Yue Jin (Axis) Vs Ncc1701e (Allies) patch 1.00.07

[YueJin]

After being away from the game for some time, I've been lured back in by the need for good fast paced wargaming and after some warm up games on the previous patch Ncc1701e has kindly offered an AAR game to record our game on the most recent one. I'll likely be writing this from a game mechanics and strategy point of view rather than narrative. Questions and comments welcome throughout.

December 7th 1941

Not an amazing result at Pearl Harbour with just the BB California and CA New Orleans groups sunk. A decent amount of damage though which will hopefully slow down the US transport/landing craft building.



At Malaya, one Indian division surrenders and we push forwards to capture Kuala Lumpur whilst at Singapore, the BC Repulse is sunk but the Prince of Wales escapes undamaged. An average result, in the majority of games I find 1/2 of them gets bottomed or sunk.

In the Dutch East Indies, we successfully captured Surabaya and Bandar Lampung which should put us on a good timetable to seize Batavia. We also land at Kuala Belait for contingency oil to tide us over the first couple of turns.



The Philippeans campaign begins normally with landings at Aparri and Legaspi. The only change is that now the Allies start with transports, the small corps at Davao should be blockaded to prevent it from interfering with operations in the DEI. Bombings at Manilla only sink the CA Houston group, so the subs get away free.



A great start in China as we overrun an army group near Canton and gain a second hex adjacent to Changsha. Even better, China’s top general Zhang Fakui is killed in the fighting which should make operations in this theatre easier. I intend to put a lot of armies into China early on to hit it hard and prevent it ever building up to threatening levels.



Finally, in the South Pacific landings are made at Lae and Rabaul and Nomea is blockaded. Taking New Caledonia before the US can get a corps into it would give me a brilliant head start in the area as well as getting rid of the annoying engineer speciality unit there limiting the US ability to build up ports.

[YueJin]

January 4th 1942

Fairly typical action across the map, armies unloading at Batavia, waiting for the Philippines corps to starve and building up forces outside of the snow in China.

Landings at Nomea are contested though. The Allies resupply the garrison but at the cost of the De Ruyter CL Sqd and the Canberra CA Sqd. I do have a fleet of Battleship and cruiser squadrons offshore in fleet mode, which is a small risk but the damage from Pearl Harbour shouldn't be fully repaired yet so I think a US attempt to fight here is unlikely. An SNLF is landed at Port Villa as well to allow for aircraft to be based there pressuring Ndemi and Espirto Santo. If the marines at Nomea look like they'll fail to take it, I have an army ready to land if needed.

[YueJin]

February 1st 1942
Ups and downs in the battle for New Caledonia. I forgot to take screenshots of it but we destroyed four American DD squadrons and the British Warspite BB group which were contesting the island. On their turn, my opponent took the risky move of confronting the Japanese carriers with the two American ones available. Unfortunately, this gamble payed off and the Akagi was sunk, an unexpected blow. One CV in exchange for 4 DD's and a BB is not a terrible trade and the Americans will at least be very short on escorts until mid '43 at the earliest.

The Nomea garrison was destroyed by the 10th army landing and the island will be captured next turn. I will then turn my attention to finishing the capture of the Solomon, Santa Cruz and New Hebrides islands through blockades and airpower.



Singapore falls, which will free up two armies for the spring campaigns in India/China. At Batavia an army, division and parachute brigade are poised to assault the city once the heavy rains end.



In the Philippines, the defenders of Manilla retreat, surrendering the city and the country will fall next turn. Again this frees up another army likely to Southern China.

[YueJin]

February 15th 1942

Batavia falls this turn as the rain clears. Mid February is a good date to wrap up the DEI campaign by, if it drags on to March it can interfere with other operations.



Really, I need to decide if my final target for 1942 will be Fiji or Ceylon once new landing ships arrive in April. If the New Zealand division remains as Fiji's defender, I'll probably strike there and try to take it in one turn, if it's swapped out for a US corps Ceylon is likely the better target.

[YueJin]

March 15th 1942

In Burma the advance towards Ledo continues, 3 armies with support from the Thai army, divisions and air should be enough to push to the city for the VP and to halt the production going into China. All other armies are in motion for other areas so this will have to suffice.



In Southern China, 8 armies, the bulk of the IJA with several close air support divisions are poised to begin an assault aimed at capturing Changsha then continuing to clear the railroad to Kweiyang. Capturing Kunming or destroying a significant number of Chinese army groups is the minimum requirement for the 1942 campaign season.



In the South Pacific, the Allies give up Guadalcanal leaving the Solomon islands completely in Japanese hands. Ndeni and Espirito Santo will be annoying holes in our defence but I don't have the landing craft available to waste on them. I'll be blockading them with night move fleets in raider to keep the Allies attention on this area though. In May, the 20 extra landing ships will arrive allowing me to land an army and two marine divisions simultaneously on Fiji or Ceylon to hopefully guarantee success.

[YueJin]

April 12th 1942

The offensive begins in China in a fairly understated way. We take limited ground this turn but inflict some decent casualties on the Chinese, twenty-five. The Chinese can't afford to replace an entire army group every turn for long and their lines will soon weaken once they're out of entrenchment.



In India, Ledo is attacked on three sides and will hopefully fall next turn. Calcutta is also a possibility for a naval landing now as I can see through natural reconnaissance it's defended by only a weak division. This could be the highest value target, potentially cutting off the entire Indian army in the East.

[YueJin]

April 26th 1942

Rain in China this turn which sucks, really going to slow things down there.

Bigger news is that I go for a big attack on Calcutta with an army and naval division. I saw divisions going to Ceylon early in the game and a US unit in Fiji so this feels like the best offensive option left. I get the retreat from the unit on the city and there should be no other Allied units available to occupy the city due to the ZoC from the army. Taking the city is good enough but I'm hoping for some good hits on Indian units retreating from Burma as well.



The Japanese carriers are on station at Rangoon in case the British attempt to strike the bombardment fleet. I'm pretty sure the American fleet is still in the South Pacific so should be able to crush the Royal Navy if they try to intervene.

[YueJin]

May 10th 1942

Heavy rain puts a stop to all my plans in India. It was a 20% chance and the dice did not come up favourably. It's entirely possible both the army and marine division will be lost now which would be a serious disappointment but at least not totally crushing. It may have been wiser to transfer another two armies to the Burma front before attempting this but I really wanted full force going into South China.

With good weather, it may be possible to extricate the army if we get a some good retreat rolls next turn and taking Calcutta is not impossible yet.



Speaking of China, the assault there begins to gather momentum this turn. Nearly fifty casualties are inflicted on the Chinese forces around Changsha which should leave them at single digit strength. I'm hoping the 17th army group remains in Changsha to be cut off, as while it would slow us down for a turn, removing the most powerful army group from the map would make further gains inevitable.



In the South Pacific, we trade two for one in destroyer groups as the Americans try to break the Ndeni blockade. I don't mind this at all as removing more US DD groups should really slow down any 1943 counterattack.

[YueJin]

June 7th 1942

Another turn of heavy rain in India means the landing force is definitely doomed. I'll probably keep trying to continue the offensive for a while yet, at least until American forces arrive.

In China, Changsha is surrendered without a fight, probably a wise move as the army group is worth more than they turn they would have delayed. Still, there aren't many forces the Chinese can reposition to Kunming easily and I still have a number of strong armies that can rush down the railroad. Also this is the beginning of the end for China's ability to ever fully rebuild their forces. Every 10 production is worth about 15 in real terms and they should be on less than 60 production per turn now.



Other than in China, I will likely have to transition to the strategic defensive soon. I do have some interesting plays still available with the carriers but I won't be building many more landing ships as anything worth taking will be held by a large corps by now.

[YueJin]

July 5th 1942

Although offensives outside of China are almost at a halt, I still have a very powerful fleet. At this point the Japanese have 7CV and 4 CVL groups far outmatching anything the Allies can put out. Since the Royal Navy appeared at Calcutta last turn I expect they're lurking in either Madras or Ceylon and put the IJN in port at Rangoon to try to strike wherever they retreated to.

Using a COMINT on Jaffna reveals all three ports and I get reasonably lucky identifying two carriers at Madras since the RN is split between Colombo and Madras (I'd probably have gone for Madras anyway as bottomed ships there are essentially sunk giving me better odds). All 11 carrier groups attack the port and after softening up the defences, the final attack from the strongest and most experienced groups strikes gold sinking both the Indomitable and Formidable.

I scanned Panaji just in case the American carriers were hiding around the corner, seems very unlikely but worth the COMINT to check. Hopefully this attack should neuter the Royal Navy until 1944 and make any landings in Burma much more difficult to support. All the carrier groups have good Battleship cover so losing one to the New Zealand bomber unit would be very unlucky.

[YueJin]

July 19th 1942

Well that will teach me to bet on the odds. The New Zealand bomber unit makes one strike and sinks the Shokaku through four healthy carrier air wings and heavy escort ships. Goes to show how vunerable important ships are in the small fleet game mode. 2CV+1BB in exchange for 1CV is still a good trade for the IJN but this leaves a sour taste.

[YueJin]

August 2nd 1942

The Americans attempt their own port strike at Nomea and find some success, sinking the BC Haruna group at port. However, the 12th air division stationed there is the most deadly land based air unit on the map at the moment and it's counterstrike manages to sink the Enterprise CV group. Overall, definitely a positive for the Japanese. I have 12 CV/CVL groups now and it will take the Allies a significant amount of time to match them.

[YueJin]

August 16th 1942

The march along the railroad in China has continued reasonably well with good casualties being inflicted and ground being made. Chinese armies in the south were put out of supply when a HQ unit near Kweiyang was overrun accelerating their retreat. By the time the snow comes back in, we should be in touching distance of Kunming although it will still be a bit of a slog.

[YueJin]

September 1942 - January 31st 1943

Unfortunately I've been preoccupied with other things and haven't been able to keep this AAR as up to date as I'd like, but I've been keeping some screenshots and can update how the end of 1942 played out.

China was the main area of operations throughout the end of the year. Over four months, the Japanese armies ground their way to the city of Kunming and it was finally captured by two formations specially outfitted with winter equipment for this battle. A lot of specialisation points spent, but worth it to capture the city before China can research better techs. The combination of winter specialisations and close support bomber units were instrumental in forcing a path to the city as my armies could recover effectiveness in the snow, whilst the Chinese were reduced.

This success allows me to begin withdrawing formations to protect the overstretched troops in India where there have been some Allied attacks. The elite, 70% experience armies should be able to give the Commonwealth forces a bloody nose.



In India, the 15th army repels numerous attacks by the Commonwealth forces, losing efficiency but inflicting losses at at least a 4:1 ratio, a pretty good showing. Troops from China are beginning to arrive to defend the rail line from Rangoon against coastal landings. I'm definitely overstretched here to defend the VP city of Ledo and this is often the area I look to strike when I'm on the Allied side so I will not be neglecting it.



In the South Pacific, things have been quiet but just last turn, the Allies landed two full corps at Port Villa, destroying the marine division that was defending there. It begins to rain heavily on the next turn so no airstrikes can be launched at American fleets in the area. However, the Aoba CA group scouting the area triggers a reaction from one of the fleets which has been left on fleet mode. The Yamato, Mutsu, Fuso, Yamashiro, Kirishima and Nachi BB/CA groups pounce, the torpedoes crippling most of the American ships before they can return fire. At the end of the engagement, five American BB groups have been sunk, including the Washington and South Dakota, two of the most modern and powerful BB groups the Americans get.



Overall, I've hit almost all of my objectives for 1942, the only failures being the attack at Calcutta, and the loss of the Shokaku CV group at Madras. China should be a non issue now that it's down to around 40 production per turn and both the British and American fleets have taken some good damage. The Americans are building up in the South Pacific though and I'll go over my defences in more detail there next turn.

[YueJin]

February 28th 1943

As the South Pacific looks like the area the Americans want to focus their attention on, lets take a look at how the area is defended.



Nomea is the most vunerable position, but also the most heavily defended. An allied attack there would have to destroy a full strength 70% experience marine division first, then move on to besiege the army holding the port itself. A task that should be almost impossible since it can only be attacked from one hex. As such, as long as I can keep the port in supply, Nomea should be impregnable.

Rabaul is of course a key location, and much easier to attack with three potential landing hexes for allied troops. As such, it's being defended by the Elite 13th army just pulled out of China which should have at least 13 defensive strength when replenished. The adjacent HQ provides additional combat bonuses and tenacity which should help to make this a very tough location to capture as well.

An overland attack from Port Moresby towards Lae is perhaps the easiest option for the allies, if American corps start dropping off there I may have to bring in another army to make crossing the Kodaka trail an impossible task.

With these positions defended well enough, I expect the Allies to make their next move at Guadalcanal. With three landing hexes, it's probably indefensible if they land two corps and a division. Taking Henderson, Namuga, Munda and Buin is a slow process though and it will take a long time before this approach nets the allies a VP hex so I'm not too concerned about it.

[YueJin]

March 14th 1943

Commonwealth forces make a small breakthrough against the Indian National Army. I only get around a 2-1 casualty ratio which will hopefully be enough to slow the Allies down until more reinforcements from China can plug the gap. By splitting armies there I've freed up another three armies to move to Burma.

Eventually I will have to pull back towards Rangoon but the objective in this theatre is to hang onto Ledo through the 1943 monsoon season. The VP gap is growing daily.

[YueJin]

April 25th 1943

Fighting around the Imphal area is intense with commonwealth forces suffering more than 20 damage in the attacks and counterattacks. It shouldn't be too long now until heavy rain blankets the area.

Even with this attrition I'm keeping my reinforcement points at 95 per turn which allows a new army or destroyer group to enter the build queue every turn.

[YueJin]

May 9th 1943

It looks like the Allies next move is going to be attempting to blockade Nomea by bombing the ships at port there. They do get some hits, 2 damage on the Aoba CA group and 1 to a DD group but take around 12 damage to their air wings in return. This does add to the amount of attrition I'm taking and I may have to dip below my 180 points bank per turn soon. All shipyards are in use with four new CV groups and six new DD groups on the way anyway so spending more on reinforcements isn't too terrible.



The Americans have also begun a submarine campaign, sinking 4 merchants and an escort. I've got some more escorts in the build queue but if they do go heavy on subs my merchant fleet will start to dwindle rapidly.

[YueJin]

May 23rd 1943

Massive air battles over Nomea this turn. I put an air superiority group there to try to bloody the US plane wings even more which did succeed but it took a toll on both sides. Roughly a 2:1 casualty ratio means even the Americans will need a turn to make good their losses but we have to be careful with the limited air force we have.

[CrackingShow]

It looks like the push to Kumning was made possible by the damage you dealt around Changsha. Maybe next time running away from Changsha earlier would pay off.