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Energisteron -> RE: 1000 mile war - liberating the Aleutians (7/12/2017 8:41:15 AM)
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I'd like to thank all those who contributed with ideas, and helpful advice throughout this AAR.
Certainly, I've learned a lot but there's much more to assimilate. I will go off and re-read the rules and hopefully gain a fuller knowledge of the workings of the game.
I have chosen NOT to read the 'reveal screen' at the end so I am still unaware of exactly what I might be facing after Kiska. I will play this again, more aggressively, with the knowledge I've gained and see how it goes.
Ok, let's give a final assessment.
Well, first of all, thanks to the designer of this hypothetical scenario. In my estimation it is an excellent training scenario for a novice, and would be a quick fun game for someone more experienced. In truth it could be played through in a single night, certainly 2 nights, against the AI and one could always ramp up the difficulty. Please note I set this up with a +/-15 day reinforcement window. That was deliberate because I like uncertainty but in such a short scenario (just 60 days) perhaps I stretched the resilience of the design somewhat. I seemed to get reserves on average, as one would expect, approximately on time so I have no complaints. I have no idea if the Japanese AI felt the same!
So what did I do wrong? Did I do anything right? Or was it just a catalogue of errors? Was I lucky or unlucky?
Pivotal features : The US forward base at Adak is hopelessly underdeveloped which drastically hampers air operations and re-supply. Dutch Harbor is in good shape but even here resources become stretched. By resources, I really mean air ops support and naval repair. I never had any shortage of supplies or fuel which seemed to keep topping up nicely throughout.
Kiska is in range of Liberators from Dutch Harbor, but Attu is not and Adak is simply not up to putting large formations of Liberators in the air.
Finally, the weather is almost entirely foul throughout. This reduces the effectiveness of air strikes, and their frequency, as sometimes air ops are cancelled altogether. The bad weather hinders search over (even here) a vast tract of ocean but that also means our naval TF can travel back and forth to bombard with seeming impunity (unless you were on BB Pennsylvania when that SSX hit it!).
Operational factors : It is now obvious that naval bombardment is by far the most effective way of degrading the defence. I was concerned about losing big ships to air strikes but now realise that the bad weather cloaked them to some degree. In any case, I adopted the tactic of escorting TF with fighters from Dutch Harbor until the task was handed over to fighters from Adak. The latter could just provide a CAP over unloading at Kiska. In the open sea, no enemy subs intervened at all, but except for one fast CA TF, I always provided adequate DD escorts.
My one CVE, which in any case is not available at the start, is not capable of contesting air-space over an occupied island unless the defending fighters have been severely depleted. It may be my subjective opinion, but it seems to be borne out by the facts (aircraft losses), that only Wildcats and Lightnings are capable of combatting Zeros on anything like equal terms, and the Lightnings were always at the limit of their range from Dutch Harbor. Warhawks seemed to be out-classed. Of the bombers, the Liberators did splendid work but it did not come cheap. In large formations they do seem to be able to fend off the fighters. Venturas especially and to a lesser extent Mitchells are more vulnerable and must be escorted until we have air-supremacy.
In this scenario, I seem to arrive when someone else has set out his plan, since all infantry units at Dutch Harbor, and those that arrive later, are pre-set for an attack on Kiska or Attu. Most are set for Attu. I do not think those few units set to planning for Kiska at the start could have taken the place so some considerable re-jigging was needed. Additionally only civilian transports are available at start. As evidenced by my 2nd wave invasion, APAS discharge their troops much faster drastically speeding up troop build up and offensive capability, while reducing the risks to the vessels themselves from loitering at the beachhead too long. I should have waited for the release of the APAs before making any attack!
Now to the HQ situation. There's just 2, the North Pacific HQ and an Air Force HQ, both at Dutch Harbor. Since operations of any significance certainly start from there it is probably best to leave it there until the troops are about to invade. Then the HQ can be moved up to Adak at the same time.
Mistakes : Yes, I admit it!
I didn't bring up the HQ soon enough (due to lack of fast transports) but I really should have got it to Adak sooner.
I didn't begin naval bombardment soon enough (wary of air attack and subs).
I didn't try replenishing BB or CA from ammo tenders moved up from Dutch Harbor to Adak (my excuse, I'd experienced just how bad the dock there was!) which could have reduced turnaround time and led to multiple attacks in a single week.
I launched medium bombers against an intact fighter defence (I thought they were more degraded!) and at too low an altitude so they were hit by flak.
Worst of all, I used Warhawks to straf at 2000ft (because I thought the fighters were just about done) and they were decimated by flak. I did it just once.
I made insufficient use of night bombing (operational losses increased at night, and likelihood of a raid occurring in bad weather was reduced till further)
On land, I'm not sure I made mistakes, but maybe I launched the invasion a fraction too soon and without immediately available reserves (lack of transports).
Lessons Learned : Next time, I will ramp up the number of bombardment missions to the max, use night bombing at first and then switch to day time raids with Liberators. Infantry will be switched to target Kiska from the start and they will load up in APAs, supplies following in xAKs. The HQ will move to Adak as the invasion force goes in.
Overall, I really enjoyed this scenario.
Thanks again to all who've encouraged me and offered advice.
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