John 3rd vs. Moses

[John 3rd]

Moses and I are running a pure vanilla Scenario 15. We had waited for the new patch to come out and decided 'to heck with it' and started.

As many of you know, I have been playing as the Japanese against Moses (now in December 1942) and Wolfpack (June 1942) and have been itching for a chance to play the Allies. As a college military historian, I am entranced with trying to do better then the Japanese did during the actual war.

This scenario provides me the opportunity to try and do better then the Allies did in the first years of the war. Will I win? Of course... To me, the challenge is to do better then what originally happened. Can I? Hmmmm....

Moses is a good and excellent opponent. He is a master of land combat (as I have found in our other game) and very good at operational planning. I am confident that he will be agressive but tempered. Both of us HATE how fast this game can move!

There are no official house rules between us because neither of us will abuse the system. I HATE THE FAKE POWER OF THE 4E BOMBERS! My use of them will be--dare I say--HISTORICALLY based! I will keep all my 2E bombers as that and not change them to 4E.

Basic Strategy:

DEI
I will do a phased pullback in the DEI. My plan is to fight him tooth-and-nail for everything. Anything that I kill CANNOT be brought back. My stuff, within reason, will come back.

Biggest thing I want to do is create 2-4 decently strong task Forces on the West, Central, and Eastern portion of the DEI. They will be used as striking forces. Repulse and Prince of Wales will be the center of two of these TF. Moses, as in histroy, will get a legitimate shot at sinking them but they will have a decent set of escorts around.

I am trying to concentrate my limited aerial power into 2-3 striking groups as well.

I plan to make a fight for Timor. I see it as the gateway to NW Australia. The 'Bird' Battalions are going there plus any reinfrocements I can find.

Malaya
I will fall back to the mid-point of the Peninsula and start fighting there. Have decided to try a spoiling attack against Songkhai in the north. See if that accomplishes anything... Everything else runs southwards.

I WILL NOT Pull any gragments out of Singapore because I consider that to be 'gamey.' If I can withdraw anything ONCE it becomes obvious that the end is here, then that is great. Otherwise--let them lay where they fall!

Burma
My forces will strongly defend in the hex north of the river above Moulmein. Eveything else falls back to Pagan, Mandalay, and Akyab. Will see how hard Poses pushes in this area. Will put up an aerial fight here as well.

Philippines
They are DOOMED! Move my aerial forces to fight as well as possible. My B-17s will fight out of Mindanao and see if they accomplish anything. Fighters will stand-and-die where they are. As soon as Moses in on the ground in the Philippines, then they will be used against the troops.

I am sortieing EVERYTHING southwards except the PT-Boats. AK/TK/AO flee southwards towards Tarakan. I do start loading several small AKs to supply Iloile and Cebu (that other small garrision there).

CHINA
Scared to death at what Moses might try to do here. He is SO good at this area of the game. I have learned, the question is--is it enough? Try to consolidate some troops for the thrusts towards Changsha and/or Yenen.

SE Pacific
Immediately move to reinforce Noumea and Port Moresby. Might do some things to Rabaul to strengthen it. Will create a counterattacking froce down in this region. My CV will probably focus their initial operations out of Noumea. Immediate American reinforcements will travel here.

EASTERN PACIFIC
Will hold Midway and Palmyra with all available forces.

Hawaii--I order the remaining lite forces out of PH (1CA, 4CL, 15DD) and order them at Full Speed towards Palmyra. If the KB stay north, then there shouldn't be any risk. Order the PT-Boats at PH to move Northwards to NW Hawaii. Several other ships are sent out to draw fire.

NORTHERN PACIFIC
Move an RCT to Dutch Harbor. I will hold DH eastwards.

CVs
I have already pulled Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga southwards towards Suva. They will work out of there and Noumea.

[John 3rd]

I didn't mention the Pearl Harbor attack. Nearly a perfect recreation:

Sunk--Arizona and Oklahoma
Seriously Damaged (60+ Sys and/or Flot)--West Virginia, California, Pennsylvania
Moderately Damaged (30-60)--Maryland, Nevada, Tennessee

Had 2CA, 3CL, 1DD, 2SS, DM, PC, AR damaged

Moses lost 5Z, 7V, 17K with 77 Damaged.


Landings: Kauntan, Batan, Guam, and Taytay (Paratroopers)

Sub Notes
I am using many of my Fleet Boats for minelaying operations at start. Am moving them to be based out of four locations: Rangoon, Koepang, Noumea, and Pearl Harbor. My S-Boats (with working TTs) will fight through DEI and eventually fallback to Darwin or Noumea. Will use all British and Dutch SS Here as well.

[John 3rd]

Moses and I have been slowly playing our campaign. Over the last two weeks, we have managed to get about 10 turns in. Playing the Allies is an experience! I want to run trhough some highly successful operations and talk about Moses' developing strategy.

Ground and Air
Moses is running a fairly conservative game to this point. I expected this but will see if he gets 'creative.'

China
Moses is setting up two possible axis of attack. He is advancing on Changsha and threatening Homan. I think the Homan thrust is a diversion. No basis for that, just what I feel. I am going to let him attack at Changsha and try a counterattack from Homan. Will see...

He is a great ground commander and I will be in trouble here.

Philippines
Normal landings. He has taken the northern Philippines and is well established in Mindanao. I have moved my troops to Clark, Bataan, and Manila. Will fight to the end out of that box. He has taken Cagayan and Davao in the south.

I have moved my airpower to Jolo and am harrassing him from there. Did switch 3 P-40 squadrons and 2 B-17 squadrons to SW Pacific control. The P-40s are at Jolo and Tarakan. The B-17s are operating out of Kendari.

From the start, I formed single ship TFs to get supplies to Iliole, Cebu, and Jolo. Each of these TF made it and unloaded 4500 supply. Should enable these troops to build-up fortifications and hold out. Want to force Moses to FIGHT with serious amounts of troops to take these outposts.

Malaya
Standard landings as well. I did bust out an Inf Brigade and two BF. They have headed north and, with some adventures, are north of Victoria Point. If they make it to Burma, then they will help there.

Plan to fight at the mid-point of the Peninsula for as long as possible. Am fortifying Johore as much as possible. Moved one Squadron of AVG to Singapore and they have been highly successful! There are about 40-50 fighters there. Moses hasn't raided the city in 4-5 days! It is still a viable base.

Java/Borneo/Sumatra
Digging in and preparing for the attack. I moved various BF to Soerabaja and Batavia so I can handle 60-80 aircraft there. Fighters, Bombers, and TB planes have been set to training there to raise their morale. After nearly 10 days rest, they will begin to be deployed forward at Balikpapan and Kendari.

Have moved a lot of supply and oil out of this region. Most of it is being sent to Darwin, Koepang, Timor, Perth, and Noumea. Will be able to use these supplies and fuel there! Very few of my ships have been sunk in this movement.

New Guinea/Rabaul/Noumea
Am moving several BF around to strengthen Port Moresby and Noumea. I have HUGE reinforcements coming from the West Coast of USA. They will not arrive for nearly a month. Will see how things develop.

Have moved several squadrons of Hudsons north to Rabaul and Noumea. Want to sting him some here and force him to TAKE Rabaul!

Eastern Pacific
There is nothing I can do for Canton, Suva, and Palmyra at this point. I expect to lose them if he moves this direction quickly. Not much I can do here...

Central Pacific
Wake--It has become evident that Wake is not a priority for the Japanese. MISTAKE! Am taking a risk by reinforcing the island. Have Fast Transported a BF there and currently have another Marine CD unit unloading from several AP/AK. Am laying a Minefield there also. Have 5-6 SS waiting for Japanese activity. Have moved a small squadron of A-20 there and have a second Marine Wildcat Squadron headed there with some SBDs. They won't arrive for another 4-5 days. Wake will be much tougher to take...still expect to lose it but it will only be after he commits a LARGE invasion force for it.

Midway--This base has gotten minor reinforcements but is prepping for future possible options.

Pearl Harbor--Moved out all damaged shipping to West Coast. Squadrons are filling out. Am debating on moving a squadron of B-17s towards Noumea. Will think on that.

North Pacific
Reinforcing Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, and Anchorage with light forces and BF.

Burma
Have moved some British Bombers and Fighers to Rangoon and am harrassing his advance northwards. Will fight on the west side of the river near Rangoon. Everything else will fall back towards Pagan--Akyab--Mandalay.

Have to get! Will post the Naval Side of this AAR next. The Naval Side has been much more favorable to the Allied cause!

[John 3rd]

After covering the Ground and Air Action yesterday, I wanted to talk about my naval plans. Whereas, Moses is a gifted (Master) ground tactician, I feel that I have the advantage on the seas. In our other campaign, I have managed to consistently surprise him and inflict much more damage on the Allies then he on me. It is my hope that this continues from the opposite side!

Operational Concept:

I am breaking down my operations areas into three at the monent: Central Pacific, South Pacific, and DEI. Northern Pacific will have little-to-no reinforcements until I have reason to move assets there.

Central Pacific
I have shifted the VAST majority of the Pacific Fleet south. Other then some lite units, there is nothing left here. I will protect Wake-Midway-Hawaii with LBA and troops. Some cruisers, DDs and SS will constitute the only naval power here. It is a risk but one I am willing to take.

In my Ground-Air notes yesterday, I mentioned that I am reinforcing Wake. A Fast Transport TF landed part of a BF there on the 15th. A regular Convoy of 2AP/2AK are currently (the 17th)unloading a Marine CD Unit and supplies. Another convoy has left with 2AK to lift two squadrons there as well as supplies.

South Pacific
The bulk of the Pacific Fleet has moved to Suva/Noumea. Enterprise and Lexington are there with Saratoga with BB Colorado about a week away. A large number of CA/CL/DDs are also present. I moved all the long-range Fleet SS from the Philippines to base out of Noumea. They are almost there. Support ships that were undamaged from Pearl Harbor wil arrive there in a few days (AS/AR/AE)--They will help with the primitive state of things down there.

I have built a small Strike Force here already and it is operating out of Rabaul. CLs Leander, Achilles, and Adelaide struck at his Kavieng Invasion Force on the 17th and sunk 2AP and a PG. They will soon be reinforced by several more CAs and a few DDs. Once Rabaul becomes untenable, they will re-base out of PM.

I intend to let Saratoga and Enterprise load up to their full war planes complements and then send them raiding. If Moses is keeping the KB in the SE Pacific (Canton/Palmyra) then I will HURT him elsewhere.

DEI
The toughest place tofight but place for best offensive hopes. After December 7th, I immediately set out to reorganize the ships there for combat operations. I have created three Striking Forces and a CVL Group. Organization:

West Striking Force (Covering Singapore/Palembang/West Borneo/Batavia) BB Prince of Wales, 2 CL--Java and DeRuyter, and 9 DD.

Central Striking Force (Balikpapan/Tarakan/Southern Philippines) BC Repulse, CA Houston, CLs Marblehead, Boise, Mauritius, and 12 DD.

Eastern Striking Force (Celebes/Timor/West New Guinea) CA Cornwall, CLs Danae, Dragon, Durban, and 7DD.

Carrier TF (moving into Eastern Strike Force area) CVL Hermes, 1 CA, 2CL, 3DD.

I am using these forces aggressively and will describe their initial successes in my next posting.

[John 3rd]

As detailed earlier, I have been using my Strike Forces in a highly aggressive manner. As a historian, I believe that some things should be REALISTIC! Simply put, some players abandon the DEI because they KNOW they will lose and don't want to lose the DEI ships, planes, troops. In my opinion, this is extremeley GAMEY and unrealistic. I will fight it out for every inch poosible of the DEI. I expect to take, at a minimum, 50% casualties.

With this as background, here are the operations I have done:

1. Center Striking Force attacks Davao Invasion Group on December 14th: BC Repulse, CA Houston, CLs Marblehead and Boise, and 12DD attack a Japanese Support Group of CL Nagara and 7DD. In a massacre, I sink ALL of these ships! Repulse and Marblehead each take a TT and is damaged but will make it to Soerabaja for minor repairs.

2. COMBINED STRIKE
A. The Eastern Force Attacks an Invasion Convoy at Morotai and sink 1 of 3 AP and all 3 MSW protecting the unit.
B. Central Force attacks again (minus Repulse and Marblehead but adding CL Mauritius) hit an Invasion Force at Cagayan, PHIL and sink 3AP loaded with the 28th Special BF--causing nearly 3,000 Casualties! [:D]
C. On that same day I hit at Kavieng in an operation that sinks 2AP and 1PG.

This set of attacks, all hitting on December 17th, managed to sink 10 enemy ships! They didn't stop any invasions but certainly caused some real damage.

I have not lost a single ship to this point...17 warships, transports, and support ships is a FINE return on my strategy.

Question is...how long can I keep it up?

[John 3rd]

Moses and I just played the December 18, 1941 turn and something interesting has occurred. While the turn played out, I spotted major Japanese units just south of Rabaul. I have used Rabaul to launch a pair of strikes at Kavieng over the last couple of days. Also have a Wirraway and Hudson Squadron there.

As the turn played out, I was shocked when my Squadrons attacked the CVE Hosho, CVL Zuiho, and an old BB about 4 hexes south of Rabaul. Several strikes and counterstrikes are flung at each other. He manages to put a TT into CL Adelaide and miss his CVs several times. Fearing a bombardment by his BBs, I pull my two TF (3 CL and 1CA, 1CL, 2DD) out of the area and order them to Gili-Gili.

While this order goes out, a new thought hits me. I know that the KB (as of 2 days ago) was near Canton, CVL Ryujo is south of the Philippines, and, now, I know where the remaining CVs are. I have CVs Lexington and Enterprise at Noumea (just docked and fueled) ready for action. Since he is south of Rabaul, I decide to send these CVs NW at FULL speed and attempt to bushwhack this CTF! At most, he has 40 planes (CVL 30 and CVE 10) and I have about 130. Why don't we see what the dice may turn up! Will update as soon as this plays out...