Borner vs Wirraway

[Wirraway_Ace]

This is an AAR for a new game between Borner (Japan) and Wirraway (Allies).

Scenario 17, 100% Commitment, no Japanese Sub Doctrine, yes Allied Damage Control, variable reinforcement, no house rules, version 2.5.

This thread is open to Borner to read and post.

Let the games begin. [:D]

[Wirraway_Ace]

[font="times new roman"]The AAR is approximately 45 days behind the battle which gives more opportunity for candor.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]My strategy/philosophy for this campaign was to imagine how the campaign for the Solomons might have been approached by the Allies if Midway had never happened (a major premise of Scenario 17).  There would have been tremendous pressure for some sort of victory which would have made it nearly impossible for the Allied Commanders to sit back and husband their strength, waiting for a time when they would be strong enough to fight back.  What if, in the absence of the naval victory at Midway, MacArthur was able to win support for his desire to have major naval forces, including carriers, attached to his command.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]For the opening month of the scenario, I assumed the MacArthur was able to get the boundary between SWPAC and SOPAC moved to the East of the Solomons and have the carriers and cruisers operating in the Coral Sea under his command.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Now I only had to imagine what MacArthur would have done...[/font]

[borner]

MacArthur with Carrier Groups under his general command?  [X(]   Nothing will ever get released from Pearl Harbor!! [:D]
 
Serioulsy though. Fairly interesting game thus far. The US is defending in some strength forward. G-G is held by what appears to be about half a division. Buna and Irau have also been garrisoned, exact strength as of yet unknown. I opened by sending the South sea deth to Gili-Gili, but the utter failuer of my CV based Cap cost me several AP's and greatly reduced the combat strength of my units. I now have another  Brigade almost in place and expect the site to be liberated fairly soon. This has thrown off my timetable by several weeks.
I have not detected any major convoys into PM, and have been fairly successful in inflicting some decent damage on his AK's that have been in the area. Otherwise, not much combat to report as of yet.
 
 

[Wirraway_Ace]

[font="times new roman"]MacArthur’s Intent:  fight, fight, fight!  Don’t give the Jap anything that he doesn’t pay for in blood and steel!  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]It also helps that I have never played a game past 1 Jun 42, so I am blissfully ignorant of what is in store…I am trying to fight the battle each day and not overly worry about when the full KB shows up, when I get P38s, etc.[/font]

[Wirraway_Ace]

[font="times new roman"]The Battle for Gili Gili is the first example of Mac’s strategy.  Allied and Japanese ground, air and naval forces have been fighting for the natural harbor on the southern tip of New Guinea since the first days of the campaign.  An infantry battalion of the 18th Australian Bde was flown in by PBY from 1 – 4 May 42.  It had just settled in when a Jap Naval Garrison unit was dropped off by fast transport hoping to catch the Allies napping.  The lead elements of the Aussie Bde were more than a match for the Japs.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Over the next couple of weeks, MacArthur reinforced Gili Gili by fast transport with the remainder of the Bde, a small engineer unit, and a small HQ slice.  Naval officers on his staff argued strenuously against using surface combat ships as troop transports.  They were promptly fired and replaced with officers who had a “broader prospective” of the uses of heavy cruisers.  The Jap did not appear to spot the fast transports.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]PBY patrols sniffed out a transport convoy leaving Rabual.  Intelligence estimated that its probable target was Gili Gili.  The mini-KB also was sighted leaving Shortland and it was assumed that it would cover the assault.  Medium bomber squadrons readied at Port Moresby and a carrier TF was staged to exploit any opportunities.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Numerous small “S” class submarines were also moved to the waters around Gili Gili.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Allied LBAs and dive bombers broke through the CAP over the Jap transports 30 miles SE of the base and hit 5 transports, though bomber losses were high (10 aircraft out of 40).  Submarines finished off many of the cripples.  The next day’s strikes damaged 4 more transports that were eventually sunk by more bombs or the lurking subs.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]The Jap infantry that was able to land was easily repulsed by the Allied forces.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Two weeks later, the Japs decided to try again.  This time the troop transports made it through, though Big E and Lexington were able to sneak in a strike that eventually accounted for another 9 enemy transports.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]It is now 23 June 42.  The full KB has smashed Allied airpower at Port Moresby and the brave soldiers defending Gili Gili have been under constant air, naval and ground bombardment for weeks.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]The end appears near.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Will MacArthur be relieved when and if Port Moresby falls?  What will Admiral King and Gen Marshall think, thousands of miles away, when Mac’s strategy results in a large number of prisoners being taken by the Japs.  Will they be reminded of Corregidor?[/font]

[borner]

One of these S-class sure earned it's pay this week, managing to put a torp into the "Z", which is now on her way home under escort. She should be back in a few months. Still, I do not like the idea of loosing the service of one of my best carriers. ASW partols got a measure of revenge, hitting 2 of his subs the next turn.
 
US carriers also hit Lugna for a couple of turns, but no ships were in the area. I expect G-G to fall by the end of the week, then the real operations can begin.

[Wirraway_Ace]

MAJ GEN Basil Morris has promised MacArthur "Chistmas at Gili Gili".  While he would appear to be on shaky ground with such a rash promise, for the moment the Jap attack seems to be stalling. I think both the 144th and the 170th regiments are nearly spent after more than a month of constant attempts to dislodge the plucky Aussies.  We will wait and see if he commits any parts of his two good divisions.

The highly skilled Val pilots of the KB have been making life difficult on the "S" boats who had been turning the straights SE of Gili Gili into their own version of Iron Bottom Sound.  COMSUBSWPAC will have to reevaluate the undersea war strategy with so many boats suddenly coming under successful air attack. 

[borner]

yes, they are tired, but friends are on the way

[borner]

another couple of S-Class reported hit. One by one those pesky things are going down!

[tocaff]

There was a reason that in the USN the older subs were called "pigboats".

[Wirraway_Ace]

Intel Report from 1 July 42. Points should start to further swing Borner's way now as he pushes to take Gili Gili and Port Moresby.

[borner]

One thing about points in UV is that the game only counts what you have, not when you take it. Not sure if that is good or bad overall, but it takes away any motavation to push ahead any faster than you really want to.

[borner]

Toyko Rose is pleased to announce the liberation of Gili Gili. Losses for the allies total over 6000 to this point, with another 1700 reported to still be in the area.
 
AP's have landed troops at Port M, and this base should fall within the next few days.
 
US CV's have been pounded Lugna, taking advantage of the now tired KB being used to support these assaults. However, now that this flank is secure, Irau should soon fall. Hopefully Wirraway will keep his carriers in the area to contest the landing, but I doubt it.
 
 

[borner]

The fight for PM continues. Wirraway continues to have his c-47's fly in more troops. Maybe he thinks he can hold out long term? We shall see.

[Wirraway_Ace]

[font="times new roman"]Gili Gili fell to Japan on 13 July 1942, and Port Moresby on 17 July 1942.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]“Gili Gili and Port Moresby need no comments from me,”  MacArthur tells the press.  “They have sounded their own story at the mouth of their guns.  They have scrolled their own epitaph on the enemy tablets.  But through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, I will always seem to see a vision of grim, gaunt, ghastly men, still unafraid.”[/font]
[font="times new roman"] 
In other news, MGEN Basil Morris has been relieved of his Command of the New Guinea Division.  A despondent Morris was apparently challenged by MacArthur to “Look to his Division” after the fall of Port Moresby.  MGEN Morris is reported to have responded, “Sir, I have no Division.”[/font]

[tocaff]

An exchange between Generals Lee and Pickett perhaps after Pickett's Charge.

[borner]

Sorry to say there is not much to report. Japan is resting and regrouping after our longer than expected PM campaign troops are being dispatched over both trails to mop up the remaining Allied troops in the area. Ourfleet is finally seaworthy again after running back to port with near empty fuel tanks. The next ovbious target is Irau. I am expecting the allies to try and make a stand here, as he has continued to work on the airfield at this base. I do not think at this point in the game the US can maintain a base this far forward, but we shall see......

[Wirraway_Ace]

Intel Report, 1 Aug 1942. HYPO intercepts suggest the Jap will have enough fuel at his forward bases to continue his advance by mid August.

[Wirraway_Ace]

7 Aug 1942. MacArthur flies to the sourthern tip of San Cristobal Island (Irau) to inspect the troops during the mid-winter Sitzkrieg.

[Wirraway_Ace]

8 Aug 1942. ADM Nimitz flew in to meet with MacArthur at Noumea over his plan to use Mitschner and Spruance's carriers during the expected Jap campaign to take Irau. After the meeting, Nimitz met with the Carrier TF Commanders separately and also called ADM King to lobby again to have the boundry between SWPAC and SOPAC pushed futher west to make VADM Ghormley responsible for the defense of Irau. Only time will tell which of the competing strategies will prevail...