Waiting for 3rd AE patch - bigbaba vs. Castor Troy

[Xxzard]

While conventional wisdom would suggest the escape of the battlewagons is insignificant in the grand scheme of the war we shall see what results from it. One danger is their reappearance in the south somewhere where air cover is sparse, if all of them are together it could pose a threat to large slow transport groups even with some escort.

On the other hand, if you catch the BB's out of PH with the KB their losses will be huge and those heavily damaged BB's won't be coming back like they do at PH.

I should commend you for the continuing strikes on subs in PH, that is something that will do serious damage to him. They are undoubtedly a huge pain for the Empire. Plus, good forward strikes on Jolo and Kuching!

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Ambassador

That's part of the reasons I've started following your AAR : checking the beginner's (at WitP PBEM) errors to avoid.[:D]

However, his BBs escaped unscathed from PH.  He did not panick and sent them right through the cloud of subs that litter the area south of PH, instead of an east or north route (where you were more susceptible of lying in ambush).  He deprived you of some 1500-1600 VPs that way.[;)]

Well, actually I´m not a beginner anymore, have played a couple of thousand turns PBEM. So if I make faults - which will undoubtably happen - then it´s because I´m stupid, but not because I´m a beginner! [;)]

I couldn´t expect to catch the BBs, like I mentioned before he can go three directions from Pearl at full speed and I can only cover one. So my thinking was as followes: I would go South and after 20 hexes or so, flee either to the West Coast or Australia, as I think this would be the best decision. So I thought that my opponent would think the same and therefore do the "unexpected" move just straight East towards the West Coast. But of course while thinking what would be the best, what would I do, what does he think what I think... [:D] it turned out to be the wrong decision.

The VPs aren´t a problem, as a) I don´t play for autovictory anyway (always nice to achieve it though) and b) if I get my palnned targets, then I will achieve autovictory easily anyway. My last IJN PBEM achieved a 6,5:1 autovictory on 1/43, while only 4:1 is needed. And in that game I also didn´t get 1600 VPs for BBs sunk in Pearl.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

ORIGINAL: castor troy

H. M. S. R E P U L S E

M o t t o

Qui Tangit Frangatur: ' Who touches me is broken'.

Great motto.

I liked that too...

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Xxzard

While conventional wisdom would suggest the escape of the battlewagons is insignificant in the grand scheme of the war we shall see what results from it. One danger is their reappearance in the south somewhere where air cover is sparse, if all of them are together it could pose a threat to large slow transport groups even with some escort.

On the other hand, if you catch the BB's out of PH with the KB their losses will be huge and those heavily damaged BB's won't be coming back like they do at PH.

I should commend you for the continuing strikes on subs in PH, that is something that will do serious damage to him. They are undoubtedly a huge pain for the Empire. Plus, good forward strikes on Jolo and Kuching!

Hi!

Nice to have you aboard.

As I see it now, even if the slow BBs would be used in the South Pacific there isn´t much they can do. Using those BBs to attack invasion TFs of some 4 or 5 cargoe ships won´t hurt me much (if the BBs are able to catch them) and as soon as I have a level 4 airfield those BBs are in real danger of getting sunk by Ms. Betty. If I were him, I would have those BBs just sit at the West Coast for the next 18 months to have them for bombardment and invasion cover duty from mid 43 on. If he uses them earlier, the chance to see them being sunk is somewhere around 75% [8D]. He can´t really do a serious offensive the next year (at least none where I can´t overwhelm him) and if he tries to challenge a major invasion of mine, well, if I do a major invasion then there will be 450 hig experienced carrier based ac there to cover the invasion. So this wouldn´t be a good place for the USN BBs to be.

If he wants to use them the next months to attack my small invasions of all those more or less empty areas then he would be better off not using them all together. That doesn´t make much sense in the game, better would be to use one BB coupled with a CA/CL and some escorts. Would do the same - if not more - damage than to use 5 or six BBs in one TF when going in against a small invasion TF.

It was a nice surprise for me to see 5 subs still sitting in Pearl on day two of the war, guess that was just an oversight by my opponent. We´re a week into the war and he has lost some 30 subs and THAT is great! Those 30 subs would do a couple of times more damage to the Empire than the old BBs from Pearl. A recent Allied game of mine saw me sinking some 100 IJN ships with my subs within the first year, so even if the MK14 torps are defective you still can do A LOT of damage. Takes some micromanagement though and of course this can be interdicted within 3 days if the IJN player decides to put 400 Sallies into a small area to sweep the sea of subs. I have restricted myself to a max of 1 IJA bomber sentai per base on ASW, the next sentai MUST be at least 8 hexes away. This should result in frequent sightings of subs and an attack now and then, but I´m not interested in seeing 4 or 5 hits on subs every day.

Jolo and Kuching are the usual early targets for the IJN, while Jolo wasn´t even really necessary this time, because Manila´s port and everything that was lying there was nearly destroyed and the Boise must have run flank speed South. At the moment, the Boise is the only thing that is left somewhere South around the SRA that is a threat. And that´s why I have my heavy cruisers in this area.

[Ambassador]

ORIGINAL: castor troy
Well, actually I´m not a beginner anymore, have played a couple of thousand turns PBEM. So if I make faults - which will undoubtably happen - then it´s because I´m stupid, but not because I´m a beginner! [;)]

I couldn´t expect to catch the BBs, like I mentioned before he can go three directions from Pearl at full speed and I can only cover one. So my thinking was as followes: I would go South and after 20 hexes or so, flee either to the West Coast or Australia, as I think this would be the best decision. So I thought that my opponent would think the same and therefore do the "unexpected" move just straight East towards the West Coast. But of course while thinking what would be the best, what would I do, what does he think what I think... [:D] it turned out to be the wrong decision.

The VPs aren´t a problem, as a) I don´t play for autovictory anyway (always nice to achieve it though) and b) if I get my palnned targets, then I will achieve autovictory easily anyway. My last IJN PBEM achieved a 6,5:1 autovictory on 1/43, while only 4:1 is needed. And in that game I also didn´t get 1600 VPs for BBs sunk in Pearl.

Sorry, I was not talking about you, but about bigbaba, who said himself in his "opponents wanted" thread that he was a beginner at WitP PBEM. My apologies if you believed my earlier comment was meant for you.[:o]
EDIT: although I greatly respect him for thrusting himself against a veteran jap player. I wish him good luck.


Are you willing to share your strategy ? Are you after India ? Australia ? Siberia ?

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Ambassador

ORIGINAL: castor troy
Well, actually I´m not a beginner anymore, have played a couple of thousand turns PBEM. So if I make faults - which will undoubtably happen - then it´s because I´m stupid, but not because I´m a beginner! [;)]

I couldn´t expect to catch the BBs, like I mentioned before he can go three directions from Pearl at full speed and I can only cover one. So my thinking was as followes: I would go South and after 20 hexes or so, flee either to the West Coast or Australia, as I think this would be the best decision. So I thought that my opponent would think the same and therefore do the "unexpected" move just straight East towards the West Coast. But of course while thinking what would be the best, what would I do, what does he think what I think... [:D] it turned out to be the wrong decision.

The VPs aren´t a problem, as a) I don´t play for autovictory anyway (always nice to achieve it though) and b) if I get my palnned targets, then I will achieve autovictory easily anyway. My last IJN PBEM achieved a 6,5:1 autovictory on 1/43, while only 4:1 is needed. And in that game I also didn´t get 1600 VPs for BBs sunk in Pearl.

Sorry, I was not talking about you, but about bigbaba, who said himself in his "opponents wanted" thread that he was a beginner at WitP PBEM. My apologies if you believed my earlier comment was meant for you.[:o]
EDIT: although I greatly respect him for thrusting himself against a veteran jap player. I wish him good luck.


Are you willing to share your strategy ? Are you after India ? Australia ? Siberia ?

No need to apologize!

At the moment there is no grand strategy, all I will do the next couple of weeks is to seize the usual IJN targets (means the historical ones) and then have a look on what happened. It´s only a week into the war but as it stands now, it seems bigbaba won´t try to fight my forces at all which I see as a mistake. Of course he won´t take fewer losses if he doesn´t try resistance but it will also end up in a very fast - while hopefully still methodical - conquer of my targets and a full operational Navy, Army and Airforce. Especially the Army will be important, if most of my divisions and brigades are fully combat ready then I can load them up and land them somewhere. If they are worn out then it takes a couple of months to have them combat ready again and that´s the time the Allied need. And that´s the reason why I try to use more force at one place at one time like it is done usually. If you have one or two divs more for an important target then you take the target faster and your divs will be in better shape than if you have to grind down the defenders with a dozen attacks when you suffer perhaps one or two 0:1 assaults. That´s what is grinding down your own divs.

When looking at the Allied troop movements then I expect him to only hold on to Singapore and Manila/Clark. This will mean I will just starve him in Singapore, attack Clark and force him into Manila and starve him there also. That´s a tactic I used a couple of times already and everytime it worked perfectly. After 5 months the enemy assault strenght is only a shadow of what it is in 12/41 and this without having to attack a single time. If you just have one division and a couple of support troops that sieges the enemy in Manila, the Allied there can´t do anything because you get the urban bonus, so the Allied would need some 2000 assault points there to force you out again - this never worked so far in my games. [:D]

Same goes for Singapore. If he retreats all his troops to Singapore, then I will just sit in the woods behind some forts at Johore Baru and block him. He would have to come over the river and get mauled by the river crossing. 5 months later, the enemy resistance will be only light. Also here, 1,5 divs should be enough to keep the Allied honest. Of course there will be some 100+ IJA medium bombers near those prison camps to bomb the airfield now and then. So not having to fight in Jannuary for Manila and Singapore means I have at least 5 or 6 divs that are fully combat ready to be shipped elsewhere. Not to talk about the additional half dozen brigades on hand. We will see...

[Ambassador]

I see.  And Betty/Nell groups would prevent him of evacuating Singapore (or better, if he does, sink them on the return trip), while he won't have enough 4E bombers to suppress your airfields until much later.
 
I suppose it's the same reason that made you refrain from attacking Hong Kong right now (unless I missed the combat report) ?  Letting troops there rot a bit, and move in.  Probably with chinese command divisions, to use the SRA div that starts in Canton elsewhere, am I right ?
 
For the Philippines, isn't it better to land in force in Lingayen, isolate the north-easter USAFFE troops (including two PA divs) and crush them separately, rather than letting them fall back to Manilla ?  IIRC, lack of supplies reduce AV by 4, which is countered by the urban bonus, and this is without counting the forts that would be constructed in several months.  Would they "cost" you less assets by letting them retreat rather than wiping them at start ?

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Ambassador

I see.  And Betty/Nell groups would prevent him of evacuating Singapore (or better, if he does, sink them on the return trip), while he won't have enough 4E bombers to suppress your airfields until much later.

I suppose it's the same reason that made you refrain from attacking Hong Kong right now (unless I missed the combat report) ?  Letting troops there rot a bit, and move in.  Probably with chinese command divisions, to use the SRA div that starts in Canton elsewhere, am I right ?

For the Philippines, isn't it better to land in force in Lingayen, isolate the north-easter USAFFE troops (including two PA divs) and crush them separately, rather than letting them fall back to Manilla ?  IIRC, lack of supplies reduce AV by 4, which is countered by the urban bonus, and this is without counting the forts that would be constructed in several months.  Would they "cost" you less assets by letting them retreat rather than wiping them at start ?

I doubt that he would seriously think about an evac attempt of the troops in Malaya after he experienced what my bombers did to Forc Z.

I´ve got three more crs to post, one includes the attack on Hong Kong. Yes, the same reason as stated above, I wanted to send more than one div and an eng rgt. Better to send 3 divs to take the town in one or two days than to send 1 div that takes 4, 5 or 6 attacks and gets beat up in the attempt.

Bigbaba already has abandoned the South, I will take the two bases South of Manila in the next couple of days. He´s now holding on to Clark and Manila. You are right that without supplies the urban bonus makes it still a 100% assault value. But I´m talking about starving them, not killing them off with attacks. I will have arty there and bombers. After the supplies run out you can see the assault value dropping by around 20 points each day and the defenses will collapse soon then. At least this is my experience. My experience also is that if the Allied sees that he has 1000+ assault points at Manila and the IJA only 500 then this is the point to order a shock attack - which will get repulsed bloodily due to the urban bonus. Seen that so often, I always have to smile. When I need 1000 assault points to both block Singapore and Manila then I can even leave those troops there for a year - it never took so long though.

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/14/41

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Day Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 19,41

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Manoora, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Encounter

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 19,41

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Manoora, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Encounter

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

My airforce still finds targets around Malaya...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 19,41

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 12
G4M1 Betty x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Encounter, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Isis, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
MSW Burnie
AP Manoora, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
G3M Nell x 17
G4M1 Betty x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
ML Pro Patria, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Speelman

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet

nice to see a ML being sunk, even if it´s just a small one...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 28,38

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3418 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 107

Defending force 826 troops, 8 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 113 - adjusted assault: 111

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 7

Japanese assault odds: 15 to 1



Defeated Allied Units Retreating!


This is the base force that left Victoria point. It was caught by a TK rgt and forced to retreat towards Victoria Point again...

[Yakface]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

ORIGINAL: castor troy

H. M. S. R E P U L S E

M o t t o

Qui Tangit Frangatur: ' Who touches me is broken'.

Great motto.

I liked that too...

I prefer the vernacular translation: 'You toucha ma ship, I smasha ya face'

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/15/41

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 32,56

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 12
PC Ch 11
PC Ch 10
PC Ch 6
PC Ch 5
PC Ch 4

Allied Ships
SS O20

luckily, the torps failed to detonate...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 83,63

Japanese Ships
CL Tatsuta
MSW Ataka Maru
MSW Takasago Maru
PG Edo Maru
PG Saiko Maru
AP Marsue Maru

Allied Ships
SS Trout

Trout now sitting East of Wake...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 32,56

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 12
PC Ch 11
PC Ch 10
PC Ch 6
PC Ch 5
PC Ch 4

Allied Ships
SS O20

unbelievable but true the torps of the Dutch sub again failed to detonate! [X(] That is surprising as the Dutch and British don´t have the defective MK14...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 118 troops unloading over beach at Baker Island, 94,92


Japanese ground losses:
72 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Samarinda, 31,63, firing at TF 147
TF 147 troops unloading over beach at Samarinda, 31,63


26 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese ground losses:
196 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

invasion of Southern Borneo begins...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Clark Field , at 43,51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-21 Sally x 156
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
452 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 2

Airbase hits 22
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 87

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 16000 feet

there will be a lot of airattacks in the Philipines the next couple of months... and all my IJA bombers will be super high exp then...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,56


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 5
Blenheim I x 3
Martin 139 x 8


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 damaged
Martin 139: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
CA Mogami

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 32,56

Japanese Ships
AK Utide Maru, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS O20

no torps were launched... out of torps?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Laoag

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 23230 troops, 306 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 474

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 466 - adjusted assault: 214

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 214 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Laoag base !!!

a division crosses the river from Aparri to Laoag (Northern Philipines) and shock attacks into the empty base... all my troops are marching towards Clark field now...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Taiping

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4944 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1147

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 50 - adjusted assault: 52

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 52 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Taiping base !!!

the game goes nuts and shows 4944 troops having an assault value of 1147 first. [&:] Taking the empty base North of Palembang, a bgd is on route to land here and move down on the road to Palembang. Couple of cruiser bombardments will be done to wear down the defenders. Would like to take the most important oil center intact. It will all come down to dice rolls...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Baker Island

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 543 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 36 - adjusted assault: 20

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 20 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Baker Island base !!!

emtpy Baker Island is now Japanese also...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Samarinda

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1021 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 24

Defending force 2391 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 73


Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/16/41

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 151 encounters mine field at Batavia (19,59)

Japanese Ships
DD Sagiri, Mine hits 1, on fire

Sent a cruiser bombardment force to Batavia because the airfield there and Soerabaja is where I expect the RAF that fled from Singapore to be. Sagiri hits an Mk6 mine but will probably make it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1016 encounters mine field at Darwin (36,84)

Allied Ships
ML Rigel, Mine hits 1, on fire

the small ML Rigel hits a sub laid Type 88 at Darwin...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Samarinda, at 31,63

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya


Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Runway hits 4
Port fuel hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 4 destroyed
Hawk 75A: 1 destroyed
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Chokai


Allied ground losses:
580 casualties reported
Guns lost 39
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 14

the result of the bombardment is ok as I´ve done no recon before as the base is out of recon plane range... The only thing I´m more or less afraid in this area at this stage of the war are Vildebeests and the dozen Dutch torp bombers, so it´s nice if some of them are destroyed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 101 troops unloading over beach at Jambi, 20,53


Japanese ground losses:
42 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Jolo at 38,59


Allied aircraft
P-26A x 2
P-40B Tomahawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 2


Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 1 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Shell hits 4
CL Natori
DD Harukaze

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
1 x P-26A attacking at 100 feet
3 x P-40B Tomahawk attacking at 100 feet

The Allied fighters in the Philipines now switched from airfield strafing to ship strafing. No damage is done...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Jolo at 38,59


Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Matue Maru, Shell hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Jolo at 38,59


Allied aircraft
P-35A x 2


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Meiko Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x P-35A attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 107,78 [X(]

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
D3A Val x 61
B5N Kate x 90

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AP President Coolidge, Bomb hits 1
AP Hugh L. Scott, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

yesterday, I had KB 7 or 8 hexes NW of Pearl when my Glen equipped subs South of Pearl spotted several TFs going towards Pearl. I was sure that the BBs are coming back and was nearly shocked to see that. I´ve ordered KB to move full speed South to catch them. KB was spotted yesterday also so bigbaba was some kind of lucky, if he hadn´t spotted KB those TFs would now be destroyed. I still wanted to try to catch them, perhaps he would oversee the sighting of KB. He didn´t and the BB TFs moved full speed away again but we stumbled across this TF, which also surprised me. We sink CA Louisville and a big AP. Why, just why does he include this heavy cruiser in this TF and why is he sending them towards Pearl when he knows KB must be somewhere near. Not to talk about the move with his BBs! This is highly careless, if KB wouldn´t have been spotted he would have paid today.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 107,78

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP President Coolidge
CA Louisville, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 107,78

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
D3A Val x 39
B5N Kate x 43

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, on fire, heavy damage
AP President Coolidge, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AP Hugh L. Scott, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

the TF was completely destroyed...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Batavia at 19,59

Japanese Ships
SS I-166

Allied Ships
AP Speelman, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

a small AP is sunk at Batavia...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Samarinda, at 31,63

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya


Allied ground losses:
53 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Runway hits 2
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 108 troops unloading over beach at Kiska Island, 92,35


Japanese ground losses:
276 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hong Kong

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 66610 troops, 697 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 1289

Defending force 13295 troops, 119 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 237

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Japanese max assault: 1600 - adjusted assault: 1850

Allied max defense: 248 - adjusted defense: 91

Japanese assault odds: 20 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Hong Kong base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
531 casualties reported
Guns lost 50
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
9696 casualties reported
Guns lost 54
Vehicles lost 1

Here´s the attack on HongKong! Like I have said before I prefer using real force to take bases fast than to have a long fight. It worked very well, the base fell with the first attack and we nearly suffered at all. As usual all facilities at Hong Kong are nearly totally destroyed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Samarinda

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2463 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 75

Defending force 1512 troops, 27 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 21

Japanese max assault: 74 - adjusted assault: 75

Allied max defense: 18 - adjusted defense: 15

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Samarinda base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
22 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

[castor troy]

Another victim of Japanese carrier based aircraft, the USN heavy cruiser Louisville was sunk today! BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!


USS Louisville (CA-28, originally CL-28), 1931-1959
USS Louisville, a 9050-ton Northampton class light cruiser built at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, was commissioned in January 1931. In July 1931, during her shakedown cruise to the east coast, she was reclassified as a heavy cruiser and her hull number was changed from CL-28 to CA-28. During the rest of the decade and into the early 1940s, she operated with the U.S. Fleet and on independent missions, mainly in the Pacific but also visiting the Caribbean, the U.S. Atlantic coast and Latin American ports. In 1938, Louisville crossed the Pacific, calling on Australia, Tahiti and Samoa. When the European War began in September 1939 the cruiser, then making a South American cruise, was sent to South Africa to pick up British gold for transportation to the United States.

In December 1941, when Japan opened World War II in the Pacific, Louisville was at sea escorting ships from the East Indies to Hawaii. She took part in U.S. aircraft carrier raids in the central and southern Pacific in February and March 1942. During the middle of the year, Louisville operated in the Aleutians area, then went to the southern Pacific late in 1942 to participate in the final months of the Guadalcanal campaign. In late January 1943, she was present during the air-sea Battle of Rennell Island. Hit by a dud torpedo, but not damaged, she then towed the crippled cruiser Chicago until that duty was taken over by the tug Navajo.

Louisville was sent back to the Aleutians in April 1943 and remained in that area until after the recapture of Attu and Kiska. She was overhauled at the Mare Island Navy Yard and then began long service providing heavy gunfire support for amphibious landings. In this role, the cruiser bombarded Wotje, Kwajalein and Eniwetok, in the Marshall Islands, in January-February 1944. After serving with the carriers on central Pacific raids in March and April, Louisville provided invasion support bombardments at Saipan, Tinian and Guam during June and July 1944, Peleliu in September and Leyte in October. On 24-25 October, when the Japanese Navy attempted to counter the Leyte landings, she took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

On 5-6 January 1945, Louisville was hit by two Japanese suicide planes but remained on station to support the invasion of Leyte at Lingayen Gulf. Withdrawn for repairs, she arrived back in the war zone in time to take part in the last weeks of the Okinawa campaign, and was hit by another Kamikaze on 5 June. After the end of the Pacific War, Louisville supported occupation activities along the China coast. She was sent back to the U.S. later in 1945 and decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in June 1946. Louisville was retained in the Reserve Fleet until September 1959, when she was sold for scrapping.

[Ambassador]

1200 AV at Hong Kong ?  What did you bring ?  Three divisions ?
 
Nice bombardment result with only three CA's.  And that's what is called poetic justice, a minelayer hitting a mine.[:D]
 
Ten days in the war, and he's hiding his CVs.  With KB "sticking" near PH and so many of your Nell/Betty around Malaya & the Philippines, I would have thought he would strike in the south pacific, in the Marshalls, Gilberts, etc.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Ambassador

1200 AV at Hong Kong ?  What did you bring ?  Three divisions ?

Nice bombardment result with only three CA's.  And that's what is called poetic justice, a minelayer hitting a mine.[:D]

Ten days in the war, and he's hiding his CVs.  With KB "sticking" near PH and so many of your Nell/Betty around Malaya & the Philippines, I would have thought he would strike in the south pacific, in the Marshalls, Gilberts, etc.

two divs, one bgd, arty, eng and a HQ.

There´s nothing he can strike in the South Pacific, Marshalls or Gilberts. And if he dares to come within 11 hexes then he will be in range of 81 Betties/Nells from Kwajalein.

[tocaff]

WOW!  That's loads to take HK.  I managed it with 1 Div of Inf, 2 Combat Eng Units and 3 or 4 Artillery units.  It took until about Christmas for it to fall, but now I have some cheap labor for a railroad building project in Burma.  

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: tocaff

WOW!  That's loads to take HK.  I managed it with 1 Div of Inf, 2 Combat Eng Units and 3 or 4 Artillery units.  It took until about Christmas for it to fall, but now I have some cheap labor for a railroad building project in Burma.  

that´s exactly what I don´t wanted. Those divs I used are around Canton anyway, so first I moved them to Canton, then set them alltogether to cross into the Hong Kong hex. One attack, the base fell. Casualties for me: some 500 troops. Two days later all my troops were in Canton again.

And that is what I´m trying to do at all fronts at the moment. Attack with force to make the fighting as short as possible. I guess you will see more of what other would call overkill. [;)]

[tocaff]

Overkill is good.  I did HK on the cheap and got it on the 20th of December on the 2nd or 3rd assault.  The other troops in China are off on other adventures.

[Xxzard]

Still no plans to take advantage of his seeming inexpirience so far?

[stldiver]

Castor doesn't need plans to take advantage of inexperiance, Inexperiance alone means one commits mistakes that are costly. In many of my games I blunder thru many mistakes, not respecting bettys and nells, Not knowing how strong the KB was, etc.

What the inexperiance doesn't give you, is truly how vulnerable the Japanese position can be, it is a lot of show and power at the point of attack, but if you let it accelerate and tuck tail it will be able to consolidate. If you interfere, and you can it has to slow and protect. Because its like an eggshell easily cracked and broken.

Once again the great thing about two new opponents playing, as in my game vs Scott, its mainly not knowing what the opponent's tendancies are. Castor can already count on his opponent making inexperianced mistakes, what he doesn't know is how he will react?

Tuck tail and run (An effective strategy for allied command, can always comeback in 43 but slow and boring game). Or start jabbing back and enjoy the ride, once again the allies always will gain overwhelming arms and in my opinion will win the vast majority of the time. The question becomes how fun was the ride.

Castor, I like your opening move, Hitting Manila I believe is key, but I never thought about hitting pearl airfields to get around the one port strike. Very well done.

I disagree with your rush to take Hong Kong, as allied I will rush to Canton to prevent what you have done, but there is no need to rush. The slow pounding will eventually disable the british and you can capture most of the industry intact. Your overwhelming force is good for speed, but you pay in supply points to rebuild. Once again both ways work its a style choice.

Enjoy the ride.