Matrix Games Forums

This is the Japanese Side of the AAR in our 2v2 game.
Offenseman (Mike) and Seydlitz (Don) agreed to take on LoBaron (Lenny) and Rob Brennan (Rob) in a scenario 1 matchup.

We did have a two turn false start that was quite humbling while it lasted. All parties agreed to a restart because some of the game settings were not correct and one involving replacements was significant.

As such, we went into the restart knowing that we had to alter our plans since we had shown our hand in the original start.

Our choice this time was what we had almost done the first time....we went for Manila.

We placed the KB in the Sulu Sea and hoped that we could mop up during the first two day turn.

I will let Mike tell most of the story since the KB is under his control, but his flyboys did an excellent job.

Boise went down on turn 1 with 3 torpedo hits.

Two Japanese DDs ran into the Marblehead and her squadron of 5 destroyers. Amazingly enough the two destroyers won the battle, significantly damaging all of the American destroyers.

No worries for the commander of the Marblehead's squadron. He won't have to stand trial at his court martial because the KB located and finished off all the surviving ships including the Marblehead.

Rumor has it that we also sunk at least 15 subs at Manila. We must have done ok, because here are the comments from Rob and Lenny:

From Rob:

Holy C$%P ..

Thats a 1st for me and PBEMS , Manilla and 15 subs sunk outright .. (according to the combat replay .. can't see the turn for obvious reasons so not giving much away) . Marbelhead and Boise sunk .. yikes .. and what are you feeding your destroyer crews on ? popeye spinach and asterix's super-strength druid potion ? .

Actually i think its a good move . those S boats would cause you more harm than a bunch of obsolete BB's miles from anywhere. Frankly I'm amazed the houston didnt get it as well (she's my ship despite being yankee .. and knowing where i sent her i'm in disbelief )

so will the KB continue to rampage the DEI ? go on tell me i wont take advantage of it .. honest guv'nor.

Well hats off gentlemen , that has really screwed up my/our initial plans for the forseeable future, congrats on wrecking my somewhat hopeful belief in defending the DEI ..

Now where is the british senior naval submarine commader and his dutch liason officer ? General Melchett will be wanting a chat with them on the 15th when he finally figures out that there is a war on.


And Lenny:

I can only second Rob´s sentiment! Marblehead was the victim of my persistence to pull the same stunt twice.
Great move guys, lets see if it also pays off on the long run.

15 subs down, ugh, one of my favourite weapons is reduced to shambles before I can even deploy.
There goes our DEI strategy. Rob, plan B was to chicken out right? =D

Salute!

Lenny


In case I didn't mention it earlier, in the original start we went for Pearl Harbor and had a very weak result while American subs poured from Manila and had a field day.

Hopefully Rob and Lenny will get their side of the AAR cranked up and rolling.

Also, and this is classified as we want them to figure it out,

I am playing the role of the Imperial Army and Air Force. I also have control of the merchant marine, escort forces, raiders including the old light cruisers, and the sub fleet. Mike is in control of the Japanese Navy and Naval Air Force.

To further complicate this, we have theater controls:
1. I am doing China, Burma, Korea, and the Home Islands
2. Mike has Malaya, the DEI, the Philippines, and the rest of the Pacific.
In those theaters, he controls the ships and troops embarked on operations. I ALWAYS control the army air.[:D]

We are mutually controlling the industry and production.

Our play styles are somewhat different, and I am certain that (at least because I am going to make sure to play up the historical rivalry) you will be able to see a lot of the Army-Navy game peaking through. I want to keep the historical friction between the services going while prosecuting the war.

Here is a perfect example of what I am talking about:

During the initial plots, I pulled my 80+ Nates off of Singora because there was no AV support. I moved them over to Cambodia to fly CAP not wanting to risk something happening where the navy failed to land the support unit on turn 1. Mike moved his Yamada Datai of zeroes oer in their place. Just enough AV support landed to handle the Yamada. I would have been partially grounded had I stayed. My Nates flew top cover using drop tanks.

On our turn 2 plots, he told me that his navy pilots were tired and that I needed to fly some units over to provide top cover at the beach head.
Well, the real problem is that his victorious pilots were hung over from celebrating their 32 victories on turn 1 and had hangovers. I checked my glorious Army aviators and saw that all of the units were sitting at 65 to 68 fatigue from flying LRCAP over the transports. Not wanting to lose good pilots to exhaustion during the first week of the war, I stood down the units and informed the navy that we would not be able to fly LRCAP over the beach head during turn 2.

Here was my note:

You will get no LRCAP from the army over your ships unloading in Malaya this turn. The Army reports that the pilots are too tired to fly any missions the next two days. All of my units, including the Oscars, are at 64+ fatigue. I am resting them this turn and they will be available next turn. I am moving a base unit from Phenom Penh over to Singora via a fast single ship TF so that we will have a base unit to support the move next turn.

Your zero unit is only at 26 fatigue so if you fly them without drop tanks you should be ok.

Don


He replied:

Don-san
Already the Army is letting down the glorious Naval forces! May your sake' always be served too cold! The Commonwealth air forces in the area might be too demoralized to fly much anyway. Some of those units were chopped up real well.

Perhaps this will cause Yamada to down another 20 or so. I converted the Yamada det to Zeros and those 9 should be ready for the next turn.

MIke


So, this should be fun. Hang around and enjoy a good read.

Now some propanda....

Great stuff!!!!  Keep it coming!
 

Yamada deserved a day off!   What will a 32:1 claimed kill ratio in two days do for you?  Most of the 18 pilots went up in experience, half had 2 or more kills, almost everyone got a kill.  The current turn is in Allied hands and when we get it back, I am sure that the valiant and skilled Naval Air Arm will again shame the Army pilots (term used loosely), shooting down all the aircraft, stealing all the girls and drinking all the Kirin.

seydlitz summed up the Sulu Sea action well.  The odd thing for me in that exchange was that not one torpedo hit a target.  The two IJ DDs expended their entire stock and Marblehead's group launched many as well.  Inazuma is retiring to repair some minor damage and should return to action within 9 days or so.  The other DD is sailing to join KB and assist in keeping the remaining subs in the theatre at bay.

Elsewhere in the main area of operations, troops were landed at Cagayan to disrupt Allied B17 operations as well as Puerto Princesa.  Both should fall during the upcoming turn.  It is hoped the loss of Cagayan and the pounding being given to Manila and Clark should help to keep the heavies hamstrung for awhile.  An AV is ready to take up station at Puerto Princesa when it falls and a unit of float planes will be stationed there to keep an eye on survivors of Manila as they try to escape.

If we time it right there won't be any survivors from Manila.

I think that Lenny may hold off evacuating until he thinks the KB is gone. By that time I will have some of the old CLs on station off Busanga and I have already moved some subs to block the most likely paths.

May the landings on Luzon be swift and decisive. It is important that we liberate our oppressed Philippine brothers from the clutches of the Yankee Imperialist Supressors as soon as possible. I am certain that they will enjoy a better life as part of our Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.[;)]

And now, more propaganda....

The Luzon landings are underway with Appari already under the Emperor's most magnificent rule.  Laong is also under seige and expected to fall shortly.  Another invasion force is heading toward its target with landfall expected any day.  Cagayan has also been captured, thus denying the Imperialists an excellent air base and providing an anchor for our forces on the north side of Mindanao. 

A force has landed at oil rich Miri under escort of a SCTF composed of several BBs.  The expected liberation will be celebrated in the coming days. 

On other fronts, Operation Octopussy is being organized and will unveil itself soon. 

Kongo steaming hard to bombard Miri

Turn 2 09 December, 1941

As mentioned by my esteemed colleague, the 1st Special Naval Landing Force, with assistance from the Imperial Army, consolidated their beachead at Aparri this turn. The local airfield was captured intact and the Army is flying in two fighter units to provide local CAP over the area while further troops and supplies are landed.

The 91st Naval Guard also landed on Palawan and captured the village of Puerto Princesa, which our prewar intelligence (Yes, we had prewar intelligence[:D]) indicated as an American seaplane base.

Near Kaifeng in China, the 2nd Battalion of the crack 35th Infantry Division routed the Chinese 51st and 69th Corps. 1,485 enemy bandits were killed/captured......or was it captured/killed.[8|]

As proof of the battle, here is one of our valiant soldiers capturing one of the cowardly bandits from the 51st Chinese Corp who threw down his weapon and surrendered.

Our Philippine allies who were doing their duty in spotting Imperialist Yankee ship movements in an out of Cavite Navy Yard reported that the American Submarine Porpoise, SSN-172, struck a mine and sank near Fort Drum (the concrete battleship). While it is possible that she hit an American mine, we believe that she actually struck one of the 20+ mines laid in that area by one of our subs on December 8th. She can join the 15 other subs that are on the bottom in Manila Bay.

U.S.S. Porpoise

Turn 2 10 December, 1941

Near Bangka, I-156 caught the Dutch tanker Iris trying to flee the ever advancing Japanese forces. In a night surface engagement, she hit the vessel with two torpedoes and several shells, sinking her in a glorious 45 minute action.

Not far away, near Billiton, the I-165 spotted a Dutch sub in the moon streak charging batteries. She fired two torpedoes, one of which hit the sub, identified as the KXVII. Based on the explosion and the size of the target, there is no way that the Dutch sub could have survived the hit.

At Cam Ranh Bay, the Dutch submarine KXIII struck a type 4 mine while attempting to penetrate the anchorage at night. Filling rapidly with water, the crew managed to beach the foundering vessel in an area of shallow water. This is the view of the vessel the next afternoon at low tide.

While the crew did manage to destroy some of the equipment, we were able to capture several items that will be valuable to our intelligence services. Most of the crew have already been rounded up and will be sent to a prisoner of war camp that is being constructed in Dalat.

During the night one Dutch Sub did manage to penetrate the ASW screen protecting the forces conducting a landing at Patini. She put two torpedoes into the transport Manzyu Maru, which sank in shallow water four hours later. Luckily the ship settled slowly and only 36 men were wounded during the attack and abandonment.

Near Toboali, the I-154 engaged the small Dutch coastal freighter De Klerk in a gun action. The vessel, not worthy of a torpedo, was left burning from end to end when the sub broke off the action after expending all but 5 rounds of her gun ammo.