Nemesis...

[Nemo121]

Firefly it is. Mal Reynolds - an interesting abbreviation of his first name and also a nice literary sigil and ironic counterpoint.

So Cribby, whatever you want. Name it and you'll have it. turn file, specific answers as to what I'm really up to ( above and beyond what I see here for OPSEC reasons ). Your choice.

[Nemo121]

Well 619 B-29s hit aircraft engine factories some 46 miles south of Tokyo. One factory is utterly obliterated in return for 12 B-29s downed.

Elsewhere I've found some bugs in m9 - the IJAAF can no longer pull pilots into some of its squadrons, there seems to be an issue with low-level raids being intercepted again. Planes which were flying at 40,000 feet appear able to dive to 100 feet in 5 minutes and then engage - something which was not really quite so possible. Lastly, kamikaze units training are increasing their strafing skill and not their low naval attack skill.

Ah, the pains of being at the bleeding edge of the beta. I'm going to check if we can pull back to m6 or m7 which didn't have these issues.

[witpqs]

Diving at 8,000 ft per minute sounds quite possible (40,000 in 5 minutes), I presume fighters could so even faster.

[Hortlund]

This thread is of cource worth its weight in gold for me right now [:)]

[kfsgo]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Diving at 8,000 ft per minute sounds quite possible (40,000 in 5 minutes), I presume fighters could so even faster.

I fired up IL-2 to see how long it'd take an e-Corsair to do it 12km-0m - about three and a half minutes, keeping it under 3g at all times. Obviously I'm not a fighter pilot, that's just a now slightly elderly flightsim and there are probably dozens of good reasons why you wouldn't just do a circling turn downwards to sea level, but you can be at whatever speed you choose once you get down there so 5 minutes seems reasonable enough on the face of it.

[Cribtop]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Firefly it is. Mal Reynolds - an interesting abbreviation of his first name and also a nice literary sigil and ironic counterpoint.

So Cribby, whatever you want. Name it and you'll have it. turn file, specific answers as to what I'm really up to ( above and beyond what I see here for OPSEC reasons ). Your choice.

Cool, I win! I'll PM you my question. I'll try to make it a good one. Loved Firefly and Serenity BTW, although they overdid the low tech cowboys in space thing a tad much in a few episodes IMHO.

[Nemo121]

Aye but there's a difference between going straight down and going down 40,000 feet AND laterally about 20 miles... AND doing so within 5 minutes so you have enough time to intercept a plane flying at 100 feet which is going to hit its target in 300 seconds.

Maybe it would be possible BUT what I'm seeing in-game is 100% intercept and kill rates which strains my credulity.

Cribtop - Sure thing, please do.

[Nemo121]

This thread is of cource worth its weight in gold for me right now

Indeed. Whether it is fool's gold or not will be discovered in coming weeks. [8D]

[kfsgo]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Aye but there's a difference between going straight down and going down 40,000 feet AND laterally about 20 miles... AND doing so within 5 minutes so you have enough time to intercept a plane flying at 100 feet which is going to hit its target in 300 seconds.

Maybe it would be possible BUT what I'm seeing in-game is 100% intercept and kill rates which strains my credulity.

Well, your guys at 40k are going to be covering 6-7 miles per minute up there either way - might as well be towards whatever they're going to be shooting at, and it's not like they're all starting from some sort of duralumin singularity directly above their carrier. I mean, obviously you're never going to get 100% kill rates - there'll always be someone hiding in a cloud - but any aircraft that do get into position on your hovercraft would have the time of their lives, I'd imagine. Can you post an example combat report or something? I have a bunch of people I play IL-2 with and it'd be a fun thing to make a mission based off, heh.

[witpqs]

Yeah, even just 300mph is 5 miles per minute (straight line), so 20 miles at whatever is the diving speed of those fighters sounds like little of a problem at all. Doesn't really sound like it's off kilter on that one.

[Nemo121]

If you make this for IL-2 I'd be very interested in checking it out. I have Il2 1946. The Ki-43 IIIs are all kamis armed with 2 x 250Kg bombs flying at 100 feet to avoid radar. They are just flying straight and level and as fast as they can. Targets were a CL TF and same AMs.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 4,100 feet. Actually they were at 100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes Since they were spotted 5 minutes out and can fly 350 mph that implies they were about 29 miles away from the target when radar spotted them.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 16



Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 4 4 of these are airborne at 10,000 feet.
P-51H Mustang x 4 These are at 41,600 feet. It doesn't say how long they'll take to intercept. Just says the raid is overhead.
F4U-4 Corsair x 11 7 of these planes are in the air and are at 41,600 feet. Some scramble bt are 23 minutes away and will arrive 18 minutes after the attack is over.
F6F-5 Hellcat x 10 3 are airborne, the rest will take too long to arrive. These are at 9,000 feet.

So, overall, it looks like 7 could have interceptd with another 11 at 41,600 feet. Of course the 7 which could intercept would be spread over the 100 degree arc they have to cover so the average would be that 2 would be within 10 miles of the Oscars ( laterally ) and the othes would be on the edges of the arc ( 23 miles either side, laterally ).

I still don't think it looks good in terms of intercepting all 16 of the Oscars. I'll run this under m7 and see if that changes the outcome. I was not seeing these results under m7.

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 10 destroyed They were actually all destroyed.

No Allied losses

Since the Allied planes have to protect from threats coming in from about 320 to about 60 degrees on the compass they should be spread around a 100 degree arc, at minimum.

CAP engaged:
VMF-122 with F4U-4 Corsair (3 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 41600 , scrambling fighters to 1000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VMF-211 with F4U-4 Corsair (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 41600
Raid is overhead
VMF-213 with F6F-5 Hellcat (3 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 37300.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
21st Fighter Group with P-51H Mustang (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 41600
Raid is overhead
413th Fighter Group with P-47N Thunderbolt (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead

[Nemo121]

You know, it might be really, really cool for some of the pivotal battles to be made as IL2 scenarios. What are the plane limits in IL2 1946 nowadays? Is the scenario editor very difficult to use or do people her just churn out IL2 scenarios for fun?

[kfsgo]

Not sure what the limit is per se, but my PC is old enough that it chokes at 64 AI aircraft, so I usually use that.

(one of the reasons I like WITP...it's gentle on the old bugger)

The scenario editor is pretty simple, but then I've been using it since 2004 so maybe I would say that, heh. If it works out as regards AI behaviour (ie getting the Oscars to not ditch bombs and dogfight) I'll put it up somewhere and you can watch your handiwork given flesh.

Just for laughs earlier I put together a 16*B-29 kamikaze raid against a CVTF (Intrepid, Duke of York, two CAs and 10 destroyers) - 15 of them were zapped prior to impact...the 16th sank the carrier. That's at full speed - can't imagine your 45t 4-engined torpedo bombers being much use.

[Nemo121]

Well, there's IL2 modelling, AE modelling and real life.

I think in-game, 4-engineds are tougher to down by fighters than they were in real life actually. So, in AE more might make it through- they'd be ops losses later but since they'd be kamikazi'ing they only need to survive long enough to reach the carrier, and with the AE combat model, they'd be able to do that mostly. With that said, 16 planes for a carrier sounds like a pretty good trade-off to me. That's about 160 men traded for, perhaps, 2,000 + 100 planes. Not a bad trade at all.

At this time of the war the Japanese player is getting used to trading 400 planes for 3 or 4 non-sinking hits so 16 for 1 CV is a bit of a bargain really.

[kfsgo]

Well yeah, I know that. No fighters involved in it, though - just AA from a small and compact (ie no pickets, simultaneous aircraft arrival) TF.

The reason I find your "G9M"s a bit, uh...strange (beyond the unholy terror flying the thing at torpedo-launching speeds and altitudes - "low" and "lower" - ought to be, never mind trying to use a 45000kg intercontinental bomber to aim torpedoes) is that although you can point to the mass and armouring etc of the thing to say it's hard to zap you're still faced with the problem of having your pilot sitting in a little greenhouse way up front - if anything probably more exposed than the guy flying a regular torpedo bomber, since he's a smaller target and at least has an engine to hide behind.



I get that the scenario is a "victory through statistics" sort of thing, it's just odd to look at, heh.

[Nemo121]

"Victory through statistics"? I don't get the reference. Is it a an American saying?

I think it may be referring to my penchant for trying to calculate losses incurred and inflicted for a given commitment. I don't think that's a scenario thing though, I think that's much more of a Soviet thing. Low-level stuff may be chaotic ( what will 1 plane's outcome be? Very difficult to predict ) but when you go to the higher level chaos tends to even out and become predictable ( e.g. 100 bombers attacking a given TF are likely to have fairly predictable results for fairly predictable losses ). Basically I just am so used to trying to apply their algorithms etc that I express myself that way when trying to explain what I think outcomes will be or why I decide on certain tactics.

As to the pic of the Me-264 cockpit. Well, with a 45,000 KG plane I figure they can doa few modifications to the noce to give it more armour etc. It is a variant after all. You could make much the same argument for Netties or B25s or He-111s or PV-2s ( which also carried torpedoes ). They didn't hide behind engines albeit they did have a bit more than glass in front of them. Still, a bit more armour shouldn't be beyond Japan's engineers.

Personally I don't see why people seem to get so freaked with a 4-engined torpedo bomber. The Italians had three-engined ones which gave good service and the Americans skip-bombed with large bombers and there are quite a few pictures of Netties flying at well under 100 feet. Ah well, c'est la vie.

[Cribtop]

It's like Brownian motion. Impossible to predict the movement of a single particle in a plasma but relatively easy to predict the net movement of the particles as a whole.

[Nemo121]

Well, I thought an update might be in order.

My new opponent took up this game after we rewound to 1st October 1945. The IJAAF and IJNAF continued to train and upgrade and now many of my units are in the 40s and 50s in their requisite skills instead of the 20s. Unfortunately 40 and 50 skill pilots still suck.

It is now October 13th and B-29s continue to hit my airfields by day easily brushing past the 300 or so fighters I can put in the air while I continue to provide them with airfields to hit whilst I husband my HI and premier fighter units for the main fight elsewhere. As of October 13th the Allied forces have landed at Ishigaki island and triggered the committment of my kamikaze forces. In the first day of combat around Ishigaki fully 1100 kamikazes were committed. Only 400 or so actually flew but combined with my G9Ms these kamikazes and G9Ms managed to sink 2 USN BBs, 5 CVEs and a CV as well as several destroyers, APAs and LSVs/LSDs. The cost was heavy with about 70 of my G9Ms being lost - mostly due to a 600 bomber B-29 raid which caught many of them on the ground and roughly 400 kamikazes being lost in addition to 100 escorting fighters. On the plus side of the 600 B-29s committed my fighters managed to down about 50. So, those are useful attritional losses. At this stage my intel screen reports I've killed 300 of them in the past 36 days. Not bad going at all.

On the plus side my night-bombing offensive was ramped up a notch ( by the committment of single-engined dive and torpedo bombers in the level bombing and strafing role ) and Naha airfield was closed with the loss of some 250 Allied planes on the ground. Now the Americans will have to rely only on their carriers for aircover and those carriers are taking significant losses....

The IJN sortied in preparation for this raid and in some very sharp fighting the 5 CVs remaining to Japan successfully drew many enemy raids onto themselves. Over 150 Allied carrier-based fighters and bombers were downed in these attacks and only a single Japanese destroyer was hit despite the IJN CVs venturing to within 6 hexes of the main Allied CV fleets.

Elsewhere the IJN suicide fleet and MTB fleets are also in motion surging forward to Okinawa ready to jump forth into the waters around Ishigaki ( and the island to its east which is also being invaded ) to disrupt further enemy landings while a CAP of 600+ fighters sits over Okinawa covering the unloading of another 102,000 IJA infantry and 60,000 tons of supplies which I'm bringing in to bring a final end to the fight for Naha.

At Naha 5,100+ IJA AV are facing off against 1400 US Army AV. With the additional 2,500 AV I'm bringing in I expect Naha to fall reasonably quickly. I didn't take it prior to this since I wanted to draw the US fleet into battle first so I could maul it and prevent it adequately intervening with my reinforcement of Okinawa. I'm sure I'll take some losses at Okinawa as I unload but the key is to avoid wholesale losses to the troops as they unload.

I want to force the US into an unenviable position where they are:
1. Mauled in the current fighting around Ishigaki and end up with many damaged BBs and CAs and many sunk CVEs/CVLs and damaged CVs and with quite depleted airgroups which need rebuilding and

2. Are faced with the possibility of the imminent destruction of some 3 divisions of combat troops on Okinawa unless they commit this battered fleet to action immediately. At that point in time I should have a great opportunity to take a really good crack at ships operating at less than peak efficiency and should be able to slip many Shinyo units into the midst of any amphibious TFs he sends to unload at Naha. I really want to sink those AKAs, APAs and LSTs which give him such an awesome amphibious capability.


Aerial losses for the day were the heaviest I've ever seen in AE.

Slightly over 600 Allied planes were destroyed including 100 Avengers, 100 CV-based divebombers and about 150 carrier-based fighters. On top of that about 250 planes were destroyed on the ground at Naha or on the CVEs which sank. These 250 planes included about 50 Corsairs and about 50 P51s and 50 P47s as well as some B-25 bombers etc. The Japanese lost 1200 planes. They lost 400 kamikazes plus 100 fighters covering the kamikazes. They lost another 300 planes on the ground at Nagasaki when 600 B-29s blew past 400 defending fighters and bombed the airfield to destruction, lost 200 D4Y4s and about 100 P1Ys in daylight bombing raids against the ground troops at Ishigaki ( I was trying to knock their AV down to buy enough time for my reserves to counter-land at Ishigaki and reinforce the defenders. Unfortunately the kami raids which destroyed the CVEs went in AFTER the CAS raids. OOPS!!!

Still the Allies landed 1200+ AV at Ishigaki vs just 450 AV of defenders but only managed a 1:1 ratio in today's deliberate attack. I'm looking to bring 200 AV into Ishigaki tomorrow with another 200 AV every 3 days after that until I have a garrison of 1200 AV. At Miyako Jima the Allies brought in only 600 AV vs my 400 AV. I thus have a bit more time before having to bring in reinforcements there. Tonight several dozen IJN vessels will attempt to interfere with the landing of additional troops. I'm determined not to make the mistake of being unable or unwilling to bring reinforcements in when my bases are threatened. Every island I can stalemate is another island he has to either evacuate or reinforce in order to force my men out ( either option gives my kamis another crack at his APAs/AKAs, CVs etc and with enough sorties I'm bound to generate some hits. It is all about generating exposure to my kamis and then flying enough sorties to get some hits. ).


Ki-264s and Ki-74s are continuing with their deep raids into the enemy's strategic depth with raids on Manilla and Guam/Saipan continuing whilst my troops hold them by the belt buckle on land and my kamikazes attack the US Navy along the entire length of its flank ( running from the north of the Phillipine Islands all the way to Okinawa ). About two-dozen submarines are also being despatched to attack damaged ships which attempt to slip back to Manilla with minimal escorts.

So, 1800 planes destroyed today. Tomorrow I imagine we'll see at least 1500 Japanese planes destroyed. I'll be lucky to bag another 300 Allied planes but that won't matter since, really, tomorrow my goal is the BBs, CAs and APAs/AKAs in the amphibious fleet and those will be tackled by IJN surface elements.

Over the course of the 2 days I am expecting Japanese losses to be just shy of 3,000 and Allied losses to be just shy of 1,000 planes. 4,000 planes in 2 days. OUCH !!!

Still, if it works out like I've planned those losses will buy me the opportunity to hug 9+ Allied divisions close on isolated islands, pour reinforcements in and threaten to defeat them piecemeal - which will bring the USN into action again and again in battles to hold their positions. I'll attrit them in those battles and all of that will buy me time. Time, space and a more favourable correlation of forces later.

Ideally, of course, I'd like to destroy all 9 divisions but I'd settle for the 3 I have on Okinawa. Any more would be a bonus.


On another note: Once this invasion is over I will begin gathering the forces necessary for my next phase of invasions. I already have two targets picked out and I think they'll prove quite choice ones in terms of drawing the USN out into battle on my terms again and again.

So, that's my big plan. Push them back, draw them in, hold them by the belt buckle and crucify their relief columns. Rinse and repeat. So far so very Vietnam War but, hell, if its old-fashioned and it works then the key point is that it works.

I don't expect to be successful in all of these attempts but in October 1945 to be mounting offensives at all and to be inflicting losses - so far it looks like I've sunk 2 CVs, 3 BBs, 5 CVEs, about 3 or 4 CLs, about 30 to 40 DDs etc - is pretty good.


My new opponent is pretty methodical though. he varies targets, he varies timing, he varies his movements and while he might approach in multiple columns he coalesces nicely.

I've found weaknesses in his approach march though. He is too open there and I plan to punish that as he is now moving his reserves from Manilla into the cauldron.

He also has allowed himself to get distracted from his strategic priorities - the economy.

Lastly, I don't think he ever asked WHY Naha was never being properly closed down. I think he thought that it was remaining open because I couldn't close it. I don't think he ever asked himself if I would allow him to inflict several hundred planes of losses on me if I could avoid them. The reality was that if I closed it a week ago he would have planned his invasions in full knowledge that those 500+ planes wouldn't be available to support him and protect his right flank. So, the day before he landed I closed the field in a single day - cost me about 50 planes to do it but over the course of yesterday ( when I closed it ) and today I destroyed over 600 Allied planes at Naha AND if I keep it closed I'll actually destroy all those squadrons too when Naha falls, something I'd very much enjoy - and, I hope, disrupted his invasion plans. He mightn't know it yet but closing the airfield has allowed me to bring about 90% of the IJN surface fleet into Amami to refuel and reprovision prior to dashing into Miyako Jima and Ishigaki tomorrow night.


Of course tomorrow will show if he has outguessed me. That's what's fun about games of strategy, the possibility that you have a plan, see them marching into it and then find you're the one who has been ambushed.

[Nemo121]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 14, 45

Well today saw the IJN strike deep into the vitals of the USN and rip several USN combat TFs apart. IJN losses were relatively minor compared to the losses inflicted. Those who say the IJN is unable to intervene in 1945 need to consider the method of its application. Under the right circumstances - night-time raids into the vitals of amphibious TFs as they unload - the IJN can, once again, drive its claws deep into the vitals of the enemy.

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Invasion Support action off Miyako-jima (91,66) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

552 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Tuscaloosa, Shell hits 1
CL Nashville, Shell hits 3
CL Phoenix
DD Case
DD Lamson
DD Drayton
DD Stack, Shell hits 1
DD Lang
DD Ellet, Shell hits 1
xAK Hawaiian Rancher, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
CA Portland, on fire
CA Boston, on fire
CA Wichita, on fire
LCI(R)-231
LCI(R)-72
LCI(R)-71
LSD Tortuga
CA Pittsburgh, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Ishigaki (90,66)

76 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
APA Mellette
DD Patterson, heavy damage
DD Craven


Allied ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


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ASW attack near Ishigaki at 90,66

Japanese Ships
SS Ha-201, hits 7

Allied Ships
CL Swiftsure
DD Morris, heavy damage
DD Sampson
APA Mellette
APA Pickens
APA McCracken
APA Gage
APA Eastland
APA Crenshaw
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Zeilin
LSD Casa Grande
LCI(G)-407
LCI(R)-225
DD Gridley
DD Craven
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Mugford

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Sub attack near Hengchun at 84,68

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-27, hits 11, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Schroeder
CA Indianapolis
DD Rooks
DD Remey
DD Richard P. Leary
DD Sigourney
DD Shields
DD Norman Scott

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ASW attack near Kume-jima at 93,65

Japanese Ships
DD Hiyatori

Allied Ships
SS Diablo

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

A BIG USN TF. Even this only shows a portion of the TF. In reality the TF was at least twice this size.

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco
CA Shropshire, Shell hits 4
CL Swiftsure
CL Richmond, heavy damage
DD Frankford
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Hughes, heavy damage
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Morris, heavy damage
DD Roe
DD Wainwright
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Patterson, heavy damage
DD Craven
DD Gridley
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Gage
APA Noble
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA Rawlins
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham

Japanese Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Allied TF begins to get underway
Reduced visibility due to Thunderstorms with 60% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 60% moonlight: 2,000 yards

This was crucial. The visibility was due to be poor with a maximum visibility of 2,000 yards. This allowed the IJN to get in close.

DD Morris collides with APA Gage at 90 , 66
APA Harris collides with APA Noble at 90 , 66
DD Benson collides with APA Gage at 90 , 66
APA Mountrail collides with APA Noble at 90 , 66

Large TFs come with significant negatives if they are attacked. These collisions help make these ships easier targets later in the night - and tomorrow.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 3, on fire

The Shinyo DDs actually represent MTB flotillas of 9 ships each. So when you see 2 x Shinyo DDs you should actually conceptualise 18 SHinyo MTBs/suicide MTBs.


Allied Ships
CL Richmond, Shell hits 6, heavy damage
DD Hughes, heavy damage
DD Morris, heavy damage
DD Patterson, heavy damage
DD Gridley, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APA Gage, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APA Noble

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Doryu
DD Doryu, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 6
CA Shropshire, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Swiftsure
DD Frankford, Shell hits 3
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Wainwright
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Craven
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA Rawlins, heavy damage
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham
APA Hendry
APA Mellette
AGC Appalachian
LSD Belle Grove
LSD Casa Grande
LSD Carter Hall
LSD Epping Forest

APA Rawlins collides with APA Telfair at 90 , 66

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 30,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco
DD Frankford
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Wainwright
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham
APA Hendry
APA Mellette
AGC Appalachian
LSD Belle Grove
LSD Casa Grande
LSD Carter Hall
LSD Epping Forest
LCI(G)-405
LCI(G)-406
LCI(G)-407
LCI(G)-408

Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Allied Amphibious TF evades combat

There were quite a few of my TFs which missed making contact with the Allies. This saved many Allied ships.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Richmond, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Hughes, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
DD Morris, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Patterson, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APA Noble

My Shinyos ran into the cripples who survived the collisions earlier and made short work of most of them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco
DD Frankford
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Wainwright, Shell hits 4
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham
APA Hendry
APA Mellette
AGC Appalachian, Shell hits 12, heavy fires
LSD Belle Grove
LSD Casa Grande
LSD Carter Hall
LSD Epping Forest
LCI(G)-405
LCI(G)-406, Shell hits 3, on fire
LCI(G)-407
LCI(G)-408

Allied ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 9, on fire
DD Shinyo, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Frankford
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Wainwright
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook, Shell hits 8, on fire
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham
APA Hendry
APA Mellette
AGC Appalachian, heavy fires
LSD Belle Grove
LSD Casa Grande
LSD Carter Hall
LSD Epping Forest
LCI(G)-405
LCI(G)-406, on fire
LCI(G)-407
LCI(G)-408

Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

LCI(R)-224 collides with APA Eastland at 90 , 66
DD Shinyo sunk by CA San Francisco at 2,000 yards
APA McCracken collides with APA Oxford at 90 , 66

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 30,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD T-4
APD T-6
APD T-9
APD T-10
APD T-11
APD T-12
APD T-13
APD T-15
APD T-16
APD T-20
APD T-21
APD T-22
APD T-26
APD T-27

Allied Ships
DD Hughes, on fire, heavy damage
APA Noble

Both Task Forces evade combat

Unfortunately I had a full Brigade of troops on these APDs taken from Naga for rapid reinforcement of Ishigaki. This and the following contact stopped these APDs landing and meant none of the Brigade landed today. This would prove unfortunate tomorrow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ishigaki at 90,66, Range 30,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD T-4
APD T-6
APD T-9
APD T-10
APD T-11
APD T-12
APD T-13
APD T-15
APD T-16
APD T-20
APD T-21
APD T-22
APD T-26
APD T-27

Allied Ships
DD Frankford
DD Benson
DD Niblack
DD Sampson
DD Anderson
DD Mustin
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Wainwright
DD Bagley
DD Helm
DD Mugford
APA Wharton
APA Harris
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA J. Franklin Bell
APA W.A. Holbrook, on fire
APA Leonard Wood
APA Joseph T. Dickman
APA Catron
APA Cleburne
APA Dawson
APA Fallon
APA Crenshaw
APA Elkheart
APA Pitt
APA Drew
APA Oxford
APA Eastland
APA Telfair
APA Mountrail
APA Montrose
APA Marvin McIntyre
APA Menifee
APA Oconto
APA Laurens
APA McCracken
APA Marathon
APA Renville
APA New Kent
APA Pickens
APA Sibley
APA Navarro
APA Effingham
APA Hendry

Both Task Forces evade combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Miyako-jima at 91,66, Range 5,000 Yards

Tanaka is in command of my most significant SC TF tonight, the TF headed by the CL Sakawa. He lives up to his reputation, crosses the T and causes havoc among the Allied amphibious TF which contains multiple BBs, 5 CVEs, multiple CAs, CLs and about 20 DDs as well as about 80 APAs/AKAs and LCS(Rs), LSTs etc.

No matter, they're nothing but targets to him.

Japanese aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Japanese Ships
CL Sakawa, Shell hits 48, and is sunk
DD Hibiki
DD Kamikaze
DD Harukaze
DD Sawakaze
DD Shiokaze
DD Yakaze
DD Yukaze
DD Murakaze

Allied Ships
CVE Altamaha
CVE Copahee, Shell hits 3, on fire
CVE Breton, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Prince William
CVE Casablanca, Shell hits 2
BB Arkansas, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
CA Portland, on fire, heavy damage
CA Tuscaloosa
CA Wichita, heavy fires
CA Boston, on fire
CA Pittsburgh, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Phoenix
CL Nashville
DD McCall, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Maury
DD Ellet
DD Lang
DD Stack
DD Sterett, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
DD Wilson
DD Dunlap
DD Fanning
DD Cummings
DD Drayton
DD Lamson
DD Case
AGC Mount McKinley
AGC Teton, Shell hits 19, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
LSD Shadwell
LSD Cabildo
LSD Comstock
LSD San Marcos
LSD Tortuga
LCI(R)-71
LCI(R)-72
LCI(R)-231
xAK Mormacwave
xAK Hawaiian Rancher, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sea Flasher
xAK Overseas Lena
xAK Appleton Victory
xAK Bartlesville Victory
xAK Berea Victory
xAK Bowdoin Victory
xAK Bozeman Victory
xAK Brigham Victory
AP Gen. A.E.Anderson
AP Gen. W.A.Mann
AP Gen. H.W.Butner
AP Gen. W.M.Mitchell
AP Gen. G.M.Randall
AP Gen. M.B.Steward, Shell hits 1

Allied ground losses:
130 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

xAK Bartlesville Victory collides with AP Gen. C.H.Muir at 91 , 66
DD Sterett sunk by DD Hibiki at 3,000 yards
CL Sakawa sunk by CA Boston at 2,000 yards
AGC Teton sunk by DD Hibiki at 2,000 yards

Hibiki i still doing a good job and claiming victims.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Miyako-jima at 91,66, Range 30,000 Yards

LOL! 3 BBs, 3 CAs, 3 CLs and over a dozen DDs. Run, run far away boys.

Japanese Ships
DD Tsuta
DD Kusunoki

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB Howe
BB King George V
CA Pensacola
CA Salt Lake City
CA New Orleans
CL Achilles
CL Bermuda
CL Newfoundland
DD Leutze
DD Marshall
DD McCord
DD McDermut
DD McGowan
DD McKee
DD McNair
DD Melvin
DD Mertz
DD Murray
DD Newcomb
DD Nicholas
DD O'Bannon
DD Owen
DD Philip
DD Picking

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Miyako-jima at 91,66, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Katsura, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Wakazakura, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CVE Altamaha
CVE Copahee, on fire
CVE Breton, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVE Prince William, Shell hits 7, on fire
CVE Casablanca, Shell hits 5
BB Arkansas, heavy fires
CA Portland, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Tuscaloosa
CA Wichita, heavy fires
CA Boston, on fire
CA Pittsburgh, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Phoenix
CL Nashville
DD McCall, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Maury
DD Ellet
DD Lang, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Stack
DD Wilson
DD Dunlap
DD Fanning
DD Cummings
DD Drayton
DD Lamson
DD Case
AGC Mount McKinley
LSD Shadwell
LSD Cabildo
LSD Comstock
LSD San Marcos
LSD Tortuga
LCI(R)-71
LCI(R)-72
LCI(R)-231
xAK Mormacwave
xAK Hawaiian Rancher, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sea Flasher
xAK Overseas Lena
xAK Appleton Victory
xAK Bartlesville Victory
xAK Berea Victory
xAK Bowdoin Victory
xAK Bozeman Victory
xAK Brigham Victory
AP Gen. A.E.Anderson
AP Gen. W.A.Mann
AP Gen. H.W.Butner
AP Gen. W.M.Mitchell
AP Gen. G.M.Randall
AP Gen. M.C.Meigs
AP Gen. W.H.Gordon
AP Gen. W.P.Richardson
AP Gen. J.Breckinridge
AP Adm. W.S.Benson
AP Adm. W.L.Capps
AP Gen. G.O.Squier
AP Gen. T.H.Bliss
AP Gen. J.R.Brooke

Allied ground losses:
127 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Best of all all these raids are preventing further unloading.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Miyako-jima at 91,66, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Take
DD Maki
DD Kiri
DD Sugi
DD Kashi
DD Kaya
DD Kaede
DD Nara
DD Tsubaki
DD Keyaki
DD Yanagi, Shell hits 4
DD Nire
DD Hagi
DD Kaki, Shell hits 17, and is sunk


Allied Ships
CVE Altamaha, Shell hits 12
CVE Copahee, on fire
CVE Breton, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVE Prince William, on fire
CVE Casablanca
BB Arkansas, heavy fires
CA Portland, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Tuscaloosa, Shell hits 1
CA Wichita, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
CA Boston, heavy fires
CA Pittsburgh, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Phoenix
CL Nashville, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD McCall, Shell hits 41, and is sunk
DD Maury, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Ellet
DD Lang, on fire
DD Stack
DD Wilson, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Dunlap
DD Fanning
DD Cummings, Shell hits 1
DD Drayton
DD Lamson
DD Case
AGC Mount McKinley
LSD Shadwell
LSD Cabildo
LSD Comstock
LSD San Marcos
LSD Tortuga
LCI(R)-71
LCI(R)-72
LCI(R)-231
xAK Mormacwave
xAK Hawaiian Rancher, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sea Flasher
xAK Overseas Lena
xAK Appleton Victory
xAK Bartlesville Victory
xAK Berea Victory
xAK Bowdoin Victory
xAK Bozeman Victory
xAK Brigham Victory
AP Gen. A.E.Anderson
AP Gen. W.A.Mann
AP Gen. H.W.Butner, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Well, whittling down the CVEs little by little. I sank 5 yesterday and it looks like I'm on schedule to sink another 5 today. Not bad. The Allies get loads more but every little bit helps. Right now he is at his strongest relatively speaking so causing these losses now is encouraging, should slow him and buy me the time I need to upgrade and train my forces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Miyako-jima at 91,66, Range 5,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Susuzuki, Shell hits 3
DD Fuyuzuki, Shell hits 1
DD Hanazuki
DD Yoizuki, Shell hits 1
DD Haruzuki, Shell hits 1
DD Natsuzuki
DD Yukikaze

Allied Ships
CVE Altamaha, Shell hits 2
CVE Copahee, heavy fires
CVE Breton, and is sunk
CVE Prince William, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVE Casablanca, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arkansas, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Portland, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Tuscaloosa
CA Wichita, heavy fires
CA Boston, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
CA Pittsburgh, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Phoenix
CL Nashville, on fire
DD Maury, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Ellet
DD Lang, on fire
DD Stack
DD Wilson, on fire
DD Dunlap
DD Fanning
DD Cummings
DD Drayton
DD Lamson
DD Case
AGC Mount McKinley, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
LSD Shadwell
LSD Cabildo
LSD Comstock
LSD San Marcos
LSD Tortuga
LCI(R)-71
LCI(R)-72
LCI(R)-231
xAK Mormacwave
xAK Hawaiian Rancher, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sea Flasher
xAK Overseas Lena
xAK Appleton Victory
xAK Bartlesville Victory
xAK Berea Victory
xAK Bowdoin Victory
xAK Bozeman Victory
xAK Brigham Victory
AP Gen. A.E.Anderson, Shell hits 1
AP Gen. W.A.Mann
AP Gen. H.W.Butner, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AP Gen. W.M.Mitchell
AP Gen. G.M.Randall
AP Gen. M.C.Meigs
AP Gen. W.H.Gordon
AP Gen. W.P.Richardson
AP Gen. J.Breckinridge
AP Adm. W.S.Benson, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
97 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

DD Stack collides with AP Gen. C.G.Morton at 91 , 66
AP Gen. M.C.Meigs collides with AP Gen. R.E.Callan at 91 , 66
xAK Overseas Lena collides with AP Gen. R.E.Callan at 91 , 66


Well. more to follow. I'm about 20% through the CR, it was pretty massive. It took over 90 minutes to play all the way through and I fast forwarded through a lot of it.

[House Stark]

That's some carnage right there. Lesson learned for playing as Allies: If your going to make 100 ship TFs, don't put too many important ships in them. It seems that not only can these surface ships not fight right, but when there's so many ships that Japanese TFs can't miss. Also, did Tanaka survive the sinking of his flagship?