Pacific War Diary: The Allied Report R.A. 6.2

[Cpt Sherwood]

I have agreed to a game against John 3rd using R. 6.2 and Symons Gnarly Asian Roads map mod.

In my initial email to John:
I do have one very important ground rule. There will be NO mention of the current turn in either of our emails. This is absolute and the second violation( one warning is enough) and the
game is terminated. I am happy to discuss, boast, answer, whatever any previous turn, just not the current one.
This is so everyone is aware of my position on this


Cochran vs Sherwood

House Rules

Reluctant Admiral 6.2

Regarding the use of 4EB:

Naval Attack from a minimum altitude of 10,000 Ft.
Strategic Bombing is allowed at any point after January 1, 1943.
B-29s may only be used for Airfield, port, and city bombing. No ground attack upon troops.

The use of One ship TF is allowed if the ships are warships or in minimal searched areas to serve as a picket line.

We will use the pwhexe from JWE regarding the slowdown of road/trail movement.

LCU must be bought out to crossover a national border.

All aircraft Sweeps must be done in either the first or second maneuver band of the aircraft.

Aircraft Limitations (reflecting the Mod):
-No A6M3 on CVEs
-No A6M4 on any form of Carrier
-A7M Sam and B7A-D Grace cannot be operated from CVEs

Turn ONE

1. Only Port attacks may be made by Carrier-Based Aircraft. Manila and Singapore are allowed to have any fighters normally present at the base Dec 7th fly CAP at no more then 40%. This allows for the warning from Pearl Harbor to get to these Ports.

2. Allied Player may give orders to any unit in China and ships that are already formed in TF.

[JocMeister]

I´ll follow this! Good luck! [:)]

Is this the version where you get extra P38s? And where can I find info the "Gnarly Asian Roads map mod"?

[catwhoorg]

good luck.

I'm very interested in seeing how the gnarly roads plays out

[witpqs]

Good luck!

[Cpt Sherwood]

Well, John sent me turn 1, but he did not use the Gnarly Asian Roads files. I am waiting to see if he can fix that. I think we can put it in anytime with no problems, but I would like to start with it installed.

[Cpt Sherwood]

The Mod:

This mod does provide the IJN with a more stream lined and focused aircraft model progression. It also provides some more and again more focused ships.
But, the Japanese do start with significantly less supply and fuel stores. I know that the IJN ground forces are more consolidated( a number of SNLF
units are grouped together to form larger units) I think the IJA stays the same as scenario 1 or DBB.

The Allies get a number of additional things also. There are more early USAAF fighters, more mid to late game 2 and 4 engine bombers, more recon aircraft,
more USN Patrol aircraft, 2 additional CVLs, some CVE conversions, etc.
But, I think the most important addition is 8 Air Training Units. 1 USAAF figher,
2 USAAF bomber, 1 USN fighter, 1 USN dive bomber, 1 USN torpedeo, 1 USMC fighter, and 1 USMC dive bomber unit. For those of you who are not aware of these,
they are all size 48, so I can assign 144 pilots to each of them. Training units can use instructor ( EXP 81+ ) to accelerate the training.
Even without any instructor pilots train faster than in a normal air unit.

My opponent:

John is an experienced WitP player and he is the main designer of the mod. His interest was with the IJN side of things and I expect him to know what he has.
He is the type of player who will make huge plans and probably not be able to fully achieve them. He likes to try and take a lot of territory and thinks that
is the key to success. I have read some of his AARs and he seems to be rash and tends to fly from one operation to another.

I expect John to Attack in the Aleutians, Wake Island, South Pacific( New Caldonia, Fiji, Somaoa), all of New Guinea, Northern Australia, and Burma. I am not
sure how much he will attempt in China and if he will try an attack on Ceylon or India. I will also expect him to make some sort of attack on Australia with
KB, probably hitting Sydney and/or Melbourne ports.

Most likely, he will try and hit both Pearl Harbor and Manila ports. I will also expect him to invade Palembang within 10 days or so.

My plan - the big picture:

No real details here just some general big picture notes.
1. I need to forget about taking much fuel from the DEI to Australia. I need to get as much shipping out as I can.
I have plenty of fuel and supply in the USA and need shipping to move it.
2. I need to try and use some of the British and Dutch surface ships to try to slow him down. I am willing to lose a number of them if I must.
3. I will not worry about bases in the South Pacific until I see which way he is going( but it will probably go in lots of different directions ).
4. If he attacks Pearl Harbor, I will not sent any ships to or from there for at least 2 or 3 months. There is plenty of supply there and it would be hard to take.
5. I use the right and bottom of the map for transport of fuel, supply, LCUs and air units, so I will not unduly worry about New Caldonia,
Fiji, or Samoa. I might use Tahiti but will probably use Hiva Oa for a gas station. I will build it and stock it with fuel and at first with some replenishment TFs.
It is 93 hexes from LA, so it makes a good place to send ships to refuel and then they can be directed to where they are needed.
6. I need to build up India, Australia, and New Zealand first. These are my immediate priorities. I would put the probability of an attack into Australia at near
100%. I am not sure about New Zealand, but probably the probability of attack is low. I doubt he will attack India, but I need to establish a defensive posture
to try and either preclude and attack or repel one.
7. I am very unsure about what to do in the North Pacific. I really don't know how far he will try to attack. I am thinking that I will just reinforce and build
Port Rupert and wait until much later to counter attack. There is little in the Aleutians that will provide him with any resources of any kind. If he takes many
islands( I expect it ) then that will give me a number of targets.

[Cpt Sherwood]

I thought I would comment that I do not know what Dai Nippon means, but I pronounce it Die Nippon and plan to help him do that. [:D]

First turn returned, waiting to see what happens.

[witpqs]

AFAIK the Gnarly Asian Roads should only involve change the pwhex file set (set of 3 files, maybe only 1 changed?). You can do that mid-game, the only requirement is that you both use the same file for the same turn.

[Cpt Sherwood]

We got the Gnarly Asian Road map mod figured out.

John attacked Pearl Harbor and Manila port. First PH:

Morning Air attack on Pearl Harbor , at 180,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 101 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 112
B5N2 Kate x 132
D3A1 Val x 102

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 38 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 12 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 28 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 103 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 6 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 15 damaged
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 7 damaged
SBD-1 Dauntless: 2 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 13 damaged
P-40B Warhawk: 8 damaged
B-18A Bolo: 14 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 8 damaged
R3D-2: 3 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 3 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 11 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 2 damaged
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 2
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mugford, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires
BB Mississippi, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
BB California, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Idaho, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AE Pyro, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB New Mexico, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Honolulu, Torpedo hits 1
SS Tautog, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CL Phoenix, Torpedo hits 1
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1

Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 25
Port hits 12
Port fuel hits 8
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
13 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
24 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
18 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
18 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 9000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
14 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Not too bad, only lost BB Mississippi outright. No ships have any fires. The shipyards will be busy.

At Manilla, I lost 2 fleet subs and a xAP outright sunk and I have 7 fleet subs too damaged to move,
so they are in the repair shipyard. They are probably lost. I have one S class sub that is heavily damaged,
and I am trying to move it two hexes a turn with auto disband to try and get it out of danger.

The only amphibious landing was at Kota Bharu.

He did make paratroop landings at Victoria Point and Catabato. I feel the Catabato one is a bit gamey, it
did force a permanently restricted Philippine Unit to arrive at San Francisco. It is now a wasted unit. He
might not have actually thought about it, but I like to think the worst. [:)]

Some air activity over China, and lots over Luzon and Malaya. I have no idea yet where he will be advancing
beyond the obvious of PI, Malaya, and DEI.

I have many Chinese troops moving towards non clear terrain. Most of the Malaya defenders are headed to
Singapore. I have torpedo carrying aircraft in range of Kota Bharu, I might get a chance, but probably he
will have it LRCAPed.

I just need to wait and be patient.

[Cpt Sherwood]

One of the things I really like about this mod is the AAA. My FoW air losses screen
shows him to have lost 29 aircraft to Flack and 18 ops losses. Most of the Flack losses
were Kates and most of the Ops losses were Vals.

I really don't think he will want to try a second day. That was his losses versus reduced
flack for Dec 7th surprise turned on. It will be worse tomorrow if he tries it.

[Cpt Sherwood]

The second turn, December 8, 1941, went as expected. John bombed Manilla again and sank 6 badly damaged subs. One more left there. I guess it is KB-3 that moved from East of Luzon to the South of Manila and of course sank a number of merchant ships. This was expected. Kota Bharu was lost. No landings on Luzon yet. I have PTs waiting at Iba and Vigan. I have never had much luck with them.

KB-1 and KB-2 moved the the Northwest. I will see what they do next turn. With Johns penchant for taking islands in the Aleutians, I am being very careful about shipping. Until I see what he is going to do, I am going to build and stock Port Rupert with aircraft and LCUs. I might move a good CL-DD force up there, it seems he only lightly escorts his invasions in the Aleutians. All of the merchants are moving to Seatle and then further South. I am moving supply and Fuel from Los Angles, both load faster there than anywhere else. Fuel and supply are bound mostly for NZ and then trans shipped to OZ. All LCUs and air units are being sent to San Diego for shipment to SOPAC, NZ and/or OZ. With KB starting split, I am worried about him sending one part of it towards the West Coast on a Raid. I want to make him go a very long way to find anything. No LCUS are going to leave PH for a while, I need to see what KB does and if there are a lot of subs around. One sub contact this turn off San Louis Obisbo. I sent a DD to search and some extra air craft on both ASW and Naval Search.

Even though things are going as expected, it is still depressing to see you ships sink, your aircraft impale themselves on his CAP/LRCAP.

Here is a list of my sunk ships, it includes the 0 IJN ships I have sunk. [8D]

My FoW air losses says I have lost 98 and he lost 70. 98 sounds about right for me, he probably lost about 35-40 at most.

[Cpt Sherwood]

Third turn, December 9, 1941 is done. John did good south of Manilla, sinking about 50 ships or so. I made sure I kept them in nice neat TFs so I didn't get wrongly accused of being gamey, like CR did. It makes little difference in the end whether I lose all of the PI ships or not. In the short turn I am down a bit of shipping, but I can adjust with no real problems.

I can still see one element of KB Northwest of Pearl Harbor, but I seem to have lost the second element of KB.
Guam fell today, still no landings on Luzon, but it looks like something is moving that way. I also see a TF
Southwest of Saipan that might be an invasion TF for either Singkawang or Palambang. Those seem to be favorite bases for early invasions by most Japanese Players. I have a number of surface combat TFs in the area. I expect to lose some ships in this operation, but I must try and get one or more in among the transports. And who knows, I might get lucky and sink a combat ship or two. I made a TF of Boise, Marblehead and 4 DDs and sent it out by Balikapapen. I am going to see if I can put them in the same hex as KB-3. That could be exciting.

He landed and took Ocean Island and Naru Island. I have a CA within range of both, I will see if I can sink a couple of merchants.

Sometime I will have to take a few screen shots. but I am still waiting to see where he advances.

[ny59giants]

I can still see one element of KB Northwest of Pearl Harbor, but I seem to have lost the second element of KB.

One thing that John is obsessed about is sinking ships, regardless if they are warships or merchant. [:-] He will not focus on the overall strategic picture and focus on these small tactical victories. Beware of him trying to raid any potential shipping lanes now and in the future.

With the 1/3 reduction in cargo capacity across the board, I would focus on an early sub offensive against his merchant fleet. He is better, but IMO still poor in protecting these important ships.

[zuluhour]

I don't think "every man for himself" when evacuating Manila would qualify as gamey. If you screened Boise and Houston with rag tag single ship task forces, that would be lame. I'm not even sure the shipping in the Philippines at the outset of hostilities could be organized into convoys. Just getting through the straights, past the minefields and subs to "mingle" under the nose of IJAF aircraft seems far fetched. I don't think Dan was right getting "mauled" in the forums for the situation north of Sumatra . He did station his carriers behind the sea lanes, but the ships were fleeing air attack, I don't think he made them "patrol" or linger there. It just appeared suspicious as so many convoys were trying to egress the beachheads as John reacted quickly, placing considerable air power in the theater very efficiently. Yikes, 50 is a big number!

[Cpt Sherwood]

It is too late to worry about. I have lost 82 ships and will lose probably 10-12 more( some are heavily damaged holed up in small ports, some are still behind enemy lines). But of those 82, 26 are xAKLs, 5 are very small xAPs particular to this mod, and 15 are patrol( PT, PG ) and AM. I have lost only one Brit DD and one USN BB. No other war ships have been lost. I have lost 27 ships that would be very useful and the 9 fleet subs. No real game losers or winners. Hats off to John, he covered his bases very well. BTW, the 82 includes 3 TKs, 1 AP, 2 xAPs sunk by subs outside of the PI area.

I'm sure John is grinding his teeth over this one:
Sub attack near Maloelap at 148,116

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
DD McCall
DD Balch
DD Fanning
DD Ellet
DD Benham

SS I-16 launches 8 torpedoes at CV Enterprise

I used up a bit of luck with that one.

CA Louisville was able to intercept a small transport TF near Ocean Island.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Ebon at 131,125, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Santos Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Toyotsu Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAK Aratama Maru, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Katsura Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Kaito Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Tenposan Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Louisville

Here is a screen picture that shows my CV TF among his subs and what should be one of the KB to the Northeast. I learned a long time ago to plan my turn based on what he can do, not what I want him to do, or what I think he will do. So I ordered full speed and directed my TF to the South. As long as I don't run afoul of one of his subs, I should be able to escape.

[Cpt Sherwood]

I really need to try and keep this up to date.

I am not sure what I will put here. [;)]

[Cpt Sherwood]

December 20, 1941 - China

I am still moving units to good defensive terrain. Many are in place and a few are
trapped behind enemy lines. I am forming the trapped ones into the best defensive
terrain I can. They will die, but I hope they will take time and give the rest time
to recover and get into position. I took Ichang last turn giving out some good pain.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 54864 troops, 308 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1681

Defending force 13347 troops, 128 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 345

Allied adjusted assault: 2222

Japanese adjusted defense: 411

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ichang !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), op mode(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
5558 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 178 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 45 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 63 (55 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (35 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Allied ground losses:
2008 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 138 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

This will help some.


Assaulting units:
2nd Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
39th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army
33rd Group Army

Defending units:
11th RGC Temp. Division
34th Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

[Cpt Sherwood]

December 20, 1941 - India and Burma

There is little happening here. I am probably not going to contest Burma much
if at all. I will consider moving all back to India.

December 20, 1941 - North Pacific

Again, little happening here so far. I know John likes to take some of the
Aleutian Islands, so I am not trying to move forward yet. I don't have much
to send here and it is in the cold season. I will let him take what he wants
and then later take them back. I don't really see much advantage in trying
to fight here at this time.

[Cpt Sherwood]

December 20, 1941 - Central and South Pacific

At first I thought not much was really happening here. But I took
time to reflect and realized that I had only seen one part of KB move
West after his PH attack. I had not seen the AOs or the other part of
KB. I also had made a mistake and had not done something I should have.
I did not send out any small supply Transport TFs from the West coast to
PH to try and see if anything was out there. I have now dispatched
both some SS TF and some small supply TFs into the area to scout things
out. I had a SS TF come up with a 10/10 detection. I have moved most shipping
to off map to avoid a disaster.

Very little happening now in the South Pacific.