Niceguy vs Graycompany: Death to the Meatball....Strategy talk

[niceguy2005]

8/27/42

The Louisville took a torpedo from a sub (she was escorting Saratoga)only minor damge but she will probably drop out of escort duty....Allied PGs sunk an I-boat off Ceylon...B-17s refused to fly a port attack against PM...carriers safely back at Cairn.

I count 4 carriers that attacked Brisbane. It looks like another carreir force is sneaking down from Kendari on its way to PM...as usual with Graycompany it is move and counter move...will I spring my trap before he springs his?

[niceguy2005]

This will surely go down in the history books as the "The Battle That Almost Was"

8/24/42 through 8/28/42

Day 1: SAG1 Leaves Brisbane consisting of Mississippi and New Mexico, an Australian CA and CL, with 2 DD to patrol the Coral Sea.

ACG 1 consisting of Hornet and Indomitable and ACG2 lead by Saratoga leave Cairn. Several Japanese cruisers and minelayers have been spotted near Port Morseby.

Day 2: Japanese cruisers bombard Thursday Is. causing minimal damage. B-17s attack and sink a destroyer. Japanese minelayers also attacked but no damage.

ACG1&2 fail to close the distance to attack ships. attack delayed one day.

A Japanese TF is detected about 350 miles east of Brisbane, at least one carrier is spotted.

Day3: ACG1&2 move to 180 miles off PM and are ordered to attack the port. PMs airfield is still closed from massive bombing. However, weather moves in and delays the attack. During the afternoon two flights of Japanese long range bomers with fighter escort spot and attack ACG1. Wildcats and Fulmars on Cap engage the enemy. 9 Allied fighters were lost compared to 4 Zeros and 6 bombers. One bomb strikes Indomitable but fails to penetrate its deck.

Japanese carriers move into position and bomb the port at Brisbane where many freighters and auxilary ships are docked. A very experienced squadron of P-35 pilots flying cap engage the enemy but with little success. The last two allied mine layers are sunk as is the Langley. About 10 other ships receive moderate to light damage.

Day4: As the Japanese carrier TF moves off Recon reveals a second carrier force 60 miles away moving off as well.

ACG1&2 having failed to attack Port Morsby ACG1&2 are alerted to the presence of the second carrier group (6 Japanese carriers are now believed to be in the area) and another force of unknown ships are spotted moving southeast along southern NG. The carriers move at full speed back toward Cairn under the cover of land based cap and bombers.

Louisville with ACG1 is torpedoed by a sub 60 miles from Cairn. Fortunately no vital ship area was damaged.

Day 5: The Japanese carriers continue to withdraw NE toward Guadal Canal.

The CA Chester with a destroyer escort has been on patrol near the eastern edge of the Coral Sea. A seaplane from Chester spots a large Japanese TF consisting mostly of transports about 350 miles from the Northern edge of New Caldonia. But with carriers in the area steams west toward Cairn. Unfortunately for the ships a Val at extended range spots the two ships and signals its fleet. Over 100 bombers attack the Chester and destoryer. The Chester was struck by 3 torpedos and sunk shortly after the destroyer which was racked by 11 bomb hits.

ACG3 consisting of the Yorktown and Wasp arrives off Noumea, low on fuel, but decides not to enter port with 2 carrier groups only one day away.

It is believed that the attack on Brisbane was an effort to lure Allied carriers into a confrontation with most of Japan's carrier force. However, the TF just spotted of New Caldonia may be just oilers or it may be an invasion force, in which case Brisbane was a feint.

ACG1&2 are moving for Townville under have CAP. ACG3 will stay on station south of Noumea. Enterprise (ACG5) is heading south at full speed and is approaching Canton.

If the allies can get close to even odds with Japan they will engage the Japanese carrier forces.

[niceguy2005]

8/30/42

Allies get a little revenge for the Brisbane raid...sub torpedos TK at sorong...Beauforts at Diamond Harbot torpedo two AKs, sinking one...CL Hobart and Achiles on a raid sink another AK at Koepang. All else is quiet.

[ctangus]

Cool map!

In WitP, I think I enjoy cat-and-mouse moves like you've had over the last few days more than the combat that they sometimes lead to. (Especially if the combat sinks 2 of my CVs!) [;)]

Anyway, I can't offer any sage advice, but I'll at least say, good luck!

[niceguy2005]

9/1/42

Thanks ctangus.

Looks like my CVs escaped the Coral Sea trap and are in the clear.

A cat and mouse game of another sort is going on in China. The Japanese have been bombing supplies at Yunam and Kweiyang. I have only enough fighter support to cover one base at a time. Eventually my CAP will catch his bombers and 50-P40s can do a lot of damage.

While my heavy bombers in Oz were busy scouting for carriers his engineers at PM put the airfield back together. The enemy now has over 100 fighters based there. Meanwhile Bettys from Lae are bombing Thursday Is. Two B-17 groups skirted PM today and bombed Lae...two planes destroyed...45 runway hits.

Troops start unloading tomorrow at Adak. This is the furthest west the Allies have pushed in the Aelutians. The landing should go unopposed.

The last elements of the 4th Tank Rgt were destroyed today. This is the last of the Japanese forces west of Calcutta. Now the UK is free to go on the offensive.

More than 8 South/Southwest Pac units are nearing deployment in the South pacific. August was a big month for troop deployments and logistics.

Only one month unitl I get P-38s, which will be crucial to taking southern NG.

[BrucePowers]

Things are really looking up for the allies[:)]

[niceguy2005]

9/7/42

I hope to do a more comprehensive update later today. There has been a lot of action over the last few days.

Here is the situation with the damaged bombardment fleet at Cairn (Port Size 5)

Ship Sys/Fire/Flood

Northamption 98/31/0
Voyager 88/80/0 (Flooding went up 8% last turn, up 20% in the last 3 days)
Concord 41/0/0
Mississippi 20/0/0
New Mexico 15/0/0
Louiseville 85/52/0 (Flooding went up 2%)

Also, APD Little 37/42/0 (hit by a mine at Thursday Is.) needs repair and is headed for Cairn. Probably will be rerouted to Townville. I need every APD.

Clearly for a size 5 port there are too many ships that need to be saved. Both Voyager and Louiseville are still in danger. Lots of Jap subs are lurking off the coast. I can try and move my BBs out of port (put them in a TF and undock them). This still leaves three ships with serious flooding at a size 5 port. Scuttling one ship will greatly increase the odds of saving the other two.

It might seem obvious that I would want to scuttle the DD (Voyager) but currently my DD forces are thin due to an aggresive early defense. At this point I could really use another 8-12 destroyers as is.

I am considering making a run for Townville with the Louiseville. I think she can make the short trip and Townville, being a size 8 port, will have a much better chance of saving her.

[Mike Solli]

Niceguy, keep in mind that if you have a damaged ship in a TF sitting in a port with a repair yard, those ships will suck up repair yard points. Move the TF out of the port to maximize your chances of saving the ships you really want to save.

*Slaps self on forhead* I can't believe I'm actually giving advice to an AFB.

Wait, wait. Take all those damaged ships, put them in a TF together and send them at full speed at KB. Yeah, that'll do it. Ignore the first part of the message. [:D]

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Niceguy, keep in mind that if you have a damaged ship in a TF sitting in a port with a repair yard, those ships will suck up repair yard points.

I was wondering about this. It seems counter intuitive that ships not docked at a port would suck up repair points. I guess the repair crews will go swimming. [8|]

I suppose an escort TF will have to make a dash for Townville.

[ny59giants]

Do you have enough escorts to get those ships without flood damage from Cairns to Townsville??
It should be only a 2 or 3 day trip, but I don't know what he has for airpower off the coast nor what subs he wishes to send into those coastal hexes.

[niceguy2005]

ny59giants - yes I believe I do have enough escorts, since the trip is so short I can use 1200 endurance MSWs. BBs already made it to Townville. Louisville is on the way but only made 120 miles and is still a day and a half away. The Captain , LCDR Nikado (hmmm) is reporting that efforts to stem the flooding have been unsuccessful. Flotation damage increased from 52% to 62%. A repair ship is waiting at Townville for the Louisvilles arrival. The outlook is not promising.

Northhampton, still docked at Cairn is unchanged at 31% float damage and Voyager's condition improved from 80% flooding to 62%. Engineers are rushing work on the ports infrastructure (Port capacity level 5 + 81% complete to level 6).

[niceguy2005]

I am counting the days until P-38s become available. In the meantime, Allied offensive actions are limited. Thought this would be a good time to recap the various commands

NorthPac

Commander, RADM Theobald.

Japan holds all Aleutian islands west of Adak, but only Kiska is known to be occupied (it is suspected that there are also forces on Attu). US forces just completed occupation of Adak and RADM Theobald has been ordered to accelerate his push westward. A base force, RCT and engineer construction unit are preparing Adak.

Dutch Harbor has become a large submarine base with 9 subs operating from the base to patrol the Aleutians and the waters off Japan. The subs have had some success intercepting transport ships heading for Japan from SRA.

Northpac only has three CLs and 4 DDs, with supporting auxiliary and transport ships. CentPac is going to dispatch another surface force of at least 1BB, 1 CA and several more DD to support operations.

more to come shortly....

[Mike Solli]

LCDR Nikado?  Traitor!

By the way, P-38s are overrated. [:'(]

Edit: I wouldn't waste my time with them if I were you.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

LCDR Nikado?  Traitor!

By the way, P-38s are overrated. [:'(]

Edit: I wouldn't waste my time with them if I were you.

My experience is that they are not much better than P-40Es, but better than the P-39s the 5th FG is currently flying. [:)]. But that's not important. It's all about range. I can now send fighters with my 200 fortresses to PM.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

LCDR Nikado?  Traitor!

By the way, P-38s are overrated. [:'(]

Edit: I wouldn't waste my time with them if I were you.

My experience is that they are not much better than P-40Es, but better than the P-39s the 5th FG is currently flying. [:)]. But that's not important. It's all about range. I can now send fighters with my 200 fortresses to PM.

Like 200 B-17s really need an escort. [:(]

[niceguy2005]

There will now be a brief intermission while Graycompany and I work out a synch problem encountered during the 1.804 upgrade. Refreshments will be served in the lobby.

[niceguy2005]

Ladies and Gentlemen please take your seats as the war will now resume...

9/8/42

Graycompany and I worked out the synch problem by going back to the day of the upgrade and starting over, this time with me doing it right.

In the alternate reality the Allies had a huge week sinking several Japanese ships including 2 CLs and 3 DDs. Also destroying scores of IJA LB in China. Also, a chinese army managed to flank the besieging army at Chunking.

In the new reality, the war has been pretty quiet with both sides trading airfield attacks. Also the flanking Chinese army has run smack into the 58th Div. Hard to say who will win this battle.

A better update will follow tomorrow, but attached is a map comparing historical Japanese empire with the one in this game. As you can see it is almost identical.

[niceguy2005]

9/9/42

Not much to update yesterday. Japan has moved to night time air attacks on the air fields at Chunking, Calcutta and Diamond Harbor. Not much to do about it but get the guys into their bunkers at night.

Allies rule the air in most theaters during the day. The one exception is over southern NG. The enemy has rebuilt PMs airfield so I will have to smash it again. He is flying nearly 100 zeros and tonys on CAP during the day so I have ordered a night raid on the airfield by two bomber groups. I hope they can hit something.

As you can see from the above map, the Allies are doing well...at least no worse than historically. The problem I have at this point is that Graycompany is decidely on the defensive and along every front his defences appear strong. Here are my thoughts on the various fronts and Japans defense.

1. The IJN is still very strong. He has all his battleships, carriers and has only lost one heavy cruiser. The allies have gained strength to now equal the IJN, but any central pacific invasion is out of the question as long as the IJN is at full strength. Plus Saratoga and Hornet have to had back to Pearl for at least a month of repair and upgrades.

2. India is a total stalemate right now. The allies have uncontested control of the air, but Japan has control of the Bay of Bengal. I am launching a massive bombing campaign all along the eastern Indian front, hoping this will draw down supplies and expose a weakness. I should have about 200 medium bombers and 50-100 fighter bombers to devout to daily attacks.

3. China - Japan is winning, I'm just playing for time there. Serious allied air assets at Chunking at least looks to make any Japanese victory difficult and painful.

4. DEI are well fortified. Timor is a no mans land. He has at least a battalion of troops at Koepang and SNLF forces at Lautem and that middle city. I can take Koepang but with the IJN so strong my ability to keep the supply lines open is poor. The KB could appear at a moments notice. Dutch NG is vulnerable if the Allies can take Timor.

5. Southern NG is a fortress. PM, Gili gili and Lae are all big airfileds. The enemy also has small airbases sprinkled throughout the area and again the KB can appear from out of nowhere. Worse, as long as he controls PM most shipping must go around Oz to reach northern oz. An invasion of PM is out of the question as it would take at least 3 divisions. I have the men and materials but such a landing would take too long. It would mean a duel with the KB and LBA from PM and Lae.

I do have a toe-hold on NG with forces at Thursday IS. Airbase there is now size two. I also control the base up the coast on the southern side of NG. P-38s in 21 days! Plus P-40 FG that was defending New Caledonia is being freed up to help protect eastern OZ.

6. Solomons are also a fortress. He has been settled at GC and Tulagi from almost day one. I get quesy at the thought of having to assualt it. Better to bypass and move on.

7. Central and South pacific may be a weaker area but we know how ugly assaults on atolls can be. Japan only needs some naval guards and base forces to really make an invasion messy. Wake is certainly a fortress by now. Baker IS. looks vulnerable though. I will continue my build up of bases and supplies in this area, but I can't forsee an invasion before 43

8. North Pac is weak. I am moving extra men and materials there. I want the whole Alutian chain in allied control before years end. I am also building up PT boat forces and medium range bombers there. The 43rd Div arrives at SF shortly. It will be sent to support the campaign. If Japan is set on positioning the majority of its forces to the South we could be looking at a Northern invasion route. At the very least it should motivate Japan to look north.

Given the above analysis I have concluded that I must draw Japans attention back to the Central pacific. The allies will focus on a quick Aelutian campaign, followed by an assault on Baker Is. The Army Air Corp will keep pressure on Southern NG and the Solomons, hoping to encourage the KB to split. If the situation looks favorable the Austrailians (6th and 7th Divisions) will take Koepang. Once the US carrier force is reparied it will more aggresively seek to engage the enemy. The UK will try and find a weakness in Japans defense of eastern India and failing that look to flank the enemy by taking Andaman Is. China has to hold out another 3 months.

[ny59giants]

Steady the course and take the time to plan what your objectives are both short and long term. It is easy to get frustrated as the Allies and do something rash to get things moving. It looks like his offenses have stopped now and he is digging in. Unless he leaves someplace unprotected you will need to restrict any advances to places where you can bring in LBA to protect your troops and ships.

Just a freindly pep talk. [:D][:D]

[niceguy2005]

ny59giants, I think your words of caution are wise. I hope not to get caught sticking my kneck out, but feel that it is important not to let him get too settled into his defense. I still intend to make my main axes of attack through Southwest and Central pacific when the time comes, but don't want him to get too well fortified in those areas. Thus, I would like to keep him running around. By the time I really start my offensive I want him worried to death over where and when it will come. [;)]