Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginner's Foray into MWiF

Post descriptions of your brilliant successes and unfortunate demises.

Moderator: Shannon V. OKeets

Post Reply
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginner's Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginner's Foray into MWiF

If you're reading this then I have “successfully” made my way through enough of the Guadalcanal scenario to post this humiliating AAR. And it will be humiliating because I’m both new to WiF and MWiF. My objective is to learn MWiF well enough to be able to play it at a competent level. I hold no such high expectations for this AAR and I really don’t know why I’m even attempting it; other than using it as a learning tool. At worse this “AAR” will serve as a sort of a diary that will force me to methodically approach my first play of this scenario.

So let’s get started by loading the “Fast Start Guadalcanal.GAM” setup (1.jpg). Because I don’t want to corrupt this setup I immediately save the game as “AAR.GAM”. Clever, right …


Image
Attachments
1.jpg
1.jpg (285.33 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

Guadalcanal Victory Conditions

The objective cities for this scenario are given in the “Victory Totals” form (2.jpg). It’s interesting to note that the name of this scenario, Guadalcanal, is not among them. After examining the list I really don’t see any of the objectives that are obvious targets for the opposing sides. Maybe Dutch Harbor for the Japanese; but I don’t immediately see any obvious targets for the allies at this stage of the war. However; in addition to the objective cities there are “Special”, or additional, victory conditions for this scenario, which I found in the “Help” section of this form under the section:

Guadalcanal Special Victory Conditions

Each player gains the following victory points at the end of the game:
• 5 for each friendly controlled objective hex that was enemy controlled at the start of the game (and 0 for any others).
• 4 for each enemy CV destroyed.
• The US/CW/France player scores victory points, if at the end of a turn there are less than 5 Japanese convoys in the China Sea or South China Sea. The Allies receive VP equal to the number of convoys less 5 there are in each sea area each turn.
• 2 for each friendly controlled oil resource point that was enemy controlled at the start of the game.
• 1 for each other friendly controlled resource point that was enemy controlled at the start of the game.

The player with the higher total subtracts their opponent’s total and compares it to the following table to gauge the level of victory:
• Decisive: 21+
• Substantive: 11 - 20
• Marginal: 6 - 10
• Draw: 0 - 5

So the destruction of an enemy CV is worth 80% of the capture of an objective city controlled by an “opposing player” at the start of the scenario. As the Japanese player my focus will be on destroying more US carriers than I lose and on protecting my convoys in the China and South China Seas. It’s interesting to note that as the Japanese I only need to be concerned with the loss of my larger (CV) carriers and not my smaller (CVL) ones. As the allied player I will put my effort into raiding attacks against Japanese CVs and convoy; but only (hopefully) when the odds are in my favor. As I write this it occurs to me that the strategies that I plan are pretty much those attempted by these two belligerents at this stage in the war. And if I understand my history correctly, the Japanese over the course of this scenario lost the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu (16 pts for the allies) at Midway and the US lost the Lexington at the Coral Sea, Yorktown and Dutch Harbor at Midway (13 pts for the Japanese). That’s a net of 3 points for the allies, which is a draw! So, as fought historically this scenario was a draw. Though, history as I understand it gives the victory “for this scenario” to the US (or allied player).

Image
Attachments
2.jpg
2.jpg (227.6 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

Optional Rules
The default setup for this scenario uses very few optional rules (3.jpg). For a beginner like me I think this is a good thing.


Image
Attachments
3.jpg
3.jpg (228.52 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

Starting Forces
The bulk of the Japanese naval power is based in Singapore (4.jpg) and on patrol in the Bismarck Sea (5.jpg).

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the US naval power is in Hawaii (6.jpg). However, 2 of the 5 big carriers are in San Diego (Saratoga) and Norfolk (Hornet). I guess one of my first task as the allied player is to get these two carriers to the Pacific as quickly as possible. And not to forget about the Brits (7.jpg) who also have some impressive naval firepower based in Calcutta. However, I do need to be careful with their 3 carriers as losing a UK carrier costs as much as losing an American one (i.e., 4 victory points).

4.jpg
Image
Attachments
4.jpg
4.jpg (396.95 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

5.jpg
Image
Attachments
5.jpg
5.jpg (293.31 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

6.jpg

Image
Attachments
6.jpg
6.jpg (394.78 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

7.jpg

Image
Attachments
7.jpg
7.jpg (489.06 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

May/Jun 1942. Japanese Impulse 1.

Let’s get this puppy started! The Japanese move first and I chose a combined action so I can capture Guadalcanal on the opening move. Though it holds no objective value, I’m going for it because that’s what the Japanese did historically and I’m not sure what else I should do.

A combined option, which only gives the Japanese 2 naval moves, will allow them to land on Guadalcanal and send a strong naval force into the Bay of Bengal to keep the Brits at bay. The Japanese split the naval forces in Singapore into two task forces. Task force A, by far the strongest and containing a loaded transport (for invasion), is set to the Coral Sea (8.jpg). Task force B, which contains 4 light carriers, the Yamato and 13 cruisers, is set to the Bay of Bengal to hopefully keep the sizable British fleet based at Calcutta (9.jpg) out of the South China and China seas. The Japanese would be more than happy to trade the carriers in task force B, which don’t count for victory, 1 for 1 (or even 2 for 1) against the British carriers, which do.

The Japanese Imperial Guard corps is landed on Guadalcanal against notional (i.e., light) defenses. This corps is supported by shore bombardment from 6 battleships and carrier based air strikes from all 5 carriers. Since there are 8 battleships in task force A, 2 of them must have missed their orders to provide shore bombardment. No matter, the result was 15:2 (or 7:1) (10.jpg), instead of 16:2 (or 8:1). Since there’s no 8:1 column in either table, these missed orders don’t appear to be a big deal. The allies choose the table and choose assault. No matter what the Japanese unit will successfully land; however, the assault table gives a 20% of that unit being disorganized. But that was not to be. The die roll was an 8. The Japanese now have a presence on Guadalcanal.

8.jpg
Image
Attachments
8.jpg
8.jpg (311.85 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

9.jpg

Image
Attachments
9.jpg
9.jpg (425.98 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

10.jpg

Image
Attachments
10.jpg
10.jpg (450.15 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

May/Jun 1942. Allied Impulse 2.
The US chose a naval option and the CW chose a combined one. Based on what CW did this impulse they might as well have chosen a pass.

What happened with the US was a different story. They moved the Hornet and 2 battleships from the East Coast through the Panama Canal to the West Coast Sea area and rendezvoused with 2 transports carrying the 5-4 marines and 8-5 mot corps. The Saratoga and Colorado moved from the US west coast and meet up with four cruisers in the Hawaii islands.

The most daring naval operation was a raid against the convoy in China Sea conducted by a task force composed of 3 US carriers and 8 cruisers (11.jpg). The raiding force successfully found and surprised the lightly defended convoy (12.jpg). The US not wanting to risk any of their carriers forced a surface action chose surface and destroyed the convoy (13-15.jpg). With the convoy gone the US raiding force decided to abort and return to Pearl Harbor (16.jpg). MacArthur and Nimitz were able to reorganize all but 3 cruisers in this raiding force.

11.jpg
Image
Attachments
11.jpg
11.jpg (308.81 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

12.jpg
Image
Attachments
12.jpg
12.jpg (418.2 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

13.jpg
Image
Attachments
13.jpg
13.jpg (443.77 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

14.jpg
Image
Attachments
14.jpg
14.jpg (253.66 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

15.jpg
Image
Attachments
15.jpg
15.jpg (305.67 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

16.jpg
Image
Attachments
16.jpg
16.jpg (244.41 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

May/Jun 1942. Japanese Impulse 3.

The Japanese opt for a combined option and plan a high risk invasion of Midway. The Japanese load 3-3 and 5-3 milita units onto transports in Japan and sail them to the Central Pacific. (17.jpg). So the odds should be 4:1 (8-halfed against the 1-notional unit). Right? Wrong! And boy am I wrong! The odds are 1:2 (as shown in the next paragraph). Whatever the odds, the Japanese are committed to this invasion as the chance of survival of these two lone transports against the USN next impulse has to be next to nil. Might as well and try to make the best of this bad situation.

From what I can tell the US adds +2 for each unit invading (for a total of 4) from Sea Box 1. Ok, so this puts the odds at 4:5 or 1:2. The allied player is given the opportunity for adding in the carrier air unit from the Saratago on patrol in the Hawaiian Islands but decline because the 2.5 factors would still keep the odds at 1:2 (i.e., 4:8).

The allied player is given the choice to add in the notional unit (why wouldn’t they?) and which CRT to use (Blitzkrieg or Assault) (18.jpg). Both tables give the Japanese a 30% chance (9-11) of success, so it really doesn’t matter which table the allied player chooses for this low odds attack. So they choose Blitzkrieg. The Japanese roll an 8 + 1 = 9, capture Midway, both units survive and land disorganized.

Elsewhere, the Japanese make their second and final naval move of a combined option, by moving the task force on patrol in the Bismark Sea to Truk (19.jpg). This force, though lacking in cruisers, is in position to respond to USN moves next impulse.

The Japanese marines on Guadalcanal move to capture the adjacent land hex and then move back to the port / airfield (20.jpg).

17.jpg
Image
Attachments
17.jpg
17.jpg (131.36 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

18.jpg
Image
Attachments
18.jpg
18.jpg (382.46 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

19.jpg
Image
Attachments
19.jpg
19.jpg (138.89 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
User avatar
rkr1958
Posts: 27448
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:23 am

RE: Guadalcanal AAR – A Beginners Foray into MWiF

Post by rkr1958 »

20.jpg
Image
Attachments
20.jpg
20.jpg (163.03 KiB) Viewed 675 times
Ronnie
Post Reply

Return to “After Action Report”