Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

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Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

We’ve started a 2-day turn game with Khyberbill, and now I’ve decided to start my first AAR on the forums. Did this before, but only at polish boards in my native language. So you must pardon my english and try to decipher what I’m trying to write about - feel free to point out my mistakes though (free english class, yay!).

This is my first game where turns are 2 days long. I hope I can manage this.

This time only words are in order, next time I’ll attach some screenshots, I promise.

Current game date: 15th december 1941

KHYBERBILL SHOULD RETURN TO HIS HQ FROM THIS POINT, THANK YOU!

Scenario 2
REALISM OPTIONS: reliable us torps off, no withdrawals off and historical first turn off - all other options ON. Reinforcements: +/- 60 days.
GAME OPTIONS: combat reports, plane and TF move radius - ON. All other OFF.

rules
- invasions only on bases/dots
- no sub invasions
- no shattered paradrops (one unit - one base)
- if you want to move national units out of their borders, pay the price in PP's (Hindu, chinese quislings, local militias and so on). RTA can be used to garrison Malaya though, but not in combat
- no industry bombing in / outside from China till 43/01
- no passing trough Malacca Strait till Singers is down

Japanese limitations
- turn 1: only 2 port strikes, and I'm going to strike pearl with all fleet cv's
- kido is going to strike and return, no allied cv's hunt
- no hindsight opening moves - Mersing gambit won't be done.

Allied limitations
- no 4E naval bombing lower than 10K feet
- allied player can only move tf's already at sea and eventually disband them on turn 1. no forming of new tf's, no changing orders for planes. Can move Force Z on turn 1


Ok, war starts as follows:

Pearl Harbor Strike

Early in the morning two (!!) midget subs penetrated the harbor and reached the battleship row. Both of them launched their torpedoes, striking BB’s: West Virginia and Maryland. Both subs were sighted and attacked, but only one foundered, the other returned to the carrier (!!!!!!!) - this is the best midget result I’ve seen so far.

I’ll generally avoid posting large chunks of combat reports, but Pearl Strike deserves such attention:

Japanese aircraft ---------> As you can see most of my planes DID fly for a change
A6M2 Zero x 94
B5N2 Kate x 90
D3A1 Val x 126

Allied aircraft ------------> No Ben or his g-f stealing friend!
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses ---------------> Rather low losses I think
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 12 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 6 destroyed on ground ----> It’s always nice to bag some Catalinas
B-18A Bolo: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 4 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 2 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 2 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
xAP St. Mihel
BB California, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
PT-25, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AV Curtiss
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AV Wright
AV Tangier
CM Oglala
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 4
DM Preble, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
SS Narwhal, Bomb hits 1
AG Aries, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AD Rigel, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Laida, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AK Castor, Bomb hits 1
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Repair Shipyard hits 11 --------> Yeah! This should suck some supplies to repair
Airbase hits 17
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 134
Port hits 18
Port supply hits 4


All in all, I’m not satisfied with Pearl strike. I’m not a fan of sinking as many BB’s as possible, but some CL’s and auxiliary ships would be nice (like Oglala maybe?). And the one above is just weak. Oh well - c’est la guerre. At least California is in “heavy fires” state, maybe allied shipyards in Pearl will have some difficulties with putting out the fires. Or maybe it’s my wishful thinking. Nice shipyard hits, nice port hits... But I have no doubts about allied ability to repair damage to their main base. If we hadn’t set the rule for Kido to strike and return, I’d launch a follow-up strike next morning. Here - I couldn’t.


SUB WARS:

My subs were very active as soon as the got on their designated patrol lanes. Main success was noted 15.12.41 when I-8 patrolling at the entrance of Pago - Pago port facility reached a position to strike CV Lexington. Lady Lex was attacked with 6 torpedoes, but only one found it’s way to the target. Sub captain observed fires on his target, followed by ammo storage explosion [!]. Game report showed that enemy carrier was “on fire” - and that’s a good thing. Now I know the Allies tried to reinforce their southern flank with carriers - and for several weeks my forces are secure from Lexington’s planes.

In other news - my version of Operation Paukenschlag proved to be a minor success. One large tanker (TK Esso Richmond) struck with 2 torps, one large xAP at the West Coast had the same pleasure. One ACM closes the kill list near America’s coast.

Sumatra and Java are also good hunting grounds for my subs at the beginning of the war. Few small tankers found their death in those waters, along with xAK’s and other small craft.

Allied subs were also active in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and other traditional areas of operations. Few my xAKL’s were sunk, few were damaged by their torpedoes. No tankers lost to the present day, and that’s a good thing!

Not one of my subs suffered major damage (except 4 sunk midgets), allied escorts are somewhat incapable of sinking large Japanese submarines at this time of the war.

AIR COMBAT:

My initial strikes were of course concentrated on Luzon and Malaya. Port in Manila was attacked by Betties and Nells, but my hopes to sink many subs there didn’t fulfill. I can count only on 5 underwater hunters to stay where they should. Rest of them is out there, polluting waters and bouncing off whales. Well, at least I could hear some subs hitting my mines at Bataan strait. At Malayan peninsula - army bombers took out British airfields, along with large chunk of Mayalan Air Force.

Next few days I subsequently bombarded Manila, Clark, Bataan, Georgetown, Kuantan, Alor Star and started to sweep Rangoon and Singapore. Result are nice, Far East Air Forces of both USA and Britain virtually stopped to exist. Or at least I hope so!

My naval attacks performed by netties were a rare thing. They’ve found some shipping along Malayan coast and destroyed it, Betties bagged AV Langley... But many opportunities were missed, and bulk of allied merchant fleet there escaped the operating range of my torpedo bombers. Not nice. On other theatres - all Hong Kong escapees (excluding DD’s and Pt’s) are gone.

LAND CONQUESTS:

I’ll describe my plan and advancements in China later on, now all I can say is that HK is taken intact, Tsiaotsio is taken, and Ichang is secured of enemy intrusions (!). My forces are advancing in normal directions: Wuchow, Wenchow, Loyang.

Burma force is advancing without delay, Luzon campaign is advancing swiftly with auxillary invasion in Maybalay. Only my bike troops in Malaya forgot to move in some sensible direction during turn 2, which caused a delay. No worry for the course of campaign though.

Invasions are going swiftly also. Rabaul and Kavieng taken, northern Papua - New Guinea taken, northern Borneo taken (except Kuching and Kudat - soon to follow). Wake is Japanese already. Phosphorites center at Nauru fell also. Finally far north - Attu is mine already.

NAVAL AND CARRIER COMBAT:

While Kido returns to Japan, allied CV’s struck my surface force carelessly ordered to patrol outside Wake, waiting for... Well, I don’t know what was I thinking then. Result - CL Abukuma sunk, CA Chikuma severely damaged (currently repairing in Tokyo), one DD damaged. This is my only main naval asset lost so far (except a CM torpedoed by allied DD’s near Tarakan).

My Baby Kido in the south is trying to hunt shipping, while CVL’s from Japan are covering Singkawang and Kuching invasions. My plan is to merge all CVL’s and CVE’s with Kaga in one carrier TF group, leaving 5 other fleet CV’s in another. Is this splitting Kido? I don’t know. I find this little split useful, and Kaga gives those little fellows such needed punch.

As for the shipping hunt. Khyberbill ordered all ships from the Philippines to run east - abandoning the “normal” route to Australia. When I realized this, I oredered back Baby Kido, and surface forces. They’ve caught the enemy, and to this very day mauled several ships, including 2 AS - which is good! Heavy cruisers, floatplane bases and CVL’s are operating in the area between Palau and Saipan, hoping for another kill or two. Or three. I even rebased some Betties there, but they are not that easily forced to start.

GRAND STRATEGY:

My dream perimeter: in Burma to stop at the Border, cutting out Chinese from their free supply, NOT advancing into India, trying to stop allied counteroffensive, which is sure to happen. Standard DEI conquest, taking northern Australia as quickly as I can, same with Port Moresby. SouthPac: If Baker can be taken before serious reinforcements to come, all the better. If not - too bad. I’ll make some “decoy” movements in SouthPac area, just to tease the enemy. If opportunity arises - Noumea and Suva all both at my list. A for CentPac - I think in AE Midway is not as juicy target as it was in Witp, so I won’t take it. I’ll try to build up forts in the atolls, making them costly for the Allies. Aleutians are a decoy also - I put far too much attention to northern wastes in my other games, so this time only a token force there.

I’ll discuss China and economy later on.

Generally I’m an oveagressive player. I prefer cruiser bombing runs out of nowhere, suicide raids, being careless about logistics in the process. This time I’ll try to change that. But now and then - expect my CA to be sunk by a well placed mine or such. After all - isn’t BANZAI WARFARE all about it?

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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by topeverest »

Banzai Admrial'

Since it is not forbidden, stay at PH and put those BB's at the bottom - all of them!
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

Bah, but it is :( Besides, it's 7/15/41 now - I won't risk getting there again :)
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by d0mbo »

Nicely written AAR. keep up the good work. I like the aggressive style. After all it's still a game, so fun should be had... send out those commerce raiders.... yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...  I mean: banzai!:-)
 
 
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

CHINA - THE EMPIRE WANTS, THE EMPIRE GETS

Image

It's 17.12.1941 now (all dates in my aar in european format, too much brain work to write it as 12/17/41), and as you can see on attached "Stabskarte", my initial moves in China are rather conventional.

Wuchow is my next target of opportunity, as Chinese fall back without any master plan.

Two bases in northern part of the country, including Loyang are to be sieged any day now - I plan to strike hard there, and without hesitation. My planes are going to tangle with defenders few days from now on, and after that... We're gonna deliberately liberate another large part of Asian Co - Prosperity Sphere!

My forces near Changsha are just a Decoy. If I'll see a movement TO Changsha - I'll find their mission complete and get them back slowly. If I'll see movement OUT OF the city - I'll strike hard! Either way, the diversion is going to be fun.

Sinyang is not going to be sieged by the enemy (they seem to be on the run), and I pity that - those forest bases are a black hole for enemy supplies, troops and nerves.

South - eastern China is a minor theatre now. I'll take Chunshien and rush south.

Troop movements - I'm saving PP's for Guards Mixed Brigade now, but next in line are those splendid arty units from Manchuria. Lots being said on the forums about artillery being useless, but I still find them nice in odds calculation process in problematic spots. So my China Expeditionary Army is soon going to be reinforced by some 240mm howitzers (yeah!)

Basically, my strategy in China is: ONE MAJOR OFFENSIVE AT A TIME. That means north first, other parts later. I'll keep an eye for easy pickings, though.

Next time - economy!




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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

NOTES ON ECONOMY - WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON HERE?

And here's my Achilles' heel - in a fact economy makes me a heel-only human being. In this game however, I'll try to maximize effectiveness of my war machine by studying forums and following wise ideas brought to me by the gallery.

In before that - here's my initial plan:

1. PLane and engine production: below is my production sheet, sorted by production rate so far. Don't mind R&D engines - most of those large science labs are shut off for a few months to accumulate goodies for more important projects. As you can see, I'm producing Zeros, Oscars Ic and Jakes, as those are the obvious choices at the beginning. Below the list you'd find vals - didn't lose many of them so far, so I'm somewhat secure with low production for the moment. Ha-33 and Ha-32 engines will be produced until decent pools are reached.

Image


IJA bomber of choice is Helen, IJN - betty. Fithers: Oscar for now, and I'll decide later on Tojo/Tony issue. Zero and its succesors are IJN fighter of choice.

R&D - I'll try to speed up Judy as much as I can, same with some '44 top notch fighters.

2. HI and LI expansion - low. No need to expand LI I think, Few adjustments to HI amounts in large supply centers (e.g. Tokyo). After accumulating lots of raw materials, I'll think about expanding more. And I'm going to expand Singers when I get it, obviously.

3. Arm & Veh expansion - I had converted some small arm factories to veh factories, and expanded on this field heavily. Hope my savings from the previous HI/LI part are enough to do this. It's hakko, so my excellent groung units must have all the goodies to fill their OOB's.

4. Ship contruction - gods of randomizing arrival dates were merciful to me here - many ships are nearly 60 days earlier! Accelerated one CVL - arrival in few days, Junyo and Hiyo also - both of them early spring '42 [!]. It's scenario 2, so I presume I can't halt Shinano - or am I wrong? At least I couldn't do that in any hakko game... It appears that it can be done with Musashi though - so I did halt it.

5. Hauling raw materials to the Empire! - my plan for next moth or two is to suck all home reserves and reinforce them with res and oil from northern territories and Port Arthur. After the perimeter is somewhat secure - let the oil stealing feast begin! Exception - Balikpapan and Palembang - those stockpiles are so tasty, that I can't resist sending convoys there from day 1 of occupation.




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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

22-23 december 1941

SUB OF THE DAY - it's I-8 again! The same sub that put a torp into Lady Lex's fat booty. This time I-8 lurking at Pago - Pago harbor found a juicy oiler to sink (AO Ramapo), and it sunk properly! The sub is mentioned in a daily report for the Emperor.

DIE, CHANG, DIE! - at Loyang brave imperial troops have secured the perimeter inside the city. Losses were heavy, but we've achieved 2:1 ratio and reduced the fort, too. Since that was an initial shock attack when entering the city, and the other base (Chaochow? I never remeber that) was taken turn before, all in all I think my norther China campaign goes quite nice.

FLEET OILERS DETECTED - near Chichi Jima 5 fleet AO's escorted just by some DD's and other minor escorts stumbled upon fleeing aliied AS - Otus. Both TF's evaded combat, but afterwards a jake floatplane put a 60 kg bomb into Otus' deck. From my reports that caused a "heavy fires" on an auxiliary ship. Worse thing is, that those oilers are a support TF for 5 fleet CV's (excluding Kaga) - and it can be easily deducted, that those CV's are going south. Well, I must live with that.

INVADING HERE, INVADING THERE... - Kuching is taken in 1 day, but it's devastated by fleeing allied. Tarakan however isn't damaged at all. Manus is invaded (I love that base). Next turn my forces will execute a massive invasion on... Mersing. Hope PoW and Repulse are elsewhere by now!

As game progresses my anxiety grows. All goes too well, everything is quiet from the aliied side. No cruiser raids, no nothing. is this Sir Robin? Or I just got used to aggressive play? Time will tell.
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

24 - 28 december 1941

Merry Christmas to all surrounded, stranded, deserted and demoralized allied troops all over the Pacific! Here's Radio Tokio, and your favorite Imperial HQ Newsflash!

YAMASHITA'S MALAYA BIKE TOUR

Image

1. Allied brigade (15th) left it's warm barracks on the seaside (courtesy of Imperial Troop Association) and went into the jungle. Imperial hunters are tightening the sack now, and all enemy units (including some auxiliaries) will be destroyed next few days. Another (future) victory for the IJA!

2. Meanwhile, my victorious regiments led by tanks are advancing onward the peninsula. Disorganized Malayan and British troops are no match for hungry... I mean victory-hungry descendants of the gods!

3. Mersing is taken by overwhelming force (one nip with a flag would be enough, since it was empty). Now 38th div and 2 separate regiments are racing to cross the railway, while the other regiment advances on Johore Bahru. This makes the peninsula a great cauldron, where IJA is going to rout and destroy the Brits, like Rommel did that summer. Or almost did.

WIR KAEMPFEN FUR DEN SIEG IN CHINA!

Wuchow is taken, but Chinese at Loyang held on, causing casualties to my might forces. To avenge that, victorious brigades from hex away are moving in. Expected to be there - 4 days. Other parts of China - front is stabilizing slowly, my decoy entered Changsha, because the is some panicky trend within the Chinese. I hope I can use it to my liking. Sinyang is secure, Ichang is secure.

KIDO BUITAI, BABY BUITAI

Fleet carriers are in Truk harbor now - next few days they'll sail to Rabaul. Next target - to wreck havoc on Aussie coast! Fleet oilers are en route south also. Hope some juicy convoys are inbound Australia next week.

Baby Kido assembles at Hong Kong, led by Kaga. Yamashiro covers the air force. 26th dec it was attacked by B-17 bombers flying out of China. Zero fighters shot down few of them though. Yamashiro is discovered obviously, but let's hope the carriers are not. Few days from now and those young eagles will be cruising to Java hoping to find some prey.

INVASIONS AND OTHER FUN ACTIVITIES

Apart from Mersing, Palembang is invaded, too. So is Ternate, and next turn Ambon and Balikpapan will join the party.

In Burma we are ready to strike on Moulmein, next turn also.
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

29 dec 1941 - 02 jan 1942

HAPPY NEW YEAR, WINSTON! - to ensure Churchill's merry christmas and a happy new year, Japanese captured Balikpapan (no damage to vital oil and refinery facilities), Johore Bahru fell also - that chokes the bottleneck, leaving Brits helplessly BEHIND own lines. Large force actually escaped to Singers, though. Sorong, Moulmein, Pucheng, Loyang - all joined Co-Prosperity sphere. Banzai!

SAYING "OUCH!" IS IN ORDER - in the process of Balikpapan and Ambon liberation, few of my xAP's were sunk, combined by mines, subs and CD guns. Several small xAK and xAKL's add to the casualty list. No biggie, but those xAP's hurt. That's the price of agressive aproach though. Two xAK's were sunk by allied subs near HI. Additional ASW assets were dispatched to deal with this growing problem. Not to mention all of those beautiful Type 95 mod 2 DC's being installed on my DMS' and DD's!

PAUKENSCHLAG ENDS - unfortunately, Americans found out about my clever sub routines and started to throw DC's on harmless Japanese tourists visiting west coast, trying to meet Arnold Sch. Some of those humiliating barrels of poo reached my beautiful vessels, so Paukenschlag (nip version) ends, and new routines - much further from the coast - are set.

KIDO BUITAI - OPERATION APRICOT

Image

My fleet carriers (excl. Kaga) are inbound for a strike on Aussie coast. Their route is to pass away from the coast of Australia, and after that strike hard on Sydney harbor. I hope to bag lots of shipping there, maybe even some cruisers, who knows! But there's much more in that - that manifestation should cause unnecessary attention to OZ land, which I don't intend to visit again. Let it commence! After a successful strike on Sydney, Kido will flatten Brisbane also, and then we have a scheduled meeting with fleet oilers. Juicy!
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

APRICOT - A QUICK UPDATE - my battle-hungry carrier groups found a 2 point AMc operating near Brisbane and sent it to the bottom, but this was WITHOUT striking Sydney (one hex delay somewhere). That makes the element of surprise gone. Despite that, Eagles of The Empire will strike Sydney! I expect shipping to flee the harbor, so all my groups are set to naval attack/port attack now. Fast ships may escape the strike, but these are the wages of war.

CHINA - A FORTUNATE TURN OF EVENTS! - Bill's yellow dots have left Changsha and declared it an open city. This made my decoy operation a 300% success, as now my governors are ready to install themselves in nice warm offices to govern the former-chinese industry!

INVASIONS, INVASIONS... - I have to stop my rapid advancement in island - hopping. My supply lines are thin now, and land elements of my air force must be distributed. Pontianak is taken however, and OPERATION BANANA (invasion of Darwin) is brewing...
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

04 jan 42 - 06 jan 42

OPERATION APRICOT: A DARING STRIKE, A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS!

Kido Buitai lingering near Sydney obliterated another AMc Jan 4th, downing several enemy warhawks in the process. Finally my carriers launched a full scale strike, having kates armed with those splendid 800kg bombs. It looked like this:

Image

... and to my surprise, We've found a most welcome outcome! A freakin' carrier! It appears that Bill moved Lady Lex to SYDNEY instead PEARL, when it was damaged by I-8 earlier. Wohoo! I was a bit lucky there, but isn't luck a factor that makes a successful commander?

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
B5N2 Kate x 90
D3A1 Val x 59



Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Flusser, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Canopus, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
CA Chicago, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires
CA Portland, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
xAKL Caledon, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
DD Drayton, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS KVII, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Porter, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AM Wollongong, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Time, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mahan, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD La Triomphant, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Tjikandi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Lamson, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Talune, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AM Bunbury, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS KIX, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Mangola, Bomb hits 1
xAK Kauri, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Repair Shipyard hits 3
Port hits 13
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 1


Few of those bombs hitting allied CV were 800kg ones, his DB and TB losses showed in my tracker (but no fighter losses!), so I presume Lexington is done for. Same goes to Astoria, as MOST of hits were 800kg ones. Two other CA's will probably choke aussie repair yards for some time. DD's and SS' are important also, because loss of those ships really limits Bill's ability to contest me in the region, and I'm going to make an advantage of that. All in all - a stunning blow there. Good for me that Repair Shipyard was damaged also.

Next target for Eagles of The Empire - Brisbane! After that - a glorious return.

GO AWAY COMRADE MAO, CHINA IS MINE! - as stated before, my opponent left Changsha. After liberation, lots of saboteurs were discovered and executed, but damage was already done - HI is only 15% of it's former state, LI is even worse. Only res centers survived in decent shape. Oh well - we will rebuild it and use for the good of the people! People living in Emperor's Royal Palace, of course.

Other news in China - Nanyang is evacuated also. My recon-in-force is taking the city tomorrow. All normal plundering, razing, stealing and raping is planned.

KAGA AND FRIENDS After finding no ships in Batavia, my Baby Kido is moving along the coast of Java, hoping for some ships at Tiljatap (or Titlajap? or Tipililipilitappy-tap?) Heavy movement was detected there last turn. After the Java trip. Baby KB will join Guards Mixed, 8th tank rgt, 3rd base force and all the army clerks in operation "Banana" - invasion of Darwin!
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Lecivius »

First time I've seen a carrier hit in an air raid!  I'm sure it's happened before, just as I'm sure it hurt [:'(]
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Reedster »

Wow that's a very nice port strike at Sydney, Durbik! A lot of big ships there... be sure to finish the job eh [;)]
'Well, Comrade Boldin, this is the third time you've gotten yourself encircled by the Germans. Don't you think that's a bit much?' - Zhukov, late 1941
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

It's 8 jan 42 now in the game, as we are finally past the RL delay

KIDO - ROAM, ROAM, ROAM THE COAST - Instead of striking Sydney harbor again, my 5 fleet CV's struck Brisbane port, damaging it heavily (or I think so). No ships there. Why didn't I go for Sydney again? Few things here:

1. I want my CV's to be the ghosts of the Pacific, not a sluggish force staying one place for a week.
2. I didn't know where are those other yankee CV's - even when out-gunned, the can easily plant a 1000lber on my precious bamboo-armored decks, which would be horror... horror...
3. I want to strike pacific convoys now, and fast - before Bill calls them back to linger near WC.
4. Nothing more serious really to achieve in Sydney: CV is 99% sunk (although NO confirmation by game or tracker to the date - only DB's and TB's being lost by the enemy appear in the tracker). CA's are a good prey, but risking some lucky DB or sub hit? No!

KIDO KIDS - OR GREAT DEI SQUAD ELIMINATION It appears that Khyberbill is SirRobining every front now - my Kaga group bagged several xAP's and xAK's of Dutch origin moving troops out (well PROBABLY out) of Java. Hundreds (even thousands) of those poor bastards were seen in the water, trying to swim all the way to Java. Leaflets glorifying the Emperor were dropped to ease their way. Dozens of artillery pieces and vehicles also succumbed, making this a great step to conquer DEI before Easter.

OTHER FRONTS - A STEADY PACE TO BE A-BOMBED (LATER) - Nanyang is taken, thus the important crossroad is now mine. Chinese WON'T be chased into the forest, as they can sustain their pitiful lives on roots, squirrels, foxes and pictures of Comrade Mao shaking hands with Chang. Easy here now. My brave troops advance from Changsha to seize the resource rich central area.

Bataan is bombed every day, with every strike achieving supply hits. Nice! Next turn - operation Corn unleashes, as my BB's are about to bombard Moresby...
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Wikingus
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Wikingus »

Keeping an eye on this AAR, love the Sydney surprise. [:D]
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

Thanks for your interest in this, time to update, as we moved on with our little virtual war. It's 16th january 1942

US CV SIGHTING ALERT! - Brave Ro-61 submarine detected a large concentration of allied flattops near Pago Pago and radioed it's position to nearest intel post. At least 2 CV's were confirmed, although adm. Yamamoto (me) doubts it. After this contact, Ro-61 launched a spread of torps trying to kill CA Indianapolis, hitting it with one fish. No fires or heavy damage reported, but overzealous sub skipper claimed a kill, easily confirmed by Tokio propaganda bureau. Clearly FOW. Kido Buitai sortied form Kwajalein (where it moved recently) one turn ago to hunt some convoys, but now it's changing course to - hopefully - intercept allied carrier or carriers and destroy it!. It's a roughly 33% chance to achieve this, but we'll try.

CHINESE ADVANCEMENTS: - the image says it all. Pretty fast methinks. Bill in on the run with all assets, and he doesn't defend a single city. More LI and Resources for me, I think.

Image

DARWIN INVASION: A BOLD MOVE - all pawns are in their place. Bombardment should start in 2 days, Baby Kido is set to wreck Darwin's Harbor (allied CL sighted there), recons are flying from last turn. 11 enemy units were confirmed in Darwin, but intelligence assumes those are the refugees from DEI, seeking a safe haven. All the better. 25000 japanese troops are bound to liberate darwin and start the counquest of Australia. To secure this, Ambon and Boela are reinforced, and Koepang invasion TF is inbound.

TURN 20 HAS PASSED. TIME FOR SOME TRACKER TABLES! - here are my ship losses up to this point:

Image
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

Another update, as we managed to get another turn going. Lots of stuff going on:

ALEUTIANS – no activity here, since we took Attu early in the game. I’m building that base up, along with Paramushiro Jima. Later, after some nav guards pop up in Tokyo, I intend to take one of two islands in the region, just to hide my true intentions – and those are NOT to commit a huge force in the north.

AUSTRALIA – next turn my risky Darwin invasion should begin. Fuso and Yamashiro pounded the base, and baby kido bombed the port, finding 3 subs repairing there – that means Bill didn’t know the big thing was coming – but now he knows that, of course. One BB is scheduled to bomb the base by night, then invasion tf will unload it’s precious cargo under fire from Emery Point. I should have 2 BB’s in my invasion TF, so I hope for only minor ship losses. Confirmed 14 units in Darwin is other thing. I hope most of them are Dutch and US survivors from up north. If not – the operation may fail.

BURMA - we’ve got a rapid advancement there, since Bill left Rangoon undefended. My forces are now securing the country - Imperial Guards split into separate regiments, one to defend Rangoon (and to keep peace - partisans caused horrible damage to port and airstrip when we took Rangoon by auto occupation), one to advance on Bassein and finally one up the major road. My tanks are racing towards Toungoo along with one separate regiment - this should be enough to cause Burmese to run.
I noticed, that fragments of 15th Indian Brigade, once surrounded and destroyed in Malaya appeared in Port Blair (Catalina extraction?). I have 1st Raiding Regiment in Bangkok prepping for the Andaman assault, but alongside the 15th, there are 2 more units present. Ground bombing was ordered to identify other defenders, and after that I’ll make my decision whether to strike now, or wait. I think I’ll attack though. What is one para regiment compared to possible profits? Nothing!
I mailed Bill about some kind of rule concerning stratospheric sweeps by both sides. We mutually agreed that NO RULE is being applied in our game, since this mechanics glitch help the Japanese in the beginning, and after p-38 and thunderbolts will come around, Japs rule the skies no longer. It’s a good agreement I think.

CHINA - brave you are Sir Robin, but where, oh where will you stop? My opponent is leaving me large areas of China to saturate my offensive I think - and to get me into partisan forest chasing. No way, Jose! After city cluster in central China is taken, only targets of opportunity will be pursued. Consolidation will be in order. After that period, I plan a massive IJA planes campaign against Chinese capital of Chungking, since it’s a large supply hub and a reinforcement center.
Having all those Chinese on the run worries me. Those guys WILL concentrate somewhere, mostly undamaged. This could pose a threat to my thin front, as such a Schwerpunkt of ~2500 assault points will surely pop the balloon. If that happens, I am ready to give away some of newly acquired land to stop the offensive, and make my own saturation. Yay! A city 2 hexes east of Nanning could be a staging base for the Chinese now, as my guys chasing marauders found 11 units there. We will see.

DEI - proceeding as planned here Major offensives against Java, Sumatra and dozens of other islands must wait until my Darwin operation goes one way or another. It’s now impossible to reinforce those islands, so they can wait and rot.

MALAYA – my regiment forced some Brits out of Temuloh, and that finally clears center of the peninsula. They escaped towards Kuantan, where they will be isolated and destroyed. My troops in Johore are awaiting last reinforcements before marching into Singers. Army planes are bombarding the city, but too much of my Sally’s fall from the sky. Not good, time for few turns of silence.

PHILIPPINES – same here, lots of army planes involved, lots of losses. My guys are already at Bataan, bombarding. Bombardment attack for LCU’s is totally useless in AE I think, as it causes HEAVY losses to the attacker due to counter-battery fire. At least I hope it eats enemy supplies faster. 40 betties everyday achieving supply dump hit now and then help, too. We’ll wait a week more and start attacking.

SOPAC – enemy CV’s were reported few days back at Pago-Pago, and now they vanished. That is good, because all directions they can go is a good one for me. East – there’s Kido Buitai lurking, NE of Baker Island. North – intensive naval search and nettie coverage. West – well, they can intercept my modest Tulagi invasion, but that’s it. And this is far by all means.

SWPAC – Tulagi is next as stated earlier. More - 1 regiment, 2 nav guards and support troops are approaching Rabaul, which will be a staging point before Moresby invasion. But that will be conducted AFTER Darwin is secured. Or after we run away from it. Either way – FUN IS COMING!
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

It's 18th january 1942 and here's another quick update:

DARWIN - Bill and me exchanged some e-mail about Darwin move THAT early being gamey or not. I must admit I am not 100% confident that this invasion being not gamey, but I elaborated my thoughts to Bill, and here I can only recapitulate: 1. This is scenario 2, and that should change historical accuracy a bit. 2. No hindsight about allied OOB here - I played allies only once, and I have absolutely no idea which units defend Darwin by default, with an exception to Emery Point Fortress (ouch!) 3. I found it possible to pursue such goal, because of allied sir robin strategy - wouldn't Japanese High Command dare for more if they saw a full flight from everywhere? I think - ABSOLUTELY!

So, enough with stings of remorse, time to do this invasion:

Image

As you can see 3 my BB's were paving the way for the transports, getting LOTS of hits form CD guns. Haruna is 27/0/0/0 and she will be withdrawn. 2 other BB, although depleted, are in a shape to tangle with base defences a turn more, using their secondary armament. Few CA's were involved also - those are damaged too, along with 2 DD's. Lots of armored targets to shoot at made Aussie gunners happy, and they forgot to shoot at main transport fleet - only 3 xAKL's sunk (one scuttled), few more damaged. Precious LSD is safe, same goes to large xAPs. Ground forces are ashore, next turn we will attack deliberately. I can see Bill's troops retreating south from Darwin and the road leading to it, so I don't expect real resistance.

Will I push southward? I don't know. I may do so, but my mind goes to a juicy possibility mof invading Australia's west coast early summer... Time will tell. Next few turns I'll invade all bases forming the Darwin approach, just to make sure nobody crosses my supply line to this base.

OTHER FRONTS - my Port Blair para strike went well, only engineers and 15h brigade remnants - only a token resistance there. In China whole Changsha industrial cluster is now mine (only 1 Chinese corps was left defending 4 bases - my 2 divs disposed of this threat quickly). Tulagi invasion starts next turn.

KIDO BUITAI - unfortunately Kido's adventure in the Pacific was unsuccessful - no contacts. My sub saw some activity at Johnston, so it's the last chance to make an appearance in the east. If it fails, Kido will return to support Coral Sea endeavors.
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RE: Shōwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Durbik »

January 22 1941 and just a quick entry.

DARWIN - is overrun (6:1 odds, mostly refugees as I expected), and my tanks are chasing the remnants into the scrub. Air HQ is expected in Darwin next turn, a Betty unit supported by Babs' and Zeroes are in place also. Next turn my Wyndham invasion will take the base. Losses in this operation are as minimal as they could be. Gamey or not? I think 65% not, 35% something gamey. I think we are settled with this though.

KIDO - my carriers made some appearance in the Pacific, pulverizing a supply convoy unloading at Johnston - few cheap xAKs, a DMS and few AM's were sunk to no losses. No biggie, but hopefully produced an atmosphere of FEAR in allied ranks. My CV's are leaving the area - they've refueled 8 hexes west of Johnston and returning to Kwaj. Next appearance will be SouthPac, as my subs saw a troop convoy there lately (enroute from Suva to Noumea).

BURMA Prome, Toungoo and Bassein are taken without any resistance. Either Bill is leaving Burma to my occupation undefended and planning to return here in 1943, or he's going to defend Mandalay cluster, relying on support from India. In both cases I'll destroy him early. Methinks that defending bases in Burna was in this particular case a better strategy - every week of delay is another hurricane squadron. Bahnstieg - this DOESN'T mean I'll do this in our game. But I can.

INVASIONS, INVASIONS... Tulagi is taken. This was somewhat a decoy. I have stayed 2 turns near that base, pretending S-SE is my current offensive direction. Meanwhile, a massive force has slipped the coast of New Guinea and is going to land in Moresby and Buna simultaneously next turn, with a supporting force trying to whack allied transports at Horn Island. Banzai! I'm starting to gather an invasion force going to Java, but this will take 2 weeks at least.
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RE: Shôwa period ends today! - Khyberbill [A] vs. Durbik [J]

Post by Blackhorse »


I'm enjoying this AAR. Don't worry about your english -- if you're comfortable enough with the language to write such gems as
The same sub that put a torp into Lady Lex's fat booty.
then we'll have no problem understanding you.

For an Allied player to exercise a Brave Sir Robin is a perfectly defensible strategy. But he seems to have overdone it, in China at least. What is your sense of your opponent: is he an experienced but cautious player, or inexperienced and just feeling his way through the first few awful (for the Allies) months?

I have a personal rooting interest in your game. My great-grandfather came to the United States from Southern Poland (well, what was then the Austrian Empire).

Congratulations on the Sydney raid! You are right, to be lucky, it helps to be aggressive.

Dobre szczæúcie
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff

Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
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