Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by geofflambert »

ORIGINAL: ctangus

Nae, lad. The Firth of Forth. Her family has roots nearby.

Aye, the Forth of Firth. Many times I have navigated her, I know her like the back of my hand. You might say she lost her virginity to me. Remind your friend's family not to dig up the roots too quickly after the first frost! Might they be turnips?

I shall never forget the day when I confronted a Spanish ship-of-the-line in the Fifth of Froth. They claimed they were simply transporting some Haggis, but my keen senses told me their cargo was much worse than that. I did what had to be done, that ship went down with all hands.

Heed my words carefully, though some say that from time to time I appear a bit addled, pay them no mind. Did you know that in German adler means eagle?

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I shall never forget the day when I confronted a Spanish ship-of-the-line in the Fifth of Froth. They claimed they were simply transporting some Haggis, but my keen senses told me their cargo was much worse than that. I did what had to be done, that ship went down with all hands.

Did you confront her with a fifth of single malt? [;)]
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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/6/42

This might be my only post for this date as I'm expecting the turn back shortly. And the admiral's asking for a walk.

So Pac

Ugh...

Japanese CVs sprint from their last location towards Suva. A coordinated attack hits the port & unloading troop ships at the same time.

Lost: 1 AV, 1 AGP, 1 AP, 1 AMc
Doomed: 1 DD, 1 AP, 1 xAK

Shipping in the area is doing its best Forrest Gump imitation but I expect some stragglers to be sunk tomorrow.

Meanwhile a smaller IJN force hits Noumea: that looks like where he's landing.

The only bright side is that the bulk of all units had already unloaded at Suva. And of course I know where KB is now! (I did notice planes from 5 IJN fleet carriers. Kaga is probably in port being patched up.)

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/7/42

Largest news is still here:

South Pac

KB moves adjacent to Suva and kills 2 of the cripples as well as 3 more ships. A lot of motorized support sank with those ships.

In a surprise, to me at least, Japanese transports now weem to be heading towards Fiji not New Caledonia. I'm about as prepared as I can be at this point in time though have only 7000 supply on the island. I double-checked my sigint (thanks Intel Monkey!) but have no idea what forces my opponent is bringing.



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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

DEI

Japanese are mopping up bases far from the front lines.

Daily A6M2 sweeps are causing roughly 2:1 losses in favor of the bad guys. I'll have to stop defending it soon.

Burma

Recon now reports 7 IJA units trying to enter via the backdoor.

Philippines

I haven't said much about this 'cause not much is happening. Clark Field & Bataan are bombed daily and the Japanese conduct daily bombardment attacks. There was one deliberate attack maybe a week ago that took Clark's forts down to 0.

North China

Well, Loyang has now fallen. Altogether I lost almost 2000(!) AV trying to defend the supplies there & at Chengchow. I read in AARs how poorly the Chinese did in clear terrain & how poorly they stood up to armor but I guess I had to see it to believe it. For example here are two shock attacks we exchanged on the 5th while I was attempting to relieve Loyang from the west:

Ground combat at 86,43 (near Loyang)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1715 troops, 4 guns, 145 vehicles, Assault Value = 206

Defending force 17270 troops, 77 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 498

Japanese adjusted assault: 110

Allied adjusted defense: 225

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
861 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 151 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

1:2 odds for the IJA yet the Chinese take more casualties & no IJA tanks are lost. Then:

Ground combat at 86,43 (near Loyang)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 16392 troops, 76 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 388

Defending force 2811 troops, 4 guns, 339 vehicles, Assault Value = 173

Allied adjusted assault: 339

Japanese adjusted defense: 182

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+)

Allied ground losses:
517 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 96 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

I just miss 2:1 yet the Chinese lose 100 squads & no IJA casualties whatsoever...

The Japanese are now driving on Nanyang where I'm assembling troops.

The only good news is at Ichang where I've now successfully surrounded 18K+ Japanese and should be able to destroy them in full. I even routed a small armored car company while doing so.



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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

South China

The situation is definitely going better here.

A Chinese corps routes another IJA armored car company that was getting frisky.

Chuhsien is a stalemate despite the Japanese there being quite outnumbered and surrounded for now. However that still protects the supply generation at Wenchow so all's good.

I am moving forces to invest Canton from the east and thus set up another training ground for the Chinese. (Troops are roughly 50 exp already in the 3 other training grounds I've set up.)

And at Wuchow, whose supply generation was also threatened, the IJA has decided to retreat. Two more Chinese Corps arrive within 2 days - I should be able to route the Japanese before they can leave the hex.

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/8/42

Relatively quiet turn so a relatively short update.

China

The initial attack against the doomed Japanese units at Ichang goes well:

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34235 troops, 273 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 686

Defending force 8897 troops, 98 guns, 21 vehicles, Assault Value = 117

Allied adjusted assault: 298

Japanese adjusted defense: 62

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
947 casualties reported
Squads: 46 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 36 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (4 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
186 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Chinese Corps
8th Chinese Corps
18th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
6th War Area
7th Artillery Regiment
41st AA Regiment

Defending units:
11th RGC Temp. Division
34th Division
13th RGC Temp. Division

South Pac

KB retreated to the NW of Fiji and there is no hint of any landings anywhere. Not really sure what my opponent's doing here.

Just a commerce raid? Could be - IJN subs had been spotting shipping off Suva for a couple weeks before the raid.

Any thoughts?

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by Grfin Zeppelin »

ORIGINAL: ctangus




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Aaaaaaaaaaw cuteness overload O.O

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

ORIGINAL: Gräfin Zeppelin

Aaaaaaaaaaw cuteness overload O.O

She's lucky that she's cute 'cause she's also addicted to chewing... After she destroys another pair of glasses or another 1st edition book I hope the little admiral is just practicing to chew up on IJN forces.
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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/9 - 1/10/42

South Pac

After its raid the KB has now disappeared for a couple turns. Retreating to Truk I suspect.

Noumea reinforcements will be dumped at Auckland then reloaded in amphib TFs in order to get in & out quicker.

Philippines

Clark Field survives another deliberate attack.

Malaya/Sumatra

The last cut-off unit in northern Malaya (22nd Indian Brigade) is about to be destroyed.

However Singapore survived a deliberate attack with no lessening of force. Also IJAAF attacks let up for a couple days which allowed the defenders to repair airfield damage and build the forts up to 3. Hopefully that will help me withstand at least one more attack than I otherwise would.

Next door in Sumatra the Japanese are starting to mop up. The only positive is that the units I had flown out of northern Malaya have now all been successfully transported from Sumatra to India via fast transport & amphib TFs.

Question: once the 22nd Indian Brigade is destroyed, any day now, I should be able to rebuild the 9th Indian Division in Singapore. I've read a couple opinions in AARs that units fight better when rebuilt. Any consensus/opinions/data on this?

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

China

Shuffling of troops in the north. AVG stages a nice ambush. The 1st of 3 IJA units is destroyed at Ichang. IJA aggressors are kicked out of Wuchow with high casualties.

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/11 - 1/14/42

The good news first:

China

The best news is that the Chinese finish off the IJA forces at Ichang. The Japanese 34th Division is destroyed. The Chinese were merciful & took 2 prisoners.

In other good news the Japanese appear to be (temporarily at least) abandoning their advance on Nanyang. I may abandon Nanyang for a second time but I'll be able to finish consolidating my forces in the area.

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

SW Pac

Well, KB is spotted again. Looks like a full-scale invasion of Port Moresby is on.

My opponent surprised me again here. Though even if I knew it was coming this soon I'm not sure if I could have done a lot more - maybe get some subs nearby.

I did lay a few mines early in the game - maybe they'll cause a little damage. I've also flown in almost all the refugees from northern New Guinea, New Britain & New Ireland. Perhaps the Japanese haven't brought enough ground forces to the party. The only sigint I have is this from Jan 7th: "5/Kimura Det is planning for an attack on Port Moresby."

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

Java

The Japanese have basically isolated Java now & seem to be preparing for an offensive against the Batavia area. I don't expect landings against Java 'til Singapore falls & major LCUs are freed up. But my opponent has surprised me before. We'll see...

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

Elsewhere

A minor disaster:

Last turn the ABDA fleet was spotted by Netties over Broome. The ABDA Fleet (Houston TF, Dutch Navy, Force Z) withdrew.

However the AOs supporting them (@20K fuel capacity) didn't withdraw. (Admiral Bonnie couldn't believe I messed up my orders so bad.) And they were promptly sunk this turn. [:(]

I want to put some SAGs to use once the inevitable invasion of Java happens. But they'll need fuel...

CA Houston & escorts have now been reassigned to the Pacific Fleet. I'll try to scrounge up some fuel to support Force Z & the Dutch Navy...
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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by geofflambert »

ORIGINAL: ctangus

Java

The Japanese have basically isolated Java now & seem to be preparing for an offensive against the Batavia area. I don't expect landings against Java 'til Singapore falls & major LCUs are freed up. But my opponent has surprised me before. We'll see...


I think the usual tactic is to starve them. They don't need a lot to do that at Singapore, but they have to begin sometime in Java, the sooner the better. I'm sure you've distributed the available supply in Java, it's too late to deliver any to Singapore except by sub, and they have better things to do. Depending on how agressive he is in this theater, you may still be able to deliver supplies there(Java) (preferably from India), and you should have been taking every opportunity available to ship fuel from Java to Perth. Oz can go a long time with that fuel before they start getting some from California. Don't forget Tjilijap, you can usually take some fuel from there (and it may be replaced by rail from Soerbaja) and also deliver supplies there until Batavia and Soerbaja are cut off.

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I think the usual tactic is to starve them. They don't need a lot to do that at Singapore, but they have to begin sometime in Java, the sooner the better.

That's what I thought my opponent was going to do too but he just landed on Java. More of an update shortly.
I'm sure you've distributed the available supply in Java, it's too late to deliver any to Singapore except by sub, and they have better things to do. Depending on how agressive he is in this theater, you may still be able to deliver supplies there(Java) (preferably from India), and you should have been taking every opportunity available to ship fuel from Java to Perth. Oz can go a long time with that fuel before they start getting some from California. Don't forget Tjilijap, you can usually take some fuel from there (and it may be replaced by rail from Soerbaja) and also deliver supplies there until Batavia and Soerbaja are cut off.

I did take a bunch of fuel out of Java but I could have done a better job. I turned off the refineries production 1-2 weeks ago. Still 50+K fuel on Java. With his air strength around the area I won't be able smuggle much more fuel out. Not a big deal but it'll cost him a few turns to refine the oil that he'll eventually capture.

I haven't delivered any supply to Java yet. @80K supply there now. @40K supply on 2 TFs from Capetown - one's @5 days away & the other @10 days away. Good tip on Tjilatjap - I'm planning to dump my supplies there but didn't ever consider pulling more fuel out on the return trip.
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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

1/15/42

SW Pac

Port Moresby is hosed. Based on sigint I briefly entertained the notion that my opponent wouldn't overwhelm me here. Not so much - I'm outnumbered @ 3:1 on raw AV and supplies are short. Perhaps the terrain & level 2 forts will hold against an attack or two but I'm not counting on it.

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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

Java

The Japanese just successfully landed a bunch of tanks at the SE corner of Java. They'll be able to roll up a few bases I'm sure but I should be able to halt them at Malang where I've already been digging in.

Japanese shipping movements suggest there might be an invasion in the NW of Java soon as well.

I haven't been counting divisions but with Singapore & Luzon still tying up a lot of Japanese troops I don't know if this is a good idea for the Japanese or not. We'll see how it plays out...

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Edit: Allied forces are hastily organizing Operation Kopi Luwak to deal with this threat.
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RE: Tilting at Windmills - Adm Bonnie (& ctangus) vs. Quixote

Post by ctangus »

Burma

The IJA is approaching the Salween river on two axis. I'm going to try to block that at least for a few turns. See the pic:

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