Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy(A) vs KenchiSulla (J)

[Mundy]

14 Dec 1941

The big mob of escapees got caught by Ise, Hyuga and 3 DDs about 8 hexes E of Leyte. Six ships survived that and the following KB Div raid over the day. Half of them are undamaged, and I separated them from the cripples. I figure the skies are full of scouts, so it was probably apparent.

The Haruna group hit some ships near Soerbaja, inflicting harm.
[EDIT] Both PT groups did intercept them, but to no effect, on either side.

Troops finally landing on Guam.

IJA just bombarding at Hong Kong for now. probably resting up for the final go.

The big mob of Singapore escapees have cleared the Sabanag corner towards Ceylon. They are fairly likely to make it. I'll wind up working them into the Rangoon convoys. There hasn't been much activity around Burma yet, apart from sporadic air raids. I've moved the pitiful RAF squadrons out towards Mandalay and put a squadron of AVG in right now, training the other two squadrons. The one TF of Indian troops bound for Singapore has been re-routed to Rangoon. I'm looking at eventually 2 divisions of USA troops when I can get them over. Airplanes, too. I think the 13th AF lives there normally. I also want Akyab and the bases to its north beefed up with defenses. I've also set Calcutta to draw more supplies. Historically, I've run a lot between there and Rangoon.

No idea what to do with Hermes and the rest of the RN. The Malay peninsula is probably the biggest, most effective road block in the game. When the RN CVs come in, the temptation is great to send them to Australia's east coast to cooperate with the USN. Don't think I'll do that this time.

My biggest fantasy is to hit one of those KB divisions will all three of my USN CVs. Too far to be realistic, but I am going to send them to Suva for now.

[EDIT] Meant to add... I've been shipping some of the Dutch base and infantry troops scattered SE of Soerbaja out, attaching them to SWPac. I'm getting them to Moresby so that I have something there. I'll refrain from stating that I'll defend PM to the last Dutchman. [:'(]

Ed-

[Mundy]

15 Dec 1941

Not a whole not of new action.

Buin falls
Landing at Manado. Not sure how many will land after this turn. APs looked matched when the Dutch Bombarded them.
Deliberate attack on Guam - still holding.

I have indulged in a spite mission. 4 BBs + escorts from Pearl are probably going to bombard Wake next turn. They've probably been spotted this turn, but it will probably be too late. Once this is over, I'll worry about getting Battleship Row updated to 1940's standards. I'm unsure if I should leave them at Pearl or send them stateside. They won't be eating up dry-dock space.

I'm not thrilled with the Manado landings. I was looking at routing the fighter squadrons from PI there, but I'll have to settle for Tarakan.

Cannonfodder noted that he'd never seen ships flee eastwards from the Philippines before. My response is that I had little choice, with KB broken up all over the place. None taking the DEI route made it. The Singapore fugitives heading west look safe now.

Ed-

[BBfanboy]

Do NOT use PH for your BB upgrades. You will need the dockyard to repair carriers and cruisers, and do their upgrades closer to the action so as to lessen their transit time.

Some BBs will have another upgrade pending within a short time after they finish their January one. Some of the upgrades can go 180 days but you end up with a really improved ship
with dual purpose 5"/38s, and good radars. Look at the next upgrades for each ship and decide which dockyard to use.
I try to not overload SFO, making more use of Seattle, Alameda, Mare Island, LA and San Diego. I even sent a couple to Eastern USA since they were going to the IO afterward.

[Mundy]

They generally don't use drydock space when upgrading, do they? Generally the drydock and non-drydock settings both result in the same number of days out.

Dealing with this for all my BBs is a new novelty for me. I'll most likely send them to SF/Mare Is. It'll probably be first half of January before Colorado and Warspite are done.

I know the upgrades for these come pretty early in '42. Likewise the carriers will also be up. I may just run the CVs through one at a time. All around, AA on capital ships at start is pretty pathetic. Looking forward to offloading the 8 inchers on the Lexingtons.

I'm no stranger to this. Like I said, having all my BBs is probably the only "weird" thing I'm dealing with so far.

I remember in the RA5 scenario, I was playing PBEM, the Omahas had an option to convert to CLAA. That one never seemed worth it.

Ed-

[CowboyRonin]

If an upgrade requires a certain shipyard size, the ship will go into the shipyard when it begins the refit(the message also indicates this). You can go into the port the next turn and switch them to Pierside repair, there is no difference in delay time. So, the BBs will want to hog the yards, but you can kick them out [;)]

[Mundy]

That's how I remember it. I'll have to review the upgrade setting on the fleet. No rush, since I don't think anything's due until at least Jan.

16 Dec 1941

Operation WakeSpite has concluded.

Night Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
BB West Virginia
BB Maryland
CA Minneapolis
CL St. Louis
DD Allen
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
DD Farragut

Japanese ground losses:
538 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 17
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 5

BB Oklahoma firing at Kure 1st SNLF
BB Nevada firing at Wake Island
BB West Virginia firing at Sasebo 2nd SNLF
BB Maryland firing at Wake Island
CA Minneapolis firing at Sasebo 2nd SNLF
CL St. Louis firing at Wake Island
DD Allen firing at Kure 1st SNLF
DD Dale firing at Wake Island
DD Monaghan firing at Wake Island
DD Farragut firing at Wake Island

Hopefully, they're reduced to eating those little flightless birds.

My usual lax attention to detail nearly bit me here. The TF came in directly from the E, but egressed to the SE, which put them in range of the Nells in the Marshalls. Maryland ate a torp, but it never got through the armour. No FLT damage on anyone -- just the regular damage from running them at flank speed. I did forget to have the Kingfishers and Seagulls night recon. It's been awhile and I'm out of practice.

In other news...

Guam and Hong Kong fend off more attacks.
Things are static on Manado. I don't think he brought enough troops. I'll upgrade the commander of the infantry there.
Landings on Ternate
Landing at Adak(!) I'm definitely going to rush more stuff to Dutch Harbor. The airfield there takes forever to get to level 1. I don't think there's much supporting that landing.
KB divs still prowling PI and Singapore. One division hits Singapore with a strike.
Zuiho takes a shot at the PI fugitives heading east. Must be out of torps. Bombs to no effect.

Eight DDs arrived at Panama. I'll put them to good use. Exactly two weeks until York shows up. I'll leave two DDs behind for an escort.

One thing I haven't really accounted for are his battleships. I've only seen the Harunas in the DEI. Not a peep out of the rest. As weak as the RAF and especially the RAAF are, I could see something happening in their territories.

Ed

[EDIT] Bunch of ships sitting at Cagayan. Appears to be a mix of transports and support ships. No landings yet.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: CowboyRonin

If an upgrade requires a certain shipyard size, the ship will go into the shipyard when it begins the refit(the message also indicates this). You can go into the port the next turn and switch them to Pierside repair, there is no difference in delay time. So, the BBs will want to hog the yards, but you can kick them out [;)]

True for most upgrades. However, if an upgrade or conversion causes engineering or flotation damage, the ship must remain in the dockyard until it is all gone and only system damage is left.

[Mundy]

17 Dec 1941

Johore Bahru falls. His Dec 8 landing at Mersing pretty much wrapped that up quickly

Not counting China, everything else under siege holds.

I-170 puts a torp into West Virginia, despite running at flank speed. This put 34 Flt damage on her. I'll back her speed down to mission speed. 4 Destroyers didn't do their job. IJN subs have always been a thorn in my side, turning decisive victories into Pyrrhic ones.

We got 3 turns in today, which is pretty good for doing this across 7 time zones. I was a little late getting to this, since I was enjoying watching the Brewers beat down the Cardinals. My record is a couple of 5 turn days with Treespider -- both on a Saturday.

Ed-

[CowboyRonin]

The spring US DD upgrades will really change the balance of power. Right now, a lot of your DDs are ASW 2, after the upgrades, they will be ASW 6. Not that they won't still sting you, but they will start dying more often when they show themselves.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Mundy

That's how I remember it. I'll have to review the upgrade setting on the fleet. No rush, since I don't think anything's due until at least Jan.

16 Dec 1941

Operation WakeSpite has concluded.

Night Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
BB West Virginia
BB Maryland
CA Minneapolis
CL St. Louis
DD Allen
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
DD Farragut

Japanese ground losses:
538 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 17
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 5

BB Oklahoma firing at Kure 1st SNLF
BB Nevada firing at Wake Island
BB West Virginia firing at Sasebo 2nd SNLF
BB Maryland firing at Wake Island
CA Minneapolis firing at Sasebo 2nd SNLF
CL St. Louis firing at Wake Island
DD Allen firing at Kure 1st SNLF
DD Dale firing at Wake Island
DD Monaghan firing at Wake Island
DD Farragut firing at Wake Island

Hopefully, they're reduced to eating those little flightless birds.

My usual lax attention to detail nearly bit me here. The TF came in directly from the E, but egressed to the SE, which put them in range of the Nells in the Marshalls. Maryland ate a torp, but it never got through the armour. No FLT damage on anyone -- just the regular damage from running them at flank speed. I did forget to have the Kingfishers and Seagulls night recon. It's been awhile and I'm out of practice.

In other news...

Guam and Hong Kong fend off more attacks.
Things are static on Manado. I don't think he brought enough troops. I'll upgrade the commander of the infantry there.
Landings on Ternate
Landing at Adak(!) I'm definitely going to rush more stuff to Dutch Harbor. The airfield there takes forever to get to level 1. I don't think there's much supporting that landing.
KB divs still prowling PI and Singapore. One division hits Singapore with a strike.
Zuiho takes a shot at the PI fugitives heading east. Must be out of torps. Bombs to no effect.

Eight DDs arrived at Panama. I'll put them to good use. Exactly two weeks until York shows up. I'll leave two DDs behind for an escort.

One thing I haven't really accounted for are his battleships. I've only seen the Harunas in the DEI. Not a peep out of the rest. As weak as the RAF and especially the RAAF are, I could see something happening in their territories.

Ed

[EDIT] Bunch of ships sitting at Cagayan. Appears to be a mix of transports and support ships. No landings yet.

Doesn't the Yorkie enter at San Diego (she does in scenario 10 anyway). I always send those 8 DDs that enter at Balboa to San Diego to meet her.

[Mundy]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
Doesn't the Yorkie enter at San Diego (she does in scenario 10 anyway). I always send those 8 DDs that enter at Balboa to San Diego to meet her.

Yeah, Hans, you're right. I was probably thinking of Hornet. She's a ways off yet. Chalk it up to staying up late getting the 3rd turn in.

One annoying thing with IronBabes is that the entire Chinese fighter force is stashed away far to the NE part.

Ed

[Mundy]

18 Dec 1941 (Not bad for a week of play)

Landing at Lingayen. A few turns ago, I had the surviving PTs staging out of there. They ran into 3 DDs and were wiped out.
Guam and Hong Kong still holding.
Manila/Clark are being approached from the N and SE. Bayombong falls at the former, Naga falls at the latter.
Cagayan falls fairly quickly

Swordfish got a shot at AV Kunikawa Maru a ways south of Japan proper. Other than the usual stuff, it's mostly quiet. 3 DMs from Pearl seeded Wake nicely with mines. I'm working on gathering the carriers up and getting the battleships moved stateside for their upgrades. I plan to tread carefully around the Solomons to stop any cheap conquests. KBs still prowling around their start areas.

Yorktown looks to be stocked with Dauntlesses when she arrives. Hornet's still stuck with SBCs. They will do the job, if necessary, but I'll have to see how the SBD pool looks when she comes in. I don't want to attrit them too badly in the meanwhile.

Ed-

[CowboyRonin]

Hornet shows up late enough for you to build enough SBD-3s to upgrade her bomber groups, if you don't burn up too many upgrading Marine squadrons or replacing excessive casualties on your other carrier groups. The Vindicators do just fine as trainers, so no need to rush and upgrade them, IMO.

[Mundy]

Yep. If I'm careless and let all the marines upgrade, I can get short in a hurry.

Ed-

[Mundy]

19 Dec 1941

Guam, Oosthaven and Lingayen all fall. Lingayen was worst since the 21st Infantry Division surrendered along with the coast defense unit. The latter beat up a couple of xAPs pretty good, though.

IJA armour raced to Oosthaven fairly quickly

Not a lot new otherwise.

Cannonfodder did mention that flak ripped up his dive bombers a bit. My combat reports don't seem to confirm that.

I had re-downloaded the unit patch artwork from Halsey's site. Everything seems totally out of kilter to what should be displayed. Any suggestions as to a good download to use for DBB-C IronBabes?

Ed-

[Mundy]

20 Dec 1941

Another quiet-ish turn.

Landing at Kuching
Miri falls.

Mikuma eats two 250 lb bombs from Hudsons in the Java Sea. Minimal damage apart from losing a light flak mount.

Occasional raids and attacks in China. One hex W of Wuchang, one IJA unit is facing three Chinese units of equal strength. Their commanders have been liquidated and replaced. Attack orders given. Maybe this will hurt. Overall, I'm trying to get most everybody formed into stacks.

Ed-

[Mundy]

21 Dec 1941

One small glimmer of hope. It shows what a difference you can make with real leaders in charge instead of craven aid-skimming sycophants.

Ground combat at 83,51 (near Wuchang)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31190 troops, 159 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 729

Defending force 13671 troops, 122 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 368

Allied adjusted assault: 435

Japanese adjusted defense: 199

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3846 casualties reported
Squads: 98 destroyed, 25 disabled
Non Combat: 99 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 18 (8 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
173 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
73rd Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
3rd Division

Other than that...

A similar attempt at Lang Son with two corps goes nowhere.

Madang and Kuching both fall. Hong Kong still holding out.

Mostly quiet otherwise. A stray DM gets caught near the Philippines and finally sunk after four encounters. They never landed a hit on the other three.

Some xAPs with an ARD escaping Batavia gets caught and sunk. A few other ARDs are well on their way to Perth and Darwin. They'll probably make it.

Ed-

[BBfanboy]

Does DBB give you multiple ARDs? In stock, the Allies don't get more than a couple of ARDs, and only a few ARs at the start.
Do you mean APDs on the ones escaping to Australia?

[witpqs]

Does DBB give you multiple ARDs? In stock, the Allies don't get more than a couple of ARDs, and only a few ARs at the start.

Yes. A few at start but then quite a number over time. Most of ~3,000 tons capacity with some larger (like 10k or 30k), but a few arrive with 55,000 tons capacity.

[Mundy]

Off of memory at work...

3 in the DEI

1 at PH

I think one is in San Fran.

Getting them relocated is a serious long range plan, plus it ties up additional ships to give them the range.

I am getting the ARDs to Oz. I did lose the one at Batavia, but the ones at Soerabaja should make it. Very useful at the forward bases. The one at Pearl is enroute to Suva. It's down near Christmas Is at present.

Ed