Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (Full Version)

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ADavidB -> Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 5:33:57 AM)

Preface -

After a six week self-imposed sabbatical I am back playing WitP. Last week I reinstalled the game from scratch up to version 1.602, tested out the game against the AI, then sent an email off to Tophat, with whom I had been playing a PBEM earlier in the year until he also took a "sabbatical", albeit for around twice as long as I did. So we decided to start a fresh scenario 15 at version 1.602 with Tophat playing the Japanese and me playing the Allies. This is a "historical" start, with "surprise" on. We agreed to set both sub doctrines to "off", have player-selected aircraft upgrades set to "on", and have only one "house rule" - to limit dedicated ASW TFs to a maximum of 4 ships, not included CVEs.

I intend to seriously limit my playing time and avoid the temptation to take over or restart other older games. I do not want to burn out again like I did in June and I am enjoying all of my other interests too much to once more sacrifice them for obsessive game playing.

I want to thank all of the folks who posted so many nice comments after I posted my "Burn Out" message at the end of June. I also want to apologize for not replying to anyone, but I had not only uninstalled the game from my PC but I had also removed my short cuts to the WitP Forum and didn't go there until a week ago.

Tophat and I have agreed to a "no peek" policy regarding each other's posts, therefore I will be posting an AAR here including the strategy and assessments that I develop as I play the game. I will also be making use of the unique and invaluable knowledge I gained about the game from PzB during my time in his continuing game, and will comment on how that is impacting my overall strategy.

So once again, sincere thanks to all of the supportive people here at the WitP Forum. It is good to be back again.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 5:35:10 AM)

Strategy -

As so many of us have seen while playing the Allied side in WitP, a good, aggressive Japanese player can rack up a huge lead in points during the first year of the war. Thus, many of us have had to watch the "4:1" win ratio slowly creep closer as the game reaches the end of 1942 and enters 1943. Never-the-less, the question that has hovered in the back of my mind through the many games that I've played and the others that I've read about comes down to this - as the Allied player can I put together a strategy that minimizes the points that the Japanese player can take during 1942? I intend to try out such a strategy in this game against Tophat and see how I do.

This means that instead of actively looking for opportunities to "exchange" ships during the first year of the war I will work to consciously conserve my ships, particularly until they start to receive improved AA and radar. I also want to avoid "throwing away" my aircraft against the "Zero Bonus" during the first six months of the war. And instead of letting good troops "rot" in malarial jungles I want to bring them to locations where they can rest and grow stronger.

One of the key lessons I learned from my play against PzB is that an aggressive and determined Japanese player can capture almost any coastal base during the first year of the campaign. The combination of the Japanese air, naval and land advantages can be used to overwhelm a careless or overly aggressive Allied player. Island bases and atolls are particularly vulnerable to this, but as PzB's successful siege of Karachi showed, even continental bases are at risk if the Allied player cannot blunt the overwhelming effect of Japanese combined arms.

So in 1942 I intend to develop strength far back from the "historic" front and give up territory that was bitterly contested during the War. I know that I can't hold New Britain - why should I lose troops there? Likewise, I know that I'll lose Malaya and Singapore quickly unless my opponent decides to ignore them. India is terribly short of troops during the first year of the war - some of those troops in Malaya and Singapore could make the difference between having empty bases that small raiding parties could take unopposed and having a series of defended bases that require a serious effort to take. Burma is another case where the front lines are essentially indefensible, but once the Allies pull back to the Indian border, "jungle is your friend" becomes the operative term as malaria starts to take its toll of the attackers. There are even a few units in the Philippines that are worth trying to sneak out and send to non-malarial safety.

My plan then for the first year of the campaign is to focus upon building up strongly defended staging grounds in non-malarial bases that are either at my major supply sources or relatively close to them. I don't intend to build up large supply or fuel sources near the front - why risk losing them to the Enemy? I also intend to build up my forces - land, air and naval - to near optimal strength and capability before starting major counterattacks.

Thus, during my very first turn I globally turned off replacements for all troops and all air units, and also turned off upgrades for all air units. At the same time I turned on upgrades for all ships. I have no intention of allowing trapped units to receive replacements - instead I will use the replacement pool to build up the troops that I will use in the future. I will also use the "player selectable" air unit upgrades to their greatest potential. I want to maximize the numbers of planes that have some chance of both survival and success against the Japanese air advantage in 1942.

I still intend to do some raiding in order to try to upset the timing of my opponent's advances, but I don't intend to risk forces against superior odds. I am also hoping that my opponent misinterprets my apparent "passivity", becomes tempted by a type of "victory disease" and over-extends himself into my areas of strength.

So if my strategy plays out there won't be a lot of big, bruising battles to report upon during the first game year in this AAR, just small, subtle maneuvering actions that eventually lead to me being in a position to face my opponent at places of my choosing and at greater-than-equal odds in my favor.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 5:36:19 AM)

Four Days at War -

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here with my AAR as Tophat and I start out, because our Combat Reports aren't working. Tophat is also ticked off that combat animations aren't working, but that does tend to mean that we are getting through turns a bit more quickly. So I will create a narrative of the first 4 days of our war, based upon my notes and memory. (BTW - Tophat remembers seeing comments in other threads that suggested that combat animations and combat reports do appear after a while with version 1.60x, but if there is something that we are specifically supposed to do, please let us know. Thanks.)

December 7, 1941

Tophat got a pretty good start out of the "historic" first turn. The KB hammered Pearl hard - he sank the Nevada, Arizona and the Dolphin. (I'm not too sad about the loss of that very short-ranged sub.) He caused a lot of base damage and pretty much wiped out my air power there. Tophat also got to capture Wake on his first try - he had commented ahead of time that he rarely accomplished that. Finally, Tophat hammered Clark Field very hard and not only wiped out most of the planes but also made the field pretty much useless. On the other hand, the air raids on Singapore didn't do much and I was left with most of my air power there intact.

So my strategy was put into place immediately. I created a "stampede" of task forces out of Pearl, Manila and Singapore. But I left the AP and the AKs in Manila Harbor and loaded the RAF Air HQ onto the two APs in Singapore, with an interim destination near Batavia and a final destination of Colombo. I also set the TK in Naga into one TF and the AKs there into another TF and ordered them to start to load fuel - I don't like to leave all that fuel there and if the ships can get it out, so much the better, and if they are sunk in the process of pumping fuel, the Japanese player doesn't get it anyway. BTW - the Penguin was hammered pretty badly at Guam during the initial bombardment, but I sent it off South anyway, just as a matter of principle.

In the meanwhile, I started to move troops around in most of the regions except for the West Coast and Australia. I like to let those troops build up during the first month of the war until I see how things are setting up. I also left all my West Coast ships in port for a day to see which way the KB headed. I moved around patrol planes but left most of my other aircraft at their starting bases in order to get them on the way to being repaired.

As far as other actions went, I sent my two carrier TFs towards the Gilberts at flank speed. (I also wrote to Tophat about his capture of Wake and said, "That will make it a little more difficult for me to find your transport TFs, but not that much...<nasty grin>") I also sent all of the combat ships and APs in the South Pacific towards Rabaul, and did the same thing with APs for the isolated coastal bases in Burma and Malaya.

December 8 -

The long range fighters from the KB took one last and ineffectual strike at Pearl as the KB raced off to the Northwest and Wake Island. In the meanwhile, my carrier TFs quietly raced to the Southwest and the Gilberts. My "stampede" out of Pearl worked perfectly and no Japanese submarines interfered. With the KB heading out of the region I turned around all of my TFs and sent them back towards Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, I set up the AP and AKs in Manila Harbor into a transport TF, spent some political points and set Asiatic Fleet to Southwest Pacific control. This allowed me to load it onto that TF and send it out towards safety and eventually a malaria-free base in Australia. At the same time I sent a couple of APs toward Jolo in the hopes of grabbing that isolated base force and putting it somewhere non-malarial and safe.

In Southeast Asia I started to move my level bombers out of the region and into India, leaving the torpedo bombers behind to take potshots at the Japanese ships in the region. I also loaded a spare RAF base force onto two more APs and sent it on its way to India. I intend to put the Malay base forces into those empty, small Indian ports just to keep raiding parties from getting in "Scott free". (But I'm also marching combat troops towards the same Indian ports to give some "muscle" to the bases.)

Tophat's biggest success was with his air patrols and my subs leaving Manila Harbor. His air patrols harassed my subs as if the subs were painted bright pink ("Its name the movie time." <g>) and actually damaged several heavily enough so that I had to send them towards Oz and repairs. And the poor old Penguin sank.

December 9 -

My misdirection worked - Tophat let the pre-selected transport TF go along its merry way towards Makin, but it found a US carrier force waiting with bombs ready. The air crews sank the ML Tokiwa and the DD Yunagi and the rest of the TF fled north. I then let one of the carrier TFs continue on towards the Solomons in order to support my evacuation of Rabaul, while I sent the other carrier TF south towards Canton Island, fuel and a rendezvous with some other combat ships that I have in the area. I don't intend to challenge Tophat any longer for the Gilberts, but he won't know that and will have to commit more forces to any invasions or risk having me ambush his forces again.

In other actions, my plan with the transports at Naga worked fairly well. Tophat's Nells and Bettys just ”couldn't stand" not going after these "sitting ducks" and hammered three of the AKs, causing them to loose their fuel. So I formed the damaged AKs into a new TF and once again ordered it to load up on fuel. I then sent off the undamaged AKs even though they weren't full up. This meant that my important TFs in the region, including the one with Asiatic Fleet, were once again ignored as they steamed ever-so-steadily towards safety.

BTW - I also got those three Brit DDs out of Hong Kong, via the Philippines. I intend to have them join the rest of the British fleet in the big evacuation of British forces out of the DEI over the next week or so. I want to move all the Brit ships I can to Indian waters. I am also evacuating all of the Dutch MLs to India once they finish mining the key points in the DEI. There are more bases that need defensive mines in India and closer bases that can reload the mines than in the other obvious choice - Australia. Anyway, I will eventually have some US MLs work their way to Oz from the other direction.

I also got the base force out of Akyab this turn and have it heading towards the Indian mainland. Akyab is one of the worst places on the map to try to defend and supply, despite its potential. I look forward with anticipation to Japanese troops being stuck in that hellhole - it's the perfect place for my air crews to get lots and lots of bombing practice.

December 10 -

The Bettys and Nells came back to Naga and sank the three damaged AKs from the day before. But the fuel level is now down to 20K, so I've done as best as I can and I sent the TK off to the South. I also started to move my air units around in the P.I., including moving the B-17s to Oz. after changing them to Southwest Pacific control. I intend to eventually move all of the Philippine air units to Brisbane where they can grow and get upgrades and be trained out of the sight of prying eyes. (As long as Tophat doesn't know where they are he will always be worried about sudden "death from the skies.)

My first evacuation from Rabaul started nicely as I got the Lark Battalion out (without paying political points). I also got the base force from Victoria Point out and on its way to India. And even better, I got the HQ and CD units out of Rangoon. I'm sending the CD unit to Trincomalee and the HQ to Dacca. I'll retreat the other forces in the region as Tophat moves his forces forward. I'll let him chase me all the way to India and let the jungle and my bombers eat up his troops. But I am defending the Burma Road with the Chinese troops that are assigned to Southeast Asia command.

Oh yes, nothing much is happening in China. I am building up defenses and Tophat is maneuvering a few units. I've also moved that lone long range Chinese bomber to where I can harass any ports that Tophat leaves without CAP. And one final thing - just in case Tophat gets "ambitious" in China and moves a bunch of troops out of Manchuria and into China proper, I've sent the Chinese Communist forces along the "back route" into Manchuria just in case I can take advantage of any "unlocked doors".

Elsewhere, I've started to send supply and fuel TFs from the West Coast to the Eastern Pacific bases. I'm still leaving the troops and planes in the West Coast bases for the rest of the month. And I still haven't turned on "replacements" or "upgrades" for any planes other than the Soviet air units.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 6:44:54 AM)

December 11 -

A relatively quiet day, other than Tophat mentioning that, "I really debated on my KB move,hell i'm still not 100% decided yet!"

Hmmm - that makes me think that I ought to consider forming some of the ships in Pearl back into TFs...[;)]

In more concrete news, Tophat's air units hammered Clark Field again. It's pretty clear that I'll never get it repaired. Unfortunately it also means that I might not get all the air units out either. [:(]

Tophat also captured Hong Kong while taking very light losses himself. I guess that I'll be seeing those victorious troops at some Chinese city gates soon.

Tophat's patrols have spotted my carrier TF enter the Eastern Solomons. Maybe that's why he is getting second thoughts about his placement of the KB. In the earlier game that we played I eventually sent a carrier TF into the DEI/PI boundry waters and ambushed one of his light carrier TFs. (I don't intend to do that this time.)

My lone AP got safely into Tavoy so I'm loading that base force and sending it to India too. I also got that US base force out of Jolo. So my plan is working well so far. I wonder how long it will be before Tophat notices the "faint sound of crickets in the background". [;)]

On the other hand, maybe Tophat is rushing the KB to the PI in the hopes of catching the Asiatic Fleet asleep. I'm not happy that one of my TFs stayed in port longer than it should have. Tophat may want to try to catch a combat TF at anchor the way that he got caught in another game.

Dave Baranyi



Tom Hunter -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 3:24:05 PM)

Welcome back

Personally I limit myself to two games, and one of those is 3x3 so its not nearly as much effort. I tried playing more at one point but it became too much like work.



timtom -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 4:59:40 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I've come to a decision that I don't want to play WitP any longer. After nearly a year of playing the game I find that I am receiving more frustration from WitP than enjoyment. Therefore, I am going "cold turkey" on WitP.



quote:

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

He'll be back..... [;)]



[:D]




ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 6:40:18 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter

Welcome back

Personally I limit myself to two games, and one of those is 3x3 so its not nearly as much effort. I tried playing more at one point but it became too much like work.


So true. Thanks -

Dave



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 6:41:15 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: timtom

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I've come to a decision that I don't want to play WitP any longer. After nearly a year of playing the game I find that I am receiving more frustration from WitP than enjoyment. Therefore, I am going "cold turkey" on WitP.



quote:

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

He'll be back..... [;)]



[:D]





Ron was right. I'll have to buy a beer from him the next time I'm in Ottawa. [:D]

Dave Baranyi



mc3744 -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/9/2005 7:43:58 PM)

Welcome back ADavidB! [;)]

With regard to the animations and combat reports.
The Jap player must switch them on from the turn screen pressing 'P'. apparently doing it from the Main Menu isn't enough.
They will work from the following turn. I had the same problem in two games.

I know about 'WitP dependence'. I recently forced myself to play only in the evening, after the family is asleep. The only side problem is that I go to bed after 1 a.m. [:D]

Enjoy! [:)]



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/10/2005 12:38:16 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: mc3744

Welcome back ADavidB! [;)]

With regard to the animations and combat reports.
The Jap player must switch them on from the turn screen pressing 'P'. apparently doing it from the Main Menu isn't enough.
They will work from the following turn. I had the same problem in two games.

I know about 'WitP dependence'. I recently forced myself to play only in the evening, after the family is asleep. The only side problem is that I go to bed after 1 a.m. [:D]

Enjoy! [:)]


Thanks for the info! [&o] I'll pass it on to Tophat.

Dave



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/10/2005 12:41:47 AM)

December 12 -

Tophat is becoming quite aggressive and also quite successful with his submarine campaign. Today he hit and sank an AP off of Singapore and put a torpedo into the light cruiser Phoenix as it was on its way back to the West Coast for repairs to the damage that it suffered in the December 7th attack. And that was despite the fact that I had escorts along with both ships at the time. So it looks as if I'll have to start to send my ASW boys out on some active "hunting trips". What is also interesting is that Tophat has sent a number of subs to my bases in the Gilberts and other south-central Pacific islands. I presume that he is trying to gauge my ship traffic as well as getting off the occasional shot.

Tophat made an interesting comment this turn that, "I made a mistake, we shall see if it costs me. It could be a very good hedging of bets!". I'm not certain if he is trying to feed me misinformation like I did to him about Wake or not, but it doesn't really matter because I don't currently know where the KB really is located, and therefore I am treating the situation as if the KB could "pop up" anywhere at any time.

Tophat does know that I've got the Asiatic Fleet's combat ships sailing around the Southern Philippines. A squadron of Nells tried to hit one combat TF in port at Menado, but the Dutch CAP there drove them off. (That's a miracle in itself.) So I just joined the two groups of USN ships into one TF and sent it down to Kendari. I have no intention of "duking it out" with Tophat in the Southern Philippines, but it helps if he thinks that I do. Tophat's CVEs and CVL have been "conspicuous by their absence" and I am still curious as to why he hasn't tried to hit my retreating task forces.

Tophat is positioning troops in China to go after Yenan. That's cool - I'll be attacking in Manchuria around the exact same time as he attacks Yenan. [:D] That ought to cause him some second thoughts. [;)]

And despite the presence of that Japanese sub off of Singapore, I loaded another small transport TF with the second of the two Malayan RAF HQs and sent it on its way to India. As long as Tophat allows me to remove troops from Singapore I'll continue to remove non-combat troops - there are plenty of places in India where I can use them. By the way, I am also removing all the fuel that I can reach in reasonable safety in the DEI and shipping it down to Australia. This way I don't have to bother sending tanker TFs all the way from the West Coast at this time. (One never knows when the KB might go on a "fishing trip" into the shipping lanes of the South Pacific, so it's always a good thing to minimize unnecessary traffic.)

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It (8/10/2005 6:14:24 AM)

December 13 -

Huh!!! Is that the KB sitting NE of Midway, about a third of the way to Alaska? Is this what Tophat was referring to when he mentioned a "mistake"? Clicking on the TF shows a bunch of cruisers and battleships - yeah, sure. That's the KB all right. My patrols also indicate that it is going "west". But I trust my patrols like I trust toilet paper for boat hulls. So what is going on? Did Tophat send the KB in the wrong direction? Was he chasing that transport that I sent from Midway towards Alaska? Is he thinking of going back to hit Pearl Harbor again? Is he thinking of going to raid my transport lanes between Hawaii and the West Coast? [&:]

What a pain! This is causing me to put more planes on "get replacements" earlier than I had planned to do in the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. But it also gives me lots of "freedom of action" in the rest of the Pacific. I'm now setting my carrier TFs to "mission" speeds instead of "full" and letting them go leisurely towards their destinations. (As usual, I've got my carriers spread out all across the Pacific, but I'll eventually pull them back together.)

Another stage of my initial plan was successfully completed this turn as I pulled the base force out of Rabaul, sent the fighter-bombers to Port Moresby and the bombers to Cairns. Rabaul is empty now of everything - troops, planes, fuel and ships. Those troops will recover and grow nicely back in Townsville. As a "bonus", I've also "slurped up" most of the fuel stocks in the Solomons and New Britain areas. Tophat will have to haul in everything once he decides to go south from Truk. My next step will be to commit "true heresy" and pull those two little groups out of PM and back to Oz. I don't feel like contesting PM at this time, and particularly not with the troops that I have on hand. If Tophat takes PM I'll simply bomb him into the Stone Age from Oz.

Tophat is quite effectively bombing large parts of Malaya into the Stone Age too. Fortunately I've already pulled out most of my planes other than three Buffalo squadrons in Singapore and the three biplane torpedo bomber squadrons sitting in various bases in southern Malaya. The Buffalos "earned their keep" this past turn when they intercepted and drove off a flight of Nells that were trying to attack the APs that had just arrived in port. So I loaded another "extra" base force at Singapore and sent it on its way to India. I'm getting a steady stream of TFs heading along the long but still safe path to India.

Otherwise, things are going quite smoothly. I'm distributing lots of supplies from Karachi to the rest of India and will soon send a large transport TF with supplies to the north of Australia. As long as Tophat keeps the KB wandering around the North Central Pacific all I have to worry about in the Indian Ocean is the occasional Nell at extreme range. And if the KB does end up moving closer to my transport lanes in the Eastern Pacific I'll simply do a "cockroach scatter" with the TFs that I have in the region and see if I can get Tophat to run the KB out of fuel. [:D]

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> Second Week at War (8/11/2005 12:47:35 AM)

December 14 - 2nd week of war

Well, it's "cockroach scatter" time alright, but not in the Hawaiian Islands as I expected because the Japanese TF that I had spotted northeast of Midway has disappeared and instead a Japanese carrier TF has appeared off of the northeast coast of Amboina. Tophat has pulled off a small surprise and come in to the DEI from the southeast! I mentioned earlier how I was wondering where his CVL and CVEs were. Fortunately, this turn that carrier TF got covered with clouds and didn't get to launch any attacks anywhere, but it is headed west so I have scattered my various transport and combat TFs out of the region and have moved in Dutch fighters and bombers. I'm not usually lucky with the Dutch torpedo bombers, but maybe this time I will be. In addition, I do have a carrier TF off of the Eastern tip of PNG, so I'm going to temporarily deviate from my plan and send that TF westwards a bit, just in case I can ambush Tophat's TF from behind. Who knows, if my LBA wears down the CAP on that Japanese TF my TF might find some "easy pickings". [:D]

Never-the-less, I am still not taking too many chances with the Eastern Pacific, so I decided to give all my ships in Pearl Harbor some sea duty and sent them off along various southern vectors. This is particularly important for my slower TFs if the KB suddenly shows up a day's steaming away from Pearl. While my airfields at Pearl have finally been fully repaired again, my air units are far from full strength. So I've actually scattered my smaller air units around some of the neighboring bases in order to minimize losses in the case of an attack.

Elsewhere, Tophat isn't missing the KB very much as his subs are taking a steady toll on my ships and his ASW is taking an equally steady toll on my subs. One of his subs that is in the shipping lanes between the West Coast and Hawaii hit and heavily damaged a DD escort in a transport TF last turn, and as well Tophat's air-based ASW damaged a couple more subs around the Philippines and off of Malaya.

Speaking of Malaya, Tophat's ground forces easily took Khota Bharu this turn. His air forces had pounded it quite heavily so my forces only put up token resistance and therefore his land forces took light casualties after a "deliberate" attack. Tophat's air units are currently pounding Taiping in a similar manner, so I guess that he will continue to advance in this deliberate (and effective) manner. The one "benefit" of all the air attacks on Khota Bharu is that the air field there is badly damaged so it will be a while before he can base his own planes there. Once Japanese planes are based in Malaya proper my freedom of action in Singapore will be severely diminished. So I sent off yet another transport TF containing an "extra" base force from Singapore to India. If I can get all of these small, weak units safely to India they will form the nucleus of a very good defensive network over the next couple of months.

Things are fairly stable in the Philippines. Tophat continues to regularly pound Clark Field into dust. Never-the-less I am still occasionally sneaking out a repaired plane or two, so once I get my political points back up a bit I will start changing the survivors to Southwest Pacific control so that I can move them out to safety. One thing different that Tophat did do this turn was to send a squadron of Zeros to Manila to test out my P-40Es there. All things considered the results weren't too bad, but it doesn't bode well if he sends larger numbers of Zeros.

Tophat is also getting ready to attack Changsha in China so I'm manoeuvring a few more Chinese units around, but I don't expect to be able to hold it in the face of a coordinated assault. I'm just hoping that my "adventuring" in the Northeast of China causes Tophat to pause a bit. My best case scenario will be if I can force one of his weaker units over the border into the Soviet Union so I can get the Soviets into the war. [;)]

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/11/2005 3:16:40 AM)

December 15 -

The TF with CVL Ryujo retreated to the northeast instead of going into the DEI proper. My Dutch Hudsons and Brewsters in Amboina flew after the TF twice, but scored no hits and had several Hudsons damaged. So that threat appears to be over, but I'm not sending my TFs back into that region directly - I'll let them take some "detours" before they reach their destinations. I'm in no hurry and I don't want to lose ships, troops and fuel if Tophat suddenly sends that TF back.

There was no sign again of the KB in the Eastern Pacific so I presume that they are heading west for fuel and supplies. Therefore I've returning to Pearl some of the TFs that I sent out last turn, and sending the rest to the West Coast. If I'm not going to use them in the near future I want them to be far out of harm's way.

Tophat's airborne ASW continues to whack my subs with uncanny accuracy. I wonder if my subs need radar to be able to avoid the patrol planes? In any event, the way things are going, all of those subs are going to be back in drydock anyway in another month or so, just from all this aerial harassment.

Tophat has stepped up his air campaign in China and is starting to hurt my Chinese fighter groups badly, so I'm retreating the ones who are suffering the worst morale losses. This means that Tophat's bombers will be able to hit my front line cities with less opposition, but I can't stop them if my fighter pilots have morale in the low 20s. I did get off an attack on the port of Taan with my Chinese IL 4Cs. They got good hits on a couple of transport ships in the port.

Tophat also launched another Zero attack at Manila. This time my P-40Es stood their ground and both sides lost one plane each. Otherwise things continue to be quiet in the Philippines and I continue to get a few planes repaired here and there. But I'm waiting for enough political points for my next big troop conversion before I start to change those air units over.

Elsewhere, Tophat bombed Tavoy pretty hard. That's great, because I've abandoned it and I want him to wreck the base before he takes it. He now has troops in place to assault it next turn, so I'm hoping that he sends the bombers in one more time before he grabs it.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/11/2005 5:57:59 AM)

December 16 -

With this turn we finally got the Combat Animations and the Combat Report working again, thanks to mc3744's advice. So I'll be pasting excerpts from the Combat Report into my comments when I feel that it gives a better picture of what is going on.

First off, things continue to return to "normal" around Hawaii and the Eastern Pacific as there has been no sign of a threat for a couple of days now. Likewise, that CVL TF has disappeared from the DEI region, so I am letting my TFs go back to their original destinations. But things are heating up in the Philippines, Malaya and China.

But unfortunately, another "normal" happening is that Tophat's airborne ASW continues to be effective and actually sank another one of my subs off of the Northern Philippines today. However, Tophat's naval ASW was busy but unable to connect with my subs. Never-the-less, my subs continue to be located and chased all around the Philippines. But at least one of my escorts hit a Japanese sub with a depth charge off of Singapore, so that made me feel a bit better.

But the real action in the Philippines is happening at San Marcelino:

Naval bombardment of San Marcelino, at 43, 50

Allied aircraft
No flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Kuretake
DD Wakatake
DD Yukaze
DD Yakaze
DD Wakaba
DD Nenohi
DD Yugumo
CL Oi
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Nagato

Allied ground losses:
216 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 2

Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 64
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 5

That big bombardment TF hit San Marcelino twice this turn, doing similar damage each time. And despite what the Combat Report said, some of the fighters that I had based there were damaged. It also looks as if Tophat is sending some troopships to San Marcelino, so I am expecting an invasion in a day or two. Tophat is also keeping Clark Field suppressed:

Day Air attack on Clark Field, at 43, 51

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 21
Ki-48 Lily x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 11 damaged

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported

Runway hits 35

And he sent the Zeros back to Manila again:

Day Air attack on Manila, at 43, 52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

It's nice to see that my P-40Es are holding their own for now.

In the meanwhile, in China Tophat moved more troops near Changsha and tried to outmaneuver me in the Northeast. Surprisingly, Tophat is bombing Wuchow quite regularly and heavily but not Changsha:

Day Air attack on Wuchow, at 42, 39

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 9
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 5
Ki-51 Sonia x 26
Ki-21 Sally x 12
Ki-15 Babs x 3

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 20

In Malaya Tophat continued with his very heavy bombing:

Day Air attack on Kuala Lumpur, at 23, 46

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 85
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 35

Tophat also sent Zeros against Singapore with much better results for him than he got over Manila:

Day Air attack on Singapore, at 23, 50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 19

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged

I'll have to pull those planes out of Singapore in another day or two if Tophat is able to continue this. But the big "question mark" in the Malaya area is the sudden arrival off of Mersing of a surface combat fleet lead by two battleships - Kongo and Haruna. All of my biplane torpedo bombers attacked, as well as the Dutch level bombers in the region, but they didn't cause any damage. But where is that TF going, and why? Is Tophat planning to try to catch some of those transport TFs that I have sailing off towards India? Is he planning to bombard some base in the region? Is he planning to sail around the Malay Peninsula and bombard some port up the Coast? This certainly changes the complexion of things in the region.

Well, with all that, I am happy to say that not everything went in Tophat's favor that turn - I forgot to rest those Chinese bombers and they went after Taan again, this time sinking a PT:

Day Air attack on Taan, at 37, 41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 6

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
PT Gyoraitei #1, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

I did remember to stand down those bombers this turn.

Oh, BTW - Tophat did bomb Tavoy again, as I had hoped:

Day Air attack on Tavoy, at 28, 37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 19
Ki-30 Ann x 12

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 15

Maybe he is sending that battle fleet to bombard Tavoy too. [;)]

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/11/2005 11:46:09 PM)

December 17 -

With combat animations and combat reports working Tophat has decided to start his own AAR for this game, so folks can get both points of view from now on. Appropriately, in his last email Tophat wrote; "Things will soon get interesting; my air isn't doing as much damage to you as it has in a test game so get ready. My ASW should improve with my redeployment!"

His air isn't doing a lot so far because I am deliberately not allowing my air units to get into combat with his air units except in a few unavoidable cases such as over Manila and Singapore. Here is a summary of my fighter losses to-date (ignoring the Chinese fighters). The bulk of the "Ground" losses occurred on December 7.

Fighter - Total Losses - Air_to_Air - Ground

P-40B - 85 - 11 - 74
P-40E - 26 - 12 - 14
P-36A - 25 - 03 - 22
P-26A - 21 - 11 - 10
F4F-3 - 20 - 03 - 17
Buffalo I - 16 - 15 - 1
P-35A - 11 - 04 - 07

Totals - 204 - 59 - 145

Of those Air-to-Air losses, only the P-40E and Buffalo losses are post-December 7 because those groups are defending Manila and Singapore, respectively. (BTW - I've only got one "operational" loss in the planes in that list in addition to those combat losses.) Fundamentally, I don't have enough fighters to be able to afford to lose many at this time, although I can't avoid some losses over Manila and Singapore as is shown by the results of this turn's attacks:

Day Air attack on Manila, at 43, 52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed

And:

Day Air attack on Singapore, at 23, 50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed

To put things in perspective, it was only the last turn that I could upgrade the first of my carrier fighter groups from F4F-3s to F4F-4s. That then allowed my beaten-up squadron of F4F-3s in Hawaii to finally get replenished - they only had two planes left after the December 7 attack. So in light of this I pulled out one weakened Australian Buffalo unit out of Singapore and started it on its way to India and eventual upgrading.

As far as Tophat's ASW "improving" goes, he may well quickly be reaching the "point of diminishing returns" as he has already whacked a large number of my subs and sank another one this turn. Irrespective of his "redeployment" there just aren't as many Allied subs in the main combat areas any more - he has damaged too many of them and most are on their way back to repair bases. [X(] This may also be a case of "don't fix what isn't broken" as far as his aerial ASW is concerned - I can't see how he can "improve" it over its current godlike effectiveness. BTW - Tophat still has one Glen-equipped sub sitting a couple of days sailing north-east of the Hawaiian Islands and is checking out the Allied TFs that are passing by. But as long as he doesn't do anything other than "spy", I don't really care - he knows that I will be moving task forces around.

And as Tophat mentioned, he is making things more "interesting" for his forces already. This turn he invaded and captured Tarawa, invaded San Marcelino, and used that BB-equipped TF to bombard Mersing. (He invaded Mersing as a quick route to Singapore last game we played, so it looks as if he is planning to do it again.) Tophat also put a bunch of fighters and miscellaneous aircraft into Khota Bharu despite the damage to its airfields, and continued with his aerial bombing of various other places in Malaya.

So that means that time is "running out" as far as my ability to do things in Malaya and Singapore goes. I loaded one last transport TF with another "extra" base force and sent it along its way to India. I don't know if it will get out unscathed, but it doesn't hurt to try. Then I started to move more forces back from the various regions of Malaya - I want to leave "skeleton" forces at the various bases and try to have as many undefeated combat units as possible for the final battle for Singapore.

Tophat hasn't moved in with his troops in China yet, although our forces in the far Northeast have finally come together. I tried a bombardment attack but despite outnumbering the Japanese forces my Chinese troops didn't get any results:

Ground combat at 55, 23

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 19458 troops, 140 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 4064 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles

I have one more unit that ought to arrive this turn, which should improve the odds enough so that I can start to cause some damage. Oh well, at least my troops will get some experience and Tophat won't be able to ignore me in that region.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/12/2005 3:58:09 AM)

December 18 -

This is a pretty easy AAR update to do...Tophat just keeps on pounding the Philippines, China and Malaya from the air, and I keep on moving ships, planes and troops back from the front. [;)]

Tophat did finally take Tavoy this turn. It ought to take him a little while to put the airfields back into working order. But there won't be a lot to attack in range of Tavoy anyway - I've got minimal troops in Burma, just enough to make Tophat have to send in some real troops rather than paratroops or naval raiders. Once Tophat starts to seriously move into Burma, I'll just "melt into the jungle". And if Tophat wants to try to bomb India proper, he will find out that I'm building up some nice CAP in the region. (Hurricanes may be too short-ranged for offensive escort, but they are great for CAP. [:D])

More of my less damaged ships from Pearl made it to the West Coast this turn. My BBs are still sitting in the Hawaiian Islands trying to reduce floatation damage. I'm in no hurry to send a bunch of BBs with 60 or so system damage on that long, slow sail eastwards until I have more confidence that Tophat's subs are off getting replenished. In the meanwhile, that DD escort that Tophat's sub torpedoed off of Hawaii is still limping towards Pearl, but I don't think that it will make it - the floatation damage keeps on creeping upwards. If this DD sinks it will be my first combat ship lost since December 7.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/12/2005 7:17:02 AM)

December 19 -

Another "quicky", because I'm tired and I stayed up too late.

Tophat wrote: "......I was hoping for more fireworks........ahhh well........." [sm=00000280.gif]

He shouldn't really complain - he did get some "watery" fireworks as some of his escorts nailed yet another of my subs. But what I suspect that he was thinking of was:

Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 82

No Japanese losses

"Sorry Charlie" - those P-40Es aren't there any more...[:D]

Tophat continued to do aerial bombardments of the Philippines, China and Malaya. And he sent his naval bombardment TF into Kuantan this time. But the troops that are there are all the escapees from Khota Bharu, so they are already used to "run and duck".

Not a lot else happened except that Tophat's initial assault on San Marcelino failed, and hopefully that will be enough to let my troops escape to Clark.

Tophat has also left a couple of his subs close enough to my bases for me to send out ASW TFs, so we'll see next time if I am anywhere near as lucky as Tophat has been.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Second Week at War (8/12/2005 11:12:14 PM)

December 20 -

Allied forces won their first battle of the War today, in the steppes of Northeastern China:

Ground combat at 55, 23

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27920 troops, 203 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 4092 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 6 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Allied ground losses:
65 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Our victorious forces intend to follow their routed opponent and take the nearby city that is a key to the access to the Soviet Union. This will actually be a chance to test out my supposition that if I force a Japanese unit to retreat into the Soviet Union it will trigger the participation of the Soviet forces. In any event, capturing a base on a road to the USSR will provide my troops with supplies. Now, what will Tophat do - the "smart" thing and simply ignore my troops in that isolated locale, or change his plans and attempt to attack me?

Elsewhere, Japanese troops captured San Marcelino, which had just been abandoned by my troops. I am trying very, very hard to avoid having Tophat defeat my ground units piecemeal. Now that I am grouping my forces together in the Bataan/Clark Field/Manila triangle, it will be harder for Tophat to get easy victories. I believe that I have only one badly disrupted Base Force in amongst the mix, so I'll send that unit down to Bataan for the eventual "last stand". Oh, BTW - Tophat sent his Zeros back over Manila again, but those P-40Es are long gone:

Day Air attack on Manila, at 43, 52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 58

No Japanese losses

Tophat is starting to wonder where my forces have vanished to; "…you seem to be making yourself scarce" he wrote in his last email. [:D]

In Malaya Tophat's battleship TF bombarded Kuantan again - I presume that means that he will be landing there soon. He also sent more Zeros after my CAP in Singapore:

Day Air attack on Singapore, at 23, 50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 6 destroyed

Since I am trying to sneak one last transport TF into Singapore (in order to be able to evacuate one last ground unit) I can't afford to pull all of my fighter units out of Singapore for a few more days. However, this now looks to be a high risk operation because Nells from Khotu Bharu spotted in the Indian Ocean due west of Malaya one of the TFs that I sent out earlier. Thus, I might find Japanese torpedo-equipped LBA going after my ships next turn. Because of this I ordered all of my TFs that are in the Indian Ocean to veer further away from land for a while and I'll have to take my chances with that lone, small TF that is trying to sneak in to Singapore.

On the "good news" side of things, Tophat's ASW forces didn't damage or sink any of my subs this turn. But a lot of that has to due with the fact that so many of my subs are already limping back to port with damages incurred in previous days. On the opposite side of things, my latest concerted ASW efforts came to naught as Tophat's subs vanished once again.

BTW - that DD that Tophat's sub torpedoed off of Hawaii made it back to Pearl today. Its condition looks to be "touch and go", but I've got my ARs and ADs heading back to Pearl so it might just be possible to save her. Fortunately I no longer have any other seriously damaged ships in port in Pearl.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> Third Week at War (8/13/2005 4:32:45 AM)

December 21: Third Week of War -

"…yep, scarce is right! What happened to the RAF? In Burma already or India? PI air force back in Borneo? Worry not; I think we'll have a New Years change of possession ceremony at Clark Field!"

One might say that Tophat is "looking for blood in all the wrong places". [;)] He has given up trying to sweep my CAP out of the sky. But as I expected his anti-ship operations are becoming more dangerous:

Day Air attack on TF, near Singapore at 23, 50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 6

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AP Ormiston, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Those Nells blew right by my Buffalos. Fortunately the Nells were coming in from Songhia and dropped bombs rather than torpedoes. So I have one undamaged AP left in Singapore Harbor with which to try to remove one more small base force. The Ormiston is unlikely to sink at anchor from its damages, but it won't be going anywhere for a while. Speaking of sinking-at-anchor, DD Preston sank in Pearl Harbor just as my ARs and ADs got back into port. That's the first combat ship that I've lost since December 7.

I finally started my next phase of withdrawing potentially good troops from "malarial hells" and shipping them to temperate locations with lots of supply. I like how fast units recover and rebuild once they are in better locations. And Tophat hasn't even started to recon the area that I am abandoning - he probably is suspicious of a carrier trap. Speaking of carriers, my third carrier finally had its fighter complement brought up to full strength. Now, these aren't the most up-to-date fighters, but they beat only having a handful of CAP in the air.

It will be interesting to see if Tophat really can take Clark Field by New Years. I'm pulling back undamaged combat units and while I don't expect to hold forever, I do expect that Tophat will need to bring a sizable force to bear. I probably could try to drag things out a bit by putting fighters back into Manila, but I don't want to waste them on a lost cause. I've got a lot of air units to rebuild and I don't want to lose any that I don't have to at this early stage.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/13/2005 7:41:00 AM)

December 22 -

Tophat got my attention, and one last turn out of me this evening, by writing; "Here we go then.....some action!!! finally some ACTION". So I went through the Combat Replay, then checked the Combat Report, and am still wondering what he saw that I didn't. [&:] Sure, his troops captured Laoag, and his ASW sank yet another of my subs, and his Zeros went up against my Buffalos over Singapore, but this isn't the sort of "action" that really grabs my attention. I was worried that he had been able to sneak the KB into my shipping lanes or something like that.

One worrisome thing that did come out of this turn is that Tophat's Nells from Tavoy were able to spot some of my transports off of the coast of India. So I need to move more CAP around to keep unescorted bombers away from my ports. I'm still unloading lots of troops and supplies and I don't need to be interupted by long distance aerial raiders.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention last time that Tophat was able to capture Apamama just by being next door in Tarawa. Tophat's planes also bombed Manila and Clark Field again this turn - he does seem serious about trying to take Clark by January 1, 1942.

So all those distractions aside, the rest of my plans continued on nicely - all I need is time for them to come to fruition.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/13/2005 10:09:48 PM)

December 23 -

Tophat wrote; "Well we are finally fighting in China and Malaya. Nice retreat you are conducting, but remember I have a lot of good Jap pilots not getting nickel and dimed away either. But I'd of tried the same thing....."

Well, my philosophy in this situation is, "You can't nickel and dime with only pennies and slugs…" [;)] But one my groups of "pennies and slugs" stood up and was counted this turn:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Cagayan at 42, 59

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa
CA Furutaka
CA Kako
DD Oboro, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
PT PT-31
PT PT-35
PT PT-41

That ambush didn't prevent the Japanese TF from bombarding Cagayan, but it was still nice to see my guys get in a shot and get away scot-free.

Elsewhere, Tophat is continuing with his assaults. He took Tuguegarao but I had already pulled the troops out, and he also air dropped paratroops into Kuantan, but again I had already pulled out my troops. And he has started the attack on Yenen:

Ground combat at Yenen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 96663 troops, 1183 guns, 153 vehicles

Defending force 33299 troops, 210 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Japanese ground losses:
1178 casualties reported
Guns lost 45
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
1040 casualties reported
Guns lost 13

Obviously, with that force he will grab Yenen quickly, but I wasn't expecting to hold it anyway. Tophat has also landed a lot of troops at San Marcelino, so he appears to have hopes of ending the Philippines campaign fairly quickly. We'll have to see what I can do about that. Tophat has started a land campaign in Malaya too:

Ground combat at Alor Star

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19287 troops, 281 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 2915 troops, 29 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4

Japanese ground losses:
336 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

And finally, Tophat has started to march some troops out of Tavoy and towards Burma proper, so I started to move away some of the nearer Brit troops in tandem. But while Tophat has to actually stop to grab bases that I have abandoned, my troops are taking the train to the Indian border and then marching towards the inland bases. By the time that Tophat decides what to do about Mandalay, I'll already have a good defensive position set up far into the jungle.

I'm not forgetting about India proper either. I am still landing troops there and distributing combat troops. If Tophat decides to venture into that region he will find that I have "all my bases covered".

Dave Baranyi



marovici -> RE: Third Week at War (8/14/2005 4:48:16 AM)

Good to see you back David. Interesting Strategy with withdrawal from Malaya. Looking forward to see if it does provide so much more advantage to Japanese when it comes to further expansion. Best of luck!



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/14/2005 5:21:05 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: marovici

Good to see you back David. Interesting Strategy with withdrawal from Malaya. Looking forward to see if it does provide so much more advantage to Japanese when it comes to further expansion. Best of luck!


Hi - it's nice to be back! [:)]

I've got a number of reasons for a limited withdrawal from Malaya:

1 - I'm going to lose it anyway unless Tophat ignores it (which isn't likely)

2 - Any units that I withdraw mean fewer points for Tophat when he captures Malaya (one of my main goals for the first year of this game is to minimize the points that Tophat can gain)

3 - I'm removing non-combat troops: the Air HQs and base forces - they don't really contribute to the defense against ground attack anyway

4 - India is too empty - I am sending the base forces to fill in the small coastal towns as well as the empty inland towns. I don't want Tophat to land a group of raiders at some empty port and use that as an invasion toehold.

5 - The Air HQs will help alleviate my lack of support troops, and as well will help my air units fight and recover better. My air units need all the help that they can get

6 - I'm still contesting the major bases where I can field reasonably good troops - I haven't pulled everyone back, particularly from the West Coast of Malaya

7 - My British air units cannot not stand up to sweeps by the crack Japanese pilots, so there is no point in letting them get shot down for no reason. By having them back in India they can rest up, get replacements, improve morale, and get pratice on any long range bombers that Tophat might send without escorts over India.

So I don't expect this to give any significant advantage to Tophat - he may gain a few days on his conquest schedule but he will not get as many points from the troops that he kills/captures. And later on, if he tries an invasion of India I will be much more ready for him.

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/14/2005 5:37:02 AM)

December 24 -

Tophat wrote; "...so you sent the Hiuston to Australia, interesting."

I wondered how he found out about that until I saw the end of the Combat Replay:

Sub attack at 48,91

Japanese Ships
SS I-159, hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Stewart
DD Whipple
DD Pope
DD Pillsbury
DD Peary
DD Parrott

So Houston and I-159 found out about each other the "hard way". I think that Houston will make it home - as long as there aren't more Japanese subs in the area it ought to.

Yes, I'm pulling the Asiatic Fleet out of the DEI and sending it to the South Pacific. Historically, the US and Australian attempts to reinforce the DEI were "too little, too late" and I don't intend to try to duplicate the mess that they both got into in that theater. I've got better uses for those ships than to leave them around as fodder for the KB when it eventually appears.

The KB hasn't appeared anywhere recently. Tophat has sent his CVL back to the Philippines to help with the invasion of Cagayan - one of my subs ran into its TF with unfortunate results for my sub:

ASW attack at 46,58

Japanese Ships
DD Amatsukaze
DD Hayashio
DD Natsushio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Oyashio
DD Kuroshio
CVL Ryujo

Allied Ships
SS Permit, hits 2

If the Permit doesn't run into any more Japanese TFs it ought to make it back to port, but it won't be shooting torpedoes for a while.

Elsewhere, Tophat added an assault on Changsha to his ongoing assault on Yenen:

Ground combat at Changsha

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 128199 troops, 1454 guns, 156 vehicles

Defending force 56511 troops, 419 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Japanese ground losses:
2300 casualties reported
Guns lost 58
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
3102 casualties reported
Guns lost 69

and:

Ground combat at Yenen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 95106 troops, 1123 guns, 148 vehicles

Defending force 31951 troops, 188 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese ground losses:
1102 casualties reported
Guns lost 27
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
984 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

I'm curious as to how far Tophat will try to go in China, but I'm not very concerned about it simply because there is little I can do about it at this time.

Tophat also continued with his daily aerial bombardments of various locations and units in the Philippines. The following will give you an idea of why I'm not trying hard to "stand and fight" with my current air units:

Day Air attack on Cagayan , at 42,59

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
G4M1 Betty x 20
C5M Babs x 2

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
C5M Babs: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9

I'm much better off pulling that unit back and letting it rebuild far from the front. It will also be months before I have sufficient quantities of fighters to have a decent chance to "stand and fight" successfully.

In other news, the final part of "Operation Quinine" got underway. I am very happy with the result of this operation - I will soon have a number of troops sitting safely in non-malarial bases, building strength for the future and protecting the present that would have otherwise been wasted uselessly.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/14/2005 7:06:36 AM)

December 25 -

I got a painful "Christmas Present" from Tophat this turn - the KB popped up in the shipping lanes half-way between Hawaii and the West Coast and smashed a transport TF that was bringing supplies to the South Pacific. He obviously took the "long route" to the north between my patrols in Alaska and Midway. Fortunately, I don't have a lot else in that neighborhood, and what is around is being redirected in various directions (cockroach scatter...). I've also put all of my aircraft on the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii on full alert. This means that I've turned on "replacements" on a number of them before I had planned to do so, but it can't be helped. And once again I've sent my ships in Hawaii out to sea. But they are not all running away - just in case Tophat has a replenishment TF floating around up north, I've sent some "little friends" that direction.

BTW - Tophat's gambit is one of the reasons why I don't send ground troops from the West Coast into the Pacific in December 1941 - not only are they not at full strength, but it is too easy for the KB to pop up unexpectedly. I can replace supplies and AKs fairly readily - I don't want ground troops or air units sinking on the way to the front.

This does mean that I can relax a fair amount in other theaters - I only have to deal with the usual overwhelming Japanese advantages instead of having the KB there to wipe out any hope of the smallest gain. So Tophat's surface combat ships got rid of the last of my PT boats at Cayagan - I expect that ground troops will land next turn. And Tophat's troops took Naga, which I had abandoned a few days ago. On the other hand, Yenen, Changsha and Alor Star are still holding up against Tophat's assaults, but I don't expect that to continue for long.

The tough times continue, but my redeployment actions continue to procede nicely.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/14/2005 3:03:16 PM)

December 26 -

The KB is still sitting in the shipping lanes between Hawaii and the West Coast. It didn't launch any more air strikes against my remaining fleeing transports, but its patrol planes did spot some of them. One of the two heavily damaged AKs sank on its own. The other is limping towards the West Coast. (I really doubt that it will ever make it, even if the KB ignores it.) The two AKs that escaped the attack last turn are heading away from the area. My intel says that the KB is heading East - true or false? In a case of "...after the horse is out of the barn", I sent my short range subs out from Pearl last turn to set up a picket line of sorts - although realistically, since they don't carry scout planes its more a matter of dumb luck than anything else that I will spot Japanese TFs in the "blind zone". And in order to try to reduce the "blind zone" a bit I am sending an AVD to the further Aleutian Islands to provide support for another PBY group up there. My patrols are usually pretty close to useless, but it beats nothing.

In other news, the noose continues to tighten in the Philippines as Japanese troops captured uncontested Lingayen. Now all my troops are in Bataan/Clark/Manila. Tophat also started to land troops in Cagayan. In China, Tophat resorted to bombardments against my troops at Yenen and Changsha. And my troops at Alor Star repulsed another attack:

Ground combat at Alor Star

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18612 troops, 248 guns, 5 vehicles

Defending force 2700 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

I've never figured out what it is about Alor Star that allows the otherwise mediocre Alled Malayan troops to fight so well.

My ASW continues to be as close to useless as is imaginable. My ships don't even detect the Japanese subs, let along hit them. This turn one of Tophat's subs hit the last of my transports to be leaving Singapore:

Sub attack at 18,58

Japanese Ships
SS I-164

Allied Ships
AP Westralia, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
MSW Deloraine
MSW Cairns

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

I've now got that TF limping back towards Java. That TF had a couple of escorts, and I had swept that area with a dedicated ASW TF the same turn. [:(] Oh well, back to the practice fields.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Third Week at War (8/15/2005 5:29:04 AM)

December 27 -

A fairly quiet turn. The KB has disappeared again - it may be near where it was, it may be heading towards the West Coast, it may be going any direction. So I'm keeping the Eastern Pacific fairly empty for the next few days and keeping my air units in the region on full alert. There isn't much else I can do.

Tophat did ground bombardment attacks again at Yenen, Changsha and Alor Star. He also landed more troops in Cayagan. I personally think that he could run over all four places at once if he really put some effort at it, but I'm not going to "encourage" him. He'll take them soon enough.

Tophat also did another fighter sweep of Davao. Sorry Charlie - I'm not leaving P-40s around to act as target practice for Zeros. When Tophat's units see these US fighters again, the story will be rather different.

BTW - my subs and ASW continue to be as ineffectual as my fighter air craft.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> Fourth Week of War (8/15/2005 6:59:55 AM)

December 28 -

Still no sign of the KB, so I'm keeping the Eastern Pacific pretty empty for now until I have a better idea of where the KB is and why Tophat is sending lots of TFs towards the "South East" from Japan.

Elsewhere, Tophat started a bombing campaign against Rangoon:

Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-27 Nate x 28
Ki-30 Ann x 23
Ki-15 Babs x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12

My AA fire took care of those Anns, but they won't have to worry about that in the future because my troops pulled out right afterwards. The fighter units are already back in India. Tophat tried sweeps at Davao and Singapore again, but he came up empty once more because I have no intention of sacrificing any air units in either location. In the meanwhile, a CV TF showed up southeast of Davao. Is it the CVL again, or did Tophat split the KB? (I had the feeling that I wasn't seeing all the planes that the complete KB can launch in that attack on my transports.)

This turn Tophat's troops took Cagayan and drove my pitiful little base force out. I'll march those troops away, but they won't be able to escape to anywhere safe. Tophat also grabbed an empty Moulmein Tophat continued with ground bombardment attacks at Changsha and Alor Star, but tried a deliberate attack at Yenen:

Ground combat at Yenen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 108990 troops, 1272 guns, 143 vehicles

Defending force 29810 troops, 196 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
1081 casualties reported
Guns lost 35
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
1611 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

I'm quite pleased with those troops at Yenen - they are holding very well, particularly when you consider that I didn't bring the "communist" troops back to support them.

BTW - "Operation Quinine" finished successfully - I pulled all of the troops out of Rabaul and Port Moresby and brought them back to Townsville to rest up, build strength and prepare for the future in malaria-free comfort. Sure, Tophat can now do what he wants in New Britain and PNG, but in reality, if he commits the full KB to the area he could do the same even if I left the troops in place. And Townsville will be signficantly harder for Tophat to attack than Port Moresby.

Dave Baranyi



ADavidB -> RE: Fourth Week of War (8/15/2005 4:32:54 PM)

December 29 -

I think that I've located the whereabouts of the KB:

E7K2 Alf sighting report: 2 Allied ships at 121, 54, Speed 16, Moving Northeast

Notice - that was an Alf, not a Glen! And the Alf spotted one of my subs that are out there on picket duty in the "blind zone". Sure, that may just be a combat TF out there, or a spy TF with a CS in it, but I doubt it. (And unless Tophat is able to upgrade from Glens to Alfs, it can't be coming from a sub.) So Tophat is keeping the KB around just in case I get careless and start to send TFs back across the main shipping lanes. The real question is - where is his replenishment TF? Is it with or near the KB, or is it further away in the Blind Zone? And is it just a pure refueling TF, or has he made a true replenishment TF including CVEs and replacement aircraft? I haven't seen his CVEs around the Philippines for quite some time - only his CVL. In any event, I'll just keep my air units on alert in that region and avoid sending TFs into harms way for now. As long as I know where the KB really is its effectiveness is cute at least in half.

I am also improving my patrol capability in the region. Tophat has been aided a lot in his hiding by the fact that I start out with few air units in the Northeastern Pacific region and those that are there are rather short-legged. But I am gradually changing that situation. I have also reached that very satisfying moment in the early part of the game when I receive those two full 72-planes groups of P-39s and P-40Es in Seattle. I can now bring over 300 fighters to bear at any base in the West Coast within a day. Sure, they aren't the best fighters in the game, but I would still love to see the KB go against them. [:D]

In other news, one of my subs finally got a hit on an ASW TF:

Sub attack at 25, 48

Japanese Ships
DD Yugiri, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Asagiri
DD Ayanami
DD Shikinami

Allied Ships
SS KXVII

Tophat has a number of combat ships sitting off of the southern tip of Malaya. I don't know what he is doing - maybe planning another bombardment of Mersing, or a fast transport invasion? Later, one of my planes in the region also got a hit on the same ship:

Day Air attack on TF at 24, 49

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 8

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Yugiri, on fire
DD Ayanami

Tophat is still doing sweeps where I don't have aircraft:

Day Air attack on Davao, at 41, 61

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

No Japanese losses

And:

Day Air attack on Rangoon, at 29, 34

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses

And:

Day Air attack on Singapore, at 23, 50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9

No Japanese losses

But his bombers keep on taking damage from flak:

Day Air attack on Manila, at 43, 52

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 9 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
71 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 7

My Chinese bombers keep on being a useful nuisance:

Day Air attack on Nanning, at 40, 38

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 1

Tophat has had to put CAP in all of his ports in the region to keep me from bombing them. But I keep on finding undefended bases. [sm=00000622.gif]

Tophat is getting a bit frustrated at China; "…quiet again......I'll win at Yenen someday..." What is ironic is that a while back he mentioned how an opponent in another PBEM has been bogged down in China because of splitting up the Japanese forces too much.

Ground combat at Yenen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 107634 troops, 1225 guns, 141 vehicles

Defending force 26969 troops, 175 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
746 casualties reported
Guns lost 31
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
706 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Tophat stuck with ground bombardment attacks at Changsha and Alor Star.

My Indian defensive strategy continues to work out nicely. I now have RAF Air HQs in each of Diamond Harbour, Calcutta, Chandpur and Dacca. I like to do this for several reasons:

- I like to have support in the "black" in all of my bases because units build up faster
- HQs "attract" supplies, which aids in building up units
- Air HQs add some measure of capability to the air units that I have there.

I've also got base forces and combat units in all of the other coastal bases in India and will soon have the same in the various inland bases that are near the coast. I like to be able to base air units where they can't be hit by bombardment TFs. And my air units in India continue to get better. ("Everyday, in every way, we get better and better…" [sm=00000117.gif] )

Now, realistically, what I have in India wouldn't stop a serious attack at this time, but it would slow it down, which is what I want.

Dave Baranyi



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