Keep down the Rising Sun! Pat vs Chuck - allied

[zhengxuacmilan]

Hi Patton
 
I read all your AARs today, they are good, though a little simple
Now, I write this to show my support, good luck to you.
I would like to keep my eyes on the progress of this war.
 
 

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: zhengxuacmilan

Hi Patton

I read all your AARs today, they are good, though a little simple
Now, I write this to show my support, good luck to you.
I would like to keep my eyes on the progress of this war.

Yes, I know, it's simple. It's always the same history during the first months of the war. If there are not special events occurring during this period it's not necessary to write too much.
The interesting part of the war will begin in a few weeks, when the allies will be organized...[:D][:D]

[George Patton]

April 3rd – 4th , 1942

DEI

Sumatra fell on 4th, with the occupation of Teloekbetoeng. 1’370 dutch soldiers have been captured by the japs.

[zhengxuacmilan]

Yes, looking forward to the great war [;)]

[George Patton]

April 5th – 11th , 1942[/b]  [/b] Burma   Chuck sent 3 cruisers to shell Akyab during the night. Only four aircraft destroyed but more than 3’000 men killed or wounded.  [/b] SW Pac – S Pac   Chuck sent a lot of  submarines with Glen to recon my main bases in the area. I-30 have been sent to the bottom on the 11th off Noumea. The same day my recon spotted 2 AP a couple of hexes east of Noumea. I don’t undersand that. I hope that my pilots made a wrong report.

[George Patton]

April 12th, 1942

Indian Ocean

Ouch! I tried to send the old “R” class battleships to shell Port Blair. The weather forecast was rain, but Nell find them and damaged seriously Royal Sovereign and Resolution. Now all the TF is heading back home, and also the Sovereign should reach Trincomalee.

[George Patton]

April 13th, 1942

Indian Ocean

The badly damaged Royal Sovereign has been finished off by enemy Nells, and sent to the bottom.

SW Pac

In New Caledonia I have been near a disaster, greater than Pearl Harbor.
I Noumea harbor I have 7 carriers, 5 US and the 2 british and the Force Z. In the morning the Kido Butai appeared few hexes NE of my base!!

9 Albacore, escorted by 20 F4F and 11 Buffalo, attacked the death star. 61 Zero were on CAP. I lost 9 fighters and 1 Albacore, while Chuck lost 3 Zero. No score on enemy carriers.
4 Albacore and 16 fighters attacked few minutes later. 4 fighters and 1 Albacore have been shot down, against 3 more Zero. Two 500 lbs bombs hit the Zuikaku on the deck, so I suppose that the damages are not serious.
After that, 144 jap planes attacked my ships in Noumea bay. Maybe Chuck thought that my carriers were not in the harbor but in the bay. Instead I had only some DDs on ASW duty.

My Albacore attacked again in the afternoon, scoring one more 500 lbs bomb on Zuikaku but, again, the deck, was impenetrable; I lost 2 more Albacore and 4 fighters.

The japs responded with another massive attack against Noumea. The enemy planes sunk only DD Tenedos and seriously damaged the DDs Gwin, Porter, and Meredith. The air losses over Noumea have been of 25 fighters on my side and 13 Zeros, 2 Vals and 1 Kate for the japs.

Now I have to leave the harbor with the entire fleet. Maybe Chuck has no idea of how many carriers I have there, and I could achieve a great result. I will organize the carriers in 3 TFs with 2 CVs each, and 1 TF with 1 CV. Also the Force Z will leave and all the TFs will operate in the same hex.

[Mistmatz]

ORIGINAL: George Patton
...
Now I have to leave the harbor with the entire fleet. Maybe Chuck has no idea of how many carriers I have there, and I could achieve a great result. I will organize the carriers in 3 TFs with 2 CVs each, and 1 TF with 1 CV. Also the Force Z will leave and all the TFs will operate in the same hex.

... or maybe he checks the squads who attacked KB and notices how many CV's to expect. Anyway that early in '42 he might go for a carrier battle right away. If I were japanese I'd certainly feel tempted to do so. But then I dont know how good your LBA in that area is.

Good luck, you might need it. [;)]

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: Mistmatz

ORIGINAL: George Patton
...
Now I have to leave the harbor with the entire fleet. Maybe Chuck has no idea of how many carriers I have there, and I could achieve a great result. I will organize the carriers in 3 TFs with 2 CVs each, and 1 TF with 1 CV. Also the Force Z will leave and all the TFs will operate in the same hex.

... or maybe he checks the squads who attacked KB and notices how many CV's to expect. Anyway that early in '42 he might go for a carrier battle right away. If I were japanese I'd certainly feel tempted to do so. But then I dont know how good your LBA in that area is.

Good luck, you might need it. [;)]

Oh, sure I'll need it.
Anyway, since my carriers were docked in the harbor, only a total of 78 a/c attacked. I hope this will confuse a bit my opponent.

[veji1]

man He could have gutted you so bad... 

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: veji1

man He could have gutted you so bad...

or maybe not [8D]

anyway the only way to fight the death star in april 1942, is with 7 carriers...

[veji1]

He certainly isn't anymore : A fight between KB and 7 CVs+LBA is pretty balanced, an with a friendly port + Allied Damage control you will save many ships while anyship with more than 70 combined damage for the IJN is probably a gonner...

Had he attacked when all your ships where in port though... ouch.

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: veji1

He certainly isn't anymore : A fight between KB and 7 CVs+LBA is pretty balanced, an with a friendly port + Allied Damage control you will save many ships while anyship with more than 70 combined damage for the IJN is probably a gonner...

Had he attacked when all your ships where in port though... ouch.

Oh yes, I've been so lucky. And my recon didn't spotted the KB until she were only 5 hexes NE.

[Mistmatz]

Maybe he raced to the location from outside your patrol range to surprise attack the base.

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: Mistmatz

Maybe he raced to the location from outside your patrol range to surprise attack the base.

Yes I suppose to.
For tomorrow I'll will have anyway a tought day...
Most of my CVs are out of operational points.... 1000.... They will move only 1 hex, so all the fleet will move for 1 hex. I don't want to leave only 2 carriers ahead the rest of the fleet.

[Feinder]

Wow, you dodged a nuke on that one.  So he set PortAtk primary? (not NavAtk-PortAtk)

(* Oh, I see, he -was- NavAtk-PortAtk = he hit yrou ASW TF at sea, not your CVs in port *)

Just some things you'll want to consider:

[font="times new roman"]1.      Your air groups are already somewhat depleted, whereas he has lost only a few planes.   You’re already swimming up-stream.[/font]
2.      Give him the benefit of the doubt to have checked the squadrons, and presume that he knows exactly what CVs you have.  It is better to over-estimate than to under-estimate your opponent.
3.      If you didn’t know it, you only launch ½ strikes (and CAP) while in coastal hexes.  This puts you at a major disadvantage, so get out of there, either way.
4.      Given that your air groups are already damaged, I wouldn’t plan on going head to head with him (you already saw how effective his Zeros are at stopping your strikes).
5.      When you plot your exit course, plan on him moving to cut off your retreat.  Keep only 31kt ships with your CVs – want to be able to move 6/6, not 5/5 with a ship that drag you to only 29kts.  And I wouldn’t put a 30kt ship in your CV TF (unless the CV is already 30kts or less), because you don’t want that one ship at 30kts to accum a single point of sys damage that slows it to 29kts, and then drags your entire TF up short by 2 hexes.  If he’s got mega-KB (some of the CVLs with him), he’s only going to move 5/5 at best.  You could move directly away from him at 6/6 and gain several hexes (which might mean the difference between torps and no torps for him).  Or you consider splitting up – although this all but guarenteens the loss of one flight deck it doesn’t jeopardize all of them (wouldn’t be my suggestion). 
6.      Since you –do- have him in range of your LBA at Noumea, if you’ve got sufficient air support and AF(2), you might want to consider : Leave F4Fs on your CVs for CAP.  Put your CV DB/TBs at Noumea to strike from Noumea.  Maybe burn the Buffalos as escorts, or better - if you’ve got Army fighters, send them to Noumea as escorts (escorts are just Zero fodder anyway).  But in my opinion, you need to put as much distance from between your CVs and his, and if you can get a swat at him (for free) with your air groups from Noumea, so much the better.  This is not without historical precident by the way, CAGs from USN CVs frequently flew missions from/thru the Solomons during WW2.  You should keep your F4Fs aboard your CVs tho as protection (and again, escorts tend to just be Zero fodder anyway).

My 2 pfinnigs.
-F-

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: Feinder

Wow, you dodged a nuke on that one. So he set PortAtk primary? (not NavAtk-PortAtk)

(* Oh, I see, he -was- NavAtk-PortAtk = he hit yrou ASW TF at sea, not your CVs in port *)

Just some things you'll want to consider:

[font="times new roman"]1. Your air groups are already somewhat depleted, whereas he has lost only a few planes. You’re already swimming up-stream.[/font]
2. Give him the benefit of the doubt to have checked the squadrons, and presume that he knows exactly what CVs you have. It is better to over-estimate than to under-estimate your opponent.
3. If you didn’t know it, you only launch ½ strikes (and CAP) while in coastal hexes. This puts you at a major disadvantage, so get out of there, either way.
4. Given that your air groups are already damaged, I wouldn’t plan on going head to head with him (you already saw how effective his Zeros are at stopping your strikes).
5. When you plot your exit course, plan on him moving to cut off your retreat. Keep only 31kt ships with your CVs – want to be able to move 6/6, not 5/5 with a ship that drag you to only 29kts. And I wouldn’t put a 30kt ship in your CV TF (unless the CV is already 30kts or less), because you don’t want that one ship at 30kts to accum a single point of sys damage that slows it to 29kts, and then drags your entire TF up short by 2 hexes. If he’s got mega-KB (some of the CVLs with him), he’s only going to move 5/5 at best. You could move directly away from him at 6/6 and gain several hexes (which might mean the difference between torps and no torps for him). Or you consider splitting up – although this all but guarenteens the loss of one flight deck it doesn’t jeopardize all of them (wouldn’t be my suggestion).
6. Since you –do- have him in range of your LBA at Noumea, if you’ve got sufficient air support and AF(2), you might want to consider : Leave F4Fs on your CVs for CAP. Put your CV DB/TBs at Noumea to strike from Noumea. Maybe burn the Buffalos as escorts, or better - if you’ve got Army fighters, send them to Noumea as escorts (escorts are just Zero fodder anyway). But in my opinion, you need to put as much distance from between your CVs and his, and if you can get a swat at him (for free) with your air groups from Noumea, so much the better. This is not without historical precident by the way, CAGs from USN CVs frequently flew missions from/thru the Solomons during WW2. You should keep your F4Fs aboard your CVs tho as protection (and again, escorts tend to just be Zero fodder anyway).

My 2 pfinnigs.
-F-

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.
For the next turn I don't have too much to choose. Only 1 hex left to move. I have only enough movement points to leave Noumea harbor. I hope to survive, so that I can strike in two days.
But the question is. Why most of my carriers spent 1000 op points while they were in harbor? Because the a/c flew anyway you could answer. Ok, that's reasonably. But why 5 carriers spent 1000 points and 2 carriers didn't spend them at all? [&:][&:]

[Feinder]

Did they auto-refuel in port?

Often a ship that is (newly) disbanded in port, will refuel if it is available (altho I would have thought that would have been last turn, not affecting you now).  or if they might have replentished ammo.  Still, I wouldn't have expect that to carry to a -new- turn.
 
I'm not sure why you'd start with 1000 ops pts burned.  But that's not good...  [:(]
 
That's kind of hard call.
 
If you run, you go down in deep water.  If you don't, you probably won't sink, but become permanent additions to Noumea's port.  Go out fighting I suppose.
 
Be careful, I think that hex south of Noumea (to Auk) is coastal, no good to move that way.
 
Some second guessing to do...
 
He'll probably expect you to run, but he might want to cover his bases if you don't, and go PortAtk-NavAtk (again).  You might spool out some smaller ships, to trigger the strike vs. them.  If your CV planes are at Noumea, could launch the strike still.  Of course, you're still holed up in port, but it -MIGHT- buy you another turn.  Not sure if I'd go that way tho.

Obvioulsy, taking your one hex towards Brisbane (I think that's deep water) is a consideration.
 
Either way, set your planes on NavAtk (only) tho.  If he does play PortAtk-NavAtk (again), I -believe- he only gets option to attack in the PM (whereas you with only NavAtk will potentially strike AM and PM - might get lucky and get a few hits in early).
 
Also, if you can spool out a SC TF (or 3), get lucky and land on his CV hex, it accomplishes several things:
1.  The SC battle burns ops points for him if he has to run away (he might have an escortin SC TF so you wouldn't fight his CVs).  But it's worth a shot.  And who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and land a few shells on his CVs (don't get your hopes up tho, that's a long-shot).
2.  It has been my experience (altho nothing I can prove), that it will evaluate a SC TF in the same hex as CV TF as an "immenent threat" and launch strikes to clobber the SC TF (thus saving strikes vs. your own CVs).  If you can affort to "throw away" a few TFs of maybe (1x CL + 2x DDs each TF) into the hexes you think KB will go, you -might- trigger the pre-dawn surface battle, and/or immenent threat strike.
 
Might be a little gamey (since it -is- "playing the strike routines" : For it's strike priority, it evaluates a CV as a CV as a CV.  Doesn't matter if it's Vicky or Sara, a CV is a CV.  So...  You can "pack" a target TF with 2x RN CVs + a BB or two for extra magnets, then put your USN CVs into single TFs with only CAs as escorts (to minimize their target signature).  The alpha-strike is MORE LIKELY (not definately) drawn to the TF with 2x (crappier) RN CVs, and your USN CVs live another day (hopefully to start with more than 1000 ops points!) so you can get outta Dodge.
 
That's about everything I can give you.  Make no bones, you're up against the wall. I'm just trying to tell you where the cracks in the mortar are, maybe you can squirt thru.  But getting out of that pickle with 1000 ops pts burned already will be a miracle, but hey, you've already gotten lucky once, maybe lightning will strike twice.
 
Again, good luck.
 
-F-

[zhengxuacmilan]

Hi,Feinder, a lot of good suggestions
But, one point, I think it is not the best idea to make RN CVs the major target of Japanese strike. Because in the late game, RN CVs can carry Corsair, when US CVs still carry Hellcat. Corsair is very powerful.

[zhengxuacmilan]

Hi GP

A good result until now, I think. Your opponent must feel regret to lose this chance.[;)]