6 months?

Just thoughts - I look forward to following this AAR.

Hi Roger,

I prefer newspaper style - think that this would be a best format for the joint AAR (and of course most enjoyable for me)

Roger, here is a map, courtesy of the Australian War memorial - the area did not extend west of Java, or include Malaya:

The caption for this is:
 
"Cabinet approved the Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Act 1943, which provided for the use of Australian conscripts in the South West Pacific Area during the period of war. The Act also provided that this approval would lapse within six months of Australia’s ceasing to be involved in hostilities."
 
 

Looking forward to this AAR! Another vote for a mixed style AAR, maybe "Overview of Operations" and "Newspaper"?

No there are no Canadians in Hong Kong.

Yes there are! [:)] Have a closer look at the Hong Kong Fortress unit, it contains 72 Candian Rifle Squads.

All,
 
Looking forward to this game with Roger.  I am sure that it will be a tough nasty battle though I hope that I have learned from my mistakes of the past and give a better account.  I will defer to Roger as to style of AAR.  I like propaganda, news release, ops format sorts of AARs.  I like the idea of declassification as well.  We will see how it turns out.
 
C

Duh, I seldom look below the main unit designation..... apologies to all i have offended!

I had forgotten just how much the allies have to do in the first move.... I have been beaten by fatigue and can no longer see straight so off to bed. Expect some news tomorrow UK time.

Roger

Pretty much the only type of AAR I can't stand is cut and paste of the combatreport.txt file...

T%he Rajastan times is a very influential daily paper in the Indian Sub-continent.

Cheers

Raja - oops Roger

Kudos -- very impressive looking format. I assume MacArthur's statement will make no mention that he didn't expect the war to break out until 1945. So the Japanese are landing on Bataan? That should change the course of the campaign in the PI significantly.