Guadalcanal brett9983(Japan) vs. commissarhanish(Allies)

[brett9983]

Thanks for checking back in Aprezto. I'm learning some things that you just have to learn the hard way, such as the tendency for Betty's to strike at ships in port hexes. I'm sure it won't be the last lesson I learn in this scenario and probably won't even be the most painful I learn. I do still have nearly 50 Betty's with 2 more large groups due within 2 weeks so all is not lost there.

September 7, 1942

A quick update. Despite his carriers closing in, this was a good day for the Japanese. At the cost of 3 zeroes, we have reportedly sunk 3 allied ships and damaged 5 others as well as shot down 20 allied fighters. Most of the ships were attacked at Port Moresby just after arriving there. The damage was as follows:
AM Cessnock 3 torpedoes heavy fires, heavy damage (reported sunk)
AM Ballarat 3 torpedoes heavy damage (reported sunk)
xAP Manunda 3 bombs heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Idomeneus 5 bombs heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Demoducus 1 bomb heavy fires
xAK Steel Maker 2 torpedoes heavy damage (reported sunk)
PG Warrego 2 bombs heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Warramunga 1 bomb

A handful of vehicles were reported lost but no troop losses.

[brett9983]

September 8, 1942

The American carriers parked about 200 miles south of Milne Bay on the 7th. I moved my subs into their general vicinity and got lucky. They did not move between the 7th and the 8th. CV Enterprise took 2 torpedoes and CA Australia took 4. Both are listed as sunk but I have my doubts about the carrier actually going down. Either way the carrier should be out of the action for a while. This evens up the carrier odds a little bit. I'm still not looking for a CV vs. CV battle at this point.

I believe carriers should be moved from turn to turn as much as possible if only a couple of hexes. This forces the enemy to respot the ships, possibly reposition subs, and of course moving one way and then another will keep your opponent guessing where the carriers are really headed. In this case, if he moved the carriers a little east I may have thought he decided to raid Rabaul which could make me wonder if I should evacuate all shipping from the port. A move toward Port Moresby could have made me respond with a full attack to preserve any chance of capturing the base later in the scenario. Because he stayed in place, it seems clear the carriers are focused on Milne Bay and there is no need to take action yet. We'll see what happens next.

Over Port Moresby my Bettys continued to cause damage. I escorted them with zeroes using drop tanks and the results were very lopsided in my favor. The combat report shows 18 allied aircraft lost for 1 zero. The aircraft losses screen shows 29 allied aircraft lost for 4 zeroes (only lost one pilot). Other shipping losses:
xAP Largs Bay 2 torpedoes heavy damage (was reported sunk earlier and after this attack probably really is)
XAK Willimoto 4 torpedoes Sunk
XAP Rhesus 1 torpedo Sunk

Lunga has been so heavily reinforced that it probably can not be taken. Despite heavy attacks against ships heading to Port Moresby, it too has been reinforced and currently has an estimated 15,000 troops. I think I can still overcome those numbers but not much more. This has prompted me to move my carriers to a position northeast of Lae and strike the remaining ships at Port Moresby. Worst case scenario is that some carrier aircraft were rebased at Port Moresby after the last turn and they hit my carriers next turn. I didn't consider the possiblity until after sending my turn so we'll see what happens. He wouldn't have a lot of reason to do this as he did not spot my carriers last turn so he probaly thinks they retired to Truk until this onslaught is over.

[brett9983]

The results in the post above... you can ignore those. After much debate and with still a strong protest, the hotfix was applied and the Sptember 7th turn was rerun. I will not talk further about why this was done in this thread as my opponent has no chance to tell his side of the story.

September 8, 1942
CV Enterprise took one torpedo from a Japanese sub. No fires or damage were reported so I suspect relatively light damage.

Air strikes over Port Moresby hit the following ships:
xAK Manoa 1 torpedo on fire, heavy damage
DD Warramungo 1 bomb on fire
xAP Largs Bay 2 bombs heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Rhesus 1 torpedo Sunk

Todays losses include 5 zeroes, 5 bettys and 7 pilots.

[Nomad]

That's a story I would like to hear.

[brett9983]

Unfortunately this game has come to a close. Differences in play style and how serious we are about the game were the underlying factors. I hold no hard feelings towards my opponent and he says the same. He has been playing much longer than I have and don't think anyone should form strong opinions about him from this game. These things happen in PBEM and is why it is important to find an opponent with like minded thinking before taking on the campaign game.

Thanks to all for reading. It has definitely been a learning experience.

[aprezto]

That's a shame, I was following how you were going. Interesting to see your opponent advertising on the 'opponents wanted' list though...