Matrix Games Forums

[center][/center]

On September 4, 1941, the Japanese Cabinet met to consider the war plans prepared by Imperial General Headquarters, and decided:

Our Empire, for the purpose of self-defense and self-preservation, will complete preparations for war ... [and is] ... resolved to go to war with the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands if necessary. Our Empire will concurrently take all possible diplomatic measures vis-a-vis the United States and Great Britain, and thereby endeavor to obtain our objectives ... In the event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.

So this is going to be my first PBEM game and i decided on doing an attempt at doing an AAR also.

Also a first one in any game but i figured this would help in learning more about the game for me and hopefully to someone reading also.

Comments are more than welcome from the veteran players and other newbs.[:)]

This AAR will start in the planning phase, going to be a week or two before any action.


Settings and house rules.

FOW ON
advanced Weather OFF
Allied damage control ON
PDU ON
historical first turn OFF
Dec 7 surprise ON
reliable USN torps OFF
realistic R&D ON
no unit withdrawels OFF

combat reports ON
auto sub ops OFF
TF move radius ON
plane move radius ON
facilities expand OFF
auto upgrade ships and airgroups OFF
auto air and ground replacements OFF

turn cycle 1 TURN


No new Allied TFs on turn 1
Only one Japanese aerial port strike on turn 1
Paying pp for restricted units crossing Manchukuo
No civilian picket ships only navy ships
Invasions only in base/dot hexes
Garrison limits must be observed (no evacuating to allow partisans to destroy the infrastructure)

Both open to discussions if something comes up.

Banzai!!!
 

"May the odds always be in your favor" --

sorry, I just saw The Hunger Games Sunday. Good luck. Nice Cover Page.

There is always someone willing to offer advice or answer any questions you may have.

Have fun and kick ass!

Good luck...Banzai!!

Banzai indeed.[:)]

No in the Newbie HQs table is the Philippines invasions plans and input is more than welcome.[X(]


-----Philippines OOB and first week of operations.----

Luzon - 14th Army.

Landing at IBA D-day 7th Dec > from Pescadores

48th Div

Art Reg x1

AA Bn x1

Eng Reg x1

Const.Bn x1


2nd wave landing at IBA D+3 > from Pescadores

4th Arm Reg

7th Arm Reg

AA Bn x2

JNAF unit x1

2nd wave landing at IBA D+3 > from Takao

23th Air Flotilla HQ

Naval units supporting

DD sq x1

TB sq x1

+ Escorts

D+1 Arrive 4 BBs if needed to support the IBA and SAN FERNANDO landings.

Air units supporting

23rd Air Flotilla Takao

5th Air Div Takao



Landing at SAN FERNANDO D-day 7th Dec> from Takao

65th bde

JAAF BF x1

Field AFconst. Bn x1

2nd wave landing at SAN FERNANDO D+3 > from Takao

5th Air Div HQ

2nd wave landing at SAN FERNANDO D+3 > from Pescadores

AA Bn x1

Naval units supporting

DD sq x1

+ Escorts

D+1 Arrive 4 BBs if needed to support the IBA and SAN FERNANDO landings.


Air units supporting

23rd Air Flotilla Takao

5th Air Div Takao


Landing at VIGAN D-day 7th Dec> from Takao

1 Sasebo SNLF Coy

JAAF AF Bn x1

Naval units supporting

Escorts


Air units supporting

23rd Air Flotilla Takao

5th Air Div Takao


Landing at MAUBAN D+2> from Amami Oshima

16th div main body

Landing at MAUBAN D+5 > from Babeldaob

Inf Reg x1 (part of 16th Div)


Naval units supporting

DD sq x1

Escorts

CV Div 3 Soryu, Hiryu

Air units supporting

CV Div 3 Soryu, Hiryu



Mindanao - 16th Army


Landing at CAGAYAN D-day 7th Dec > from Babeldaob

146th Inf Reg

8th Tank Reg

Naval const. Bn x1

JNAF Coy x3

Naval units supporting

CA sq x1

Escorts

CV Ryujo


Air units supporting

21st Air Flotilla Babeldaob

CV Ryujo


Landing at CAGAYAN D+3 > from Babeldaob

SNLF Coy x3

Art Reg x1

Ind Eng Reg x1

JNAF unit x1

Naval units supporting

CA sq x1

Escorts

CV Ryujo


Air units supporting

21st Air Flotilla Babeldaob

CV Ryujo



As you can see the the KB is broken up allready.[:D]

I run some tests and i dont see any difference in the PH results, they are worse than historical if you stay only one day and then you start to loose planes.[8|]

Soryu and Hiryu will move within distance of Manila in the 7th, in the 8th they will go full speed to port attack.
Ive run tests where third of the subs have been sunk or damaged, and also some of those auxliaries.
Two subs and two minelayers will mine the harbor entrance 7th Dec, im willing to loose them if they keep them in for a day more.

Now is the time to tell me if you dont think this will fly.[:D]

The 48th div in IBA will move for Clark Field with artillery and engineers.

4th and 7th Arm Reg will move for Lingayen to link up with 65th Bde then turn for Clark Field.

16th Div in Mauban will move for Manila and then Clark Field.

The Zeros of 23rd Air Flotilla will rebase to Iba as soon as possible.

All 5th Air Div AC will rebase to San Fernando and Vigan as soon as possible.

As reserve there are 2 Division, 21 Division and 1 Arm reg, comitted when needed.

+ The 38th div and artillery from Hong Kong

I want to bottle them soon somwhere so i can move most of my units away from Philippines.

I also want to take as much warships and merchants as i can.

But is this realistic? [&:]

ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

"May the odds always be in your favor" --

sorry, I just saw The Hunger Games Sunday. Good luck. Nice Cover Page.

Blackhorse, if you're hungry, you should go to the "War and Peas" AAR and get some peas and quiet.

If I am playing the Allies, there would be ZERO ships in port at Manilla on 8 Dec. By making the first TF at Manilla a minesweeper with all 6 minesweepers all ships can leave on the 8th of Dec with little or no problems. Sometimes a ship hits a mine, but most of the time they all leave with no mine hits.

You are going to have a 4 CV TF in the Pacific with 72 fighters on board. He can if he wants put 18 Marine fighters on each of his 3 CVs and have about 120 fighters aboard. Be careful or plan on putting more fighters on your CVs.

ORIGINAL: Dan Nichols

If I am playing the Allies, there would be ZERO ships in port at Manilla on 8 Dec. By making the first TF at Manilla a minesweeper with all 6 minesweepers all ships can leave on the 8th of Dec with little or no problems. Sometimes a ship hits a mine, but most of the time they all leave with no mine hits.

You are going to have a 4 CV TF in the Pacific with 60 fighters on board. He can if he wants put 18 Marine fighters on each of his 3 CVs and have about 120 fighters aboard. Be careful or plan on putting more fighters on your CVs.

Thank you for your advice, this is the type of info i need to consider.
The carriers where a bonus to the plan when i noticed even missing two didnt make a big difference at PH.
And they would help in getting those fleeing ships.
This part can be axed easily out though they would be nice to have around Mindanao with the CVL to cover the landings. The 21 Air Flotilla will move to Mindanao to close the Philippine traffic tough.
Can he get those fighters on and still play catch up with KB that stays only one day?

Im little tired, i think you ment that i would keep them separated. [:)]
Im too chicken for that, they wont move much after the initial phases.
Next time they will move to head for Rabaul.

Dear friend,

what a great opponent you would have been and what a chance I’ve missed. I like your plan and I’ve always been a fan of KB breaking… ever finishing with a couple of CV sunk the first week of war!

IMHO the threat of US CVs is not so strong because they always require some day to meet together and if you plan to leave Hawaiian waters on 8th you should be quite safe. On the other hand you’re tied to your oilers and they’re in trouble on their own.

But the worst thing about splitting KB, IMHO is the loss of “fleet in being” power. With 6 Japan CVs around as an Allied you must ponder every single move. But if CVs are only 4 things change a lot… remember Midway!

Only my little piece

Teikoku, glad to see that you found some opposition! Good luck with your plan. Hal

They can't do it on the first few turns, but just sending 2 CVs to bomb Manilla port on day 2 and return to Truk is probably going to be a waste of resources. I don't expect there to be any ships in port, and your PH attack will be weaker. If you were going to use the 2 CVs to help cover landings in the DEI then it might make some more sense. In that case you would need to be careful about meeting his 3 CVs with possibly 120 or so fighters and lots of SBDs. A trade of a 2 or 3 CVs is not in your best interest early in the game.

BTW, I edited my first post to reflect that my math seemed to be off. You have 72 fighters on 4 CVs.

ORIGINAL: Dan Nichols

They can't do it on the first few turns, but just sending 2 CVs to bomb Manilla port on day 2 and return to Truk is probably going to be a waste of resources. I don't expect there to be any ships in port, and your PH attack will be weaker. If you were going to use the 2 CVs to help cover landings in the DEI then it might make some more sense. In that case you would need to be careful about meeting his 3 CVs with possibly 120 or so fighters and lots of SBDs. A trade of a 2 or 3 CVs is not in your best interest early in the game.

BTW, I edited my first post to reflect that my math seemed to be off. You have 72 fighters on 4 CVs.

And you could lose a few over PH as well. I concur with Dan. If you do anything different, use 5 CVs and bring Kaga to the DEI to support landings and kill ships. There's a lot of info about this early in Mike Solli's AAR added by ny59giants. That would ensure you have an advantage anyway. You most likely would only meet 2 US CVs unless you sat in Cent Pac doing nothing for 2 weeks. You will most likely move those back to the Gilberts and Solomons to support landings there and then possibly to the DEI.

Your Nells and Bettys from Takao will hit Manila pretty hard. You may choose to go for the fields, but my experience is that you won't hit enough to justify missing all of those subs and other ships in port. Plus, you want to take down many of the fighters with your Zeros to get the kills and resulting experience gains. Also, once you have a base on the PI you can LR CAP spots to catch PBYs moving things around as well as support bombing.

Thank you for your words but this could turn from a brainstorm to a ****storm if i take too many risks with this little experience i have.[:D]

ORIGINAL: Dan Nichols

They can't do it on the first few turns, but just sending 2 CVs to bomb Manilla port on day 2 and return to Truk is probably going to be a waste of resources. I don't expect there to be any ships in port, and your PH attack will be weaker. If you were going to use the 2 CVs to help cover landings in the DEI then it might make some more sense. In that case you would need to be careful about meeting his 3 CVs with possibly 120 or so fighters and lots of SBDs. A trade of a 2 or 3 CVs is not in your best interest early in the game.

BTW, I edited my first post to reflect that my math seemed to be off. You have 72 fighters on 4 CVs.

Well the main reason was to get control of the area around Philippines from day one and destroy as much air an naval assets as possible. My wish would be to get those cruisers, B17s and PBYs.

The second stage was to move fast for Sumatra and isolating Singapore, getting the 23rd Air Flotilla to Singkawan and Kuching also to support. Im new and maybe too fixed in having air cover for every move but 2 real CVs would be helpfull.
I just want to make zones where the opponent will get hammered, total superiority where i want, other thing if i can make it happen.[8|]

But in the long run i will not brake the KB easily, i will post my draft for my fleets also, good commentary here, thank you. [:)]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Dan Nichols

They can't do it on the first few turns, but just sending 2 CVs to bomb Manilla port on day 2 and return to Truk is probably going to be a waste of resources. I don't expect there to be any ships in port, and your PH attack will be weaker. If you were going to use the 2 CVs to help cover landings in the DEI then it might make some more sense. In that case you would need to be careful about meeting his 3 CVs with possibly 120 or so fighters and lots of SBDs. A trade of a 2 or 3 CVs is not in your best interest early in the game.

BTW, I edited my first post to reflect that my math seemed to be off. You have 72 fighters on 4 CVs.

And you could lose a few over PH as well. I concur with Dan. If you do anything different, use 5 CVs and bring Kaga to the DEI to support landings and kill ships. There's a lot of info about this early in Mike Solli's AAR added by ny59giants. That would ensure you have an advantage anyway. You most likely would only meet 2 US CVs unless you sat in Cent Pac doing nothing for 2 weeks. You will most likely move those back to the Gilberts and Solomons to support landings there and then possibly to the DEI.

Your Nells and Bettys from Takao will hit Manila pretty hard. You may choose to go for the fields, but my experience is that you won't hit enough to justify missing all of those subs and other ships in port. Plus, you want to take down many of the fighters with your Zeros to get the kills and resulting experience gains. Also, once you have a base on the PI you can LR CAP spots to catch PBYs moving things around as well as support bombing.

I read that and started experimenting with taking two carriers out.[:)]

I probably still would hit Clark Field and Cagayan the first and second day with LBA, i just want the skies badly, the CVs would bring some reserve power that can hit fast in any targets.

Remember 21st Air Flotilla starts from day one in Babeldaob, thats 1 Nettie sq and 1 Betty sq away from Takao but closing the door to Philippines in Mindanao and hitting the B17s in Cagayan. BTW they have torps from D+1.[;)]

Thank you also for your comments and please keep them coming and keep me honest.[;)]

Here is the work in progress fleet composition, the idea is to put forward two strong area fleets from where to build task forces depending on situation.
I have still small fleets like the 5th under consideration but i have some 2nd line ships still available.
I might give the Minekaze DDs also to the area fleets along with the Subs and auxliaries they will get.
Comments again welcome, if you spot a mistake thats only helpfull for me.[:)]


---COMBINED FLEET---

-KIDO BUTAI-


CVdiv

2xCV (Akagi class CV) AKAGI, (45F, 18DB, 18TB) (Kaga class CV) KAGA (36F, 18DB, 18TB)


CVdiv

2xCV (Shokaku class CV) SHOKAKU, (36F, 18DB, 18TB) ZUIKAKU (36F, 18DB, 18TB)


CVdiv

2xCV (Soryu class CV) SORYU, (27F, 18DB, 18TB), HIRYU (27F, 18DB, 18TB)


CVdiv

2xCVL (Zuiho class CVL) SHOHO,(24F, 6TB), ZUIHO (24F, 6TB)

(The main task of the CVLs fighters is to fly CAP and the torpedo bombers to fly ASW.)



BBdiv

2xBB (Kongo class BB) KIRISHIMA, HARUNA


CAdiv

2xCA (Tone class CA) TONE, CHIKUMA

1XCS (Chitose class CS) CHIOYDA


DDdiv

5xDD (Shiratsuyu class DD)


DDdiv

5xDD (Shiratsuyu class DD)


DDdiv

2xDD (Yugumo class DD)



SSdiv

6xSS (Type B1)



-TOTAL AC-

F 255/ DB 108/ TB 120/ FP 42

CAP

100 F

ESCORT

155 F

STRIKE

108 DB

97 TB

NAVS

10 TB

21 FP


ASW

6TB



-KB replenishment group-


1x CVE (Hosho class CVE) HOSHO (14F, 6TB, CAP&ASW)

1X CLAA (Tenryu class CLAA) TENRYU

6x DD (Mutsuki class DD)

4x E (Shimushu class E)

7x AO (fast)


When KB moves it will usually get atleast 2-3 DDdiv attached from Combined Fleet for ASW and scouting.

And if i still have my carriers in late 42 the KB 2 can be formed as need arises, these carriers are a reserve and training fleet


CVdiv

2xCV (Hiyo class CV) JUNYO (27F, 18DB, 9TB) HIYO (27F, 18DB, 9TB)


CVdiv

2X CVL (Ryujo class CVL) RYUJO (27F, 9DB, 12TB), (Ryuho class CVL) RYUHO (21F, 9TB)


CVdiv

3x CVE (Taiyo class CVE) TAIYO (27F), CHUYO (27F), UNYO (27F)


1xCS(Chitose class CS) (24 FP)



TOTAL AC

183 F/ 45 DB/ 39 TB/ 24 FP
















-BB sq-


BBdiv

2xBB (Nagato class BB) NAGATO, MUTSU



-CA sq-

CAdiv

2xCA (Mogami class CA) MOGAMI, MIKUMA


CAdiv

2xCA (Mogami class CA) SUZUYA, KUMANO


DDdiv

1x CL (Nagara class CL) NATORI

3xDD (Kagero class DD)


DDdiv

1x CL (Nagara class CL) KINU

3xDD (Kagero class DD)



-CA sq-


CAdiv

2xCA (Takao class CA) TAKAO, ATAGO


CAdiv

2xCA (Takao class CA) MAYA, CHOKAI


DDdiv

1X CL (NAGARA class CL) YURA

3xDD (Kagero class DD)


DDdiv

1x CL (NAGARA class CL) ABUKUMA

3xDD (Kagero class DD)



-DD sq-


DDdiv

1xCL (Sendai class CL) SENDAI

5xDD (Asashio class DD)


DDdiv

1xCL (Sendai class CL) JINTSU

5xDD (Asashio class DD)


DDdiv

1xCL (Sendai class CL) NAKA

6xDD (Hatsuharu class DD)





AODiv


1X CLAA (Tenryu class CLAA) TATSUTA

5x DD (Kamikaze class DD)

3x AO (slow)










---2ND FLEET---


-BB sq-


BBdiv

2xBB (Ise class BB) ISE, HYUGA


BBdiv

2xBB (Fuso class BB) FUSO, YAMASHIRO


-CA sq-


CAdiv

2x CA (Myoko class CA) MYOKO, NACHI


CAdiv

2x CA (Myoko class CA) HAGURO, ASHIGARA


DDdiv

1x CL (Nagara class CL) NAGARA

3xDD (Kagero class DD)


DDdiv

1x CL (Nagara class CL) ISUZU

3xDD (Kagero class DD)



DDsq


DDdiv

1xCL (Kuma class CL) KUMA

5xDD (Fubuki II class DD)


DDdiv

3x DD (Fubuki I class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Mutsuki class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Minekaze class DD)




---4TH FLEET---



-BB sq-


BBdiv

2xBB (Kongo class BB) KONGO, HIEI



-CA sq- This is actually my favorite, i will give it to Tanaka, 166 Long Lance tubes combined.


CAdiv

2xCA (Furutaka class CA) FURUTAKA, KAKO


CAdiv

2xCA (Aoba class CA) AOBA, KINUGASA


DDdiv

1xCL (Kuma class DD) KITAKAMI

3xDD (Fubuki I class DD)


DDdiv

1xCL (Kuma class DD) OI

3xDD (Fubuki I class DD)



-DDsq-


DDdiv

1xCL (Kuma class CL) TAMA

5xDD (Fubuki II class DD)


DDdiv

4xDD (Fubuki III class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Mutsuki class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Minekaze class DD)



---5th FLEET---


DDsq

DDdiv

1x CL (Yubari class CL) Yubari

4x DD (Kamikaze class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Minekaze class DD)


DDdiv

3xDD (Minekaze class DD

Another beginner question.
I have never accelerated CV Hiyo, when can she be available?

I would like KB 2 ready by May and be agressive and force a fight or raise hell.

Anyone have opinion in building more than one CVE? Thats the max i see point in.

I also like the CS ships, dont see reason in converting these handy ships.
Pros and cons?

Have not been in my own computer for a few days so cant give specifics but i want to share the broad strokes of the plans so far.

December-January operations.

Philippines-Southern Borneo-Northern Celebes

14th Army, 4 Division and 21 Division will take Luzon and destroy or contain the enemy forces there.

16th Army will take Mindanao and destroy the enemy forces there.

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Southern Borneo, Northern Celebes

Malay-Northern Borneo-Sumatra

25th Army will take the Malay peninsula and destroy or contain the enemy forces there.

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Northern Borneo and destroy the enemy forces there.

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Northern Sumatra and destroy the enemy forces there.

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Southern Sumatra and destroy the enemy forces there.

Burma

15th Army will take Southern Burma and destroy the enemy forces there. (Or somebody will be fired.[8|])


January-February operations.

Philippines

4 Division, 21 Division will take Luzon and destroy or contain the enemy forces there

Malay-Sumatra

25th Army will take the Malay peninsula and destroy or contain the enemy forces there

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Northern Sumatra and destroy the enemy forces there.

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Southern Sumatra and destroy the enemy forces there.

Southern Borneo- Southern Celebes-Ceram-Bali

Combined Army/Navy forces will take Southern Borneo, Southern Celebes, Ceram and Bali and destroy the enemy forces there


Burma

15th Army will take Southern Burma and destroy the enemy forces there. (Or everyone will be fired.[8|])


Java

14th Army and 16th Army will take Java and destroy the enemy forces there.