The end of the world as we know it?

[Roger Neilson]

This is the start of an AAR between myself as the Allies and Ddog as the Japanese. It follows on from a campaign where I, as the Japanese, administered a reasonable thrashing to the Allies. Now we have switched roles, let us see what happens.

This AAR is not off limits to the enemy, so please bear that in mind both in the fact that news will be released after the events, and sometimes the news might be a little less than honest. Your own observations are welcome....

Roger

[Roger Neilson]

British Far East HQ 8th December 1941. Briefing.

‘Gentlemen, please be seated, you may smoke if you wish’
A hush descends on the room, all sit waiting for the Commander to begin…..
‘You all know that the balloon went up yesterday, we have now been at war with the Empire of Japan for just over 36 hours. You may all have partial knowledge of the situation, the purpose of this short briefing is to bring you all to see the big picture and then we can begin to take actions to sort it out. I will not pretend that the situation is anything other than grave. Much of what is said by me now must remain here lest we give cause for the troops and the populace to panic.’

‘We are aware that there have been limited attacks on our American allies yesterday. These attacks have resulted in landings at San Marcellino in the Phillippines.- it is too early to predict what will happen there though we are assured the Americans will defend their territory well. There were small air raids from what is assumed to be a light carrier operating south of Lagaspi’

‘ In the pacific area we gather that Wake Island has fallen after staunch resistance. Elsewhere all appears quiet, though there appears to be an inconsequential landing on some remote Island called Guadalcanal.’

‘That, gentlemen, is the sum total of the war elsewhere to date. The American planners assumed both that there would be a declaration of war, and that any initial major attacks would be on the Philippines. This appears to be incorrect on both counts.’

‘Some of you are more aware than others of the events in our own area. Let me give you the facts as they played out.’

‘At first light waves of carrier borne aircraft attacked Singapore airfield, estimates indicate from the numbers that this was the main element of the Japanese carrier forces. Most of our bases in Malaya were either bombed or subject to detailed air reconnaissance as the day progressed.’

‘Despite assurance from some of our coastal defence experts, major Japanese troop transports were seen to have passed through the Singapore straits and were observed heading towards the beaches at Johore Bahru..’

‘Force Z were thus faced with a dilemma, no matter how fast they steamed from Singapore, they would, by daylight, still be in sight and range of the position of the Japanese carriers. It was thus agreed that they would head for the transport task forces off Johore, hope to do significant damage to them and then, possibly under cover of bad weather escape to the north.’

‘Unfortunately the Japanese covering surface force, led by the Kongo and Haruna were able to detect our forces approaching. Naval experts tell me that as a matter of course the Prince of Wales and repulse would have been more than a match for these two. The first salvo from the Kongo landed on the POW, penetrated the deck armour and wreaked such havoc that she was unable to return fire. Despite this setback Force Z pressed on with their attack but encountered severe enemy shelling and some torpedo attacks in which the CL Danae and DD Express were sunk. Force Z were unable to intercept the transports and retired northwards.’

‘At daylight, off the coast of Kuala the planes of the Japanese carriers located Force Z and were joined by land based air from Japanese bases in Indochina. Initially the Repulse was observed to be hit by two torpedoes and her speed dropped to almost zero. A second strike was observed to hit her with another 8 torpedoes, some of which struck as she was already listing finally to port. The Prince of Wales was also hit by initially 2 torpedoes, but this was on top of her already substantial battle damage. A third strike then followed in which another 2 torpedoes struck home. I bitterly regret to inform you that both our battleships have been sunk. Much of the rest of Force Z is limping away and it is to be hoped that they will escape further attacks.’

‘Gentlemen, I never dreamed I would witness such a day of treacherous and damnable activity by a supposedly civilised nation. We have been hit very severely indeed, but I know that will simply make us more determined to exacta high price in revenge. ‘

‘I am adjourning this meeting for four hours, when we resume I want a fully worked out plan as to how we can resist this aggression, and what our first moves will be to turn back these impudent savages.’

‘To work gentlemen, to work……’

Chairs scrape, the room rapidly empties... many faces look utterly shocked by what they have just been told.

[Mike Dixon]

Gents,

What were the starting conditions?

Mike

[Roger Neilson]

Turn 1 No Port attack except PH (because of time difference Japan can not surprise bases more then 4 hours apart) Japan can attack another port on turn 1 other then PH but then no PH attack allowed.
Japan can attack more then 1 port on turn 1 but then no surprise and Allies can give orders every where on turn 1.
Japanese must stay under aircover when landing. Aircover can come from CV
All transport TF must have a surface TF within reaction range. (6 hexes)
Japan can ignore above but then no surprise on turn 1 and Allies can give orders on turn 1.
No transfer from one restricted HQ to another HQ without paying PP (No Manchuria/Korea transfer to China or CHina to manchuria/Korea without paying PP)
Unless we modify OOB before start Japan cannot attack Soviets. If Japanese decide to attack Soviets they must first activate Soviets by conducting air attack before moving any Japanese unit that does not start on Soviet border to Soviet border. (No exploiting Soviets being froze in place)

Looking at the attacks its just possible that Guadalcanal is in rance of some air support... though it cannot be CV based as they are all eslewhere I think. I'm not going to make an issue of it though! Johore is perfectly legal according to the rules as we had them, though I know a lot of players have a rule that says no attacks east of Singapore till it falls.

Roger

[Roger Neilson]

British Far East HQ 9th December 1941. Briefing.

Gentlemen, thank you for all preparing plans yesterday. Some of these have been enacted immediately, others are still being developed as they are not of the highest priority. I shall use these briefings to share the overall situation as it develops over the next few days.

We continue to suffer at the hands of the Japanese, but rest assured that these are very temporary things. it is not possible that a country the size of Japan and a nation with a propensity for small men who wear glasses can deliver many more blows against us.

In Malaya we have conducted our first offensive operation and achieved brilliant success. The Japanese base of Songkhia has been assaulted overland and taken. It was expected that Japan woulds end some of her airforce to operate from here and that is now not possible for them. Elsewhere the massive landings at Johore Bahru resulted in an estimated 3 Divisions plus supports attacking our troops there. Despite putting up a brave fight they have been forced to retreat into Singapore. We also have reports of landings at Mersing. if this is confirmed then the Japanese have cut Malaya in two in two days. There has been air raiding on many of our bases in Malaya, but the remaining ships of Force Z seem to have escaped from the aerial onslaught. Might I remind you that Singapore is impregnable and I have every confidence in General Percival.

The main action elsewhere is concentrated upon the Philippines and the Sulu Sea. San Marcellino is confirmed as lost and Lagaspi was evacuated yesterday. Operation Canister was begun from Manila and has encountered small groups of Japanese destroyers acting in 'hunting packs'. The Americans report mayday messages from at least a dozen merchant ships and fleet auxiliaries and then no further contacts. It is to be expected that these ships have been sunk. Some of our ships will evade these hunting packs, but we must expect further losses.

Hong Kong has now twice been assaulted and twice the attackers have been thrown back. Three destroyers based at hong Kong were ordered to make a run for open water, two of these have reported massive air attacks before ceasing communications.

CL Leander of the Australian Navy made all speed to Lunga, intercepted the Japanese landing force there and reports several Japanese vessles shelled to the point of crippling them. They seem to have withdrawn northwards leaving a garrison on the island. Aircraft from the Lexington made a successful raid on troopships off Wake island, reporting many hits.

Reports of action in China is, as always, somewhat sketchy. We will update you when we have some fact about what is happening there.

Might I repeat gentlemen, the worst is over, we must turn our back on the reverses of yesterday and begin to celebrate the growing list of successes that we will achieve in the next few days and weeks. These are temporary setbacks.

Now on with your planning!

[Roger Neilson]

British Far East HQ 10th December 1941. Briefing.

Gentlemen, welcome again to our regular briefing. Please make yourselves comfortable. You will see we have now installed a large map on the north wall to allow us to point out bases which may in the past have been insignifcant. This briefing will be split into two parts, the first will be given by my ADC. This will be followed by the American Naval Attache to our HQ who will bring us up to date on events in his corner of the world.

The ADC, a thin and very intense officer, rises to his feet. He has a slight stoop, as if weighed down by the enormity of the situation.

'Fellow Officers, today we end the 3rd day of the war. things are definitely taking shape. many of our planned operations are 'eyes only' at this stage so suffice it to say that plans and the execution of Operations Midwicket, Offstump, Legbefore and Nearstump are well advanced. Operation Nightwatchman is already reaping rewards. Japanese activity in our area continues to be ferocious round the tip of Malaya with bombing of Singapore on a merciless level with no regard to the civilian population. The first retreating units from Johore have arrived and are in good cheer. At Mersing a fierce attack by what looked like two Divisions was beaten back with negligible loss to ourselves, though the Japs suffered many casualties. Our recce planes are watching the Japs as they move their armadas around, and we are planning for hot receptions when they arrive at their destinations. We understand that CL Leander is on her way back to a friendly base to patch up her damage from the encounter at Guadalcanal. The captain assures us there is nothing vitally damaged. it may be assumed from the lessening of the fighting in our area that the Jap has already shot his bolt and it will not be long before we give him the lesson he deserves. I will now hand over to my counterpart, representing the Americanforces to give an account of what has happened there.'

The American Naval Liaison officeer rises to his feet, already well known to all in the room, an affable and conscientious attender of all the prewar embassy soirees. He has changed though, there is a lessening of his easy manner, and the watchers can tell that the last few days have had an effect upon him. He smiled ironically at the optimistic views expressed just moments earlier, then began....

' Sirs, first I must assure you that not only are the United States in the war, they are in the war to win it. So far you may feel that the onslaught has been unfairly concnetrated in your area. This may be so, though I have to inform you that the US forces in the Philippines have had their share of combat and expect far more within a few days. We are however dishing out, as you would put it, some punishment in retribution. In the Sulu and Java seas we continue to receive mayday calls from lone ships that are encountering raiding Japanese surface forces - the fact that we hear nothing after this suggests that they have been sunk. In total we estimate losses of around 12 ships in this area over three days.

However, there is good news too, and I would like to give you details of some reports from our two CV Tfs operating in the Pacific. We have attacked naval forces at Tarawa and Wake Island, sinking some shipping (estmiated five APs and patrol craft) and severely damaging two Japanese CLs. We also have managed to badly damage a CS at Lagaspi with a raid by our B17s based in the Philippines. These operations are ongoing as our adversary does not appear to have any supporting land based planes to protect his overextended forces.

Information is still somewhat fragmentary, but I would hope to bring you more details over the next few days.

Gentlemen, we are in this together, and we will share the victory together.'

[Bill Durrant]

Operations Midwicket, Offstump, Legbefore and Nearstump are well advanced. Operation Nightwatchman is already reaping rewards.

Now try explaining this to our friends across the pond[:D]

[Roger Neilson]

Gotta explain them to me first!

Now the question is, is that a bluff, counterbluff, double bluff or the famous triple double bluff with counterbluff extension only to be used when you suspect Japanese agents may be reading your AAR???

[&:]

Roger

[Roger Neilson]

British Far East HQ 11th December 1941. Briefing.

Gentlemen, today's briefing is exclusively by our friends from the USA. They bring news of success elsewhere.....

The naval Attache rises and clears his throat.... he speaks with a measured pace, but you can tell there is an excitement in his voice.

'Fellow officers, here is the latest from our front and elsewhere...

1. In the Sulu and Java seas there have ben no further maydays from ships, yet we know there are many not accounted for. We can therefore surmise that at present there has been a lessening of actions by the Japanese hunting packs. Part of this may be due to numerous strafing attacks carried out from a variety of Philippines bases. Our pilots report very little flak at this level and significant extra air conditioning to the superstructures of a range of destroyers and cruisers.
2. Off Tarawa and Wake further strikes by our aircraft from the CVs have resulted in confirmed sinkings of enemy troopships, it would seem from reports that the Japanese have retired their damaged ships leaving their ground forces to their fate.
3. News from China has finally arrived. Under the guidance of American advisers the forces at Changsha attacked at least two Japanese Divisions with supporting elements and routed them yesterday. Another Chinese Corps arrived at Canton two days ago and despite attacks by Japanese forces remains ther thretening the rear of the forces attacking your base at Hong Kong.

As I said yesterday we are stirking back as hard and fast as we can. I would hope to bring more good news as the days pass.'

As the Attache resumes his set an audble round of 'Jolly goods' 'That'll teach the blighter's' and 'Never thought the Yanks had it in them' can be heard muttered.

[Roger Neilson]

'Gentlemen, today has been very quiet, with just sporadic raids on targets in Malaya. Little ground action has occurred apart from the bombardments at Mersing and a few other places. We gather from our American allies that strafing of targets of opportunity within the Sulu Sea continues, most of the shipping seen there is heading in a NE direction. It would seem our Japanese enemies are consolidating and organising before their next adventures.

My staff are handing out a brifing doucemnt which contains a list of confirmed Japanese shipping sunk. Whilst this in no way offsets the loss of our shipping it does show that we are hitting back and scoring some blows to their plans I am sure. sometimes it is not numbers sunk, but where they are and what their role was that matters.

I am pleased to report that the 1st Parachute Regiment, which was dropped near Wuchow the other day, has been annihilated in follow up combat by a Chinese Corps south of that city.'

[Mike Dixon]

Great AAR! Please keep up the posts!

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, it has been a good day!

Today has been very quiet in our sector, the continued bombing which we have come to expect, but no major naval movements spotted. We have had no raids from carrier based planes and no sightings of carriers. The last we saw of them they were off Mersing.this leads us to believe that the enemy is up to something. They have however now crossed from Johore Bahru to Singapore and immediately assaulted our positions. We estimate that we face a force of almost three times our size, so far all assaults have been beaten back with considerable losses to them we estimate.

We can now announce details of Operation TeaParty, a quaint name from our American cousins - perhaps they are trying to remind us of something? At the first sign of hostilities, in a well rehearsed sequence, individual ships slipped their moorings at Manila and departed on a range of courses to take them away from the expected air and naval attacks by the Japanese (Previously referred to as Operation Canister). Some of these fine ships, as we have already reported, did not get through, but others did. TeaParty was somewhat different. Tankers at Manila did not leave, but bravely remained to fully load up fuel which we expect to need elsewhere soon. These tankers were unmolested as they did this, slipped their moorings at night and set sail individually. We can now confirm that they are all clear of Japanese shipping and bomber range.

We can also report that Operation Apache was carried out last night with significant success, though not without loss on our part. A squadron of PT boats based somewhere in the Philippines intercepted a Tf of 5DDs and 2 APDs. Surprise was on our side and the first the Japs knew was when a torpedo hit one of their destroyers, splitting it in two. In the ensuing melee another torpedo hit one of the APDs and all the other vessels in their TF were damaged. We lost two PT boats. The Japs retired from the engagement.

We continue to receive reports that our planes in the Philippines are harassing Japanese shipping including two Cruisers. Several destroyers are reported badly damaged as their upperworks apparently are not armoured enough to stop the cannon sheels from penetrating. We must assume there are many of their crews who are now casualties.

[String]

A great AAR and a good game Roger [8D]. Good joob with sinking that CS. They're very valuable assets for the japanese, and it's good to see one going down so early in the game.

[Roger Neilson]

We meet again Gentlemen, and as per yesterday there is not much to report. The usual bombing and harassment in our sectors, but nothing to'write home about' so to speak. We are sorry to report the presumed loss of two submarines the S020 and the S-38 were both unable to make their regular transmissions fromt heir patrol stations. For a second day the Japs threw all they could at the gallant defenders of singapore and again failed to make an impact. We also have had reports of heavy fighting at Hong Kong where the enemy seems to have attempted to run some transports in through the extensive minefield there. Observers report that 8 minesweepers and one AP were seen to sink in this manouvre - no landings were made.

Elsewhere the USAF continues to strafe anything that moves in the Sulu Sea.

I also have to report that the first ships of Force Z have now berthed at Diamond Harbour. as they arrived the garrison and the towensfolk lined the piers to welcome these heroes back home.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, please do not bother sitting down, this briefing will not take long.

Little has changed since yesterday on any front. I feel we are probably waiting in the calm before another storm hits us, but where that will be, and of what nature we have yet to see.

We are aware of a probable kill of a submarine off the coast of Kendari and we are also aware of the enemy having to task zeros to LRCAP some of his shipping near San Marcellino. Otherwise there is no new action... for now.

I would hope to be able to announce progress on some of our operations within the next few days, but currently they are at a delicate stage.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, another short briefing, please remember that operations being planned now may well take a while to be executed. In the meantime, news from the front.
1. A significant BB heavy Tf sailed to Tarawa last night and delivered a sustained and devastating bombardment to the new occupiers of this small atoll. There is no cover and therefore very little space to hide in. There was some return artillery fire, for the main part inaccurate.
2. In the undersea warfare area we have lost contact with another two of our submarines, S-41 and 0-19. On a brighter note SS Seawolf hit the Myoko Maru with a torpedo off Lagaspi.
3. It would appear that we have upset the Japs with our hit and run tactics of low level strafing of his shipping. Today over 100 bombers visited the island of Batan attempting to shut down the airfield. We suspect he regrets not having invadded this in the first day. Planes are still operating from here so the damage done was superficial. it sits right across his shipping lanes so it really is becoming a thorn in his side.
4. We had another heavy attack on Mersing by his land forces, this is reported to have breached some of our defences, but the commander is still optimistic that he can delay these enemy for a while longer.
5. Tavoy, abandoned two days ago as being indefensible, was today seen to be flying the Jap Rising Sun by low level recce planes.
6. Operation 'PoorDog' is now under full sway, we would hope in the next few days to report on its success.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, another routine day for us almost, though there are some signs of developments. Bad weather over the Philippines meant many of our plans did not fly today unfortunately. One group that did take off managed to spot a troopship convoy off San Marcellino and landed a bomb on the Jinsan Maru causing significant explosions. A submarine on patrol off Aparri spotted but was unable to engage a large task force including the CV Shokaku - looks like he has sent at least one carrier to attempt to suppress our Philippine bases.

Victoria Point has come under attack, but the situation is unclear as to the outcome at this stage.

The Jap has obviously got annoyed at our resistance at two points, Mersing and Canton - both were 'treated' to shore bombardments by large task forces overnight. This proved too much for the gallant defenders of Mersing, who have now retreated. It looks like Singapore stands alone now to bear the brunt of the enemies spite!

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, I continue to bring in good news from the fronts.

1. An American Task Force again visited Tarawa blasting the remaining defenders last night. Reports of only limited gunfire in reply.
2. Batan was hit again by over 100 bombers with no damage to any planes of ours. Operation Chase the Lady continues with up to ten bases available to stage P40 attacks from in the Philippines. Today some P40s raided from Aparri to Hong Kong, catching some Japanese Minesweepers there.
3. The Jap seems desperate to clear the mines approaching Hong Kong, last night he suffered serious MSW losses from our coastal defence units as the enemy attempted to clear routes in.
4. Victoria Point was abandoned yesterday and we now have intelligence that the Japs are there in force.
5. At Changsha the Chinese have again attacked a force of 2+ Divisions as it arrived to beseige the city. They were again routed easily.
6. General Percival assures us that although heavy attacks on Singapore continue there is no danger of the City falling.
7. I have been asked by the naval forces to give a summary of Japanese losses to date that we have confirmed: 4 x AP, 2 x AK, 2 x PG, 14 x MSW, 6 x DD, 1 x CL, 1 x AV, 1 x CS.

Gentlemen I look forward to another good briefing tomorrow. please go about your business.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, please take your usual seats. The focus of attention of the Japs seems to have swung across the map now.

We have experienced air raids on Moulmein and there has been another very heavy assault at Singapore. The rest of the action however is concentrated on the seas north of the Philippines. As expected with Operation Chase the Lady land based bombers numbering over 100 hit Batan island again. Unexpectedly they were followed up by massed air strikes from carrier based planes - the numbers were well in excess of 100 which suggests he has comitted the KB to this small insignificant island. I would love to see the Jap's faces when they examine their recce photos to see that there were no planes there at all having rebased during the night. Meanwhile the P40s had another good day operating this time out of Vigan, severely strafing 2 Destroyers and scoring hits an a Cruiser too. Carrier borne american planes conducted what amounted to training missions on the remaining troops left on Tarawa.

Interestingly we also have reports of gunfire exchanges between Bataan CD emplacements and unidentified Japanese surface forces.

Our operations that are ongoing continue to do so, PoorDog is almost complete as is Nightwatchman. Operation Midwicket is about to commence.

Gentlemen, to your business please.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Great AAR [:D]

Love the style of presentation. and 14! MsW .. shame your best 2 minelaying subs got clobbered. [:@] (o19+20)

Your opponent seems to like testing out the fixed map defences quite a lot , HK and bataan rarely fire a shot in most games. i wonder when he will amphib singapore ? [:D][:D]

Good luck Roger