Russo-Japanese War 1904-05

[CyberRanger]

Russo-Japanese War 1904-05
Ver. 1.0

*General Info*

Scenario Length: 76 turns

Scenario Scale: 330 units (brigades/divisions)

Japanese player: DeconMan
Russian player: WestPointer

My overall strategy is defend Port Arthur at all cost. If the Japanese move west from Korea to cut the Trans-Siberian railroad, I'll try to slowly give way to the north, hoping that my reinforcements can arrive in time to save the northern vp points.

However, I'll give up the VP hexes in that area before losing the units. My main force will remain close to Port Arthur to protect the southern vp points. This is a fairly long scenario. At first, the Japanese have many more units, requiring the Russians to pick a defensive area and stick to it. Around turn 20, Russian reinforcements begin to arrive.

(I think the game is far enough along that I haven't compromised operational security by revealing that info to DeconMan!)

Up to turn 7, almost all of the real action is near Port Arthur, so subsequent maps will focus on that area.

[CyberRanger]

Turn 1: Japanese land in Korea. Pretty much wipe out my units there by turn 2. Japanese landings north of Port Arthur. They attack towards Old City and northward.

Turn 2 (4/15/1904): Japanese attack the Old City. It holds. Forces from Korea reinforce Japanese bridgehead north of Old City. Amphibious force consisting of Gen. Nodzu's Division HQ, 70th Infantry Division, an Engineer Regiment, and a Horse Artillery battalion (all of the 4th Army) start the Russian turn embarked on ships adjacent to Port Arthur. The Russian 1st Pacific Fleet is still alive and able to bottle up and eliminate the amphibious assault with help from shore batteries.

[CyberRanger]

Turn 3: Japanesse reinforcements move from Korea to the pocket north of the Old City. Russian 1st Pacific Fleet dies in naval battle beside Port Arthur. The Japanesse launch three assaults against the Old City but it holds. Three Japanesse naval fleets (4th BG, Admiral Uriu, and Admiral Togo) destoryed in the battle. One fleet remains outside Port Arthur. Russians fortify along the Yalu and move reinforcements in Port Arthur. Two division from Inkou divide into brigades and land behind Japanese lines. None of the four ports (Dalniy, Talienvan, Gnizivo, and Dagushan) in the Japanese enclave are garrisoned! I occupy all the supply points that the Japs are using in the invasion above Port Arthur. I don't expect to hold but that will hurt Jap supply bad! Losing the two divisions seems a worthwhile gamble. I work on destorying the bridges across the Yalu. The Old City is MY supply point for the Port Arthur garrison so I must hold it at all costs!

Turn 4: Japanese forces move up the Korean peninusula. Around the Old City, they recaptured Dalniy but don't try to retake the other supply points yet. The most important action is the movement of 8 infantry divisions from the 2nd Japanese Army and the 2nd BG fleet to Inkou. They attack and capture the port! This is very bad for me! That port sits directly on the Trans-Siberian railroad and is my only water port to move troops by sea into Port Arthur or to launch surprise amphibious assaults against the Japanese. It's true importance only hit me last turn! The Japanese forces in Inkou are too strong for me to try to retake the city so I'm trying to surround it and conserve my defensive strength instead of attacking.

However, I do launch an assualt out of Port Arthur and down from Sazhodi. I'm hoping this will force DeconMan to move more troops into the Port Arthur area instead of exploiting the landing at Inkou. My attempt to retake Dalniy fails but I feel like I've got the Japanese around Port Arthur in a precarious position. The question is ... are my limited attacks really just wasting defensive strength that I'll need later?

[CyberRanger]

Turn 5: Success beyond my dreams! I recapture Inkou wiping out 8 Japanese divisions in the process. The area south of Sazhodi is cleared out and I surround an infantry division and two regiments north of Dagushan. The Japanese enclave north of Port Arthur looks in serious danger from my perspective. I won't make the mistake of leaving Inkou under-garrisioned again.

Turn 6 (5/13/04): Hmm... I surround and eliminate an artillery regiment, 3 infantry divisions, and an engineer regiment north of the Old City and an infantry division plus two weakened regiments in the mountains north of Dagushan. That would seem to be great but the loss penalty is only 16:12 in my favor. With wiping out almost the entire Japanese 2nd Army I feel the loss penalty would be more in my favor. I think it's time for me to sit back on the defensive again, conserving strength for another counter-attack. I am happy that I have an extra hex of "cushion" north of the Old City. Unless Kevin throws me a big surprise on turn 7, my plan is to consolidate my gains and rebuild a defensive line.

[CyberRanger]

Turn 7: I'm able to get a surrounded infantry division and brigade to breakout to the north of Gnivizo. Otherwise, this is a consolidation turn.

Massive Japanese reinforcements are on the way so I hold my breath awaiting the next few turns!

[CyberRanger]

I open up turn 8 to see that DeconMan has tried a direct landing against Port Arthur with a large portion of his reinforcements. The attack fails leaving 7 Japanese divisions embarked beside Port Arthur. My coastal artillery and HQ artillery slam into the transport ships, destroying a large portion of the 3rd Japanese Army. (See attached image.)

After this loss, DeconMan and I agree to stop the game and score it as an overwhelming Russian victory. (Besides, we both need time for the War in the West tournament!)

DeconMan passed along these thoughts:

If the Japs don't start off very strong and try to dig in on the beachhead while building up forces then they are in for trouble. Once I established defensive lines and gave up whatever momentum I had, I was dead.

I'd agree with him. I think trying to take Port Arthur early is a risky strategy. The game is long (75 turns). If I were to play the Japanese, I'd establish a strong bridgehead north-east of the Old City but then focus on cutting off the peninsula and securing the northern VP hexes, then move south along the western side of the peninsula while maintaining pressure on Port Arthur from the bridgehead. Don't know if that would work but it would be interesting!

Thanks for the game, DeconMan, and thanks to Alex Logon for designing the scenario.