Revisionist War 1937 v10 (#8 Matt v RB)

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Sat Jun 11, 2022 5:57 pm

Revisionist War 1937 v10 (#8 Matt v RB)

For this contest Matt has selected the Imperial side. Some years ago, we played a much earlier version and are now engaging in battle with the most recent version v10.

As designed, both sides start on equal footing with addition of allies determined by triggering Theater Options. Most allies will be recruited by turn 5 with a few stragglers waiting until turn 10. The number, and location, of allies joining in battle will help determine whether this is a short or extended conflict.

Matt rolls the dice first and we are off.

Regards, RhinoBones

Turns 1 thru 4

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Tue Jun 14, 2022 12:10 am

Turn 5.

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Wed Jun 15, 2022 1:34 pm

Turn 6

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Fri Jun 17, 2022 10:03 pm

Turn 7

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:50 pm

Turn 8

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:49 pm

Turn 9

StuccoFresco · Post by **StuccoFresco** » Wed Jun 22, 2022 7:25 am

How is the balance of forces as of now? The Empire seems to have less cities, is this a crippling disadvantage?

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:30 pm

StuccoFresco wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 7:25 am How is the balance of forces as of now? The Empire seems to have less cities, is this a crippling disadvantage?

It may not be evident from the maps, but the sides are even at 4 cities each. The Empire has 4 cities (blue circle with light blue fill: Dalan, Bayan, Songea and Manyoni) and the Leftist have 4 cities (red circle with light red fill: Mwadui, Pangani, Chunya and Kobdo). The remaining 8 cities (red circle with white fill) are all neutral. The Leftist have unused Theater Options to activate these cities.

No need or intention to activate neutral cities and make the game completely unbalanced, that would ruin all the fun. As is, this battle is very competitive, and I think it does a good job at illustrating the scenario design. The scenario requires the players think in terms of strategy and tactics as opposed to victory points and static objectives captured within an allotted time period.

Regards, RhinoBones

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Thu Jun 23, 2022 8:31 pm

Turn 10

StuccoFresco · Post by **StuccoFresco** » Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:16 am

How strong is the Imperial Battle Fleet compared to the Rebel one?

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Fri Jun 24, 2022 1:57 pm

StuccoFresco wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:16 am How strong is the Imperial Battle Fleet compared to the Rebel one?

In this game both sides have about 4 battleships in their heavy fleet unit. Leftists also have a single heavy cruiser, but that’s not enough to give them an advantage. The strategic consideration is that if you engage the enemy one-on-one and lose your battleships, you now have an enemy with control of the sea lanes. Obviously, this puts limits on amphibious operations, and you have little defense against naval bombardments.

If the scenario evolves into a land war where the fleet has minimal impact, a naval engagement might be a good decision. Otherwise, the players need to gage the risk/reward of the decisive naval battle. In the current game, I see loss of my battleships a bigger risk than the potential reward. As the scenario progresses this decision may change.

Regards

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Sun Jun 26, 2022 1:18 pm

Turn 11

StuccoFresco · Post by **StuccoFresco** » Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:47 am

Yeah with so many troops on the southern islands it makes sense the Leftists are the ones not too eager to risk a naval battle.

I have no clue on the Imperial Fleet's plans: they are leaving Songea alone and likely to be invaded from the sea... What was the purpose of such a move?

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Tue Jun 28, 2022 2:56 pm

StuccoFresco wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:47 am Yeah with so many troops on the southern islands it makes sense the Leftists are the ones not too eager to risk a naval battle.
I have no clue on the Imperial Fleet's plans: they are leaving Songea alone and likely to be invaded from the sea... What was the purpose of such a move?

Looks like the Emperor has answered our question concerning the Imperial battle fleet. They’ve picked up a troop convoy and are on a trajectory that takes them to Kobdo. The Leftist didn’t want two fronts this early in the war, but that’s the way the Empire is pushing.

Regards

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:57 pm

Turn 13

StuccoFresco · Post by **StuccoFresco** » Thu Jun 30, 2022 6:35 pm

Damn, that destroyer raid could have turned the tide of the battle for Kobdo by itself!

rhinobones · Post by **rhinobones** » Thu Jun 30, 2022 9:24 pm

StuccoFresco wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 6:35 pm Damn, that destroyer raid could have turned the tide of the battle for Kobdo by itself!

I should have made it clearer that in order to stay out of the Imperial battleships range the DD squadron only attacked two convoy hexes. Naval aircraft did most of the damage by sinking about seven transports located closer to the heavy fleet units.
My opponent questioned naval aircraft ability to sink transports particularly since they perform so poorly against armed ships. But armed warships are different than thin skinned transports which need protection provided by warships sacked within their hex. There may have also been a misunderstanding that shipboard AA are ranged weapons, which they are not.
These losses, added to the losses in Songea, are bound to impact Imperial combat ability.

Regards