Class is in session - Montereytrench schools USS America

[USSAmerica]

I have to use my 100th forum post to start an AAR/help line for my first PBEM game. [8D]

I got WitP over Christmas and played about 3 weeks of game time vs. the AI to figure out most of the game mechanics. Now it's time for my first lessons. Montereytrench has offered to teach me about strategy in WitP, even though my schedule will make for a slow (3-4 turns/real week) paced game.

We both enjoy the historical aspects of the game, but we both agree it is a GAME, and we are PLAYING a game. So, our guidelines for house rules is "Less is more". [:D] I think we have not set a single house rule.

For game settings, we have Sub doctrines off, Allied DC on, PDU off, Advanced weather on, no variable reinforcements, human sub control, historical first turn ... pretty standard stuff. Montereytrench is going to demonstrate how Japan crushes everything in it's path, and I'm going to demonstrate how the Allies can get blasted. LOL He's pretty experienced, so my Allied strategy will be "Brave Sir Robin" all the way! My goal is avoiding a Japanese auto victory on 1/1/43.

My goals for this AAR are 1) recording my first experiences with PBEM so I can look back and learn from it, 2) Solicit lots and lots of help from everyone else here (no, teacher, I'm not passing notes in the back of the classroom [;)]), 3) maybe actually entertain some of you a bit. I would like to learn the graphic skills to make fancy pictures in my AAR at some point because I love maps and information presented on maps. This may take some time, as I have not played with these tools much yet. I will NOT be posting endless Combat Reports. Isolated reports from specific battles will be used when they can show details of something I mention in my narrative. Mostly I want to talk about strategy and tactics as they apply to our game. Bounce ideas off of the rest of you, get suggestions from you (like what the heck to do in China), and discuss what worked and what didn't work. I'll hope to keep things organized by region as I go along.

I don't want to kid myself. My schedule is busy enough that I have trouble making time to play, so this AAR may not get lots of love and attention. But, there will be days when I've sent my turn off and I have a chance to put together good updates and have a good strategy brainstorming session. I'm in the middle of my turn 1 moves (Dec 8th), and it's taking a looooong time. After I get that finished up and sent off, I'll post my ideas for each command area.

I really enjoy reading many of the AAR's here and I'm excited to contribute my own experiences. Who knows, maybe I can even teach someone else reading this a lesson or two....even if it's only "What not to do"! [:D]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]After more than 20 total hours over several days, I have finally completed and emailed my Dec 8th turn. I could have spent more time studying and tweaking my moves, but there’s a war on. [:D] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]First off, Dec 7th could have been much worse. The attack on Pearl damaged 6 battleships, 3 severely (58, 83, 92 sys), and 3 moderately (29, 35, 36 sys), but Arizona was only scratched for 1 point of sys damage and Maryland is untouched. CA San Francisco and CL Phoenix have 6 and 3 sys damage and AD Dobbin has 22. No ships were sunk! Not too bad at all from my point of view. The airfield has 69 runway damage and 41 service damage. I’ll be back in business here in no time. The big question is, of course, will the KB strike again or move off…and if they go…where?[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Wake fell, so no distraction trying to save it’s defenders. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My overall strategy will be VERY conservative. Being my first PBEM, and against an experienced opponent, I want to not lose the war in ’42. Preventing a Japanese auto victory on 1/1/43 is my first goal. I hope to hold the line along the Pearl, Johnston, Canton, Pago Pago, Tongatapu, Suva, Noumea, Australia chain, and at the India/Burma border, on the Indian side of the trails.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I need the PI to be a speed bump for the Japanese advance, Singapore to really slow him down, and Java to hurt him. I’d love to hold onto Java, but I don’t expect to hold it long term. Port Moresby could go either way. I’m going to try to be ready to reinforce it, or evacuate it, depending on how things play out. [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Some basic plans by command area:[/font]
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[font="times new roman"][/b]Philippines:[/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]Fall back to Manila/Clark and build forts in Manila. Clark airfield is very damaged, and will likely prevent my engineers from building any more forts, so I’m going to pile them all into Manila. I evacuated all of the planes from Clark to other bases, damaged ones by rail to Manila. Ships are almost all loading fuel as cargo and making a run for Darwin in 1 ship fleets. Subs are all surging on patrol North and East of Luzon. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My first several turns of Political Points will be spent to change the following units to SW Pac:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] 192nd Tank Bn[/font]
[font="times new roman"] 194th Tank Bn[/font]
[font="times new roman"] 803rd EAB[/font]
[font="times new roman"] 14th PS Engr Rgt[/font]
[font="times new roman"] PAF Aviation[/font]
[font="times new roman"] Asiatic Fleet HQ[/font]
[font="times new roman"] USAFFE HQ[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I intend to fly out small fragments of these via DEI islands to Oz to let them regenerate after the PI have fallen. I know many consider this too gamey, but Stephen and I are playing a game. LOL It will take a LONG time for them to fill out, so I consider this possible, if not historical. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Next PP’s will be spent to transfer USAFFE air units to SW Pac and get them out of Dodge, too. [/font]
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[font="times new roman"][/b]India/Burma:[/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]Again, my first priority is to not lose the war. I don’t think Burma can be held, or even put up a really strong resistance without reinforcements from India. Therefore, Burma is relegated to speedbump status. I’ll leave a CD and 1 Bde in Rangoon, just to make him pay a bit for the base. Most of the rest of the ground forces will pull back to Mandalay, just maintaining contact, and then make a stand at the India border bases. The two railroad networks in Burma and India are separated by trails. I want his forces to have to hike over those trails while my units wait for them, snug in their bases. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m still kicking around the idea of pulling out 2 Bdes and 1 or 2 base forces from Rangoon by ship and dumping them at Andaman Island. This is not really a conservative move, but I think it’s pretty low risk. If I lose it to a major invasion, it’s only 2 Bdes. Maybe I can catch him off guard and he’ll try to snap the island up with just a token ground force. It will make a good forward search base for a while at the least. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]In India, I’m marching all of the mobile ground forces toward the East coast and Diamond Harbor. I’m also shipping SEAC HQ to Diamond Harbor on Dec 8. I’ll pump in supply from Karachi to combine with the HQ to really crank up the replacement rate. I’m allowing replacements for the base forces at Imphal, Akyab, and Mandalay. The only other unit allowed to receive replacements to start is the 17th Ind Div, moving to Diamond Harbor. When it fills out, I’ll divide it and cover Trivandrum, Mannargudi, and Madras. I’ll then turn replacements on for another division at DH. I don’t know if bringing these divisions up to full strength one at a time is more effective than a few replacements scattered to several units at a time, but I think it will help. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The 18th UK Div arrives around 12/30/41. I’m going to ship it to Ceylon for defensive duty until all of the Inidan divisions have filled out and I can move one of them there. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The British fleet will move to the DEI and provide assistance there until the fall of Singapore. Then, they will move back to Trincomalee. [/font]
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[font="times new roman"][/b]Malaya:[/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m with the “Run away” strategy here. Full scale quick retreat to JB/Singapore with the 12th Ind Bde, SSVF Bde, and 109 RAF base force in Mersing. I’m going to pump as much supply into Singapore as I can before the shipping lanes are shut down. I know that holding Singapore as long as possible is a good thing, but I’m going to try to pull some complete units out to Java. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ISF Base Forces, MAF Aviation, and 22nd and 27th Aus Bdes are slated to be moved to Java. I think I can cause more damage with these guys on Java than Singapore. I’ll fly out fragments of the remaining units to Burma where they can retreat to India, and then Java when the Burma bases are cut off. [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Force Z is steaming SE to Java and will combine with the ABDA fleet initially. [/font]
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[/b][font="times new roman"]DEI:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]I’m moving a couple of base forces on Java to Soerbaja and Batavia to get them building faster. I have Soerabaja building it’s port to size 9, so I’ll have a mine layer replenishment base. Most of the ground forces in Sumatra are marching to Palembang. I’ve heard good things about engineers damaging oil facilities when the base is captured. I’m going to air evac the two SEAC base forces in Northern Borneo to Balikpapan, and send them on to Soerabaja or Oz from there. With the two Aus Bdes from Malaya, I’m going to dig in on Java, build the forts, and make it hurt as much as possible.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’ve moved some Patrol planes and TB’s to Sinkying to hit any Kuching invasion forces, and I’ve staged a couple of the Patrol groups into the Eastern DEI to give a little bit of warning before Monetreytrench moves in with his forces.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Most of the combat ships are heading to Balikpapan to base there, joined by Force Z. My ML’s are filling the harbor and waters around Palembang to the point that you could walk across the mines. My merchant fleet in the area is mostly trying to slip supplies into Singapore, grab resources and haul them to Oz, and snatch as much oil as possible from Balikpapan, Tarakan, and Palembang, and then ship it to Perth. I’ll leave the resources and oil on Java until I can’t safely get into the previous bases. (I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens very quickly). Then, it will be oil/resources from Java to Perth and supplies into Java from wherever I can find them. The oil delivery to Perth should crank up the supply rate there, and I already have several convoys loading supply in India with a destination of Java. I think Miri and Brunei are just too exposed to risk slipping TK’s in, so they get left for the Japs. [/font]
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[/b][font="times new roman"]Australia/NZ:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]The 3rd Aus Div has marching orders for Sydney. The couple of Bdes around Adelaide and a base force will head for Perth. All the other LCU’s on the East coast will head north, with a division slated for Darwin, Townsville, Rockhampton, and two for Brisbane. Two Bdes will head to Cairns and Cooktown. I need to free up base forces or engineers to start building up Cairns and Cooktown. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My surface forces are concentrating at Brisbane, and the air groups are generally moving up the coast, with lots of training going on. I have several AK’s loading supplies to move to Port Moresby. Several more are loading supplies and heading around Perth to Java. A large number of the AK’s are gathering into a large convoy to head to the US for supplies. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The ships NZ are taking some fuel to Noumea, where they will unload and then join the big convoy heading for the US. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[/b][font="times new roman"]NG/Solomons:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]I’ll air evac Lark Force from Rabaul to PM to reinforce the defense forces. I’ll pump in some supplies, and I have an EAB unit on the (long) way from Hawaii. I will hold as long as possible with these forces, and be ready to either reinforce with Sparrow and Gull forces, or evacuate whatever I can, depending on how things play out. I’d be surprised if there’s not a very early invasion here, too. Air units will be regularly rotated back to Oz for rest/training. The remaining forces at Rabaul are a speedbump, and I’m ignoring the rest of the Solomons for now. LOTS of time to play there in ’43, ’44, and ’45….I hope. LOL[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/b]
[/b][font="times new roman"]South Pacific:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]I have the 2nd USMC Div, 2nd USMC Paras, 101 USN base force from San Diego, 802 EAB from NOPAC, and a couple of AA units heading to Noumea. Lots of supply and fuel will accompany them, followed by “a bunch” of planes. This will be one of my hope/want/need to hold bases. Canton Island gets the 2nd USMC CD unit. I’ll generally look to reinforce the Canton Is, Pago Pago, Tongatapu, Suva, Noumea chain as units are available. After that, I’ll work on Luganville and Efate. All this assumes I’ll still be in command of these bases. LOL[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I think my BB surface fleet will head to the Noumea area, once the threat of the KB moves on and allows them out of Pearl.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I want to get Patrol plane coverage over the island chain from Pearl to Noumea as soon as I can support them with base forces or AV’s. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[/b][font="times new roman"]Central Pacific:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]Wake is lost. Good. This makes Midway my front line here. I’ll probably take my most aggressive (least defensive anyway) position at Midway. After the KB has moved on, I’ll gather the 24th Div, 102 base force from LA, 34th Engr Rgt, 64th AA, and massive supplies at Pearl. When I spot the KB somewhere sufficiently far away, I’ll move all of this to Midway, followed by lots of aircraft. Something about that size 6 airfield is calling me to make use of it. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Other plans include loaning the 804th EAB out to build Port Moresby, moving SOPAC HQ to Noumea, 3rd USMC CD to Johnston Is, and the 4th USMC CD to Palmyra. I have scattered my aircraft across the Hawaiian Islands from the damaged Pearl airfield. There will be several groups set to ASW for a few days. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]All of the subs are surging toward the last location of the KB. After it has moved on, the subs with Mk14’s will return to Pearl and switch to Mine Warfare missions and those with Mk10’s will continue on Patrol missions. The first target for lots of sub mines is Kwajlein (or however it’s actually spelled ). The Argonaut has had it’s upgrade setting turned off. I’m told that it loses it’s ML capability after the upgrade, and I think it’s too useful in that role right now. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Again, when the KB has moved on, I’ll create several large ASW TF’s to clear the waters around Pearl a bit. We have no house rule limit, so I’m thinking I’ll put 12 DD’s in each. Why hunt subs if you’re not going to KILL them? I’ll move some AV’s to the other Hawaiian Islands and the Island chain to Noumea for Patrol plane support. My 3 CV TF’s will gather at Pearl and generally stay out of trouble. I’m keeping them in separate TF’s, but all in the same hex, with one leading and the other two following it. I’ll try to find the occasional training target for them, but generally run and hide for a while. Surface ML’s and DM’s will drop at Johnston, Midway, and Canton….then repeat for a few weeks. I want lots of mines at these bases. [/font]
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[/b][font="times new roman"]North Pacific:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]802 EAB will be loaned to SOPAC for use at Noumea. I’m shifting the 4th RCT and 75th AA to Dutch Harbor, and marching the 153 RCT and the base force from Nome to Anchorage. My AK’s will then ferry supply and fuel from Prince Rupert to Anchorage and DH. [/font]
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[/b][font="times new roman"]US/Canada:[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]I’m shifting all the AC from LA and SD to SF while I ship out the 101 and 102 USN base forces. I’m marching the 120th USAAF base force from United States to LA. The first couple of bomber units are also being loaded to be shipped to Pearl and Noumea. B17’s and Patrol groups will all fly across when they are fully repaired. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The following non-West Coast command LCU’s will be shipped out:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]San Diego: 2nd USMC Div, 2nd USMC Para, 216th & 217th AA, and 101st USN base Force to Noumea. 2nd USMC CD to Canton Is.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Los Angeles: 808th EAB to Noumea. 205th & 206th AA, 250th CD, 102nd USN Base Force, and 40th Div to Pearl.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]San Francisco: 65th & 78th AA, and 56th CD to Pearl. Plan to buy 19th & 47th Engr Rgt’s after higher PP priority units are taken care of.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Seattle: 188th & 183rd Art, 144th CD, and 161 RCT to Pearl. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]9 large AK’s in SF will be converted to AR’s, and 3 converted to MLE’s. When the huge merchant fleet arrives in SF on 1/12/42, I’ll convert 8 more to AR’s and 3 more to MLE’s. The rest of the starting AK’s and AP’s are loading supplies and the above troops, with some of the supplies allocated for Noumea and the rest to Pearl. I intend to ship as much oil as I can from the West Coast to Australia, so 1 TK is set to load oil in each port, with a second on standby in each port. The rest of the TK’s and AO’s are loading fuel for Pearl. All of the ships bound for Pearl will immediately turn around to SF after unloading, except those required to move forces and supplies to Midway. I should get 2 trips to Pearl from these guys before the large AK arrival on 1/12/42. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Sara TF will join Lex and Enterprise at Pearl, Colorado TF will sail from Seattle and help form a slow BB TF.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]All of these ship movements are contingent on the KB leaving the area.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[/b][font="times new roman"]China[/b]:[/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]China, China, China. What to do with China? I’ve heard of the “herding cats” strategy, where you scatter the Chinese units all over the countryside, off the roads and railroads. This forces the Japanese to follow your units off the road or risk having their supply lines cut off. I’ve also heard the advice to get all the units into bases, where they can keep their fatigue down and reduce supply consumption. I know there are at least 1000 other ways to play it in China. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m going to err on the defensive side. I’ll go with gathering my guys into bases. I really don’t know what the supply situation is like for the Japanese at the start of the stock war, but I’m going to force them to use supply marching and attacking, while I sit behind ever-building fortifications. I think I’m only expanding airfields in two rear area bases. It seems to me that the northern part of China is weaker and more threatened than the south, so I’m shifting some units to the north from the rear areas, and shifting every unit that is under China Command from Yunan toward the front. Aircraft are all pulled back to the two larger airfields in the rear of the north and Training. Who knows how this will play out?[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]That concludes my blueprint for “How to Run Away and Hide for Dummies.” If any of you are still reading….why? [;)] I’d love to hear opinions and advice regarding my plans. Any and all comers are welcome! [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/b][/size]

[fcooke]

Curious what you plan on with the SEAC Chinese formations - keep in theater or move out?

Also - you need to get some fuel to Oz and some of the islands along the way otherwise those places are going to run out of fuel very quickly - if I recall correctly PH has sufficient fuel to last a while.

[USSAmerica]

Good questions. In China, I'm going to hold the SEAC Chinese formations at Yunan for a while. I'm figuring to try to hold on in India along a Chandpur-Dacca-Imphal-Kohima-Jarhat-Ledo line. This puts the Japanese advancing ground units at least two trail hexes from their nearest source of supply. As long as I can prevent any amphibious landings in India, I feel pretty good about my chances here, without calling in the SEAC Chinese units. I am much less sure how the ground war in China will play out. I think I'll be more likely to make use of the SEAC Chinese units there. If they are not needed in China, they make a good threat to the Japanese rear areas in Burma.

I'm planning to haul a lot of fuel to Oz, in the form of oil. I'll let the Heavy Industry in Oz turn it into fuel, and also generate supplies when combined with the abundant resources there. My TK's are slated for oil transport, and the US AO's are slated for fuel transport to the South Pacific island chain.

Thanks for the input and questions, fcooke! Anyone else with input, questions, or suggestions? [:)]

[USSAmerica]

Just a quick update on the game status.  My opponent has had connection issues, and has been unavailable for a while.  We did anticipate a slow paced (3-4 turns/week) game, but it will take some work to get back to that average.  [:D]

[John 3rd]

Best of Luck!  I have enjoyed your readership of my AAR and I will do the same for yours. 
 
Since I am a Japanese Fan Boy, it might be interesting to read about it from the other side!
 
Good luck and may the whipping commence!
John
 

[USSAmerica]

John, glad to see you stopping by.  Nothing like having an avid reader who is rooting against me.  [:D] 
 
I'm glad to report that Montereytrench and I have been able to resume our game after some connection issues.  We have played two days and there's not a whole lot to report. 
 
Regrettably, I am having problems with my combat_reports.txt file not being updated after running the combat replay file that I receive.  The replay seems to run fine, but I have no record of the combats that happened.  My memory is not good enough to keep track of everything without some records.  LOL  I've emailed Montereytrench to see if he has Combat Reports turned off, and if he knows if this would affect things on my end as well.  Does anyone out there know the answer to this one?  [&:]
 
Here's a general summary of the limited action so far as of 12/10/42:
 
Japanese forces have landed at the usual/historical places:  Vigan, Aparri, and Legaspi in the PI, Guam, Wake, and Khota Bharu.  Not much resistance at any of those location, but he's being patient and waiting to complete his unloading before he attacks.  Guam and Wake fell on 12/7.  Hong Kong fell on the 9th. 
 
I've had some scattered naval strikes at his landing forces at Khota Bharu, but most were drawn to BB Kongo like flies to honey, with no hits.  SS 36 did manage to put a fish into a CA at Aparri.  I took 3 DC hits in retaliation, but I may make it back to Manila with my 19 sys and 36 flt damage.  Baby KB seems to have headed east, away from Legaspi.  Keeping my fingers crossed, I'll report that much of the shipping in the PI looks like it will escape. 
 
The KB has headed NW from the Pearl attack on the 7th at cruise speed for 2 days.  They are heading almost directly for Midway, which I fear may be in for a pounding.  I really want to keep contact with the KB as long as possible with my Patrol squadrons.  I surged all of the subs at Pearl toward the KB in case she decided to linger for another round of attacks.  I have since fanned them out in a rough line moving to the NW.  I hope to spot the KB if they decide to double back toward Hawaii.  I created 4 or 5 ASW TF's around Pearl and fanned them out a bit, but I have not spotted a single Japanese submarine in the area...or anywhere for that matter.  Where are they?
 
My two big questions right now are: 
1) Where is the KB heading?  Just have to try to keep contact with them as long as possible.
2) Where are all the Japanese subs?  I suspect they are filling the waters between Pearl and the West Coast, or staking out the island chain from the US to Oz.  I intend to get patrol planes on Naval Search and ASW deployed to cover the SOPAC island chain as soon as they are repaired from the Pearl strikes.  I will send a couple of the ASW TF's at Pearl on a sweep to SF and back to see what they can find.  I have TF's loading on the West Coast, but I'm going to hold them there until I know what's up. 
 
I won't be getting a turn done tonight, so the next update may be delayed until Friday.  Hopefully, we'll have the combat report issue worked out, so I can keep track of things using Bhodi's Utility (a magnificent tool [&o]), and so I can provide a bit more detail in the next update. 

[ny59giants]

I like to send the sister ships of "BBB" (Big Bad Boise) [&o][&o] south and then over towards Noumea and the Solomons in single ship TF, if I feel the Japanese are going to try to send in lightly escorted invasion TF towards Rabaul. If you don't want to go that far, then at least send them south to Canton Island to try to prevent any quick grap at this important island. Try to send your PBY's to the East Pacific Island chain to give you warning, ASAP.

Over in Burma, consider sending in some AK's to Ragoon (usually they are in SE India at start) and move the CD over to Andamann Island. This will ensure that something more than a SNLF is needed to capture that island. [:D] I usually send some of those AK's to Victory Point to take the BF away before it gets killed and move it to Andamann. Why?? You will need it as a waypoint for your short-legged LBA to go from Malaya to India if you don't have have Ragoon. [;)] Sacrificing a Brigade in Ragoon for what purpose?? Unless you truly want to defned it, that Brigade is lost for no more than a speed bump.

Set up a few single ship TF to move in Resources from Palembang to Singapore. This will help your supply situation. I like to spend a few PP's on the BF on the west coast of Sumatra and ship them over to Palembang. The more engineeers you have there, the greater the amount of damage will be done when it is captured (plus they help build up fortifications). [:D][:D] Don't forget to check on how much supply is generated at Toboali. I did for some time and then clicked on the base and said, "What the f...?" I had ignored it for my first few games and did not realize that I could try to sneak in a few small AK's to take the supply to where it's needed.

[USSAmerica]

Some good points, ny59giants.  My Pearl based SC TF is bound for SOPAC, once the Colorado is able to join from Seattle.  That will give me 3 BB's and several CA's in this group.  They will actually pack a pretty good punch, even if they are a bit slow.  PBY coverage for the SE Pac island chain is a priority, as soon as they are repaired in Hawaii. 
 
I have plans for more than the CD moving to Andaman Is.  I'm intending to send both of the Burma Bdes, and 2 base forces.  The transports have almost arrived in Rangoon.  You're right about sacrificing units at Rangoon.  I'll make a stand just NE at the river crossing, with some troops hanging back in Rangoon to deter an amphib invasion.  They will all retreat NE to Mandalay after some initial resistance. 
 
I have most of the BF's on Sumatra marching toward Palembang to build forts and damage the industry upon capture.  The remote one's will have to wait until higher priority PP needs are taken care of (USAFFE air units, and some LCU fragments).  I already do have AK's loading supplies at Palembang and Toboali, bound for Singapore.  The resources are being hauled to Derby for now, and the oil is heading for Perth.  I know some like to slip some oil into Singapore to turn into fuel/supply, but I prefer to keep my TK's safer, and I think they are already very exposed at Palembang, Tarakan, and Balikpapan.  I'm not even going to try for Brunei or Miri's oil. 

[USSAmerica]

12/10/41 Update:
 
Still trying to work out the Combat Report problem. 
 
KB is still making it's way WNW, past Midway.  They laid a pretty good lick on the airfield at Midway, but not many planes there to be damaged.  Runway is at 54 damage and the AF service is at 23.  The biggest point here is that I am still keeping track of the KB...for now. 
 
Still no contact with any enemy subs.  Anywhere.  [&:]
 
I shifted my TB's from Singapore to Kuantan, where a Vildebeest managed to put a fish into Kongo!  [8D]  I'm sure it's not bad, but she should have a few weeks tour of a drydock sometime soon. 
 
Singapore AF was blasted by several waves of bombers and Zeros from Indochina.  At least it seemed like they blasted it, but my engineers are gathering there, and it's a fairly large AF, so the damage is pretty light:  14 service/2 runway. 
 
The first large Japanese landing force has finally attacked, and they captured an evacuated Legaspi. 
 
Nothing else of serious note took place.  Lots of loading, marching, and transport steaming, based on my initial plans.  I'm keeping an eye out for the first enemy moves into the DEI, so I can get my ships out of harm's way.  I'll be surprised if the full KB doesn't head to this target rich environment ASAP.  If they don't, I'll be expecting a KB supported invasion in the SE Pacific. 

[ny59giants]

You can also base your Dutch transports at Palembang and use them to either bring in supply to Singapore or use them to evac parts of units that can then march to the bottom of Sumatra and then get shipped to India.

[Redd]

Very nice AAR, I will be watching. I have only played against the AI, and this assumes the stock map and forces, but I've done alot of reading so I may have some good advice.
 
  For one thing, you have to either defend Rangoon or abandon it.Any forces in the hex next to Rangoon will retreat into Rangoon. There is nothing that you can do about it.Moving the CD and base force from Rangoon to Andaman is not a bad idea. Rangoon is a deathtrap, anything left there will be destroyed.
 
  As far as the Chinese, I'de get those SEAC units marching towards burma right away. It takes a while to get there, but they're gonna do you more good there than in china. If he does too well in burma you can redirect them through Ledo and on to the DH/ Chandpur/ Calcutta area where the Indian supply and lack of malaria will build them up nicely.
 
   For the chinese area command units, check each unit and send it to the base that it is prepped for. That will double your AV in country right there. Also, the only engineers available in china, other than base forces, are in your combat corps so moving into bases will speed up your fort building. Build forts in all your bases, but don't build anything else. Leave replacements off at the beginning as well. You want to conserve supplies as much as possible. If you can get some transports or bombers into Ledo you can fly supplies into northwest china. They will then move by rail on their own. Note that they will tend to gravitate towards the China Command HQ, so if you move that unit forwards, say to changsa, this will tend to pull supply forwards.
 
  You're not gonna get much use out of the chinese bombers, so you may want to send them to Ledo to run supplies into china. You're also probobly not going to get much out of the fighters either, so I wouldn't go head to head against zeroes ( or much else really ). Remember, every flight by every plane burns supplies, so don't fly anything unneccessarily.Most of the chinese oil is,IIRC, in the north, so you don't wanna lose it or your supply situation might get a little tight. From what I've read, the worst thing the japs can do is strategic bombing on your resources/oil/HI. If he starts with that, you may want to bring in the AVG and actually use them in china (like who does that ?).
 
 By the way, where is the AVG anyway, and what have you been using it for? Many people seem to want to overuse it and get it shot to sh!t in burma or Singapore. P-40B's are in short supply, so you don't wanna shred this unit. After the zero bonus goes away the AVG can be very deadly, so you want to make sure it's sill around by the summer.
 
 That's all i have time for right now, hope it helps. I like your writing style of AAR (i hate combat reports), so keep up the good work, I will be reading.

[anarchyintheuk]

Good start to the aar. ny59giants makes a good point about the Boise cls. Due to the Kung Fu Effect a single Boise may be more effective at base defence than your whole sctf, especially if the invasion tf is led by IJN cls. USN bbs will rarely fire at night if their xp is lower than 50.

[AHFlattop]

USS America,
Looks like you took advantage of the WITP sale over xmas like I did.  I'll be following your AARs closely as I'm still too green to give PBEM a try.
 
Have you considered holding onto Ambiona? It would be a nice base for the 1943 counterattack, but it maybe too exposed being so close to Palau.  Although it is just a step away from Hollandia and Biak...I've thought about pulling the 2 PH divisions from southern PH into either Ambiona and/or Java but really haven't thought this through.
 
Have you considered pulling the B-17s and the P-40s from PH to points south?  Davao & southern PH might be an early target and cut your retreat
I think mines are an important element in defending South & Central Pacific.  Would you be spreading out mines or focusing on a few bases?
 
I think Port Moresby is an important objective for JP as it secures Rabaul and NG and delays the counterattach by 3-6 months.  Remember to preserve your naval assets...The LB-30s start arriving soon.
 
 

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]Thanks for all of the suggestions.  Keep them coming!  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]ny59:  I’m currently using my Dutch transports to airlift the British base forces from Kuching and Brunei to Balikpapan.  From there they will go by ship to Soerabaja.  I need to test if the Dutch transports can “pick up troops” from a restricted command if the transports are based at, and bringing the troops back to a base assigned to the same command.  If so, the next stop for my transports will be Palembang to bring in all the scattered engineers.  They will immediately go to work building forts, but also planting demolition charges all over the oil production facilities.  If the transports can’t carry the restricted command ABDA units, (does anyone know for sure?) then the units will have to make it on foot.  I have other high priority needs for my PP’s in the near term.  In that case, these transports will be reassigned to SEAC and shipped to India where they can start pumping supply into China.  I’m currently flying LCU fragments from Singapore to Moulmein with the Catalina unit, where they are then marching to India to slowly rebuild.  If/when this route is closed down, I’ll fly the rest of the fragments to Java.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Redd:  Thanks for watching.  I hope the show is entertaining.  We are playing with the stock map and forces.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I am not going to allow any units to be caught in the deathtrap of Rangoon.  In addition to the two Burma Brigades and the two base forces, I’m going to try to ship the CD unit to Andaman I.  I hope I can get the airfield expanded quickly there.  Any remaining forces will march to Mandalay before they are trapped or forced to retreat to Rangoon.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m keeping the SEAC Chinese units in China for now.  I have zero confidence in my ability to fight the ground war in China, and I’m pretty confident I can hold the line in India.  I think they will be more useful in China.  Great suggestion about using the Chinese bombers to fly supply into China!  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have been holding the AVG in Mandalay while they get most of their planes in flying shape.  I just transferred the operational ones, 72, to Singapore, where they will fly cap for 1 turn.  My opponent has been pounding it the last couple of turns, so maybe I can sting him a bit.  After 1 turn, the AVG will continue on to Java.  I plan to use them as a hit and run force, allowing plenty of time to recover in between fighting.  I read somewhere here that the AVG is not affected by the zero bonus, since they were the only Allied force that had experience flying against the Zero.  Am I wrong about this?  [&:][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]As for the style of my AAR, I hate to read page after page of combat reports too.  Unfortunately, we are still having issues getting the combat reports to work in our PBEM game, so I can’t even post small pieces yet.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]anarchy:  I didn’t realize that the single ship TF might be more effective than “normal” SCTF’s.  I’ll have to consider this…  Increasing the night exp of my combat ships is a priority.  I hope to find a good “target range” for multiple bombardment runs that is out of enemy LBA range.[;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]AHFlattop:  I picked up WitP over Xmas, but got a better deal than the sale price.  I won a free download in the Matrix Fantasy Football League!  [:D]  The baseball season just started up, and I don’t know what other game I could possibly have time to play when I win that league, too.  [8D]  As for being too green to try PBEM, I think there’s no such thing!  I’ve only played about 3 weeks of game days against the AI before starting this PBEM.  You just need to post in the Opponents Wanted forum for someone willing to “school a newbie.”  I can’t tell you how different it is when the turn comes back via email, compared to playing vs. the AI!  Be willing to lose and learn, and just GO FOR IT![/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Amboina is just a bit too aggressive for me in my first PBEM.  I’m playing this one pretty conservatively, although I would love to be able to hold onto Java!  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My USAFEE air units are a high priority to evacuate from the PI.  Right after the engineers and HQ units, they are the next to be reassigned to different HQ’s and shipped out.  I won’t let them get trapped and killed off.  (I happen to know that Jolo is a current target of invasion planning) [;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I agree that mines are going to be very important in the South & Central Pacific.  I’m keeping the DM’s together in one TF to drop off large loads, and the other, high capacity ML in another TF.  I guess this is keeping the mines more focused.  I’m starting with Johnston and Palmyra.  Round 2 will be Midway and Canton I.  After that, Suva and Pago Pago get a visit.  Basically, the same bases where I’m stationing my PBY’s.  After that, I may seed them all again, or maybe scatter some at other locations.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Port Moresby is a key in the South Pacific, no doubt.  The problem is that I can’t really do much about it if my opponent decides to hit it early.  I’ve airlifted most of the Lark Force Bn from Rabul to PM to bolster it for now.  If it’s still mine in a couple of months, I’ll try to get one of the EAB units into PM to get the AF expanded, and also get some more Bn’s in there.  I’m going to try to plan for both a quick evacuation and a quick reinforcement of PM, depending on how things go.  I’d rather give up PM than Noumea (duh!), so my first troop deployments from the US will go to Noumea.  If my opponent wants to take PM early, I’ll gladly spend my time pounding him by air from Oz.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Preserving my naval assets is part of my prime objective….”avoid auto victory.”  If I can do that, I’m sure I can put the massive amount of force the Allies get later to good use.  It may be slow and costly, but I should be able to crush the Imperial forces in the end.  [8D][/font]

[USSAmerica]

12/11/41 Update:
 
I did mention that this would be a slow paced game, didn't I? [;)] 
 
I received the 12/11 turn from Montereytrench yesterday morning.  Last night I made my moves with the quickest turn around yet.  It only took me about 2 hours.  [:D]  I'm getting faster. 
 
Not much action today.  I sent the 6 PT's that start at Manila into Legaspi, hoping to hit the unescorted transports there.  The transports retreated, and I met a bombardment TF of 8 DD's instead.  Not good.  4 of the PT's went down, for only one shell hit on a DD.  Oh well.  That's what PT's are for, right? 
 
My opponent sure wants to keep Clark AF closed.  He is seriously pounding it every turn.  I have no aircraft there.  They are mostly at Manila, waiting for enough PP's to accumulate so they can be reassigned and shipped out. 
 
He also seems determined to close down Singapore.  He's blasted it two days in a row.  I have enough engineers there to keep it open, but I'm sure his secondary (or primary) goal is keeping me from building more forts.  I've transferred the AVG to Singapore from Mandalay for a turn to give him a little sting.  They will only stick around for a day before they move on to Java. 
 
My first convoy has departed the West Coast for Pearl, from Seattle.  The big convoys in San Fran and LA are almost finished loading.  The San Diego convoy is bound for the South Pacific, and should be finished loading in 2 more days. 
 
The 3rd and 4th USMC CD forces are also finishing up loading and will be heading for Johnston and Palmyra tomorrow.  I have DM's and the ML in the Cent Pac dropping presents at Johnston and Palmyra as well.
 
Many of the Central Pac subs that carry the 80% dud rate Mk 14 torpedos are changing to Sub ML missions and loading out at Pearl for trips to Kwajalein. 
 
I'm still maintaning contact with the KB as it continues to head NW from the Pearl attack.  It's now NW of Midway.  I just can't get any of my subs into position in front of it, but I'm keeping a couple of them in the area to shadow it. 
 
Still no enemy sub sightings, but one of my ASW TF's was spotted by a Glen to the NE of Pearl.  Maybe he just scattered his subs to avoid my ASW surge and is now moving back into the Pearl area... 
 
This is my "not quite as busy" week, so I hope to get a turn back this evening and another one sent out.

[ny59giants]

My opponent sure wants to keep Clark AF closed. He is seriously pounding it every turn. I have no aircraft there. They are mostly at Manila, waiting for enough PP's to accumulate so they can be reassigned and shipped out.

Many Allied players send there LBA from PI to China and on to India, especially the fighters. I usually send the PBY's as the British don't have many long range search planes to give you any warning of invasions from the sea.

Another thing is to send the 7th BG to India while you still have the air bases to do so. It also is the unit that MUST be upgraded to the LB-30's before any other units can (just a reminder in case you forgot or don't know). [;)]

[USSAmerica]

I'll have to look at sending some of the USAFFE air groups to China and Inida.  The more I think about it, the more I like it.  7th BG is currently on it's way to India, and will be upgrading to LB-30's as soon as there are enough in the pool.  [:)]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]12/12/41 Update:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]We made some technical progress today.  We still don’t have Combat Reports working yet, but this turn replay included Combat Animations.  [;)][/font][font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I lost contact with the KB today, approximately 200 miles NW of Midway.  Until they are spotted again, the pucker factor will slowly increase day by day.  LOL[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I spotted an actual IJN sub today!  PBY’s flying out of Manila spotted it 1 hex west of Jolo.  I happen to have an 8 DD SC group at Jolo….wonder if he’ll move the sub in time?[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]One of the IJN CVL/CVE’s reappeared to the SE of the PI.  It bagged one of my AK’s evacuating from the PI.  I’ll probably lose a couple more AK’s in this area, but most have already cleared Sorong, heading south to Darwin.  If the CVL group continues heading west, I’ll evac the TK’s and AK’s loading at Tarakan.  I have a fast SC TF at Menando with a couple of CA’s and CL’s and a bunch of DD’s.  I may try to hit him with these guys if he continues to approach.  I need to beef up the naval search air power in this area.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A Vildebeest hit an AP with a torpedo at Khota Bharu.  Maybe one of the subs I have in the area will be able to pick this guy off now.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]At Singapore, the AVG opened up a can of whoopass on a large air raid from Indochina.  44 Bettys, 36 Nells, and 36 Zeros were met by 56 P40Bs and a couple of Buffalos.  20 P40Bs were damaged and 2 destroyed, but they took a heavy toll on the raid:  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Zeros:  14 Destroyed, 3 Damaged[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Nells:   9 Destroyed, 10 Damaged[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Bettys: 20 Destroyed, 4 Damaged[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]These guys were a pretty long way from home, so I doubt if many of the downed pilots were rescued.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]1 bomb hit on the runway at Singapore.  The AVG will stand down next turn to let some of the damaged planes repair, and then they will be moved on to Java.  I may move them back here on another ambush mission once they are fully operational again.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]It looks like I misjudged the load cost for some of the LCUs at San Diego and LA, or they are growing.  I’m going to have to leave some of the smaller units behind to follow on in the next wave.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Also on the West Coast, I have almost completed loading 4 TK’s of oil.  They will form up off of San Diego with a small escort and then head to Sydney.  I’ve almost completely cleaned out the oil stocks on the West Coast.  I know this will slow down my Heavy Industry here (very temporarily) but I should be able to make up those HI points by fueling the HI in Oz with the oil.  I’ll also get fuel and supply generated in Oz, instead of needing to use AK’s for the supply and TK’s to haul the fuel.  Of course, much more supply and fuel will be sent off to Oz as soon as the shipping becomes available in a couple of weeks.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Does anyone see any drawbacks to completely draining the oil from the West Coast like this?  I can’t think of any, so I’m getting ready to start loading the rest of the 4 or 5 TK’s remaining on the WC for a second oil run to Oz.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I suspect that my experienced IJN opponent is taking it easy on me, and moving much less aggressively than he could.  I have yet to see an enemy ship in the entire DEI area, except the Khota Bharu landing TFs.  This is allowing me to grab a bunch of the oil from Palembang, Tarakan, and Balikpapan, as well as getting some supply into Singapore and some troops out to Java.  I’ve also been able to evacuate most of the shipping from the PI.  Now that I’ve lost contact with the KB, I estimate it could reach the DEI in 7-10 days from its last known position.  I’ll have to be ready to make a run for it with all of my ships in the area at any time after the next 7 days.[/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]12/13/41 Update:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I sent SS KXII into the base hex of Khota Bharu where she took a shot at CA Kumano but missed, put 1 fish into AK Kinka Maru, and then got pounded by it’s escort of 1 PC, 1 PG, and 2 MSW.  5 hits did 39S/66F damage.  [X(]  Ouch!  I hope she can make it 7 hexes to Singapore.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Another air raid visit fromSaigon at Singapore.  31 Nells, 32 Bettys, and only 10 Zeros.  Almost makes me wish I had kept the AVG active here.  I’ve moved the undamaged AVG planes to Soerabaja, and the damaged ones are repairing very slowly.  I need more aviation support at Singapore!  The locals flying their Buffalos did pick off one Betty.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The suspected CVL TF remains 3 hexes W of Palau.  They sent 18 Kates today to pick off another AK, just E of Morotai.  She didn’t sink yet, but she will today, from her 99S/91F/49Fire damage.  Arm the scuttling charges.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I continue the learning process when it comes to calculating and planning load costs vs. shipping available at San Diego.  I’m currently unloading supply from an AK to load the last of the 2nd USMC Div.  [8|][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Day 2 of the “KB location unknown” watch…. [:)][/font]