All of this power and their national will seems to be stronger than ours

[SierraJuliet]

Early December fog drifts across the Japanese anchorage at Pescadores. Salt water caresses the iron sides of a ship at anchor. A gentle caress for this water is still. Cloaked by damp and heavy fog the sea is motionless and calm, tranquil even; a complete contradiction to the activity going on upon and inside the ship. Ordered activity, however, as the men of Kanno Detachment embark and find their way around their temporary lodging. A mood of expectation hangs in the air between decks for these men know that upon weighing anchor their course will be set; war with the western imperial powers.

On the bridge of this ship stands Captain Akatsuka. His ship is the cargo ship Sanko Maru. A cargo unlike any other he has ever before been responsible… warriors of his Emperor. He has no doubt about the quality of his ship. Displacing over 4 and a half thousand tons she is more than capable of withstanding the demands of the ocean and safely delivering her cargo. Indeed she towers over the bevy of small fighting ships tasked with protecting Sanko and her companions. A good crew, too, to be sure. What concerned him was the perils of sailing into waters no longer free from the man-made terror of warfare.

Akatsuka was abreast of the war which had been in full flight on the other side of the globe for the last two years. He paid attention to the reports of German success against the British merchant fleet. A fleet which had been ravaged by aerial and underwater predation. The British merchant fleet was the lifeline upon which the British nation clung and what is so different about the Japanese merchant fleet thought Akatsuka. He wondered if the Admirals and government bureaucrats had really digested the lessons being learnt by the British. For war was coming very soon and Akatsuka dearly hoped that the navy would be up to the task of protecting the nations precious merchant ships.

As much as he hoped the warships would keep the sea lanes safe Akatsuka sometimes contemplated what he would do should he and his ship ever have to duel with the enemy. He'd heard stories of the German U-Boats prowling around like glorified surface warships using their deck guns to destroy merchants. Oh the glory imagined Akatsuka of giving the order and watching his crew pump shells into an impudent submariner bent on dispatching his Sanko Maru in a surface action.

Catching himself in a flight of fancy Akatsuka snapped himself back to the present. The ship was almost ready. When the order comes the heading would be towards the Philippines. Akatsuka, his crew and the ship were as ready as they could be…. Would the Empire be just as ready?

[SierraJuliet]

Welcome to the very soon resumption of hostilities between tocaff and sierrajuliet.

This will be my second tilt at the grand campaign and my first fully fledged outing upon the AE seas. Todd and I got on so well with our last match up that we are going to get at it again. It seems that we are both in charge of the good guys again. Open to argument but some of us just can’t resist planting rising sun flags all over the map.

Our last game saw a cessation of hostilities on 15 December 1945 with Todd well and truly in control although I recall a certain Josef Stalin wasn’t overly pleased with the showing of his men during the dying days of the war. No doubt Josef will once again be chafing at the bit all war long!

We will be playing scenario 1 with stacking limits. House rules still to be completely thrashed out but probably minimal.

Plans… I have some but until Todd says his goodbyes little to be said other than look to improve upon last outing. Neither of us play for victory point per se but we do keep an eye on them. Last time Todd amassed 130 705 to my 49 313 so there is one yardstick to measure myself against. The end date is another… and that really does depend on a lot things. If I’m still not lying down by 1946 I’ll consider that to be some kind of an achievement.

[tocaff]

Steve is plotting his revenge while I shudder at the thought.

We will be very minimal with HRs as we are like minded concerning things.

Now I'll be staying away until I get a green light to read the AAR some years down the road.

[bigred]

Now I'll be staying away until I get a green light to read the AAR some years down the road.

about 2017.

[BBfanboy]

To crib a famous quote which may be a blessing or a curse: "May you live in interesting (WITPAE) times!"

[SierraJuliet]

Gee bigred... no pressure there to get the game over and done with. I do reserve the right go out in a blaze of glory (or a catastrophic debacle ridden campaign)in which case I'll be lucky to see 2016! We usually keep to a steady 1 turn a day when RL isn't interfering.

Indeed BBfanboy... the times will be interesting. I cannot disappoint Todd.

Todd has ISP issues so we won't be up and running until he gets that sorted. In any case I expect to be ready myself by the end of January and then it will be heart in mouth time. I'm alternating between excitement over commencing the conquest again and dreading the moment when some clever Allied Admiral pulls off a neat action to confound my befuddled Admiral.

[SierraJuliet]

First day decisions. I still have plenty to be making here but some I have settled on. Time to throw them out for consideration. Comments are very welcome as one GC makes me quite the inexperienced gamer here.

First up the HRs as proposed so far.

Todd proposed being allowed to issue orders to units from the PIs west reflecting the time difference.

No objection to this so we became more definitive (although my iteration of the events has no PH attack, as I will outline later, so I figure that the rule simply means that the western Pacific commanders were a little more on the ball than real life conveys to us).

Modified Allied movement rules:

In the PIs 20-25% or the subs based at Manila get underway on the first turn. The planes based in the PIs are on alert meaning a CAP of up to 30% and bombers set to anti shipping. No troops are to be issued move orders.

The British, Dutch and ANZACS are on alert and their planes are set up to 30% CAP and bombers to anti shipping. Warships can be issued orders, but troops will remain in place.

The significance of bombers set to anti shipping has not been lost on me… it has coloured how I intend to protect the Malaysian Adventure.

The Japanese can attack any number of ports (bases) as they desire, but no invasions further west than the east coast of Malaya, Sumatra and Java (from Soerbaja northwards) until the following bases have been captured;

Malaya: Singapore, Tandjoengpinang (isle off Singapore) and Malacca

Sumatra: Palembang, Oosthaven and Bengkalis

Java: Merak and Batavia

The option of capturing bases further west of the eastern coasts by parachute or land based assault remains unfettered. The rule is designed to limit the IJN from being unrealistic or foolhardy enough to force passage through these confined and Allied controlled waters.

Oh goody…. Lots of first up port attacks!!! Well not really. Todd made an aside that many port attacks will water down the effect and I agree. I will be focussed on one main port attack.

Strat bombing: Not allowed in China until 1945 by either side. Supply problems faced by both sides in this area of the war are the issue here. Other areas can be bombed.

This is significant for my considerations of capturing and protecting SRA oil.

Alt bands: CAPs and Sweeps limited to no higher than 2nd best band for plane type. Bomber escorts may fly within 5K above the bombers being escorted.

Todd’s logic behind the alt bands for fighters is that without limits people try to get as high as possible to get the bounce. That is totally beyond the realm of logic as these planes simply weren't built for that. A limit of 5K above the bombers reflects "top cover." If a raid goes in at 25K and you want fighters at 30K, OK. The problem with this is that bombers were effective flying higher than many of the fighters, but the trade-off is the lack of bombing accuracy. So send them in and don't hit anything.

That is the extra rules so far.

[SierraJuliet]

Some graphic portrayal of the bases on the capture list so I can amphib move out of the SRA. Yellow stars represent the targets.

[SierraJuliet]

Moving onto Pearl Harbour and do we attack or not attack. From reading many AAR it seems to still be a contentious issue on which is the best strategic option.

As much as I like the potential effect I have cancelled the PH raid and shall concentrate instead on the SRA. In our last outing KB failed to deliver on the assigned morning and the Pacific Fleet slept serenely on while the rest of the Pacific commenced fighting. It was very galling but I carried on and found that even without the PH punch I managed to carry on ok. I know it leaves 8 American battleships bobbing around but one thing I have learnt about Todd is that he hates the fuel guzzling ways of the pre-war battleships… I’m happy to oblige him and leave those thirsty heavies to soak up his fuel supply. I know they will come back at me but the first turn is full of trade-offs. Besides… there should always be the opportunity to blue water sink them at some point.

The other thing I know about Todd is that he loves his submarine fleet. Conversely I hate those subs. So…… that leads me straight to Manilla. The sub activation rule means that 6 of the 27 subs in port will be allowed to get underway so those 6 are out of the equation. Still leaves 21 targets and I want to remove as many as possible. I know the results can fluctuate depending on the roll of the die but I hope for at least 10 to be off the board for good… more of course would be excellent. I won’t have the full KB in on this as I have other plans for carrier division 5. So 4 carriers to deliver the surprise attack on Manilla and I will augment that with land based bombers as well. KB will then be well placed to cover either the SRA or the Central Pacific Operations. Not forgetting too that Houston and Boise are close at hand and removing them early is a high priority.

There should also be some culling of the surface ships which will attempt the run out of Manilla so less messing around trying to finish them off which is another a plus for going Manilla

[obvert]

Well, the Allies don't really have to think about fuel. I like to kill off a few BBs and the airframes on that first turn. Also I like the KB in the Pacific to support other things. But if you're going for a quick Singapore or even India it makes sense to hit Manila instead for sure and keep at least some of the KB in the DEI.

I'd base the decision less on potential ship kills and more on your first and second tier strategic objectives.

[SierraJuliet]

I've always thought the allies didn't have to worry too much about fuel and that seemed to be the case when I took on the Allied side in the small scenarios. Todd is a player who likes to have everything squared away before he embarks on an enterprise and I know that he considers those battlewagons to be fuel hogs. Doesn't mean he won't use them but he is very conscious of how much fuel he wants in the kitty before he does move them out.

I hear you Obvert on basing the decision on first and second tier strategic objectives. My planning is for a quick Singapore and that has been my planning focus. It is a plan with inherent risk but I consider the risks outweigh the rewards. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

My focus on the subs at Manila is purely from the psychological point of view. I'm sure that if Todd has a choice on which he would prefer to lose between the subs and the BBs then he would ditch the battleships. If I get good hits on the Manilla subs Todd will be a very unhappy allied commander.

[BBfanboy]

Sounds like KB's opening gambit should be a visit to Singers! Take out the aircraft and Force Z and the Mersing gambit is a cinch.

[SierraJuliet]

Mersing is indeed my big opening gamble. Carrier Division 5, plus CVL Ryujo, is assigned to provide the aerial cover for this operation.

The accompanying map represents my intentions for the December 8 phase of operations. Yellow circle depicts Kate torpedo attack range.

Firstly the amphibious TF of choice was TF 91 from Samah. After rearrangement of the composition of TFs at Samah I assigned all the component units of 5th Division plus 25th Army HQ, 15th and 23rd Independent Engineer Regiments and 34th Field AA Battalion to TF 91. Once recombined at Mersing 5th Division will have no trouble knocking out the 22nd Australian Brigade before quickly moving into Johore Bahru. Mersing won’t give me an airfield to work with but a quick capture of Johore Bahru will give me a level 4 airfield on the door step of Singapore.

TF 125 (one of the slow TFs out of Samah) will carry the 2nd wave of Mersing troops being a construction company, an AF Battalion, a shipping engineer regiment, an AA regiment, an independent Engineer Regiment and 2 artillery units. Some good supporting units to get the AF up and running.

I decided not to use the magic move to jump TF 85 straight to Mersing. No desire to bring down the gamey issue for this move. Moving shipping off the coast of Kauntan shouldn’t be an issue. Having a host of shipping hovering off Kauntan might also cause some temporary confusion for Todd as to my intention. Wrong footing him would be a nice side effect.

A simple plan but one loaded with risk. The two obvious pitfalls being the anti-shipping bombers based in Malaya (plus the round one rule allowing for all bombers to set to naval attack) and of course Force Z.

To counter this both of the forward deployed surface action TFs will move into the same hex as TF 85. Plenty more targets now for the aerial bombers.

CVL Ryujo will also be present. She will only have Claudes for fighters but they are there to fix up the stringbags and vildebeast. A single bomb from them is more than plenty to sink a transport and that would really ruin my day… I want all the units in this TF to hit the ground at Mersing.

Finally there will be Carrier Div 5. These two carriers will have their work cut out for them. CAP for themselves (as they are well in land based bomber range) LRCAP for TF 85, aerial ambush for Force Z and possibly a strike on the airfield at Singers if Z does a runner. I know I am putting them at significant risk but I’m confident the zeros will rule the skies. There is of course no accounting for unfortunate luck and should bombers get through and land bombs these two carriers are capable of absorbing the hits.


Assumptions on what will happen here during turn 1.


Force Z will likely do a runner but if it does turn up to play carrier div 5 backed up by nell and betty are ready to play.

A strong aerial response to both TF 85 and carrier div 5. The diversity of ships to target plus the CAP on hand should see off these attacks and allow TF 85 to be at Mersing by the end of December 8.

So have I missed something here which will set me up for a disaster?

[SierraJuliet]

Does anyone else get carried away swapping out commanders for your ships?

After I realized that most of the merchant commanders can be swapped without PP charge I have changed no less than 19 commanders in the starting TFs at Saigon, Cam Ranh Bay and Samah. All the xAPs have received improved commanders. There was, surprisingly, a couple of well credentialed officers in charge of some ships. For instance xAK Asakasan Maru did have Ban in command with most of the important stats in the high 60s. Impressive destroyer material but not necessarily what I want running a cargo ship.

How about Takatsugu, K in charge of xAP Brazil Maru. Surely an excellent man in charge of this valuable transport but with an air stat of 71 perhaps he really should be given a carrier of some kind to look after.

[BBfanboy]

I swap ALL the merchant/TK skippers that I can without using PP or, maybe 1 point for important ships. That is for the Allied side, and the merchant ship skippers are not available for the Naval pool, and with the number of countries represented having their own pools there are limits on the trades.

I am not sure if the Japanese Navy can share from the same pool as the merchant ships use, but I have seen Raizo Tanaka as TF commander of an Amphib TF. That could be because there were naval ships in the TF, or it could mean that the pool is common to both merchant and navy.
I am pretty sure that the size of the vessel has some effect on the skippers made available for swap. xAKLs might get offered a list going into the high 50s Naval Skill, while large xAK-t s get offered skippers up into the 70s in NS.

[ny59giants]

Kuantan vs Kota Bharu: I think I would land here with 18th ID and recombine it here asap. Along with going here vs Kota Bharu, you can land a few BFs to allow you to quickly LRCAP Mersing and free up your CVs to do other things. Its only 4 hexes, but it would allow a quickier attack on the AFs at Singapore to discourage any fort building. If you want, you can re-embark the 18th for Mersing in a few days.

[SierraJuliet]

Glad to hear that you go in for some micromanaging too BBfanboy. Sure is a lot of ships to look at and a little like opening gifts. Sometimes you make an amazing discovery and sometimes you wonder how an officer with such bad stats gets command of an important vessel.

Thanks ny59giants. I've been thinking that Kota is something of a backwater to land at and hadn't thought through on alternate possibilities for the 18th. I like your suggestion. Dropping them on Kauntan would also confuse the situation with the 5th Div TF sitting offshore and make it appear that Kauntan is my priority. Air cover would be an issue though as I could no longer rely on the Nates to help out.

[ny59giants]

Years ago when I did a "Mersing Gambit" I took the Vals off my CVs and sent them to Singora. In their place I added extra Zeros to provide protection for my CVs and landing forces. Your fear is the Swordfish and Vildebeest (TBs) and Force Z. Thus, the Vals are of little use off east coast of Malaya, but may be useful in sinking fleeing merchants trying to escape via the Straits of Malacca. I would move CarDiv 5 to the NW about 3 hexes from what your screenshot show. Have their Kates set secondary target of ground attack at Kuantan.

[SierraJuliet]

Thanks. I was planning on using the Zero unit at Soc Trang (wrong spelling and probably place too... Away from my aids at present) come turn 2 for the very purpose of bolstering a rather thin Zero presence on the carriers. Removing the Vals would free up the deck space nicely and those Vals will do ever so better against merchants than Force Z. The position change is good too... If Force Z runs I won't catch it anyway and the position change should take the carriers out of Swordfish and Vildebeest range??? Have to check that on the map. Who'd have thought just how much thinking goes into trying to get this part of the operation right.

[SierraJuliet]

Looking now at TF 85 plus the component units of 18th Division and I remember why I hadn't considered changing.... Simply because the division was prepped 100% for Kota. I wasn't keen on giving up that bonus but Kauntan has slightly less AV so the loss of the prep bonus may not be that big a deal. Kauntan certainly is a better forward position for an airfield.