Dutch AVP Arend: Scenario 1 Exploits

[WEXF]

This will be a somewhat different AAR. My goal is to document the activities of a small Dutch ship, AVP Arend as the Japanese invade the DEI. THis report will be from a PBM game that is currently in April 1942. AVP Arend has had some very interesting action and problems moving through enemy held territory. As I go through events I will take some time to dig a bit into some of the game rules that may not be discussed a lot for the benefit of new players of the game. I hope this will be fun for all.
WEXF

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[WEXF]

The best place to start is the WITP-AE Editor where an almost complete description of the Arend can be found.

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[WEXF]

The above screen shot shows that whenever Scenario 1 is started the bulk of the data associated with AVP Arend is fixed.
Arend is ship #9630, 1020 tons, has a bulk cargo capacity of 125. The weapons are defined and Arend will always start the game at Ambon. The experience of the crew is defined as 25 (day) and 20 (night)-pretty bad!.
There is one variable. The name of the Captain! That is listed as "Random", meaning that each time Scenario 1 is started there is no automatic assigned Captain of Arend. Next to the "Random" box is a box called "BL" which stands for "Best Leaders". If you click on that box in the Editor a list of quite a few decent leaders shows up that offer possibilities to be the Captain of Arend if you want to alter the standard Scenario 1 process. It looks like this-but do not change anything in the editor unless you are looking to alter the scenario. Living with whatever Captain arrives as commander of Arend is what should usually be done:

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[WEXF]

When I have played Scenario 1 against the AI I have had a variety of Captains assigned to Arend. Here is what the typical ship screen looks like. You can see that the information on the screen ties in with that from the Editor.

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[WEXF]

You can see that the name of the Captain is in yellow meaning that it can be changed. Clicking on the name raises this screen. In all of the Scenario 1 games I have played the same group of potential new Captains are listed. One of those listed (van Straelen, F. H.) is visible on the BL screen above. Actually, all are in that data source. These leaders can be had for a few PP, although at the start of the game spending PP on Arend is not likely to happen!

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[WEXF]

LCDR Cuyler, O is not the Captain of Arend in this AAR. The Captain is LCDR Goerk, U. More on him shortly.
I have seen something interesting when I test running Scenario 1. The name of the Captain of Arend does change but the initial following the name always is a "O". I have run the program almost 20 times and the initial is always "O". I wonder how in my PBM game, where my opponent set the game in motion, resulted in a Captain with an initial of "U"? Has anyone seen this in their games?

[dr.hal]

Interesting setup for this AAR so far! I like the whole idea. Although I don't do AARs for my games I do try to follow one ship and if playing the allies it is the Isabel, at Manila. However getting her to survive the first few turns can be a challenge. I remember a while back reading one AAR from a Japanese player about the IJN Zuiho. And in particular a pilot on her. I thought it was a very clever idea and kept the reader engaged. Hal

[RangerJoe]

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&start=60

[WEXF]

In this AAR, I am not going to focus on the "real life" history of AVP Arend. For those that might be interested in that, I suggest looking at:
http://www.combinedfleet.com/PB-108_t.htm
That will give you the history of Arend from its launch in 1928 through it being scuttled by the Dutch in March 1942 and its salvage by the Japanese for use as a patrol boat.

[WEXF]

LCDR Cuyler, O is not the Captain of Arend in this AAR. The Captain is LCDR Goerk, U. More on him shortly.

When this game started I had no plan to do this AAR. Unfortunately, I do not have a record of the Captain's numbers that started the game on Arend. I am not 100% sure that it actually was LCDR Goerk, although I don't recall ever spending PP to replace a commander on a Dutch ship in this game. I do know that in April 1942 the numbers for LCDR Goerk, U. are:
Leadership: 27
Inspiration: 48
Naval: 25
Land: 13
Air: 8
Admin: 30
Aggression: 28
All in all pretty poor numbers. Especially the Naval rating!

[WEXF]

If you look at the ship screen for Arend above you will see that it has the ability to carry a single float plane but that there is no assigned air group to the ship. This was a very interesting situation and I suggest readers look at another thread to get a better understanding of this.
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 3&t=389615
In my deciding how to use Arend in this game, I realized that there was little chance of finding a float plane to move to Arend, at least a Dutch plane. As things turned out that was a moot point.

[WEXF]

AVP Arend is one of 9 similar ships in the Dutch fleet. Only 2, Arend and Valk have the ability to carry a float plane. There are 4 classes of AVP in the Dutch fleet and they vary slightly in many categories. One category worth mentioning is speed. Although the ship screens list "Speed" as 12, that is the maximum speed each ship can attain. More important is the Cruise Speed. For Arend that can be seen on the upper right of the ship screen above as 6(1), meaning it can usually travel only a single hex per phase, or 2-3/turn. Not very fast! Victory points for the group vary from 2-4 with Arend being at 3. Only the faster Poolster is a 4VP ship.
I won't go deeply into the different classes here, but it is worth looking at them when you get a chance as they differ in many ways.

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[WEXF]

As the game started I had to decide on what orders would be given to AVP Arend. Would the ship remain at Ambon or be ordered elsewhere? The fate of Ambon was pretty clear. It would hold out for awhile but there was no doubt that it would fall. Ambon's location is the key. Looking at the map it is easy to see numerous Dutch bases that would be high priority targets for the Japanese. Some are oil rich, many are resource rich, large airfields already exist throughout the region. Following successful invasions, Japanese air bases can control vast parts of the sea lanes not far from Australia. As Japan captures bases like Manado, Ternate, Kendari and Makassar, Ambon would be on the radar for sure.

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[WEXF]

This the base screen for Ambon. Aviation Support, on the left, shows 21+7. The 21 comes from the Ambon Base Force and the +7 comes from AVP Arend's ability to support seaplanes. Three types of aircraft are at Ambon. A small group of fighters, some medium bombers and a squadron of patrol planes (GVT-17 PBY-5 Catalina). In total there are only 15 aircraft at the base. Is Arend actually needed? Can the patrol planes utilize the aviation support supplied by the base force or do they require the specialized support of a seaplane tender like Arend? Looking at various threads in the forum the answer is not really clear. My decision was not to risk losing the efficiency of the patrol planes by moving Arend. She was going to stay until the patrol planes left or the threat to the base was imminent. The frequently used spreadsheet for Allied set up has Arend moving south 8 hexes to Babar to set up a seaplane base half way to the Australian northern coast. I decided not to do that.

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[BBfanboy]

Base Air support will work on seaplanes but I think there must be at least a Port level 1 so the seaplane can be docked OR, the seaplane model is amphibious like the Catalina 5a.

[WEXF]

I believe the PBY-5 was not amphibian so the possible need of the Arend was important to me in my decision. GVT-17 also raised some interesting issues for me. Looking at their pilots it was clear that they were best suited for naval search with an average experience in that category of 55. While I expected that to be their main mission, I also was considering using them for naval attacks where they were not as well trained.

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[WEXF]

I noticed an interesting aspect of selection the missions GVT-17 were ordered to fly. If flying Naval Search they were armed with 250kg SAP Bombs. If flying Naval Attack they carried 205kg GP Bombs.

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[WEXF]

Look at the Default Loads of these screens:

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[WEXF]

The SAP (Semi-Armor-Piercing) bombs have more penetration but less effect than the GP bombs.
Looking at the data tables makes that clear. I am not clear on why the planes would carry GP bombs when they were on attack missions against shipping and SAP bombs when on search missions? Here are the numbers. Also, compare them to the 300kg bombs carried by the other Dutch patrol planes (Do-24K-1). I have found that of all the Dutch aircraft, the patrol planes are the most successful in the game.

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[RangerJoe]

SAP bombs penetrated armoured targets better but might go through unarmoured targets. The GP bombs would wreck the topside above the deck armour of any armoured target but would wreck havoc on unarmoured targets like merchant vessels, transports, and tankers which would include oilers.