Gentlemen, I'm glad you asked. I think the Cribtop Lifeboat Doctrine just graduated to capital letters (and is a fully protected trademark of M&M Enterprises, of course). [&o]
I just learnt something really useful here, thank you for sharing Cribtop. [:)]
When you see the Southern Cross, For the first time
You understand now, Why you came this way
Thanks. Kudos to the Devs for a game that rewards players who think "what would I do if I was really in command of this op?" The hidden gems you can find are fascinating.
Timor - I would suggest capture of both Lauten and Dili before Koepang so you don't have to deal with troops retreated out of Koepang. An Air HQ at Koepang really seals off Darwin as long as you have Port Morseby captured.
Look at Makassar and then Denpasar (off southern tip of Java) to isolate Java completely. A second Air HQ goes to Denpasar to prevent any Allied reinforcement to and evacs from Java.
S-27 misses an SC near Formosa. Saury is DC'd without hits in the same region. We recall our I-boats from their "Operation Drumbeat" style patrols off CONUS because they have found nothing but enemy ASW patrols.
4th Fleet
Nauru invaded and taken by SA, odds 14:1, Wren Detachment surrenders, resources taken at 98(2).
SE Fleet
Shortlands and Munda fall. KB and South Seas Fleet will retire towards Truk to rendezvous with the Operation LPM invasion TF and the Fleet Oilers.
14th Army
Boac Occupied. BA Clark shows raw AS 944:1468, and that's just the enemy's Philippine Army LCUs. It will be a long siege.
16th Army
Our bombers don't fly against Ambon. DA Ambon achieves 1:1 odds, forts dropped to 1, casualties 258(1) vs 63(1). Another DA tomorrow.
Kendari invaded. Allied BA shows raw AS 129:28. DA tomorrow, we don't expect Kendari to remain Dutch for long.
25th Army
We begin extracting Oil from Miri and Brunei. DA Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. DA near Jesselton forces a retreat, odds 2:1, casualties 27(3) vs nil.
15th Army
No change.
China
DA against the Loyang survivors only catches two LCUs. One is destroyed and the other retreats into the forest, Odds 565:1, casualties 867(186) vs 5(0). We will pursue into the trees. Aim is to isolate Nanyang and force the enemy to abandon this city.
5th Fleet
Attu and Amchitka fall. We will stick around unloading supply for at least one more day.
Porpoise duds on an ASW TF, the retaliatory DC attack misses the sub. I swear I could cut and paste this message every entry.
4th Fleet
We load at Nauru to seize Ocean Island. A resource convoy is already en route to Nauru to collect bat guano for the greater glory of the Empire. We get some small SNLF Coys at Saipan today that begin prepping for Baker and Canton. These were not priority targets, but if CF isn't going to reinforce them we'll take them off his hands.
SE Fleet
KB and South Seas Fleet head for a RV (rendezvous) with the Fleet Oilers while Operation KPM troops from the Marianas head for Truk. An SNLF Coy that arrives at Truk begins prep for Buna, adding that base to the menu. All Operation TS (Solomons) invasion TFs cease unloading supply and set course for Truk.
14th Army
Mauban occupied. We attack Cagayan and Atimonan tomorrow. We have some reservations about Cagayan as a BA today shows raw AS 361:306. However, the enemy are low quality PA troops, so we will try once. Dot base cleanup efforts have been launched from Amami Oshima and Batan Island.
16th Army
DA Kendari takes the base, odds 6:1, casualties 443(33) vs 3(0). DA Ambon misses capturing the base by 5 lousy AS, forts are dropped to zero, odds 1:1, casualties 236(7) vs 144(0). SA would have liberated it. Our lads are disrupted and will rest at least one day while the air force works on the stubborn Dutch. These results cause us to order the FT TF carrying 21st Air Flotilla to unload at Manado. The FT TF will load 11th Air Fleet and ship it to Kendari instead.
We are relieved to order our major combat formations home to Babeldoab. Cribtop HQ is a bit surprised Cuttlefish didn't resist Operation KS in any meaningful way. We know he has plenty of surface combat assets in the DEI.
Forces load for Samarinda and Balikpapan, the next targets of our offensive.
25th Army
Our armored advance guard seizes Kuala Lumpur, odds 159:1, casualties 1090(189) vs nil as 5 enemy LCUs retreat and one surrenders. AA and base forces are ordered to board trains to turn KL into a fighter base to allow reduction of Singapore's air defenses. Lots of arty already on trains at Taiping also move forward to KL.
15th Army
No change.
China
Hankow makes level 5 forts. Our army in the northern plains marches for the forest. We have a plan to maneuver against the Loyang survivors while actually planning to cut off Nanyang. Hopefully CF won't realize the danger until too late.
Huh, what kind of bird, Harlock? Yuckiest job in the whole of Japan, IMHO.
Some excitement today as the enemy reveals his CVs! Fortunately, we guessed right by withdrawing so Cuttlefish hits mostly air. Still, he appears to have organized his thoughts and forces and is ready to come out to play, so we expect more fireworks to come. [X(]
Subs
Our ASW TFs near Formosa exchange ordinance with three enemy subs today. What else is new. We will move a few 8 DC ships to the area to try to actually get some hits.
K XIII misses a DMS as the bulk of the Ambon invasion fleet withdraws towards Babeldoab. The escort's response is ineffective.
4th Fleet
Ocean Island invaded and falls to SA, odds 27:1, Wren Detachment surrenders, no casualties on our side.
SE Fleet
Treasury Islands are occupied. Cribtop HQ is devastated to find they do not actually contain a Treasury.
The fleet continues to re-orient for Operation LPM, made more urgent from a timing perspective by events in 16th Army AO.
14th Army
We will cease reporting bombardments and air attacks at Clark and Bataan, but they will continue daily.
DA Cagayan and we are pleased that our quality troops prevail over enemy numbers and terrain. Forts are dropped to 0, odds 2:1, casualties 688(2) vs 505(2). We should be able to take the base without need of reinforcement. This in turn means that Mindanao will probably fall without need of more troops.
DA Atimonan as 16th Recon continues to chase the PAF Aviation unit down the southern Luzon peninsula. The base falls with 15:1 odds, casualties 10(3) vs nil. Forgot to check the resources but assume they were captured mostly intact due to the ease of capture.
16th Army
Alert! Alert! Enemy CVs sighted!
We made the right call in withdrawing quickly from the landings at Kendari and Ambon, because what appears to be 3 USN CVs, supported by significant surface groups (believed to be Force Z and the USN/KNIL cruisers), move into the waters between Timor and Kendari. Had we waited in place, a good chunk of the IJN's combat power and our CVLs would have come under significant air attack and no doubt taken losses. As it is, the enemy gains little tactical advantage for revealing his location. Bettys attempt an attack in the AM phase but are swatted aside by CAP, losing 10 of their number. They are unescorted because by bad luck and poor planning Manado dipped a few points below 2X supply yesterday. This meant that drop tanks were unavailable today, and what could have been a decent LBA strike is wasted. We were already unloading supply at the base and are well over 2X by day's end, but the setting doesn't automatically change. We will be ready with 60+ Netties and 45 Zeros tomorrow in case the enemy remains.
Later in the turn, the USN finds four ships left behind at Kendari to unload supply. Two decent sized xAKs and two small escorts (a TB and a PB) are blasted by 1000lb bombs, but not until they dump the majority of their cargo at the base. The only sting in this is that one of the ships lost is xAK Nittai Maru, who has a soft spot in our heart since she proved up the lifeboat doctrine. She will not be forgotten. [&o]
The whole day validates our tendency to get in and get out of early invasions like this. Cribtop HQ was concerned about the possibility his CVs would move to the DEI and is glad we took precautions to avoid disaster. There is truth to Commander Daigo's discussion in the first post of this AAR about the lack of air cover available in the DEI being one of the downsides of a Pearl Harbor attack, and the IJN is always operating on a shoestring until the A team can get to the theater. We had hoped the lack of Intel about KB's location would keep CF guessing enough to remain passive, but to his credit he rolled the dice.
So, CF gains little tactically, but strategically speaking he will slow us down just as we were really starting to move in the eastern DEI. KB will conclude the capture of Port Moresby asap, but the bottom line is that we cannot proceed against either Timor or Balikpapan given the current balance of forces. It is thus likely that CF has bought as much as two weeks, which is unfortunate but unavoidable. The flip side, of course, is that the few remaining objectives we have in the Pacific AOs are green lighted.
From this point, KBL and the Indes Fleet will continue to retire on Babeldoab. We will bolster LBA at Manado as much as possible in case the enemy chooses to run north in pursuit. We will consider leaving KBL, augmented by Shoho, in a position well to the NNE of Manado but hopefully in range for an 8 hex strike on the USN CVs if they choose to move further north, but force protection will be prioritized in accordance with our doctrine of avoiding unecessary attrition of the IJN. In many respects, we are pleased that Cuttlefish has come out swinging as it will make for a more interesting game overall.
Everywhere Else
Not much to report in the other AOs today except that the enemy wisely bombs the airfield at Kuala Lumpur.
Can we get a listing of where your various Air HQs are located at (or if they are in transit)?? I would double check to make sure Zeros (with drop tanks) and Nell/Betties are set to 14 hexes max.
I would be moving in your independent Vals and Kates to size 2 AFs in the area (with Zeros of course). You can air transport in part of an Air HQ, but the actual torpedo part has to go in by ship. Thus, you may need to plan to use a Fast Transport TF to get one in somewhere.
Not now, but later I would convert your Minekaze DDs to APD for this reason.
Sure. 11th Air Fleet and 21st Air Flotilla are at Manado. This is very temporary, 21st AF moved up from Jolo and will FT TF into Ambon ASAP. 11th Air Fleet will FT TF into Kendari. 5th Air Division is en route and is currently prepping for Koepang. We had Zeros and Nettys set to 14 but lost drop tanks due to the supply snafu. Eventual plan is for Air HQs at Ambon, Koepang and Dempassar to support the invasion of Java.
3rd Air Div is at Chumphon interdicting Rangoon and the Makassar Straits. 22nd Air Flotilla is at Sinkawang doing the same for Singers, Palembang and Batavia.
23rd Air Flotilla is in the SE Fleet AO, 24th in 4th Fleet. The Pacific also features SE Fleet and 4th Fleet Command HQs, which torp enable.
Hmmm, let me give my rationale for the current deployments, perhaps I'm missing something.
I have a goodly number of "normal" base forces in all theaters. Therefore the air HQs are mostly valuable in torpedo enabling bases. I'm making big use of the Command HQs in the Pacific as they can torp enable out to their command radius limit. Thus, SE Fleet HQ, if positioned at Rabaul, enables Rabaul, Gasmata, Kavieng, Namahani (however you spell it) and Buka. Pair that with an air HQ at Shortlands or Munda, and someday another at Lae, and you have good coverage.
In the Marshalls, 4th Fleet HQ enables Kwaj and Roi Namur. The plan is to send 24th Air Flotilla to TB to provide coverage of the Gilberts.
In time there will be fewer HQs in the DEI, with a similar plan to Rabaul for using 11th Air Fleet's five hex range. Also, my focus is currently on the DEI as I'm trying to move quickly but safely to get Timor, Java and Sumatra subdued or tucked into harmless sieges by the end of February.
How are you finding the performance of your LBA in the DEI? I'm advancing on Timor and Java in another game. Torpedo equipped Betty's and Nell's at Ambon, Kendari, Makassar, Singkawang and Singapore and my LBA just won't launch. There are Allied xAKL's loading/unloading at Koepang, Soerabaja and Batavia as well as CL's, DD's and other support ships cruising along well within range of the LBA yet I get no strikes. I've adjusted air leaders for air and aggression skills, made sure supply is plentiful and based numerous air HQ's at said bases, yet Allied shipping goes totally unmolested. Are you finding your LBA doing the same or are you getting strikes?
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Great until yesterday, which was my fault for not topping off Manado with supply quickly enough.
In my experience, don't expect Netties to be able to find targets beyond about 13 hexes reliably (and really don't count on anything beyond 10 hexes). They launch but you get a lot of "can't locate target" messages as they don't have the fuel to search the whole ocean. Other than that I keep them escorted and set to 14 hexes with Zeros using drop tanks and haven't noticed problems.
Where the range issues crop up is launches from Saigon to targets skirting the Borneo coast. Another reason to grab Kuching or Sinkawang quickly if you ask me.
In this particular game, CF has only poked his head out three times (Force Z at Kota Bharu, USN/KNIL cruisers at Manado and the recent CV raid). Had we enough supply to escort our Bettys, I'm guessing we get two attacks with a good number of bombers surviving to launch. If CF pushes it tomorrow, we will hopefully engage him with numbers. My bet is that he retires, however.
I'm operating 14 hexes and under depending on which base and I've been powerless to stop these small xAKL and CL/DD TF's roaming at will within range. Time to call in some surface ships I think! I wonder if the TF's size is having any bearing, perhaps my planes just won't launch because of a percieved target priority and the xAKL's just don't trigger the strikes? I'll keep working on it, but it's been frustrating to see so many Allied ships slip away unhindered.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
In my experience the small convoys slip by at any range over 10, particularly the merchants. Search coverage is important. You could pair some search planes operating out of a Borneo base with Saigon Netties and perhaps have better luck.
Well, after a short delay due to family stuff yesterday, the Jan 15th Orders are away to Cuttlefish. At Manado, we flew in additional Nells, resulting in a total of at least 86 Netties, 45 crack Zeros and even 12 Claudes (just to provide CAP at Manado) to go along with 18 Mavis. All this craziness is made possible by the level 4 airfield plus two Air HQs and a base force (the 2nd Air HQ is just passing through as mentioned above, but it keeps the base from overstacking and contributes 100 torpedoes to the party).
KBL and the rest of the fleet withdraw NE. KBL will stop around Talaud Eilanden to deliver more punch just in case CF moves too far north. The rest of the ships book it NE with retirement allowed orders to fall back on Babeldoab.
This whole situation creates a nasty increase in LBA capacity from yesterday because Manado now has well over 2X supply and drop tanks are again available for the Zeros. We almost hope the enemy sticks around or pursues our ships. We could deliver some punishment if he does.
As a last touch, numerous subs vector towards the enemy or likely choke points.
Best of luck. To your battle stations. BANZAI!!
OK, that was a little dramatic. Cribtop Intel actually thinks there is a 67% or more chance the enemy withdraws. We shall see.
The enemy retired, so no fireworks. Still, the net impact of the last few turns is the successful completion of Operation KS with the loss of three xAKs and two small escorts.
Subs
I-168 misses Canberra! Twice! Dammit! The enemy SCTF was part of CF's big fleet and was intercepted staying in place SE of Kendari. Not sure why this group stayed, perhaps forgot to give them orders or switch to "retirement allowed?"
Shark duds on a PB in a dot base cleanup TF near Camiguin and is DC'd in a later phase for one solid hit. She's still afloat, no doubt, but every hit helps.
4th Fleet
No change, putting things in order to seize Baker and Canton and then prepare for the long defense. Sending a Nav Gd to Marcus and base forces to Wake and Ponape are part of this effort. Resource convoys will haul resources to Kwaj. They will be picked up by re-supply convoys from Japan and/or Truk to give these ships something to haul back home rather than return empty.
SE Fleet
Torokina occupied by rowboat. KB, South Seas Fleet and the fleet Oilers all RV NE of Shortlands for a mid-ocean refueling.
14th Army
Camiguin invaded as the dot base wars begin. Two small convoys will work down the Eastern and Western flanks of the PI.
BA Cagayan shows raw AS at 336:256, with a known qualitative advantage. DA tomorrow.
16th Army
Nettys scramble from Manado, but can't locate the Canberra TF, which is at extreme range. Mavis search planes spot the enemy CVs retiring SW 1 hex off Koepang. We had a sub in the area, but no intercept. Our entire fleet ends the turn east of Talaud Eilanden and will retire on Babeldoab to refuel and re-assess the path forward in this AO (we already have a cunning plan germinating to maintain momentum).
DA Ambon takes the base, odds 2:1, the garrison of 3 LCUs surrenders, our casualties are nominal at 70(0). Both Ambon and Kendari are in good condition and will soon host Air HQs via FT TF from Manado. Cribtop Intel rates a decent chance the enemy will attempt to bombard one or both fields in the next few days.
25th Army
Temuloh falls to the 56th Recon Regt, which will move on Kuantan next. The main army marches on Malacca while AA and base forces move to Kuala Lumpur by rail. The enemy raids the KL airfield again to nominal effect. We will set a CAP trap for tomorrow.
15th Army
21st Brigade crosses the river 1 hex NE of Pegu on the same turn an enemy LCU enters the hex, so no mandatory SA occurs. BA tomorrow to determine enemy strength. An Oscar Sentai is en route to Rahaeng as we prepare to begin a little bit of an air war - although we are cautious given the known location of AVG at Toungoo. Speaking of the AVG, We are beginning to ferry an SNLF to Port Blair. We will then retrieve 1st Raiding Regt and try for a "coup at Toungoo" if AVG hasn't bugged out soon.
China
No change. Marching against the former Loyang army.
5th Fleet
Operation AA is exiting the danger zone, well on its way back to home waters. An AV with some Jakes is re-basing from Truk to Amchitka to provide recon and nav search.
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