Fire across the Pacific,AAR (now a yokel free zone)

[cantona2]

CVE Nassau and Copahee join the Yorktown in providing homes for the local marine life. Add to them a few CL's and CA due to a MONUMENTAL cock up on my part in setting home ports. I now have Efate and now fighter cover. Hope the AF builds up quick Resupply will not be an issue as i have plenty of bombers that can do the supply run and subs to reinforce or resupply.
 
Cantona2 = Officially Worst WitP Player on the Boards 2008

[cantona2]

Anyone reading this tale of woe lol willing to give some advice?

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

Orders to Covering Forces 1 and 2

[ol][*][font="times new roman"]Follow in on tail of Bombarment Force 1.[/font]
[*][font="times new roman"]Set all fighters to CAP over the target area.[/font]
[*][font="times new roman"]Fighters are to be stationed at different heights.[/font]
[*][font="times new roman"]Only LBA threat can come from the West, intell suggest Nell or Betty type (no more than 12 plane formation).[/font]
[*][font="times new roman"]Expected carreir threat from North/North East.[/font]
[*][font="times new roman"]Submarine picket lines will notify if enemy carriers are sighted.[/font][/ol]

Well the only obvious mistake you made was in not anticipating that the KB would approach from the south. Presumably they left from Noumea on a southerly, thence easterly, thence a northern straight run in to avoid detection.

I view that as good play by your opponent and your mistake does not entitle you to the title of worst WITP player. Even if you had covered your southern flank, with only 2 fleet carriers, at this stage of the war an engagement with the entire KB can only result in an Allied defeat.

To determine whether there is any validity to your claim of being the worst player, the key issue is whether the operation to take back Efate was wise, not whether the loss of 1 CV + 2 CVE + plus a couple of other naval assets demonstrates poor play. Overall, I would rate your naval losses as acceptable because:

1. You now know where the KB is (admittedly at some cost), thus freeing you to launch operations elsewhere.
2. You now have Efate and can therefore now invade Luganville under LBA cover. Strategically this is quite significant because for the foreseeable future any amphibious operation which requires Allied carrier support is always going to be fraught with a lot of danger.
3. LBA out of Efate also allows you to start diminishing the value of Noumea to the Japanese.
4. With Efate now your's, your opponent now has to start wondering wether you are going to move west to New Caledonia, or north to Luganville and thence to Guadalcanal.

So overall, you are being too harsh on yourself. The battle for Effate is not yet over and maybe the KB will not make good its escape back to Noumea unscathed from Allied LBA operating out of Efate.

Alfred

[cantona2]

Problem is that Efate is still at AF 0, guess my LBA prep was too effective. I have several engineer units on land already and a second See Bees LCU already aboard ships at Suva. Their engineers are sorely needed to speed up construction of the af at Efate. I have a mass of 4e's on Fiji to keep Luganville closed and some that can reach Noumea.
 
As to attacks elsewhere. i have the Lexington and Formidable in Australian waters, Saratoga in PH refitting and Hornet is escorting a convoy up to Adak Island. I had picket subs just 60 kms to the east of the approach of the KB. Mayhaps i read too much into LY's emails saying that a lot of his ships were in refit. Local Yokel is indeed an excellent plater at this game and anyone who enjoys the challenge of Witp should ask him for a game, hes a gentleman and good guy as well. TBH im learning a lot from him thats been put to good use in my stalled game with GH and in the current one with Herbiesan. What is most frustrating is that if i had launced maybe two days earlier i may just have avoided the worst of the KB.
 
Alfred, my thinking on Efate was precisely that: a springboard to Lunganville and then a wheel south westerly to New Caledonia while all the while indicating a push up the Solomons. The operations in Burma and Australia are strong diversionary moves, though the one in Burma aims to reopen the Burma Road. The loss of so many CV's, not so much their planes as most were saved, means i might have to rethink my New Caledonia strategy.

Thanks for the comments though [:)]

[cantona2]

Despite the defeat on the seas around Efate the US Army and Marine Corps, however, fulfil their part of the mission. Securing the beachead upon landing the Marines take up the right flank, while the Army's 32nd Infantry take the left. Sporadic gun and shell fire greet the American forces but resistance is almost non existant. The pounding the garrison had been taking from the air was apparent. The island resembles some sort of Dantesque moonscape. Bomb craters dot the landscape. Shattered palm trees pass as vegetation. Blasted Japanese positions dot the beaches, the smell of death permeates everywhere. Despite the drone of aircraft and the sounds of explosions offshore, the footsloggers are blissfully unaware that their air cover is being blown to kingdom come, an uncanny silence covers the landing beaches as the advance units of infantry pass the already established artillery positions and move inland.
 
They pass a landscape even worse than the one that greeted them upon arrival. Heaps of earth, concrete and wood seem to cover the land like some unsightly rash. Here and there the remains of vehicles dot the paths that serve as the islands roads. As the infantry probe deeper snipers take pot shots at the leading platoons, or some desperate Japanese soldier lobs a grenade at a squad of men before charging at them only to be cut down by gunfire. Its a surreal scene, and the silence unerves the young Americans more than the destruction so apparent around them. Many of them, however, snap out of it when the First Battalion, 1st US Marines, come across a macabre scene. Two decapitated bodies in the uniforms of the USAAF lie outside the blasted remains of what once was a bamboo shack. No doubt little mercy had been afforded to these two airmen after having bailed out of their bomber. The garrison had exacted its revenge for the weeks of bombing. Ire rose in the chests of the young marines, ire and a desire to finish of the job these young, brave flyers had started.
 
About 1500 yards off the beaches the Japanese forces make themselves felt. The 6th NLF is manning a somewhat tenuous defence line of rough log pill boxes and foxholes. Two engineer forces anchor the right of the line. Despite a brave effort it is clear that the defenders are suffering from the air attacks that had decimated their emplacements. Lacking heavy weapons or strong fortified positions, the Japanese soldiers once again suffer from a hail of ordenance, only this time they come from the barrels of the US Artillery rather than the bomb bay doors of US aircraft. By afternoon and after suffering heavy casualties the survuving Japanese soldiers are surrounded in a pocket in the very centre of the island. In a manaic, bayonet charge they bring the end to the struggle on Efate. Once the smoke settles and the sound of 30 cal's evaporate into the ether, 1,700 Japanese dead soldiers cover the battlefield. Tired Infantry men hoist the Stars and Stripes above the island and loud cheers reverberate around the island. For the first time in this war, the United States has beaten, and very comprehensively, the forces of Imperial Japan in the field.
 
Closer to shore the elation is less evident. As support troops continue the unloading of supplies, and especially engingeering vehicles, the commanding General is alomst aghast with fear when he receives the news. Yorktown, Copahee and Nassau sunk. Wasp has moved Westwards to avoid enemy carriers. His soldiers have won the ground, but the Navy has lost the support he was counting on to be able to hold onto it. The race was now on to, at least get a basic airstrip running so that P-38's awaiting in Nandi could transfer over and cover his forces. Surely now with three carriers gone the general strategy of hopping onto Luganville before sweeping around to New Caledonia, would have to be rethought. It would be a tense couple of weeks.
 

[1275psi]

Buddy, reading this and also from playing you -no way are you a bad player[:D]

Its actually quite scary how much attention to detail you put in - and i see that in the losses you are inflicting on me.
Once you get more assetts, your attention to planning will more than be rewarded - as each operation you will do drives you closer to japan.

keep up the war, and this AAR -its a good one -look forward to one day seeing your version of our game.

[cantona2]

The Allied High Command is pleased to have contributed profusely to the providing of abodes for the marine life around Efate [:D]

[cantona2]

Though Efate was captured it was at a very high cost. Yet those SeeBees can build airstrips as quick as bunnies mate. The strip there is already at 48% (two turns!) and i have about 15 or so subs hunting his carriers and the CA Atago that was hit by a torpedo during some night action in Efate. Supply runs from Suva are keeping the base adeqautely supplied and about 30 transports lie off Suva with the rest of the units destined for Efate and will head there once the airstrip is finished and his carriers bugger off. I seem to have bumped into a convoy heading SE from Tulagai, either a resupply or an evac of Luganville. I have put three subs onto it and they should come into range of LB-30's at Nandi tomorrow, these have not made a single strike despite beinf ong naval attack for a few days [:(]

In Australia Phase One is complete, the easy part! Phase two will begin when the units crossing the desert from Conclurry reach Tennant Creek. Two wasy conquests at Alice Springs and Tennant Creek have allowed me to have some striking range into his bases further north but also bring my units into his LBA range. The screenie below shows the latest developments in this theatre.

[cantona2]

Efate strip now at 62% and 41st RAAF has completed its airlift to Tennant Creek. Time to hunker down until the Conclurry forces reach TC and then push northwards. Two Japanese units have made a roadblock 120 kms north of TC as i send my armoured units on a recon run.

[cantona2]

14th Naval Engineers report the opening of the fully operational landing strip on Efate. Work has now begun on a second strip and expanding the base areas. A squadron of Wildcats and another of Lightnings have transferred from Nandi and already CAP missions are being flown over Efate and the surrounding waters.

Once the fighter umbrella is solid enough the remaining troop ships shall finish loading on Efate.

Wildcats flying CAP over the approaches to Efate (Image released to International Press 22 October 1942)

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

14th Naval Engineers report the opening of the fully operational landing strip on Efate. Work has now begun on a second strip and expanding the base areas. A squadron of Wildcats and another of Lightnings have transferred from Nandi and already CAP missions are being flown over Efate and the surrounding waters.

Once the fighter umbrella is solid enough the remaining troop ships shall finish loading on Efate.

Wildcats flying CAP over the approaches to Efate (Image released to International Press 22 October 1942)

Why spoil the illusion? They could have been your Wildcats flying over Efate![:D]

Alfred

[EUBanana]

ORIGINAL: cantona2
Cantona2 = Officially Worst WitP Player on the Boards 2008

Pff, thats me. [;)]

[cantona2]

I am sure that LY has told all the gory details of the very costly allied operation at Efate in his AAR. Suffice to say that a massive chunk of my merchant navy joined the Yorktown under the sea. The positive side to it is that Efate is now fully operational and hosts several fighter squadrons and a couple of SBD squadrons as well that are helping the 4e's from Nandi suppress Luganville. Yet it is in Burma were the action has hotted up. Liberator raids on Myitkyina has forced Local to withdraw his Tojo's but still he contests the airspace.

The 18th Division and the 14th Chindit Brigade make the spearhead of the Indian XV Corps's push. They have begun assautling the outlying Japanese positions and the main resistance comes from the 33rd Division and two regiments of the 55th Division. As the main Corps artillery is still enroute the Divisional artillery of the 18th Division has been targetting the Japanese strongpoints while in the air the Liberators continue their daily bombing runs.

[cantona2]

Time to take the dust off this one.

The British Army has finally arrived at Myitkyina in force and is in the process of reducing the garrison there. In China the Japanese Army is attacking on multiple fronts but so far the line holds. In the air the IJAAF holds mastery of the skies. If im successful in Burma then the Burma road will be reopened and the supply situation may allow for a reinforcement of the Allied air forces there.

Off late it has been the invasion of Luganville, spearheaded by the 2nd Marine Division that has captured the attention of both sides.

[cantona2]

Since the capture of Efate the Japanese base at Luganville has been subject to increasingly heavy air attacks by initially four engined bombers from Nandi and then by Dauntless's and Mitchell's from Efate. Similarly a large scale and protracted recon operation was carried over the island. A few days ago, under the cover of heavy weather an invasion convoy left Suva. Bereft of carrier cover it would be upto the fighters at Efate to provide air cover over the Luganville invasion force.

As the ships closed on Luganville two Japanese subs were engaged and sunk by the escorting destroyers of the fleet. The High Command was well aware of the fact that security had been compromised and hurried the schedule of the landings. It was imperative that the landings be concluded before the Japs could bring their carriers to bear. Their last sighting was in Truk a few days ago.

During the night of 9th-10th December a group of USN Battleships, headed by the USS Washington pummeleded the already heavily punished surface of Luganville. The 2nd Marine Divison begun its landings as the last shells fell and so begun the Battle of Luganville one year and 2 days after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbour that had started this war.

[cantona2]

Day 1 Operations

The day opened with several transports hitting mines but none were critically hurt though the landings were somewhat disrupted. Destroyers and minesweepers were able to cut clean swathes among the mines sowed by the Japanese however.

The first strike of the day came from the heavies at Nandi.



This has been typical of the raids on Luganville since the fall of Efate. They seem to have had quite an effect on the garrison as will be seen later.

As they day progressed, however, land based torpedo bombers struck at the invasion fleet, but unlike Efate they flew into the teeth of american fighters flying from Efate. The initial waves came in from Noumea, first unescorted and then with A6M2 escorts. They manged to hit two transports and damage the Tennennse.



Raids also came from the direction of Lunga. Yet again the allied fighters provided adeqaute CAP over the landing beaches. Still some persistent pilots got their planes through and hit the the Tennesse once again. Id like to say that im very impressed with the performance of the P-400 at 9,000 feet. One tough bastard to kill and can provide a punch as well!



By midafternoon most of the US combat troops were ashore and driving into the island's hinterland. Artillery spotter planes delivered accurate reports and the first bombardments began to fall on an already blasted IJA on Lugnaville

Ground combat at Luganville

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10596 troops, 52 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 254

Defending force 762 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 16


Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported



The last news of the day was delivered by Catalina's flying out of Efate that spotted Japanese ships on a SW heading passing through the atoll of Ndeni.

Ive only got the replay so i cant see if i made an id on those ships or what shape the Tennesse is in.

[cantona2]

Lugnaville has finally been occupied but Japanese troops are still at large in the hinterland and are being hunted down by patrols from the 2nd Marine Division. Japanese carriers have made their appearance in what seems to be a three prongred advance either side of Efate and Luganville. This is a very unLY move as hes bringing them under the cover of my LBA. Im hoping for a lucky hit ala my game vs Herb on the Akagi!!! SBD's are on Efate and Libs on Nandi have the range to cover both islands. Shipping was already moving away from Lugnaville and the last transports and destroyers are using the swells of bad weather to move away from the carriers. The fighters on Efate are in for a tough couple of days. For once the weather seems to be on my side.

Elsewhere all the assualt troops are now at Myitkyina and will start a few rounds of full bombardments before assaulting the position. Once the Japs have been ejected the Burma road will have been reopened and we will hunker down awaiting the 43 reinforcements and upgrades and ofcourse the Essex Class [&o]

[1275psi]

Luck of the Irish
Certain shipyards in Japan are now very busy fixing the mess your lucky hits caused.....

This is a nice AAR mate -keep it up please!

[Grotius]

I just finished reading your opponent's AAR, and now I've read most of yours. Great reading! Obviously I'll refrain from divulging either side's state secrets to the other -- I just wanted to say thanks for a great AAR.

[cantona2]

I know that i have left this AAR on the back burner but to be honest ive not had much to write until now.

To summarise what's happend:

China

Japanese move onto Honan and Luichow. Forward Chinese forces at Sinyang have begun a scaled withdrawl.

Australia

Japanese aircraft withdraw from Daly Waters and are operating from bases to the rear. Mid range Havocs and Mitchells are tasked with bombing of Japanese troops at Daly Waters while longer ranged bombers are now targetting Katherine's airfeilds.

Burma

Achieved air superiority over Myitkyina and preparatioins are being laid for final land attacks. A/S atacks now being carried out over Mandalay. First Spitfire squadron in operation.

New Caledonia

Japanese withdraw main fighting forces from Noumea and the KB catches the Aus/Nz Cruiser sqaudron with their pants down at Norfolk Island. 3 USN Carriers miss the withdrawing ships and KB by 24 hours and i was willing to engage as i had cover from long ranged LBA. Regardles Operation Slapstick continued as the remaining Jap forces in New Caledonia were subjected to a relentless aerial assault from LBA in Efate and Luganville and the dive bombers off the Lexington and Saratoga. Wasp was hit by one torpedo lauched by Jap I-boat and shes just made Suva with 58 flotation damage, just one torp! Just dont tell the Yokel that i only have two carriers deployed in the whole of the Pacific, two are dead, one in PH with three CVE's. Operation Deadwood, the land assault on New Caledonia, has begun as the screenie below will show.