Day of Infamy AAR Allies, full turn-by-turn

[Jazon]

Stats:

Japan Morale.png (820.06 KiB) Viewed 294 times

MPPs USA.png (879.6 KiB) Viewed 294 times

MPPS Japan.png (873.53 KiB) Viewed 294 times

[Jazon]

That's it! In some time I will write my conclusions about the strategy, mistakes I made, and other remarks. Feel free to comment, ask and discuss. I hope this AAR will help some other players planning their strategy. I also would like to thank Petisch for fantastic game, and sportmanship.
Cheers
Jakub

[vonRocko]

Thanks guys! Good game.

[BillRunacre]

That was an excellent AAR, thanks for writing it up and posting it here - and what a game it was, right to the end!

[Elessar2]

He has all those land units because of his success in China allowed most of them to be released to other theatres.

[Jazon]

Final Evaluation&thoughts
I needed a few days to think over our game with Petisch. It was exciting and challenging multiplayer match. Here are my after action thoughts about strategy for Day of Infamy campaign:

1.The strategical aspect of Japanese Fleet. I realized that, sole fact of preserving considerable Japanese fleet, was a more important factor for the game’s dynamic, than naval battles themself. What does Allied player need fleet for? It is needed to secure amphibious operations which are necessary for achieving victory. To guard invasion forces, Allied player needs to go out with his fleet forward. Taking into consideration the „fog of war” factor, and active recon from Axis player(submarines and maritime bombers), it seems more rational to keep IJN fleet in the back, and use it only in calculated „hit&run” attacks. The potential threat of this attacks was blocking, or at least slowing down, my advance. We had three major Naval battles, two of which I won, and one was won by Petisch. Twice after those battles I won, I was expecting his fierce counterattack, but twice he withdrew. It was not understandable for me, because many of my ships were exposed, and ready to be sunk. Actually, that was the wise strategy, to keep IJN a considerable force for late stage of the game. First, it was buying time for Axis player, secondly it preserved NM levels, because big losses would decrease Japanese morale.
2.Strategy of denial/blocking: Petisch using his fleet potential attack threat, supported by very well deployed maritime bombers, effectively made invasion on Philippines or Java a suicide mission. Japanese experienced fighter units deployed in key locations would deny any US attempt to use their carriers as a striking force. Around key locations on Philippines he build fortifications, defended by experienced armies, covered with AA unit.
At the same time, US had not enough space on this tiny Islands to deploy fighters and HQ. The approaching spots to Philippines were under constant watch, and when I only tried to get closer to Peleliu, I was mowed down by his planes and warships. I lost 2 Battleships and few Cruisers. In this case I withdrew, because I would be seen from far away, and he could prepare his fleet to strike a devastating blow. I knew it was a deadly trap, and this is why, in act of desperation, I invaded Japan. Later in the game, since 1944, when Japanese can build Kamikazes, it only reinforce this „denial” factor. I had a feeling we are playing GO, and I was trying to surround his stones, and every time I was blocked by his stone. He is very good at positioning. Petisch also gave me impression of a very cold blooded player, if It was me, I would definitely made all-in counterattack. Later he wrote me that, he didn’t attack because of bad weather, and unfavourable penalties it causes. But strategy of disengagement and keeping the IJN, played huge role in slowing down the Americans.
I really got lucky with our battle at Iwo Jima, because intelligence report revealed positions of his carriers. Without this intel, I might lost this battle, and couldn’t penetrate his defense field. Anyway I needed to operate from micro-Islands, like Penape, Truk, Wake etc. which was a logistic nightmare, if you want to group at least 5 units in LCI’s, and make them reach their target together with fairly good supply.
3.China: the clue to victory for Japan. At first, I need to say I screwed it up, although I tried hard. Maybe sending Stillwell and two armies to Burma was a mistake. Twice I played as Allies with experienced players and twice I failed to defend the Middle Kingdom. If China is conquered it gives a lot of so needed MPP’s for Axis player. Moreover, it gives Japanese player a lot of very, very experienced armies. Later they might be sent to Burma/India and wreck havoc among the British, which forces Americans to send assistance, just to keep the British Empire in the war. US involvement drags precious resources and troops away from the NM and victory objectives in the pacific theatre. I would like to see somebody’s else AAR, especially successfully defending China. I played it in MP match twice, and twice I was beaten in this theatre.
4.Read the god damn manual! It saves a lot of trouble and embarrassment!
5.Don’t give up a game in the middle if it is not going well for you, you never know, you may actually win a „lost match”.

Thank you all guys for reading, and I wonder about your thoughts.
Cheers
Jazon

[BillRunacre]

Excellent thoughts, and I totally concur on not giving up.

I have seen it happen too where games are turned around - especially when the Victory Conditions and Strategy Guide are used as guides to strategy.

It would also be great to see more AARs.

[Petisch]

Ok, after some time to think, I'll try to come up with a conclusion:

But first of all:
Big thanks for the match and even more recognition for Jazon and his AAR.
You really set high standards with this.
Your never-give-up mentality always impresses me.
Unfortunately, I tend to give up on a game if I think it's just going to be a matter of dying in small steps.

So now, to my chosen strategy. Somehow I never had the feeling that it was fully developed, the only thing I was sure about was:
• Focus on China. Creating the rail connection so that the cities up to and including Thailand and Singapore are connected is simply pure money. Then there are all the mines and larger cities of central China itself. Afterwards, I'm not sure whether China shouldn't be taken out of the game entirely. But the effort and return just seemed completely inadequate to me.
The other step, which was never really thought through, was:
• Push as far as possible in the Pacific. By that I also mean Samoa and Fiji. So the Americans will have to take it back gradually, which will hopefully take time and money. Time to better expand the defense around the actual war goals. At the same time, put as much pressure on India as possible. If possible with a large, all-out seaborne invasion to support it. Otherwise, the swampy terrain around Calcutta is just a real plague.
I never managed to strike the balance between the two goals, so the maneuver in India remained just a dream. In the Pacific, the idea was to make things difficult for Jazon near New Guinea. With appropriate air support from land (HQ and aircraft)

Execution of my strategy:
• China: I think I did quite well. I think Jazon was a bit too aggressive to take MPP from me here. But what actually meant that I was able to take the units out even quicker. But my effort was also expensive; I equipped all the armies with mobility. Seems a bit intense, but I think otherwise you just can't do it in this terrain. Otherwise, the action points are often not enough to finish off a badly hit enemy unit and move up.
• Action in the Pacific: Jazon made it difficult for me. Simply supplying Guadalcanal with two units or occupying Rabaul with a stronger unit would require a lot of effort for the Japanese to take the islands. Maybe it was a mistake to invest so much, I'm really unsure. It seemed wrong to me to hand over the islands without a fight, since he would have to make the necessary effort to conquer them.
• About India: I think I simply failed here. The Chinese units there kept me in Burma until the troops in India became too strong. I didn't keep the effort there high enough because I only moved the light tanks there as reinforcements. I never really prepared the support invasion. Since I was constantly considering either withdrawing from the Pacific with the fleet and the SP Forces or postponing the invasion of India. More than once, I sent units pointlessly from left to right and back, which also cost me good moments for pinpricks. Guess you just have to make a decision and then follow through with it, this back and forth was really embarrassing. Where and how to proceed sensibly with the light tanks is still a mystery to me to this day.

Jazon's actions that made my life difficult:
• The action at Guam: really bothered me. The garrison for the island was already ready in Japan. I was missing one lap. Think Saipan and Tinian would have been even more annoying. I didn't really know how to react here either? Make a huge effort to retake the island? But I wanted the troops to secure the other islands.
• The sea battles: this time he really managed to catch me off guard every time. It wasn't that I didn't expect it, but he just kept adding to it in such a way that it became really painful for me. I could have hit back in the next round, but I think the bad weather would have made him even more painful in the round after that. In my opinion, my power during my turn would have been reduced too much. That's why I decided to retreat from both sea battles. Those were very frustrating moments for me.
• The first landing on Sumatra: Here I feared that I would once again not be able to strengthen the offensive in India and instead had to secure here. Luckily, I managed to carry out the operation with the paratroopers, so the offensive there quickly collapsed.
• And then of course the ending: which Jazon just did well. I was happy that he didn't attack the one in Java or the Philippines. This made me think that he actually only had one option left and that was Japan itself. The whole thing simply happened because otherwise the attacks would have happened earlier, and Iwo Jima was attacked instead. By then it was clear what was coming. And the defense of Japan was also well done. But I underestimated his tenacity here, even though we have played against each other several times. Then focusing on the Japanese NM was so obvious that I simply missed it. Unfortunately not him.

Attempt at a conclusion:
• Somehow the Japanese side isn't my favorite yet, with the Allies I just feel like I've understood the essentials
• Upgrading the Navy: Jazon put money into upgrading his navy early on in both games. I was rather late in both games. Except the aircraft carriers. It's not that I wouldn't like to do it sooner. But in the early and middle stages you need the money in so many other places. In WW1 and WW2 in Europe I am convinced that the navy is also rather negligible in terms of upgrades. When it comes to WW2 Pacific, I'm not 100% convinced
• But the navy is life insurance and should not be risked carelessly.
• But the navy is life insurance and should not be risked carelessly.
• Until the very end I expected another, perhaps desperate, landing in Japan. But I would have had to find the balance between being able to deploy units in South Korea and Manchuria from Japan.
• The Russian offensive is already frustratingly tough and the Japanese need units everywhere
• The balance offensive in China and offensive in India (or wherever) is also difficult to find. I was able to more or less take China out of the game, but the effort was very high.

[Nginear]

Other theaters: Kanga Force holds the airfield, but this sneaky Jap marine loaded itself into amphibious transport and left. I didn’t know you can do it with 0 supply. Anyway, pity. Australian core reached eastern Australia coast, but I am afraid it will be very dangerous to get to Port Moresby. I spotted two Japanese super battleships patrolling.

Crazy thing is, that IJN marine unit can land anywhere next turn and start with 9 supply...and then reinforce next-next turn to strength 10.