Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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

User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

After some underground discourse, I accepted a challenge as Allies in Bigbabes A, PDU on, no HRs at start with an agreement to pay PPs for IJA garrison units from the Emporer. I also stated I would pay PP's for release of allied units. The first turn arrived rather unexpectedly early and the war has started.
Before I post maps and SitReps I will point out that accross the theaters units are under strength with obsolete equipment, poorly led, and in generally poor spirits. This includes air groups as well. I do not recall this being the case in the stock game. Supply and fuel are at a premium everywhere, even the west coast. Engineer formations, support as well as aviation are also under strength and under equiped. Disruption can be described as rampant. Imperial Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor, landed in the Philipines, landed in Malaya, and attacked in China. In China, as would be expected, the units are over 50% disrupted, under strength, and poorly led and are strung out all accross the Yangtze and Pearl River sectors. I will not post much here for awhile on China as it will take quite some time to sort out the army groups and defensive lines.

Image
Attachments
art3.jpg
art3.jpg (63.98 KiB) Viewed 512 times
User avatar
witpqs
Posts: 26376
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:48 pm
Location: Argleton

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by witpqs »

Good luck!
User avatar
DOCUP
Posts: 3088
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:38 pm

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by DOCUP »

Welcome back Kurt.  Who are you playing?  Good Luck.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

I asked the Emporer to post should he feel inclined, and gave him several days. As he has not, I will confirm via email tonight and begin the AAR in earnest. I am not clear he desires to have it known. He was given a rather rough "grading" from forum members not long ago and may prefer to remain a pronoun here. As I just sent turn 9 out and am suffering defeat after defeat, he may not mind soon. The Babes has some quirks. I brought up a smallish xAK escaping from the PI and lo and behold the art had a pretty sleek looking battlewagon. The IJN has landed in two places in the Marshalls, taken Wake (a 24hour over run), landed all over Luzon (is 46mi from Manilla), two landings in Malaya, and China is a tangled mess.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

A tid bit from the opening of the war..

Image
Attachments
battleshiprow.jpg
battleshiprow.jpg (216.82 KiB) Viewed 512 times
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

December 12th 1941

Zulu HQ: Md: Go O's

reports trickle in from all theaters with good news far and few between....

West Coast: The 7th bomb group is at full strength with moral climbing rapidly. Advance elements begin staging to Pearl for deployment forward. Eight Sims class destroyers arrive in the Pacific at Panama and are ordered north for escort duty. They will likely make one trip west before upgrading to substantially better ASW ratings in April.

Pear Harbor: ADM Kimmel: moral at all HQs is low: Fighter groups standing down squadrons to recover moral : Port set to expand: 5 PBY squadrons have reported NO enemy sub activity for several days: Dutch Harbor receiving fuel and supply for future sub and seaplane Ops. airfield construction begun.: The California will leave the yards in 72 hours.

Australia: Defenseless: Port Morsbey: moral bad: supply and fuel in route: transports begin lifting boots out of the jungle to bolster pathetic defense.: 1st Motor Bde prepares for Port Morseby but the formation is under strength and in poor fighting spirit. Mine layer and ACM reporting to the port. No fighters available for deployment yet. Darwin: Shipping fleeing the DEI and the PI have been arriving, dropping supply and fuel and rebasing.

Philipines: Japanese formations on the ouskirts on Manila in the south and have cut off a division in the north. Fighter groups have taken a beating but have scored some victories. B17s have not been effective and we plan to stage them out shortly.

Malaya: Malaya Command: Percival has been relieved and replaced by General Hartley.: III Corp Co Heath also relieved in favor of Gen Cassels.: Malaya command HQ along with III Corp HQ are in Kuala Lumpar trying to get the troops in fighting spirit and reform the 11th Indian Div if possible. The airfield was completly destroyed before we could get fighter cover in. We may have to retreat further south sooner rather than later. Alor Star fell two days ago and the IJA is on the out skirts of Taiping where elements of the 11th Punjab Bn watches the 15th Indian and 80th AT Reg high tail south.

India: All reinforcements for Malayan army or Burma army have been diverted to Indian ports to take replacements and get new orders. The Burma elements will travel by rail as far as possible before hoofing it into the jungle to defend the northern coast from Akyab north. The Singapore ground forces will have to wait for orders to move as our PP needs are needed elsewhere for the time being.

China: What a gaggle!!!
User avatar
BBfanboy
Posts: 19667
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:36 pm
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Contact:

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by BBfanboy »

Gaggle - that's the kindest thing I've seen anyone call the situation in China.
For me, cluster-fubar seems more appropriate.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

December 17th -18th 1941

Manila: details from Mac's HQ: FUBAR: 2 Divs cut off in the north: moral very low: Fighters withdraw to Bataan. Landings elsewhere in the island chain.

Chungking: Mao has reformed the Red Army and is preparing it as a reserve for the Yellow River. The Generalisimo is organizing a retreat between the Pearl River and the Yangze. Japanese formations are just begining to arrive in strength. 11th Army group has not moved to Burma. Hong Kong fortress is reduced to slit trenches and will not last another 48-72 hours.

Burma: Japanese advance ground forces spotted 50mi from the perimeter at Moulmein. The situation is dire as moral still very low in all formations and replacements are not coming in fast enough. Reinforcements still in northwest India taking replacements and recovering moral. The AVG may transfer to China early or redeploy to mandalay and await developements.

Dutch East Indies: Japs land on northeast Borneo and get a surprise on the 18th. (see below)

Malaya:The retreat south continues. We are at the 50 yard line and awaiting renewed contact. Moral here is very low as well. We have been trying to rest and regroup as many formations as possible for as long as possible.

Australia: Much shipping reaches Darwin and receives orders for new home ports in the rear. The 19th Bomb Group has been reassigned to SowPac and has begun to stage south from the Philipines. The Japs landed on Manus on the 18th and our worst fears are being realised there. We order a light cruiser to investigate. She should arrive on the 20th. Australian I Corp reassigned to SowPac and is prepping for Port Morseby.

United States: 31st pursuit group (II fighter Cmd HQ) fills out with P39s and pilots. HQ sqd staging to west coast for deployment. The rest of the group to follow soon. 22nd Bomb group (V Bomber Cmd) fills out with pilots but will not be able to fill out with aircraft until middle March. They will be shipped to Australia as soon as shipping becomes available. 7th Bomb Group (V Bomber Cmd) staged to Hawaii yesterday.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,86, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 7, on fire
DD Fubuki, Shell hits 2
DD Usugumo
DD Murakumo, Shell hits 1
DD Uranami

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 3
DM Stronghold, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Isis

Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms

Day Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-5, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
DMS W-6, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
AK Kaga Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, on fire
DM Stronghold, on fire
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Isis

Japanese ground losses:
990 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 75 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 4 disabled

Day Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 1
DD Yugiri, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Hikawa Maru, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, on fire
DM Stronghold, heavy fires
DD Encounter
DD Express, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Isis

Japanese ground losses:
72 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Low visibility due to Thunderstorms
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms: 5,000 yards

Royal Navy puts in work.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

December 19th 1941

Pearl Harbor: California ready for duty: 7th Bomb Group almost ready to begin southern deployment: CATs stage to Johnson Isl. NO IJN Subs spotted since the 9th! (west coast also)

Philipines: 2 Squadrons of Catalinas transfered to SwPac. B17s finishing staging to SwPac. ground combat at Manilia any day: Japs at Clark. Some fighter pilots ordered to the reserve.

Borneo: The Royal Navy still in action.

Java: Force Z refuels for new patrol in the central or eastern DEI. (TBD)

SoPac: Base force arrives in the south Pacific to open a fuel and supply transfer point to Australia.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai, Shell hits 2
DD Usugumo
DD Shirakumo, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Isonami, Shell hits 1
DD Shirayuki
DD Hatsuyuki
DD Murakumo
DD Uranami, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Encounter
DD Isis

China: retreat goes well in central China. Action along the Yellow River continues in the Generalisimos' favor.
Alfred
Posts: 6683
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:56 am

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by Alfred »

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

... China: What a gaggle!!!

Sounds like the perfect environment for your hard working TWITS back at zuluhour HQ to revel in.[:)] They have the right skill set to tangle with a gaggle.

Alfred
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

Alfred, a most welcome post, it's good to see you about. I am again engaged with the emporer (Terry) in new war of the BigBabes A. Zulu HQ was not ready for the flurry of turns again as a several of the staff went back to the bottle with such large blocks of time on their hands. All in all I got what I wanted in my first WITP-AE as my first ever PBEM game. I was in desperate need of experience. The AI for a campaign for me was boring.[>:] I can now concentrate a little more on logistics and strategy rather than mechanics. Please feel forever welcome here as my new hire I shall call General Disorder assumes command of China. He has really done a superb job handling the wholesale retreat of seven army groups. Zulu HQ now has two enlisted personal, Private Parts, in charge of moral, and Corporal Punishment, in charge of ASW OPs. Together with Major Payne, Lt Neejerk, and I, Zuluhour will attempt to reign in the effeminate four eyed ruler of Japan with judicious punishment worthy of an early white flag.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

Christmas Eve 1941

China: Hong Kong fell 48 hours ago. In the Sinyang valley, central Yangtze line, the 84th and 7th Chinese corps attempt to break out to the west and the jungles. All and all an orderly retreat along the lines. A large withdrawl along the Yellow river to begin very shortly, but only 100mi or so.

India: Gen Wavell (moral 65) HQ: MGEN Wimberly relieves BGEN Ekin in the 63rd Indian Bde at karachi and is given orders to railhead into the southern command area. Moral is very low accross most units in India still and replacements are scarce. No combat infantry cormations above Bn size are at full strength.

Burma: IJA lead elements will emerge SE of Pegu any hour. 1st Burma Bde under Ferris is 50mi NE of Pegu along the Sittang River. To his south is 2nd Burma Bde under LTC Elster at Pegu. Two Bns guard Moulmein.

Philipines: See map. enough said. I intended to attack in the field quickly as the campaign developed, but understrength and poor moral led to dissorderly conduct.

Malaya: The IJA has reached our first defensive line we intend to test them on. More tomorrow on that with map. Prince of Wales and escorts sorties through out the DEI.

Australia: The IJN launched a carrier strike at Rabaul 48 hours ago. Manus flies the rising sun flag. I hope to get I Corp HQ and a brigade into Port Morseby very soon. I have been able to develope a small mine field there and am trying to enlarge it. 11,ooo pts of oil reach Melbourne as well as some fuel. II US fighter command prepares to depart for SwPac with some Marines destined for Port Morseby. A fighter group will be in the van as well as one Marine Corp fighter squadron to provide high CAP for the P39s.




Image
Attachments
xmas1941.jpg
xmas1941.jpg (75.75 KiB) Viewed 516 times
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

December 28th 1941

Dutch East Indies: IJN carriers spotted in the South China Sea and the Celebes Sea. IJN ships spotted off Kuching. We lose the light cruiser Java patroling off Tarakan to carrier based Kates. Force Z approaches the Arafura Sea to aid in the defense of New Guinea.

Malaya: Fighter strength almost exausted. We may begin to withdraw squadrons or at least pilots before new years.

Philipines: Fighter squadrons have benn withdrawn as have the CATs. IJN forces police up islands due south of Luzon. Clark field will fall before new years day. Supply fed to Bataan. Manilla in flames but defended.

Australia: Panic: There are two B17 groups now attached to SwPac in country. I hope to have Port Morseby reinforced soon by a Cav Bde and an artillery Bn. II Corp fighter command is prepping for Port Morseby but is still on the west coast with the first fighter group of P39s. Melbourne has received substantial oil and fuel from the DEI.

Pacific Ocean Areas: We have established a base deep in the South Pacific. This will be the transfer point for fuel to Australia. Larger tankers will transport the fuel from here to Melbourne in the spring. A construction unit will embark for the island within 72 hours to get the port up to speed before moving forward to our first target for an amphibious landing in SwPac. I want to draw a line in the sand to help stem the yellow tide. The target date for the yet to be named Op is January 30th.

West Coast: We train and dream of support units. Carriers are 9-10 days out from training off Panama.

China: The "great retreat" of 41' is almost over. We expect a 2-4 Corp loss excluding a small army group defending on the coast. Replacements shut off except for 66th Corp (a really big one in central reserve) and a Cav unit also part of central reserve. Arty and some base units also have replacements on.

Burma: The arrival of some engineers and a Bde to the frontier will signal the beginning of the "red line" from which we will tenaciously hold our ground.

QUESTION: If a hex is occupied by both a friendly and enemy LCU and the zone of control is "green" (hexside) and the friendly unit is neither fatigued or disrupted, why can't it move???
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

December 29th 1941

DEI: The IJN shows the big iron today. Off Kuching BBs Kurishima and Hei lay heavy iron on the defenders. Dutch subs miss targets riding the sea bed in ambush. The Japs are ashore. Carrier strikes hit the DEI from NNE of the Makassar straights. They make quick work of Cl Java and DD Vendetta on patrol southwest of the straights.

SwPac: Rabaul sees the fast BBs and CAs bombard with devastating effect. IJ forces are ashore in good shape. Australian cruisers will attempt a run into the port in 48-72 hours hoping to catch transports and supply. Japanese carriers are SSW of kavieng in support.

Burma: IJA forces observed marching toward Moulmein.

China: &^%$ forgot it! oh well it will be there tomorrow.[:D], Ever happen to anybody?
User avatar
BBfanboy
Posts: 19667
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:36 pm
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Contact:

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by BBfanboy »

Is it possible that the hex you were trying to move into is blocked on that side while the same side on the hex you are in is not blocked? i.e. each hex has six independent sides, not shared sides with adjoining hexes?
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

I don't think so, there are no enemy units to my west. If the IJA does not close the door I'll post a screen with hot key.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

New Years eve 1941

SwPac: It is the Kido Butai off Rabaul as six CVs are spotted. They stick around and hit Rabaul again. The Prince of Wales TF is refueling and waiting for a chance to raid from Townsville. Two Aussie CAs are making for the central Coral Sea to hit Kavieng and Manus while the POW TF hits Rabaul. We wait for the KB to clear the AO. It would be nice to knock off some merchantmen.

DEI: The 2nd Mobile force is in the Makassar straights. Dutch subs sortie to intercept.

China: Only two corps appear trapped east of Changsha. They try to breakout to the NE. They should emerge in the IJA rear.
User avatar
DOCUP
Posts: 3088
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:38 pm

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by DOCUP »

Did the unit start moving or what?  If not post a pic.
User avatar
zuluhour
Posts: 5244
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:16 pm
Location: Maryland

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by zuluhour »

The situation passed before I had a chance to post. We are now on turn 40 and the emporer will be vacationing in China for three weeks leaving tomorrow. Over the weekend I will post the situation. For now, Bataan holds but Manilla has fallen losing three re inforced divisions there. The IJA is less than 100mi from Singapore. Java and Sumatra are still free. Rabaul has fallen and there is much activity there. Port Morseby was leveled by the Kido Butai. An IJN sub torpedoed a large troop transport with the 808th engineers on board. They barely made an atoll and are still trying to debark. IJN subs in general are doing very well. They seem to be much harder to detect and rout assets to in the thebabes. II Fighter command is trying to make SwPac along with a base force to allow B17s and B24s to operate over New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomons. They still are in mid ocean. Attempted raids by Force Z and an Australian cruiser force (all operating out of eastern Australia) narrowly missed being deep sixed by the KB. We have only established one base in SoPac. The port just rose to level 2 and fuel transfer is just beginning as the first tanker unloads to storage. One fighter group has transfered to Cape Town for deployment to the far east. Some squadrons are making their way through Port Blair to India and Burma. The IJA is in Burma and three brigades are deployed along the Sittang. China is stable for the moment, however there is a definate weekness in the Kukong sector which will have to be addressed sooner rather than later. For the time being the Central Reserve is providing delaying units to the Pearl River lines.
User avatar
DOCUP
Posts: 3088
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:38 pm

RE: Rewind, DaBigBabes. 1941

Post by DOCUP »

We need more updates.  40 turns without an update is not acceptable.[:-]
Post Reply

Return to “After Action Reports”