Oh my, I think I killed an albatross... (No Roy2008)

[terje439]

Roy GET OUT!!!



This a pbem game with me playing the Allies and Roy2008 playing Japan.
The only HR agreed upon is this:
my planning for Dec 7th is limited to moving the CV TFs and I can do whatever I want in China .
When I think about how I am doing in my witp game against Roy, I fear that more than one albatross has been killed by allied sailors this turn ...

Game settings
scenario 002
FOW on
Weather ON
ADU ON
PDU ON
Historical Turn OFF
Surprise ON
Torpedos OFF
R&D OFF
Withdrawals OFF
Reinforcment +-60
reports ON
Auto Subs OFF
Radius ON ( both )
expand OFF
Auto Upgrade OFF
Accept Replacements OFF

Feel free to laugh at/sympathize with/marvel at/comment my mistakes that will cost millions of allied lifes!

[terje439]

Dec 7th 1941

This scene plays out in several locations, including:
Fleet base Pearl Harbour, Fleet base Manilla, ABDA HQ, Singapore and Hong Kong

Intel officer: Sirs, our spies and radiorecievers have picked up something. It seems the Japanese are up to something. One of our spies even suggests that they are about to invae Malaya!

Ranking officer: The Japanese are ALWAYS up to something, I am sure it is nothing. But just to be sure send out some planes or something and let me get back to bed!




And so the carnage begins...

[terje439]

Something to read while we wait to see if all the fuss about a pending Japanese attacks comes into effect or not.

At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came ;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit ;
The helmsman steered us through !

And lo ! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog and floating ice.
And a good south wind sprung up behind ;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo !
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine ;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'

The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.
`God save thee, ancient Mariner !
From the fiends, that plague thee thus !--
Why look'st thou so ?'--With my cross-bow
I shot the ALBATROSS.

The Sun now rose upon the right :
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.
And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners' hollo !

His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck.
And I had done an hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe :
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch ! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow !

(From Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner")

[terje439]

Well, how will things be handled if a Japanese attack does indeed occur?
I will break it down into a few areas and say what I intend to do.

India/Burma
Here we will withdraw towards the Indian border to bases the Japanese will have a harder time cutting off. I have not yet decided exactly which bases as of yet. We will also try to free up as many Indian units as possible from the interior without dropping our garrison values too low. Tricomalee must be guarded, and quite a few men needs to be posted there alongside fighters, bombers and search planes.

NEI
We will make a stand for some time at Soerebaja trying to buy some time. As much oil/fuel/supplies as possible will be shipped to Australia. We will also try to withdraw as many forces as possible from NEI when the time seems ripe.

Aus/NZ/PNG
We must reinforce northern Australia to guard off any attacks, and we will also do our outmost to keep Port Moresby. From previous engagements I know that I will also need to garrison all islands around Noumea, and this becomes the dealbreaker. There does not seem to be enough ground units available. If Japan wants to, they can take most islands. We must decide which ones are essential, and garrison those as much as possible.

Central Pacific
The islands around Pearl needs to be reinforced to deny them to the Japanese, and hopefully Midway will be held as well.

West Coast
ASW patrols must be kept up, units will be ordered to prepare for alot of bases to throw the enemy off, and all planes will be ordered to train so they are ready to face the Japanese airforce.

Alaska/Aleutians
We might allow the Japanese to advance as far as Dutch Harbour, but they will not be allowed to take DH or any base to the east of DH.

[aprezto]

I'm betting it's all hot air and you'll be back to sunning yourself on the decks of the big BBs at Pearl.

[terje439]

Actually I fear the initial strike (if any) will hit at Manilla with all those precious subs [:@]

[aprezto]

It is certainly attractive and is why the house rule of only one port strike in the surprise attack was made in WitP.
 
From the little I have read the subs, even the US ones, seem more effective even with faulty torpedos. However, they are no longer the workhorse in moving fragments of units you wish to build later. So their loss is potentially not as impactful as it was in WitP.
 
This is conjecture and probably still remains to be seen.

[terje439]

True, but it seems the Japanese now has alot less shipping ability, ands such each lost AP will hurt him down the line.
And ofc I can always convert some subs into SSTs later on I guess.

[wernerpruckner]

Hi terje,

I also - once again - play a game vs Lutz (roy2008)........
in my game hi attacked PH with 4 CVs and all others attacked Manilla.

I think he will try the same in your game.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: swift

Hi terje,

I also - once again - play a game vs Lutz (roy2008)........
in my game hi attacked PH with 4 CVs and all others attacked Manilla.

I think he will try the same in your game.

Did he ever [:D]

[terje439]

December 7th 1941

Settle down please gentlemen. It is true, Japan has gone to war with the Allies. USA was attacked as well, and due to this event I have been placed in overall command of all troops employed in the entire Pacific theathre.

The attack was obviously well planned, and they struck our main bases. Manilla and Pearl Harbour was hit hard, but fortunately losses were very light. The British however was not as lucky and lost their Forze Z as well as two light cruisers. It has become clear that the navies of the world now depend on air cover.

I have prepared a few reports to show our current situation.


First our naval losses today


This is a hard blow, but it could have been much worse.

[terje439]

Then the ships that were hit at Pearl Harbour but did not sink




These have all been given repair orders.

[terje439]

Our and enemy aerial losses of the day





A ratio of 92:38 is not good, however 40 of our planes were lost on the ground.

[terje439]

The sites of Japanese landings and naval attacks

[terje439]

Movement orders issued for our ground troops

[terje439]

Suggested "fronts" in the Pacific

[terje439]

But what now?

Philliphines
Here we will hold out for as long as possible. Our planes here will rebase to friendly bases as the enemy draws closer. Fortifications have been ordered in Manilla, Bataan and Clark Airfield. These are the bases were we will gather.

China
Two units of the AVG is on their way to force Japan to protect her bombers. The Chinese will take up defensive positions and try to tie up as many Japanese assault forces as possible.

Malaya
The British admits that Singapore will fall, and soon. The forces in the southern part of Malaya will however head south to Singapore to buy us some time. The units in northern Malaya will try to reach the Indian borders.

India
The Indian army will take up position on the Burmese border, however several units needs to be held back from the frontlines to counter partisan actions. Fortifications will be built on the Burmese border, as well as in the major ports.

NEI
The Dutch are heading for Soerebaja where fortifications are being built. They will try to ship as much fuel and oil as possible to Australia. ABDA forces will head to northern Australia to bolster the defences there as soon as they can be freed from their current work.

Pacific Islands
These are being reinforced from the US.

Australia/New Zealand
Australian forces are heading towards Port Moresby, and fortifications are being built in northern Australia.

USA/Canada
Some fortifications are being built in the eastern most parts of Canada and Alaska. Espesially Alaska needs reinforcements to hold any serious Japanese assault.

[terje439]

Issued orders

-Surface task forces are being assembled in Brisbane and Soerebaja. These will attack any underprotected Japanese ships. They will however not go to battle against all odds.

-Subs are being sent from Soerebaja to form a picket line. They are ordered to fire at will. Subs have also been sent out from Manilla to cover the east side of the islands. The subs at Pearl Harbour are all racing towards the location of the Kido Butai with the orders to attack at all cost.

-All shipping in Singapore is heading south towards Soerebaja.

-Some of our young hotheads in Pearl Harbour and Manilla have set out in small crafts carrying only some minor guns and one torpedo each. These men are reported to have uttered "Tokyo or Hell!" as they set out.

-A massive program have taken place in Australia, New Zealand, India and the USA. Alot of comercial cargoships are being altered to perform various tasks. Some will help rearm our big naval vessels as the war progresses, and some are being rebuilt to be able to ship troops in a better manner. (AK -> AKE, AK -> AP)

-Transport convoys heading towards Singapore from Europe and Africa have been rerouted to the Indian border. No more troops will arrive in Singapore.

-Transport convoys are filling up with soldiers on the US West Coast. These men will reinforce the Pacific Islands.

-US carrier forces are heading south trying to avoid battle with the Kido Butai at present time.

-All aerial units not capable of engaging the enemy in any way have been ordered to step up their training program.

-Some of the troops in ports on the US West Coast have been given orders to pretend to prepare for some of the Japanese bases hoping that any spies in the US will pick up on this and report to Tokyo, forcing the Japanese Empire to keep garrisons in places they really do not need them.




That is it for today gentlemen, any questions?

[terje439]

December 8th 1942

Gentlemen I am afraid I bring bad news, bad news, bad news, worse news and some small glimmer of hope.

Today the Japanese secured their initial landing sites, capturing or killing all our personell there. The Japanese also attacked Manilla and Pearl Harbour again today targeting the ports. An report is attached showing that we lost 28 ships today. Unfortunately not all of these were docked ships, so many a sailor lost his life today.
This occured as the ships ordered to flee from Singapore to Soerebaja encounterd strong Japanese naval forces and were promptly sunk at sea.
The only good news is that it is doubtful that Pearl Harbour will be attacked again as the Japanese lost 38 planes there today versus only one of ours, so it seems that the rumor going around that the Japanese are either better pilots or have better planes are simply not true.

So far we are able to keep record of the Japanese carriers, the Kido Butai is SE of Pearl Harbour, one light carrier is SW of the Philliphines and the rest are SE of Manilla. Our submarines have been ordered to hunt them down at all costs.

As a side note, one of our Catalina pilots claims to have seen a Japanese destroyer sink due to a collision with a cruiser, this is however not confirmed.

[AttuWatcher]

Thanks for the super detailed breakdown of your initial moves...very helpful to me as I prepare to try my first GC vs. the AI.

I remember reading rime of the ancient mariner around age 10 and wanting badly to go on a sea voyage  [:D]