fcharton
Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010 From: France Status: offline
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And then, the barbarians came, just a few blocks away, and it was not a game, even though it all seemed so unreal, and all of a sudden, wargaming, and AAR writing just felt wrong. So this AAR fell back, even though we exchanged a few turns. Anyway, here is a brief catch-up post. December 10th 1941 Hong Kong was bombarded today. This invasion force is relatively small, just one division, two engineer regiments and assorted artillery. I expect to hold for a couple of days. Wake, Ternate, and Nauru were invaded and captured. On Luzon, my fighters had a bad day over Clark Field at the hand of an equal number of Zeroes. But we had some revenge for this over Alor Star, where the first AVG, in transit to Singapore, shot down a dozen Sallies. In Malaya, the enemy landed in Kuantuan, with four infantry regiment, a recon regiment, an AF company, the 25th army HQ. Bombers sortied from Singapore, and even though no ship seems to have been sunk, several cargoes were bombed or torpedoes, and Japanese VP for ground units went up by 20 points. I will try again tomorrow, but it was a good day. December 11th 1941 A fairly uneventful turn. Bombardments continue in Hong Kong, with little effect on the defenders. Ternate falls. In Kuantan a first deliberate attack reduces the fortifications. A second series of naval attacks against unloading ships damages a few more cargoes, even though none show up as sunk. A few cargoes fleeing Manila are sunk in the Philippines sea. In China, my opponent has apparently evacuated Ichang. I am moving in. He is also using his battleships to bombard Wenchow, destroying the installations, but doing little damage to the troops there. December 12th 1941 Since many enemy ships were damaged in Kuantan, and enemy bombers don’t seem very effective so far, I ordered Force Z to attack Kuantan today. My opponent had apparently anticipated the move, and sent a battleship force my way. A series of naval battles ensued… During the first engagement, we lost a destroyer, but managed a few hits on Haruna. Night Time Surface Combat, near Djemadja at 53,82, Range 9,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Kongo BB Haruna, Shell hits 4, on fire CA Takao CA Atago DD Asashio, Shell hits 1 DD Oshio DD Michishio, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Arashio DD Akatsuki DD Hibiki Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 5 BC Repulse, Shell hits 6, on fire DD Vampire, Shell hits 2, and is sunk DD Tenedos DD Electra, Shell hits 1 DD Express Night Time Surface Combat, near Djemadja at 53,82, Range 9,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Kongo, Shell hits 1 BB Haruna, Shell hits 2, on fire CA Takao CA Atago, Shell hits 1 DD Asashio DD Oshio DD Michishio, on fire DD Arashio DD Akatsuki DD Hibiki Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 1, on fire BC Repulse, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage DD Tenedos DD Electra, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Express At this point, Repulse broke off, but the engagement went on, and we got more hits on Haruna. Night Time Surface Combat, near Djemadja at 53,83, Range 9,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Kongo, Shell hits 1 BB Haruna, Shell hits 4, heavy fires CA Takao CA Atago DD Asashio DD Oshio DD Michishio, on fire DD Arashio DD Akatsuki DD Hibiki Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 8, on fire DD Tenedos, Shell hits 1 DD Electra, on fire Repulse made it to Singapore, on fire, with 70 points of system damage. She will survive, if I can manage to evacuate her from Singapore before it falls. Prince of Wales ended up with 30 sys damage, and is back in Batavia. No Japanese ship shows up as sunk, but I have noticed a 180 VP increase today, which might actually be Haruna. If it were so, the raid on Kuantan would be a success. My opponent is doing a good job at eliminating my fleeing merchantmen. He parked two task forces in the Celebes, one around Jolo, the other near Tarakan, which destroy a lot of shipping. Today, I lost a dozen ships to them, xAKL mostly, but a few tankers too. In other news, Kuantan fell to a deliberate attack. In Hong Kong, the first deliberate attack ended on 1:2 odds, Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 16023 troops, 251 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 415 Defending force 7834 troops, 131 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 184 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Japanese adjusted assault: 308 Allied adjusted defense: 377 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2) Japanese ground losses: 679 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled Engineers: 4 destroyed, 20 disabled Allied ground losses: 155 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled December 13th 1941 Another fairly uneventful day. A few more ships were sunk in the Celebes, and Japanese battleships bombarded Wenchow. Several ground battles took place in China. In every case, a Japanese division easily routed a Chinese corps. My opponent seems to be advancing on Changsha, and Nanyang. So far, my Chinese have been retreating and repairing disablements. Morale is still very low, but a few defensive positions are getting set up, and so far, we have avoided most of the slaughter that usually happens in the central plains. I have a few surprises in store, so this theater should become interesting soon. Elsewhere, Port Blair now has 85 AV, and should be safe against paradrop attempts. If Joseph wants it, he will have to fight on the beaches. I am planning to build another base in the area. Reinforcements should arrive in Rangoon and Calcutta in a few days, and Port Moresby, Ambon and Horn Island are beginning to look nice.
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