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Hey folks.

This is a crosspost of an AAR I'm doing over at the Something Awful forums. As it's intended for people who have little exposure to the game, I do a bit more explaining than is customary here. I'm also pretty new to playing Japan myself, so it's all a little wobbly, especially this early in.

We're playing a custom scenario with Alt_Naval's IJN ships, Reluctant Admiral's IJNAS aircraft and a few tweaks for the Allies as well.

I'm a new Japanese player, and industry/R&D scares me. I think I'm doing okay so far (mostly I'm just shipping oil & resources to the Home Islands and trying not to touch anything scary) but any advice would be appreciated.

I'll go ahead and copy & paste the posts I've made so far, and will try to keep this updated along with the original thread. Enjoy!

Turn 1: December 6

The first turn of any WitP game is the most elaborate and difficult, particularly from the Japanese side. In fact, I’m still working on it, though I’m almost done. In this first post (and perhaps more in the future) I’ll go through my setup region by region. This will be probably the most ‘serious’ and lengthy post of this whole thread. Deep breaths, we’ll get through this. So: let’s take a look at the state of the Japanese Empire and our plans for war on December 6, 1941.



Hawaii



We have deployed the Kidō Butai - our six most modern aircraft carriers of the Kairyu class, escorted by the two Harima class battleships, and all under the command of RADM Yamaguchi - to launch a pre-emptive strike on the main US Navy base at Pearl Harbor. Also visible in the above image: our pre-positioned submarine fleet, with several detached to launch minisubs in an attempt to penetrate the harbor defences and torpedo enemy craft at anchor.

The basic idea is to cripple the United States Navy at the outset of the war so that we can make our conquests in the Southern Resource Area without their interference. At least 6 battleships are likely to be docked at Pearl. (Two have been moved forward to Manila - more on that later). Also based at Pearl are the carriers Enterprise and Lexington, though they are apparently out on maneuvers of some kind. With any luck, we’ll catch the place by surprise, wipe them all out and earn ourselves a free hand.


The Home Islands



Ah, Japan. Home sweet home. Here I’ll be doing quite a bit of tedious logistical work - shuffling ships and troops around, mostly. I’ll be creating my first dedicated anti-submarine warfare task forces, composed mostly of sub chasers (SCs). I’m afraid to tweak industry or research at this stage so I’ll leave it alone for now.

I’m going to aggregate troops I want shipped out of Japan at Kagoshima (1), along with appropriate troop transports and escorts. The scattered battle-ready forces of the IJN will congregate at Kure (2). Automated convoys will be set up to deliver oil and resources from the greater Empire to Osaka/Kyoto (3).

Luzon/Formosa/Hainan Island/Hong Kong



A lot going on here. The Americans have been heavily reinforcing their pseudo-colonial dependency, the Commonwealth of the Philippines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonweal ... ilippines, of which Luzon is the most populous northern island. Two US Navy battleships - Oklahoma and Nevada, old but capable battlewagons - are currently anchored in Manila Bay, along with a reasonable number of cruisers and destroyers. Heavy reinforcement of the USAAF pursuit groups has granted them decent air cover. This is a dagger pointing straight at Japan and must be neutralized if our invasions are to take place successfully.

Our two oldest large carriers, Akagi and Kaga, have been detached under Vice Admiral Nagumo and based in Cam Ranh Bay (1). By the morning of December 7, they will have reached a position within range of Manila for their aircraft (2), which will launch simultaneously with the Pearl Harbor strike and attempt to disable or destroy the two USN battleships at port.

Meanwhile, our G4M Betty and G3M Nell bombers, escorted by A6M Zero fighters, will launch from Takao in Formosa and attempt to catch the American air force in the Philippines on the ground at their main base: Clark Field (3). Our troops will seize Batan Island (4) as our first step towards full conquest of the islands - further landing fleets, intended to disembark the Army at Vigan and Aparri, are already at sea (5).

While all this is happening, various invasion fleets (mostly intended for Malaya) will be setting out (6) from Samah, on Hainan Island, and the Army will commence its attack on British-held Hong Kong (7).

Palau/Mindanao/Celebes



We’ve built up the Palau Islands, particularly Babeldaob (1), and they’ll serve as the launching point for many invasions in the coming days and weeks. A Special Naval Landing Force heads east to hit the virtually undefended American-held island of Guam. Further troops are heading to Legaspi (2, off-map), the southern tip of Luzon, while others are hitting Dadjangas in Mindanao (3) from which point they will march to Davao and set up a decent base. Another early target will be Manado (4). This will help us close off and control the Celebes Sea (5), which is essential to prevent the American naval assets in the Philippines from escaping south towards Java or Australia.

Thailand/Indochina/Malaya/Singapore



Having seized French Indochina last year and formed an alliance with Thailand, we have excellent bases to operate against the British in Malaya and Singapore, as well as Dutch possessions in northern Borneo.The overall goal of the war, after all, is to gain access to the Dutch East Indies’ rich resources, oil and rubber principally. Singapore guards both the northern gates to the DEI and the path to the Indian Ocean. We have to take it, and Malaya with it.

The British have reinforced Singapore with Force Z, consisting of the battlecruiser Repulse and the carrier Indomitable. (The battleship Prince of Wales was intended to take part, as well, but apparently ran aground near Jamaica and has been delayed by repairs.) These two ships and their escorts, properly handled, could maul our invasion fleets and seriously delay our operations. We expect them to head north and attempt to counter our landings (3) at Kota Bharu, Singora and Patani.

Long-range G3M “Nell” and G4M “Betty” torpedo bombers, based at Saigon (2) with A6M2 Zero escorts, are ready to launch attacks on Force Z once it is spotted. Carriers Akagi and Kaga (1), heading off to strike at Manila, may end up swinging over to help cover the landings if our land-based aircraft are unsuccessful.

Wake/Marshalls/Gilberts



Awarded to us by the League of Nations after the Great War, we have turned our holdings in the Marshall Islands into fortresses. From them, particularly Kwajalein (1) we are launching landing forces to take the American-held island of Wake (2). Also on the chopping block: Tarawa, Ocean and Nauru Islands, held by small Australian detachments. Finally, our most ambitious endeavour: an attack (3) to capture Canton Island, part of the Phoenix Islands chain. This is the first step in our larger goal of cutting the naval route from America to Australia and New Zealand.

All these invasion fleets have appropriate cover forces. Wake’s invaders will be escorted by four light cruisers (the re-designated and rebuilt Furutaka, Aoba, Kako and Kinugasa). The southern and southeastern moves will be protected by light carriers Taiho and Chuho, along with fast battleships Ise and Hyuga. With any luck, they’ll be able to wreak some havoc on Allied convoys in the deep southeastern Pacific area.

And that’s it for now. The turn is now in the hands of Lord Windy, who will likely be done with it very quickly, as the only units he can move on December 6 are Chinese. My next post will probably be a review of the events of December 7, or an introduction to the Imperial Japanese Navy.

As an aside, I apologize if the images break the forum tables for anyone - they're clickable thumbnails in the original posting but these forums don't have that functionality.

Turn 2: December 7, 1941

As posted previously, the full combat replay is available on YouTube. I suspect most of you aren’t masochistic enough to watch the full 28 minutes, though. Let’s go through the combat report.

Hawaii



The Pearl Harbor operation went off virtually without a hitch. (Well, only a single midget sub managed to penetrate the harbor, and its torpedoes malfunctioned, but hey.) All six battleships received heavy damage, and five took particularly damaging torpedo hits from our B5N Kates. They should all be out of action for months at least. Our pilots report a huge number of aircraft destroyed on the ground, as well.


Zeroes stack up for the Pearl Harbor attack on HIJMS Koryu.

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 104
B5N2 Kate x 162
D3A1 Val x 150

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 14 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 117 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 10 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 47 damaged
P-40B Warhawk: 7 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 15 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 12 damaged
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 3 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 44 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
P-50B Skyrocket: 14 damaged
P-50B Skyrocket: 3 destroyed on ground
B-18A Bolo: 28 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 3 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 7 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 44 damaged
SBD-1 Dauntless: 4 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 32 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 2 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 6 damaged
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 23 damaged
A-20A Havoc: 1 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 damaged
C-33: 1 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 2 damaged
R3D-2: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB California, Bomb hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
DD Patterson, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AD Rigel, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PT-20, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1

Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Repair Shipyard hits 3
Airbase hits 55
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 72
Port hits 16
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
5 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
13 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
11 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

The Kido Butai will not be staying for another day of strikes. We’re heading full speed to the west to support the Wake Island landings. Who knows? We may encounter an American aircraft carrier or two along the way. It’d be nice to swat those jerks down early.

Philippines

Batan Island falls, as expected. A Sentai of Ki-27 Nates are flown in to the airfield. The two main shows - air attacks on Clark Field from Formosa and Manila Bay from Akagi & Kaga - go well enough. Our massed bombers do a great deal of damage to Clark, though we don’t destroy as many aircraft on the ground as I would like.

The Manila strike goes reasonably well, with multiple 800kg bomb hits on both Nevada and Oklahoma. Oklahoma, in particular, appears to be in a bad way. Unfortunately, our B5N Kates and B5M Mabels focus on the battleships perhaps a bit too heavily - the vast majority of the USN forces in Manila are undamaged. That’s a lot of cruisers and destroyers that could cause us trouble in the future.

I expect that Windy will boost the CAP over Manila in an attempt to save the battleships - if he can stop the flooding and put out the fires, it will be theoretically possible for them to flee south. I don’t intend to let this happen, but I won’t have my depleted Akagi & Kaga airgroups fly into four dozen P-40s, either. They’re heading towards the Home Islands with their bombers set to ASW mode. We’ll finish off the United States Asiatic Fleet later.


Light carrier Junho.

In the south, the light carriers Unho and Junho do an effective attack on Davao, planting bombs in American ships docked at the Mindanao port. This task force will be moving west to cover the expected path of retreat for American ships fleeing for Australia.

Malaya

Force Z has been destroyed. A morning air attack only manages one torpedo hit on HMS Indomitable after fighting through dogged Sea Hurricane and Fulmar CAP.

The afternoon is a massacre.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Mersing at 52,82

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
G3M2 Nell x 45

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 9
Sea Hurricane Ib x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 5 destroyed
Sea Hurricane Ib: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
BC Repulse, Torpedo hits 6, and is sunk
DD Vampire
DD Express
DD Electra
DD Tenedos

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
18 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
9 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
No.800 Sqn FAA with Fulmar II (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 2 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 22000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
No.880 Sqn FAA with Sea Hurricane Ib (1 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 24000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes

Ammo storage explosion on CV Indomitable

The Fulmars manage to get among our Nells, but it’s not enough. Indomitable, already slowed by the morning’s hit, is easy meat - an ammo storage explosion finishes her off. Repulse has essentially no torpedo protection and goes down hard.


HMS Indomitable in happier days.

There are no more British capital ships to threaten us. The battlecruiser HMAS Australia (ex-HMS Tiger) is the closest thing the Commonwealth has to a major naval unit in the entire hemisphere, and we expect she is still undergoing repairs at Sydney.

Troops land as planned throughout the day along the coast of Malaya and southern Thailand. A heavy naval and air bombardment of Kota Bharu is scheduled for tomorrow. The following land assault should secure this foothold in the British colony. It comes with a nice Level 4 airfield, too.

Our aircraft based in Thailand massacre the RAF and allies in the air, with Buffalos going down left and right. IJAAF bombers also do effective damage to British airfields in northern Malaya. The RAF score a few victories nonetheless. Westland Whirlwinds catch Sally bombers unescorted and down several; the Indomitable managed to launch a 10-aircraft strike of Albacore bombers before sinking, and they hit a few of our transports with rather nasty 500 pound bombs.

Marshalls/Pacific

Tarawa and Ocean Island were captured immediately - ships are marshalling to load troops to take Nauru next. The Wake landing force is heading north, while the Canton Island boys and their escorts are moving in the opposite direction.

I’m doing a fair amount of shuffling fuel, supplies and troops around here. I expect this area to be the base of one of my major angles of attack, and I need to be ready logistically.

China



I failed to discuss this in my opening post. The war with China has been going on since 1937 now. I have a few limited objectives in mind. I’d like to push forward into northwestern China with the intention of capturing Sian, and am busy concentrating troops for such an attempt. Beyond that, China is a sinkhole of troops and supplies for me. Once I take Sian, I’ll re-evaluate, but I expect I will decide to bunker down and go defensive so as to take on the greater threats out in the Pacific.

Overall

A very good first turn! We’ve accomplished our major objectives: sinking Force Z, knocking out the American battleships in Pearl Harbor and Manila, and begun our invasions of Malaya, the Philippines, and the Gilbert Islands area. Everything’s going juuuuust peachy.

Turn 3: December 8, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Malaya



The day begins with a nice heavy bombardment at Kota Bahru in the early hours by Haruna, Kongo and their task force.

Night Naval bombardment of Kota Bharu at 51,75

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest III: 3 damaged
Hudson I: 6 damaged
Hudson I: 2 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Atago
CA Takao
CL Jintsu
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
DD Asashimo
DD Akishimo
DD Hatsushimo
DD Kaosame

Allied ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Airbase hits 26
Airbase supply hits 15
Runway hits 57
Port hits 27
Port supply hits 9

BB Haruna firing at Kota Bharu
BB Kongo firing at Kota Bharu
CA Atago firing at Kota Bharu
CA Takao firing at Kota Bharu
CL Jintsu firing at Kota Bharu
DD Hibiki firing at Kota Bharu
DD Akatsuki firing at Kota Bharu
DD Asashimo firing at Kota Bharu
DD Akishimo firing at 8th Indian Brigade
DD Hatsushimo firing at Kota Bharu
DD Kaosame firing at 8th Indian Brigade

We inflict heavy damage to the base, smash up the remaining aircraft at the airfield and decent disrupt the Commonwealth troops. Meanwhile, a Dutch submarine attempts to move in on us and is pounded with depth charges for her trouble:

ASW attack near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
DD Hatsushimo
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
DD Asashimo

Allied Ships
SS KXI, hits 11

SS KXI is sighted by escort
DD Hibiki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Akatsuki attacking submerged sub ....
DD Asashimo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Akatsuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Asashimo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Asashimo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Asashimo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Asashimo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Likely not enough damage to sink her, but hopefully enough to get KXI out of our hair for a while.

Our airstrikes from Indochina are largely rained out - heavy thunderstorms. Only a couple of wings of Ki-21 Sallies fly from Phnom Penh fly. They go in without escorts and pay for it. We lose several to British Floatfire IIs - Floatplane Spitfires, essentially, otherwise known as Type 355s.



Seven sallies in total are downed over Alor Star and Georgetown in northwestern Malaya. We also lose four Ki-43 Oscar fighters attempting to strafe the airfield at Georgetown to heavy flak. The Brits have woken up. We still heavily outnumber them, but we can't send bombers in unescorted like we could on the 7th.

The Brits go in mostly unescorted hitting our landing craft. They are badly mangled by Oscars and flak - a strike of 7 Albacores (remnants of Indomitable's CAG) is wiped out to a man. The enemy bombers score no hits, although the transport Sasako Maru (victim of the Albacores yesterday) finally sinks.

The Commonwealth aircraft are attacking from 15000 feet. They might actually hit something afloat if they were a little lower, but they'd also take more hits from flak.

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4899 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 169

Defending force 3679 troops, 40 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 72

Allied adjusted defense: 51

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
223 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
548 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Assaulting units:
56th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
FMSV Brigade
8th Indian Brigade
3rd ISF Base Force

The troops go for a deliberate attack at Kota Bahru and knock the forts down a bit. I should have gone for a shock attack. Will try that tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will allow for proper air support, as well.

Philippines



Continued attacks on Clark Field by Betties and Nells escorted by Zeroes. The bombers are largely inaccurate - only one aircraft is destroyed on the ground - but they keep the pressure on and succeed in drawing the P-40s into engaging the Zeroes, where they are massacred.

Also a massacre: a truly astonishing attack by a squadron of outdated P-35As on the Akagi and Kaga. Their CAP of Zeroes downs 8 of them and another explodes under flak fire. The rest turn and flee.



Light carriers Unho and Junho are holding position in the Sulu Sea, ready to launch bombers at any American naval breakout attempt. Our Legaspi invasion force is on its way.

Elsewhere

Kido Butai is heading towards Wake Island at full speed, their replenishment task force of oilers struggling to keep up. They'll need to hurry - the dive bombers stationed at Wake could do quite a bit of damage to the invasion force without air cover.

Nothing much else to report in the far Pacific - invasion task forces are on their way with good cover. No enemies spotted.

China - well, we shock attack and defeat an isolated Chinese unit, but other than that it's just a bit of bombing. Marching on Hong Kong still.

In the Home Islands, I begin to convert a lot of idle transport ships to more specialized tasks - ammunition transports, replenishment ships, seaplane tenders, patrol boats. They'll be quite handy in the future. More significantly, two 'shadow carriers' are beginning the conversion process to Junho-class light carrier. Expect them in 6 months or so, maybe longer...

Aircraft Losses

Turn 4: December 9, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

A fortuitous day!

Philippines

It starts off looking quite dicey. The entire combat strength of the United States Asiatic Fleet (sans battleships Oklahoma and Nevada, which are presumably still being patched up in Manila) sorties in an attempt to drive off our invasion fleet at Vigan in northern Luzon. The force is led by heavy cruiser Houston, and includes light cruisers Nashville, Boise, and Marblehead, along with twelve old destroyers.

They run straight into my strongest covering force - Battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, supported by a light cruiser and four destroyers.


Fast battleships Yamashiro and Fuso. Far distance: Kirishima.

It’s a night-time engagement at roughly 10,000 yards. Decent moonlight means that both sides spot each other simultaneously, but the Americans happen to be in a decent position - they cross my T.



Light cruiser Izumi and destroyer Yugao take a few nasty hits from the light cruisers, but no other ship suffers significant damage. The larger American ships focus on the two Japanese battleships, but their thick armor rejects the 6- and 5-inch shells. The Houston is unlucky. Set on fire early in the battle, she is slammed with multiple 36cm shells and goes down burning.

Apart from that, there is quite a lot of missing. Fuso and Yamashiro eventually run low on 36cm shells and pull back. The American task force, now headed by the three light cruisers, continues on. They are surprised by the light cruiser Naka, leading a group of 7 destroyers:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,72, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Naka, Shell hits 10, on fire
DD Hayashimo
DD Asashio, Shell hits 1
DD Michisio, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Takanami, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Tamanami
DD Harusame
DD Murasame

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 2
CL Nashville
CL Boise, Shell hits 1
DD Alden
DD Barker, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Edsall, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Litchfield, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Peary, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Pope, Shell hits 3, heavy damage
DD Whipple, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Chew
DD Schley, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Stewart

Naka eats several 6 inch shells from Boise and slows to a crawl, burning. The rest of the battle tends to go the Japanese way. Though our Long Lance torpedo salvoes miss, the destroyers dive into the disrupted American formation and do a great deal of damage.

Marblehead, Nashville, Boise and a pair of destroyers manage to force their way through to within 20,000 yards of the Vigan invasion fleet, but our lookouts spot them first and our defenseless transports manage to escape into the darkness.

All in all, we have confirmed sinkings of three American destroyers (USS Pope, USS Barker and USS Helm) and the heavy cruiser USS Houston. The latter was the former flagship of the Asiatic Fleet and famous for carrying President Roosevelt on fleet reviews and special cruises.

We’ve taken some mild to moderate damage. Yamashiro took several nasty 6 inch hits to her superstructure and will need a few weeks in the yards. A couple of destroyers have been banged up and will need a similar amount of time for repairs. The only seriously hurt ship is the light cruiser Naka. Already badly hurt by USS Boise, the commander of the American submarine S-39 spotted her by the light of her fires and managed a successful torpedo hit.



She’s under escort of destroyer Murasame, but may not make it. That’s some nasty flooding. Still, I’ll trade one light cruiser for three American destroyers and a heavy cruiser any day.



In daylight, our bombers once again fly for Clark Field. A wing of Betties is separated from the group, goes in early without escort, and loses four aircraft to the eager Warhawks.

The following attacks provide ample vengeance. The Japanese bombers have lowered their altitude to 9000 feet for this strike. The increased accuracy serves us well. Waves of Zeroes clear the skies of enemy fighters, giving the Betties, Nells, Lilies and Sallies the opportunity to go low and aim true. We do serious damage to Clark’s runway, support facilities, supply dumps and more, all while destroying 30 or more aircraft on the ground.

While all this is happening, our landings commence at Aparri on the northern tip of Luzon. Japanese troops have arrived on Philippine soil.

Malaya

Our troops at Kota Bharu get that IJAAF air support they were looking for and take the base in a shock attack. The British are forced to leave 17 damaged aircraft behind. The 56th Infantry Regiment immediately begins pursuit along the rail line to the southwest.



We lose a significant number of Oscars today. The Brits in their Hurricanes and Floatfires are doing quite well against them. We’ll be trying massed sweeps of Georgetown tomorrow. If quality isn’t happening, quantity will have to suffice.

Hong Kong

I notice that the Allied shipping that begins in both Manila and Hong Kong has not attempted to escape. Usually the CVLs in the Sulu Sea would be having a field day trying to torpedo all the xAKs fleeing for the safety of Australia, and Japanese bombers would be dropping bombs on Honk Kong’s refugees. Instead - nothing.

So I send the IJAAF based in Canton on a Port Attack mission to Hong Kong. They reap a rich harvest:

Morning Air attack on Hong Kong , at 77,61

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 9
Ki-44 Tojo x 6
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 3
Ki-51 Sonia x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Bennevis, Bomb hits 4, on fire
xAK Nanning, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Munlock, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hinsang, Bomb hits 1
xAKL Chengtu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Ming Sang, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hai Lee, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAKL Kanchow, Bomb hits 1
xAK Fatshan, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Repair Shipyard hits 1
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

Followup attacks by Idas and Lillies dump even more ordnance on the harbor. The civilian ships that don’t sink outright should be too damaged to escape. I am pleased.

Pacific

The search aircraft of light carriers Taiho and Chuho, passing through the Gilbert Islands, report three ships moving as a group near Nikunau Atoll - including what appear to be a heavy cruiser and an ocean liner.



They are correct. Two strikes go out. It’s the USS Louisville, escorting the USS President Coolidge and the USS Hugh L. Scott. One B5M Mabel is destroyed by the Louisville’s desperate AA fire, but with no air cover within hundreds of miles and far from any major Allied base, their fate is sealed. Torpedos sink into the hulls of the transports - particularly the massive, 20,000 ton President Coolidge - and sink them easily. Louisville takes a few extra to go down, but down it goes. Another sunk American heavy cruiser for the day, along with a large ocean liner - a truly valuable ship.



Aircraft Losses

Turn 5: December 10, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Hahaha. HAHAHAHA. I say all that smug garbage in the previous turn and of course Windy circles around to punish me.

Far Pacific

The counterpoint to all that stuff I said about raiding in the deep Pacific, unspotted by hostile aircraft, is that you don’t have any long-range spotters either - and you can easily blunder into an engagement you’d rather not have.

TF 42 detected by SBD-3 Dauntless at 141,132 near Nikunau

American aircraft begin appearing over the task force of battleships Ise and Hyuga early in the morning. It’s just a few spotters, but they’re single-engined planes. Unless the Americans have established an airbase out here without us knowing, they don’t have the range to fly from anything but a carrier.



The enemy carrier (I suspect it’s a single large carrier) hits us with a morning and then an afternoon strike. Hyuga takes several bombs and two torpedos and is in a bad way. Ise is making a break for it at her undamaged full speed (29 knots). Her sister can only manage 10. She’s heading for the marginal port facilities at Jaluit, but may sink of her own accord - even if the enemy doesn’t have the chance to finish her off, which they likely will have.




Taiho and Chuho are to the south. They expended most of their torpedos on Louisville and company yesterday, but they’re rushing north with their escorts at full speed. If the enemy hangs around to finish off Hyuga, we may have a chance to strike them. The Betties and Nells throughout the Marshalls are going on high alert as well, though I don’t expect them to launch or be particularly effective if they do.

The Kido Butai is rushing south from their position near Wake (they were about to launch a strike on the island). If everything goes to hell, I may still have a chance to destroy the American carrier(s) by cutting off their retreat to Pearl Harbor with the KB.

Review of the Gilberts Situation:


(1) Ise and Hyuga fleeing.
(2) Taiho and Chuho rushing north to catch the Americans.
(3) Replenishment task force heading towards the battle area in an attempt to confuse/distract.
(4) Our Canton Island invasion force has managed to slip through.
(5) These guys are going for Vaitupu Island to the south.


Malaya/Borneo



Our strikes on Georgetown go in a little disjointed. The Oscars escort in some bombers, but they fail to clear the British from the sky and the followup waves get mangled by Floatfires, Hurricanes and Whirlwinds.

Troops begin landing at Miri in Sarawak, northern Borneo, and another invasion task force closes in on Kuching. The Dutch appear to have spotted the latter. A surface task force led by the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter is spotted on an intercept course.



They’re just in range of torpedo-armed Betties and Nells flying from Saigon. We sink a torp into HNLMS Java. That should keep them off.

The end of the day looks like this:



(1) The Dutch surface task force. I expect they’ll turn around to avoid further Betty & Nell strikes. If they press on, they’ll run into…
(2) Four heavy cruisers and four destroyers covering the Kuching invasion TF.
(3) Originally launched from Hainan Island, these invasion task forces are heading for Manadao and Ternate.
(4) Japanese troops are pouring into Malaya and south Thailand.
(5) Our light carriers are maintaining position in the Sulu Sea.
(6) Oh, and we’re about to take Miri from the Brits.

Philippines



A bunch of dumb Betties fly in to try and catch ships in Manila Bay without escort and get shot up by Warhawks. They’re grounded now - by which I mean I have both ordered them to cease flying and also made them stay in their rooms for the night. I won’t even allow them to text their friends.

Oh, and just to cap the day off:

Sub attack near Calayan at 82,71

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Torpedo hits 1
DD Kazagumo
DD Amagumo

Allied Ships
SS Spearfish

SS Spearfish launches 4 torpedoes at BB Kirishima
Spearfish diving deep ....
DD Amagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amagumo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Amagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Our lovely battleship Kirishima eats an American torpedo from USS Spearfish.



Kirishima will be fine after repairs, but that’s another capital ship that’ll be out for repairs at a critical time for us.

Marshalls/New Guinea/New Britain


No combat, but our troops are closing in for invasions. We have feet on the ground at Kavieng already.

(1) Hollandia
(2) Aitape
(3) Wewak
(4) Manus
(5) Shortlands invasion TF

Aircraft Losses



Our first day where Japanese losses exceed Allied.

Turn 6: December 11, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Our first carrier-on-carrier battle!

Far Pacific

Hyuga and Ise are not attacked further by the mystery American carrier(s). Hyuga, in fact, is holding up quite well and has even repaired a point of floatation damage.Still lumbering along at 10 knots, she just might make it.



Of course, the reason the Americans don’t finish off Hyuga is that my light carriers, Taiho and Chuho, race north and engage them. The Americans react and presto: we have the first carrier versus carrier battle in history.

Now, Taiho and Chuho are Junho-class light carriers that carry 18 fighters and 18 torpedo bombers each - a total of 72 aircraft in the task force. I strongly suspect that my opponent is a single carrier, maybe Enterprise or Lexington or Saratoga - two of those are west of Pearl Harbor on December 7, as I recall. A Yorktown-class carrier like Enterprise has a capacity of 90 aircraft. This is an almost even fight on pure numbers - 72 versus ~90, and a few of his ~90 were shot down attacking Ise and Hyuga.



Here’s the problem. While Taiho has a nice complement of our most modern aircraft - A6M Zero fighters and B5N Kate bombers - Chuho is still equipped with A5M Claudes and B5M Mabels. Now, the Mabel isn’t a bad bomber at all - roughly equivalent to the Kate and superior in some ways. The Claude, though, is a 1935 design, barely faster than modern bombers, and drastically underarmed with only two rifle-caliber guns.



Our strike reaches the Americans first. The escorting Zeroes and Claudes do what they can, but there aren’t enough of them, and the American Wildcat and Buffalo fighters get amongst the torpedo bombers. They are shot down to a man before even managing a run on the American ships.



The enemy respond and I prepare to lose my two light carriers. The Zeroes and Claudes that stayed behind do their best - standby CAP is scrambled and we shoot down quite a few Buffalo and Devastator aircraft - but the Dauntlesses get through and make their runs.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 144,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 14
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 11
SBD-2 Dauntless x 24
SBD-3 Dauntless x 7
TBD-1 Devastator x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 3 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CVL Taiho, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CVL Chuho, Bomb hits 1
CL Yodo

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x TBD-1 Devastator launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
1 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Taiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
Chuho-1 with A5M4 Claude (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers

Huge sigh of relief: they only manage one hit on each carrier. Fires and flooding are under control and both can still make 20 knots. A follow-up American strike goes in without escorts, gets mauled, and scores no hits. It’s time to get the hell out. I set task force speed to “full” and race for the safety of the Marshalls. This fight is a tactical loss for me, but I’m fucking grateful I haven’t actually lost any ships yet.



Meanwhile, the full force of the Kid&#333; Butai - 6 carriers, 400 aircraft strong - is racing south. If I can catch the American CV alone with the KB it’ll be pummeled to the seabed.

A side note: One of the Devastator torpedo bombers actually scored a hit, but the weapon failed to detonate. The torpedo struck with a dull clang against the hull of the Taiho, then sank to the bottom apologetically. Thank god for BuOrd.

Oh, and we captured Canton Island. Cool!

Malaya/Borneo/Hong Kong

Our troops have arrived at Hong Kong proper and are testing the British, Canadian and Indian defenders with artillery bombardments. We have another division coming along the road - once they’re in line, we’ll begin deliberate attacks.

Miri (in British Sarawak, North Borneo) falls to an Army infantry battalion, becoming our first base on Borneo. Kuching should follow tomorrow.



Speaking of Borneo, those Dutch cruisers our Nells attacked yesterday haven’t retreated as I’d assumed they would. Scouts report what I assume is that force actually east of Kuching and looking as though they’re bearing down on Miri. This is pretty smart - I have no surface protection for the Miri invasion force, assuming that he’d go for the closer Kuching fleet. Only one thing to be done: I set the four heavy cruisers and four destroyers of the Kuching cover task force to full speed and direct routing for Miri. Hopefully they’ll arrive before the Dutch and can cover the transports.

I also pull the Junho and Unho west from the Sulu Sea for a little insurance. If the Dutch cruisers are still hanging around in the daylight, I’ll murder them with Kates and Mabels.

Aircraft Losses



Decent toll on the Dauntlesses and Buffalo.

We're several days in and the action is still going strong. I think it’s time to start digging in to the alternate history of this scenario.

Some background. About a decade ago - when I was an awful teen and nerding out about WWII and warships and things - I found a Geocities site by someone calling himself “Alt_Naval”. It was mostly photo manipulations of alternate history ships - some plausible, some not.

He had another project called “An Alternate Imperial Japanese Fleet - Post London Treaty 1930”. It was a detailed and plausible attempt to design a more competitive IJN, with specifications and artwork of all the ships. You can see it all in the above link - thankfully, the Wayback Machine seems to preserve .swf files. I’ve also acquired a copy of the source files for the old page, which you can download here. In any case, below is the introduction to his work.



Alt_Naval goes on to describe his IJN in detail. I used those details to turn his hypothetical navy into the basis for the WitP scenario I am now playing with Windy. Every once in a while in this thread, I’ll focus on a ship class (or maybe a group of classes) and talk about what he’s done and how it compares to historical reality. I’ll be using both screenshots from his website and the game itself.

The Kid&#333; Butai keeps coming up in the LP and in discussion, and with good reason. Just as it was historically, it is the most important and powerful military unit in the Pacific right now - so let’s dig into the carriers today. I’ll let the screenshots speak for themselves, then give my analysis.






Historically, the Japanese built two Hiryu/Soryu-class and then two Shokaku-class carriers before the war. Of course, the two Yamato superbattleships consumed a huge amount of resources at this time that, in retrospect, would have been better used on carriers or cruisers or really almost anything else. That hindsight has been applied here. We've cranked out six Kairyus already, and more are coming down the pipe at a decent pace.

Here’s the comparison between the Kairyu and Shokaku classes, using game stats:



They’re very similar. Kairyu can carry slightly more aircraft but is slightly slower, less well-armed and less durable. They both are fast, powerful, and burn real nice when 1000lb bombs hit the flight deck.



Anyhow, the Kairyu is the only carrier type we have - apart from the unique Akagi and Kaga, and the Junho CVLs. More on all them in future posts. For now, get used to the Kairyus. We’ll be building and upgrading them through the rest of the war.

Turn 7: December 12, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

Lord Windy is a reckless motherfucker. He’s going to be out of surface ships in the East Indies in a couple weeks at this rate.

Philippines



Troops continue to pour into Luzon. We’re marching from Aparri, Vigan and Legaspi into the interior now - heading for the Manila/Clark/Bataan triangle, where he’s sure to defend. Aerial recon informs me that Clark Field has been abandoned and it looks like he’s betting everything on Manila. I’ll wait until I have proper airbases set up on Luzon before I try to headshot the place.

I haven’t mentioned it, but I’ve lost a couple of transports to American submarines. The troublesome S-38 bagged one just last turn. We get our revenge, catching her in the shallows, depth-charging her until she’s forced to surface, and finishing her off with deck guns. Confirmed kill.

A funny thing happens at Legaspi: a convoy of Allied cargo ships is trying to slip away in the night. Heavy rains and lack of visibility lead them to blunder directly into my Legaspi cover force.

Reduced visibility due to Rain with 35% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 35% moonlight: 6,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 6,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 6,000 yards
Naoi, Toshio crosses the 'T'
CL Nagara engages TK Manatawny at 6,000 yards

6,000 yards: too close for the lead ships to escape. A few of the transports manage to break off and slip away in the night and rain, but the poor tanker Manatawny has her back broken by a Long Lance from Nagara, as does Governor Wright. Most of the other ships are damaged, some heavily.

His B-17s start flying on naval attack missions. They’re too high to hit anything (15,000 feet) and B-17s are crap at naval attack anyhow. If they get lucky and hit something with a 500 lb bomb, it’ll hurt, but I’m willing to chance it for now. Easier to kill them on the ground than on the sky, so I shall bomb the airbases and/or take them with troops.

Finally: we’ve started landing troops at Dadjangas in Mindanao, the southern large Philippine island. It should fall easily, then it’s a quick march to Davao for us.

Borneo

So I was right about the Dutch task force. It steams on towards Miri. In fact, it makes it to Miri, and almost savages our landing force there.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD Aoi
TB Kasasagi
AMc Wa 19
xAK Hokko Maru
xAK Zinzan Maru
xAK Kinkasan Maru
xAK Giyu Maru
xAKL Kembu Maru
xAKL Kiko Maru
xAKL Anbo Maru

Allied Ships
CL Java
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
DD Banckert
DD Van Nes
DD Witte de With
DD Evertsen
DD Kortenaer
DD Piet Hein
DD Van Ghent

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 35% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
Japanese TF attempts to evade combat
Range increases to 12,000 yards...
Range increases to 12,000 yards...
Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape
Japanese Amphibious TF evades combat

As you can see above, early warning and low visibility gave our boys the chance to escape. The Dutch could have caught them, but just then the cruiser force I detached from Kuching arrives:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 10,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
C.XI-W: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Kurama
CA Ashitaka
CA Amagi, Shell hits 1
CA Ikoma, Shell hits 1
DD Yugumo, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Urakaze, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Yukikaze

Allied Ships
CL Java, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Tromp, Shell hits 6, on fire
DD Banckert, Shell hits 1
DD Van Nes
DD Witte de With
DD Evertsen
DD Kortenaer
DD Piet Hein
DD Van Ghent


Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 35% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 10,000 yards

Once again, we spot the Dutch before they spot us and catch them by surprise. Kurama, Ashitaka, Amagi and Ikoma are all Kurama-class heavy cruisers. Nasty brutes of the latest design, they’re equipped with ten 20cm guns and a full rack of torpedoes. Java, already wounded by the Nell-granted torpedo hit yesterday, is hammered with shells and put down by a Long Lance. Tromp and De Ruyter take a few hits that start fires and aren’t much use in the fight. It’s the Dutch destroyers that do surprisingly well. One launches a torpedo that blows Urakaze in two, while another blows up Yugumo with a magazine explosion. Two modern destroyers lost - not good for me. The Dutch destroyers withdraw essentially unharmed.

So, the transports are protected, both sides have losses, the Dutch head home. But they’re slowed by the damage they’ve taken. When daylight comes, light carriers Junho and Unho are in perfect position. The pair actually blunder to within visual range of the Dutch for a minute! In any case, they launch aircraft and clean up. All three Dutch cruisers are confirmed sunk for the day.


HNLMS Tromp in better days.

Honestly, it sucks to see them go down so soon. I love the RNN CLs. They’re unique, beautiful ships - just look at Tromp above! - and they can do damage when properly handled. At least they had a surface engagement before Japanese aircraft sunk the lot.

The destroyers did escape and will continue to be a nuisance, but that’s the Royal Netherlands Navy beheaded.

Far Pacific

Well, this is embarrassing. I expected the American carrier(s?) to pull back to Pearl Harbor to resupply, not dive even deeper southwest. I assumed my invasion task force in that direction heading to Vaitupu would be unmolested.

Obviously I was wrong! The USN spots the convoy, loaded with the 61st Naval Guard - a couple thousand men heading for a cushy occupation job on sunny Vaitupu Atoll - and bombs it to pieces.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Arorae at 135,137

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 4
F4F-3A Wildcat x 11
SBD-2 Dauntless x 24
SBD-3 Dauntless x 7
TBD-1 Devastator x 9

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAP Kashima Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tatuharu Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Okiyu Maru, Bomb hits 10, and is sunk
xAK Tensyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Yosyu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
536 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (8 destroyed, 6 disabled)

The Americans are out of torpedo ordnance, it seems - the Devastators drop 500lb bombs. Regardless, the defenceless transports don’t stand a chance. The 61st was ready to play volleyball on the beach and work on their tans for the duration of the war. Instead, they’re shark food.


(1) Kido Butai chasing at full speed
(2) American carrier(s)?
(3) Hyuga, almost to safety, water being pumped out. We saved her!
(4) Our two damaged CVLs Taiho and Chuho, also wounded but not in danger of sinking
(5) PB Yahada Maru, sole survivor of the 61st Naval Guard convoy and about to finish burning up and sinking. RIP.

The Kido Butai is racking up wear and tear speeding in the direction of the American CV(s). If they loiter, I might catch them in two turns. If they head back towards Pearl, I’ll surely catch them. If they move towards Australia.. I’ll probably head back to Truk for repairs.

Meanwhile, another infantry unit suffers in the Pacific. Up north, our invasion fleets finally reach Wake Island and begin landing troops. Bombardments go in and the IJA troops are allowed to disembark with few casualties - but it’s a trap. The poor 144th Infantry Regiment finds that the Americans have turned the place into a fortress.

The overly-aggressive commander orders banzai charges against USMC machine gun nests. It’s a massacre. Two thousand Japanese troops die on the tiny island today alone. Tomorrow could be worse. The majority of the troops have disembarked, and we do outnumber the Americans, but the 144th is so disrupted and morale so low that a counter-attack by the Marines could take them out.

It’s a mess. I suspect that if I’d left the Kido Butai to their original mission - providing air support for the Wake invasion (read: bombing the shit out of the Marines and their airfield) - casualties would be much lower. But I’d trade two or three regiments for a destroyed American carrier.

Aircraft Losses

Forgot the screenshot! Not too many at all this turn, though.

Beautiful AAR! [&o]

Gosh, an amazing AAR!!!

[&o]

What was the indomitable CV doing along with Force Z near Mersing on Dec 7 41?

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

What was the indomitable CV doing along with Force Z near Mersing on Dec 7 41?

We're running an alternate history scenario. One of the ideas is that Prince of Wales is damaged and fails to join Force Z, instead of Indomitable.

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

What was the indomitable CV doing along with Force Z near Mersing on Dec 7 41?

We're running an alternate history scenario. One of the ideas is that Prince of Wales is damaged and fails to join Force Z, instead of Indomitable.

Ok, thanks! Would be cool if you listed which are the customisations of this scenario

Fantastic AAR! [8D]

I will second Greyjoy and witpqs. This is a great AAR! I appreciate all the screen shots and explanations. Tromp really is a sleek looking vessel.

Keep up the excellent work!

Wa

Thank you very much, folks! Glad you like it, it's fun to write & produce.

I'll be going through the scenario customizations as we go, but here's a quick roundup:

- Revamped IJN as described above
- IJNAS aircraft from Relucant Admiral
- One extra Allied division in both Malaya and Luzon
- USAAF air presence in Luzon is nearly doubled - lots and lots of P-40
- battleships Oklahoma & Nevada headquartered in Manila w/support fleet
- CV Indomitable substituted for PoW in Force Z
- Four 1931-design (Hope class) USN flight deck cruisers available, with a further four 1940-design ones (Choctaw class) coming up in 1942
- Allies have access to P-50 Skyrocket, Floatfire (Spitfire Type 355) & later versions, along with a few other treats
- HMS Tiger sold to Australia, renamed HMAS Australia, rebuild a la Renown
- Scenario lasts to May 1947, with reinforcements continuing through 1946 (extra Midway carriers, early B-36 Peacemakers become available, etc)
- Lots of other minor and not-so-minor tweaks that will be pointed out as we move along

Turn 8: December 13, 1941

>>VIDEO REPLAY<< >>COMBAT REPORT<<

This was one of the quieter turns so far, so I’ll keep it short. Also, I forgot to take screenshots, so enjoy the video replay linked above and the photos embedded below! With any luck, Windy will have taken screens and you can see them over at his thread.

Far Pacific

We’re still landing supplies at Wake to support the beleaguered 144th Infantry Regiment. Wake’s coastal defense guns are still operational and dueling with our ships, occasionally scoring hits. Nothing’s too terribly hurt yet but it’s annoying.

The Americans try their counterattack. Miraculously, it fails. The 144th is badly depleted, but the remaining sheer numbers hold our beachhead.


Barely hanging on

I’m going to try for another attack. I think I’ve figured out what I did wrong here - landed too many troops on the tiny island and ran into the stacking limit of 6,000. I might end up having to pull out eventually.

The American carrier(s) has vanished, sailed out of range of our flying boat reconnaissance. I’ve slowed the Kido Butai to standard mission speed. They’ll continue to the Americans’ last known location, then perform a wide curve near the Solomons back to Truk. It will probably take about a week. Maybe we’ll get lucky.

Philippines

I stupidly forget to shorten the range settings on some Nell torpedo bombers. They, along with a Zero escort, decide to try to sink some minesweepers hanging around the Bataan peninsula.

[timg]http://lpix.org/1932667/G3M_Type_96_Att ... 3M-26s.jpg[/timg]
Idiots

The Zeroes do well enough, but a few P-40s get among the Nells and shoot a bunch down. Ugh. Nells and Betties can be real terrors with their huge range and torpedo armament, but any hostile fighters and they’re doomed.

Still, the minesweepers loitering around there would be an easy target to clean up with ships, and maybe we’ll get something else there too. I set up a couple of surface combat task forces to make a run near the peninsula soon.

Hong Kong

More bombers flying from Formosa try to sink the remaining ships in Hong Kong harbor - a few British destroyers, it seems. The bombs all miss.

[timg]http://lpix.org/1932666/Japanese_Artill ... ,_WWII.JPG[/timg]
Our artillery firing at Hong Kong.

104th Division has arrived from Canton. Tomorrow we’ll shock attack the place - I see no reason why it shouldn’t fall immediately.

Malaya

Another wave of IJAAF aircraft go for Georgetown. We’re keeping the place pretty well suppressed with constant attacks. It’s a nice airfield - I’d like to force Windy to rebase his aircraft to the south. If he doesn’t, I’ll attrit his northern squadrons to nothing.

Aircraft Losses

A few Nells, but nothing too bad. Proper screenshots again next turn.

Are you the Alikchi who did the Iron Storm scenario for the old WITP ?