The Dragonfly War -Tone(J) v JonReb(A) Super Secret Japaneses AAR

[Tone]

This is a restarted game of Grand Campaign that I and JonReb have agreed to of starting – We had started of a campaign in Reluctant Admiral but there were problem with version one – I asked of JonReb if he would kindly restart and he graciously agreed. I am in command of the Empire of Japan and JonReb is the commander of the Allied Alliance

My goal is the total defeat of the Allies which I believe this is possible of through superior of strategy and local tactical excellence - I am of the option that defeat of the Allied juggernaut will be achieved if some of basic rules are followed – The main driver of operations for Japan should be of the acquisition of fuel sources – then next should be the acquisition of bases of sufficient depth to defend these fuel sources - but not of too much depth that fuel would be wasted in the maintenance of these bases.

Destruction of enemy forces on the ground in the air and at sea should also be of high priority – but on Japans terms – meaning of under the cover of land based air umbrella and with such concentration of force that local superiority is achieved – all of operations should be carry out while abiding by of simple guidelines - Local and strategic reserves should be built for the expected Allied counter attacks in early 1943 – With use of these reserves we will be able to launch counter air and counter landing operations against Allied invasions.

Rules are of.
1. No resource bombing on either side in China.
2. No strategic bombing before 1943.
3. Must spend PP to move units from China/Manchuria/Korea.
4. KB cannot hunt the allied CVs after the Pearl Harbour attack.
5. Japan can have multiple port attacks on Day one, but only launched from Carriers.
6. No sub invasions.
7. 4 engine bombers cannot naval attack below 10k ft.
8. Paratroopers cannot be split to make numerous attacks, one formation for one target.
9. No building anti-atomic bomb missiles.
10. Only dots/bases invaded.
11. Max 5 artillery units per base (except for cornered situations).
12. On 7 Dec, only existing (Allied) TF's get to move.

Settings are of

Fog of War: ON
Advanced Weather Effect: ON
Allied Damage Control: ON
Player Def. Upgrades: ON
Historical First Turn: OFF
December 7th Surprise: ON
Reliable USN Torpedoes: OFF
Realistic R&D: ON
No unit withdrawals: OFF
Reinforcements: Historical
Combat Reports: ON
Auto Sub Ops: OFF
TF Move Radius: ON
Plane Move Radius: ON
Set All Facilities To Expand At Start: OFF
Automatic Upgrade Ships And Air Groups: OFF
Accept Air And Ground Replacements: OFF
Turn Cycle: 1
Map Style: Without Hexes (If need hexes you can turn Hex side Details; ON)
Show Combat Animations: ON
Show Combat Summaries: ON

[Tone]

The Plan of.

[DivePac88]

Hi Yoshi... good luck with your game, hope your war goes to plan. [:)]

[Tone]

Hello Divepac88 thank you - I will have to work JonReb is dangerous opponent similar to you.

[Tone]

This is plan of Airframe production-

For Naval Air Service-

A6M2 increase existing factory at Maebashi from 56 to 112 – Convert of Nagoya E14Y1 factory to 48 A6M2 – make total of 160 a month – A6M2 will replace A5M4 in all operational unit as soon as possible and A5M4 will be relocated to training duty only.

B5N2 will start building of a rate at 32 a month at Hiroshima factory.

D3A1 will increase from 12 to build rate of 24 a month at Nagoya factory.

G3M2 will continue to build at rate of 22 a month at Maebashi factory.

G4M1 will increase build rate of 25 a month to of 50 at Nagoya factory – G4M2 will replace G3M2 in some operational units – G3M2 will be relocated to air search and training duty.

H6K4 will increase from 6 to a build rate of 12 at Osaka factory.

E13A1 will continue to build at rate of 27 a month at Hiroshima factory – E13A1 will replace E7K2 - E8N2 - F1M2 in all frontline duty - E7K2 - E8N2 - F1M2 will be relocated to China – Korea - Home Island patrol and training duty.

E14Y1 will start to build at converted Ki-27b factory at Harbin with rate of 7 a month.

L3Y2 will start to build at a rate of 4 a month at the converted F1M2 factory at Nagasaki.

For Army Air Service-

Ki-43-Ic will increase build rate of 32 to 64 a month at Maebashi factory – Ki-43-Ic will start to build at a rate of 24 a month at converted Ki-27b factory at Maebashi – this will make total build rate of 88 a month - Will replace all Ki-27b in front line operational unit – Ki-27b will be relocated to training duty only.

Ki-43-Ib will start to build at converted Ki-36 factory at Gifu a rate of 22 a month - Will replace all Ki-27b in front line operational unit – Ki-27b will be relocated to training duty only.

Ki-51 will continue to build at rate of 30 a month at Tokyo factory – Ki-51 will replace Ki-30 – Ki-32 – Ki-36 in all frontline duty - Ki-30 – Ki-32 – Ki-36 will be relocated to China – Korea - Home Island patrol and training duty.

Ki-48-Ib will build at a rate of 34 a month at Gifu factory – Ki-48-Ib will replace Ki-30 – Ki-32 – Ki-36 in some operational unit.

Ki-21-IIa increase build rate at Nagoya factory from 23 to 46 – Ki-21-IIa will replace Ki-30 – Ki-32 – Ki-36 in some operational unit.

Ki-21-Ic will build at a rate of 16 a month at the converted Ki-56 factory at Gifu. Ki-21-Ic will replace
Ki-30 – Ki-32 – Ki-36 in some operational unit.

Ki-46-II will build at a rate of 22 a month at the Nagoya factory – Ki-46-II will replace all Ki-15-II and
Ki-46-I in all operational unit – Ki-46-I and Ki-15-II will be relocated to training duty.

Ki-57-I will build at a rate of 6 a month at the Hamamatsu factory – Ki-57-I will replace all Ki-59 in all operational unit.

[FatR]

I believe you should build less Zeros and more Oscars. Army has greater need for modern fighters, because more operational units still fly Nates. Also, there is no reason to build Ki-43-Ib. Ic is obviously superior. You need every bit of firepower to fight Allied planes.

P.S. Sorry for the bugs in the Reluctant Admiral mod. Did you decide to restart because of the China problem?

[Tone]

Hello FatR thank you for the advice which make good sense - I have put of your advice in to action and revised my airframe buildings to these-

A6M2 will build at a rate of 54 a month at Maebashi factory – Convert of Nagoya E14Y1 factory to 48 A6M2 – make total of 102 a month

Ki-43-Ic will increase build rate of 32 to 64 a month at Maebashi factory – Ki-43-Ic will start to build at a rate of 48 a month at converted Ki-27b factory at Maebashi – Ki-43-Ic will start to build at converted Ki-36 factory at Gifu a rate of 44 a month this will make total build rate of 156 a month.

Yes it was the China problem and the missing carrier airgroup - it just feel wrong too unbalanced and I was not happy continuing - so I thought the fair way was to restart in campaign one - as it was my idea to play Reluctant Admiral mod and I want no more restart.

[Kitakami]

Tone, just a minor comment:

I don't know if you are aware of this but, unlike in WitP, in AE you can increase airframe production by any ammount... you do not need to double current production. D3A1, for example, could be set at 32.

[Tone]

Hello Kitakami Watashi no nakama - thank you no I did not know of this but have now found the button on top right of Industry screen - thank you again this is very fine function make airframe build much more better.

[bklooste]

ORIGINAL: Tone

Hello Kitakami Watashi no nakama - thank you no I did not know of this but have now found the button on top right of Industry screen - thank you again this is very fine function make airframe build much more better.

Also suggest you build Sallies , Nells and especially Nates... Why ? Because you have the engines / factories meaning it is probably 1/3-1/2 the cost and you will need them later on as opp losses and the huge amount of training you need later takes it toll.

Also unlike Reluctant Admiral Nells and Betties are almost the same and the Betty engine is in higher demand. Be carefull wiuth the Mavis they are very expenive planes and are soon upgraded.

[Tone]

Hello bklooste thank you for input - I was going to build 46 Ki-21-IIa a month but on your advice maybe build 10 or 20 more - Am also going to build 16 Ki-21-Ic because I believe that it better aircraft that Ki-49-Ia and it use of Ha-5 engine therefore take pressure off Ha-32.

Do you believe that it important to build Ka-27b as I would have to convert Harbin factory back from other use of - I have have 518 Ki-27b operational and have 39 in pool also will need 172 for arriving reinforcement groups - after forty eight days will be building 156 Ki-43-Ic a month so can upgrade fast depending on losses.

[seydlitz_slith]

Tone,
excellent decision to build the Sally Ic. The IIa and Betty share engine types and it is hard to not run out of engines. By building the Ic you can keep the bomber groups supplied with an aircraft that can accomplish the same mission without the engine competition.

I also agree with the continued production of Ki-27 Nates. You have a good stock of the engines and you will need this production to cover training units and new arrivals for the whole of 1942. Even with ramped up production of the zero and the oscar, you have a lot of units that need to upgrade to those types, and that engine has the heaviest production demand out of all of your engines. Any thing that you can do to reduce the demand for this engine will only help you in the end. Failure to produce the nate early will mean that you will probably be short of Oscars and maybe zeroes for most of the first year.

[bklooste]

ORIGINAL: Tone

Hello bklooste thank you for input - I was going to build 46 Ki-21-IIa a month but on your advice maybe build 10 or 20 more - Am also going to build 16 Ki-21-Ic because I believe that it better aircraft that Ki-49-Ia and it use of Ha-5 engine therefore take pressure off Ha-32.

Do you believe that it important to build Ka-27b as I would have to convert Harbin factory back from other use of - I have have 518 Ki-27b operational and have 39 in pool also will need 172 for arriving reinforcement groups - after forty eight days will be building 156 Ki-43-Ic a month so can upgrade fast depending on losses.

Since you changed it already the Harbin factory is probably better used on something you need in a hurry like Oscars/Zeros ( it is not worth changing it back) . If you have a medium factory (12-30) available use it till you have built out the engines ( ~6-12 months) to get your nates done ( eg after Jakes pools are full ) . Nates are excellent trainer with low ops losses and ok vs bombers ( they wont down many but they will stop them getting results) .

If you are using the Nells/Betties for bombing , pull your best pilots out these should be saved only for LBA duties or pull all your good pilots out and accept the losses but train good pilots ( eg make those 50 guys 70 then pull them out) . When he hits your unescorted bombers or you hit a flak trap it doesnt matter what skill they are ..The same goes for zeros .. Try to keep a veteren air pool but get many guys to become veterans. This will give you a very powerfull force when you need it eg in 43 .

More importantly let the army do the work , use those Ki43-1c to grind down allied airframes if he runs follow him , even if to the west coast - dont allow him to sit there and train Id rater invade Hawaii or India and loose the ground battle if it forces him to commit a continious stream of average aircraft and depletes his airframes. Both sides have unlimited green pilots but he has limited air production so if you can take out enough aqir frames his pilot training will suffer big time. Better yet use a strategy that forces him to commit air assets or lose something important. Remember for you experienced pilots count the most ( so you want to fight over your air bases) and for him air frames ( so hitting on the ground is good - esp small cruiser/DD forces) . For you its probably better loosing 1:2 and being over your base then getting a 1.5:1 win and sweeping.

[Tone]

Hello seydlitz and bklooste thank you for the excellence of advice - I have already converted back Harbin factory to build of 15 Ki-27b a month on your advice - I will use G3M2 for recon naval search and naval attack only as I consider them maritime asset only - But will use G4M1 as multi role medium bomber as Naval Air Service has to have a tool for airfield suppression.

More on longterm strategy later - but as you see from above map I will not go to deep into Allied territory because of fuel situation - but will raid with Mobile Force but only when their is a clear tactical goal.

Have just run first return turn of this campaign so back to work - but can tell you that Carrier Akagi has been torpedoed by Submarine off Pearl Harbor - so as you Americans would say I am sweating.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: Tone

Have just run first return turn of this campaign so back to work - but can tell you that Carrier Akagi has been torpedoed by Submarine off Pearl Harbor - so as you Americans would say I am sweating.

Wow, that is bad luck. How bad is the damage?

[bklooste]

 You got an AR in the Marshals ?
 
 

[Tone]

Hello seydlitz and bklooste - luckily Akagi is not too bad damaged - I am of thinking that her armor belt save her worse damage and maybe I lucky Submarine attack a converted battle cruiser - But still She will have to go back to Homeland for hull repair - But had good Pearl Harbor raid and will post my report when I finish turn.

[Tone]

Report for December 7

Fourth Fleet Area

In the very early hours of the morning an American Submarine sight 1 Mobile Striking Group as it approach Hawaii – The American Submarine launch 4 torpedo at Aircraft Mothership Akagi and 1 torpedo strike home – but Akagi have much luck today as torpedo strike armored belt – there is hull damage but Akagi still can steam at 26 knot and will have to go back to homeland for repair after raid.

As the sun rise over the Pacific north east of Hawaii 1 Mobile Striking Group launch her raid on Pearl Harbor – The raid achieve some surprise even after Submarine attack - only 14 American fighter rise to meet raid and these are quickly brushed aside. The result of raid has exceeded expectations with all 8 of Battleships hit multiple time by torpedo and bomb – 1 Heavy and 2 Light Cruiser were also hit with torpedo or bomb – along with 6 Destroyer or Destroyer Minelayer – 2 Seaplane Carrier – a Submarine Tender – a Destroyer Tender – 2 Freighter and a minesweeper.

The strike on American airfields is also consider of success with heavy damage to runways and buildings – also it is estimated that over 30 American aircraft were destroyed on the ground or in air over Pearl Harbor – 1 Mobile Striking Force air loss has been light with 4 aircraft lost over Pearl Harbor and a further of 6 aircraft lost from damage or landing mishap – It has been decided that no further raid on Pearl Harbor is needed as all American Battleship have been badly damaged and neutralized for the foreseeable future – but also the damage to Akagi make withdraw to the west a of some priority .

Fourteenth Army Area

Both Army and Navy Air Services in cooperation delivered raids on American Airbases on the Philippine Northern Island of Luzon all day – and have heavy damaged the airfields of Iba and Clark Field – also destroying over 15 enemy aircraft on the ground or in the air – but our losses have been heavy also because of American Fighter Patrols with the loss of 8 aircraft over targets and a further 5 from write off or accident. We have started to land Naval Troops at Appari in northern Luzon and will commence further landings in next 2 days.

Twenty-fifth Army Area

2 of the 25th Army invasion convoys were attacked today by what are to be believed were Dutch Submarines in the Gulf of Siam overnight as the convoys approached the Malaya Coast – Light Minelayer Hatsutaka was torpedoed and sunk in one attack and Minesweeper number W-2 was lost in the other – It is believed that the attacking Submarines were heavily damaged if not sunk in both attacks.

In the early hours of morning Troops of the 5th division started to unload at Kota Bharu – they are being shelled by the British defenders but will not attack the Town till tomorrow when all troops are landed – Most of the 5th Division minus 1 Infantry regiment engineer and artillery regiment have been landed at Kota Bharu along with a supporting tank regiment and are tasked to drive down the railway line to Temuloh then west to cut the communications between North and South Malaya – Meanwhile the 18th Division is landing along with support units at Singora and will drive west to Alor Star to take the RAF Airfield.

There were some small RAF raids on over the 2 landing areas but only 1 Freighter was hit with a bomb and 7 of the attackers were downed by Army Air Service fighters or Flak from the Ships – The RAF airfields at Alor Star – Georgetown and Kota Bharu were also raided by Army Air Service Bombers and the runways were damaged and a number of aircraft destroyed.

China Expedition

The Hong Kong Fortress was also raided today by Army Air Service Light Bombers operating from Canton – A Infantry Corps with heavy Artillery support is closing on Hong Kong from the north and is expected to be in contact with the British defenders in 3 days – This force will soften up the defenses for some days along with air support before assaulting the City.

Combat Report is attachment-

[Tone]

Report for December 8

Fourth Fleet Area

1 Mobile Striking Force move north over night and through day to close up with Tanker Support Force – morning air search sight enemy task force far to south in Striking Force wake – but this is not confirmed by afternoon search so no strike is launched – it is thought that this would be a surface attack force looking for the damaged Akagi.

The atoll of Tarawa was occupied today by naval troops there was no opposition.

Fourteenth Army Area

The airfield and town of Aparri was occupied today by naval infantry and army air service troops – fighters and patrol seaplanes have now been transfer to Aparri to cover northern landings. The landing of Laoag will begin tomorrow – but scouting sub chasers were attacked by British Vildebeest attack bombers off Laoag today – so it would appear that the British have evacuated their airpower of Hong Kong to Luzon.

Takao Harbor on Formosa was raided today by American B-17 Fortress heavy bombers today from Clark Field we think – army and naval air service fighters intercepted this raid but were unable to prevent it bombing the port - A minelayer was sunk and several other vessel damaged some seriously – A Fighter sweep of Clark Field by A6M2 naval fighters from Formosa but meet with no opposition – Will have to step up airfield suppression program on Clark Field I think.

Twenty-Fifth Army Area

5th division stormed Kota Bharu ejecting the British down the railway line to southwest – The divisional recon regiment and the 1st tank regiment is in pursuit of these units and will attempt to maintain contact.

In the air only 3 RAF Hudson medium bombers attempt to attack the landings at Kota Bharu today but they are driven off and 1 is downed by army air service fighters – Apart from a large air raid on 8th Indian brigade in support of the ground forces at Kota Bharu the army air service also strike at the airfield at Georgetown – The naval air service raided the airfield at Kuantan to destroy the Swordfish torpedo bombers based there.

Overnight south of Singapore I-155 torpedoed a large Freighter hitting it 3 times and almost certainly sinking this vessel – Also further south about the same time I-122 hit a light cargo vessel with 2 torpedoes and this vessel is also thought to have sunk – Mine laying submarines also laid mine field near Palembang- Toboali – and Tawi Tawi.

Combat Report is attachment-

[Tone]

Report for December 9

Fourth Fleet Area

Overnight I-1 was on patrol south west of Johnston Island when she spotted the American heavy cruiser Chicago and 2 escorting destroyers – I-1 was able to launch 4 torpedoes at Chicago but they all missed – I-1 then went deep and managed to elude the 2 destroyers.

Also to the south overnight the Raider Aikoku Maru sighted and attacked 3 Allied cargo ships in convoy north of Bora Bora – the raider then attacked these ships and left all 3 on fire and heavily damaged.

Fourteenth Army Area

Naval air service launched 3 raids on Clark field today and encountered over 70 enemy fighters – despite the heavy defenses the naval pilots pushed home their attack inflicting heavy loss on the enemy fighters – but our loss was heavy with 14 aircrafts failing to return.

Army troops started to land at Laoag in northern Luzon today and will occupy the town tomorrow – 2 RAF Vildebeest aircraft raided the Laoag area today but were shot down by army air service fighters - there was some enemy submarine activity off the Luzon landing beaches today but no sinking – air reconnaissance is showing that the American and Pilipino troops are falling back on Clark Field.

I-123 attacked the American tanker Mindanao off Balabac today and scored 2 torpedo hits - all most certainly sinking the tanker.

Twenty Fifth Army Area

Army air service aircraft raided British troop concentrations in northern Malaya while the naval air service struck the airfield at Kuantan – Also there was some skirmishes with Retreating British Troops south west of Kota Bharu today.

South of Singapore I-121 put 2 torpedoes into a Allied transport – also in the same area I-154 hit another Allied transport with 1 torpedo.

Combat Report is attachment-