Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) - no lookin'!

[Erkki]

[Erkki]

Now that the location of USN CVs (as well as 1/2 of Force Z, possibly more RN BBs too) is known, the main body of our CV fleet is no longer needed in the DEI and the upcoming invasion of Java(last LCU is unloading from strategic movement mode, all ships loaded & ready in 5 days, D-day planned for March 1st-2nd), the KB is free to do some raiding or support a possible, and still unplanned, improvised invasion somewhere.

Looks like Sydney's drydock is big enough for Yorktown - had the I-16 hit Saratoga too or Saratoga instead of Yorktown, the closest dry dock would have been far, far away!

What we could now do with the KB once we have the last CVs refit & ready in 3 days:

A) Go get Yorktown from Sydney should she not sink by herself or be hit by more torpedoes tomorrow
B) Colombo & Trincomalee raid
C) Ndeni, Gilberts, Baker, Fiji, perhaps together with option A?

EDIT: I did some estimation: with 3 days of refit & refuel at Singapore + sail to Truk + 1 day of refuels would allow KB to reach strike range from Sydney with maximum 3 days of advanced warning in 21 days. 19½ actually but something unexpected such as refueling escorts will happen for sure, so 21 days is probably a good estimate. KB now has only long range DDs with endurance 5000 or 6000 each so unlike during the Brisbane raid we dont need to constantly refuel, and we also have closest friendly bases much closer(so that we can set, say, Lunga or Milne Bay to be home ports) too.

Before Yorktown can be moved she needs to have at least all of the SYS damage fixed, right? Perhaps a carefully optimistic estimation but she should need at least 20-ish days of repairs before she can be moved... Wheres the next dry dock she can possibly use, Pearl?

EDIT2: KB's replenishment oilers would already be in a pretty good position to support an operation like this. Will take less than a week to move them to Truk, or to get to Sydney even quicker, the replenishment TF has enough fuel to completely refuel the KB at the moment so we could refuel KB at or nearby, say, Kavieng, Rabaul or Shortlands, that would mean 19 or even 18 days...

[Puhis]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

February 23rd

Sub attack near Newcastle at 93,168

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Clark
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Shaw

First hit: "Severe damage"
Second hit: "listing, counter flooding, **ENGINE DAMAGE**"
Sounds of a sinking ship between the air phases
1 Wildcat, 1 Devastator and 1 SBD listed in OPS losses

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

When carrier sinks, planes onboard are listed as ground losses. So when you see about 30 SBDs as ground losses, it's Banzai-time... [:D]

[Erkki]

February 24th

China: Pingsian falls! 3000 Japanese casualties vs. 115,000 Chinese!

DEI: Pontianak falls!

SOPAC: Nauru falls!

LCDR Kaoryu Yamada, commander of I-16 who just earned himself a promotion and 2+ years off the front: also note the Catalinas and Do-24s that were overran by SNLF troops at Pontianak today! Now where is the Banzai smiley with a Hachimaki? [8D]

[Erkki]

I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.


Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc


Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

[Puhis]

IMO good places for IJN subs are also South coast of Fiji, west coast of India and Ceylon, and around Perth. In my two PBEM games (both 5/42), my subs have have sunk about 50-60 ships, mostly xAKLs and xAKs, but also some TKs, APs and warships. I have one sub ace in both games.

In late 1942 or early 1943 happy days of IJN subs are definitely over. Subs don't get kills, all they can do is die.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Puhis

IMO good places for IJN subs are also South coast of Fiji, west coast of India and Ceylon, and around Perth. In my two PBEM games (both 5/42), my subs have have sunk about 50-60 ships, mostly xAKLs and xAKs, but also some TKs, APs and warships. I have one sub ace in both games.

In late 1942 or early 1943 happy days of IJN subs are definitely over. Subs don't get kills, all they can do is die.

I have 5 subs, mainly ROs, near Colombo too but they havent seen a thing yet. Convoys from Africa should sail past 2 and convoys from Aden-Karachi-Delhi should be met by 3. Its very possible that the Allies have just evacuated everything or at least are not sending in reinforcements.

I have 1 sub near Fiji and 2 near Noumea but they havent seen anything yet either, I might reposition them near Pago Pago...

[Erkki]

February 25th

A very silent day, even most of the China CAS sorties are canceled or aborted because of bad weather. I now have 4,500 AV across a river from Sian and 1,200 more in the rough wooded hex to the SE. It might be just enough... Situation consolidating near Changsha too, most of the surviving Chinese units are retreating back within the city hex, I might not be able to decimate them any more in open ground.

Last LCU at Singapore ready tomorrow, and packing up for Java invasion begins. We land at Kirakira and Stewart Island tomorrow and engineers, AAA and base force units arrive in week to Tulagi, Munda and Tassafaronga. CV Shoho and 2 powerful surface action squadrons as well as a light submarine screen and Rabaul's torpedo-enabled G4M1s providing cover.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.


Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc


Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

This reinforces my thoughts that each game is somehow always different for any number of reasons. I'm sure Bart is applying many of the tactics he does with me in terms of escorting his transports and surface ships, yet clearly he's getting hit. In our game my subs were easliy chased off or couldn't find anything to attack, and I patrolled aggressively early and often around the major bases. I ended up pulling mine back to conserve fuel and use to interdict possible invasion TF's. They still have done squat for me the entire game. I have to say, I'm envious of your success...keep it up.

I lost Hiryu to one lucky torpedo hit against Bart, so it's nice to see the favour returned, even if not by me. [:D]

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.


Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc


Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

This reinforces my thoughts that each game is sowehow always different for any number of reasons. I'm sure Bart is applying many of the tactics he does with me in terms of escorting his transports and surface ships, yet clearly he's getting hit. In our game my subs were easliy chased off or couldn't find anything to attack, and I patrolled aggressively early and often around the major bases. I ended up pulling mine back to conserve fuel and use to interdict possible invasion TF's. They still have done squat for me the entire game. I have to say, I'm envious of your success...keep it up.

I lost Hiryu to one lucky torpedo hit against Bart, so it's nice to see the favour returned, even if not by me. [:D]

Reportedly, he only had 7+8 ships in 2 TFs, with 3 carriers among them(pretty sure the 3rd was there, although it didnt show up in the combat reports it was in the enemy TF info...). That might have been only 4 DDs per CV, with no dedicated ASW TF. Yesterday when they retreated to Sydney there were 3 TFs reported, one seemed to have a mixture of ASW-capable ships he could scrap up from Sydney, and the 2 CVTFs.

On Royal Sovereign... Yeah well 8 subs undetected in a single hex + again just 4 escort ships sure helps. [:)]

On the other hand I havent hit his xAKs and TKs that much, most of the encounters near Pearl end in sub firing at a DD or PC or the DD/PC attacking the sub.

[Erkki]

February 26th



China: orders to march towards Sian given to the Northern Army. Theres some 650 unmodified AV against 1300 Japanese between Wuchang and Changsha - once the last regiment gets to the front we'll retreat them.


DEI:

Java invasion force begins boarding their ships! I'm a little short on xAPs here so the first wave will only be around 1800 AV with another 600+ following a couple of days behind... The one infantry regiment that got mauled at Singapore is still only 48% strength and I'll have to leave it behind. They'll start prepping for Koepang.

I'm also reorganizing the CV fleet, I'll use at least Hosho and Taiyo to support the landings directly with a CV division or 2 providing LRCAP further back. MSW squadrons and all surface combat task forces organized and awaiting for orders at Palembang and Singapore. Battlewagons will be used only as CV escorts (Kongo class).


SOPAC: Stewart Island and Kirakira invaded. CVL Shoho raider TF advances, so far in nearly full stealth mode, lets see if we find some Allied shipping NE and E of Fiji...

[Crackaces]

What game version are you playing might I ask? q3? "Stock Offical" upgrade?

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

What game version are you playing might I ask? q3? "Stock Offical" upgrade?

Sure, we're now playing with the 1.06.1108p4 which I think was the latest beta when we started few months ago.

[Erkki]

February 27th

Another silent day, pretty much the only action is occupation of Ocean Island.

Java invasion force leaves the port, if everything goes right, it will reach the landing beach in 2½ days. Surface action squadrons and 2 squads of DMSes will sweep ahead, CVEs Taiyo and Hosho will provide LRCAP while they are themselves LRCAPed by Ki-27s from Singkawang. We're leaving the battlewagons home this time.

[Erkki]

February 28th

One more silent day. Java invasion kickstarted, also we'll try to retreat some Chinese troops near Changsha tomorrow.

Date is wrong in the pic, its 28th and not 29th...

[Erkki]

March 1st and 2nd

China: Kiukian falls, Chinese stack near Changsha retreated. 5,000 Japanese losses with 2 destroyed squads vs. 25,000+ Chinese... Tomorrow a 4,900 AV stack will shock attack at Sian. Lets see what happens, at least 11 of Sian's 29 units have been retreated at least once before, 2500 AV behind forts 2 or 3 should still be doable. Kiuchuan far in the North assaulted by a small Japanese force, the town holds but forts are down to 0 and the defending Chinese Brigade takes heavier losses than we do. Shock attack ordered for tomorrow.

DEI:

Japanese land at Merak, Java. A squadron of Dutch HDML crafts walz past 2 Japanese cruiser squad, and then out of the 7 task forces at Merak they manage to engage the only one that contains transports - we lose 2 xAPs and 4500 men aboard them! CL Kashii fights them alone with 2 destroyers and they manage to sink 2 of the 7 HDMLs despite of them all being damaged before the fight even begun. Japanese patrol craft attack and hit an American submarine near the beaches. We lose one small E class escort ship, Sagi, to mines, but the DMSes sweep the last of them by daybreak.

Rest of the landings go unopposed, and all of the Wave 2 will be at the beaches by tomorrow evening. Tomorrow, we will also land at Kalidjati with a smaller force that includes aviation support units - then we will immediately fly in fighters, their task being air superiority over the NW end of Java and Batavia.

Dutch Air Force attacked the invasion fleet multiple times today, but combined fighter-CAP from CVE Hosho, Oosthaven and Palembang heavily attrited them, shooting down at least 17 139Ws, 9 CW-22s and a B-339 fighter without a loss. Some bombers did get through but attacked Japanese cruisers instead of the transports, and scoring no hits. We expect these attacks to be continued tomorrow. Carrier Division 1 with Akagi, Shokaku, Zuikaku and Ryujo finds no targets worth of attack(nor does it get attacked itself). For tomorrow, the CVEs will move to support the unloading transports directly at the beach, while CarDiv I will move back.

SOPAC: Ndeni invaded, CVL Shoho raider TF spots nothing NE of Fiji, it'll check out Pago Pago area tomorrow.

[Erkki]

Zero pilots Kawabata F, Matsumoto V, Araki U did "hat tricks" by shooting down 3 enemy aircraft during a single sortie, and 6 other pilots, including some Ki-43 pilots, shot down 2 in 1 or 2 sorties today. Those were easy kills on mostly unescorted bombers, though, lets see if the Dutch send in more fighters tomorrow.

[Erkki]

March 3rd 1942

Not a good day for the Japanese. Lets go through today's disappointments clockwise, which happens to be from least to worst when it comes to things that pissed me off in this turn.

CENPAC: Another US xAK TF slips past the submarine screen, this one sails through at least 3 hex with a Japanese submarine, sub floatplanes spot it twice but dont engage. Nothing in ops reports either.

SOPAC: CVL Shoho raider TF near Pago Pago doesnt spot anything at all, but is itself spotted by Allied patrol aircraft. Why arent the Allied float and patrol planes never, ever, shot down by Japanese CAP, but my E13As and H6Ks and all the carrier-borne scouts get shot down left and right when they meet even handful of Buffaloes, but KB's 100+ Zeroes ignore the dozens of float planes that shadow the TF? Shoho now has to bug out, but we'll check the sea area to the NE first.

DEI: A squadron Dutch PT boats engage Japanese cruiser TFs 3 times today, we manage to sink just 3 of them (to no loss, however). The PT boat fleet is now rearming, I think, we'll probably see it tomorrow. My opponent is super boring: despite of some of the air attacks getting through yesterday, no bomber or fighter sorties today. He has hundreds of aircraft on Java but he simply wont use them.

Burma: I know I'm producing surplus of supplies in Burma and shipping more, I have the stockpiles set (we're playing the beta) but I'm still short or out of supplies in nearly every Burma base. [:@] I cant wait to see what kind of the nightmare it is with the supplies once the Allied offensives begin...

China:

I have now 3,600 AV at Changsha, we'll bombard attack and see what they have there tomorrow. Judging by what happened during the rest of this turn, I dont have particularly high hopes... The KMT South Army is retreated like 15 times and they've lost maybe half a million men, but I wouldnt be surprised if they had forts 5, raw AV advantage and were well supplied.

And today's worst is:


Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 157851 troops, 1159 guns, 435 vehicles, Assault Value = 4940

Defending force 155722 troops, 884 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4270

Japanese adjusted assault: 1853

Allied adjusted defense: 3515

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
36966 casualties reported
Squads: 427 destroyed, 2311 disabled
Non Combat: 214 destroyed, 1468 disabled
Engineers: 20 destroyed, 99 disabled
Vehicles lost 270 (49 destroyed, 221 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
15299 casualties reported
Squads: 50 destroyed, 616 disabled
Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 882 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 26 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Where did that disruption(-) come from? All units had disruption below 8 and very low fatigue... Notice how the 360+ engineers didnt lower the forts.

Those Chinese have been retreated at least once per unit. Clearly they were not short of supplies(Forts 5 too), and the KMT units in this area easily outmatched the Japanese even in raw AV, even before the losses! (Theres 3,000+ Chinese AV in the adjacent hex). Now people are going to tell me that if he has that much there he cant be strong elsewhere... OK. So I'm just going to ignore that 8-unit stack at Ankiang and 50+ units at, near and around Changsha, and the 8 Corps he has at Ichang. The Japanese northern army will now retreat, lets hope the Chinese wont start a counter offensive...

Despite of getting his units cut off destroyed for no gain, the rest of the force retreated multiple times and half a million men lost elsewhere, he still outnumbers the Japanese in raw AV, and sits in heavily defensive terrain behind 5 forts just about everywhere. This alone would be OK to me, that was pretty much the situation in real China, but what worries me is that the Chinese can probably move on offensive themselves by the end of 1942 and I'd be very surprised if they didnt drive me out of the country by early 1945, especially as judging by other AARs, Burma is next to impossible to defend.

In the South, Chinese have 18 units at Changsha, 22 more in adjacent hexes and 8 more 2 hex away. After what happened today I no longer think we can take Changsha, despite of knowing that at least 20 of those units have been retreated all at least 3 times and our bombers kill 500+ of them daily.

The people who say China cant be held against determined Japanese attack were clearly seeing just player experience difference - Smeulders had committed a largely failed Sir Robin and still outmatches me despite of 2 extra divisions from Honshu and committing 350 bomber sorties a day since the beginning of the war, and keeping his troops in clear terrain where they lost on the average about 1,500 men a day through January and February.

Now, I would probably want to start bombing Chinese industry, but we have a house rule against that. D'oh.

[Erkki]

At least the Java landings were uninterrupted today, we have some 61,000 troops landed and 10,000 more follow tomorrow. They'll total approx 2500 AV. An additional division is ready at Singapore.

[Erkki]

Not sure what to do now. I have lost almost all the initiative in China, in Burma I havent seen RAF or Allied LCUs for soon a month, Allies have probably evacuated everything but those PT boats from the DEI and SOPAC and CENPAC are dead quiet. Allies simply aren't fighting back (except in China where they are free to march to Shanghai now), they dont even try to attrit air forces - and I will soon have the Ki-44.

What is probably awaiting me, starting from 2-3 months from now, is 2-3 years of getting spanked which certainly wont make a fun game. Not sure about the changes of DBB vs. Scen 1... I get some planes earlier than in stock, but so might the Allied, while AASW is reduced in effect and Japanese depth charges are useless, the flak is definitely tuned up(at least Allied). Any other changes I should be aware of?