From: Markus Stumptner Subject: Pacific War replay - Fall of Malaya Replays have a been thin recently so here is one... This is a replay of one of the solo games of the Pacific War Campaign Scenario #1 that I played last year to check whether our house rules made sense before we first used them in a Strategic Scenario. Since it was the first test game, I kept notes (relatively superficial though) and found them when digging through a stack of paper last week. The Malay campaign is fairly linear at this scale, but it might still be of interest. In playing the game I also used our other house rules as posted on Web-Grognards, in particular the upgraded Singapore fortress (which keeps the Japanese from simply flattening Singapore from the sea once Force Z is gone) and the limited air effectiveness against ports (which means Singapore cannot be easily interdicted by air alone). All operations throughout the game were 14-day operations with the Japanese as operations player (no surprise there). The victory conditions require the Japanese to clear Malaya of Commonwealth units and to take Singapore, both by end of February (the historical timespan of the campaign). The Contact Phase ends on December 3 with the Japanese transport task force withing striking range of Malaya. In the first Battle Cycle, the Japanese land at Khota Baru and take it, destroying 6 battalions of the 9th Indian division (which managed to fail two troop quality checks, one under aerial bombardment, and the second one for the retreat). The 11 Indian div. is moved to a blocking position north of Singapore. Force Z sorties from Singapore. December 5. A dusk airstrike fails to score any hits on Force Z, with 15 planes (1 step) lost in the night landing. In the gathering darkness, Force Z makes contact with the Japanese covering force (two Mogami cruisers and 12 DD's). The battle sees one Japanese DD sunk against one hit on Repulse and two on Prince of Wales. On the third round, the British choose to withdraw and in the Disadvantage Movement phase move towards the coast with the goal of bombarding the Japanese at Khota Baru. However, the Japanese gain the initiative on the next turn (December 7 - Night), and since this is the first day of the second week, the 5th and 18th divisions move out of the bridgehead - Admiral Phillips comes too late. In addition, the Japanese task force closes in on the British near the coast and in a brutal night battle, Prince of Wales and Repulse are sunk together with 3 of their escorting destroyers against one of the Mogami cruisers and one DD. The second cruiser suffers one hit. Its second week's attack sees the 5th Division eliminating the remains of the 9th Indian division in the mountains. December 9. The 28th Indian Brigade undergoes a massive air attack unscathed, but is still eliminated by the subsequent attack of the Japanese Guard division which has marched down from the Thai border. The end of the operation sees the Japanese in Central Malaya (hexes 4109, 4208, 4207). Given the excellent combat results, an advance to the gates of Singapore would have been possible if points for Penalty Time (which would yield another movement phase in the week of penalty time) had been available. Operations start again in January. The 18th division takes Kuantan on the 3rd, but the 5th division fails to dislodge the broken 11th Indian division in Central Malaya. While one pincer of the Japanese advance is thus stopped, the 18th division reaches Singapore in its second week of marching on January 9 and is repulsed in a costly assault (4:2 losses). On the western route, the Guard division reaches Singapore on January 11, weakening but not breaking the defenders with an attack that produces a 2:4 result but no retreat for either side. Meanwhile the 11th Indian division finds its end further north, making Singapore the only spot of resistance. The garrison is now reduced to the 8th Australian division which has 2 steps remaining and is the only unbroken unit. The 17th Indian division, 28th Indian Brigade (reinstated at Singapore after its annihilation the previous month) and Singapore Brigade were all broken by air attacks. All Commonwealth air cover is gone. In February, the writing is on the wall. The Japanese start with a two-week operation involving the 5th and 18th divisions. The first week's assault results in losses of 4:3 (DR 7). The second week produces 3:3 losses (DR 4), eliminating the 8th Australian division, but the remaining forces stand. With the tired 5th and 18th division recuperating for the rest of the month, the Japanese start another 2-week operation, the last of the campaign, on February 14, relying mainly on the Guards division. The Guards attack, but with a result of 3:3 are bloodily repulsed (DR 8). On the Commonwealth side, the freshly reinstated 28th Indian Brigade is eliminated again. On February 16, the Japanese attempt to pierce the defenses with the freshly arrived 143 Infantry regiment. The regiment causes high losses to the defenders but gets stuck in the mangrove swamps (1:3 losses caused by a DR 8!). The defenders are now down to an effective strength of 2 battalions, one of the 17th Indian division, one from the Singapore Brigade. Their only chance is for the Japanese to fail again tactically with a bad dieroll. Still, the Japanese campaign plan is now in jeopardy, with exactly one week of fighting still remaining before the scheduled fall of Malaya, the end of the game. But the Japanese are unimpressed. A new, full assault is scheduled for February 21, and their numerical and qualitative superiority over the broken Commonwealth remnants is decisive. Despite lower-level tactical blunders (DR 8, the third time in a row!), the defenders are eliminated (DR reduced to 6 due to 4:1 numeric advantage, causing 0:3 step losses). Singapore falls, giving them the victory at the last possible moment (since a third attack would not have been possible given the two-week operation). Luck averaged out overall, despite the quick initial gains the operation was almost foiled by three weeks of high-rolling assaults near the end. (The sheet with the notes also contained the record of a game played using the rules as written, with ground movement and ground attacks on every Battle Cycle instead of once per week per unit. In this game, the Japanese stood adjacent to Singapore on December 14, the day the first Operation ended. Singapore fell to the Japanese on January 3.) Reading those notes fired up my interest, so I'm playing some more solo Campaign scenarios now and will post replays as I get around to type them. Markus Last 3 games played: Leros, Pacific War, Up Front ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Bakayaro! Bakayaro!" ("Stupid Bastards! Stupid Bastards!") -- Admiral Aritomo Goto's last words to his staff, October 11, 1942