RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (Full Version)

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yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/29/2014 5:36:38 AM)

And while the situation for the Chinese is not pressing, there is seemingly no way to be more active : the Japanese have the strategical initiative, pushing small offensives exactly when and where they want.

The worst thing being that Japan has not yet built all of its land force pool, while China is now scrapping every division: the front line is too large, the units too slow. It's impossible to mount anything serious.

Note: contrary to my previous AAR, I'm really at a loss about what to do with the Chinese army to annoy the Japanese ; attacking directly is not yet an option : the troops are too weak for that. And there is nothing to surround and cut supply too: the Japanese keep there troops to places that are too far away, too close from the coastline. Imposible too to count on partisans : the Chinese partisan chance is 3% this turn,a turn where 3 Japanese land units are disorganized. 0% is the goal of the Japanese, and is usually reached. Of course, the Chinese see that the Japanese are not pushing for conquest. But losses such as Kunming or Nanning also show that they are not shy. It is not possible to stay complacent either... these actions prove that the rear areas must be kept garrisonned, or risk them being captured...

[image]local://upfiles/30121/DDFF76057A324A4E94108A68D53FEB9A.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/29/2014 6:12:03 AM)

Japan builds:

1 para
1 carrier (infrastructure)
3 carrier planes (one at 0 cost)
1 pilot
1 infantry

China builds:

1 synth oil plant
1 cav div

Tojo watches the USA lay down two more carriers, and mix in two modern battleships (superstructures) for good measure, not forgetting a naval plane. It is not necessary to be a genius to understand that these units are not to be used against Germany!



composer99 -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/29/2014 11:38:17 AM)

China has to play the waiting game, probably until late 1942 if not later, before it thinks to try anything. Wait for the Japanese to get enmeshed in the naval war against the US, and wait for it to strip land units to fulfill its expanded overseas offence & garrison requirements.

(If nothing else, the Chinese need to wait until their synth is online and they can build out their airplanes.)



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/29/2014 10:01:59 PM)

As expected the Japanese enter Nanning.
They even move further to take hold of the tin mines.
To secure the resource, they do an unusual thing: they attack the Chinese garrison securing the mountains.

This is a well thought assault. No Chinese unit is in position to cut the line to Hanoï. The closest unit that could is Stillwell. He needs 3 impulses to close near Nanning. Would he ? probably not, because meanwhile, the moonsoon is sure to come, which is another reason why the Japanese are so keen on that attack : It is either now (because no reinforcements are forthcoming), or in 4 turns... So capturing the resource now ensures a 4 BP gain. That should cover any losses but the worst, considering that even in 4 turns, there is no garantee of being able to do any better!

Indeed, the attack succeed with but the loss of a single division.


In Europe, checking all German available troops shows that there is no regret: it would not have been possible to break the pact yet. But of course, the question cannot arise now. The Germans declare war on Greece and Guderian descend on Athen He is blocked but some mountain units and has to wait the slower infantry.

Meanwhile, the British army rolls along the North African coast, capturing the dearly paid oil factory that Mussolini was so proud of! That's a good exchange for Palembang! Indeed, Mussolini considers the British expeditionary army with some respect: most units are stronger than any Italian unit, and it is almost as big as half the whole Italian army... And despite repeated attempts, it looks impossible to destroy the reinforcing convoys bringing supplies! Worse : there really is nothing to send in Africa since Italy is garrisonning France on German demands. And now is too late: the advance went quite fast, and the time to react too short!



[image]local://upfiles/30121/5949BBDE11B94419B758767D296832B7.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/29/2014 10:28:35 PM)

In Chengtow, the Japanese try another carpet bombing raid, but it fails. The idea would be to conquer the city, in order to shorten the front line, freeing more land units for other duties. Yamamoto would hae preferred not assaulting the city, despite a disorganized nationalist unit. With "only" +10, casualties are very likely. And there is no resource gain here, just a slightly superior position.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/535313AA9719488D93A5CBA5BA907DA7.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/30/2014 10:57:25 AM)

The Japanese renounce the attack on Chengtow ; too expensive for an uncertain gain. Meanwhile, marine units are convoyed to Canton, ready for any order.

The place is strategical, giving good access for either an attack on the Phillipinoes, or against the Netherlands East Indias.

Overall, 2 marine corps and 2 marine divisions are ready to board. Para are in building and should shortly complement the spec ops army. No attack is yet scheduled. But things are to be weighted carefully: the bomb will be set when the USA decide to cut on oil ; however, the moonsoon is a quite important factor that must be accounted for!

In the West, the Italians decided not to let the British have their say unopposed. They sortied a large fleet in the West Mediterranean to counter the British smaller fleet, led by the Ark Royal. A first round of combat was unconclusive, the Italian flak repelling the planes assaults. A second round was more annying ; two ships were damage, among which the head of the fleet, the Vittorio Venetto. But clearly, the British were lucky. A single reversed roll would see the British flee the area. The Italian stayed, the British too. On the next week, the British fleet once more surprised the Italian fleet! Spies ? possibly... The Italians called quit when the Littorio was itself damaged, along with another cruiser. The month had been quite bad for the Italian navy. This felt somewhat good for the British admiralty, which had suffered and still suffered from the exceedingly successful Italian submarine raids. The British economy had not yet fully recovered from the previous blows.

Meanwhile, Italian destroyers succesfully succeeded in rupturing the British suppies in the East Mediterranean ; but these success were short lived as the Commonwealth brought convoy over convoy to keep the army rolling, whatever the cost.

Taking the opportunity that a sizeable part of the Royal navy was occupied in the mediterranean, and in particular the sole efficient carrier, Germany decided to run north of the british islands to join a repaired Bordeau port. It was met and surprised by the old batleship fleet ; a monstrous battle involving 8 battleships and 5 cruisers on the British side, against a supposedly faster and leaner force of 1 battleship and 5 cruisers on the german side. The british used the surprise to inflict the maximum damage, rather than protect themselves. As a result, the combat was bloody: the Bismark, Blücher, Hipper, Spee and Deutchland were damaged, while on the British side, the Niels Juel was sunk, the Newcastle was damage, and the resolution was forced to flee. The result was that a large victory, as the German fleet was suddenly out of the war, for at least some time. Would the germans repair their ships ?

These failures are watched with wary eyes on the Japanese side : these news mean that the Royal Navy will probably be able to send more ships than expected in the east to defend its possessions. Even though its carrier force is pathetic, it is ennoying.


[image]local://upfiles/30121/F89843934D954940A77FA750362081BC.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/30/2014 12:25:22 PM)

Japan builds:

1 carrier (infrastructures)
1 pilot
3 carrier planes (1 at 0 cost)
2 convoys
1 mech
1 territorial (vietnam)

China builds:
1 cav
1 garrison
1 pilot


Meanwhile, the USA build:
1 Indiana (superstructures)
1 South Dakota (superstructures)
1 Massachussets (superstructures)
1 Alabama (superstructures)
1 Alaska (infrastructures)
As well as carrier planes and a pilot

Obviously, the enemy is Japan!


Germany finishes off with Greece, which is of little importance.

Meanwhile, the British are still extremely busy building their army ; its size is more than half the German army. this means that most indian troops are on board, and that troops appear in Australia or New Zealand. Nothing that the Japanese likes. Malaysia, for example, is garrisoned with three infantries. While air support is severely lacking, capturing the country might be more difficult than initialy expected. The British navy sees no reinforcements, and even damaged ships are hardly repaired! Only convoys are cranked out with excellent regularity.



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/30/2014 6:24:29 PM)

An important European event happens at the beginning of July : the British expeditionnary corps launches a daring assault, not even waiting trailing troops, for fear of being put out of supply. The attack on Trioli is a complete success which spells the end of the presence of Italy in north africa.

The consequences are tremendous: Italy does not have the ability to reclaim Tripoli ; not before several months anyway. The North African army is thus freed of duty and could come back in Asia at any time. Too soon for Japan which, though partially ready as we have seen, is not yet ready to declare war on the USA.

It is also a bad sign for the axis, Tripoli being one of the objective to capture to cause the fall of Italy.

Furthermore, for some consistent time, Italy has been suffering more casualties than it can rebuild... This might force Germany to come and garison Italy, lessening the risk of an attack on Russia in 1942.

It should be noted that the axis indeed had very little time to react to what did not look like a too dangerous attack. The attack on Bardia began at the end of April, Tripoli fell at the very beginning of July : the time frame to bring in reinforcements was quite short.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/FB556502AD254C0FAAB2C212B71536D8.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/31/2014 4:12:36 PM)

The turn was tedious for the Japanese, as nothing happened.

Well, not exactly : tired of not progressing near Chengtow, the carpet bombing raid promised by the air command failing to fullfill the promises, the Japanese launched a blitz attack to reach the unprotected side of the city, which removed a blocking communist army ; they also brought some more artillery.


The Japanese admirals pondered a very very long time, then moved two marine divisions to Truck. The question that was animating the debate was whether it was time to attack the commonwealth. Sound was that the Netherland east-indies were mostly devoid of any serious defense, now that they had been removed by un rather unlucky assault on Palemebang against Mussolini shouting Partisans. The commanders looked at the map of Australia, looking for troops ; saw none. They looked at the map of Malaysia, and saw 4 infantry corps there. They knew the Queens and another transort were cruising in the vicinity. Australia looked quite tempting, but it was too far for an immediate attck : Melbourne would not have easily fallen. Reinforcements would have been brought in time by a transport. And spies told about two corps that were being trained, almost ready. Overall, it smelled bad to just be opportunistic. The attack was rejected by a small majority.

In North Africa, Tripoli did not seem to be enough: the British declared war on Vichy and a mechanized unit entered Tunisia, then Algeria, both undefended. The Germans watched incredibly the corps cover more than 2000km within less than two month, and the absolute inability of the Italians to prevent the refuelling ships from reaching their target. The fact now was unless a miracle, Morocco would also fall within the next month, as it was undefended too! Supply in North Africa would then be ensured...

The Italian incompetence went even farther: they were unable to protect Taranto from Russian bombers. And the fall of Tunisia would make matter worse by shortening the distances.

But the bad news came at the end of July, when the Americans, fed up with the Japanese expansionnism (who had pushed Siam to join on their side) decoded to stop the flow of oil to Japan. The blow was severe: only one synth oil plant now fed the Japanese war machine. The high command had reserves though, but the economy would nevertheless suffer.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/9284BFD7DEDB4E2BA8625948C85C7370.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/31/2014 4:19:07 PM)

In the south, Yamashita waited patiently near Pkhoi ; he was there to secure the area and provide some suplies, but little else. Indeed he discovered some partisans who where almost ready to do some nasty actions. They were dispatched before they were ready : this would show the way for the next volunteers...

Anyway, there was little else to do! with the moonsoon, no troop could move. It was hoped that Kweilin could someday be captured in order to free some troops from garrison duty, but nothing was sure on that regard, and this likely would not happen. The city was too well protected.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/29A686826372411C8BFB8B18FE1F783A.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (8/31/2014 4:37:31 PM)

The Japanese have less resources now to feed the war machine.

They built:
2 convoys
1 pilot
3 carrier air (one at cost 0)
1 artillery
1 mountain div

The Chinese built:
1 Lnd 3
1 garrison
1 infantry div

The japanese found the Lnd3 distrubing: this would possibly disrupt their attack plans in the next year. But it was good that it was an old SB2 and not a modern Boston III...

The USA build:
* 1 Wisconsin (infrainfrastructurestures)
* 1 Missouri (infrastructures)
* 1 amphibious (infrastructures)
* 2 transport (infrastructures)
* 1 transport (superstructures)
* 1 marine engineer
* 3 carrier air (one at cost 0)
* 1 pilot


The production is scheduled for an optimal attack on the USA beginning in early 42. Before that, the carriers won't have their full complement of aircraft. The January production in particular is especially important, with 2 squadrons B5N2 being produced, each having a rating of 5, and a lesser squadron of D3A1 with a rating of 2 to complement a ship. Politicians don't believe that the USA will be ready for war at that time, so confidence is building up.

One pilot is built every turn, and enough should be available by that time too, without even having to change the affectations of the land based aircraft pilots.



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 5:15:17 PM)

Now that time is running short, the Japanese high command decides to launch an assault on Chengtow ; after the war with the USA is started, such actions will become more difficult to manage.

The combat is a full success.

In addition, the Peking militia is destroyed: it won't come back anytime soon!

[image]local://upfiles/30121/C38CA8EA8CC54B4682503C7DE50E352F.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 5:21:46 PM)

In the south, Yamahita receives the same order.
He proceeds dutyfully but comes back in Tokyo to excuse himself for not having rolled a 20.

As in Chengtow, the Kunming militia is destroyed : overall, that's two land unit less in the Chinese force pool.

Now, the southern route for the Chinese resource is almost secure.
ushing to hengyang might be a distinct possibility, now that the moonsoon is over and the weather sould be good. It's not part of the plans though.

The Americans don't like all this noise.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/5E3A9D1A8D7F44BCA845DC92AA90A500.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 9:19:36 PM)

The Chinese army routs in front of the double defeat ; the dam that kept the Japanese army seems broken while troops advance from the north and the south in a huge pincer, helped by a lengthy turn with good weather.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/C6802115770C48728ED487C8656E005A.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 9:24:27 PM)

Hengyang falls on the fly.
The second southern resource is within reach, and the cost was low.


[image]local://upfiles/30121/DB7A34819A7F48FC9639E46CB160A2F6.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 9:45:08 PM)

The destruction of the turn are awfull for the Chinese army.
That's almost three full turns of production (now 5 BPs only) ; when the Japanese attack, otherwise less!
And some get lost to strategic bombing ; if the Japanese suspend their offensive, but keep on destroying at least one BP per turn, that's about five turns of production.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/F64E1C25567A414196D0A9FCBA3F0016.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/1/2014 10:19:08 PM)

The Japanese build:
* 1 pilot
* 3 carrier planes (1 at 0 cost)
* 2 convoys
* 2 inf div
* 1 cav div

The Chinese build:
* 1 inf


The USA build:
* repair Maryland
* repair Colorado
* repair 3 commonwealth cruisers
* repair BB Queen Elisabeth
* 1 para div
* 1 marine div
* 1 mech
* keep 2BP (to lend to France)



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 5:45:07 AM)

The situation at the start of the December turn.
The allies get initiative and move first ; the Chinese want to desentangle themselves from the Jaanese trap. The nationalists got strong reingforcements that went in Changsa ; but Changsa is unproductive now that the resource is contested.

Meanwhile, despite his success, Yamashita got a tap on his hands for using the prepositionned marine troops, that were not his to move.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/5401069963BC41F6A863FBBAE454D5A3.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 7:01:45 PM)

After having successfully destroyed two build points through successfull strategic bombing, the Japanese use the good weather to push their advantage. Yamashita disobeys the orders, as he feels that the Chinese army is on the verge of collapse. Yet, he refrains from attacking, hoping a junction with the forces of Yamamoto coming from the north.

Indeed, Yamamoto succeeds in getting through the river, but the combat was hardly won.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/BCA331807E554D2ABD410DDE060526E1.jpg[/image]



composer99 -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 7:11:42 PM)

Although reaching the Szechwan region doesn't look like it's in the cards, it looks like the Japanese' passive early-game strategy will at least net them one, if not two, of what I would consider the three main reasonable objectives in China, namely control of the Changsha-Nanning railway and resources and an unobstructed north-south rail link.

Only the third, control of Sian, appears to be out of reach.



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 7:56:38 PM)

The winter weather is extremely good, and the Russian thank god that they could prevent an axis attack in the last year.

Meanwhile, Mussolini is becoming nervous as the British take control of Sardinia with extreme ease, destroying a motorized corps in the process.

These events should not really affect the Japanese strategy, but the weakness of the western allies is concerning: The commonwealth could really prove more annying tan expected. Already malaysia is not going to be initially targetted: with four corps in defense, it is already to tough to crack easily. And the East Indies are again garrisoned: they will not be that easy to capture.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/E80261AFAEE34984BB025674B3222A43.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 8:24:58 PM)

The Chinese army could not retreat fast enough and is caught by the japanese troops of Yamamoto. The late winter is a killer...

In Tchang, the Japanese make a new slaughter which the US news realte in great details. The US pick a 5 chit.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/46DC27456D5F443981DB44F18ABF93A1.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 8:35:48 PM)

The pincer that catches Changsha is now extremely difficult to break. Unless the turn ends (unlikely), another infantry is already lost. The two militias from Shangaï and Canton will try to run away through the mountains if they have time : they cannot be rebuilt either.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/5DF1041DD536462AAE1644C926B70944.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 8:53:29 PM)

Outraged by the Tchang affair, the US president consults his staff. He watches carefully his current options. He has not yet passed the law of War appropriation which is still on the drawing board and won't be passed before at least two months. It's clear that declaring war won't happen before at least four turns using the normal means.

With his counsil, he carefully considers the chits he has. There are many chits in the Japanese pool, many being small. His staff explains that they don't believe they can get the congress approve of the war. Les than 10% chance they say.

It doesn't matter, and Roosevelt decides on taking the risk.



[image]local://upfiles/30121/F56515F6508249F9AB67802DA92BAF21.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 9:53:06 PM)

As expected, the Japanese (and Americans too!!!) are quite taken by surprise. They are not ready, and they decide to terminate the offensive in China. It will take extremely long for the Chinese to recover from that blow. Yamashita uses the offensive chit for that purpose. An isolated and disorganized unit is overrun while Yamamotos army closes on te back of the Chinese. Hopefully, the marines have had time to come back to Canton and are now ready.

Meanwhile, the US fleet in Honolulu has safely sailed back to Auckland, joining the more modern elements. However, the fleet is far from functionnal : many aircraft carriers are loaded with obsolete planes.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/5FA5A9F3E9D34C36A66D88D20ABCB3A6.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 10:06:48 PM)

The attack by Yamamoto's troops is a success : Changsha is almost isolated.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/5B9279A616E34C70B372CF80EB1ED211.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 10:10:42 PM)

But despite his offensive, Yamashita fails in Changsha.
Chiang would have chosen a blitz attack if it had been possible : this might have been costly for the Japanese. But since there is no escape route, this was too dangerous...

[image]local://upfiles/30121/8CFD9E9FA1B74FA1BAC65AD9A9F5A124.jpg[/image]



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 10:18:17 PM)

The incredible winter goes on with more fine weather. Its the foruth impulse and there seem to be no end of it! I count that this is a one out of 100 occurence! It will have been extremely costly to the Chinese, but the German commanders watch this with some sadness!

The Chinese will try to salvage what they can from teh Japanese offensive, while nothing much will happen elsewhere.

The Commonwealth consider a preemptive declaration of war against Japan, but curiously this annoys the USA... (this cost two chits removed, and the allies still need them) : OK, so they want to fight it alone!



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/2/2014 10:26:27 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

Although reaching the Szechwan region doesn't look like it's in the cards, it looks like the Japanese' passive early-game strategy will at least net them one, if not two, of what I would consider the three main reasonable objectives in China, namely control of the Changsha-Nanning railway and resources and an unobstructed north-south rail link.

Only the third, control of Sian, appears to be out of reach.


These two objective are indeed close to being fulfilled.
However, going to Sian is something I find too expensive.
Yet, once finished with the Nationalist Chinese, it is quite possible that the Japanese will find some time to tackle the communists.

Note that the successes also held in large part to rather good rolls. Even the bad rolls, such as the failure to take Changsha, have been nice: overall, the Japanese have not lost many units. I did not count exactly, but it is three or four cheap units I believe.

If they have the same kind of luck in the next summer, they may well capture Sian. As always, I won't attack recklessly. The status-quo is quite satisfiying for the Japanese. Especially now that they are close to controlling two more resources. Better 5 resources and no losses than 6 resources that cost many units in fights. In any case, the Chinese can now be tamed with but some strategic bombardment raids. It's likely that careful attacks will attrition the Communist Chinese army enough that at some point it will just crumble like the nationalist army did.



yvesp -> RE: Global War : a Japanese AAR (9/3/2014 7:39:00 AM)

On their part, the Japanese don't have qualms.
They know they have a small window of opportunity to act before the USA are ready. They declare war on te Commonwealth and choose a combined action. This will probably let the remaining Chinese unit escape, but capturing now the Netherland East indies while nobody can oppose is of outmost importance.

The invasion of Batavia is well supported by the fleet's battleships and carrier planes. It is a complete success.
That's four oil that will soon be flowing down to Japan.

[image]local://upfiles/30121/3F966D8DFC8A4E87B790D777FC79DB58.jpg[/image]



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