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hi all,

thiery and me started a stock game with the "typical Hrs" to prevent things like über-CAP, massive air attacks on dozends of single ship TFs, too many PT at a base...

i play the japanese and after learning alot from my current japanese german opponent (greetings to roy), i managed to get a good start.

this AAr is about the game and thiery is allowed to post his POV here.

here the events of turn 1:

-china

smaller japanese air strikes at homan and yenen. massive troop movements to the first targets in china.

-burma:

bad news from here. in an attempt to eliminate the mighty AVG, japanese paratroops landed on the base but failed to knock down the defenders in turn 1. seems that i have to destroy the AVG on the hard and bloody way.

-malaya:

massive japanese air strikes at allied AFs at Khota Bharu, Alor Star, Kuantan. some allied blenheims are destroyed even before takeing off. the main strike at malaya had singapur as target. 25 zeros and 70 nells managed to destroy over 20 british planes on ground. we lost 3 nells to the heavy AA fire over the "gibraltar of the east".

troop landings at kuantan. small and uncoordinated allied air strikes managed to damage 2 AK/APs. most of the british and dutch planes went after my battleships and didnt land any hits on them.

-philipines:

massiv ais strikes from formosa destroyed 30 allied AC at clark field. also, the port of manila was the focus of a second strike force which caused heavy damage to the allied ships in the harbor:

Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
G3M Nell x 80
G4M1 Betty x 63

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships
SS Shark, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Bisayas, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Sealion, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
SS Searaven, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS Saury, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AS Canopus, Bomb hits 1
DD John D. Ford, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Seadragon, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
PG Tulsa, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AV Langley, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Porpoise, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS Spearfish, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
SS S-40, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AO Pecos, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Permit, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Tanager, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS S-37, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AS Holland, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Pillsbury, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Peary, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Pickerel, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Stingray, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS Perch, Bomb hits 1, on fire

japanese landings at laoag.

-DEI:

a japanese cruiser force bombarded kendari. landing troops are close to this important base.

also, japanese troops landed at palembang and singkawang supported by naval bombardements.

-south pacific:

massive landings at rabaul. more toops are one day away from this vital base. navy units support the operation by supressing the allied countrfire.

-hawaii:

huge and very good japanese strike at pearl harbor. a good mix of torpedos and bombs was deliverd to the US battlefleet there. also, a huge number of allied AC was destroyed on ground and in A2A combat. the US fighters were simply no match for the zeros and went down in great numbers:

Day Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 112,68

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 94
D3A Val x 126
B5N Kate x 143

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 2
P-26A x 8
P-36A Mohawk x 3
P-40B Tomahawk x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed, 11 damaged
D3A Val: 7 destroyed, 44 damaged
B5N Kate: 13 destroyed, 26 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
P-26A: 5 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 11 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 34 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 6 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 11 destroyed
B-18A Bolo: 5 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 3 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Blue, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
BB California, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 3, on fire
DD Selfridge, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Schley, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 1
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis, Torpedo hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
176 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 33
Runway hits 145

one of the best PH attacks i ever saw in a WITP game. one BB went down fast after beeing hit by several air torpedos within seconds. AA fire was intense but the loses were worth the attack and its results.

events of the first 2 weeks:



1: japanese troops advance fast through burma. rangoon was liberated and then the troops made a succesfull river crossing attack east of the city driving the desorginized allied troops to pagan and mandalay.

several fighter sweeps destroyed the remainings of the RAF fighter comand in burma (mostly outdated buffalo fighters)

2:kuantan was liberated. after that several army divisions with support troops crossed the malaya paninsula and are in heavy fighting with the british malaya army at kuala lumpur. also, georgetown was liberated and two army divisions advance to south malaya to join the battle of kuala lumpur.

most of the RAF air power was destroyed at singapur.

3:palembang was liberated and from there, dutch air power was nearly totaly destroyed by attacking the AFs at sorebaja and batavia.

4:kendari and timor were liberated. a dutch TF sonsisting of CA, CL and DD was driven away by navy betty and nells. several dutch ships were damaged by aerial torpedos.

5:rabaul was taken away after 2 days of fighting. from there, smaller invasion TFs were orderd to capture lae, buna, gili gili, lunga, shortlands...until US carriers suddenly attacked one of the TFs and destroyed a small number of AP, PC! at least 2 carriers took part in the attack (around 70 SBD).

6: KB was SW of rabaul to cover the landing operations. after spotting allied carriers, admiral yamagutchi gave order to intercept the enemy at full speed. and that was the beginning of the battle of coral sea. attacking from east of gili gili, KB was out of range for torpedo attacks but also safe from allied counter attacks (the allied CV-TF was NW of gili gili). over 250 bomb loaden kates and vals attacked the 2 US carriers enterprise and lexington. after over 50 bomb hits, both ships sunk with their entire carrier air wings! the KB lost only a dozend zeros, kates and vals.

this will give the empire "free hands" in south pacific.after this threat is eliminated, the invasion forces for PM are back en route at full speed.

7: at homan, an attempt to cut off the allied forces there was prevented by a chinese shock attack west of the city. although the japanese troops were more, better equiped and had a highter AV, they were forced to retreat. now i have to take the city head on what will cause more casualties.

8: before sailing to truk and defeating the allied carriers at coral sea, KB launched two more attacks at peal harbor destroying another US BB and causing more damage to the remainig ones.

but the first week had also a bad news. thanks to my own stupidity, the sowjets are now activated.[&:] i simply put too many troops out of the manshuko-army to china. the best and only hope now is to finish the chinese as fast as possible to make troops free for fighting against the red army in far east.

so far, only a handfull japanese DD and around 15 AP/AK are lost. the allied lost 2 CV, at least 2 BB, a handfull CA/CL, 20+ DD and around 40-50 AP/Ak and other support ships.

sounds like a promising war! especially with the succesfull strikes at pearl and the sinking of the cv's!!


how will the russian actvitiy influence your airforce in China/ manchuko/ Burma?

well, i dont have enough air power to deal with the british, US AND sowjets at the same time.

espacialy the fighters are the problem. the main sowjet fighter planes are superior to oscars and nates and only the zero can beat them, but i need all zeros at other places. for now the troops at the russian front have to keep their heads down and eat the bombs.

and here is the update:

01/04/42



1: japanese troops are just south of mandalay. there are at least 20.000 allied troops in the city.

2:homan is the main target here. fort level is at 4 and the city is under heavy aerial attacks to keep the fort level low.

3:johore bahru just N of singapur is also under japanese attack. i got the fort level down to 3 in the last turn.

4:massive landing operation at kragen with BB and CV support. several allied planes were shot down by the CAP while attacking my ships.

5:port moresby librated. over 8.000 allied troops surrender there.

and in the last turn, operation "gift for tenno" was initiated. more details later.

update for 01/19/42:

-sorabaja captured by 3 imperial divisions and 3 ENG regiments. around 16.000 disorganized dutch troops rerteat to the south and will be finished off in the next turn.

-first attacks at singapur look very promising:

Ground combat at Singapore

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 170711 troops, 1394 guns, 535 vehicles, Assault Value = 2834

Defending force 51566 troops, 304 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 708

Japanese max assault: 1675 - adjusted assault: 1160

Allied max defense: 669 - adjusted defense: 915

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4


Japanese ground losses:
2082 casualties reported
Guns lost 41
Vehicles lost 10

Allied ground losses:
3146 casualties reported
Guns lost 64
Vehicles lost 1

singapur should fall within a week and that makes the whole malaya army free for other operations.

-finaly i got some divisions on the road west of homan. the chinese troops there (130.000 men) have no road connection to other chinese bases and they city should fall soon.

-in manchuku, the sowjet air force was very active and attacked several forward bases. AA fire and fighters took down 60 sowjet planes in the last 5 days for the lose of 8 zeros.

-operation "gift for tenno" is less then a week away from beeing preformed. as soon as malaya is free, operation "west wind" will be initiated.

01/23/42:

singapur the pearl of the east was liberated by troops of the 14th army:

Ground combat at Singapore

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 166624 troops, 1218 guns, 511 vehicles, Assault Value = 2623

Defending force 40202 troops, 175 guns, 18 vehicles, Assault Value = 486

Japanese max assault: 3322 - adjusted assault: 2957

Allied max defense: 451 - adjusted defense: 321

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Singapore base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
882 casualties reported
Guns lost 26
Vehicles lost 8

Allied ground losses:
73631 casualties reported
Guns lost 214
Vehicles lost 3

02/05/42

operation "gift for tenno" rolls on.

Kb sailed into a position 200 sm west of pearl harbor and at 5:00 AM, the silence over the pacific ocean war interrupted by the might of the japanese 1st air fleet takeing of from 6 carriers of the 1st (akagi, kaga) 2nd (zuikaku, shokaku) and 3th (hiryu, soryu) carrier division.

under the command of admiral Yamaguchi, a strike package consisting 56 fighters and 252 bombers took of and arrived at pearl harbor at 6:30 AM. the flight leader was the victor of the early attack at pearl at 7the december, colonel fuchida in his kate torpedo bomber.

this time, the japanese strike force runs into a heavy CAP of 100 allied fighters. after the fierce 2 hours air battle, the results came out of all the smoke and burning plane wrecks:

Day Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 112,68

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 56
D3A Val x 138
B5N Kate x 114

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 10
P-39D Airacobra x 55
P-40B Tomahawk x 20
P-40E Warhawk x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed, 3 damaged
D3A Val: 33 destroyed, 50 damaged
B5N Kate: 20 destroyed, 26 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 10 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 56 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 9 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 17 destroyed
B-18A Bolo: 5 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 3 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 4 destroyed
LB-30 Liberator: 1 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
83 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 150


the allied counterattack:

Day Air attack on TF at 107,68

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 77

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 6
B-18A Bolo x 25
A-20B Boston x 6
B-26B Marauder x 33
B-17E Fortress x 30
LB-30 Liberator x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed, 26 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 14 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed
B-18A Bolo: 9 destroyed, 7 damaged
A-20B Boston: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 8 destroyed, 17 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 4 destroyed, 17 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 1
CA Chikuma
CV Soryu
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 1
CV Akagi
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 4, on fire
CV Zuikaku


overal, it was a good first day. the allied fighter power over pearl is gone and all my carriers are still able to start and land planes. also, the landing fleet was not attacked and is still intact.