Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition

Post Reply
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

Post by Arnhem44 »

A couple of PBEM games I started sputtered to a stop after a couple of turns and I was leery of committing time and effort into an AAR until I was sure this one was a keeper, from the looks of things it looks like it is. My opponent is CT Grognard (CTG), a fairly active member of the forums, I'm looking forward to the fight as it's DBB, version C to boot and to cap it all CTG started off with some fairly aggressive moves.

House Rules as follows, shamelessly lifted from Fletcher's AAR /tip of the hat to Fletcher
Inactive HRs in red. will update HRs as game time passes or events happen to make certain HRs irrelevant.

GENERAL
- IJAAF units must operate with IJAAF aviation support and IJNAF must operate with IJNAF aviation support
- The only IJAAF plane that may be used in an ASW role is the Ki-51 (to reflect historical use)
- Kido Butai will make a single port attack on Pearl Harbor, and will return directly to Japan; if the first assault on Wake by Japan fails, the Japanese player may divert KB to support a second assault
- Americans cannot react to the landings at Tarawa, Wake and Makin; once the first landings take place the Americans are relieved from this rule (if no landings occur, by 14 December 1941)
- Manila and Singapore may have fighters up and on CAP on the 1st turn, but the Allied player cannot transfer any squadrons on the first turn
- The Allied player may give alternate orders to Force Z on the 1st turn. All other Allied TFs may not have their destinations/mission amended; no new Allied TFs may be created on the 1st turn

- Japanese submarines can only be equipped with the E14Y1 Glen
- No partial parachute deployments (i.e. one unit, one target)
- No submarine invasions (with one exception, Marine Raiders on SST submarines)
- All PT boats in a hex must be in the same TF
- 4E bombers cannot operate on Naval Attack below 10,000 ft
- 4E bombers (excluding B-29s) can operate on Ground Attack in hexes that do not have Allied units in them (i.e. cannot be used as close air support). B-29s cannot be used on Ground Attack at all.
- No strategic bombing by either side (oil, resources, HI, LI, manpower) until July 1943
- No night bombing allowed if moonlight is less than 50% (except for B-29s (ground-mapping radar))
- The minimum altitude for night bombing is 3000 feet
- Fighters may only fly sweeps or CAP in either their best or second best maneuver altitude bands
- Japanese surface ships cannot transit the Malacca Strait until Singapore has fallen
- The atomic bomb may not be used on Tokyo
- Commonwealth land and air units may only operate to liberate Commonwealth possessions as well as the Dutch East Indies – i.e. British, Indian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand units are limited to Australia, New Zealand, India, Burma, Malaya, New Guinea, New Britain, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fiji, Tonga, Samao etc and the whole of the Dutch East Indies)

MONSOON RULE
- From 15 May to 15 October each year (Monsoon Season) offensive operations in the jungle and mountain hexes on the Burmese front (everything above “Thailand” label within Burma and Thailand borders plus the few jungle hexes going 3 or 4 hexes into “India” – Kohima, Ledo, Imphal area) is highly restricted:
- No shock or deliberate attacks in jungle hexes within the area;
- Deliberate attacks allowed in non-jungle hexes;
- Bombardment attacks allowed everywhere;
- Movement into friendly/empty hexes allowed
- The percentage of aircraft allowed to fly from an airfield in this region during this time is a factor of its size*10% (so an air unit flying from a level 2 airfield can only fly 20% of its aircraft, and must set Rest to 80%)
- No carrier aircraft strikes on Burma from the Gulf of Bengal during this time (however, carrier aircraft can still strike Bengal, Northern India or Malaya from carriers in the Gulf of Bengal)

CHINESE THEATRE:
- No industry bombing in Chinese bases by either side (reflecting dispersed artisanal light industry), but bombing “manpower” is allowed.
- A maximum of 4 squadrons of US four-engine bombers may operate from Chinese bases, but only from level 6 airfields or higher, and the aviation support must be provided by an American unit.
- Chinese forces (and air units) cannot go outside its borders except those assigned to the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma/Northern Combat Area Command
- The NCAC shall be limited to four Chinese Corps (12 Chinese Divisions) and one Chinese squadron (to reflect historical deployment of 17th Pursuit Squadron (I-153s)) and may only enter Burma once Rangoon has fallen to the Japanese
- The AVG may operate in Burma and China only

KWANTUNG ARMY
- Units must pay PPs to cross the Kwantung border
- The Japanese player may buy out artillery units to a maximum of 1 artillery regiment for every 3 infantry regiments who have already paid the PPs to exit (i.e. no stripping of artillery units only)
- No Kwantung HQs may be bought out until 1944 or the invasion of the Marianas, the liberation of Rangoon or the occupation of a base in the DEI with a level 4 airfield or higher
- No air units may be moved out of Kwantung until June 1942; from then one daitai may be moved per month but subject always to a minimum of 4 fighter daitai and 8 bomber daitai. This does not prevent air operations from Kwangtung to China.
- If the Japanese player decides to invade the Soviet Union, he must invade Soviet territory in an unoccupied hex to activate and may then only begin offensive operations a week later (to reflect the excellent intelligence assets the Soviets had in the Japanese government which would preclude strategic surprise).
- Once the Soviets are activated, no Japanese unit in Kwantung may get an HQ reassignment, except isolated units can be evacuated by sea.

DUTCH EAST INDIES
- Dutch air units cannot be disbanded nor can they be withdrawn.
- Dutch surface vessels may operate in Indian Ocean waters or between Australia and New Guinea, but not the Pacific.
- Dutch submarines can only operate between the South China Sea and northern Australia (i.e. off Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes and Timor)
- Garrison requirements must be observed by the Allied player
- No strategic bombing in the DEI until 1944
- IJA units need a minimum of 25 planning points to amphibiously land at/parachute into an enemy-held DEI base (not needed for IJN units)

PHILIPPINES
- All US units in the Philippines must have replacements OFF
- Allied air units in the Philippines may not receive replacement aircraft other than by disbanding other Philippine-based air units into those units
- Philippine-based air units may not be disbanded or withdrawn in a manner that would result in the transfer of aircraft or the pilots back into the aircraft or pilot pools; if the unit is withdrawn, the Allied pilot must answer “NO” to the reform unit in x days question
- Manila is an open city; as such the Allied player may not build additional fortifications and must retreat from the city once the Japanese reaches the city; the Japanese player can only take Manila as part of a general advance (of at least two divisions strength) from the north, south or east of Luzon. Once Japan has conquered all of Luzon, Manila is no longer an open city
- There is no restriction on the Allied player using surface or air transport at any time to move supplies or troops in or out of the Philippines
- Submarine transport missions by the Allied player may only be used to resupply and evacuate cut-off or isolated Allied units, or Bataan (once the Allied players have retreated there)


AUSTRALIA
- The Japanese player may only invade Australia once Timor, Ambon, Kendari, Mindanao, Batavia and Soerabaja are in Japanese hands and once he has saved a reserve of 3000 political points. These political points should be kept in reserve until (1) the capture of all ports in northern Australia (Port Hedland; Broome; Derby; Wyndham; Darwin) or (2) the capture of Perth, or Sydney, or Brisbane
- IJA units invading Australia need a minimum of 80 preparation points (not needed for IJN units)
- If Australia is invaded, the Allied player may not spend PPs on anything except sending forces to Australia by any means or medium, whether land or air force (with the exception of reassigning leaders)
- Australian CMF units may only operate in Australia and Papua New Guinea

INDIA AND CEYLON
- No Restricted Allied unit in India may change its command area until 1 January 1943. PPs need to be paid in order for units to leave India (this is to reflect the large number of British troops required in India to suppress the “Quit India” movement as well as the Indian National Army guerrilla activities).
- If Japanese forces cross the border into India, British and Commonwealth units may only spend political points to send reinforcement units to India
- The Japanese player will need a reserve of 4000 political points in order to invade India; this must be maintained until the capture of Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Trincomalee
- Any IJA units invading India or Ceylon must have at least 80 preparation points

THAILAND
- Thai ground forces may invade Burma but are limited to east of the Salween river (i.e. the only bases it includes are Mergui, Victoria Point and Moulmein)
- US ground forces may not enter Thailand, but US air forces are able to bomb Thailand (the USA never declared war on Thailand)

ROYAL NAVY
- Until September 1942 no RN capital ships (CV, CVL, BB or BC) may operate in the Pacific (except for repairs, transit to ports in the US and return from them)
- From 1 January 1943 a single capital ship may operate in the Pacific (as was the case with HMS Victorious in the Solomons campaign)
- From 1 January 1945 the Royal Navy may operate freely in the Pacific (once assigned to the Pacific Fleet under US command)

Significant events
Page 1 of the AAR

7 Dec 1941 - Air raid on Pearl Harbor sinks Nevada and Tennessee, with Pennsylvania eventually succumbing to fires a couple of days later. The Philippines and Malaya are invaded. CTG goes long and invades bases like Puerto Princessa and Singkawang from the word go. Repulse is torpedoed just off Singapore, she suffers moderate damage.
9 Dec 1941 - Boise sinks CVL Ryujo in the Celebes Sea before being sunk herself. Tarawa falls.
11 Dec 1941 - Wake Island falls.
12 Dec 1941 - Guam falls.
18 Dec 1941 - Hong Kong falls.
18-24 Dec 1941 - Chinese troops attempt to take Ichang but are bloodily repulsed suffering heavy casualties.
27 Dec 1941 - First major Allied success of the war, invasion convoy destroyed off Ambon by Force Z.
29 Jan 1941 - 1 Jan 1942 - IJA troops make an unsuccessful attempt to take Changsha and are thrown back with heavy losses.
Page 2 of the AAR
2 Jan 1942 - An element of KB (4 CVs) appears off the east coast of Australia, presumably on a raiding run, they sink a convoy of 8 merchant ships unloading supplies at Noumea.
4 Jan 1942 - Battle of Timor Sea. A portion of the ABDA fleet intercepts and engages 3 IJN CVs raiding Darwin, they inflict light damage on the enemy TF and are later decimated by retaliatory air strikes launched from the CVs, suffering the loss of Tromp and 9 DDs (6 Dutch, 2 US and 1 British). With this loss, ABDA ceases to exists as a viable fighting force. Another attempt to break the blockade on 6 Jan results in heavy losses to the remnants of the fleet.
6 Jan 1942 - Malaya completely occupied by the Empire of Japan.
7 Jan 1942 - 14 Jan 1942 Darwin Turkey Shoot. Counting losses including warships that were lost in the Battle of Timor Sea and ships sinking in port and at sea post KB departure of the Darwin area, the Allies have lost a total of 2 CAs, 7 CLs and 19 DDs in addition to upwards of 60 non-combatants/auxiliaries when elements of KB (split into 2 TFs) together with significant IJN surface forces blockaded and proceeded to bomb Darwin harbour over the course of a week of game time. A more detailed writeup of losses is included in the daily report of 27 Jan 1942. Clark Field falls, Bataan is the only Allied base left on Luzon.
12 Jan 1942 - Japanese move into Singapore and begin the reduction of the garrison.
15 Jan 1942 - Moulmein falls. The invasion of Burma begins in earnest.
Page 3 of the AAR
21 Jan 1942 - Bataan falls. Organized resistance in the Philippines ceases.
27 Jan 1942 - Ternate, Tarakan and Ambon fall.
28 Jan 1942 - Rangoon falls. Palembang under siege.
Page 4 of the AAR
7 Feb 1942 - Japanese forces invade New Britain
10 Feb 1942 - Rabaul falls.
13 Feb 1942 - Surrender of Singapore
18 Feb 1942 - Capture of Port Moresby
20 Feb 1942 - Koepang overrun.
Page 5 of the AAR
6 Mar 1942 - Palembang overrun, production facilities appear to have suffered little to no damage.
7 Mar 1942 - Invasion of Java, landings at Kalidjati. Dutch AF sustains heavy casualties trying to interdict the invasion fleet.
Page 6 of the AAR
12 Mar 1942 - Batavia captured.
25 Feb - 20 Mar 1942 - KB goes on a deep penetration raid of the US-ANZAC SLOC, starting with a raid on Noumea and sailing past Suva and Pago Pago before turning back near Christmas Island KB's flyers sink 1 DD, 3 xAP, 3 xAK, 1 TK and 5 AO
Page 10 of the AAR
30 May 1942 - Battle of Tabiteuea. The first carrier battle of the war, fought when USN CVs covering an invasion force bound for Tabiteuea clashed with Kido Butai.
25 June 1942 - USN CVs raid Tabiteuea
Page 11 of the AAR
12 July 1942 - USN CVs raid Guadalcanal
23 July 1942 - USN CVs raid Guadalcanal for a second time. Possibly sinking Mutsu
31 July 1942 - IJN battle line bombards Ndeni airfield, causing heavy casualties and destroying large amounts of material
7 August 1942 - Empire of Japan invades Ndeni
Page 12 of the AAR
20 August 1942 - Battle of New Hebrides, loss of Princess of Wales, Repulse and Ramillies. Wasp heavily damaged.
29 August 1942 - Empire of Japan invades Efate.
5 Sept 1942 - Heavy losses sustained on both sides in the past month in the process of attacking/defending Ndeni/Efate.
Page 13 of the AAR
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

Getting up to speed

Post by Arnhem44 »

Just sent off the turn for 14 Dec 1941 and here's how things are looking from my end of the playing field. It's far from a complete retelling of events so I'll just fill in the holes as the turns come along from here on end.

What the Empire of Japan has been up to
CTG's attack on Pearl Harbor was the worst I've ever experienced in all my PBEM games thus far. Nevada and Tennessee went down straight away and I lost Pennsylvania to fire a couple of turns ago. Other than that, I'm looking at major yard time (approx 12 months, with California showing 2 years for repair time) for 4 of the remaining 5 BBs, a couple of cruisers and DDs got smacked around but thankfully that's about it. On the bright side, my airfields were not touched and for the first time ever in a PBEM game (see the trend here?), I have an intact Hawaiian Airforce, more importantly my Cat squadrons are available to be my LR eyes and ears in CENPAC.

The Philippines
A couple of notable opening moves here, the first of which was an alpha strike on Clark Field on turn 1, bascially obliterating the airfield. I was pretty amused by the use of upwards of a 120 bombers in 1 strike as in our email conversations leading up to the game I had the impression that CTG was the sort of player who was going to be hamstringing himself in a bid to play as close to historical as possible. The first week of the war has put paid to that impression, CF has been plastered every day since day 1, CTG means to let it stay shut down. Further south in Mindanao, carrier aircraft from what could only be the IJN CVLs smoked the 2 B-17 squadrons based out of Cagayan, I never had a chance to fly a single bomber from out of there, the bombers were damaged on day 1 and stayed that way till the base was overrun. The air attack was followed up by a naval bombardment centred on 3 CAs which really hammered the base and caused quite a few casualties to the LCUs there. And to round off my misery, Puerto Princessa was also assaulted on turn 1. The man has a plan and he's not slow in putting it in motion.

In the air, I let my P-40s get slaughtered by A6M sweeps losing around 30 odd frames for kill claims of basically zip. Am resting the survivors and thinking of ways to annoy my opponent with what I have left, HRs in effect with regards to my units in the PI do kind of tie one hand behind my back.

The exodus of ships from the PI has been somewhat of a mixed bag. Boise ate Ryujo for breakfast and had at least 1 DD for seconds before succumbing to the inevitable Long Lance barrage from Ryujo's screen so I'm pretty happy with that exchange considering I thought I was sending her in to scalp an invasion TF. I'm sure my opponent has more details of the flattop's demise so I'll skip right along. Apart from that, I've lost upwards of an even 2 dozen merchies in the run south to Java, most of them died in the Celebes Sea after being intercepted by SAGs. To be honest, I'm not much hurt by my losses so far, even with the 30% cut in cargo capacities I know I'll be rolling in merchies by end '42. The important ships are intact and have been incredibly lucky in not running into an IJN SAG and just a turn or two more and they'll be in relatively safe waters.

Borneo
Moving to Borneo, Sinkawang was invaded on turn 1 so no lack of pace on this side of the South China Sea. The airfield is currently host to 40odd A6Ms which means no way the Brit bombers out of Singapore can do anything about anti-shipping work within a 10 hex radius of the place.

A light TF centred on Mauritius pays the place a visit on the last turn looking for easy pickings but runs into 4 DDs and comes away with the flagship and 1 other DD lost in exchange for the Hagikaze

Malaya
I'm looking at LCUs just north of the Malayan border and I got kicked out of Kuantan a couple of turns ago, apart from a couple of stay behind riff raff, everything else has Sir Robined to Singapore. The Brit fighters are mostly intact while the level bombers got chewed on pretty good by aforementioned Sinkawang Zeroes a couple of turns ago.

I let Force Z sit in Singapore for turn 1 and was punished for my complacency when Betties laid into Repulse and banged her up bad, she's currently on her way to safer waters for repairs.

DEI
A very heavy SAG (basically 2 BBs and half a dozen CAs) came in from the west end of the Java Sea and made it's way to the Makassar Straits, considering the amount of tonnage in that SAG I'm lucky with getting away with losing around 8 merchies to it. It's currently a couple of hexes south of Balikpapan. I set all my Dutch bombers to naval strike but nothing flew so it's just sitting there making a nuisance of itself while I try to get the few remaining merchies in open waters to safe haven. I set all the short legged and 1 hex speed merchies and assorted stuff down south for Darwin, a handful of the the longer legged merchies will stay behind for evac purposes while the majority are making their way for the larger ports of the Indian subcontinent and the US

Sub Wars
I have a thing for CVs and their strike craft but something about the subs in AE appeal to me, it's probably due to being schooled in their use by Cannonfodder, my long time PBEM opponent. The man has a brutally efficient ASW training programme and is smart about placement of his ASW assets, having lost over 20 Allied subs in my other PBEM game in the first 6 months of that war before wising up and countering his tactics I do intend to do much better with my subs in this game.

As it's DBB-C, the emphasis will be on merchies and killing them, anything that floats and can carry cargo is a priority for me, as subs deploy from the US they'll go into screening positions in CENPAC but the majority of the subs in the field now will actively hunt in the shipping lanes until the loss of bases make the inevitable long round trips unprofitable.

Allied Sub killboard
S-38 - xAK Gyoun Maru (1,900t), xAK Kikuryu Maru (1,900t)
KXV - xAK Nojima Maru (3,425t)
Sargo - xAK Gosei Maru (3,425t)
Swordfish - xAKL Yamatsuru Maru (1,650t), xAKL Muko Maru (1,650t)
Seadragon - xAKL Kanjo Maru (1,650t)
Tarpon - TB Manazuru (775t)


Probable
Seadragon - xAKL Tamaki Maru (torp hit 1, on fire, hvy dmg)
Pickeral - DD Sazanami (torp hit 1, hvy dmg)
S-38 - xAK Tamon Maru (torp hit 1, on fire)
KXI - xAK Kogyo Maru (torp hits 2, hvy fires/dmg, 07/12/41)
O19 - xAK Nojima Maru (torp hit 1)



Partial list of Allied ships sunk





Image
Attachments
glugglugglug.jpg
glugglugglug.jpg (433.16 KiB) Viewed 1775 times
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

Dec 14, 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Philippines
One week into the war and the PI is crawling with Japanese LCUs. Landings at Mauban, Lingayen and Davao. The 11th PA Div at San Fernando is going to be trapped. In the air, the bombing of Clark continues and Zeroes sweep the hexes around Clark for opposition but find none.

Malaya and Singapore
Zeroes from Sinkawang swept Singapore this turn, I'm showing 23 Buffs downed for 5 Zeroes claimed. Ouch. Staggered CAP altitudes didn't do much to mitigate the slaughter. The 8th Indian Bde is pushed back down the road towards Temuloh by a deliberate attack, holding on for another turn or two before it disintegrates would help it's sister Bde from Kuantan in it's retreat towards Singapore.

CBI
Victoria Point was overrun during the last turn and I'm starting to see activity on this front. Sallys visited Mergui but no significant opposition sighted on the road towards Rangoon for now.

Hong Kong
is hanging tough after a couple of rounds of deliberate attacks, this last turn saw some bombing of the place but I'm not really paying much attention to it tbh.

DEI
Manado is invaded and should fall the next turn, otherwise fairly quiet in this part of the world, that super SAG is still hanging around to the east of Java and making everyone in the area who isn't flying a Japanese flag very nervous.

Allied Sub killboard
KXIV - xAK Sakura Maru (6,840t)
S-38 - xAK Gyoun Maru (1,900t), xAK Kikuryu Maru (1,900t)
KXV - xAK Nojima Maru (3,425t)
Sargo - xAK Gosei Maru (3,425t)
Swordfish - xAKL Yamatsuru Maru (1,650t), xAKL Muko Maru (1,650t)
Perch - DD Sazanami (2,090t)
Seadragon - xAKL Kanjo Maru (1,650t)
Tarpon - TB Manazuru (775t)

Probable
Seadragon - xAKL Tamaki Maru (torp hit 1, on fire, hvy dmg)
S-38 - xAK Tamon Maru (torp hit 1, on fire)
KXI - xAK Kogyo Maru (torp hits 2, hvy fires/dmg, 07/12/41)
O19 - xAK Nojima Maru (torp hit 1)

The KXIV gets on and tops the killboard by stalking Sakura Maru over 2 hexes and puts a total of 4 fish into her side sending her to the bottom of the sea near Cam Ranh Bay while the Sazanami is also put out of her misery by Perch, notable miss of the day goes to the Sculpin and the light cruiser Kashii just off Sinkawang. The waters to the north of PI and around Cam Ranh Bay are target rich for the time being and I'm making hay while the sun shines.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

Oh come on

Post by Arnhem44 »

In one devastating blow the IJN gets in among the sheep and slaughters them, CTG scored big today. This is a real blow to morale.

15 Dec 1941

Highlight of the turn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Lomblen at 69,111, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CL Jintsu
CL Isuzu
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio
DD Arashio
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki

Allied Ships
DD John D. Ford, Shell hits 1
DD Peary, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Pillsbury
DD Pope
AS Holland
AS Otus
AS Canopus, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AV Langley, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
AVD Childs
TK Gertrude Kellogg
TK Mindanao, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AO Pecos, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AO Trinity, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP President Madison, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Don Esteban, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tantalus, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Yu Sang
xAK Cape Fairweather, Shell hits 1
xAK Capillo, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK American Leader, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAK Si Kiang, Shell hits 4, on fire

Reduced sighting due to 10% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 10% moonlight: 10,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 10,000 yards

My opponent seems hellbent on running down every single merchie from the PI, together with a comment in an email about rather losing a DD than an AK and at least 1 other instance where he highlighted the loss of a merchie is an invitation to psyops. I could be wrong and he could be running mind games with me but CTG seems rather concerned with merchie losses so I need to maximise my kills in the first few months of the war where he is forced to use his hulls to move troops around, once he takes his targets and establishes his perimeter I would expect him to use land LOCs as much as possible in an effort to save fuel and reduce his exposure to the silent service. Helping him to think I'm of the same mind with regards to merchie losses with the ravaging of the convoy out of Manila can't but help methinks.

Another point I could draw out from this and his use of his super SAG in the Java Sea is the rather bold use of his offensive assets if he thinks there's something out there worth the risk. Don't know if he's projecting his own thoughts on merchies on me or if he's just going for the easy kills. Either way, using his assets to run down ships that I frankly could lose by the bucket load seems like an opportunity to turn boldness into recklessness.

Back to the convoy, of all the ships lost, the Langley and the tankers are the ones that really bite, on the bright side, I have 2 intact AS and a TK I need to save, some of the lame ducks will be offered as sacrificial bait while the rest make a run for it. I'm pretty sure he's going to circle back to finish what he started. Opportunity perhaps? He's gone 2 rounds already and I'm thinking whether I should put my screening DDs into the grinder in a bid to slow him up and use up his ammo while I order up something a little more substantial.

Malaya and Singapore
More sweeps by Zeroes over Singapore, evacing my bombers north and south, will fly my Buffs till I've shot my bolt or he closes the airfield, whichever comes first.

CBI
Tavoy is bombed

Hong Kong
HK bombed but nothing else apart from that, I can't have hurt him that bad. Would be a first in any of my PBEMs.

Philippines
Lingayen, Mauban and Tuguegarao fall this turn.

DEI
Manado is invaded and taken this turn along with Sambas (hex next to Sinkawang), I'm only just remembering how relatively helpless the Allies are in this part of the world in resisting the advance of the Japanese. Going by the pattern established on the other side of the Indonesian islands I should see Betties and Zeroes pretty soon, it's a good thing most of the Allied shipping has moved out of the area. A couple more bases falling would isolate Java and Sumatra by sea from both the east and west. Time to relocate.

Allied Sub killboard
KXIV - xAK Sakura Maru (6,840t)
S-38 - xAK Gyoun Maru (1,900t), xAK Kikuryu Maru (1,900t)
KXV - xAK Nojima Maru (3,425t)
Sargo - xAK Gosei Maru (3,425t)
Swordfish - xAKL Yamatsuru Maru (1,650t), xAKL Muko Maru (1,650t)
Perch - DD Sazanami (2,090t)
Seadragon - xAKL Kanjo Maru (1,650t)
Tarpon - TB Manazuru (775t)

Probable
Seadragon - xAKL Tamaki Maru (torp hit 1, on fire, hvy dmg)
S-38 - xAK Tamon Maru (torp hit 1, on fire)
KXI - xAK Kogyo Maru (torp hits 2, hvy fires/dmg, 07/12/41)
O19 - xAK Nojima Maru (torp hit 1)

Quiet turn underwater for both sides.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

The hunter becomes the hunted?

Post by Arnhem44 »

16 Dec 1941

Philippines
Have set my remaining P-40s flying out of Bataan on CAP over Clark for the next turn, tweaked the crews a little to get the more experienced pilot in the cockpits, here goes nothing.

Malaya and Singapore
Zeroes swept Singapore again this turn but this time they were followed by unescorted Betties and Nells from out of Vietnam, am hoping to catch his bombers the next turn.

Sub Wars
I realise that the way I'm showing results of the sub wars seems to indicate that I'm getting a pretty good average when it comes to working USN torpedos, I can assure you this is not the case, will try to report numbers of misses once in a while to keep things in balance.

In this round for example,

IJN Subs
Launched at targets: 1
Hit targets: 0

Allied subs
Launched at targets: 3
Hit targets: 0
Sighted by escort before getting into attack position: 3
Hit by escort: 1

Stacking Limits
In a jarring reminder that this is DBB-C I find myself having to deal with an overcrowded hex or two that I've setup for a last stand in the PI. Supply has plummeted rather drastically the last turn or two, Tracker is giving me some scary numbers. Even a place like Pearl Harbor has stacking limits I have to deal with so no more mega stacks of 50 engineering units during the middle part of the war. Certainly it forces one to give more thought to parceling out units rather than just stacking them at a main node or two till it's time to send them into action.

Lower cargo limits and engineers
The sheer number of merchie hulls I'm shepherding to the main supply nodes is staggering, I'm setting up some mid points in the US-Oz supply run with what I have in theatre but most of the merchies start pretty much out of harms way and even then there aren't that many of them. If nothing else I actually have to sit on my hands for a turn or two now waiting for transports to get to where my troops and supplies are waiting. Good times.

The death ride of the Asiatic Fleet
And to round it off, here's what's coming in the next round, as you can see the big bad SAG is just north of Flores and very much within striking range of the remnants of the Asiatic Fleet. I'm expecting the SAG to loop around the western end of the island and come looking for ships to sink. You will also notice the rather busy stretch of sea just to the south of Java, them be the collective strength of the Dutch and British merchant marine in the entire Southeast Asia making a run for Oz. The Asiatic Fleet will die no doubt about that, the question is, where will the IJN heavies end up after looping around Flores? Have setup the ships of ABDA that can still fight into 2 TFs and am sending them in to see if I can ding an IJN heavy or two. I've deliberately set speeds for a day engagement rather than a night one as the ABDA ships need all the help they can get, thus begins Operation Death Ride.

Image
Attachments
javasea.jpg
javasea.jpg (163.21 KiB) Viewed 1775 times
User avatar
Blackhorse
Posts: 1415
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
Location: Eastern US

RE: The hunter becomes the hunted?

Post by Blackhorse »

"Operation Death Ride", eh? A name that's sure to inspire your troops. [:)]


Good luck!
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!
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

Dec 17, 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Hey Blackhorse! I direct your attention to my avatar, me and hopeless causes go together like PB&J. :p

DEI
Going to rewind a bit, about a week ago game time, the Marblehead and her attached DESRON tried to make a nuisance of themselves by interdicting the IJN invasion fleet unloading at Puerto Princessa, when that didn't work they tried to run interference for the merchies fleeing south from Manila Bay but that didn't go too well either, long story short, the intrepid little flotilla holed up at Tarakan while the CA force was rampaging around the Celebes Sea. Now joined by the Scout which somehow managed to survive running the gauntlet from HK the TF tried making a break for it in the direction of Java in the dead of night.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Tawau at 70,92, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 1
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead
DD Barker, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 1
DD Stewart, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 2
DD Parrott, Shell hits 2, heavy damage
DD Scout, Shell hits 1, heavy damage

Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 0% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 10,000 yards
DD Suzukaze launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Barker at 10,000 yards
DD Kawakaze launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Barker at 10,000 yards
DD Suzukaze launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Paul Jones at 10,000 yards
DD Yukikaze launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Paul Jones at 10,000 yards

Now the previous turn showed a TF of CAs 2 hexes off Tarakan, I tried to vector my way around this TF in the hopes of avoiding contact, the TF was set for a high speed run which would see it well on it's way to Java come the morning but in the end it blundered into the 4 DD TF you see instead. All things considered it went pretty well. What the combat report doesn't say is the Allied TF surprised the IJN, much words of praise and thanksgiving were muttered at the end of that contact. The annoying thing is the Allied TF gets spooked and doubles back on Tarakan, the Gods giveth, the Gods taketh away. Once more into the breach for this TF.

Operation Death Ride didn't go off and I'm not sure I'm unhappy about that. The super SAG sank a crippled xAK but didn't get my surviving ships. It's more or less back in the same hex where it started the last turn and recon shows it headed NW, if it comes about across the face of Java I hope to spring a nasty surprise or two.

Sub Wars
I must have used my quota of working torps for the month, some choice targets including a largish xAP and xAK are shot at by my subs but nothing connects.

Malaya and Singapore
Singapore is swept and bombed, the defenders decide to have tea instead of rising to meet the opposition (read, forgot to set CAP, doh). I'm in a pretty good position relatively speaking, most of III Indian Corps is intact and I've been sneaking in supplies to top up the garrison's stock before the SLOCs get closed for good, only annoying thing is the lack of any meaningful opposition in the air or Singapore will really be a hard nut for CTG to crack, anyways, here's hoping I hold Singapore for a little longer than my other games, usually lose it earlier than historical.

Philippines
In somewhat brighter news than is usual on this front, the surviving P-40s of the USAAFE out of Bataan LRcapping Clark work over a bomber raid escorted by Nates, Tracker shows claims of 8 fighters and 7 bombers for 1 ops loss. I'll take that with much happiness after the debacle of the opening days of the war.

CBI
Not much change here, Mergui still getting worked over by bombers, some reinforcements have arrived in Rangoon by sea but not much else here to report. Will amplify this theatre in detail when battle is joined.

Hong Kong
The intrepid defenders of HK hold out but not for much longer, fort levels drop a notch.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 21822 troops, 299 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 539
Defending force 7634 troops, 124 guns, 71 vehicles, Assault Value = 157
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese adjusted assault: 844
Allied adjusted defense: 557
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1272 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 28 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 9 (6 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
432 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Assaulting units:
67th Ind.Infantry Battalion
66th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
38th Division
68th Ind.Infantry Battalion
20th Ind Engineer Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
23rd Army
5th RF Gun Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
1st Middlesex Battalion
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force
Hong Kong Fortress
User avatar
DOCUP
Posts: 3091
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:38 pm

RE: Dec 17, 1941

Post by DOCUP »

Givem Heck Arnhem.  I get another AAR that I can follow. 
 
My 2 cents.  Which isn't worth much.  Merchies are more important now than in other scenarios.  The reduced cargo means you have to count every ton the ship can carry.  If you loose one ship you might miss out on carrying all your important troops, supplies, etc.  Just a thought.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

RE: Dec 17, 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Hey there DOCUP,

Thanks for the comment and tip, they are always more than welcome. If I listen only to myself talking I will eventually develop tunnel vision. Third party comments help keep me honest. Please do feel free to pipe up when you see fit. Your post got me to relook at my assumptions thus far and well, I didn't like some of what I saw, so my thanks for making me take a second look. This post is for you.

You're right in saying that the 30% reduction in cargo capacity is a game changer all by itself. This game, more than anything else drives home the point about logistics and it's place in war. That said, given the restrictions that we're working with in terms of HRs (some pretty impressive stockpiling of PPs in order to invade India/Oz and the Monsoon rules for example) and due to the way supply flows into the map I'm of the belief the Allies can afford to lose a whole lot more merchies than the Empire of Japan and still be fairly comfortable in supplying the front lines with beans and bullets. I have to say here that what CTG will eventually have going for him is relatively secure internal LOCs and less dependence on ships to move resources so I'll have to switch my subs closer to the front lines over time if I want to whittle down his merchant marine. This aspect of the game is something I'll be looking at with some interest.

Now, supplying fuel is another matter altogether, I'm at the tail end of '43 in my other PBEM and TK/AOs don't get any downtime in port, every tanker is either in transit or unloading/loading and it's a struggle to supply the forward bases with fuel so that's something I'll be keeping in mind, assuming every tanker on the map east of Oz is deployed on the US-Oz supply run just to keep things going, then the deployment of Commonwealth tankers that start on the Indian subcontinent and arrive as reinforcements are key to keeping Oz swimming in enough fuel to sustain offensive ops. I'll share more of what I learnt through some logistical fumbles once things settle down a little.

In the meantime, your comment did force me to relook my losses, some help from Tracker reveals the extent of losses compared to the current Allied inventory and reinforcements (see below)

I'm not a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination but extrapolating the losses for AO/TKs sustained thus far and taking into consideration the number of turns ahead (18 done out of 1,500 turns assuming we go to '45) and you can see I can't afford to lose a single tanker. Take out the short legged YOs and the severity of the losses become more acute. Takes the wind out of my bravado driven sails and adds impetus to the protection of these assets.

To a lesser extent the losses in APs also bear some close watching, in stock a 8 ship division of APAs is enough to lift a MARDIV so I'm expecting to use at least 12 ships in DBB to achieve the same result. As for AKs, I'm not too concerned with losses so far, due to my play style xAKLs don't figure too much in my play unless I have no other options, this will probably change in the course of this game but I will still lean more on the bigger brothers and I've lost 12 of these thus far, mostly in the flight out of Manila and Hong Kong. The Dutch and Brit merchant fleets have been unmolested in their egress out of the warzones.

As a footnote, the notable surface combatants sunk so far include

4 DDs (the 3 brit boats out of HK and a 4 stacker, the Stewart)
3 BBs (all sunk at PH)
2 CLs (Boise and Mauritius)

Image
Attachments
merchies.jpg
merchies.jpg (23.58 KiB) Viewed 1775 times
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

18 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Malaya and Singapore
Zeroes sweep Singapore and munch on fresh Buffalo, 18 Buffs down for 2 claims, the survivors extract some measure of revenge in the following unescorted bomber waves and claim 10 or so Nells. I feel guilty sending up my pixel pilots up against these guys in what looks like an overweight cigar. IJA still well north of KL, the advance will be rapid once he realises I got nothing substantial down the entire length of the peninsula.

Philippines
Und P-40s come through again and pounce on some lonely Betties and take down 4 of them. Am concerned about my supply situation, very concerned. I might have skeletons facing the IJA by the time they come into contact.

Hong Kong
Goodbye Hong Kong, I will miss the roast pork and duck.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 20612 troops, 294 guns, 180 vehicles, Assault Value = 502
Defending force 7347 troops, 123 guns, 71 vehicles, Assault Value = 141
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese adjusted assault: 869
Allied adjusted defense: 221
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Hong Kong !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
524 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
9508 casualties reported
Squads: 219 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 499 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 167 (167 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 100 (100 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

CBI
I like to pretend the C in CBI doesn't exist but it does, apart from straightening my lines I also decided to do this

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 66735 troops, 351 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1863
Defending force 31336 troops, 230 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 1036
Allied adjusted assault: 1239
Japanese adjusted defense: 451
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 3)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1182 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
9501 casualties reported
Squads: 184 destroyed, 416 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 76 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 43 disabled
Guns lost 48 (2 destroyed, 46 disabled)

Bugger

DEI
The super SAG munches on another cripple and the day phase still sees it hanging around Flores, wonder why CTG is just laying there, hope he's not being an advance screen for KB or something, it dropped off just north of Midway and not a peep out of it since turn 4. Force Z (-)(+) and the Dutch fleet are finally spotted by naval search planes and have displaced to safer waters, or rather, waters not scouted by Japanese eyes.

Marblehead Madness
The intrepid CL and her consorts run into a 6 ship DD TF in the night and then again in the day phase and comes away with the lone Brit representative sunk after fire was concentrated on her. Wonder if it was something the Brits said. Anyways, the Allies do it much better in daylight and I take comfort in thinking maybe 1 of the IJN DDs might not make it home.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Samarinda at 68,96, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 1
DD Barker, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Bulmer
DD Parrott, heavy damage
DD Scout, heavy damage

Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 0% moonlight: 7,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 7,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 7,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 66,97, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 2
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Suzukaze

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 4
DD Barker, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 1
DD Parrott, Shell hits 2, heavy damage
DD Scout, Shell hits 11, and is sunk

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 24,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
Range closes to 22,000 yards...
Range closes to 20,000 yards...

Sub Wars
Another rash of misses for this round, including another one of a largish xAK.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

19 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

A relatively quiet turn.

Malaya and Singapore
The handful of Buffalos I have left in Singapore do not rise to meet Zeroes sweeping in from Sinkawang.

CBI
The daily bombing of Mergui by unescorted bombers is an opportunity for the AVG to take it's first offensive mission, a det operating out of Tavoy messes a couple of Sallys up after missing out on intercepting the first bombing run.

Morning Air attack on Tenasserim BAF Battalion, at 53,62 (Mergui)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 15

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 destroyed, 6 damaged

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
AVG/2nd Sqn/A with H81-A3 (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead

I forgot to take the attackers at Ichang off deliberate attack and suffer the consequences.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 60104 troops, 348 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1282
Defending force 30573 troops, 230 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 944
Allied adjusted assault: 198
Japanese adjusted defense: 760
Allied assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 23 (1 destroyed, 22 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2707 casualties reported
Squads: 24 destroyed, 287 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 30 (2 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Assaulting units:
45th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
39th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army
33rd Group Army

Defending units:
9th Armored Car Co
13th Tank Regiment
13th Division
11th RGC Temp. Division
34th Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

The fall of Hong Kong will see a couple of subs switching their attentions to the waters around it, I expect there will be some movement in the area after the harbour is cleared of mines.

DEI
The super SAG seems to be making it's way west across the face of Java, either that or it is heading north into the Celebes Sea through the Makassar Strait, the next turn will reveal more.

Sub Wars
No sightings or attacks by either side
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

20 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Philippines
Zamboanga, on the southern most tip of Mindanao is invaded this turn.

Going Dutch
Adm Doorman and his merry men take on the might of the IJN and come away with the Java sunk in exchange for scratching the paint on some heavies and smacking a couple of DDs around, it's a long way home, hope a couple of them sink. After this little interlude, the super SAG stumbles on a slow convoy of 5 stragglers from Tarakan and sinks everything in sight, wonder what his ammo state looks like. Looks like the SAG is heading north into the Celebes Sea, probably heading for Truk to top up his bunkers and magazines.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 65,100, Range 15,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
C.XI-W: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna, Shell hits 3
CA Takao
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 2
CA Kumano
CL Jintsu
CL Isuzu
DD Asashio, Shell hits 1
DD Oshio, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Michishio
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Java, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Tromp
DD Piet Hein
DD Kortenaer
DD Evertsen
DD Witte de With, Shell hits 1
DD Van Nes
DD Banckert, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Van Ghent, Shell hits 1

Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions: 20,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 15,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 15,000 yards
Doorman, Karel WFM crosses the 'T'

Malaya and Singapore
I've withdrawn 488 Squadron south to Java, that's an NZ unit flying Buffalos, since it stays on the map through the end of the game it's in my interest to take good care of units like these so they're actually useful when the more impressive frames come along. The other Brit squadrons stay and continue to get hammered on the ground by the daily bombing runs.

The IJA has finally caught up with the rearguard at Temuloh, just when I thought I could get the 8th Indian Bde away in time, oh well.

CBI
All quiet on the B and I fronts, I'm running from Ichang with my tail very much between my legs.

IJN carriers
Apart from the first day of the war I have not seen any of the IJN carriers, even accounting for KB returning to Japan like one of our HRs says that still leaves the Zuiho and Ryuho and I haven't seen a peep from them. The relatively safe waters around Java and Sumatra are enabling me to do pretty much as I like with merchant marine and offensive surface assets.
User avatar
DOCUP
Posts: 3091
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:38 pm

RE: 20 Dec 1941

Post by DOCUP »

Something I see as an advatage for you is the amount of merchant ships you have.  You should also have a little extra time in deploying troops to some locations.  The reduced cargo cap should limit his ops in the begining.  So you should have time to build up certain advance bases.
 
Remember there is alot less AV support.  Allies get alot of these.  If you don't have the stacking limits it could pay off for you in advance bases. 
 
Have you thought about an MLR yet.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

21 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Philippines
We'll start with a noob error today. Manila falls but that's not what's stupid.

Stupid is letting a PBY squadron get destroyed on the ground because you forgot to move 'em out of the hex the previous turn after seeing enemy LCUs move in. Cost of reconstitution of the squadron? 300 PPs

Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-4 Catalina: 6 destroyed

Sub Wars
An I-boat tries to get past the screen of one of my ABDA SAGs and gets DCed for it's trouble, sink on the way home thanks.

Malaya and Singapore
Not exactly in Malaya or Singapore but Brunei is invaded this turn, took CTG long enough, Miri be next I suppose.

In other news the IJA juggernaut continues it's advance down Malaya.

Ground combat at 50,77 (near Temuloh)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 7896 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 252
Defending force 1523 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 27
Japanese adjusted assault: 286
Allied adjusted defense: 10
Japanese assault odds: 28 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1090 casualties reported
Squads: 42 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 56 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
55th Infantry Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
1st Hyderabad Battalion
8th Indian Brigade
FMSV Brigade

CBI
The gods of war decide to be kind to me this turn and the Chinese come out ahead in the casualty exchange as CTG smells blood in the water and hunts my retreating divisions.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 30639 troops, 230 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 930
Defending force 60293 troops, 345 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1033
Japanese adjusted assault: 625
Allied adjusted defense: 399
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1455 casualties reported
Squads: 45 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled

Allied ground losses:
828 casualties reported
Squads: 130 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 22 (8 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Assaulting units:
11th RGC Temp. Division
34th Division
13th Division
9th Armored Car Co
13th Tank Regiment
13th RGC Temp. Division

Defending units:
68th Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army
39th Chinese Corps
33rd Group Army

Just a note here, elsewhere in China there is the cleaning up of lines on both sides, no significant moves as of yet on either side bar Ichang.

DEI
Super SAG is defintely headed out of the area but there seems to be other TFs in the neighbourhood, have set ABDA loose to see if they can find trouble.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

22 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

DEI
An Allied SAG centred around PoW and Houston went looking for trouble and found it. Considering combat opened at 8k yards I'm lucky nothing sank. The good news is Houston got a pretty good kick in her night xp so it's not a total debacle.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Donggala at 68,97, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Suzukaze

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
CA Houston, Shell hits 1
CL Danae
CL Dragon, Shell hits 1
CL Durban
DD Alden
DD John D. Edwards, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Whipple, Shell hits 1
DD Electra
DD Express, Shell hits 1

Reduced sighting due to 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 14% moonlight: 8,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards

Also, Brunei is invaded and falls.

Malaya and Singapore
Bombs and sweeps, got 3 Buffalos on the ground. I'm now left with a dozen Buffalos in 2 squadrons, they'll be pulled out the next turn.

CBI
CTG wants blood it seems, attacks on the stack at Ichang continue.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 29656 troops, 230 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 846
Defending force 58921 troops, 338 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 997
Japanese adjusted assault: 272
Allied adjusted defense: 478
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
644 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 109 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 22 (11 destroyed, 11 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1884 casualties reported
Squads: 32 destroyed, 160 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)

Assaulting units:
13th Division
34th Division
9th Armored Car Co
13th Tank Regiment
11th RGC Temp. Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

Defending units:
67th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
39th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army
33rd Group Army

Philippines
San Fernando and the 11th PA ID fall to the IJA 65th Bde, the noose tightens around Bataan and Clark.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

RE: 20 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Something I see as an advatage for you is the amount of merchant ships you have.  You should also have a little extra time in deploying troops to some locations.  The reduced cargo cap should limit his ops in the begining.  So you should have time to build up certain advance bases.

Remember there is alot less AV support.  Allies get alot of these.  If you don't have the stacking limits it could pay off for you in advance bases. 

Have you thought about an MLR yet.

Time will tell as to how badly the reduced cargo caps work affect each side as we transition through the different stages of the war. As this point in time I have the LCUs to start building up some line-in-the-sand bases but transport, particularly APs are in short supply.

One thing I was quite surprised about was the generous AV support the US has, I've got literally a dozen full strength Base Groups ready to deploy, just waiting on PPs, transport and planes to service.

As to MLRs, to the east of the map I have a couple of bases in mind that are in the must hold category, mainly to make it easier to keep the US-ANZAC SLOC open, bases like New Caledonia, Fiji and Pago Pago for example. As for Asia, obviously the Indian border, keeping the IJA as far away from Chungking and Chinese industry would be my priorities there. Depending on the situation on the ground when my reinforcements reach where their destinations I might shift these 'targets' a little closer to Japan if I think I can keep them supplied and reinforced relatively safely, otherwise I'm of the thinking the more area CTG has to hold, the higher the chance I'll find a weak spot. The DEI being a prime example, the multitude of bases can be a double edged sword depending on how extensively (or not) an IJ player consolidates the area after securing it.

The fun for me at this point is to figure out how to use in theatre assets to harass CTG as much as I can without suffering too many losses, little stingers like the AVG ambushing the unescorted bombers and the unmasking of the PoW and Houston will make him overprotect his invasion convoys at the very least, anything to slow down the rate of advance. The total lack of sightings of any IJN CV assets is still at the back of my head at all times though.
Mac Linehan
Posts: 1514
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:08 pm
Location: Denver Colorado

RE: Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

Post by Mac Linehan »

Arnhem -

An absolutely First Class AAR. I really like your presentation style - especially the level of detail that it contains; and have enjoyed reading through the AAR. I also like the House Rules, as I also am a very historical kind of guy.

Will follow closely, especially since this is Babes 28C.

The best to you and your opponent!

Mac
LAV-25 2147
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

RE: Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: Mac Linehan

Arnhem -

An absolutely First Class AAR. I really like your presentation style - especially the level of detail that it contains; and have enjoyed reading through the AAR. I also like the House Rules, as I also am a very historical kind of guy.

Will follow closely, especially since this is Babes 28C.

The best to you and your opponent!

Mac


Hi Mac,

Thank you dropping by and for the very kind words. Will endeavour to keep things interesting in the daily posts.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

23 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Malaya and Singapore
Nells and Betties drop by for their daily visit, I'm sitting pretty on about 75k supplies so Singapore should fall before I run out of beans and bullets. Thus far the engineers are keeping pace with the damage inflicted and fort levels are climbing slowly, should have at least fort 3 by the time the IJA comes knocking at Singapore's doors.

I sent 3 Brit DDs out of Singapore on a quick dash and smash into Singkawang, going in at full speed to strike and back in port by morning. I wasn't really expecting much, an odd xAK or two would have been nice, mainly just to keep CTG honest.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro
CL Tama
CL Kiso
CL Kitakami
CL Oi
DD Hatsuharu
DD Nenohi
DD Hatsushima
DD Wakaba

Allied Ships
DM Stronghold
DD Encounter
DD Jupiter, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Reduced sighting due to 25% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 25% moonlight: 12,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 12,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 12,000 yards
Komatsu, Teruhisa crosses the 'T'

As you can see, I didn't exactly get what I was looking for. Of the 3 DDs I had to lose Jupiter, the most modern of the lot. Then again, looking at what I blundered into I should be happy I have anything left afloat.

DEI
A gaggle of HDMLs and xAKLs running south from Palembang to Batavia got intercepted by 2 IJN DDs, 1 of the xAKLs miraculously survives being sunk.

Kendari is invaded this turn, it's pretty much obvious that CTG intends to box me in on Java and Sumatra. The question is, now that he's going to take Kendari, will he come further south to take Timor before turning inwards for the prize or will he start blanketing the area with Betties and turn the screws now?

Speaking of which, I have yet to see any Betty attacks on my SAGs, the Dutch fleet went on a fairly deep sweep of the Celebes Sea and was in the middle of the ocean when daylight broke but I wasn't molested in any way. I didn't manage to find or sink anything but that's another story.

The lack of infrastructure support (fuel) to the east of Java means the ABDA fleet is on a pretty short leash when it comes to defensive patrols so my ability to run interference is dictated by how far my ships can range before they're skosh fuel, apart from Houston everything else has relatively short legs, which may not be a bad thing considering my surface action record thus far.

With the surface action at Singkawang and the damage sustained by some of the CLs and DDs of ABDA in earlier actions and with the imminent fall of Kendari I am now moving PoW and Houston out of Java and south to Darwin, I still have some light forces in the area but nothing bigger than a CL.
User avatar
Arnhem44
Posts: 578
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:34 am
Location: Singapore

24 Dec 1941

Post by Arnhem44 »

Malaya and Singapore
Air attacks on Georgetown (Penang) and Temuloh this turn, none on Singapore itself. Georgetown is invaded and taken. Kuantan is invaded. Nothing but a base force left there and a road that leads nowhere given the current tactical situation so the nett effect would be CTG gains a decent airfield well within striking distance of Singapore...oh.

CBI
About the most significant event of this relatively quiet turn would be that I've been ejected from Ichang, expensive little adventure this. On hindsight, probably not a good idea to have gone ahead with this little expedition considering I don't really gain anything. There are days when I wonder how I manage not to hurt myself just by thinking during the course of the day.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 29053 troops, 230 guns, 125 vehicles, Assault Value = 775
Defending force 10500 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 32
Japanese adjusted assault: 1165
Allied adjusted defense: 24
Japanese assault odds: 48 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4510 casualties reported
Squads: 255 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 138 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 50 (50 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
9th Armored Car Co
13th Tank Regiment
11th RGC Temp. Division
13th Division
34th Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

Defending units:
45th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
39th Chinese Corps

Meanwhile, on the Indian subcontinent, the merchant shipping in the area is in the closing stages of consolidation at Karachi, the longer ranged merchies have either been dispatched to the US or Aden, the latter to await the arrival of the Australian divisions due in slightly over a month's time. Tankers are already filling their bunkers at Abadan.

Philippines
Nothing much has been happening here the past couple of turns, my opponent's efforts have been concentrated on taking bases in Mindanao, CTG is clearly in no rush to take Luzon, perhaps he's waiting for my supplies to run out so Bataan and Clark will be easy pickings.

DEI
Kendari should fall by the next turn, fort levels got reduced to 0 this turn. The DEI is now mostly empty of Allied shipping although I am taking the opportunity to siphon fuel off while the area is relatively quiet for the time being.

SWPAC
Like in Karachi, Darwin has been the assembly point for merchant shipping in the DEI area, from here they're dispatched to either Sydney or Suva with a handful going directly to the US. Some of the critical auxiliaries like Black Hawk, together with Otus and Holland are moving on down to relatively safer waters at Sydney/Brisbane. The assorted riff raff that is the Dutch Navy's auxiliaries, of which there are a pair of AS included, will remain in Darwin in support of operations in the area.
Post Reply

Return to “After Action Reports”