This is not going to be the most brilliant AAR that has ever been written, not by a long shot. I do not have the time to make it so. But I will need all the help I can get, as I will be playing against John in his own mod, so any and all comments are more than welcome. In fact, I plead that you all comment and ask questions fairly often
I have definitely bitten more than I can chew, but I will play Between the Storms against John 3rd. He will play the Empire of the Rising Sun, and I will play the Allies. We are in the very initial stages of negotiating house rules, etc., so this will not start for a while, but I had a bit of time free and decided to at least start this. I do not know if we will play with the Yamato-class BBs or with the Owari-class BBs. I have let John choose. More surprise for the allies.
Also, many changes have come with the latest versions of BTS/BTSL. These are a few:
- IJA changeover to triangle Infantry divisions fully occurs allowing for three more ID to be created (1 in China, 1 in Manchuria, and 1 for Southern Army). This change weakens nine infantry divisions who lose their fourth regiment, but creates three more divisions, and the one thaat starts under Southern Army command might be troublesome from the start.
- The Lexington fighter squadron start with F4F-3a instead of Buffalo. To compensate, VMF-211 (Wake and Midway) lose their F4F-3a and revert to Buffalo. That means CAP over Wake and Midway is weaker, but the Lady Lex is better protected.
- A number of Dutch LCUs can now be bought out. The total is more than 25 at-start LCUs, although many of them are components of larger units.
- The 13th USA Arm Div that comes into play at the end of '42 can be bought out with PPs and sent into harm's way.
- The Chinese receive 350 infantry squads a month now.
- 300 Political Points (now 600 total) added to Allied starting number to allow more first-turn flexibility. Coupled with the increased PPs per turn, this makes for faster reinforcements.
The above are added to the Alt Hist that can be seen in the website. For those that do not know the mod, these are a few of the changes to the Allied OOB:
- New air units.
- Addition of training squadrons on mainland USA to allow for an American pilot training program.
- Enhanced aircraft production numbers.
- Additional Allied FP groups.
- New ground units.
- Additional New Zealand and Australian ships.
- A French Squadron at Tahiti.
- The CL Eendract for the DEI.
- A stronger Force Z.
- A CLAA conversion for the Omaha-CL class.
- An additional pair of USN CVLs.
- Optional conversion of the Kittyhawk Class AKV and Tangier Class AV into CVEs.
The Hepburn Board's recommendation to augmenting and expanding many Pacific Bases is heeded, and work is sped up at Wake, Midway, the Aleutians, and in the South Pacific. While work has just begun in many ways, these advances pose a tougher problem for Japan if she moves east or southeast.
- The British Asiatic Fleet is reinforced with a CA and 4 modern DDs
- The development of Cebu as an alternate anchorage has been started.
- The Scouting Force, commanded by Vc-Adm Wilson, is sent south to protect the ships helping to develop Pago Pago into a forward operating base.
- The Royal Navy moves Valiant and Queen Elizabeth from Home Fleet to Ceylon.
- HMS Renown reinforces Force Z.
- HMS Indomitable and her escorts also start at Ceylon.
- The 48th Gurkha Brigade is rushed into Singapore along with supplies and two dozen crated Hurricane Fighters. Unfortunately the other two brigades of the 17th Indian Division start in Karachi and Rangoon.
Although I mainly play the Japanese side, I have a 2-day per turn BTSL game running with Falken in which we are almost at the end of April '42, with me playing the Allies too. I have found that the Allies get much more stuff than I am comfortable facing as the Japanese, and have learned a lot. Let's see if that experience helps me with this game.
Will post more when John and I agree on House Rules.
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