Wait, I can't read Cuttlefish's new AAR? - Cribtop (J) vs CF (A)

[Cribtop]

Great info, Erkki. Thanks.

[Cribtop]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

Actually, here are the combat reports... Looks like I remembered wrong - the first attack was normal altitudes (1400 and 9000) but the the follow-on raids I set both to 9000 to stay out of machine gun range. First day's losses were larger than losses from all other attacks combined:

Just to make sure I understand, as I think there were some typos on your numbers, the first day went in at 14000 and 9000; next day went in at 19000 and suffered fewer losses, correct?

[ny59giants]

Maybe a hangover of my WITP days, but I set TBs at 9k, DBs at 12k, and fighters at 15k.

[Cribtop]

I tend to set everything at 14K on CVs. Rationale is that it's the highest altitude that allows dive bombing. That gets CAP fighters as high as possible while still allowing co-ordinated escort (I wish the CAP could be higher, but you never know when you're going to launch a nav attack). 14K hasn't seemed to have any negative impact on TB attacks or accuracy.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

ORIGINAL: Erkki

Actually, here are the combat reports... Looks like I remembered wrong - the first attack was normal altitudes (1400 and 9000) but the the follow-on raids I set both to 9000 to stay out of machine gun range. First day's losses were larger than losses from all other attacks combined:

Just to make sure I understand, as I think there were some typos on your numbers, the first day went in at 14000 and 9000; next day went in at 19000 and suffered fewer losses, correct?

No, it looks like I just used 9000 to prevent the D3As from dive bombing and release at 1000-2000 where they took a lot more AAA hits.. B5N losses had been low enough so I just used the same alt.

[Cribtop]

May 26, 1942

Batavia falls while Colombo sleeps - for one more night.

How about that Rangers game? Without question the craziest game I've ever seen in the World Series. This analysis says it all: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... azy-game-5

Subs

No contacts, but a huge amount of subs lurk off Colombo with the twin missions of killing fleeing ships and rescuing Kate pilots.

4th Fleet

The TF spotted yesterday turns out to be a bombardment TF based on BBs New Mexico and Idaho, 2 CAs and 6 DDs. No one is home, the airfield is trashed. The enemy TF ends 14 hexes from TB and is spotted by our Bettys, but no attacks fly. This doesn't seem to be the prelude to an invasion, but we suspect the idea is forming in CF's mind now that he knows the base is empty.

SE Fleet

Reinforcements for Tulagi and Milne Bay arrive at Truk and will ship out ASAP.

14th Army

We load a regiment at Cebu for defended base DBCL work. On Luzon, enemy AS at Clark is collapsing.

16th Army

Timoeka occupied, continuing an annoying trend of the rowboats grabbing bases after our DBCL troops invade them. Endeh invaded.

We got CF's attention with our flanking tank regiment near Daly. Today he hits it with 5 B-17s but misses. Our bombers kill 5 tank squads in his stack, which appears to be withdrawing. ATGs have unloaded and are moving to the front. We will set an LRCAP trap soon.

25th Army

DA Batavia drops forts to 1 and takes the base with 3:1 odds. 17 LCUs and 2 air groups (1 X Mitchell, 1 X 139) are destroyed. 21,702 admittedly doomed and inferior troops enter our PoW camps. Facilities are 100% damaged, which is unfortunate. However, if I had to pick the big DEI base I got with 100% damage, it would be Batavia.
This action ends major resistance in the DEI and frees up 5 divisions. Four will ship out for China and Operation Red Dragon, one will remain as a theater reserve.

Elements of 2nd Raiding Regiment seize Christmas Island IO, which was empty.

15th Army

All three brigades of 33rd Division re-unite 1 hex SE (map) of Kalemyo. Weather has been atrocious and prevents air attack by either side.

China

Sian makes level 3 forts and switches to airfield construction.

We have moved a brigade such that it both blocks relief of the two corps trapped SE of Wuchang and provides cover for our effort to isolate the Wuchang stack. The last few months in China seem quiet but in fact have ensured the starving isolation of the entire ChiCom Army and slowly caused CF to feed more and more troops into positions in front of Wuchang. Positions that will be threatened with encirclement once the southern offensive begins.

Aboard Carrier Akagi

Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi blinked as the first rays of the rising sun caught his eyes on the bridge of Imperial Japan's most important flagship. Most would consider this a good omen, but to Nagumo it was one more worrying annoyance on a day fraught with risk. Below him, the last strike aircraft took off to assemble for yet another air raid on a major Allied port. Previous attacks at Pearl Harbor, Darwin and Soerabaja had won easy and important victories. Today the Royal Navy's base at Colombo was the intended victim.

In many ways this attack was more carefully planned than its predecessors, and so far it had gone off like clockwork, with the fleet approaching undetected to within attack range. Still the nervous Admiral couldn't help but wonder whether this time the enemy would be ready. All recon showed an inviting and almost undefended target, but Nagumo worried about the report yesterday from one of Carrier Soryu's torpedo bombers. The pilot had observed what appeared to be an enemy submarine cruising SSE of the fleet. No danger of intercept, the B5N2 crew had cheerfully reported. The question in Nagumo's mind was whether the sub crew had in turn seen the patrol plane; and, if so, whether they had assumed it was a sub-launched Type 0 small reconnaissance plane or if they had correctly identified it as the carrier borne aircraft the Americans so colorfully called the "Kate." Even if the sub's skipper knew his business, and even if the Eastern Fleet's commanders correctly interpreted the danger, there was probably little they could do overnight to bolster Colombo's defenses.

Still, Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi worried...

[Cribtop]

Can't stand it. I'm going to go home for lunch and run the replay.

[yamo1]

lol...exciting! Have you anticipated CF attempting to break out of your China encirclement and where he would head? How will you react?

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop
Can't stand it. I'm going to go home for lunch and run the replay.

[8D]

[obvert]

tic tac tic tac tic tac ...

[Canoerebel]

Lord have mercy! GreyJoy-isms are proliferating!

[Cribtop]

OK, bottom line, a disappointing day but we have the enemy cornered. Really need y'all's advice here.

Turns out Cuttlefish had a CL SCTF in the Colombo hex. We had everything on nav attack/port attack so no port attacks today. We did ok against the CLs and DDs but they are nimble so about half the enemy ships escape harm while 3 CLs and about 3 DDs suffer damage. Our sweeps over Colombo encounter no CAP, and there are no planes on nav search as MKB is unspotted (which amazes me).

Recon shows 103 ships in port with at least 3 BBs [X(]. Our Kates were supposed to be on "bombs only" to reduce flak losses in the port strike, but we missed a button so about half our CVs used torps and are out. Plenty of sorties and good fuel remaining. Our sub horde is unspotted and awaiting victims just outside port. No strike planes are lost today. MKB is in a position to cut off escape from Colombo. About 20 fighters and about 5 bombers and 5 auxiliary a/c are spotted there.

Question 1 - Will CF run, sit tight, or a mix of the two?

Question 2 - Based on the answer to Q1, what mix of attack missions should we order up tomorrow?

Question 3 - Tanaka Force could move to sit right behind our subs and probably get an intercept if anyone runs. He has 2 Kongos, 3 CAs and 8 DDs. Should we commit the surface forces? Moon is about 90%. Our ships would have to move full speed to guarantee arrival in the night phase, which is of course less of an advantage against the Royal Navy.

My bet is that CF runs with the fast stuff and sits with the merchies. Thus my instinct is to set all Kates without torps on Port Attack only, all Kates with torps on Nav/Port, all Vals on Nav only. Tanaka Force should move in, IMHO, in hopes that CF creates a big, sub-optimal TF that is much slower than our 30+ knot ships, runs afoul of our subs and planes, then has the coup de grace administered by our SCTF. However, there is no way to avoid risk of an adverse result if Tanaka goes in.

Thoughts?

[Cribtop]

PS - Yamo I will answer your question about China soon.

PPS - GreyJoyisms are truly becoming the lingua franca of the AE Boards. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

Wow, that's an interesting situation. Can I ask for more info?

Can you list the carriers present with air components and which have torps?

I'd recommend Tanaka force hang just out of range to clean up cripples after the air attack. If they went in at full speed (low op points) and came across the 3 Brit BBs, the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

[Erkki]

How about detaching multiple 3-4-DD TFs with reaction allowed to escape routes from Colombo? They might wreak havoc in night combat and/or slow down the fleeing ships or make them react away from surface threat to stop them from escaping from KB's strike planes. Tomorrow have at least one B5N unit do port attack with at least some Zeros set to escort, target Colombo!

Question 1: if he will sit, he cant fly most or any fighter types from Burma front overnight. They're too short legged... So he'll have only the fighters he had today.

I would probably too sit with xAKs (and maybe BBs) but make everything else run.

[Cribtop]

Car Div 1, basically Kaga, Junyo and the CVLs, have torps. Car Div 2, the Shokakus, Akagi and Soryu, are out or functionally out. Hiryu is in Car Div 1 but was set to bombs and thus has torps. Hiyo is no present as she just got commissioned and has not yet joined.

You make a good point about Tanaka Force and that's what I'm worried about. OTOH, if CF piles everything that he plans to run into a single TF, the carnage could be fearsome as his already slow BBs will be held back by lord knows what. Still, we want to avoid attritional battles with the IJN heavies as a general matter.

[Cribtop]

Interesting idea, Erkki! I also have the dedicated MKB ASW TF of 4 DDs. Could probably assemble at least 3 or 4 good DDTFs.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

Interesting idea, Erkki! I also have the dedicated MKB ASW TF of 4 DDs. Could probably assemble at least 3 or 4 good DDTFs.

If he keeps his BBs in same TFs with their escorts, theres a good chance for there to be at least one 21 knot one. Just one night surface engagement and they're not going to make it, depending on where KB is positioned... How about moving KB W, NWW or even NW from Colombo?

I dont think I'd risk Kongos in combat against British BBs. Even if they slow them down to get eaten by KB they're invaluable as fast CV escorts/bomb sponges.

[Cribtop]

I think you have the right of it. FYI, KB is planning to move to be in a position west of Colombo, but not in the line of anticipated retreat paths to the west or NW.

[Cribtop]

One more thing, remember that Warspite ate a torp inbound to Colombo about 1 week ago, so she's probably in the yards and screwed. Still 2 UK BBs vs 2 Kongos ain't really a fight I'm thrilled about.