Splashing the Divebomber

[princep01]

It's February of 42....no need to rush things.  There's plenty of time to zap Japanese and to prepare the noose that they shall ultimately find their collective necks in.  Let him take the BIG RISKS for now. 

Good luck bashing the Yaman (or whereever) invasion force.  Seems your pilots had a very good turn doing just that.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

This will be a brief post because I have to go to bed, I have a big day tomorrow.
No doubt Dive has been crowing in his AAR about sinking the Indomitable and hitting my cruiser fleet in OZ. Hopefully the crowing will turn to tears next turn.
First, in Oz, I separated out the damaged ships and have them running at max speed while at the same time I picked the most aggressive surface commander I could for the remaining ships and have sent them straight out to sea hoping to hit his the carrier fleet. At least I hope his carriers will react away from the coast allowing the damaged ships to escape. I have moved every available LB bomber into the bases nearby on Naval attack.
Dive may have forgotten about the Dutch air – they have been quiet. I have moved many Martins and some Hudsons to Palembang on Naval attack.
I happen to have a number of subs loaded with an ISF unit transiting the strait north of Singapore. They have been split up and forming a picket line to hopefully hit the damaged Kaga (it took a torpedo if my pilots are to be believed)
I expect Madras to get hit this turn so every AVG plane I have (69 flyable) are there on 90% cap. The LB air has been moved to Hyderabad for the turn. I hope Dive hits Madras, because my LB air based there have been hurting his transports badly. I sunk another MSW this turn, and hit four transports – three badly. Speaking of which, a lot of vehicles are getting destroyed when I hit the transports so I assume he has armor on board, therefore a Chinese div starts flying into Madras this turn. My reinforcements from the North are moving at good speed and should get there before too much longer.
The survivors of the Indomitable TF are heading to Yanam to hit the ships there, at full speed to kill some transports. The CLAA (two torp hits) in the TF is retiring to Colombo, and is unlikely to make it.
My American CV’s are going to run West after picking up fuel and DD’s at Pearl next turn.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

No doubt Dive has been crowing in his AAR about sinking the Indomitable and hitting my cruiser fleet in OZ. Hopefully the crowing will turn to tears next turn.

Tears are being shed in Nippon today, that is for sure.


I wish I could have seen Dive’s face when this screen appeared.[X(]


Dive posted his AAR already, so I assume everyone has heard about the carnage off the coast of OZ. CVL’s were lightly hit by my cruisers and DD’s in a night surface action and then some CVE’s were spotted and hit by my LB air from Cairns an Townsend, and hit hard they were! The Aussies made a statement today. The undamaged survivors of my cruiser TF are running due east after the CVE TF hoping to repeat today’s turn. I am not without damage from today though, I have had a number of ships put out of commission for a while, and none are in danger of sinking. My LB’s are set to repeat today’s action.

Now around the map: Dive is pulling his troops out of Yenen, why I have no idea. I have set my troops to attack hoping to catch a laggard, but I am not hopeful. I have read recently that P-39’s do well against Nates, so I am going to load a squadron onto an AK at Derby. A couple of them have been sucking supplies out of various bases in the lower DEI and arrive next turn. Speaking of OZ, a big slow TF has been working its way down under but has been dogged by a Glen carrying sub for about two weeks now. Thanks to WitP decoder I have seen this. The TF has dodged and jinked all over the place trying to shake him to no avail. The TF is due south from PH a ways and just doubled back north. My intention is to send my CV’s to rendezvous with the transports, and set many planes to ASW. With any luck the sub will be sunk. Of course my CV’s will be “spotted” by the sub a long way south of Pearl. That should set Dive to scratching his head.

Nothing flew in India this turn because of poor weather, so I am keeping the AVG flying at Madras, where by the way, an Indian Arty unit appeared today. Talk about fortuitous! Also 15 AV’s of a Chinese div have landed there via transport A/C. I may have been premature in doing so because my reinforcements from Bombay are making very good time down the RR. I believe Madras is immune to paradrop now, even without the AVG. My 4E bombers are going to hit Yanam’s airfield next turn. Lots of ships are heading there, and I imagine fighter will not be far behind. I really need to get my CV’s over here to clear to Japs out of my Bay. Speaking of which, the Brit heavies that were heading to CentPac are heading back to OZ. They will be needed in this theater.

I had three C-47 units land at Palembang last turn from where I intended to send them up to Andaman Island and then on to transfer Chinese troops to India, however the subs I mentioned last turn spotted a number of transports one hex from Andaman Island. The report is of AK’s, but there are a lot of them. Andaman’s defenses are thin, so I sent the C-47’s to Tarakan, and then will fly to China, then on to India.

Looking at the weather, in India the weather is overcast with precip and heavy precip in DEI and OZ. Maybe we will see some action this turn.

My small TF that went charging into Yanam found no ships, but it looks like the port is full of troops again, but unfortunately my ships are low on fuel.
The LB’s I transferred last turn to Hyderabad are now at Colombo ready to fall upon enemy ships if they come too close. I wish I could put them back in Madras, but Av support prohibits it with the AVG there which by the way is flying 70 P-40’s on 90% CAP.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

CVL Ryujo, Shell hits 2, on fire
CVL Shoho, Shell hits 1
CVL Zuiho, SheCA Aoba, Shell hits 2
CA FurutakaCA Kako, Shell hits 6, on fire
CL Nagara, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shigure, Shell hits 1ll hits 1, on fire
DD Oite, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVL Ryujo, Shell hits 2, on fire
CVL Shoho, Shell hits 1
CVL Zuiho, Shell hits 1, on fire
CA Aoba, Shell hits 2
CA Kako, Shell hits 6, on fire
CL Nagara, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shigure, Shell hits 1
DD Oite, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Hosho, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CVE Hosho, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Nagara, Bomb hits 25, on fire, heavy damage




CL Leander, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Hobart, Shell hits 1
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Alden, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Tromp, Bomb hits 1
CL Achilles, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
CL Enterprise, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CA Australia, Bomb hits 1
CL Hobart, Torpedo hits 1

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

My depleted cruiser force off the coast of Oz missed its target this turn, and was bashed around some by Kates, but no ships are in danger of sinking. It will be a long voyage to SF and repair. My carriers, in five separate task forces are now heading south from Pearl to link up with a slow transport TF for a tun or two. I am hoping all of those SBD’s and TBD’s will have a shot or two at the submarine dogging my TF. Why am I so concerned about the sub? Because it is a long way to OZ, and at some point, the other half of KB would appear on the shipping lanes at a very inconvenient time. Also, I don’t Dive getting wind of just how far south my TF’s are going.

My AVG trap at Madras was successful, painful, but successful. My boys gave worse than they received. Two of the squadrons need a little bit of rest and refit and were pulled back to Hyderabad. One of the squadrons only lost one or two planes and is remaining on CAP. My LBA has moved back in and are ready to sink more ships. A single PT boat is sailing to Yanam this turn, maybe it will be a lucky ship. My 4E heavy bombers smashed the level 1 airfield today, but unfortunately 19 Zeros were on LR Cap from the CV’s I assume. One was killed, and a bunch were damaged. The submarine cordon is in place now blocking egress from the Bay to Rangoon and the Singapore strait.
Total aircraft losses today:


As long as this map is up, you see the Jap unit just outside of Myit? I bombed it this turn from Dacca, and it is a single SNLF, and my intel is showing three units on the trails to India. Those troops are going to be out of supply for a while because I am moving to attack the SNLF and cut supplies on the RR. I don’t believe I will hold it, but perhaps I can divert some troops heading elsewhere. I will retreat at the first sign of serious opposition.

In China, Dive has withdrawn all of his troops from Yenen, to what purpose I have no idea. If he decides to head towards the cross-roads southeast of Homan, I will promptly retreat to the city. Getting “retreated” or cut off would cause my entire defensive perimeter to unravel. If he heads north, I will have time to divert troops because of my delaying troops on the road to Lanchow. My C-47’s landed in Wuchow this turn and will soon be helping ferry Chinese troops to the Indian theater where they are desperately needed.
Bataan is very close to collapse, and my last Sub Transport TF has just departed Bataan for Darwin with more of the USMC regiment aboard. All transport subs are heading for bases for repair. Six fleet subs are departing Pearl loaded with mines, and will lay them at Truk. Following that, they will split into sub patrol TF’s for shooting duds at Dive’s tankers in the DEI.

My Wake invasion TF’s are enroute to Pearl. I am not sure I want to do this yet, it will depend on developments, but it can’t hurt to have them staged to Pearl in any event.

[princep01]

Hummmm A couple of questions.  1)  Why would you transit the damaged cruisers all the way to SF for repair?  Sydney has quite a few ship repair points and is  much closer.
 
2)  I notice the AVG is very large in your game...70+ planes.  How did you get it to this size?  I think it starts at about 45 planes/pilots.  I have never been able to get it any replacement air craft despite stacking it with China Command  to which it is attached.  Is it because China Command has to be in a location with a certain minimum number of supply?

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: princep01

Hummmm A couple of questions. 1) Why would you transit the damaged cruisers all the way to SF for repair? Sydney has quite a few ship repair points and is much closer.

2) I notice the AVG is very large in your game...70+ planes. How did you get it to this size? I think it starts at about 45 planes/pilots. I have never been able to get it any replacement air craft despite stacking it with China Command to which it is attached. Is it because China Command has to be in a location with a certain minimum number of supply?

1) For some reason I was thinking Sydney had a repair shipyard in the twenties. After seeing your post I checked. You are right, they will head to Sydney. Thank you.

2) Simple, earlier in the game the AVG was hit hard in Singapore by a massive Nell/Betty/Zero raid. The number of aircraft left was pretty small so I changed the command to SEAC right then and there. After changing the command, I got all the planes I need, and fortunately most of the pilots survived now forming the backbone of the reconstituted AVG. It is one of the few combat units I have with replacements "on", so most of my losses were made good immediately after the fight over Madras.

After the Singapore mauling, I transferred the AVG to Dacca where I was building a massive airfield. Once P-40E replacements reached 24, I split the AVG and upgraded one squadron, after time I upgraded another. This freed up a P-40B's so the third group was filled up with those. My intention was to upgrade it also, but events in India changed that. I used my accumulated P-40E's to fill out the 24th FG, now in Dacca, that had been operating in China. It has 37 planes, a little over half strength.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

First let’s start with the suicide PT boat attack. The PT I sent to Yanam from Madras shot up a couple of MSW’s in a transport TF in port and put a couple of torpedoes into one of them. The men on that boat are all getting medals.



The Bay of Bengal is full of targets and I just don’t have enough LBA to get them all. My 4E bombers are on stand down this turn to increase repair and morale, and to lower fatigue. The next turn with decent weather they are hitting Rangoon’s airfields and port. The SCTF I sent to Madras last turn is going to Yanam with a bombardment tasking; hopefully the transports will still be there. Land reinforcements to Madras and Hyderabad are both four hexes from their targets which is a good thing because a Jap LCU has been spotted in the hex to the NW of Yanam. It is going to either Hyderabad or Madras, but my money is on Madras because of the port and airfield. Dive is going to have a lot of troops tied down here for a long time. Andamon Island fell to the Japs this turn - three expendable units gone.

My C-47s have been sent to Ledo from Wuchow and are beginning Chinese troop transport operations. This significantly boosts my transport ability in Ledo, so I should get a bunch of Chinese into the fight quickly.

Dive is now following two major transport TF’s south of Pearl with Glen-carrying subs. Thank goodness for WitP Utility or I never would have known. My CV’s are running after them.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

India was the scene of some pain for Dive today. My bombardment TF caught two damaged AP’s and a damaged MSW in port at Yanam sinking them both. Drowned in the waters of the port were 1953 heathen swine, and 21 guns and 3 vehicles along with the ships are creating a new habitat for reef dwellers. Also in the news, my LBA from Madras managed to hit a single AP in a convoy retreating towards Rangoon with two bombs. Some 50 troops were killed in the attack, which tells me Dive is backing off his invasion of India, at least for the moment. He has an LCU at the crossroads where it can go north to Hyderabad or west to Madras, either one being fine with me since I have reinforcements approaching both and will easily end the race. Whichever city is not attacked will have one of its units move off to take the very crossroads he now inhabits, thereby cutting his supply. The bombardment attack reported only a handful of Jap casualties in Yanam, and cursor intelligence reports three units with 160 troops. Weather reports in India indicate precipitation so I am not tasking my 4E bombers with hitting Rangoon, but they are on Naval attack this turn. The heroic PT-36 has reached Madras along with the bombardment TF, which is returning to Panam this turn.

In China, Dive is returning to infiltration tactics that served him well in our last game, which is fine with me. He is about to learn what it means to try to draw supply off road in China with bombers attacking.

A Jap sub cowardly sunk a damaged CL that was ferrying nuns and orphans to Brisbane from Cairns. Yet another war crime to add to the tally.

Beyond this there is little to report. The operations listed in the previous post are still underway.

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

First let’s start with the suicide PT boat attack. The PT I sent to Yanam from Madras shot up a couple of MSW’s in a transport TF in port and put a couple of torpedoes into one of them. The men on that boat are all getting medals.

Forget medals! Give those men whisky and women! [&o][:D]

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

This is the PT boat from Hell. The commander only has a Naval ability of 57, but an Aggression level of 63, and is known to be a very promising and aggressive officer.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

"I have a cunning plan milord."

Nagging me has been the thought of giving away my CV positions for merely smashing some Glen carrying subs. The two transport TF's being tracked by these nefarious pests are fairly close by each other, so here is the plan:

I will route these TF's to combine with each other and send them straight to Noumea just south of my CENTPAC line. Farther south of the TF will be my CV's, with all searches off, creeping along at cruise speed. There are several high capacity AO's in other TF's in reasonably close range, so I will set most of them to follow the CV's in replenishment mode. IF Dive chooses to raid southward to hit this irresistible target, my CV's will pounce. Since half of KB is in the Bay of Bengal, and his CVL's and CVE's are hors d' combat, I need only worry about half of the KB. I am assuming Dive has the other half of KB in the central pacific because otherwise why would he be tracking the TF? Sure, he could be sending subs to interdict them, and he probably is, but a 100 transport TF cannot be seriously hurt by subs. Another possibility is him sending a SCTF after them, but then again I don't think he would send surface combat ships into my waters without air cover. The more I think about this the more I like it. I want to sent the CV's west, but I also don't want Dive to know I am doing it, and if I can smash some Jap CV's while sneaking across, I will without hesitation.
The only way this could fall apart is for my CV's to be spotted by sub on their run south. Dive has the turn, but when I get it next I will give appropriate orders, and keep a close eye on intel with Bodhi's WitP Utility.

[USSAmerica]

I love Bodhi's WitP Utility. [&o]
 
Sounds like a good plan to me, Tiger.  Little risk, since you can abort your CV tf if it is spotted, and lots of upside.  [8D]
 
Carry on. 

[princep01]

Well, AU it is a plan and might work if all your assumptions are correct.
 
However, a question or two.  Couldn't the nasty  I-boat trackers be countered by putting an ASW group with the transports?  The group would consist of a float plane carrying cruiser, an excellent ASW commander and 4 or 5 DD.  Once the devil is spotted, then the DDs  are dispatched to try and get the intruder.  Also, it might slow him down enough (evading the DDs) for the convoy to escape continued detection.  Is this unwise?
 
2.  Why not just break the convoy into single ships (hard to detect), run them on different paths and have then rendevous at some point when the thoroughly confused I-boat captain gives it up or is shaken......or a combination of both?
 
I know it is nice to nail those Glen bearing I-boats!!  As an Allied player, they do cause fits of worry.
 
3.  No need to give away the position of CVs that way.

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

princep01,

That is very good advice, and if I hadn't decided to run Operation Dangling Worm I would do as you said. I am after Rainbow, not Channelcat.
The Bataan Death March has begun. Hundreds of the surviving Bastards of Bataan are dying in ditches as 78,000 men march into captivity. Another war crime for the Japs to pay for.

I am renaming the Bay of Bengal to the Bay of Reef Dweller's Paradise because I am creating all kinds of new habitats for them. My 4E bombers slobber-knocked one of the transport TF’s I observed last turn. As one of the AP’s went glug-glug I noticed the message that men from the 55th Division were being rescued. Now why the heck is Dive running towards Rangoon with a Jap division when he went through all that effort to invade India? I believe he is either giving up, or throwing a Hail Mary at Madras. If that is the case then he will be sadly disappointed because David Irons will be waiting in the end zone next turn in the form of an Indian infantry division and two artillery regiments. In the case he is moving on Hyderabad, he will have two tank brigades to greet him. I am in the dark still as to his destination because the Jap unit has disappeared from my map. It is possible he is sitting at the cross-roads but I doubt it.

Although the weather prognosticators are calling for heavy precipitation in the region, I still have my 4E’s set for naval attack. Why fix it if it ain’t broke? Something tells me that submarines with troops loaded aboard, even set to patrol, are loathe to attack because I have had a slew of them sitting off Rangoon and the approaches to the straits watching the ships go sailing by. I will give them one more turn, then off to deliver their cargos, and check their leaders.

All quiet on the Oz front. My damaged boats are running for Sidney.

The LBA in Palembang made some hits on an AK TF in the lower Straits as well as a hit on a DD northeast of Palembang and a PC in Brunei. I never have liked PC. As long as I am on the subject, Dive’s small boys took a beating today: 2 MSW’s heavily damaged, a PC, and a DD hit also. At this rate escorts will start to become hard to come by.

Operation Dangling Worm is starting to come together. Intel shows another radio intercept on one of the TF’s in CentPac. The most dangerous part of my plan is approaching: where my CV’s cut across the shipping lanes. If they are to be spotted, this is when. All patrols are down to 1, and AO’s have been tasked to follow.

If this plan comes together, ole Divey will hear me shouting all the way up there in Canada.

[USSAmerica]

Great name, "Operation Dangling Worm."  [:D]
 
Hey Tiger, I have a question for you.  You used this:  "Intel shows another radio intercept on one of the TF’s in CentPac." as though it is meaningful to you.  First, was this one of your TF's, or one of Dive's?  If if was his, then nevermind.  [:D]  If it was one of your TF's, please explain to this newbie why getting intel of a radio intercept from my own TF at sea should be vaulable or even useful information.  [&:]  I do see this often in my game, but I thought it seemed silly.  At first I thought there were undetected enemy TF's or subs near my bases, until I realized that it was my TF. 
 
Help a brother (Allied player) out, would 'ya?  [8D]

[marky]

good luck Tigey!

give him a good spankin, godspeed to ur flattops

o...

ORIGINAL:  AU Tiger

How about posting what is going on instead of just CR's?

cuz me and riley play like 5+ turns a day

that would be alottta work[:D]

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: USS America

Great name, "Operation Dangling Worm." [:D]

Hey Tiger, I have a question for you. You used this: "Intel shows another radio intercept on one of the TF’s in CentPac." as though it is meaningful to you. First, was this one of your TF's, or one of Dive's? If if was his, then nevermind. [:D] If it was one of your TF's, please explain to this newbie why getting intel of a radio intercept from my own TF at sea should be vaulable or even useful information. [&:] I do see this often in my game, but I thought it seemed silly. At first I thought there were undetected enemy TF's or subs near my bases, until I realized that it was my TF.

Help a brother (Allied player) out, would 'ya? [8D]

Good question. I apologize for not being more clear. Look at the screen capture of Bodhi's WitP Utility below: After seeing the radio intercept message on the right, I checked the corresponding hex number (on the bottom right) against the real game map, and that is where one of my TF's is located. My ships are too far from Jap land bases for it to be a land based patrol plane so it has to be either a submarine I haven't detected or a Glen from a nearby sub. Since this is a phenomena I have seen often on the same two TF's, my assumption is a Glen carrier is shadowing the ships.

Now a question for you (or any others following both AAR's), I have seen your screen name as a last posting in Dive's AAR. Since you are apparently following both, is there anything you (or anyone else) would like for either of us to add, or do differently? I will copy any appropriate responses to Dive in an e-mail.

Note: I have no intention of posting CR's.

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

Now a question for you (or any others following both AAR's), I have seen your screen name as a last posting in Dive's AAR. Since you are apparently following both, is there anything you (or anyone else) would like for either of us to add, or do differently? I will copy any appropriate responses to Dive in an e-mail.

Note: I have no intention of posting CR's.

I love that! [&o] I'm enjoying reading both your and Dive's AARs. Both of you are telling a story. You describe what's happening, as well as what your thinking and planning. This is how us newbies learn without it taking 3 or 4 PBEMs over 10 years. [X(] I'm a sucker for maps. The more you can include, the more I enjoy it. Screenshots showing lots of detailed game info are also great. A picture does say a thousand words. As I speak, I'm a hypocrite, because I don't yet have one picture in my AAR, but that will change as I've just d/l the screen shot assistant and paint.net. A few hours to play with them, and I'll be killing bandwith with the best of them. [:D]

I enjoy reading AAR's presented in all different styles, except CR after CR after CR. They get old before the end of the first day. What I look for the most are chances to learn how to be a better player. Letting us inside your head by discussing your thinking and planning, and then following that up with the results of your actions, are my favorite type of posts. ...and maps! [;)][8D]

Oh, thanks for the feedback about the radio transmission intel. So, you're convinced that they are enemy transmissions? That makes me rethink some things when I see these. I love the WitP Utility! It really makes it easy to keep track of the intel and ops reports. Too bad Montereytrench and I have some kind of 1.804 bug that kills combat reports for historical starts to scen 15. [:(] Having that info on the map as well would be awesome. Enough of me hijacking your AAR! On with the show!

[AU Tiger_MatrixForum]

Oh, thanks for the feedback about the radio transmission intel. So, you're convinced that they are enemy transmissions? That makes me rethink some things when I see these. I love the WitP Utility! It really makes it easy to keep track of the intel and ops reports. Too bad Montereytrench and I have some kind of 1.804 bug that kills combat reports for historical starts to scen 15. Having that info on the map as well would be awesome. Enough of me hijacking your AAR! On with the show!

I would hardly call your questions and comments hijacking. They are in context, and ask me to clarify things I should have covered better, or give feedback. That is always welcome!

And yes, I am convinced those intercepts are enemy generated. There is a pattern of them with these particular TF's going back before I started this AAR. Actually they used to be the same TF but I split it trying to dodge that hangers on. As it turns out, there was more than one, and now are tracking both.