EA Damian(J) V Nemo(A) "Renaissance"

[n01487477]

25 Sept '42

The evacuation proceeds at a steady pace. I'm using some fast transports and loads of AK/AP's to get out as much as I can. Plus a load of transports dotted around at different bases to pull them out. So far so good - with the real damage being done through LB search rather than TF hits. I'm sure that I won't get out all what I want but the dark days are getting less as I see the number of units on the Malayan Pen. being reduced every day.

I think Nemo has seen this and is probably moving in more LB to attack these targets - I just need a few more days to think that my Dunkirk is partially successful. Then comes the rebuilding. Unfortunately I placed a Div or 2 at , but this was before Kota Bharu fell and now I want to get them out too ... this might have to be an air evac.

Other news
[*]Tokyo port is hit by 40 B-17's for no damage.
[*]My reposte with para's at Jesselton is soundly beaten into the jungle - I will now wait for the Div 2 days out to take this base back once again.

[n01487477]

28 Sept '42

Jumping forward a few days as nothing amazing has happened and I was staging for two strikes. One against Cagayan the other Petropavlovsk.

Operation A - Cagayan
Rationale: I believed many Transport planes have been flying out of here and this is my primary focus nowdays, to halt the ability of the Allies to continually move a Div in a day or two from one base to another... it is killing me.

The plan was to sweep with fighters from Hainan, then have a combined attack of Betty's based at Shanghai and my Angels at Sasebo (I'm trying to keep some supplies here too).

The sweep of 50 planes never materialised - and that which did was from FF's .The strikes were uncoordinated and the Betty's came in for a pounding. 77 Betty's took off but only half returned as they were butchered by the 50+ cap. The Angels however shone bright. 77 Angels reached the target out of an available 105 and pounded the target. 12 Angels paid the price but according to Nemo destroyed 70+ planes (the combat report had only half this number)

Operation B - Petropavlovsk
Rationale: Have to stem the tide of supplies moving between Petro and Madagan etc. Stop any future operations by a hammer blow.

Betty's from Sapporo are tasked to hit the Ports at Petro.
4 CV's are dispatched to hit any TT's.

(My initial thought was to take the whole of KB and my SCTF's to really hit is hard - but I chickened out)

[*]33 out of 77 Betty's destroyed by small Cap, but the majority to AA. 1 Torp into the BB Prince of Wales, 1 Bomb bounced off BB Colorado.
[*]Allied Attack 1 - 15 Pe-2's and 30 SBD's dive onto my CVTF. DD Kisaragi is hit. 10 F3/4's are downed and 2 SBD's
[*]Allied Attack 2 - 67 F3/4's and 39 Pe-2's. 36 fighters and 2 Pe-2 destroyed. Kaga, Soryu and Yamato are hit with bombs.
[*]IJN Attack 1 - blew away the cap at Petro and hit 5 DD's
[*]Allied Attack 3 - 125 SBD's(40 destroyed) hit 5 DD's
[*]Allied Attack 4 - 33 SBD's & 9 Pe's(40 SBD destroyed) hit 2 DD's
[*]Allied Attack 5 - 10 Pe's hit Hiryu twice.
[*]Allied Attack 6 - 21 Pe's hit Hiryu twice. 10 F3/4 downed. Yamato(2) and Hiryu(4) hit.

Totals 3 IJN DD's lost and 1 British DD confirmed sunk.
Despite the heavy losses on both sides, my CV's remain intact - I must have got incredibly lucky today... turn for home - thunderstorms predicted and I hope this will save further attacks.
Hiryu 48/19/17
Soryu 27/18/21
Yamato 25/5/21
Kaga 9/0/0

Nemo saw my AO's a few days ago and reinforced these bases to max. The Pe-2's still attacking at max are still a bone of contention for me, as there is no way I can get them.
Other news:

[*]145 planes lost today against 244 Allied planes downed.
[*]The 6thDiv lands at Jesselton - I hope it is enough to take back the base but preliminary combat makes me think I might need another.

[n01487477]

Overview

[n01487477]

Ships and Planes

[n01487477]

More Air Production

[n01487477]

3 Oct '42 Sing

Been busy doing some Tracker work in the last few days and Nemo and I had an email mix up which halted the game for a few days.

I have been looking at some advanced WITP economics topics regarding airplane & engine production by doing testing mostly on stock - some of this information will be applicable to Tracker but mostly I just aim to bring my conclusions to the community. I will post these when I have finished my analysis in another thread - some of it will confirm, but some will maybe change ppls methodology.

Back to the game at hand - the last few days have seen my transports evacuating Singapore become more and more targeted and hit either under search or naval attack. A large cost but in the end I have successfully pulled out all the troops or fragments of all.

I achieved this through the massive lift capability of my transport and patrol air wing and the continued loss of AP/AK's and fast transports. It was a Dunkirk moment in todays turn when I left Singapore as the Allies marched in with only 1 fragment HQ remaining - I am completely chuffed. My first real evac as a player and I pulled out about 60 units. My only regret is the poor Div stuck near Kota Bharu which marched North when it was meant to go South to Singapore a week ago. The troops at Malacca have had fragments pulled out as have the units at Bankha.

My real issue now is rebuilding these units [8|]

A major offensive is being planned more details of this after the next turn.

[n01487477]

I thought that I would wait to update my LCU needs from the monthly report until now. As you can see I have dug a huge hole and I can't see myself getting out of it anytime shortly.

Half a year of Armament and Vehicle production is now going to have to be rolled over to reinforce my destroyed units.

4 Oct '42
My fleeing transports are hit really hard by Beauforts Sth of the Singapore straits. Malacca and Singapore are captured and now I'm running hard to get out of range.

Tomorrow a huge strike is planned on Cagayan and Catabato - this will either close the airfields and destroy the Allies here allowing me to being in another 2 Div's or I will be reduced to running and hiding for quite some time.again.

[ny59giants]

If I look at the screenshot of Malaya and Sumatra without looking at the date and I feel the game should be in late '43 or '44, not the end of '42. [&:] 

I see that he is looking for a replacement opponent in his game vs 2nd ACR. I wish him good luck. I think you have learned a lot from him and your next opponent will be surprised. Nemo's use of transports/patrol planes and Fast Transports seems to be more advanced than any other player I have read about.

Were any of your family hit by the massive fires in Australia??

[n01487477]

If I look at the screenshot of Malaya and Sumatra without looking at the date and I feel the game should be in late '43 or '44, not the end of '42.

Yeah it is incredibly deflating almost soul sapping ... [:'(]

I see that he is looking for a replacement opponent in his game vs 2nd ACR. I wish him good luck. I think you have learned a lot from him and your next opponent will be surprised. Nemo's use of transports/patrol planes and Fast Transports seems to be more advanced than any other player I have read about.

This is the only ray of sunshine from this game ... [;)]

Were any of your family hit by the massive fires in Australia??

Thanks for asking but my family live in Brisbane so they are safe.

5 Oct 42

Taking the rules of engagement and applying the Lancaster Rules - I decided to hit Cagayan and Catabato.

My plan was to sweep with massive numbers of fighters from a few different locations trying to get them to combine into one massive group by having the ranges correct for all of the fighters...unfortunately this only seems to work for LB ????

Then Catabato would be hit with my "old" LB and the Angels would hit Cagayan.

How did it turn out ? Not as well as I had planned. The sweeps came in piecemeal and while they forged the way despite losing 2:1, my Angels flying from Sasebo decided to stand down... a very big lost opportunity.

At Catabato - I really did expect more damage,l but the base only had a few Avengers and didn't do much airfield damage.

Airlosses for the day Japan 205 Allies 116.

[n01487477]

Hi all - game has moved on a few days as Nemo and I crank out a few over Sunday and Monday... Now 8 Oct '42

My Attack on Cagayan has been a failure, the second day wave never materialised and I decided that Nemo had so much time to prepare and plan that I'd change the attack back on Singapore. While I lost a few LB in the attack, there was limited CAP here and hopefully this will place Nemo having to put some CAP over this base which just has LB in the 100's. Unfortunately my Angels decided to not fly for the 3rd day and this would have scored many more hits than I did. 51 Japanese planes destroyed for 115 Allied LB.

I've decided to once again try for Cagayan in a few more days but this time use my CLAA's combined with the Transports and hundreds of LRCAP aircraft after one more attempt to send the Angels in. Unfortunately I don't have any airfield above 5 in the SRA to use the good weather. Japan has been raining so much that I doubt the Island can stand the weight and is the primary reason that my Angels are waterlogged....

Shipping losses are getting very high now, 70 AP & 94 AK's lost with another 15 sure to surrender to the waves...

[n01487477]

Moved on again to the 13 Oct '42 ...
Nemo started moving troops toward Sovietskya Gaven by Lci's etc but in the last few days PT's and larger combat ships have been spotted. The first of my 5 INF DIV has arrived in S-G after a month and a half march across the swamps... Unfortunately I forgot to have them follow the slowest unit but by the time I had realised my mistake I decided to just let them wander in ... I am never very sure how fast they are going to move and wonder if anyone can tell me the trick here ? Is there a unit descriptor that defines this ? 

S-G has once again reared its ugly head with loads of fighters - I've been hitting this base as often as the weather allows, but for the life of me can't keep it down ... I blame the Northern weather again! Today large strikes went in and hit the airfield, for major losses to both sides... there are followup strikes tomorrow and I've moved in my Kates and Val's from damaged CV's to hit the shipping. I also have a SCTF hitting S-G's TF's tomorrow and although it feels like suicide, I can't let him think I wont go for broke here. More BB's and CA's are also on the way from Tokyo to do a seconday hit if needed.

At Cagayan I've moved in my 4BB's + 5 CLAA's ready for a bombardment tomorrow - they have been spotted but I'm hoping that they get in and do the business so that my other troops can arrive and with some Angels flying keep this base suppressed.

Nemo has convinced me to move out of Java and Borneo back to the Philippines... I'm doing just that at present ...

[floydg]

ORIGINAL: n01487477


Moved on again to the 13 Oct '42 ...
Nemo started moving troops toward Sovietskya Gaven by Lci's etc but in the last few days PT's and larger combat ships have been spotted. The first of my 5 INF DIV has arrived in S-G after a month and a half march across the swamps... Unfortunately I forgot to have them follow the slowest unit but by the time I had realised my mistake I decided to just let them wander in ... I am never very sure how fast they are going to move and wonder if anyone can tell me the trick here ? Is there a unit descriptor that defines this ? 

I hate when that happens.
I have yet to figure it out myself, so if you find out, please let me know. I have tried several combinations, but none seem to work except by luck, it seems.

[n01487477]

14 Oct '42

Finally a day I can be happy about ...
My SCTF 2 CA's 7 CL's and 3 DD's hit S-G having had a day of one hex movement the previous turn ...

Having been torp and bombed by Kates and Vals from my CV's but which are now stationed on land, the Allied TF was weak and ripe for the picking... sinking 3 CA's, 4 PT's, 2 AP's and 8 AK's. My TF was barely scratched and will return for ammo and fuel. LB hit S-G again and although the damage stated 75% - I have been bitten before and will increase the pressure as my LCU's start arriving. Eventually I want to bomb the LCU's and take the base ... but that is up to whether I can keep the base suppressed.

Cagayan - operation Tar Baby (Nemo inspired cause I keep on getting embroiled in this area)... TF 56 5 BB's,4 CLAA's, CA , CL and 4 DD's hit Cagayan twice today. This could have gone all wrong but capped and under thunderstorm skies I got a hit in for once... I have no recon of the base or its damage, but I hope that it is significant... Nemo made the mod so that Nuke bombardments do not work, but the results were acceptable and proved that I can get under his LB screen.

Tomorrow will be interesting as Nemo always hits back...

[ny59giants]

Glad to see you have some success, even if it is fleeting. [;)]

[n01487477]

15th Oct '42

Well it wasn't a big hit out by Nemo but as he mentioned in his email

The question now becomes whether you can keep Cagayan and SG closed while, at the same time, diverting enough forces to Java to slow meltdown there. I am guessing not.,... but we'll have to see.

Today many transports were spotted at Singapore, no doubt loading troops ready for their Java experience... I have a few CVL's lurking but have to be careful not to hit before there are out of close CAP range and I'm not hit by Pe-2's.

Muntok was taken today in a quick DD raid.

My troops are being pulled out of Java as I have no choice -- they are so seriously damaged. My troops in Palembang are being flown out or hopefully will be quick enough to march to Java.

Cagayan was once again hit by my bombardment TF and 100+ Angels - closing it totally(I hope)while my short range LB hit Cotobato. My TT's are inbound and will take another 3 days to arrive - they carry another 300AV and supplies. I then intend to bomb the hell out of his ground forces and get a victory... well that is the plan.

In the North I pulled more troops out of Northern bases after I realised even though I have a 2:1 troop advantage I will never push the Soviets back any further ... these will be used in various locations, and might be needed to take back Sakhalin (which is where Nemo is obviously targeting)

[n01487477]

17 and 18 Oct '42
Having just regained the skies over Cagayan and on a high I sent my LB to Batavia and my DB and TB from my CVE's/CVL's to Palembang to burn through Nemo's TF's /.

Once again out played I was hit on the 17 and 18 by 25 ship Bombardments and they have literally killed my air force and most of the pilots as well. There was a small LB force that tried to strike the BB's on the 17th, but these were easily dispatched and on the 17th having moved back from Palembang I was hit again by the same group of ships.

My bases are a shambles and I've now had to withdraw even further back to Soerabaja. I probably should have dispersed my LB better, but I went with the strong base philosophy, having just been told by Nemo that the Bombardments are toned down and now the Allies score big, where my 4BB's and 4CLAA's did almost nothing in comparison at Cagayan, I thought that numerous fighter squadrons could keep most of his LB at bay ...

Silly mistakes and the war rolls on ... Tomorrow my LCU's land on Cagayan and the ground strikes are ramped up...

[Capt. Harlock]

I probably should have dispersed my LB better, but I went with the strong base philosophy, having just been told by Nemo that the Bombardments are toned down and now the Allies score big, where my 4BB's and 4CLAA's did almost nothing in comparison at Cagayan,

Some of that has got to be bad luck on your part. A single BB, and no CA's worthy of the name, did that much at Palembang??

[n01487477]

Nemo tells me that all the small caliber DD shells make a large difference and furthermore gave me some good advice ...

Next time though you might think to base your bombers at Batavia and also a strong SC TF in order to dissuade a bombardment. That's often what I do and it works well. If you had done that your base would have survived nicely. So, that's just another lesson to learn.

19 Oct '42

Things settle down a bit, fast transports once again launch Nemo's latest attack dumping a mid-size force onto Pontianak, which will fall tomorrow. The returning force is hit with some Kates and Vals and 2 DD's are hit and an APD as well ... I am ruing the whole thing really cause IF I hadn't lost all those planes about 300+ in two days + many pilots I'd be having some fun right now!

Despite some ground attacks by my LB on Cagayan the guns open up and I lose some LCM's and in one attack 1258 casualties ... damn!

S-G attacks continue and today I hit the airport with 203 runway hits which is nice to see after this base continues to suck my supply and force alignment.

9 B-17E's have been hitting Tokyo day after day without rest ... I do wonder if the large Angels suffer form more fatigue just because they have larger range, even if they are not flying as far ... anyway over the course of this week on three separate occasions a CL,DD and APD have been hit, how's that for unlucky ?

Nate and Claude Training missions continue to hit Wenchow and soon they will be in the 60's and able to reinforce my fighters

Palembang is hit by Pe-2's again and this base is closed forever.

Angels haven't flown for two days in a row and I'm hoping tomorrow they will give Cagayan ground forces a touch up ...

On a good point my R&D goes well and I should see OscarII's and Tojo's before their official arrival date...

[n01487477]

20 Oct '42

Unloading continues at Cagayan while small ground strikes come in overhead. My ground attacks are sporadic at best due to my dwindling supply issues and the fact that large portions of my LB are tied up bombing SG for the last 4 months and the other has just been decimated by 2 days of Bombardments. SS-Triton got hit 3 times, but Nemo has moved many subs into Cagayan and the surrounding waters as well as near Tarakan to hit my fleeing forces.

122 B-17E's hit Davao at low altitude the damage is big compared to my own strikes.

66 B-25's hit my force at Pontianak, but the base just holds out after the ground combat round. I did think of flying in more forces, but well I have nothing of note to fly in, you see my army is a bunch of unit names with banners and mascots but no troops. I'm in the process of pulling more out of Russia but this will take some time.

70 Pe-2's hit Palembang again but the damage is overwhelming and the first of Nemo's forces has taken the ferry across from Bangka and it will be but days before I am driven out leaving oodles of Oil waiting to be collected.

My Angels continue not to fly ground attack missions from Saipan, I'd like to move them to Clarke Field but I have such little supply that I think this is just asking for trouble. I;ve stopped repairs on all non essentials (but everything is) and I hope that the upswing can be attained in a few weeks.

I'm trying to grab all the supply & Res out of Java before the evacuation is complete but like everything - I'm on the ragged edge with transports right now...suffice to say I have more Transports with damage above 10 than below - actually you could probably make that above 20.

Nemo made me laugh this week when he said he'd be in the Philippines in 6 weeks ... I didn;t tell him, but he could do it in about 6 days...

[n01487477]

21-22 Oct '42
Moving my CV's and SCTF into position near Pontianak I launched my SCTF ahead to Muntok to hit the 4 TF's that have been stationary there, but what do you know they are moved last turn and no battle ensues - I should have set the react but because I distrust the game - I didn't to my detriment.

Therefore the last two days have been a little quiet. Palembang is assaulted today 3:1 and the forts go down to 3. There is just a skeleton force left and I know Nemo will use the Armor to jump down the Penninsula.

Nemo has started using 4EB to attack shipping and this is a new problem to encounter ... only 3 ships are hit in 3 seperate attacks but it is a worrying sign given my AK/AP problems.