Tocaff vs bigred

[tocaff]

February 12, 1943

A raid by the KB netted some hits on a few transports, BBs and a CA.  I doubt that it was worth the expenditure of fuel though.  There is a very large build up of Allied shipping in the Nevea area.  Intelligence suspects that an attack is immenent.  DUH!  I wonder where those staff weenies come from.  Suspected attack!?!  I'd be willing to bet that Irau is going to get very busy as the Allies need it to continue into the Solomon chain.  PNG continues to be bombed back into the Stone Age despite a certain forum member's belief that that isn't possible.  It's become a typical situation for the Japanese who are now faced with trying to slow an Allied juggernaught.  BR, after some early miscues, has played a really good game and my whole strategy for PNG was thrown to hell because it took so much and so long to take it.

Now it's time for some big fights where I'll no doubt get the short end of the stick.  There is no way for defeat to enter into the picture for the forces of Imperial Japan!  Some set backs are expected, but victory in the end is the only acceptable result. 
[font="arial"]
BANZAI!  BANZAI!  BANZAI!


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[tocaff]

February 17, 1943

The Allied 2E bombers appear to have shifted their basing to the NH area as Lunga is being hammered by them and 4E killers.  PNG is still not seeing much relief as BR continues to hammer away with 4E bombers there.  Supplies for forward bases are a problem as they burn supplies rapidly when under attack and getting more in to them is, shall we say difficult.  So far my perimeter hasn't been tested with a ground assault, but it's got to be on the way soon.  I expect Irau's defenses to be tested shortly as the clock is ticking away and BR can't afford to wait much longer to make his move.

[expatbrit]

interesting points about Malaria tocaff. These are a couple of things I found browsing on internet. "Japan's shortage of natural resources, especially oil for mechanized warfare, was a major factor in its decision to secure the virtually undefended resources of southeast Asia. Among the resources captured were the cinchona plantations in Java, essentially the only source for the world's supply of quinine." Atabrine made the campaigns possible. The next quote is from Defeat into Victory by Bill Slim  "In 1943, for every man evacuated with wounds we had one hundred and twenty evacuated sick. The annual malaria rate alone was eighty-four per cent per annum of the total strength of the army and still higher among the forward troops.... A simple calculation showed me that in a matter of months at this rate my army would have melted away. Indeed, it was doing so under my eyes.
...Good doctors are of no use without good discipline. More than half the battle against disease is not fought by doctors, but by regimental officers. It is they who see that the daily dose of mepacrine (anti-malarial chemoprophylactic drug used in W.W.II) is taken...if mepacrine was not taken, I sacked the commander. I only had to sack three; by then the rest had got my meaning.
Slowly, but with increasing rapidity, as all of us, commanders, doctors, regimental officers, staff officers, and NCOs united in the drive against sickness, results began to appear. On the chart that hung on my wall the curves of admissions to hospitals and malaria in forward units sank lower and lower, until in 1945 the sickness rate for the whole 14th Army was one per thousand per day."

[tocaff]

February 19, 1943

From the looks of it here come the Allies for Irau.  Lunga is pummeled daily and it's been going on for about a week and a large fleet is on the move.  This could be a huge naval engagement if both sides decide that it's the right time for a big fight.  Allied LBA rules the skies and fleet actions are very risky this far forward.  I'm wondering if the IJN has the strength to turn BR back or to at least inflict heavy enough loses to make Tokyo happy.  Re the possible gains worth the risks?  Is it really a now or never situation?  What to do...it's so lonely at the top.

[tocaff]

The KB tried to hit the Allied fleet and ran into a CAP that was 178 planes strong.  Considering BR has about 4 CVEs and a few CVs I'm wondering how it's possible.  There's no house rule about putting all fighters aboard soooo.  The KB is kaput and I didn't even chip the paint on a single ship.  The game has now assumed a whole new complexion and my plans are shot to hell and back.

[bigred]

Jap air  losses=88
Allied air losses=9

 
Every dog has his day.[:D]

[bigred]

[font="times new roman"]                                                             HOUSE RULES [/b]  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]No assaults on Truk, Brisbane or Noumea but they must be garrisoned by at least 1 regiment or brigade at all times.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Allied 4 engine bombers limited to a minimum altitude of 15,000 feet for ASW, port,  airfield and ground attacks.  For naval attack a 20,000 foot minimum is required.  PB4Ys get an exception to this rule for ASW only and have a minimum of a 6,000 foot altitude.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]PT boats are limited to no more than 4 per TF and other ship types can’t be mixed with them.  The USN normally ran them in groups of 3.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]No single ship transport TFs to avoid attack.  For example you want to run a supply convoy (TF) to a given hex and you break it into single ship TF to avoid attacks.  Damaged ships are exempt from this rule as they would be left behind by the convoy if they can’t keep up.  The following transports such as subs,APDs, DDs or other warships are excepted from this rule.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]No submarine launched invasions.  Recon is another matter as the intention is to gather info and not to take and hold a base.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]

[bigred]

2-23-43: A decisive air battle is occuring of the tip of the Solomans chain. I am sure Tocaff can replace the air wings but I figure the attrition is starting to wear down his experience level(I hope). I have continued to fly p38 escort for the lunga missions even when the p38 morale and fatigue is in the 20's.
IJN still has a large surface fleet that I expect to try to smash my invasion fleets. Paper, scissors, rock.
The current decision to be made by the allies is should I do a frontal assault on Irau or bypass and set a small airfield nearby to strangle the IJN barge traffic. Being a novice email player the safer route is to bypass. Tocaff keeps talking about the date passing by and I wonder if this is a gamey comment to get me to make a mistake.

[tocaff]

Nope, I'm not trying to get you to do anything in a hurry.  It's true that at this point in time the clock works in my favor as you must come to me.  Do it to slowly and you don't take enough points, to fast and maybe I can hurt you a bit.  It's your call as you know what you have and need and what's in the pipeline as reinforcements.  Many players in the know say that the Allied offensive can start any time up to April '43, but that late is tough to do enough in 8 months to get a win unless the point spread isn't to great.  As to mistakes, I believe that you're strong enough now to make a couple and still take a win from our game.  Again the only influence I try to have on you is through moves in the game itself.  

[bigred]

2-20-42:
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 56
A6M3 Zero x 4

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 31
SBD Dauntless x 40
TBF Avenger x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 3 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 14 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 9 destroyed
SBD Dauntless x 12 damaged
TBF Avenger x 12 destroyed
TBF Avenger x 36 damaged

PO2 L.Matsunaga of AII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 7

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Agano, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Soryu, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CV Hiryu
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1, on fire

[bigred]

Now I have room on my carriers for a big f-4u sqn.[:D]

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: bigred

The current decision to be made by the allies is should I do a frontal assault on Irau or bypass and set a small airfield nearby to strangle the IJN barge traffic. Being a novice email player the safer route is to bypass. Tocaff keeps talking about the date passing by and I wonder if this is a gamey comment to get me to make a mistake.

This is also the route I have taken against Borner. We will see how it goes....

[tocaff]

February 22, 1943

BR's fleet of flat tops laden with MARINE aircraft, including Corsairs, pulled up to Shortlands and swept the shies of my planes and the seas of my limping home CVs.  I not longer have an effective naval or land based air arm and my CVs are all sunk, sinking or cripples with targets painted on them.  I'm leaning towards raising the white flag as there's nothing left for me to fight with except some surface ships that he hasn't gotten around to targeting yet.

[bigred]

Game date 2-24-43: At the beginning of the Irau campaign about 6 days ago game time the US carrier fleet consisted of 6xCVE's(Long Island included) and plus the Hornet and the Saratoga. The Hornet Air wing was captured at the fall of Port Morsby and the Saratoga Air Wing was captured at the fall of GC. So both Fleet carriers were running around w/ no planes untill some marine units finally became available.

I recognized the good and strong defensive positions Tocaff has developed and my current lift capacity (fast transport, one extra brigade) was 4 brigades theatre wide, which I believe is very limiting.

This lack of lift caused by IJN airpower and my forward deployed early play forced me to pick a carrier battle w/ the IJN off of Irau. I knew I had to break the IJN carrier fleet or let it break me, because I needed air cover to utilize my remaining transports, or the game would be over for me.

So the battle has proceeded. I started the battle w/ one fast carrier air TF and 2 CVE TF's of 3 CVE's apiece. All were given the command to patrol/ do not react and to follow the invasion tf. I made sure the invasion TF was not ordered into shallow water while the Carrier TF's had this command. I did order the invasion TF one hex off it's target destination, between Irau and the target hex, in order to confuse Tocaff as to the target. I hoped the IJN battle fleet would commit early and try to cover the beaches when I was not there. This is when we had the Irau Turkey shoot and I killed 88 planes and lost nine. That turn was thunderstorms and I set my fighters on the CVE's to 90%CAP and left the Fleet carriers at 60% CAP. I also landed by PBY one company of marine infantry one hex NW of Irau as a diversion tactic.

The next turn I did split my fleet. I moved the invasion fleet to the island NW of Irau with a surface ft escort and one CVE TF. This CVE TF was commanded by Spruance. The CVEs where the 2 that began w/ the letter A and the Long Island. The two A CVE's were both loaded w/ a 24 strenght marine F4F sqn. The Long Island had a a 7 strenght F4U mini sqn.

The invasion fleet was unloading and I noticed a Battle Fleet coming down the slot. So I order the invasion fleet to withdraw. I guess did not check the commands on the other fleets following the trans. The US combat TF followed the trans, but Taffy 3 sat still on the invasion hex. The Yamato and the Musashi had a good dinner that night. Taffy consised of 3 CVEs, 3xDD's, and a MSW. The next day all i had left from that TF was one CVE, one DD and a msw. Lucky I got that out. The IJN BF sat on the invasion hex and all my 2e bombers out of nevea and the fleet naval air feasted on the big BB's.
On this same turn a jap sub torpedoed another CVE in my second CVE TF. Damage to where I had to send it home.

My Fast Carrier TF engaged the KB NE coast of Slot reinforced w/ the 2nd CVE TF and sank one big carrier and damaged the rest. The KB never had a coordinated attack. I suspect the thunderstorms on that first fateful air attack broke the back of the KB air arm and they never recovered.

Currently I am down to 2 CV's and 3 CVE's operational. The IJN battle fleet is still w/in bombardment range of my invasion hex, so I had to press forward to force the withdrawl of the IJN so that no threat exist to the trans fleet.

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: tocaff

February 22, 1943

BR's fleet of flat tops laden with MARINE aircraft, including Corsairs, pulled up to Shortlands and swept the shies of my planes and the seas of my limping home CVs.  I not longer have an effective naval or land based air arm and my CVs are all sunk, sinking or cripples with targets painted on them.  I'm leaning towards raising the white flag as there's nothing left for me to fight with except some surface ships that he hasn't gotten around to targeting yet.

I did not think you could fly the Marine squadrons off carriers. They were not deck qualified and I thought the game hard-coded the lack of that capability (or ist that WiTP).

[bigred]

UV rule book, page 10.16 states specifically the F4U-1 is a carrier capable air plane. In real life, if no naval air was present for a mission, I am sure the marines would have been called upon to fill the void. And that is certainly the case in this instance. Sorry guys, I don't see the beef.
BTW, I just lost the Saratoga and 2 CVE's to the jap air out of shortland. It seems I continue to have a hard time controlling my fleet commanders.

[Wirraway_Ace]

Sorry bigred. I would probably squeal like a stuck pig if I ran into Corsairs flying off U.S. Carrier decks too. While the Corsair was latter proven to be carrier capable, during the period of time covered by this campaign, the U.S. Navy did not believe it was. Additionally, I was not aware that marine aviators were deck qualified during this era.

On the other hand, in my game against borner, the game engine just converted to Corsairs one of my carrier airgroups that I had landed while repairing torpedo damage to a CVE. From a fairness perspective, I am going to have to use another Wildcat air group on the CVE when it is ready to put to sea and use the converted airgroup from land. Ironic...

[Wirraway_Ace]

From aviationhistory.com:

Several stumbling blocks developed when carrier trials were held aboard the USS Sangamon and other carriers in late 1941. The biggest problem was the long nose. It stuck out 14 feet (4.27 m) in front of the pilot, and when the Corsair was sitting in take-off position, the nose pointed up at an angle sufficient to block forward vision to about 12º above the horizon. In carrier landings it was practically impossible to see the Landing Signals Officer once the Corsair was lined up with the carrier deck on final approach. Adding to this problem were oil and hydraulic leaks from the engine compartment which seeped past the cowl flaps and smeared the windshield, further restricting visibility.

Landing on a carrier deck required the pilot to have the plane at stall speed just as the tail-hook snagged the deck wire, but this was made very difficult by the wicked stall characteristics of the F4U. Just as stall speed was reached, the left wing tended to drop like a rock. In a deck landing this could cause the landing gear to collapse resulting in injuries to the pilot and severe damage to the aircraft. Assuming luck was with the pilot and he landed intact, the Corsair normally "bottomed out" the shock absorbers as it slammed down on the deck. The resulting recoil caused the plane to bounce high in the air. The tailhook itself sometimes failed to "trap" the plane by engaging an arrestor wire. If this happened on a straight deck carrier it usually meant the aircraft plowed into the planes parked forward. It was said on a straight deck carrier there were only two kinds of landings; a "trap" and a catastrophe!

As the Corsair was thought by the Navy to be unsuitable for carrier duty, it was given to the U.S. Marines for land-based operations where it earned an outstanding combat record. Britain, France, New Zealand, Australia also received the F4U during WWII.

It was the British who finally worked out a method of landing the Corsair on their carriers in spite of the visibility problems caused by the long nose. Instead of the normal downwind-crosswind-final approach method, the British simply turned downwind, then made a slow, continuous curve which aligned the Corsair with the deck only at the last second before the aircraft touched down and trapped. This method allowed the pilot to keep the Landing Signals Officer in view right up to the moment the plane was over the fan-tail where the LSO gave the sign to either "cut" or make another attempt.

To alleviate the problem of oil and hydraulic fluid smearing the windshield, the Brits simply wired shut the cowl flaps across the top of the engine compartment, diverting the oil and hydraulic fluid around the sides of the fuselage. Numerous other simple, effective alterations were devised to alleviate the dreadful stall characteristics, landing bounce and tailhook problems (among others), and these modifications were incorporated into the production line. In 1944 the US Navy decided to again try landing the F4U on carriers, and this time succeeded. It turned out to be an extremely wise decision.

[tocaff]

OK, so I know that there are many "issues" with UV and what really was and they've all been discussed at length before on the forum.  To take a plane that isn't carrier capable during this campaign and use it that way is wrong.  To use pilots not trained for carrier ops on carriers is wrong too.  Losing your assets due to combat happens.  To offset loses with assets not capable is wrong.  There are many abuses available to us because of the game engine, but to utilize them lessens the playability and fun of PBEM.  You take risks and sometimes they backfire and then you suffer the consequences as the game goes on.

I have suffered huge loses to the abuse in question and it's ruined the game for me.  Should I continue to suffer because of past victories?

[bigred]

In my defense, no one talked about these issues until the F4U arrived. I have no premeditated intent. I even posted the arrival of the f4U on this forum(w/ glee[:D]). I also posted our HOUSE RULES on this forum.. Tocaff must admit I have played by all rules of our pregame agreement(w/ a few accidents). Tocaff and I have a very competitive game occurring.
All should be interested in the fact that the ability to utilize marine air on carriers was second nature for me as I have not played pbem before. This ability gave me liberty to commit the US naval air forward into PM and GC, both of which were captured.

From a strategic and gaming point of view, if marine air is not available for carrier ops the first half of the game for the US is boring because USN air becomes more valuable, therefore the allied player is less likily to risk US naval air. The strategic effect of marine air has had an unreversable damaging effect for Tocaff, but Todd did issue the house rules.