Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.)

Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (Full Version)

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dtravel -> Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (7/15/2004 6:35:01 AM)
Playing my first game as the Allies in the GC against the Japanese AI. Checked my SigInt report and saw that a particular LCU was prepping to attack Davao. I couldn't see any enemy TFs in the immediate vicinity but figured I'd take a chance and diverted a pair of my own TFs. The first was the CL Boise all on its own, the second the CA Houston with three DD escorts. I think the gamble paid off. [:D] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Davao at 41,61 Japanese Ships ML Ikitsushima, Shell hits 29, and is sunk MSW Tomozono Maru #3, Shell hits 7, and is sunk AP Astuga Maru AP Atsuta Maru, Shell hits 1 AP Kimishima Maru AP Sumanoura Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage AP Tarushima Maru AP Tatsujin Maru, Shell hits 25, and is sunk AP Tatsuta Maru AP Teiryu Maru AP Tenryu Maru AP Toyo Maru #2 AP Ujigawa Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire AP Yamafuku Maru AP Zyuyo Maru, Shell hits 28, and is sunk AP Chinko Maru, Shell hits 32, and is sunk AP Daitei Maru AK Tokiwasan Maru Allied Ships CL Boise, Shell hits 4 Japanese ground losses: 2583 casualties reported Guns lost 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat at 42,62 Japanese Ships AP Astuga Maru, Shell hits 1 AP Atsuta Maru, Shell hits 8, on fire AP Kimishima Maru AP Sumanoura Maru, on fire, heavy damage AP Tarushima Maru AP Tatsuta Maru AP Teiryu Maru, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage AP Tenryu Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire AP Toyo Maru #2, Shell hits 16, on fire, heavy damage AP Ujigawa Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire AP Yamafuku Maru, Shell hits 2 AP Daitei Maru AK Tokiwasan Maru Allied Ships CA Houston, Shell hits 1 DD John D. Ford DD Pillsbury DD Pope Japanese ground losses: 685 casualties reported Guns lost 28 Another one of the APs sank shortly afterward from the damage, taking another 500 or so IJA troops with it. I was particularly impressed by the Boise's performance. But I suspect the Houston could have done as well if the IJN hadn't scattered and fled immediately.

Grotius -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 7:11:22 AM)
LoL, I enjoyed seeing a report of one lone CL versus fifteen enemy ships! Pretty cool. You're a braver man than I. My ships in the DEI have basically skulked around. Of course, that has something to do with the fact that the Japanese carriers show up with annoying regularity. :)

Alikchi2 -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 7:33:03 AM)
Hahaha, nice! I bet Boise's experience levels went way up.. save that ship!!! [:D]

tabpub -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 9:11:40 AM)
Note to self: check the SigInt thingie, wherever that is.... edited to say... "Good show, old boy!"

Moquia -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 1:58:52 PM)
The Davao naval turkey shoot [:D]. And like Alikchi said, save her. She will come handy later with SG radar and all.

dtravel -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 4:07:03 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: tabpub Note to self: check the SigInt thingie, wherever that is.... Signal Intelligence. One of the buttons on the top of the main display, keyboard shortcut 'L'. As can be seen, a potentially useful information source. [:D]

kaleun -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 9:04:53 PM)
quote: Signal Intelligence. One of the buttons on the top of the main display, keyboard shortcut 'L'. As can be seen, a potentially useful information source. Have to start looking at it. Congratulations on actually landing such a great blow early on! (I was patting myself on the back because my heroic defenders at Naga attacked the japanese and drove them back to Legaspi[:(])

dtravel -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/15/2004 10:54:47 PM)
Well, continued that game and went to check on the Boise. It could have been much worse for the Japanese. Turns out the only reason the Boise broke off was because she had emptied her magazines. The crew had fired off every 6" round they had on board! Reload!! [:'(][:D]

dtravel -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/16/2004 10:40:11 PM)
Additional reports from the front Its now 16 Dec (previous report was from 13 Dec), several items. (I swear the AI did this just to piss me off.) Japanese bombers attacking British forces in Malay today dropped their bombs to land in a perfect swastika pattern. Reports are that British troops were not amused. [sm=00000106.gif] The Silent Service has begun their job of destroying the Japanese merchant fleet. US and Dutch subs are finding themselves in a target rich environment off the coast of Indochina. No subs have been reported lost after torpedoing almost a dozen merchants. Either I'm really good with cruisers or the AI needs to escort their invasion forces better. The Japanese landed forces at Rabaul and I responded by sending the CA Canberra, CL Perth and DD Le Triomphant followed by the CL Adelaide. The first TF arrived today and promptly ran into a pair of Japanese mines. (Wankers. [sm=00000003.gif]) However, they still surprised the Japanese in a night action, inflicting serious damage. Too bad it was after they had unloaded most or all of their troops. (Still trying to figure out how my running into their mines destroyed two of their dive bombers. I think I may have found a bug here.) AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/16/41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 1107 encounters mine field at Rabaul (61,88) Japanese aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed Allied Ships CL Perth, Mine hits 1 DD Le Triomphant, Mine hits 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Rabaul at 61,88 Japanese Ships MSW Tama Maru, Shell hits 9, and is sunk PG Nikkai Maru, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk PG Seikai Maru, Shell hits 27, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk ML Takashima, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage ML Kurosaki PC Toshi Maru #3 PC Tama Maru #8, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage PC Shonon Maru #15, Shell hits 16, and is sunk PC Takunan Maru #2 AP Haruna Maru, Shell hits 1 AP Katsuragisan Maru Allied Ships CA Canberra, Shell hits 1 CL Perth, Shell hits 2 DD Le Triomphant, Shell hits 1, on fire Okay, so maybe the transports weren't entirely unescorted [:'(], but still, PCs vs Cruisers? 8" shells fired at only 2000 yards hurt! And in a final report, Intelligence reports that yet another transport damaged off Davao sank today somewhere west of Palau. The real kicker? SigInt reports that the Japanese 56th Brigade still thinks it is going to be attacking Davao. [sm=crazy.gif] Further news may or may not follow, as I feel like it. [:D]

dtravel -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/18/2004 2:36:20 AM)
Assuming anyone is still reading this, it looks like I'm in the mood to continue reporting on my game. I'm not going to detail everything that happens. This will be more of a higher level general overview of the war and my impressions of the flow. The scenario is the Grand Campaign. Other than some messing around with the tutorial this will be my first WiTP game. I figure my education will mirror that of the real life Allied commanders. [:D] All the realism options are on, Automatic Submarine operations is off and the Japanese AI is set to Historical. Its now 21 Dec 41. My general plan is a cautiously aggressive defense. I'll try to take advantage of any opportunities I see (such as the Davao Target Range, mentioned earlier [:)]) without risking too much. Wake and Guam both fell on the 8th. Hong Kong didn't last long either, it fell on either the 8th or 9th (don't remember). The Japanese have occupied all the Gilbert Islands except Baker Island. Currently I have a cruiser there but no LCU garrison yet. I have a feeling it will be next, so the Lexington and Saratoga are enroute to the area. I seem to be having unusually good luck intercepting invasion convoys, maybe I can continue that trend. I may have them try some raids on the Gilberts, haven't deceided yet. The Enterprise has just arrived back at Pearl after raiding the Marshalls. Didn't do much damage, but what the hey. The first ground units are just reaching Hawaii from the West Coast. From there I will forward them to places I feel a need to garrison. Still thinking on where they should go. In the Phillipines, the Japanese control Lingayen, Vigan, Laoag and Aparri on the north end of Luzon; Legaspi on the south. An attack on Naga about a week into hostilities was turned back by the arrival of one of my US Armored units from Manila. That unit was then rushed back to Clark Field. (This gamble appears to have paid off. My subs have just attacked transports leaving Legaspi carrying troops. I'll have to consider a counter-offensive to recapture it.) Tuguegarao has been held by two Phillipine Army divisions against two IJA tank regiments for several days now via Bombardment attacks. I think I'll try one day's Deliberate Attack, see if my infantry can do some damage to his unprotected (by infantry) armor. The one Phillipine division in San Marcelino just came under attack from one Japanese unit. The IJA may be trying to bypass the heavy defenses of Clark Field on their way to Bataan. Fortunately I have a strong (I hope) garrison there so I'm not worried about Clark getting cut off yet. On Mindanao the Japanese landed at undefended Butuan and are currently attacking Cagayan. But their forces here are weak and I think the garrison will be able to hold until the PA division arrives from Davao. (On the gripping hand, my subs in the Phillipines and PBY patrols are reporting Japanese ship movements along the west coast of Luzon. A second wave against Mindanao?) No attacks yet on the DEI. I have freighters grabbing resources and oil and shipping them to Darwin. I'm going to risk a couple of smaller AKs on runs to Bataan. They picked up supplies from empty Dutch bases and will try to drop them off there. The only other activity here has been some Martin's out of Brunei failing miserably to hit some Japanese shipping NW of Taytay and losing a destroyer to a Jap sub just west of Pontianak. The DD was part of a four ship ASW TF and the sub was quickly sunk also. Speaking of sub operations, I am detecting a bit of overconfidence among my own submarine captains. There have been a rash of daytime surface attacks on Japanese merchants, including one just outside of Camranh Bay on a tanker. On the other hand they may have reason. Once they reached station off the Indochina coast there has been an average two to four attacks on meatball flagged shipping a day! Most successful, despite some torpedo problems. A couple of subs were ineffectively straffed by search planes north of Luzon and what I suspect was a passing group of destroyers enroute between Malaya and Japan made a couple of half-hearted depth charge runs (no damage), but otherwise they are in a Happy Hunting Ground situation so far. We'll see how long that lasts. In Malaya, Kuantan and Khota Bharu have fallen. Alor Star just fell after holding out for a week, which was better than I had expected. Kuala Lumpur is just coming under attack. (Just as one of my freighters arrived to grab the resources there. [X(] I suspect Cdr. Olaguer, captain of the Legazpi is not too happy with me right now. [:'(]) To the north Victoria Point and Tavoy have both been captured and Moulmein is now under attack. An RAF Base Force that was at Victoria Point is trying desparately to make its way north from behind enemy lines. Don't know if they are going to make it. Air raids on Rangoon began just after a couple of convoys carrying reinforcements and supplies from India arrived there. The CL Dauntless and a transport have both been heavily damaged but unloading is proceeding. For now further reinforcements will have to land at Akyab and try to make it overland the rest of the way. As a general note on ground combat so far, despite losing bases and being driven back I suspect that I am bleeding the IJA some. The combat reports have been fairly consistently reporting more Japanese casualties than Allied, even when I am forced to retreat. That may just be FOW but one can hope. Not a lot of action in China yet. I spread the Chinese Air Force out and they are trying to make bombing runs on some Japanese troops. They're not very good at it yet. But at least they've proven they know how to fly the planes, so I have high hopes that they will eventually figure out that there is a bomb sight. (Which is more than I can say for US bombers in the Phillipines. I've had the B-17s there set for ground attack for two weeks now and not a single sortie. They're not at size 1 air bases so I don't know what the problem is.) Nanning got left ungarrisoned and I was able to move a group of Chinese divisions in and capture it. (This is how I learned that you can't just occupy the empty hex. You have to actually attack the empty base! [:o]) I also sent some forces south toward Canton, thinking that I could hit the Hong Kong attackers from the rear. 40 to 50K IJA troops in Canton said [:-]. So I'm settling for digging in just outside Canton and hoping to bottle those forces up. The Bismarks and Rabaul. <rubs the bridge of his nose> Someone is being overconfident here. I'm just not sure if its me or the AI yet. In my previous report I detailed my reactions to the landings at Rabaul. Since then I have left the task force in Rabaul harbor providing fire support for the defenders. I'm unloading supplies at Port Moresby and Gili Gili as well as base support staff at Gili Gili. (Its a convienent stop between Oz and Rabaul.) I'm going to try to build them up as air bases. Minesweepers are (slowly) on their way to clear the Japanese minefield. (With a refueling stop of Gili Gili. The range on minesweepers is so low. Its hard to even move them between neighboring ports, let alone get them to anyplace useful.) I managed to get Sparrow Force into Rabaul today and they are unloading (although one of the transports did manage to hit two mines on the way in). I also got a freighter in with supplies (this one without hitting any of the bobbing metal spheres) which is currently unloading as well. Given the interrupted unloading of the Japanese ships, I think I'll be able to hold the base against this first attack. The only thing that is making me nervous are the Japanese recon flights over Emirau Island. I don't have a garrison there and I'm unlikely to be able to get one there anytime soon. Why is he taking pictures of an empty island? Hmmmm.... I had a PBY sighting of what must have been KB north of Midway about a week ago but nothing since. There were a couple of strikes from small carriers NW of Luzon and Dutch Martins helped the IJN wash one of their CVLs a little south of there around the same time as the PBY report, but otherwise nothing on IJN carrier locations. (Yet.) I think that pretty much covers events so far. Further reports to come (hopefully [:)]).

andytimtim -> RE: A short report on the defense of the Phillipines (7/18/2004 3:33:00 PM)
ive got a name for you AAR... Defend all fronts, the japs are coming!! ...or... Pacific War:The Uncommon Foe[:D]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/18/2004 11:12:18 PM)
First off, as people can see I came up with a name for this AAR. A bit generic perhaps, but its a kinda generic AAR. [:'(] 22 Dec 41 I think the submariners Happy Hunting Ground days are over. Three different, serious, ASW attacks on Allied subs today. The Dutch sub O19 near Saigon was damaged (sys 21, flt 72). She's on her way to Sinkep Island. If Damage Control can get the flotation damage under control there, she'll fall back to her home port of Soerabaja for further repairs. The other two attacks were north of Luzon. In each case the IJN group was made up of multiple destroyers, so I think all the early merchant losses have upset the IJN. [:D] In other sub related news a Jap sub attacked one of the destroyer escorts of my carrier group near Baker Island. The torpedoes missed and the destroyers are reporting one depth charge hit on the sub. I don't think it spotted the carriers (weren't included in the combat report) but I'll have to move them anyways. Maybe southwest.... Moulmein fell today. The defenders (1st and 2nd Burma Brigades and two RAF base forces) were just too tired and weak to hold for any length of time. Setting them to fall back to Rangoon. If the IJA continues their rapid followup this will be unpleasant. Air attacks on Rangoon continue. My ships there have finished unloading and are attempting to load up on oil and resources. One freighter that had already finished loading was attacked west of Rangoon by a flight of 30 Sally's and a trio of Betty's. The torps all missed but she was hit by five 250kg bombs. She is continueing to limp her way to Colombo. Artillery duels continued in Kuala Lompur. At Tuguegarao I didn't make my proposed counter-attack. Turned out to be a good thing as the Sasebo 2nd SNLF had reinforced the armored units. My Phillipine troops there (two divisions and two US base units) will try to continue to hold for as long as they can. The garrison at Naga (2 PA divisions and 2 USAAF base units also) is reporting a Japanese force approaching the base. They will have to hold on their own, with enemy forces near Clark and San Marcelino under attack I'm not risking another run south by one of my armored units. Fighting continues at Cagayan. And I have confirmed the approach of a IJN convoy towards the southern part of Mindanao from the vicinity of Palau. I suspect its the same force that was so roughly handled by the Boise. Well, the Boise and Houston are ready and waiting to do it again. This time they are backed up by the CL Marblehead and her five destroyers in a separate TF as well as the sub Swordfish waiting in their path. [sm=00000622.gif] And I think I'm being bit by a serious AI related bug. My B-17s in the Phillipines are STILL refusing to fly missions AND my PT Boat TF at Bataan has failed to react to at least two enemy TFs sailing by in the adjacent hex. (They are set with a 6 hex reaction radius.) Someone needs to check this or explain it to me, please. I have a hunch that it is related to their being associated with a restricted command/HQ, but that's just a feeling. (The bombers are at size 2 and 4 airfields, have supplies and zero fatigue. So what the [sm=00000003.gif][sm=00000018.gif][sm=00000643.gif][sm=Christo_pull_hair.gif]<heavily censored> is going on here!!!) Skirmishing continues at Rabaul. The poor performance of the Japanese force there leads me to believe that they are either very low on or completely out of supplies. I may risk a counter-attack on them in the next day or two. I am becoming concerned about the supply situation in China but I don't see any way of addressing it since I can't control the movement of supplies overland. Otherwise I am slowly learning how to handle logistics in the game. I suspect I have too many freighters at Karachi and I know I don't have enough in the SF-Pearl area. That appears to be a legacy of the initial setup though. I need to think about if and how to move some shipping from one to the other. Other than that it was a relatively quiet day. More reports to follow.

andytimtim -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/19/2004 1:29:04 AM)
aawwww boooooo!!! [sm=nono.gif] you havn't used my AAR name suggestion!! [8D]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/19/2004 1:58:45 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: andytimtim aawwww boooooo!!! [sm=nono.gif] you havn't used my AAR name suggestion!! [8D] Sorry, but they just "weren't me". (I could say it was because your avatar creeps me out but you'd probably think that was a compliment. [:'(] )

andytimtim -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/19/2004 2:00:17 AM)
alot of ppl say that about my avatar!!, ...you must bow down to it if you want to live!![&o][&o][&o]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/19/2004 4:26:12 AM)
23 Dec 41 It isn't going to be a happy Christmas. Georgetown in Malaya is under attack and the units there are just not up to any meaningful defense. They're almost out of supplies and the dispruption and fatigue are too high. I'm abandoning the base (have to leave the CD unit behind) and going to try to move the units south towards Singapore. I doubt they are going to make it. Taiping and Kuala Lompur are also under attack and I don't know how long Malacca is going to be spared. I think its time to abandon most of the pennisula and try to move south for a stand outside Singapore. British Empire forces in the region are just useless.[sm=00000007.gif] The Imperial Air Force launched a bombing raid against Yenen in China. This is one of the places where I had moved Chinese Air Force units to, in this case a wing of I-16c fighters. My respect for the Chinese pilots is continueing to climb. The entire squadron scrambled and managed to claim two Nate kills with only damage to two of their own. The British freighter damaged yesterday outside Rangoon sank today. At least it denied some resources to the enemy. Another freighter was damaged in Rangoon harbor today. It was just finishing unloading supplies and I doubt it will get out now. The rest of the freighters broke off loading and are making a run for Colombo. That just leaves the CL Dauntless trying to patch holes in the hull (floatation damage) before its too late. A convoy of enemy transports was spotted to the immediate SW of Singapore. An attack by Swordfish and Vildebeest torpedo bombers managed to put one fish into the side of one of them and two into the side of a second. They didn't see any additional ships but I'm not counting on any luck in this region. More skirmishes at Rabaul. The minesweepers arrived and have begun work. The 101st Phillipine division finally reached Cagayan. Fighting continues there and at Tuguegarao and San Marcelino, with enemy reinforcements continueing to show up on the line at Tuguegarao. After being left alone for a few days Clark Field came under air attack again. All I have left there are the chewed up remenants of three fighter wings, the bombers having been moved south some time ago. I'm trying to deceide what to do with those since they seem constitutionally incapable of flying actual missions. I've transferred them to the SWPac command, I just need to figure out where to rebase them to. (Seriously, if someone can give me some idea why the f<bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep> won't fly I would appreciate it.) An S Class sub managed to put a torpedo into a freighter outside Tuguegarao. Otherwise the Silent Service was silent. The invasion force I was expecting near Mindanao has disappeared. No idea what happened. Maybe US PBYs or Dutch Do24K-2s will find it tomorrow. (Flying Boat patrols I have in abundance in the Phillipines and DEI. They're about the only thing I have in area that seems to be able to do much.) I'm sending the carrier group with the Lexington and the Saratoga on a raid against the Gilberts. I'll try to hit the ports, see if I can catch something in the harbors. The Enterprise has arrived back at Pearl. What to do with her? Hmm, maybe raid Wake? I'll have to think on that. Its been long enough since I spotted the Jap carriers to worry me. I think that covers everything for today. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/20/2004 11:51:52 PM)
There two things that I am finding I have to "adjust" to in WiTP when compared to by other gaming experience. First is the logistics and supply. Not really a surprise, although I am finding it slightly annoying that I've twice had to up my estimates of how much I have to ship by an order of magnitude. [:'(] I can deal with that. The other is the pace of operations. Its a lot slower than I'm used to. (Or at least feels that way.) This isn't to say its a bad thing, just very different. On to the reports. 24 Dec 41 The Japanese have definitely begun to escort their shipping. Three sub attacks today and in all three the subs had to dodge escorts. The Sargo suffered minor damage (Sys 8 Flt 15) near Legaspi but is continueing her patrol after successfully hitting a troop transport. The other attacks were complete washes on both sides. Air activity was light today. The lack of air raids on Singapore and Rangoon are nice, but worry me. The remaining freighters in Rangoon took the opportunity to start their run for Colombo, carrying 6K Resource and 3K Oil. Its something but still leaves a kay of Resource and almost 10K of Oil. The Dauntless continues repairs. The enemy did bomb the airfield at Taiping. Since I have no aircraft there and I know I'm going to lose the base my reaction was "Oh, yes, please. Bomb the crap out of it. You have my blessings." 50 Bettys attacked the 101st PA division recently arrived at Cagayan, severly disrupting the unit. So much for a quick counter-attack here. They also made an attempt on the freighters at Rabaul finishing unloading, but scored no hits. Minesweepers continued to remove Japanese mines there. The transports spotted and attacked near Singapore yesterday were apparently not detered. They are continueing north thru the Malacca Straight and a second convoy has been spotted about a hundred miles ESE of Singapore headed west. Vildebeests put another torpedo into a troop transport in the first convoy. Unfortunately I have basically no naval assets in the immediate area due to the enemy's domination of the air over the Malaya pennisula. Likewise air assets are weak. Royal Navy forces have been concentrated at Trimcomalee, including the BBs Prince of Wales and Revenge and the CVL Hermes. (The BC Repulse was lost to air attack while fleeing Singapore, having been heavily damaged in the initial air raids on that port.) I am going to put together some TFs and hope that air cover from the Hermes along with the three CLAAs available will suffice to protect the battleships and cruisers while they attack Japanese convoys trying to get past Singapore. Georgetown fell. A couple of units made it out but apparently most of them were cut off and surrendered along with the base when subjected to a Banzai attack. Ten thousand POWs are being reported by Japanese propaganda radio. In the Phillipines Naga is under attack. In addition to forces moving up from Legaspi the Japanese also staged an amphibious assault. I'm going to pull out the two US base support units there towards Manila and let the two Phillipine divisions hold for as long as they can. Not much in the way of supply or resource stockpiles left there, but I can't do anything about the 33K of fuel still on base. San Marcelino fell but Tuguegarao continues to hold out. Ground combat continues at all the other locations previously reported. The Enterprise is enroute to raid Wake. The Lex and Sara have begun their approach to the Gilberts, but no contact has been reported yet. The convoy I was expecting near Mindanao has been spotted again. Based on their apparent speed it contains damaged transports, lending support to my theory that this is still the same force repulsed early in the war. Can't think of anything else to add. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/21/2004 4:34:44 AM)
Christmas Day, 1941 The submarine war continues. It is now developing into a cat-n-mouse game between Allied subs (mostly US around the Phillipines) and Jap escorts. The S-38 put a torpedo into a troop transport off Appari and the S-41 was depth charged and heavily damaged off Vigan. Meanwhile the IJN submarines make their presence known. One torpedoes and sinks the DD Whipple in the same strait where one of her consorts was lost 4 days ago. The remaining two destroyers of the task force report multiple hits on the sub but intelligence can't confirm a sinking. Also, another Jap sub was attacked by the MSW escorts of an Allied convoy just north of Jesselton. They also report at least one hit on the enemy submersible. One of the freighters that left Rangoon earlier were sunk today (the Honolulan) by Japanese aircraft. Others were hit and at least one is still burning heavily. (As a side note, I am beginning to understand some people's concern about a potential bug with Nell and Betty bombers. It really does seem that if they carry torpedoes they are guaranteed at least one, usually two, hits per flight of three no matter what. It would be nice to see at least an occasional miss by them.) Also, the freighter Legazpi has been heavily damaged. She had managed to complete loading and had left Kuala Lampur before being attacked by over a dozen Sonia dive bombers. She is burning, dead in the water. And in a final loss of shipping, a convoy arrived in Singapore today carrying the 3rd Carabineers Armored Regiment. I had forgotten about this and they made it all the way to reinforce Singapore before being attacked. The Shinkuang was sunk and another ship damaged after unloading the AFVs. On the other hand the enemy doesn't seem to have learned the same lesson themselves regarding aircraft and shipping. Overnight SigInt reported a ship rescueing survivors in the Malacca Strait at the approximate location of that first convoy I mentioned yesterday. Vildebeests out of Bankha along with the sub Trusty pumped multiple torpedoes into the remaining ship, sinking it today. At the same time, the second convoy (this one freighters instead of troop transports) was attacked and heavily damaged by a mixed force of Swordfish, Buffalo, Veldebeest and Hurricane IIs (talk about a mixed up menagerie! [:'(]) out of Singapore, leaving both ships burning. Another air raid on Rabaul was ineffective, scoring no hits. I've been lucky here so far but I'm going to have to push my luck here just a bit further. The freighters are almost empty and the minesweepers are making progress on the minefield. They should be able to make a run for Brisbane tomorrow. Dive bombers off the Lexington and Saratoga hit the port at Makin. They were only able to do minor damage. The Enterprise continues to steam towards Wake. Fighting continued at all the bases currently under attack, with no significant changes reported. That enemy convoy SE of Mindanao is going to drive me insane. They just can NOT make up their minds whether they are coming or going. They now appear to be heading east again, toward Palau. If I only had some aircraft suitable for naval attack in the area. Speaking of which, Dutch flying boats have spotted a convoy heading for Kuching apparently from Camranh Bay. They are claiming that there is a CA and two DEs escorting five AKs. I've got some Martins and PT boats at Kuching and there are two British CLs (the Dragon and Durban) that should reach there before the enemy does but I don't think that's going to be enough. All in all, I don't think I'm doing too badly some two plus weeks into the war. I've managed to whack some fingers off the Japanese war machine when they've sent freighters off too far unescorted. And I'm managing a fighting withdrawal in Malaya and the Phillipines. My subs are making a dent in Japanese shipping that I am hoping will cause him a few problems in the not too distant future. But I can also understand the historical concerns of Allied commanders. It really does feel like you're trying to turn back the tide with nothing but a tattered broom. We'll see how successful I am at that in the next few weeks. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/22/2004 3:20:34 AM)
A note on dates in this AAR. I write each of these right after combat resolution has finished and the date I use is the one listed in the game at that point. I supose that technically all the combats occur on the previous day, but I'm handwaving that by saying that it takes 24 hours for the reports to filter up the chain of command to me as Allied Leader. [:'(] 26 Dec 41 Busy day this time. First, while my search aircraft were fixated on that indecisive Davao invasion force the IJN snuck a ship or convoy in to Menado and unloaded troops. Intel places it at less than a thousand troops but its not like I have much there to stop them, just the garrison from the beginning of the war. The S-40 spotted a Japanese battleship (believed to be the Kirishima) north of Vigan. Before she could do more than radio a spotting report she was attacked by a heavy destroyer escort. She's still, barely, afloat but probably won't make it (Flt 90). The Trusty slammed three torpedoes into a freighter in the Mallaca Strait, sinking it immediately. This appears to be that same followup convoy. And the Snapper made a surface attack on another freighter near Wenchow. A Japanese sub attacked but missed the cruiser Durban as she was moving to protect Kuching. My carrier group in the Gilberts was spotted by enemy recon but not attacked. Dive bombers from those ships hit Makin port again, doing minor damage. In China the Japanese launched a raid on Yenen. 13 Chinese I-16c fighters got the better of the 19 escorting Nates, driving about half of them off and claiming kills on most of the rest. They then shot down a few of the Sonia's and disrupted the attack on their own airfield. Apparently the Chinese have been listening to the lessons from the AVG. A heavy air raid on Singapore damaged the airfield there. Repairs were quickly made. Fortunately there was nothing in the harbor for them to attack, the remaining two freighters having finished unloading and leaving just a few hours earlier. Unfortunately the raid also destroyed almost a dozen aircraft on the ground. The Japs are definitely coming to the DEI, with the previously mentioned landing at Menado, yesterday's spotting of a heavily escorted convoy and an air raid on Brunei today. The raid did no effective damage but does serve to let me know the enemy is focusing on the area. In what is probably the largest air action of the war to date (save possibly Pearl Harbor), Clark Field came under heavy air attack. The defending fighters (mostly P-40 Warhawks) very roughly handled the morning attack by land-based air. But they were not as successful against an afternoon strike by Nip carriers to the north. The escorting fighters for that came in two waves. The first was (I believe) carrier based Zeros, which shot down much of the defending CAP. The surviving defenders did much better against the second escort group of Claudes, claiming many kills. But the escorts kept the defenders too busy to engage the bombers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51 Japanese aircraft Ki-27 Nate x 28 Ki-30 Ann x 27 Ki-48 Lily x 27 Ki-15 Babs x 2 Ki-36 Ida x 3 Allied aircraft P-26A x 3 P-35A x 3 P-40B Tomahawk x 4 P-40E Warhawk x 34 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-27 Nate: 30 destroyed Ki-30 Ann: 13 destroyed, 10 damaged Ki-48 Lily: 18 destroyed, 5 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-26A: 1 damaged P-40B Tomahawk: 1 damaged P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged Airbase hits 9 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 23 Aircraft Attacking: 10 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 14000 feet 19 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet 3 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51 Japanese aircraft A5M4 Claude x 19 A6M2 Zero x 48 D3A Val x 18 B5N Kate x 24 Allied aircraft P-26A x 3 P-35A x 3 P-40B Tomahawk x 5 P-40E Warhawk x 30 Japanese aircraft losses A5M4 Claude: 30 destroyed, 1 damaged A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed D3A Val: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged B5N Kate: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-26A: 6 destroyed P-35A: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged P-40B Tomahawk: 11 destroyed, 1 damaged P-40E Warhawk: 25 destroyed Allied ground losses: 23 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 18 Aircraft Attacking: 17 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet 23 x B5N Kate bombing at 9000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Between the morning action over Clark and the Chinese victory at Yenen, I am beginning to suspect that Nates are not really very good fighters. [:'(] There were also various ground attack missions flow by both sides (Malaya, Mindanao and Rabaul) and an attack on Rangoon. While numerous aircraft were used little damage was done by any of these. The saga of the Legazpi continues. She was hit by 10 [X(] bombs today but is somehow still afloat and trying to make headway. Tuguegarao held against a heavy enemy attack and artillery dueled at Naga. The rear guard at Taiping held despite greater than 10 to 1 odds, but its time for them to bug out. Kuala Lumpur continues to hold. The counter-attack at Rabaul showed that the Japs were not as weak as I had thought and suffered heavy casualties, I suspect in part due to disruption by enemy air attacks. The counter-attack at Cagayan fizzled almost before it began with inconclusive results and minimal casualties on both sides. Given the incident with the S-40, the heavy carrier air attack on Clark and PBY sighting reports, I think most of the IJN carrier strength is now north of Luzon heading west towards Singapore. While that is good news for my US carrier raids it doesn't bode well for the Brits and Malaya. Or the Dutch and Borneo. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/22/2004 9:55:21 AM)
27 Dec 41 Well, the saga of the Legazpi ended today. It took an addition six bomb hits (for a total of over 20!) but Sonia dive bombers finally sank her. Also, one of the freighters earlier damaged while at Rangoon sank enroute back to India. The final two freighters that had delivered an armored regiment to Singapore were also attacked and damaged. And one of the freighters sent to Bataan to try and deliver supplies was torpedoed by a flight of Nells near Puerto Princesa. It looks like I'm on track to repeat the historical fact that the Merchant Marine suffered the highest casualty percentage of all the Allied military services. [:(] On the other hand Singapore is proving its strategic importance as Hurricanes and Vildebeests from there attacked another Japanese troop transport attempting to reach the Malacca Strait. This Strait and its vicinities are turning into a graveyard for shipping. The only submarine activity this day was by the Perch. She strafed a freighter with her 50 cal machine guns near Camranh Bay. Japanese Betty bombers continued to attack Allied forces at Cagayan and Rabaul. If I didn't know better I'd suspect the enemy was concerned about more counter-attacks at those locations. Other aircraft continued the aerial seiges of Rangoon and Singapore. British Blenheim bombers evacuated from Malaya to Sumatra have given up on attempting to slow Jap troops down directly and have switched to attempts to surpress the enemy's aerial activity by bombing their own old bases. Georgetown especially is going to have to be put out of action to allow surviving friendly shipping to return to India. The rear guard at Taiping retreated from the base just ahead of a Japanese Banzai attack. More enemy troops unloaded at Menado and fighting continues at Kuala Lumpur, Tuguegarao, Naga, Cagayan and Rabaul. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/22/2004 9:18:33 PM)
28 Dec 41 Intelligence reports that another enemy transport sank between Mindanao and Palau. The sub Shark fired on but missed a transport near Saigon. Two separate night-time naval actions against Japanese invasion forces today. At Menado the cruisers Houston and Boise along with their escorting destroyers attacked and heavily damaged a transport. The ship fled the area and was sighted to the SE and attacked by Australian Hudsons out of Amboina but they were unable to inflict any further damage. Hopefully this ends, at least for the moment, reinforcement of the enemy positions here against the Dutch. Near Singapore the cruiser Mauritius and half-a-dozen destroyers intercepted and sank another Japanese troop transport. It is believed that over 3500 enemy troops were lost onboard the enemy vessel. There was another air raid on Yenen. This time the Nip planes zoomed in, quickly dropped their bombs and left before the CAP could react or additional aircraft scramble. However, the speed with which the enemy was forced to move prevented accurate bombing and only minor damage was done to a runway. Rangoon came under attack and several defending Buffalos were destroyed on the ground. Singapore was spared from air raids today, as were the freighters fleeing the area in the Indian Ocean. British bombers attacked the airfield at Kuantan but their accuracy was not high. Only minor damage to the runways was done and a few grounded aircraft hit. Hopefully they will be able to improve their performance as the Japanese do not seem to have moved any fighters into Malaya yet. A planned raid on Georgetown was cancelled due to bad weather. The Perth and Canberra continued to provide naval gun support to the defenders of Rabaul. This has apparently worried the Japanese command as they diverted some of their Betty bombers from attacking the defending ground forces to trying to hit the Aussie ships. They failed. Likewise, the CL Marblehead along with five destroyers was attacked and missed as she provided bombardment support at Cagayan. And in the final naval action reported, Swordfish torpedo bombers tried to attack a Japanese freighter NE of Singapore but were unable to score any hits. The Phillipine Army is putting up a commendable defense of their country. The Japanese failed to press the attack at Tuguegarao, settling for just harassing the defenders with artillery despite their greater numbers. And at Naga the defenders successfully ambushed enemy troops continueing to disembark from their ships. In conjunction with coastal defense batteries they are believed to have inflicted over 1,000 casualties and hit an enemy gunboat. Kuala Lumpur fell today, with the last of the evacuating support personnel and the rear guard retreating ahead of the enemy to Malacca. In the Gilberts and Marshalls, intercepted radio transmissions from a scout plane indicate that the enemy clearly spotted the Saratoga at a minimum. An attempted air strike on the enemy base at Jaluit was foiled by poor navigation. I'm pulling the task force back to Baker to rendevous with their supporting logistics for replenishment. The lack of air attacks on the group leads me to believe that the enemy is not prepared in this region and many of the atolls appear to be ungarrisoned. This is leading me to consider offensive action here. Probably not a good idea, I'll need to build up some bases nearby first. By the time I do that the enemy will likely have defenses in place. Let that sit on a back burner in my brain for now. That's it for today.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/23/2004 10:06:02 AM)
29 Dec 41 Two freighters carrying supplies reached Bataan today and began unloading. The CL Dauntless finished patching hull breaches and began her run from Rangoon to Colombo. One of the freighters fleeing from Singapore succumbed to her damage and sank. In the course of reviewing British deployements, I am struck by just how little they start with in India, Burma and Malaya. And so many of the units they do have are seriously understrength. Currently far too much of that strength is tied up, and cut off, in Malaya in the defense of Singapore. Unfortunately, I dare not risk any more freighters or transports in an attempt to withdraw any of those forces in the face of overwhelming Japanese air superiority in the region. Especially since intelligence and naval reconnisance has confirmed that the majority of Japanese carrier forces are in the South China Sea heading towards Singapore and the Malacca Strait. I still don't know what, if anything, I can do to try to counter or resist this movement. Submarine forces also had a bad day. The S-40 failed to reach Bataan and is now listed as presumed lost. The Sailfish was lost to an unusually heavy and persistant ASW attack while patrolling the South China Sea. While the Permit dodged a heavy ASW attack on her. There was relatively little air activity today. Rangoon was again subject to an air raid. I suspect these are intended less to damage the facilities than they are to force engagement by the defending fighters, since the raid consisted of only five Sallys escorted by almost forty Nate and Oscar fighters. Allied bombers retaliated by bombing the airfields at Georgetown and Kuantan. The bombers attacking Georgetown discovered that the Japanese have begun moving defending fighters into the captured bases in Malaya but were able to press their attack with only minimal damage. A pair of Vildebeest attempted an attack on an enemy freighter outside Kuantan but were unable to score a hit. A second attack by a mixed force of Vildebeest and Swordfish (Swordbeest? Vildefish?) was more successful, scoring multiple bomb and torpedo hits on a troop transport. To the east, a second attack by Hudson bombers from Amboina succeeded in hitting the troop transport they missed yesterday. The location of the damaged ship was relayed to the Houston and Boise who were able to track down and finish off the enemy ship. Intel says this was the ship that landed troops at Menado. Again today Allied cruisers providing fire support to defenders at Cagayan and Rabaul were subjected to air attack. Again, the ships were able to avoid all the enemy munitions. Artillery attached to the Phillipine units at Naga were able to lay down highly effective fire on Japanese forces landing on the beaches in the vicinity. Upwards of 500 enemy troops were killed or injured. Two enemy gunboats made the mistake of attempting to supress the defenders and Phillipine gunners scored hits on both ships. To the north at Tuguegarao the two defending divisions there are currently holding off two enemy divisions, an independant Brigade, a SNLF and two tank regiments. Every day these valiant Allied forces continue to hold is another day for the defenders of Manila and Clark Field to dig in and prepare. Skirmishing continued at Menado but there was no real action at Rabaul on this day. Near Nanning, Chinese Army forces forced a Japanese Base Force to retreat towards Hanoi. I believe that this was the original garrison of Nanning that left the city for some reason at the beginning of the war, leaving it open to its recapture by the Chinese. At the beginning of the war, I started several Chinese divisions on a march on Hanoi. The first of these forces is now approaching that city from the north. Over the next few weeks we will see if they can at least put pressure on the Japanese here, hopefully forcing them to divert forces from either Burma or Malaya. The Enterprise has reached the vicinity of Wake. Hopefully tomorrow her air groups will attack that island (assuming there is anything there to bomb). And the Lexington/Saratoga task force launched a strong air attack on Makin's port in passing. (Here is another bit of confusion on my part. The individual attacks on the port at Makin have done apparently only minor damage [i.e. Port hits 3; Port fuel hits 1; Port supply hits 2] but the tooltip for Makin is indicating Port Damage: 48. [&:] I don't understand, this is much higher than the total of all the Combat Report damages that I've inflicted. Can someone explain, please?) That ends today's report.

Jim D Burns -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/23/2004 11:08:42 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: dtravel [i.e. Port hits 3; Port fuel hits 1; Port supply hits 2] but the tooltip for Makin is indicating Port Damage: 48. [&:] I don't understand, this is much higher than the total of all the Combat Report damages that I've inflicted. Can someone explain, please?) Perhaps the port was damaged when Japan intially captured the base? Jim

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/23/2004 8:29:57 PM)
Pretty severe damage considering the base was empty when captured. I suspect that, while that may have contributed a little, there is something else going on to explain it.

UncleBuck -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/24/2004 12:38:46 AM)
Just remember that 3 hits to a port (1) is quite a lot. It is proportinal to the size of the target. I mean a single long pier that goes out 100 yards to help offload a ship is a size 1 port. Put three 500 lb bombs on that and it is a bunch of damage. Same with supply. If you do not have much supply say 1200 units 4 supply hits will hurt. UB

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/24/2004 12:46:14 AM)
30 Dec 41 Two more freighters reached Bataan, including the one damaged a few days ago near Puerto Princesa. As useful as the supplies are I can't help feel that they are just a drop in the bucket. Intelligence is now reporting that at least 2 enemy CVs and 1 CVL are heading east in the South China Sea north of Luzon. While other reports have multiple carriers and battleships continueing to steam west towards Malaya. I'm not sure how much weight to give these reports, especially considering that this is the same branch that is telling me there are enemy transmissions coming from Vancouver and Karachi. [8\|] The S-36 was able to hit a transport near Tuguegarao. A British task force near Singapore at the south end of the Malacca Strait depth charged a Nip sub and are believed to have scored multiple hits. And SE of Gasmata in the Bismarks a Japanese submarine attempted to torpedo one of a pair of minesweepers on ASW patrol. The ship was able to avoid the attack and the two ships are claiming several hits on the enemy sub. Malacca came under heavy air and ground attack today. This is sooner than I had expected. Many of the defending Buffalos were lost attempting to intercept the enemy. (I am tempted to curse the Buffalos for their poor abilities but the mental image it conjures up is just too strange, even for me. [X(][sm=dizzy.gif]) On the ground the defenders lost the outer fortifications but continue to hold. British Hudson and Blenheim bombers continued to try to supress enemy air activity at Georgetown and Kuantan but I suspect there just simply aren't enough of them to make any real difference. The torpedo bombers on the other hand are beginning to perform quite well, with Swordfish strikes hitting two enemy transports with bombs near Khota Bharu. Additionally, patrols of Wirraway fighter-bombers have spotted Japanese barges moving south thru the Malacca Strait. It would appear the enemy is already attempting to make off with the spoils they captured at Kuala Lumpur. Hopefully I will be able to discourage this in the coming days. In the other direction, Betty bombers were able to torpedo and sink the Dragon at Kuching. This presents a serious problem in the defense of northern Borneo. Enemy air raids continue to attack the defenders at Cagayan and Rabaul. The Enterprise launched a full strike on Wake Island, hitting both the port and airfield there. There appears to be little if any garrison here. I will have to consider how fast I could put together an ad hoc invasion force out of Pearl compared to how fast I could expect Japanese carriers to arrive from north of Luzon. A potentially very risky operation, it would have great propaganda value and potentially cause serious disruptions to the enemy's plans if he was forced to try to recapture it. Need to think about that more. The O19 made it to Sinkep Island a couple of days ago and is still attempting to deal with her pressure hull damage. Allied shipping fleeing Singapore and Rangoon was unmolested again today. I believe that most of it is safely out of range of enemy aircraft now but some ships are still at risk, including the CL Dauntless which can only make 8 knots. The transport of raw materials from the Dutch East Indies to Australia continues. I have already unloaded enough in Darwin that the base there shows up almost at the top of the base listing when sorted by Resources and not very far down by Oil. Most of the remaining Resource stockpiles are currently being loaded at their sources. What I am short on is tankers to carry the Oil with. I will try to press some of the freighters into carrying barrels but it will not be as efficient. Naga continues to hold despite increasing pressure but the defenses at Tugeugarao were breached. The defending Phillipine divisions there are falling back to Clark Field and then Bataan to try and regroup. There were more skirmishes at Menado and Rabaul was again quiet. The respite in the Bismarks has allowed the defenders there to rest some and regroup. They will begin aggressive patrols intending to locate the enemy for artillery and mortar attack. I am also launching a probing attack on San Marcelino. I can't be certain but it appears that the enemy has left the facilities there undefended. If they have.... The 1st and 2nd Burma Rifles Brigades, enroute to Rangoon from Taung Gyi, have run into enemy forces about a hundred miles NE of Rangoon. It looks like the enemy may be attempting to bypass Rangoon, at least for now, and slip into less defended areas of Burma. A radio transmission was received from No. 108 RAF Base Force. There are approximately 250 survivors of the fall of Victoria Point still trying to make their way from behind enemy lines. They report that they managed to slip past the garrison at Tavoy and are about to attempt the same at Moulmein. Rangoon attempted to warn them about possible enemy forces north of Moulmein but contact was lost and it is unknown if they received the message. Otherwise I am forced into waiting for the next wave of Japanese attacks. I still expect that will involve landings on northern Borneo, but where else will they hit? More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/24/2004 4:36:07 AM)
31 Dec 41 I didn't have to wait long. Today was not what I would call a good day. I'll start with the biggest news item. After Manila harbor was attacked during the opening days of the war I moved my ships to Bataan, figuring that the better defenses there would better protect them from additional air attacks. As it turned out the Japanese haven't tried to bomb that harbor again. And I didn't forsee this... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AS Holland, Shell hits 42, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AVD Childs, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AK Mauban, Shell hits 8, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1 BB Ise CA Maya, Shell hits 1 CA Ashigara CL Natori, Shell hits 3 DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships PT PT-31 PT PT-32, Shell hits 19, and is sunk PT PT-33 PT PT-34 PT PT-35, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage PT PT-41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 1 BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships PG Isabel, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk PG Asheville, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk PG Tulsa, Shell hits 11, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships MSW Tanager, Shell hits 7, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AK Escalante R, Shell hits 17, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AK Sarangami, Shell hits 20, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 42,51 Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Maya CA Ashigara CL Natori DD Minegumo DD Asagumo DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Inazuma DD Nagatsuki DD Matsukaze Allied Ships AK Montanes, Shell hits 21, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Bataan, at 42,51 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! 131 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships DD Samidare DD Harusame, Shell hits 19, on fire, heavy damage BB Ise, Shell hits 4 BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 10 DD Matsukaze DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage DD Inazuma, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage DD Yudachi, Shell hits 1 DD Murasame, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Asagumo DD Minegumo, Shell hits 14, on fire, heavy damage CL Natori CA Ashigara CA Maya Allied ground losses: 215 casualties reported Guns lost 12 Runway hits 1 Port fuel hits 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The defenders were caught by surprise and the Holland, Childs and Mouban were all sunk before they could react. The PT boats did better than the patrol gunboats I suspect because they were able to close more and were just starting their attack runs before being spotted. (The PT-35 sank before it could make it back to dock and the destroyer Minegumo only just cleared the harbor before going down herself.) Despite the significant damage scored by the coastal batteries, losing all four of the freighters that had made it plus the remaining supplies onboard, the sub tender, seaplane tender and most of the harbor's defending patrol craft makes this a firm win for the enemy. American subs in the area will now have to sail to Balikpapan for resupply which will significantly weaken their so far successful campaign in the South China Sea. All in all, painful and demoralizing. Speaking of sub actions, the Permit and S-37 were both forced to dodge heavy ASW patrols. The IJN appears to have deceided on a strategy of using heavy hunter-killer groups on patrol as their primary ASW policy. If so, it has weaknesses as the Salmon proved by sinking a transport near Formosa. The Nips apparently feel they have supressed the fighter defenses at Rangoon enough as today's raids had substantially more bombers. Over a dozen in the morning and nearly forty in the afternoon. They also hit the freighter Empire Scout with almost a dozen bombs. She is the last of the convoy that delivered the 3rd Carabineers Armored Regiment to Singapore, so it looks like I will lose the entire convoy. British bombers continued to attack Georgetown and Kuantan. I am going to have to suspend the Georgetown attacks. That unit needs time to repair some of their damaged craft. Sending them in two and three at a time isn't the best idea I don't think. Also in Malaya the Japs continued to press their attack on Malacca and drove off the defending forces. These units have now joined the stream of retreating Empire forces headed for Singapore. Retreating engineers were able to only damage the small port. The airfield fell to the enemy intact. And the enemy barges making their way thru the Malacca Strait continue to do so. Apparently, despite their lack of defenses, they are too small of a target for British pilots to hit. Fortunately larger ships they can, occasionally, hit and a transport approaching Khota Bharu was bombed by Singapore based Swordfish. This was to be their only success of the day however, as they were unable to score any damage on a Japanese destroyer spotted in the South China Sea. Dutch Martin 139 bombers out of Brunei were also unable to hit what are believed to be some destroyers converted to transports a few hundred miles to the northeast. On the other hand, they were fortunate enough to be away from their base when it was attacked by a small force of carrier-based Kates and Zeros. It would appear that the entire IJN carrier fleet continued west from their earlier positions north of Luzon. At least according to the Dutch pilots flying Do 24K-2 flying boats. While I suspect some exaggeration in the numbers I do believe they are right as to the general thrust. Unfortunately Dutch politics has prevented me from even attempting to reinforce Borneo. More air raids by Bettys on troops at Cagayan and Rabaul, followed by more inconclusive fighting there and at Menado. Naga continues to hold but suffered heavy casualties to Japanese artillery. And the Burmese Rifles were driven back by a Banzai charge from the enemy division they had spotted yesterday. Worse, the enemy had outflanked them and they were forced back towards Rangoon instead of the undefended base at Pagan. The closest I have to good news for the day is from Wake. The Enterprise launched more attacks today on the island and her pilots were finally able to locate (and bomb) the garrison. This generated enough radio traffic for it to be identified as the 51st Naval Guard. Even better they were able to catch an enemy task force. The light cruiser Tama was struck by five 1,000 lb bombs and an escorting destroyer by three more. The submarine Triton was able to radio in a spotting report a short time later, indicating that the Tama was low in the water and burning, but was unable to prosecute an attack herself. Now the question becomes, can I return the Saratoga and Lexington to Pearl to group with the Enterprise and put together a credible invasion force to attack Wake with while the IJN's attention is still on Borneo? Is my intelligence even worse than I suspect and IJN carriers are already enroute to defend Wake? Or will it just take me too long to get my shipping together to attempt it? Maybe try an attack on Wake to distract him from my buildup at Baker? Am I just sticking my neck on the chopping block? Can I ever stop asking questions? [sm=crazy.gif] I need to think about this. More reports to follow.

tsimmonds -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/24/2004 5:22:42 AM)
Nice work, dtravel. Excellent reporting. Best AAR vs the AI ever, for WitP and UV both.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/24/2004 8:07:55 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: irrelevant Nice work, dtravel. Excellent reporting. Best AAR vs the AI ever, for WitP and UV both. Thanks. Feedback is appreciated. (Positive feedback even more so! [:D]) That is high praise, especially considering that I've never played Uncommon Valor. [:'(] While it would be easier to cut-n-paste the combat results that seems a bit too impersonal for me. It also includes a lot of minor clashes that don't really mean much individually. Writing up a "report" compacts the information and gives me a chance to ramble and think. And since its against the AI I'm not giving anything away to an opponent (never underestimate the value of seemingly useless trivia). On the other hand it ends up taking me about 30 to 60 minutes to write up each turn, so its not really suitable from a beta-tester POV. Its already becoming really hard to not keep repeating the same phrases over and over. Combined with the learning curve and my almost obsessive need to keep checking things it is seriously slowing down game play. (Not to mention that annoying thing called the Real World.) Eventually I'll become comfortable enough with the game to speed up and start doing more than 1 or 2 turns a day.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (7/25/2004 4:25:57 AM)
As the year closes out, I review the situation and give my final orders of 1941. First I have the unhappy duty of informing the CO of the British Southeast Asia Command that his defenders at Singapore won't have as much time to prepare as he had hoped. Our intelligence indicates that the Japanese are already preparing to attack Mersing and have identified the 14th Tank Regiment as part of the force. Next I was able to "suggest" to the commander of the Dutch forces some shuffling of air units that would provide at least some fighter cover over northern Borneo. As to the much mulled counter-invasion of Wake. I have examined the shipping available and have had to conclude that, as of this date, there is insufficient sealift available at Pearl. Currently transports and freighters in Hawaii are only just insufficient to lift one division and a supporting engineering unit. However, in the next few days we are expecting enough ships to arrive in Pearl to approximately double this. While this would involve risk to a substantial percentage of the total shipping available in the eastern Pacific I feel that it will be a worthwhile risk. But only because the Secretary of the Navy has assured me that a substantial wave of new Liberty ships will be completed in two more weeks. These should more than replace any losses if it should hit the fan. (Replacing combat vessels is, of course, another matter.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Year's Day, 1942 Well, in a emotionally satisfying episode, we have received a message from occupied Hong Kong. It seems that a small patrol boat assisting in the clearing of the British minefields there struck two mines and sank. Nice to know that the enemy is having at least some problems digesting his conquests to date. The Royal Navy showed the RAF that, as far as barges are concerned, "All you have to do is hit them once!" The cruiser Mauritius hit and sank the three barges that had avoided RAF attack all thru the Malacca Strait as they emerged from the southern end. I am told that the RAF commander at Singapore was not amused by this admonishment from the senior British service. In China the Japanese launched another air raid on Yenen. They were in for an unpleasant surprise as a contingent from the American Volunteer Group had relocated there to support the existing Chinese fighters. This was apparently too much for the escorting fighters as they quickly abandoned their charges to the tender mercies of the Allied pilots. In support of the intelligence relayed to the British forces, the Japanese launched a very heavy raid on Singapore. Apparently the enemy is happy with the results of their tactics over Rangoon as they appear to be duplicating them here. A bomber force of only half a dozen aircraft was escorted by an estimated 75(!) enemy fighters. The surviving CAP was forced to break off by the overwhelming numbers. The air base at Rangoon was also attacked, although by a smaller air contingent. Ships unloading at Akyab were also attacked by Japanese bombers. While no hits were scored by the enemy, the range that the Japanese aircraft are displaying is very troubling. In related news, the Japanese began hitting Sumatra from Malaya with an attack on the airfield at Kuala while British bombers returned the favor at Kuantan and Georgetown. The Dutch contributed with a raid on the recently lost air base at Malacca by their Vildebeests. The RAF did redeem themselves as far as naval attacks with multiple strikes on a freighter convoy and its escorts SE of Singapore. The destroyer Hasu suffered an apparent magazine explosion after being hit by a Swordfish launched torpedo. Additional sorties by Vildebeest, Hurricane IIs and Martins from Borneo scored torpedo and bomb hits on one of the freighters, despite problems finding the enemy ships thru the cloud cover. Also, the Japanese carriers launched a heavy strike on the cruiser Durban as it fled from Kuching towards Palembang. Dutch Brewsters attempting to fly cover for her out of Kuching were quickly brushed aside by the Zeros and the Durban was sunk after being hit by several bombs and over half-a-dozen torpedoes. Other Allied surface ships on the fringes of the South China Sea continue to flee in an attempt to avoid similar fates. Air raids continued to attack the defenders at Rabaul and Cagayan. Although the raid on Rabaul was much weaker today, apparently due to heavy cloud cover. It was a good day for Allied submarines. The Dutch KXVII torpedoed a freighter in the western South China Sea. From her report it appears to have be part of the convoy hit by air attack earlier. The Perch successfully avoided an ASW attack near Camrahn Bay. The O16 reports hitting a troop transport with a full spread of torpedoes near Soc Trang. And the Cachalot made a daylight surface attack just outside Guam. Her captain reports some kind of problem with his torpedoes, claiming that they failed to detonate after hitting, but scored several hits on the enemy freighter with her deck gun. I am forwarding his report for investigation. The minesweeper Cochin succumbed to the damage she suffered at the start of the war when she was bombed in Singapore harbor. She sank off of Ceylon while attempting to reach one of the RN bases there. I am told that her crew was rescued by local fishing boats. The cruisers Houston and Boise continue to be a terror to Japanese invasion forces in the eastern Celebes Sea. They intercepted a convoy off Minadano and inflicted serious damage, using their radar systems to target the transports from very long range as they closed. They broke off due to ammunition concerns. Cpt. Moran of the Boise reports that he recognized some of the enemy ships from the damage his ship had inflicted on them two weeks earlier. One of the larger ships was sunk immediately and coast watchers report ships performing search and rescue a few miles to the north later that day, so it appears that at least one additional enemy ship was lost. This is supported by intelligence reports of heavy losses among the enemy's 56th Brigade and 3rd NLF. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat at 43,63 Japanese Ships AP Astuga Maru AP Kimishima Maru, Shell hits 21, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage AP Tarushima Maru AP Tatsuta Maru, Shell hits 28, and is sunk AP Tenryu Maru, heavy damage AP Ujigawa Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage AP Yamafuku Maru AP Daitei Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage AK Tokiwasan Maru Allied Ships CA Houston CL Boise DD John D. Ford DD Pillsbury DD Pope Japanese ground losses: 879 casualties reported Guns lost 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese forces pursueing the Phillipine forces retreating from Tugeugarao pressed a strong attack, apparently in an attempt to destroy them before they can reach friendly forces near Clark Field. The PA divisions continued to retreat ahead of the enemy forces. Phillipine forces defending Naga repulsed another IJA attack but report their defenses were weakened. Other Phillipine forces re-occupied the base at San Marcelino. It is unknown why Japanese forces abandoned the area. Allied forces met only minimal resistance to their probes at both Menado and Rabaul. Let us hope that 1942 is better than the last days of 1941. More reports to follow.

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