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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Once More into the Breach

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 5:46:50 PM

ny59giants

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I figure I'll learn a lot about my inadequacies as a Japanese player in my current game (late 3/43). Thankfully, unless I do something stupid, I should have carrier superiority until close to mid-'44 or longer (after my opponent came to visit Tokyo in late 2/43, he is now down to 2 CVs and 2 CVEs

). The hard part will be figuring out to slow down the Allied "Death Star" that is now at Chittagong (over 6500 AV). I'm holding, but the 1st Tank Division has gotten mauled after two attacks.

My ace in the hole is having 5 large Tojo air units that can kill any Allied fighter that comes after me.

< Message edited by ny59giants -- 12/30/2011 5:47:53 PM >

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 6:15:45 PM

Mike Solli

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8 Dec 41

Subs

Nice day today. The I-122 dropped her load of mines in the hex just east of Tobali. Then she found an unescorted merchant convoy probably fleeing from Singapore or somewhere around there. First she surfaced and put 3 torps into the TK Spirilla and down she went. Then, she put a torp into another TK and finally put 3 torps and 2x 5.5" shells into the xAK Zannis Cambanis and watched her go down. In the last attack she got hit by .303 MG rounds a few times for 2 sys damage. She's down to 2 torpedoes left so she's headed to the barn.

5 Fleet

7 BF headed to Adak. ETA about 6-7 days.

4 Fleet

KB, CA TF & amphibs headed to Wake. ETA 2 days.

Makin taken. (That's about my limit for rhyming.)

SE Fleet

Fleets enroute to Shortlands, Admiralty Island and Kavieng.

Burma

Invasion forces on trains.

Philippines

A P-40B and 2 P-26As were shot down for no loss. I took Vigen and stationed 2 Zero and a naval Bab chutai there.

The DA on Iba failed. I got 1:1 odds and caused 148(4) casualties to 68(1) losses. The P-40s are still stationed there. I'm trying a shock attack tomorrow. Gotta get that base!

The invasion of San Fernando will begin tomorrow. 48 Div, 65 Bde and support will land. It's interesting to see that Ted is moving forces from Manila to Clark Field and Clark to Bataan. Looks like he's doing what I would like to have happen and I can use 16 Div and 65 Bde to keep an eye on them while 48 Div moves on to Mindinao.

Speaking of Mindinao, I'm postponing the invasion of Davao temporarily. I spotted a CL (most likely the Boise) at Zamboanga headed SE. I may send the invasion fleet back to Surigao as I had originally planned. I moved a Betty daitai from Formosa to Babeldaob. Hopefully, they'll catch the CL. I'd love to kill the Boise! There are 4 BBs that are headed to Babeldaob (from the Home Islands). They're still 4 days out. I may wait until they arrive so the invasion fleet has some substantial fire support.

China

The garrison shuffle.....

Hong Kong

The invasion force has arrived. I'll bombard a couple of turns first....

Malaya

Ahh, Malaya. Ted is becoming a pain in the butt. It started out with the CL Mauritius running into the Chokai and 5 DDs a hex SE of Kuantan. (This was one of the DDs I thought I'd kill off.) Well, it was a whole bunch of nothing. Chokai took a 6" shell that caused no damage and the Mauritius too a couple of 8" and a couple of 5" shells. My ships also used 40% of their torpedoes for no result. The two fleets went their separate ways. Right after that, the I-153 launched 6 torps at her for no effect. *Sigh*

It got better.

My Mersing fleet (just off Soc Trang) was caught by the DDs Vampire and Tenedos. I had 3 DDs escorting them. I should have just driven them off, right? Heh. The Vampire too 8 hits. I think she went down because I never saw her again and the Tenedos took 2 hits. They spread the wealth on my ships hitting a DD, PB, AK and 3x xAKs. Two of the xAKs went down. Man, my merchant shipping sucks. Two hits from a 4" and they go down?! It's gonna be a long war! So ends that event....

In the air war over Malay, I shot down a Blenheim IF for the loss of a Sally. I had a total of 54 Nell sorties against 2x DDs parked at Kota Bharu for no hits and 3 lost to flak. I'm ready to kill off all the Nell pilots and start over with rookies.

Still no invasions are headed in. It'll happen soon. I've noticed that the ground forces at Alor Star are moving south but the forces at Kota Bharu and Kuantan are not. Looks like he's going to try and hold off my invasions long enough to pull the bulk of his forces to Singapore. Maybe the Mersing Gambit is the way to go. If that succeeded, I could still cut off the bulk of his forces. We'll see how tomorrow goes against his sacrificial ships off Malaya.

Other Stuff

Some interesting happenings. I saw that the CL Java and DD Evertsen sank from a collision. Oops.

Damn Dutch. Also, the DD Stuart allegedly sank from unknown causes. Mine maybe? If it's accurate, I'll take it.

I checked my factory increases and some of the bases have too little supply. I fixed that. Everything should be good now.

I forgot to accelerate ships today. Looks like I can accelerate 2 CVs and 4 DDs right now. That should increase over the next few turns as my naval shipyards increase in size. They're currently at 1401 and will increase over the next week or so to 1500.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 6:21:56 PM

Mike Solli

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I figure I'll learn a lot about my inadequacies as a Japanese player in my current game (late 3/43). Thankfully, unless I do something stupid, I should have carrier superiority until close to mid-'44 or longer (after my opponent came to visit Tokyo in late 2/43, he is now down to 2 CVs and 2 CVEs ). The hard part will be figuring out to slow down the Allied "Death Star" that is now at Chittagong (over 6500 AV). I'm holding, but the 1st Tank Division has gotten mauled after two attacks. My ace in the hole is having 5 large Tojo air units that can kill any Allied fighter that comes after me.

Carrier superiority is very nice. So is the Tojo in numbers. Sounds like you're doing great.

Not sure what to do about that Death Star. I don't think the Japanese "Tank Divisions" can be thought of as real tank divisions.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 7:24:01 PM

Cribtop

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Don't be too hard on the Nell pilots. In my experience torpedo planes can't hit nimble DDs until a dive bomber or warship slows them down with a few hits.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 7:56:56 PM

Mike Solli

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Yeah, but the need to fly to hit. This next turn they didn't even fly...

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 9:29:53 PM

Cribtop

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OK, now you can shoot them.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 9:48:59 PM

Mike Solli

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I'm ready to shoot them. The PoW is tooling around of the west coast of Malaya and they didn't even fly. At least Kaga's Kates "flew".

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 9:55:52 PM

Grfin Zeppelin

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Its common knowledge that Netties only fly if they have no escort and the target has cap.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 10:15:08 PM

Mike Solli

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Ain't that the truth.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/30/2011 11:25:26 PM

Mike Solli

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9 Dec 41

A less than stellar performance......

Sub war

One bit of good news. The I-121 put a torpedo into the CL Mauritius at Mersing. Hopefully, that'll be enough damage that Ted'll decide to pull her.

4 Fleet, 5 Fleet, SE Fleet

Nothing to speak of....

Borneo

Well, the Miri invasion is one day out. It can't be made easy though. Ted sent some Do-24k-1s to check it out and ended up sinking 2 small cargos. Sheesh. Aren't those German planes? What are they doing here, and on the Allied side?! Anyway, no real harm done other than some soldiers that had to go swimming.

Philippines

Some good news! Iba fell! I destroyed some P-40Es on the ground too. The combat replay said 7 and the intel report said 16. Either way, it's great news and some US pilots are gone for good as well. I suspect it was an oversight on Ted's part. He was too busy gloating over his driving me nuts off the Malayan coast. Anyway, I did a shock attack (SA) and took 159(0) to 3512(477) Allied losses. The 31 PA Inf Div surrendered! That's great news. Ted is definitely withdrawing to Bataan.

I'm using the Yokosuka 3 SNLF to paradrop into Mauban and take it. That will be where the 16 Div lands. That should reduce landing casualties to that division.

I landed at San Fernando and will attack tomorrow.

In the air war, I lost a Betty to flak in return for killing a P-35 and Stearman 75M (whatever that is) on the ground.

Malaya

Ahh, Malaya. Still no invasion, and I'm glad there wasn't. The PoW showed up just NE of Mersing. I think she was at Kuantan waiting for an invasion. Anyway, she was spotted and the Nells decided not to fly at all today.

I guess they got tired from all the missing. Anyway, Kaga sent 25 Kates escorted by 16 Zeros (fortunately). There were 7 Buffalos flying CAP over the PoW. The Zeros shot down 4 and drove the rest off. Clear skies for the Kates, right? Heh. They all missed and lost three of their number to flak. My bomber pilots are beginning to remind me of the Keystone Cops. Not sure what the PoW is going to do now.

This didn't really happen around Malaya, but it fits in perfectly. I have quite a few ships heading to various ports for different reasons. Many are without escort (not enough escorts). The 3 Brit DDs in Hong Kong finally made a break for it. The avoided all 3 TFs I had blockading the port and headed west. South of Samah, they found some of these ships and ended up sinking two empty xAKs. Fortunately, they're not critical ones. The Brits (Thanet, Thracian and Scout) got away and ran after some other ships which fortunately avoided them. This drew the DDs closer to Cam Ranh Bay and the Mersing invasion force and they ran into one of them.

The Brits ended up sinking two small ships and the Thracian took a pummeling and the Scout took moderate damage. Later, a recon plane from the area put another bomb into a DD (I suspect it was the Thracian) and sank her. I never saw her again. Kaga's Vals (flying out of Soc Trang) sank the Scout with a magazine explosion and Kates from Ryujo (to the east) sand the Thanet. They're gone finally.

In the air over Malaya, some Nates shot down a Blenheim IF (seems to be all they can shoot down) for the loss of a Sally to flak, along with the Buffalos shot down over the PoW.

So, here's the status of the Brit ships floating around east of Malaya:

PoW north of Mersing - I have some subs and Kaga tring to intercept.
CL Mauritius - ate a torpedo and in Mersing
2 DDs south of Mersing - Don't know who they are but they seem to be heading to Singapore.
Tenedos - slight damage - didn't see her today but I think she's between Soc Trang and Kota Bharu.
Electra - took a 250 kg bomb and is in the same area as Tenedos. I have a CA TF in the area. Hopefully, it'll find them and take them out.

Malaya is a mess, at least as far as invasions are concerned.

Other Stuff

The Stuart is no longer showing up on the sunk list. That was weird.

Hong Kong

A little more bombardment....

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 12:07:49 AM

USSAmerica

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Mike, since Ted had CAP flying over the PoW, did you have zeros in range to escort your Betties? They usually won't fly without escorts if there is CAP at the target.

Of course the Kates had Zeros from Kaga as escort so they attacked, FWIW.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 12:09:50 AM

Cribtop

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Always a joy, eh?

Remember to make use of the (ahem) modestly named Cribtop Lifeboat Doctrine if you have the extra ships. Keeps a lot of troops from swimming!

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 12:42:27 AM

ny59giants

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Where are your four BBs that usually headed for northern Malaya on turn 1?? The two Kongo Class end up with your CVs, but the other two plus your CAs should be able to handle Force Z.

I set my Zeros at Soc Trang for Escort and max range with drop tanks. They usually fly often.

I did the "Mersing Gambit" twice and did follow someone else's AAR to get a handle on it. I then played head to head just in this area to get the kinks out. Be patient.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 2:41:07 AM

Mike Solli

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Cribtop, I plan on using your doctrine....eventually. Right now it's taking every hull I own to move stuff, and it's still not enough. By the way, I started converting 24 hulls to carry extra pax on 8 Dec. They should be ready in a couple of days.

Michael, I think the reason I've lost as many ships as I have is from a lack of patience. The Mersing plan caused me to take more risk than I normally do. This turn, I've pulled back all of my Malaya invasion fleets to Cam Ranh Bay. You're right. Patience.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 2:42:25 AM

Mike Solli

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Oh yeah, I sent the 4 BBs to Babeldaob because there was nothing in that area. Mini KB is usually there, but it's forming off Malaya (more on that in the next installment.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 3:10:43 AM

ny59giants

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I've only recently started playing the 'dark side' so I know what the Allies have and can do (7 years of WITP/AE next month). Any element of surprise you have have gotten by landing at Mersing is gone. It is still the best way to capture Malaya. Do you have any fighters in Malaya at Kota Bharu?? The next turn would have me using most of my LBA to attack ground units. Since you started with the 'Mersing Gambit' last game and show signs of it again, I would imagine that he is placing most of his LCUs that are on rail lines into Strat Mode to get them down the peninsula quickly. Most will take two to three days for this to happen. Hit Alor Star and other bases that you feel he may be evacuating from quickly.

Are you using any transport planes to get Aviation Support flown into Malaya?? I get what I can this way and then use transports to ship in the rest eventually.

Consider breaking your Vals from Kaga into 3 parts and placing one back on her to be able to hit his DDs. I would still want the extra Zeros, but a couple well placed bomb hits might help.

All FPs on your warships should go to 100% Naval Search for the next few days to ensure he is spotted and attacked.

Double check the leaders on your LBA Zeros, Oscars, Nell, and Betty just to make sure they are not the problem.

These suggestions are for Malaya area only....for now

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 3:29:02 AM

Mike Solli

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10 Dec 41

More blood....

Subs

Two hexes east of Billiton, the I-156 was cruising south to it's patol area. It came across the LC Dragon and put 2 torpedoes into her. Not sure if she went down, but she's definitely out of the war for a while.

One other successful sub attack occurred but I'll discuss is below at the appropriate time.

4 Fleet

The Wake invasion fleet has stopped 1 days steam from Wake with the CA TF just a few hexes away. They're waiting for KB which should be ~6-7 hexes from Wake tomorrow. KB's aircraft are set for naval attack with airfield set for secondary. I see Wake has it's dozen fighters and about a dozen bombers. Hopefully, KB will put the aircraft out of commission and the CAs can dash in and pummel the place before the landing occurs.

I've picked up the 8 BF from Japan and am sending it to Marcus Island. Not sure I really want it to go there. I usually send a bunch of engineers there first to build the place up a bit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion force is 4 days out. No sign of any opposition there, but Ted is sneaky.

Hong Kong

Another day of bombardment is in order. The Brits are slowly weakening.

Philippines

Good day here today. San Fernando fell to a SA. My losses were 336(1) to 1284(153). The 11 PA Division retreated and looks to be trashed. I am moving on Lingayan.

I took Maubin by paratrooper attack. Tomorrow, a force of an SNLF and construction troops will land there with more behind.

Ted didn't oppose me in the air at all. Odd. I did destroy a P-40 on the ground.

Miri

This invasion was the result of my lack of patience. They made it to the port hex and then were caught by the Houston. About half a dozen ships went down to one minor hit on Houston. Fortunately, the ships were all small xAKs or xAKLs. 70% of the infantry battalion made it ashore in good order. I ordered a SA tomorrow. The Brunei invasion force, a day sail to the north, turned around until I can take care of that nuisance.

SE Fleet

I landed at Kavieng and will attack tomorrow.

The Gds Brigade will be bought tomorrow to be shipped to Truk for use in this theater.

Babeldaob/Mindinao

I've decided to go with the invasion of Butuan, in the north of Mindinao. The force is composed of the 146 Inf Reg, an artillery bn and 2x tank regiments. The only concern is Boise, which starts the game in this area. I haven't seen her at all. She's definitely hiding somewhere. I'll wait a day or two for the 4x BBs to arrive and send them in to clear the area out.

I did have some fun with a small TF of a CL and 5x DDs. They went after some fleeing ships around Manado and managed to sink 2x AS, an AVD and a PC for no damage in return. They were in 4 separate TFs.

In addition, 6 Bettys flying out of Babeldaob, sank an xAKL. I guess it's better than nothing.

Malaya

Have I said recently that I hate this place?

Today marked the first day where a Ki-43-Ic fought the enemy in the air. There were 4 Oscars vs. 10 Buffalos and 3 Hudsons. They shot down 3 Buffalos and a Hudson. Banzai! They're not building fast enough yet!

That damn PoW did it to me again. She steamed from Mersing to Singora/Pattani where I had two small TFs unloading some supply. She sank about half a dozen merchants and 2x AVs. *Sigh* Then, she took off back down to Mersing. Kaga sent 20 Kates after her and one managed to score a torpedo hit.

Kaga is now out of torps but has plenty of bombs left. Any, the I-155 was lurking in the area and put another torpedo into the PoW. She's not done for, but I hope she's slower. The Ryujo reached Cam Ranh Bay today. Tomorrow she'll team up with Kaga. Between them they have the follwing:

Kaga - 18 Zeros, 26 Zero (Yamada), 25 Kates (27 Vals are at Soc Trang)
Ryujo - 30 Zeros, 18 Kates (with torps)

After they team up, I'm going to pull Yamada's Zeros off and replace them with the Vals. Then the Yamada Det will fly CAP in the hopes of getting my Nells to fly. 8 Nells flew today.

Up north, a Tank regiment is 1-2 days from Alor Star, which Ted has evacuated of ground troops. There are still planes there though!

IG Division and another tank regiment are stat moving and getting close.

Other Stuff

The Tennessee showed up on the sunk list. I guess she succumbed to her wounds from the Pearl Harbor attack.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 4:04:08 AM

Mike Solli

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've only recently started playing the 'dark side' so I know what the Allies have and can do (7 years of WITP/AE next month). Any element of surprise you have have gotten by landing at Mersing is gone. It is still the best way to capture Malaya. Do you have any fighters in Malaya at Kota Bharu?? The next turn would have me using most of my LBA to attack ground units. Since you started with the 'Mersing Gambit' last game and show signs of it again, I would imagine that he is placing most of his LCUs that are on rail lines into Strat Mode to get them down the peninsula quickly. Most will take two to three days for this to happen. Hit Alor Star and other bases that you feel he may be evacuating from quickly.

Are you using any transport planes to get Aviation Support flown into Malaya?? I get what I can this way and then use transports to ship in the rest eventually.

Consider breaking your Vals from Kaga into 3 parts and placing one back on her to be able to hit his DDs. I would still want the extra Zeros, but a couple well placed bomb hits might help.

All FPs on your warships should go to 100% Naval Search for the next few days to ensure he is spotted and attacked.

Double check the leaders on your LBA Zeros, Oscars, Nell, and Betty just to make sure they are not the problem.

These suggestions are for Malaya area only....for now

I have no troops in Malaya yet. Ted put ships in all 3 port hexes. Between that and his air power, it's stopped me so far. I am whittling down his ships and air power but it'll be a couple of days at the least before I can land anywhere. There still are the PoW (2 torps), CL Mauritius (moderate damage), Express (badly damaged), Express (moderate damage), Electra (badly damaged), Tenedos (moderate damage) in the area. I'm hoping to take out the DDs with a CA TF and the CL & PoW with carrier air and subs. We'll see....

I'd love to try Mersing but I don't think it'll work any more. Oddly, I don't see him moving anywhere except out of Alor Star. The forces at Kota Bharu and Kuantan have been bombed pretty heavily since the beginning so once his ships are gone, I can land with ease and take both places. We'll see how the next turn goes.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 4:48:10 AM

PaxMondo

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sheesh, already 3 turns. You guys move fast!

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 4:58:52 AM

Mike Solli

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Yeah, we were both off today. This is not the norm.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 3:31:50 PM

Mike Solli

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Getting ready to run the turn. Here's my assessment of the RAF:

75-80 Buffalo
~20 Blenheim IV
~4 Hudson
~12 Swordfish/Vildebeest

Ted admitted his ships are running low on ammo. I estimate there are 4DDs, 1 CL and the PoW running around, with all damaged except for 1 DD down by Singapore.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 9:55:22 PM

Mike Solli

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11 Dec 41

Have I said lately that Ted is a royal pain in the ass?

Sub War

The I-123 caught a fleeing TK 2 hexes south of Balikpapan and put a torpedo into her. I think she was empty. No fires.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion fleet is 4 days out with no sign of life out there.

4 Fleet

KB will hit Wake tomorrow. The CA TF is escorting the invasion force and both will move to within 3 hexes of Wake. The invasion will take place the day after.

I was about to load the Tarawa invasion force when I noticed an Allied ship in the Tarawa hex. I'm attempting to get the Nells to hit it (we all know how wonderful my Nell pilots are

) but I also have a sub heading there to investigate. The Tarawa invasion is on temporary hold. KB may swing by to clean the area up.

SE Fleet

I bought the Gds Bde today and it is loading on fast xAPs to head to Truk. It'll team up with the 144 Inf Reg to take Rabaul with support from KB when they arrive. I'll have enough points to buy the 90 Inf Reg in 4 days.

Subs are beginning to arrive in the vicinity of Rabaul and Pt. Moresby to snoop around and see what's hiding out there.

Hong Kong

I'm not bombarding tomorrow. The troops are low on supply. Hopefully, that'll rectify itself. I will continue to hit the airfield from the air to prevent building up the fort level.

Philippines

Nice day here today. Manila is empty of troops. I took Mauban with the paratroopers and will have an SNLF and const unit land there tomorrow. The paratroopers are heading to Manila to take in a coup. If I successfully take Manila, I'll cut off at least 3 units in south Luzon from the rest of the army.

The victors of San Fernando (48 Div and 65 Bde) are heading toward Lingayan which has the trashed 11 PA Inf Div, another PA Div and a trashed Base Force. They should be ousted easily.

I had stationed a Nell Daitai at Iba in case there were any other Allied ships fleeing the area. I noticed that there were ships in Manila Harbor and set it to port attack. 24 Nells flew and cleaned up, sinking 3x PGs and 9x PTs. There is no longer anything in harbor. It was nice to get rid of those pesky PT boats.

In the air, Ted put up 16 P-40Bs. They were opposed by 24 Zeros and 8 were shot down for no loss to me. I did lose one Ann to flak over Clark.

Overall, things look pretty good in the Philippines. The 16 Div will land at Batangas in 2 days. I may postpone it. Two of the potentially cut off units are there. If things go well, I may divert the 16th to Mindinao. We'll see.

Mindinao

The 4x BBs are 2 days sail from Butuan. They'll go there to clear out any lurking Allied ships (Boise maybe?). Behind them are the troops scheduled first to invade Butuan, then Davao, and now Butuan again. I want to clear out Cagayan because that's where I think Ted is hiding his B-17s. They keep bombing Babeldaob. The only damage so far was a Betty destroyed on the ground. I don't want him to get lucky. He's been lucky enough at Malaya already.

Borneo

I took Miri in a SA today. Losses were 94(0) for me and 34(2) for him. The best part was no damage to the facilities. The oil is 150(150) and refinery is 150(150). I'm going to repair the remaining oil as soon as I can get a supply convoy there. Unfortunately, the Houston has disappeared again. I'm trying to do some naval search in the area to find her. I am flying in some AS tomorrow and already have stationed a chutai of 9 Nates and the Yamada det (off Kaga) of 9 Zeros. I suspect to see some B-17s tomorrow and hope to shoot some down.

Malaya

The best for last, right?

Ted's ships are appearing all over the place. Yesterday, the DD Stronghold was sighted 1 hex east of Singapore. Today, she appeared in Saigon harbor(!) with the Vendetta and Jupiter. I had 3x 8k AOs and a Momi DD escort loading fuel to function as a replenishment TF for mini KB. They went up like torches. All four ships went down to no damage to the DDs. He had the audacity to leave the DDs in harbor. When the air phases happened, a total of 52 Nell sorties and 12 Betty sorties flew against them for no effect.

I am really beginning to dislike those Nell pilots. Finally, at the end of the day, 21 land based Vals (from Kaga) put 2x 250kg bombs into the Vendetta. I'm not sure if she sank, but she's doomed. I'm sending a surface TF into Saigon tomorrow to see if they can take them out.

Other than losing the AOs, the day wasn't bad in this theater. A TF of 4 CAs and 4 DDs caught Tenedos at Patani and sank her for no damage. Another one down. The Kaga Vals that hit the Vendetta sank the CL Mauritius off Soc Trang with 10 hits. Kaga's Kates badly damaged or sank the CL Durban with 6x 250kg bombs just north of Kuching. I think Ted was trying to sneak her into the area.

Some interesting things are showing up in the sunk ship screen. The PoW is showing up as having sunk off Singapore. I doubt it since she only took 2 torpedo hits, but you never know. She may be hurt worse than I thought. Also, the Stronghold is showing up as sunk from unknown causes off Cam Ranh Bay. Mine maybe? The Voyager sank from unknown causes at Saigon. Maybe there were 4 DDs there? Another mine? I think this one is fictitious because there still are 250 mines at Saigon. The Stuart is showing up as sunk from unknown causes at Soc Trang. Can't figure that one out. I think it's fictitious as well. Finally, the CL Danae is showing up as sunk from unknown causes off Billiton. This may be a mine because I laid a minefield in the hex between Tobali and Billiton (where the I-122 hit 2x TKs and an xAK after laying the minefield on 8 Dec). Anyway, pretty weird.

I also noted that the Java is no longer showing up as sunk in a collision but the DD Evertson still is.

On land, the 1st tank regiment will reach Alor Star tomorrow and take it the day after. The IG Division is 60 miles north of Singora and the 14th tank regiment is in strat mode in Singora. The land invasion of Malaya is finally beginning!

Other Stuff

I moved the Yamada 18 plane daitai from Kaga to Soc Trang. Michael, I'm trying your idea for Nell escort and set it to escort with tanks. It's got a 14 hex range. We'll see. I put the Vals back on Kaga, so she's back to normal with 18 Zeros, 27 Vals and 25 Kates. The Ryujo has teamed up with her and sports 30 Zeros (cleaned out my pilot pool) and 18 Kates. The Ryujo still has a full load of 27 torpedoes but Kaga has only bombs. They have a huge TF composed of 2 BBs, 5 CAs, 1 CL and 14 DD. Almost 6k AA. Anyway, they're heading to a location where every port from Kuantan to Patanni and Kompong Trach to Saigon is in range and there are surface TFs covering the rest in the area where needed. I hope to get the invasion of Malaya underway in 2-3 days tops.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 12/31/2011 9:57:28 PM >

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 12/31/2011 10:19:13 PM

Mike Solli

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More Stuff

The 4 Inf Div and 33 Inf Div will begin loading tomorrow and the 21 Inf Div will begin loading the day after.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/1/2012 2:54:03 AM

ny59giants

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Manila - take asap as he is losing at least one division of reinforcements that show up here in the next few weeks. If he doesn't have Manila, they will show up delayed at San Fran. They will be permanently restricted and spend the war on the west coast.

B-17 - I've had them move from Mindinao through Java and then launch from Singapore to hit Saigon. I had no CAP and had lots of transports damaged. It may or may not happen, but even a few Nates will help vs those D models as they have no rear guns.

Saigon - you flew 64 Nell/Betty in one phase?? If so, then increase the Air HQ torpedo allotment to 150 as 100 is not enough for them to fly with torpedoes in both AM and PM phases.

FOW - any ship hit by a torpedo ends up on the sunk list. PoW will need 4 to 5 to sink her unless you get an explosion from a hit.

Weather - start to do some hex clicking between Borneo, Malaya and Saigon to see what shows up. You may have some bad weather there closing down your air power and allowing him to hide in it. It isn't 100% predictive of what may happen, but at this time in the war i was able to extract my CVs off Pearl from KB by running into a storm front.

You may need to rename this part of your AAR, "How not to invade Malaya."

I need to be supportive, but I figure you have learned many valuable lessons from your adventure here.

< Message edited by ny59giants -- 1/1/2012 2:56:06 AM >

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/1/2012 3:07:37 AM

Mike Solli

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I've got a unit adjacent to Manila moving there this turn. If it doesn't move very far, I'll fly a transport unit into one of the hexes where there are paratroopers and fly them in next turn.

During the AM phase, 32 Nells and 6 Bettys flew. During the PM phase, 20 Nells and 6 Bettys flew. 100 torpedoes were enough for the turn. I may bump it up a bit but each turn I bring it back up to 100, for what it seems to be worth.

I never saw an explosion on the PoW. I suspect she's creeping along somewhere, probably in Singapore.

Weather is something I always ignore. I just never think about it. I'll check it out tonight to see what's going on. Good thought.

Yeah, Malaya.... This is the 4th time Ted and I have started a game. He's never done anything like this at all. He typically likes to hide and ambush me. I moved too fast assuming he'd do the same thing. The RN is getting trashed, but it's hurting me somewhat. Fortunately, he hasn't killed any of my ground units. They'll all recover. He is slowing me down though. I'm pretty sure I can crush the few ships he has in my area next turn. Assuming he doesn't slip any more in, I can use mini KB to keep the area south of Singapore clear. That's where he's been sneaking things in. I'll take Singkawang and put some Netties and Mavis there and I'll be good. His RAF bombers are vanishing so I won't have to worry about that soon. I may still land at Mersing. I'll take Kuantan and put some good air there and then go from there. It still appears that he's not moving ground forces other than out of Alor Star. It's empty of ground forces but still has aircraft there. You'd have thought he would have learned his lesson after losing 10-15 P-40s and pilots at Iba.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 1/1/2012 3:09:02 AM >

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/2/2012 12:19:25 AM

Mike Solli

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12 Dec 41

Sub War

The I-158 found and sank the AO Trinity south of Bandjermasin. A little retribution for Ted sinking my AOs yesterday.

The Le Triomphant found the I-10 lurking around Fiji today and hit her with a depth charge. She's at 16-18(16)-0-0 so she'll head to Kwajalein for temporary repairs until she can go to Japan for permanent repairs.

China

The garrisons are starting to sort themselves out. Soon, they'll be complete and I can start some offensive operations.

Hong Kong

The 104 Division arrived to augment the Hong Kong invasion force. In addition, there is ample supply for a DA, which will happen tomorrow. There are a bunch of TKs and xAKs at Hong Kong harbor. I think Ted is waiting to send them out hoping I won't have anything to intercept them. I'm sending 2 Daitai of Bettys (54 planes) on port attack of Hong Kong harbor. I'm hoping for good things.

Air bombing killed a dreaded Vildebeest.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion is 3 days out. Still no sign of Allies there.

4 Fleet

Today, KB didn't launch against Wake.

I'm trying again tomorrow and hope to invade Wake the day after.

That ship is still sitting at Tarawa. My sub should reach it tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Maybe the Nells at Kwajalein will attack too.

SE Fleet

The Gds Bde began loading for Truk today. It's 6 days steam from Truk. Then it's off to the grand tour of the SE Fleet area.

I'm attacking Manus and Shortlands tomorrow.

Mindinao

The 4 BBs will reach Surigao tomorrow. After they nose around, the invasion fleet will head in. I'm still contemplating sending in the 16 Div. I'll discuss that later in the PI section.

Philippines

Manila is definitely empty, and there are about half a dozen auxiliary aircraft still there. Probably damaged. I'm paradropping one of the SNLF para capable units into Manila to capture it and block 3 units from the rest of the Allied Army.

The 16 Division is sitting off shore waiting to see what transpires at the PI. If things go well, I'll send them to Mindinao to clean that island up. If not, they'll land in the Philippines. I'll probably know in a couple of days.

The Ann Sentai stationed at San Fernando bombed Clark field again destroying an O-47A and a Stearman 75M. Oh boy!

In the vicinity, I landed at Puerto Princisa and will attack it tomorrow.

Burma

The invasion force is now trekking on the trail leading to the coastal road. It'll be awhile....

I took Victoria Pt in a DA. I took 48(0) casualties to 349(42) Brits. There is an AA unit and construction battalion, both destined to finish the war at Pt. Blair, and an infantry regiment of the 55 Div as well as the 91 NG. The regiment is already headed back to the railhead to head north to Burma. I'm not sure what the 91 NG will do. They may go to Pt. Blair but for the time being, they'll guard Victoria Pt.

Malaya

Today was definitely a better day. The two surviving Brit DDs that began the day in Saigon attempted to flee south. Kaga's Vals caught them and put the Jupiter under while leaving the Stronghold dead in the water and burning. I detached 2CAs and 4 DDs from mini KB to hunt her down tomorrow. That should be the last of the RN in that area. Here's my estimate of the RN that began the war in the vicinity of Malaya:

Repulse - she vanished, probably to Java for now. She'll turn up at some point.
PoW - she ate 2 torps. I suspect she's at Singapore trying to repair damage or may be Java, but my subs haven't spotted her.
4x CLs - at least 2 sunk with the other 2 heavily damaged.
13x DDs - 8 sunk, Stronghold to follow tomorrow, 2 heavily damaged. The last two I haven't seen. They started the war in Singapore with 20 sys damage.

Now there's the Dutch navy. Apparently, one DD collided with the Java, damaging the CL and sinking the DD. Of the rest, I've seen nothing.

US Navy - I saw the Houston when she trashed the Miri invasion TF. Nothing since then. I've got as much naval search going as I can and they've vanished into the ether. They'll surface eventually. Hopefully my BBs will catch them.

Something wonderful happened! Alor Star fell to the Rowboat Corps as the 1 Tank Regiment arrived at it's gates. The 14 Tank Regiment and IG Division were both in Singora in strat mode and are moving to Alor Star. That'll save some time.

I've decided to forgo the Mersing invasion and land at Kota Bharu and Kuantan. I've allocated 5 Division 41 IR (30 Div) to Kuantan and 18 Division to Kota Bharu. They've left Cam Ranh Bay and will slowly proceed to their destinations under heavy cover.

I killed a Vildebeest on the ground and shot down a couple of Hudsons at the cost of a Sally. The RAF is running out of bombers.

Other Stuff

The Pennsylvania showed up as sunk at Pearl Harbor. That's 4 BBs now. That attack is starting to look better every day.

4 Division began loading for Malaya today. It'll reach Cam Ranh Bay 6 days after it sails.

21 Division began loading today and is prepping for Batavia. I'll use it in Malaya if needed. Otherwise, it'll be used for Singkawang and Tobali before teaming up with 21 IMB for the Java invasion.

33 Division began loading today for Burma. It'll land at Bangkok 8 days after it sails.

Right now I have 3 CVs and 2 DDs accelerated. I'll probably get another CV and a couple more DDs accelerated after the increase in naval shipyards is complete.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/2/2012 2:49:24 AM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion is 3 days out. Still no sign of Allies there.

You should be early enough. Hard for allies to garrison Adak this early.

I'll bet he will try and take it back though within 45 days .... the question is what assets will he assign to it? He seems to be a bit aggressive this game (so far).

If he doesn't come early, then I wouldn't expect to see him up north until late '43 ... which is still good, just not as fun.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/2/2012 3:32:24 AM

Mike Solli

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Oh, I'm having plenty of "fun" and so is he. The RN, well that's another story.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/2/2012 3:40:02 AM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

... You'd have thought he would have learned his lesson after losing 10-15 P-40s and pilots at Iba.

So, do you lose pilots when you take a base with planes at it? Did Ted confirm the pilot loss? Curious as I've neer been sure if you lose pilots or just planes in that circumstance.

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RE: Once More into the Breach - 1/2/2012 3:50:51 AM

Cribtop

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I'm pretty sure you lose the pilots, Pax. PM me and I'll give my evidence.

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