Complete AAR: Coral Sea vs Japanese AI - *spoilers*

[Grotius]

Hey, I've finished my first game of AE! OK, it was only "Coral Sea" vs. the AI, but I've still finished. I know the scenario from stock quite well, having played it four or five times in PBEM with friends. So I was quite interested to see how different it is here. This account contains a few "spoilers," so if you want to play this scenario (either AI or PBEM), I'd suggest you play it first and read this later.

* * *

I was first struck by the order of battle. I recall having a fair number of LCUs to move around the map in stock. By contrast, in AE as the Allies, I have a couple infantry units in PM, and a few base forces and HQs in Oz and New Caledonia. That's about it. The Japanese have two infantry units with which to assault PM, and a few base forces and HQs elsewhere.

The thinner OOB, together with the larger map, makes the South Pacific "feel" much bigger. Bigger even than it did in Uncommon Valor. And bases, by and large, are smaller. The overall effect seems to me a more authentic representation of the theater. You have a tiny ground force, and lots of ocean. My task as the Allies is to defend Port Moresby with the fleet.

* * *

May 4, 1942: The scenario starts with my two CVs, Lex and Yorktown, in separate TFs, and separate hexes, south of New Guinea. Ordinarily I would keep my CVs together and defend New Guinea/Moresby, but the carriers were pre-plotted to head in separate directions, and I was curious to see what would happen if I sent one east. So I tinkered with the orders a bit, sending Yorktown east toward Guadalcanal and Lex northwest toward New Guinea to intercept the inevitable invasion of Port Moresby. In short order, Lex made mincemeat of a small TF of enemy ships near Tulagi.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 114,137

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12
TBD-1 Devastator x 12

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CM Okinoshima, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Kikuzuki
APD Yuzuki, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Azumasan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

[Grotius]

May 5, 1942: One of the many great "little things" in AE is that the game now generates a unique combatreport.txt for each day, so if you forget to copy it, it's still on your hard disk five turns later. I don't normally quote much from that file, as I think descriptive AARs are more interesting, but for a first game of AE, the combat report is interesting to read. And indeed the report from this day is particularly interesting.

It began with one of my subs shooting four torpedoes at a few warships south of Gili Gili. Another nice touch is that the game now tells me how many torps were fired: in this case, four. And the graphic is prettier -- too bad I forgot to take a screenshot! Here's the sub contact:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 05, 42
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Sub attack near Deboyne Islands at 103,134

Japanese Ships
DD Mutsuki
DD Yayoi
E Asanagi
E Oite

Allied Ships
SS S-38, hits 1

SS S-38 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Mutsuki
S-38 diving deep ....
DD Yayoi attacking submerged sub ....
DD Mutsuki fails to find sub and abandons search
E Asanagi fails to find sub and abandons search
E Oite fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Yayoi attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yayoi attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yayoi attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

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But the real action today is my first AE carrier battle. I was stunned to see my carrier aircraft fly a full seven hexes to an enemy target near Milne Bay -- until I remembered that seven hexes is now just 280 miles, heh. The results were quite satisfying.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Deboyne Islands at 104,135

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 3
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 28

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 9 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVL Shoho, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Kinugasa, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CA Furutaka, Bomb hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x SBD-3 Dauntless diving from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb AP Bomb
14 x SBD-3 Dauntless diving from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb AP Bomb

CAP engaged:
EIII-1 Chutai with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
EIII-2 Chutai with A5M4 Claude (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Raid is overhead

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Shoho
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Kinugasa

[Grotius]

What surprised me even more is that Shoho never launched a reciprocal raid against me. She carries a half-dozen Kates, with normal range of 7 hexes, so she was in range of me. Is it because I was in clouds and she was not? Or maybe she didn't spot me? Or maybe she just didn't have her Kates set to Naval Attack, which seems unlikely. Does anyone know why?

Anyway, Shoho did not retaliate, and she sank that evening. So far so good!

[Grotius]

May 6, 1942: I was bursting with confidence now, and quite pleased with my decision to split my carriers -- something I've never done in a PBEM of this scenario! Things got even better as CV Lexington intercepted a large task force of xAKs heading around the southern tip of New Guinea -- presumably the Moresby invasion force. I won't burden you with the full combat report, but a snippet should give you the idea. I was pleased to see that the AI did give the task force long-range CAP:

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Milne Bay at 100,134

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 6
SBD-3 Dauntless x 24


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Kasuga Maru #2
xAK Kagu Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Asakaze Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Tatumiya Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Canberra Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
155 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

[Grotius]

May 7, 1942: Then things started going wrong. For starters, the Japanese invasion force was undeterred: somehow or other, at least some of the ships kept going. I had expected them to retire, so I'd ordered Yorktown back west to intercept their retreat, while allowing Lex to saunter southward to rest her now-very-tired pilots for a day.

Well, the invasion force kept going to Port Moresby and sailed out of range of Yorktown. But to make things worst, enemy CVs popped up out of nowhere near Guadalcanal. I never saw them coming -- and indeed, I had no air-search assets at all north of New Caledonia. The enemy launched strikes against Yorktown.

[Grotius]

Fortunately, the Kates were at extended range, dropping bombs. Yorktown lived to sail another day, but not without some damage.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Deboyne Islands at 103,140

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N2 Kate x 24

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Portland
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 16000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg AP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 18000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg AP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-5 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 6 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes

[Grotius]

May 8, 1942: Yorktown had about 30 SYS damage, 6 FLT damage, 8 engine damage. She could still make 22 knots or so, and her flight deck was open. Interestingly, her FLT didn't budge over the next few days. It will be fun to see how the new damage/repair model affects decisions like this -- whether to retire or to stay at sea. I decided to stay at sea and try to catch up to the invasion TF. But I guess I didn't get close enough, because I launched no strikes at all this day.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention that just as Shoho didn't retaliate against me, I didn't retaliate against Shokaku or Zuikaku -- but in my case, I suspect that's because my aircraft were out of range of the enemy.

May 9, 1942: The invasion of Port Moresby commences. I enjoyed seeing the new "pre-invasion support" actions, like this one:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 09, 42
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Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft

6 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Asakaze Maru
DMS W.20

DMS W.20 fires to suppress enemy troops at 12,000 yards
DMS W.20 firing at enemy troops

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Not to mention the very cool new Bombardment graphic!

[88l71]

Yep, the bombardment screen is cool. I just watched the Japanese Wake Island invasion force duel with the CD guns and get spanked. [:D]

[Grotius]

May 9, 1942 (cont'd): I was interested also to see the AI pound PM with land-based air from Lae and Rabaul, including this night attack. Also, note the large number of damaged Nells. I hope that reassures people who are concerned that flak is too wimpy in AE, especially as it appears from the "losses" screen that a couple of those damaged planes didn't make it back to Rabaul. Also, it now takes several days to repair damaged aircraft; I saw "average repair times" ranging from 3 to 5 days.

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Night Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 17

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

[Grotius]

May 9 (cont'd): I was pleased to see that the AI didn't attack the first chance it got -- it started landing on May 8 and held its fire for a couple days while it unloaded over the beach at Port Moresby. Also, its invasion let me see firsthand the slow-unloading that everyone talks about. My old tactic of loading a hundred transports with a tiny sliver of a division, and then offloading them all instanteously at the target, will no longer work. Which is as it should be.

I was also pleased to see the AI continuing to provide long-range CAP to its invasion force. I'm still not sure where the Zeroes are coming from. Lae? Rabaul? Aircraft carriers? Gotta love that fog of war. But CAP or no, my CVs sank a number of the invading transports. Trouble is, I did so a turn or two too late.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 6
SBD-3 Dauntless x 59

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 15 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAKL Noshiro Maru #2, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Ikushima Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Sinsei Maru, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
xAKL Hagoromo Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Asakaze Maru, Bomb hits 10, and is sunk
xAK Kamikaze Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire
xAK Kasuga Maru #2, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
xAK Aso Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DMS W.20, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

[Grotius]

I just watched the Japanese Wake Island invasion force duel with the CD guns and get spanked.

Fun! [:)]

May 10, 1942: Oh, the shame of it! Port Moresby falls. The best part is what I heard when the base fell. I really don't want to give this spoiler away, but it made me smile. Ruefully. The AE designers had a bit of an audio surprise in store for incompetent Allied admirals like me!

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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4113 troops, 53 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 121

Defending force 4198 troops, 42 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 87

Japanese adjusted assault: 230

Allied adjusted defense: 43

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Moresby !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
303 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1427 casualties reported
Squads: 58 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 66 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 29 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Assaulting units:
144th Infantry Regiment
Kure 3rd SNLF

Defending units:
49th Australian Battalion
Port Moresby Brigade
15th RAAF Base Force

[Grotius]

I did sink a lot of Japanese shipping, but, as I said, I took too long! I especially enjoyed "obliterating" the smallest Japanese ships. Check this out.

[88l71]

Yeah, I like how now ships will sink immediately after air attacks, unlike stock. I remember playing in the 45 campaign, stock, and having a PG or minelayer hit by multiple 1000lb bombs, then drawing multiple strikes that were "unable to locate target" and finally sinking at the end of the turn.

Too bad I found this out when Repulse sunk after something like 7 torp hits [:(]

[Grotius]

May 11-15, 1942: Nonetheless, the embarrassing crux of the matter is this. In 4 or 5 PBEMs of this scenario in stock, I never saw anyone take PM. In my first game against the AE AI, it snatched it from me in a week! So is it Andy's AI, or my incompetence, or both? Maybe some of both. I really should've concentrated my CVs on the main enemy threat, the anticipated invasion of Port Moresby. Instead I split my CVs, heading off a thrust toward Lunga but diluting my ability to halt the transports heading around New Guinea. And even though I stopped the IJN initially in the east, they ended up "occupying" Lunga anyway.

[AttuWatcher]

I'm playing Coral Sea right now and have had similar results in the carrier battles. Landed 8 hits on Shoho w/o retaliation then a few turns later the other CV group came out of the east and handed Lex a beating.
My subs have dropped atleast 3 of their light transports but a Jap sub dropped my AV that was staging a little sneak transfer to PM with more fighters.

Ah yes, bombing the tiny little transport ships is fun [:D]

In this scenario you don't really have time and resources to save Lunga and PM. I think you have to take a stand at PM and leave Guad for another day. Might find some nice advantages with splitting the carrier group though.

[Grotius]

Yeah, I like how now ships will sink immediately after air attacks, unlike stock.

Me too, though I still did see some examples of ships lingering after multiple strikes. I was not sure Shoho had sunk until I saw her on the sunk-ships list at the end of the game. I'm glad to see this kind of variety.

Speaking of sunk ships, they saved me from ignominious defeat against the AI. Japan outscored me by nabbing Port Moresby, but I almost made up for it by sinking a couple dozen ships -- to none lost for me.

[Grotius]

Landed 8 hits on Shoho w/o retaliation then a few turns later the other CV group came out of the east and handed Lex a beating.

Sounds quite similar. I wonder what's up with Shoho? I'm sure it's carrying six Kates -- I see them listed as "ground" losses on the air losses screen.

At any rate, I managed to scrape a draw. I enjoyed this little scenario, but now I'm ready to jump into the big campaign. I'll start against the AI and then see if I have the time to do a PBEM. Thanks for reading!

[vettim89]

I ran this scenario too and also scrapped a draw. After destroying the entire invasion convoy, the Japanese CV's snuck in south of me and picked off first Lexington and then Yorktown. My biggest frustration is that I did not shoot down a single Japanese aircraft. I am worried that the AE team may have gone too far in toning down air combat. BTW, my counterstrike on the IJN CV's landined 0 hits. Just one time through but I don't like the air combat results so far. It seems CAP is now impotent against a decent sixed strike

[Cribtop]

I ran it as Japanese vs. the AI. I think the AI also split its carriers, because the Tulagi invasion "force" was murdered on day one by SBDs despite my ordering them to flee to Truk at flank speed. All 8 ships were sunk! I remained in possession of Tulagi only because the Japanese landing force begins the scenario already unloaded.

Next up, CV Div 5 engaged Lexington and her escorts south of Runnel Is. Neither side's CAP was effective. Results were 1 critical torp hit and two penetrating bomb hits on Lex, with 1 torp hit on two escorting US CAs. The US return strike was large but ineffective. They easily broke through my CAP, but by luck my fleet was obscured by storms and the attackers didn't score a single hit. Yorktown was never seen after the Tulagi raids, but one of my subs near Noumea spotted a large enough TF that it may have been her. Further evidence that the US should keep its CVs together. I had remained in LBA range, but Ms. Betty did not put in an appearance.

The next night, I got "clever" and sent in 2 CAs, 3 CLs and 2 DDs to attack the remnants. They engaged in a night action with 2 CAs and 1 CL at 1000 yds. I thought this was the beginning of a massacre, but the ships were Aussie, and they crossed my T and spanked me, sinking CL Tetsuta and moderately damaging 1 CA. Some revenge was exacted when an IJN sub hit a US CA, but the sub was then sunk by escorts.

Still, the net result of these actions was to cripple the Allied fleet and allow the invasion force to close on PM. IJN bombardments, port and ground attacks by 11 Air Fleet out of Rabaul, and very cool invasion support fires resulted in the Japanese troops ashore at the cost of damage to a DMS, and annoying hit on an IJN CA that knocked out an AA gun, and the sinking of 1 xAK and 2 xAKLs by shore batteries.

After two days of unloading, a bombardment attack confirmed all was in order as far as AV. On May 13, supported by another naval bombardment (weak due to lack of ammo) and air attacks by 11th Air fleet and carrier aircraft, PM was taken on the first deliberate attack.

I have to run two more turns, but even if Yorktown returns to the scene I should secure a victory. BANZAI!! [:D]

First impressions:

- AI is more aggressive than normal. In stock, the AI often wouldn't get in the game, instead huddling near New Caledonia.

- The uber CAP is dead and shall not be mourned. LOVE the messages about scrambling CAP, chasing bombers, diving for the deck, guns jamming, etc. Altitude selection will be key, IMHO. After the first battle I started setting different units to different altitudes (e.g. high and low CAP).

- Multiple missions and search arcs for air units rawk.

- Everything will be harder in AE, which should lead to more realistic operational tempo. Throughout the whole scenario, I kept thinking, did the IJN really try to invade PM and Tulagi with these assorted bits of crap? I agree that the smaller number of units, fewer big bases, etc. has a more authentic feel.

- I get the sense that neither the Zero nor the Betty nor the IJN night actions are as dominant as in WITP.

- One worry I heard expressed pre-release was that Japanese Ops losses would be too high. I did not experience any problems with Ops losses, however.

All in all good stuff. One minor glitch I noticed was that TF screens would disappear for a split second when changing TF speeds, but it didn't cause any problems.

This looks like a very high quality release so far. Congrats to the AE team!

[cantona2]

Grotius, how did you get that font?