Combat Report - 1/25/1942
- Balikpapan fell today
- His airborne forces took another three little bases today. I'd love to know how he is conducting three para drops every turn. Is he picking them right back up and dropping them somewhere else the next day?
- Still no sign of either enemy carrier group. I feel pretty confident that the KB slipped past Ambon and headed home for resupply
- Lots of activity in NOPAC. I'm not really sure what is going on there. I simply do not have the surface ships to put up a fight up there. Queen Elizabeth is delivering a combat engineer group to Cold Harbor to offer some protection for the air groups up there. It will still be some time before Yorktown and Saratoga are ready for their first outing. Even when they are, I have a very large troop/aircraft shipment to make to SOPAC and I'd like to have it escorted (though Enterprise/Lexington may be available for that when it comes time)
Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Queen Elizabeth?? As in, the gigantic liner that needs a level 7 or 8 port to dock???
It may be fast but it takes forever to unload if it cannot dock. Some equipment may not unload at all. Keep an eye on it and if it isn't progressing fast enough to be out of there before the Japanese sniff around, get it back to Vancouver and load in smaller ships!
It may be fast but it takes forever to unload if it cannot dock. Some equipment may not unload at all. Keep an eye on it and if it isn't progressing fast enough to be out of there before the Japanese sniff around, get it back to Vancouver and load in smaller ships!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/26/1942
- One of my Dutch subs sunk an AK and then put a torpedo it the DD that was supposed to be hunting it down. That'll do.
- mKB has been spotted. I have no idea how it got past my naval searches out of Ambon, but it has made it into the Celebes Sea and appears to be moving toward Cam Rahn Bay
- The KB has also been spotted trying to sneak through the Torres Strait. Tsk Tsk. I've tried to position my subs to get a shot off if he follows the Aussie coast.
- Boise and her pals continue their ponderous escort to Brisbane. PoW, Repulse, and Houston all seem to be holding up ok, though if the KB shoots south fast enough, they may yet be sunk. 2 P40 squadrons are following them down the coast.
- Bombardment of Clark Field shows that he has about 5k more troops than me there. I think I may rotate a unit in from Bataan again.
As for QE, I'm using her because she is almost all I have up there. I have some AKLs but they are already in the middle of another transport job. If she sinks, she sinks.
- One of my Dutch subs sunk an AK and then put a torpedo it the DD that was supposed to be hunting it down. That'll do.
- mKB has been spotted. I have no idea how it got past my naval searches out of Ambon, but it has made it into the Celebes Sea and appears to be moving toward Cam Rahn Bay
- The KB has also been spotted trying to sneak through the Torres Strait. Tsk Tsk. I've tried to position my subs to get a shot off if he follows the Aussie coast.
- Boise and her pals continue their ponderous escort to Brisbane. PoW, Repulse, and Houston all seem to be holding up ok, though if the KB shoots south fast enough, they may yet be sunk. 2 P40 squadrons are following them down the coast.
- Bombardment of Clark Field shows that he has about 5k more troops than me there. I think I may rotate a unit in from Bataan again.
As for QE, I'm using her because she is almost all I have up there. I have some AKLs but they are already in the middle of another transport job. If she sinks, she sinks.
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
ORIGINAL: marbakka
As for QE, I'm using her because she is almost all I have up there. I have some AKLs but they are already in the middle of another transport job. If she sinks, she sinks.
Should that happen, her namesake would say "WE are not amused ..."
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/27/1942
A thoroughly boring day.
- The KB has moved into the Coral Sea and appears to be planning for a run down the Australian coast. I've become a little concerned about the PoW anyway, so they will be docking in Maryborough to cool down a bit. I'm transferring my P40s to Brisbane to fly CAP over them while they are there.
- SigInt indicates troops planning for attacks in northern China and yet another division planning for Changsha.
- I have ordered Saratoga and Yorktown to sea. They will rendezvous with Yorktown's cruisers and then go investigate these shenanigans in NOPAC before heading to join up with their sisters. Hornet is still just over a month out. My main concern for her will be finding enough DDs and CA/Ls to provide her a proper escort.
A thoroughly boring day.
- The KB has moved into the Coral Sea and appears to be planning for a run down the Australian coast. I've become a little concerned about the PoW anyway, so they will be docking in Maryborough to cool down a bit. I'm transferring my P40s to Brisbane to fly CAP over them while they are there.
- SigInt indicates troops planning for attacks in northern China and yet another division planning for Changsha.
- I have ordered Saratoga and Yorktown to sea. They will rendezvous with Yorktown's cruisers and then go investigate these shenanigans in NOPAC before heading to join up with their sisters. Hornet is still just over a month out. My main concern for her will be finding enough DDs and CA/Ls to provide her a proper escort.
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/28/1942
- Bombardment in both Changsha and Clark Field. In Changsha, it is apparent that he has withdrawn some forces, but the troop levels are still very high. I have another 900 AV in the hex SE of the city. In Clark Field, this is the third turn in a row that he has bombarded without any real attack. Not sure what his game plan is there.
- The KB moved south and conducted a port attack against Townsville. Thankfully, all my wounded ships made it to Brisbane where there are 5 squadrons of P40s flying CAP. However, now I face a big problem. At 35000 tons a piece, BB Prince of Wales and BC Repulse are too large for any of the Australian shipyards. I could send them to Colombo but a) they will be tying up my front line repair yard and b) they may well sink before they get there. Instead, my plan is to slowly shuttle them around to Perth and then try to shoot them directly west to Cape Town whose yard can (barely) fit both in at the same time. However, that leaves a problem in dealing with Houston who has damage to her 8in guns that will require a bigger yard than Brisbane as well. I -think- she can be repaired in Sydney, but the manual is very confusing when it comes to weapon repair values. If I have done my math correctly, I can escort these ships to Sydney right away under LRCAP from Brisbane and the KB won't be able to catch up even if it comes straight south (barring any full speed days). I would feel safer with them down there than at Brisbane, so I believe I will set them to leave in the night and make for Sydney as quickly as possible. That will put some distance between them and the KB and give Houston a chance to get her 80+ day dry dock time started.
- One day more. That's all I needed to get my wounded BBs Nevada and California into the safety of San Francisco Bay. Instead, a submarine found them and put a torpedo into Nevada. She isn't really damaged badly from it, but it triggered an escort response where 2 DDs stayed with her and California while all the rest of the cruisers and destroyers gunned it for SF. Annoying! I've sent 3 of the DDs back out to help them into port (they are only 3 hexes out and should arrive tomorrow). The cruisers have been drafted into the escort TF for Yorktown which met them in SF as they arrived. Yorktown and Saratoga will leave in the night for their little NOPAC cruise. May they sink everything in sight.
- Bombardment in both Changsha and Clark Field. In Changsha, it is apparent that he has withdrawn some forces, but the troop levels are still very high. I have another 900 AV in the hex SE of the city. In Clark Field, this is the third turn in a row that he has bombarded without any real attack. Not sure what his game plan is there.
- The KB moved south and conducted a port attack against Townsville. Thankfully, all my wounded ships made it to Brisbane where there are 5 squadrons of P40s flying CAP. However, now I face a big problem. At 35000 tons a piece, BB Prince of Wales and BC Repulse are too large for any of the Australian shipyards. I could send them to Colombo but a) they will be tying up my front line repair yard and b) they may well sink before they get there. Instead, my plan is to slowly shuttle them around to Perth and then try to shoot them directly west to Cape Town whose yard can (barely) fit both in at the same time. However, that leaves a problem in dealing with Houston who has damage to her 8in guns that will require a bigger yard than Brisbane as well. I -think- she can be repaired in Sydney, but the manual is very confusing when it comes to weapon repair values. If I have done my math correctly, I can escort these ships to Sydney right away under LRCAP from Brisbane and the KB won't be able to catch up even if it comes straight south (barring any full speed days). I would feel safer with them down there than at Brisbane, so I believe I will set them to leave in the night and make for Sydney as quickly as possible. That will put some distance between them and the KB and give Houston a chance to get her 80+ day dry dock time started.
- One day more. That's all I needed to get my wounded BBs Nevada and California into the safety of San Francisco Bay. Instead, a submarine found them and put a torpedo into Nevada. She isn't really damaged badly from it, but it triggered an escort response where 2 DDs stayed with her and California while all the rest of the cruisers and destroyers gunned it for SF. Annoying! I've sent 3 of the DDs back out to help them into port (they are only 3 hexes out and should arrive tomorrow). The cruisers have been drafted into the escort TF for Yorktown which met them in SF as they arrived. Yorktown and Saratoga will leave in the night for their little NOPAC cruise. May they sink everything in sight.
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
It does take some hunting to find the relevant info. From the Game Editor I looked up the effect value [equal to shell weight, I think] of the 8" Mk 9 gun. It is 260.
Here is part of the manual that should apply"
14.2.4.1 WEAPON REPAIR COSTS:
Weapon Repair points are generated by each Repair Type, independently of their ability to
repair other forms of damage. Weapon Repair points are applied to damaged weapon systems
in terms of Weapon Repair Costs.
Weapon Repair Costs are as follows:
Rockets (all types) 50
Radars and ASW detectors 90
Mines and Torpedoes 120
Guns Effect value of the gun.
14.2.4.2 WEAPON REPAIR POINTS
The different Repair Types, described above, contribute Weapon System Repair Points, as
follows:
Repair Shipyard - Weapon Repair level is the Shipyard Size (not capacity, but original size)
times 20, up to a maximum of 300.
Logistics
Tender Repair - Tenders are limited in what weapon systems they can repair (as described in
section 14.2.3.2), but to the extent they can repair weapons, their weapon repair points are
set to 250.
Port Repair - To the extent a port can repair weapon systems, its weapon repair points are set
to the port size x 25.
The repair shipyard at Sydney has a capacity of 30, so weapon repair capacity is enough to reach the maximum of 300. This meets the requirement for the 8" gun.
Re: the PoW and Repulse - you can probably repair some of the flotation damage without a shipyard at Sydney. It would help their transit of the IO a lot if you can get it down. You can also move a lot faster once some of the floatation and engineering damage is reduced.
EDIT- corrected original post to reflect the max gun repair capacity of a shipyard.
Here is part of the manual that should apply"
14.2.4.1 WEAPON REPAIR COSTS:
Weapon Repair points are generated by each Repair Type, independently of their ability to
repair other forms of damage. Weapon Repair points are applied to damaged weapon systems
in terms of Weapon Repair Costs.
Weapon Repair Costs are as follows:
Rockets (all types) 50
Radars and ASW detectors 90
Mines and Torpedoes 120
Guns Effect value of the gun.
14.2.4.2 WEAPON REPAIR POINTS
The different Repair Types, described above, contribute Weapon System Repair Points, as
follows:
Repair Shipyard - Weapon Repair level is the Shipyard Size (not capacity, but original size)
times 20, up to a maximum of 300.
Logistics
Tender Repair - Tenders are limited in what weapon systems they can repair (as described in
section 14.2.3.2), but to the extent they can repair weapons, their weapon repair points are
set to 250.
Port Repair - To the extent a port can repair weapon systems, its weapon repair points are set
to the port size x 25.
The repair shipyard at Sydney has a capacity of 30, so weapon repair capacity is enough to reach the maximum of 300. This meets the requirement for the 8" gun.
Re: the PoW and Repulse - you can probably repair some of the flotation damage without a shipyard at Sydney. It would help their transit of the IO a lot if you can get it down. You can also move a lot faster once some of the floatation and engineering damage is reduced.
EDIT- corrected original post to reflect the max gun repair capacity of a shipyard.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/29/1942
- The KB is thrashing about the Coral Sea like a puppy that can't find where I hid its toy. They launched port attacks against Townsville, Cooktown, Cairns, and Bowen. It and it's support fleet moved slightly to the east but not south at all. Does he fear Brisbane? Does he think I have tons of Banshees there? What little remains of those squadrons are sitting in Alice Springs. Whatever he is thinking, I hope he keeps thinking it because I like knowing exactly where the KB is without having to pay in blood.
- SS Trusty, a British submarine patrolling the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra put two torpedoes and a shell into an enemy AK. She is pretty much the only naval asset within 200 hexes of Java, so it is nice to see them putting their shoulder to the plow.
- A CLAA arrived in Colombo yesterday and is now en route to join the Indomitable's TF which is patrolling around Diego Garcia (mostly for training).
I am starting to think ahead. WAY ahead. So here are a couple noob questions I have concerning the feasibility of Allied offensive plans:
- How tied am I to the "island hopping" strategy? What are my viable alternatives to this?
- How feasible is a relatively early, direct attack on Truk (e.g., before taking the Marshal/Gilbert Isles)? Or at any point for that matter?
- The KB is thrashing about the Coral Sea like a puppy that can't find where I hid its toy. They launched port attacks against Townsville, Cooktown, Cairns, and Bowen. It and it's support fleet moved slightly to the east but not south at all. Does he fear Brisbane? Does he think I have tons of Banshees there? What little remains of those squadrons are sitting in Alice Springs. Whatever he is thinking, I hope he keeps thinking it because I like knowing exactly where the KB is without having to pay in blood.
- SS Trusty, a British submarine patrolling the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra put two torpedoes and a shell into an enemy AK. She is pretty much the only naval asset within 200 hexes of Java, so it is nice to see them putting their shoulder to the plow.
- A CLAA arrived in Colombo yesterday and is now en route to join the Indomitable's TF which is patrolling around Diego Garcia (mostly for training).
I am starting to think ahead. WAY ahead. So here are a couple noob questions I have concerning the feasibility of Allied offensive plans:
- How tied am I to the "island hopping" strategy? What are my viable alternatives to this?
- How feasible is a relatively early, direct attack on Truk (e.g., before taking the Marshal/Gilbert Isles)? Or at any point for that matter?
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Your counteroffensive depends on one thing - gaining complete air superiority in the area you are invading - before, during and after the invasion. Before and during is done with carriers and 4E bombers, plus maybe some bombardments to suppress his airfield. Next you have too repair and expand the airfield to size 5 or better so you can operate 4E bombers from it. Then you can use the base to support your next landings.
Trying to get air superiority amongst many islands with interlocking airfields [like the DEI] is difficult - you need to take several places at once and have enough carriers to rotate them through guard duties. Taking isolated islands that he cannot support with his LBA [bombers with fighter escort] is easier - you only need to watch for IJN intervention. It is useful to take initially some small, weakly held islands to gain experience for your amphib troops, ships and HQs. Island hopping the central Pacific is only strategically good if you can capture Saipan and Tinian for B29s to strategic bomb Japan. Taking some of the other islands can help safeguard your supply lines to Oz, but you can get by without that.
Truk has the nastiest naval fortress in the game - something like 135 guns. It requires a long suppression of the fortress OR a massive paratroop assault that can overcome any additional garrison. The fortress itself has no AV. BTW, Truk also has lots of mines ...
Back to whether to go island hopping; first decide what your primary route back to Japan will be.
- You can clear India/Burma and march troops into China, but supply will be difficult unless you take ports with direct access to China.
- You can move up through the DEI - you need to build more forces to go this way but it can be done. From the DEI you have a choice of Indochina or the Phillipines. The Phillipines is easier to supply and harder for counter-assault because of the number of islands. From here go to Okinawa or China via Hainan island.
- You can move through NOPAC to the Kuriles. This is hard for him to defend against because of the remoteness of the islands and the concurrent need to defend the DEI, so he must split his defences.
- You can move through the Central Pacific islands to the Phillipines, and on to Okinawa and/or China.
CentPac gets you moving sooner but he can guess which islands you need most [troop and air capacity on most is limited] and put a lot of troops on them.
Watching CanoeRebel's AARs, it appears the best strategy is to nibble away at all the possibilities and move in a big way where you see an opening. CR prepped himself in NOPAC, in the CentPac islands SE of Truk, in New Guinea and around the Bay of Bengal. The KB can't be everywhere and each of those areas could support an offensive.
Anyway, from one relative noob to another, that is my take on it. Good luck!
Trying to get air superiority amongst many islands with interlocking airfields [like the DEI] is difficult - you need to take several places at once and have enough carriers to rotate them through guard duties. Taking isolated islands that he cannot support with his LBA [bombers with fighter escort] is easier - you only need to watch for IJN intervention. It is useful to take initially some small, weakly held islands to gain experience for your amphib troops, ships and HQs. Island hopping the central Pacific is only strategically good if you can capture Saipan and Tinian for B29s to strategic bomb Japan. Taking some of the other islands can help safeguard your supply lines to Oz, but you can get by without that.
Truk has the nastiest naval fortress in the game - something like 135 guns. It requires a long suppression of the fortress OR a massive paratroop assault that can overcome any additional garrison. The fortress itself has no AV. BTW, Truk also has lots of mines ...
Back to whether to go island hopping; first decide what your primary route back to Japan will be.
- You can clear India/Burma and march troops into China, but supply will be difficult unless you take ports with direct access to China.
- You can move up through the DEI - you need to build more forces to go this way but it can be done. From the DEI you have a choice of Indochina or the Phillipines. The Phillipines is easier to supply and harder for counter-assault because of the number of islands. From here go to Okinawa or China via Hainan island.
- You can move through NOPAC to the Kuriles. This is hard for him to defend against because of the remoteness of the islands and the concurrent need to defend the DEI, so he must split his defences.
- You can move through the Central Pacific islands to the Phillipines, and on to Okinawa and/or China.
CentPac gets you moving sooner but he can guess which islands you need most [troop and air capacity on most is limited] and put a lot of troops on them.
Watching CanoeRebel's AARs, it appears the best strategy is to nibble away at all the possibilities and move in a big way where you see an opening. CR prepped himself in NOPAC, in the CentPac islands SE of Truk, in New Guinea and around the Bay of Bengal. The KB can't be everywhere and each of those areas could support an offensive.
Anyway, from one relative noob to another, that is my take on it. Good luck!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/30/1942
- One of his submarines sunk an xAKL and a big AP NE of Fiji. That's the first time I've seen one up in that area. It may be a good thing since I have a big shipment of troops who are boarding in Suva and bound for Luganville around the south side of the islands.
- The KB has moved south, but too late to catch my wounded birds before they reach their nest. They will arrive next turn. The question is should I move the P40s down to Sydney to cover them or let them fly another turn of CAP over Brisbane in the hopes of killing a lot of his carrier pilots. They aren't super experienced by we're talking about 125 or so P40s.
- One of my picket subs north of Ambon encountered a very large transport fleet heading south. These guys are either landing at Ambon or Darwin for sure, and it wouldn't make sense to attack the latter before the former. That being the case, I'm removing anything of value from Ambon overnight (2 AVPs and some unrestricted PAs)
- One of his submarines sunk an xAKL and a big AP NE of Fiji. That's the first time I've seen one up in that area. It may be a good thing since I have a big shipment of troops who are boarding in Suva and bound for Luganville around the south side of the islands.
- The KB has moved south, but too late to catch my wounded birds before they reach their nest. They will arrive next turn. The question is should I move the P40s down to Sydney to cover them or let them fly another turn of CAP over Brisbane in the hopes of killing a lot of his carrier pilots. They aren't super experienced by we're talking about 125 or so P40s.
- One of my picket subs north of Ambon encountered a very large transport fleet heading south. These guys are either landing at Ambon or Darwin for sure, and it wouldn't make sense to attack the latter before the former. That being the case, I'm removing anything of value from Ambon overnight (2 AVPs and some unrestricted PAs)
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 1/31/1942
- KB launches 3 attacks on Brisbane. We put up 111 P40s in defense and shot down a grand total of 3 Zeros, 2 Kates, and 2 Vals and lost 13 P40s. That is absurd. Not only that, but with so many bombers getting through, he easily sank all that had been left in port (most of it repairing) including a fleet sub and AR Castor. A small AS that I had left there to tend the subs already in port was also hit, though it can be repaired.
I'm very disappointed. I know that skill and experience are the problem but when you have 111 airplanes in the sky and walk away with less than 10 kills, that is just silly.
This has bad implications for Sydney. CA Houston is staying there no matter what because I don't have room for her anywhere else. PoW and Repulse could keep going SW toward Melbourne but it is unlikely that they would reach a port before the KB gets south enough to strike them. I'm not sure I could even sneak them around to Tazmania to hide them before they got down there.
Not the way I wanted to end an otherwise pleasant month (cf., The Battle of the Timor Sea).
- KB launches 3 attacks on Brisbane. We put up 111 P40s in defense and shot down a grand total of 3 Zeros, 2 Kates, and 2 Vals and lost 13 P40s. That is absurd. Not only that, but with so many bombers getting through, he easily sank all that had been left in port (most of it repairing) including a fleet sub and AR Castor. A small AS that I had left there to tend the subs already in port was also hit, though it can be repaired.
I'm very disappointed. I know that skill and experience are the problem but when you have 111 airplanes in the sky and walk away with less than 10 kills, that is just silly.
This has bad implications for Sydney. CA Houston is staying there no matter what because I don't have room for her anywhere else. PoW and Repulse could keep going SW toward Melbourne but it is unlikely that they would reach a port before the KB gets south enough to strike them. I'm not sure I could even sneak them around to Tazmania to hide them before they got down there.
Not the way I wanted to end an otherwise pleasant month (cf., The Battle of the Timor Sea).
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
[center]January 1942 in Review[/center]
Major Battles:
The Battle of the Coral Sea - Allied combat TFs with the assistance of USS Enterprise and USS Lexington attempt to stop the invasion of Port Moresby. BB Prince of Wales, BC Repulse, and CA Houston are all badly damaged and many others sunk when the KB appears out of nowhere. US CVs flee through the Torres Strait (Result: Allied Defeat)
The Battle of the Timor Sea - Fleeing US forces engage a Japanese carrier force SW of Timor. They savage the mini-KB (mKB) and moderately damage a heavy combat TF that was with it. However, CA Pensacola is lost in the defense of US CVs (Result: Allied Victory)
Yellow = Japanese full control (except Singapore, CF/Bataan, and Port Moresby)
Green = Allied full control (possible exception of Noumea)
Major Battles:
The Battle of the Coral Sea - Allied combat TFs with the assistance of USS Enterprise and USS Lexington attempt to stop the invasion of Port Moresby. BB Prince of Wales, BC Repulse, and CA Houston are all badly damaged and many others sunk when the KB appears out of nowhere. US CVs flee through the Torres Strait (Result: Allied Defeat)
The Battle of the Timor Sea - Fleeing US forces engage a Japanese carrier force SW of Timor. They savage the mini-KB (mKB) and moderately damage a heavy combat TF that was with it. However, CA Pensacola is lost in the defense of US CVs (Result: Allied Victory)
Yellow = Japanese full control (except Singapore, CF/Bataan, and Port Moresby)
Green = Allied full control (possible exception of Noumea)
- Attachments
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RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
You may have got bad dice rolls at Brisbane. The pilots there would have got some experience that will help in the next battle. If KB keeps attacking along the coast their pilots will be tired. I bet if those P40s engage at Sydney you get better results. At any rate, the exchange was 7:13 in his favour, but he lost his pilots and you saved the ones not killed. At this stage in the war that isn't so bad an exchange.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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HansBolter
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RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
You are going to hate me for this but I tried to warn you about the KB visiting your ports and your inability to stop them.
I agree that it is silly, but it is what it is. The designers chose to make the KB pilots way, way more invulnerable than they were historically. We AFBs just have to live with it.
I agree that it is silly, but it is what it is. The designers chose to make the KB pilots way, way more invulnerable than they were historically. We AFBs just have to live with it.
Hans
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
True, HB, but not sure if it is ahistorical. The allied pilots took a little while to figure out that the Japanese aircraft could dish it out but not take it, and the thing to do when engaging was a diving bounce or a head on pass rather than a manoevering dogfight. Marbakka is only seven weeks into the war [game time] and allied pilot experience has not figured out the best approachs for dealing with their opposition. In other AARs it always seemed to me that it turned around to more equal footing around March-April 42 [P-40Es replacing the B model, and pilot experience gains].
Anyway, you are right about having to take it. I just don't think there is a need to despair as better days are coming this year.
You are also right about the Australian ports being vulnerable, but marbakka wanted to try being aggressive with his ships early on and it didn't work out. Can't fault a new commander for trying to take the initiative. He is learning fast though and it should be entertaining to watch the game progress.
Anyway, you are right about having to take it. I just don't think there is a need to despair as better days are coming this year.
You are also right about the Australian ports being vulnerable, but marbakka wanted to try being aggressive with his ships early on and it didn't work out. Can't fault a new commander for trying to take the initiative. He is learning fast though and it should be entertaining to watch the game progress.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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HansBolter
- Posts: 7457
- Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:30 pm
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RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
True, HB, but not sure if it is ahistorical. The allied pilots took a little while to figure out that the Japanese aircraft could dish it out but not take it, and the thing to do when engaging was a diving bounce or a head on pass rather than a manoevering dogfight. Marbakka is only seven weeks into the war [game time] and allied pilot experience has not figured out the best approachs for dealing with their opposition. In other AARs it always seemed to me that it turned around to more equal footing around March-April 42 [P-40Es replacing the B model, and pilot experience gains].
Anyway, you are right about having to take it. I just don't think there is a need to despair as better days are coming this year.
You are also right about the Australian ports being vulnerable, but marbakka wanted to try being aggressive with his ships early on and it didn't work out. Can't fault a new commander for trying to take the initiative. He is learning fast though and it should be entertaining to watch the game progress.
Agreed it is still too early to expect decent results and that is why I tried to warn him. By early May, when the Battle of the Coral Sea happened, the Japanese took considerable aircrew losses so you are pretty dead on with your March-April assessment and I agree regarding the P40E being a superior plane in game terms.
On the Positive side he did do well in his first CV battle against the mini-KB. [:)]
Hans
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 2/1/1942
- The Japanese crossed the causeway into Singapore today with the following results:
- The KB tried to be sneaky and launched FIVE fighter sweeps over Brisbane and no port attacks. The sudden absence of fighters may tip him off that the ships he is looking for are in Sydney/Melbourne and that he should keep going south (He did move slightly to the south during the day). For the record, I left Houston and Prince of Wales at Sydney and kept going with Boise and Repulse. Sydney is Houston's final destination (the Melbourne yard is full), and PoW was slowing down the fleeing TF by half its speed. Hopefully the fighter CAP can do a better job here than they did in Brisbane, but even if they don't, I'm only losing two ships that are already severely damaged anyway - albeit two ships I'd love to continue using.
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As for all this "I told you so" business, lets not be silly. It doesn't take a genius or experienced player to know that the coast of Australia has to be evacuated if the KB rolls into town and you have only a handful of fighters on the whole continent. I sent the vast majority of my shipping fleeing to NZ and Suva as soon as the KB was seen to be coming back into the Coral Sea after chasing my CVs. The ships sunk at Brisbane are ships that I chose to risk losing in an effort to get those submarines back into service in time to take a shot at the KB. The only exception was AR Castor which I must have missed when putting together my TFs to flee. The fleeing TFs themselves aren't out of the woods yet and 1 group in particular must have left without refueling because it has run out and will have to disband at Lord Howe Island until the danger passes. I'm still very new at this game and definitely need help on some things (and I'm not afraid to admit when I make newb mistakes), but this was just common sense and doesn't seem worthy of all this back-patting going on. [;)]
Which I suppose is my nice way of saying "Advise [:)] but don't patronize [:-]"
- The Japanese crossed the causeway into Singapore today with the following results:
I should note that I chose not to evacuate any of the Australian or Indian troops out of Singapore, opting instead to have them stall him for as long as possible here and allow my troops to be built up elsewhere.Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 44507 troops, 472 guns, 167 vehicles, Assault Value = 1502
Defending force 57106 troops, 572 guns, 560 vehicles, Assault Value = 1363
Japanese adjusted assault: 413
Allied adjusted defense: 2497
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 6 (fort level 3)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
10147 casualties reported
Squads: 89 destroyed, 1030 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 96 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 75 disabled
Guns lost 65 (5 destroyed, 60 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
2284 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 202 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 72 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Guns lost 50 (2 destroyed, 48 disabled)
Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards Division
55th Infantry Regiment
5th Division
12th Engineer Regiment
114th Infantry Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
25th Army
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
- The KB tried to be sneaky and launched FIVE fighter sweeps over Brisbane and no port attacks. The sudden absence of fighters may tip him off that the ships he is looking for are in Sydney/Melbourne and that he should keep going south (He did move slightly to the south during the day). For the record, I left Houston and Prince of Wales at Sydney and kept going with Boise and Repulse. Sydney is Houston's final destination (the Melbourne yard is full), and PoW was slowing down the fleeing TF by half its speed. Hopefully the fighter CAP can do a better job here than they did in Brisbane, but even if they don't, I'm only losing two ships that are already severely damaged anyway - albeit two ships I'd love to continue using.
-------
As for all this "I told you so" business, lets not be silly. It doesn't take a genius or experienced player to know that the coast of Australia has to be evacuated if the KB rolls into town and you have only a handful of fighters on the whole continent. I sent the vast majority of my shipping fleeing to NZ and Suva as soon as the KB was seen to be coming back into the Coral Sea after chasing my CVs. The ships sunk at Brisbane are ships that I chose to risk losing in an effort to get those submarines back into service in time to take a shot at the KB. The only exception was AR Castor which I must have missed when putting together my TFs to flee. The fleeing TFs themselves aren't out of the woods yet and 1 group in particular must have left without refueling because it has run out and will have to disband at Lord Howe Island until the danger passes. I'm still very new at this game and definitely need help on some things (and I'm not afraid to admit when I make newb mistakes), but this was just common sense and doesn't seem worthy of all this back-patting going on. [;)]
Which I suppose is my nice way of saying "Advise [:)] but don't patronize [:-]"
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Stalling him--I believe--is the correct approach. We'll see how long you can hold.
Concur with your "advise and don't patronize" comment. Always a great rule of thumb to operate from.
Concur with your "advise and don't patronize" comment. Always a great rule of thumb to operate from.
Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Let me clarify a bit lest anyone (else) misunderstand my tone or meaning. I appreciate the advice I've been given on this AAR (and the AARs associated with our false starts). I read each post and often implement the suggestions, but I don't often say anything in response because a) I simply don't see the need to say "yeah I think I'll do that" all the time, and b) because keeping up to date on the turns themselves is time consuming enough for me without getting into details about all that I've implemented in the game each turn. I am also sensitive to danger of letting the game move from being about my choices and risks and victories and defeats to being about punching whatever buttons I'm told to push. Canoerebel expressed similar concerns only last week in his own AAR and he is an experienced player!
I had no intention of sounding harsh - especially not toward any one particular person. If anyone read it that way, then you missed my tone entirely, as often happens in text-based communication.
In my defense, I DID put a winky and a smiley before I put the...err...naughty(?), so I at least tried. [:D]
I had no intention of sounding harsh - especially not toward any one particular person. If anyone read it that way, then you missed my tone entirely, as often happens in text-based communication.
In my defense, I DID put a winky and a smiley before I put the...err...naughty(?), so I at least tried. [:D]
RE: Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1
Combat Report - 2/2/1942
- He has landed some more troops at Port Moresby. Evidently, he doesn't feel like he has enough there to do the job
- CL Sumatra, which was repairing during the general evacuation of the Java Sea, joined a ragtag group trying to flee Soerabaja. 4 LBA attacks during the day managed to sink CM Krakatau but left the cruiser unscratched. They are on their way to Colombo to help support British operations in the IO.
- The KB moved within range of Sydney, but their admiral got wind of the large convoy of shipping that disbanded at Lord Howe Island (they were out of fuel and couldn't go further; no idea why they didn't weren't fully fueled before they left). There were no attacks on Sydney but struck at the island twice sinking 11 xAPs (medium range, the long ones are on the WC), 2 AGPs, and an AS. I'm annoyed that these guys weren't able to make it to NZ, but honestly I'm not feeling hurt too bad. I have tons of stuff to move troops in for now and these were empty.
I expect that the KB will strike at Sydney tomorrow and probably sink PoW and Houston who could not flee any further. What the KB does next will be pretty important. Unless he withdraws to the north, I expect I'll be losing a lot more. If he goes around to Melbourne, then I have surface units there in the yard that can't really flee. If he goes toward NZ, then he will catch the rest of the stuff that fled from Australia, and if he goes east toward Suva, he may well catch a lot more. How much longer can he do this without going back to restock? He has to have flown a LOT of sorties. I'm most worried about a transport fleet that is loaded and ready to go to Luganville. They could go directly there right now, but if he moves east then they will be caught red handed. For now, I'm ordering them to the NE of Suva where they can wait to see if they will get an opening.
- He has landed some more troops at Port Moresby. Evidently, he doesn't feel like he has enough there to do the job
- CL Sumatra, which was repairing during the general evacuation of the Java Sea, joined a ragtag group trying to flee Soerabaja. 4 LBA attacks during the day managed to sink CM Krakatau but left the cruiser unscratched. They are on their way to Colombo to help support British operations in the IO.
- The KB moved within range of Sydney, but their admiral got wind of the large convoy of shipping that disbanded at Lord Howe Island (they were out of fuel and couldn't go further; no idea why they didn't weren't fully fueled before they left). There were no attacks on Sydney but struck at the island twice sinking 11 xAPs (medium range, the long ones are on the WC), 2 AGPs, and an AS. I'm annoyed that these guys weren't able to make it to NZ, but honestly I'm not feeling hurt too bad. I have tons of stuff to move troops in for now and these were empty.
I expect that the KB will strike at Sydney tomorrow and probably sink PoW and Houston who could not flee any further. What the KB does next will be pretty important. Unless he withdraws to the north, I expect I'll be losing a lot more. If he goes around to Melbourne, then I have surface units there in the yard that can't really flee. If he goes toward NZ, then he will catch the rest of the stuff that fled from Australia, and if he goes east toward Suva, he may well catch a lot more. How much longer can he do this without going back to restock? He has to have flown a LOT of sorties. I'm most worried about a transport fleet that is loaded and ready to go to Luganville. They could go directly there right now, but if he moves east then they will be caught red handed. For now, I'm ordering them to the NE of Suva where they can wait to see if they will get an opening.