NOT JUST Submarines in the Pacific: FDRLincoln (Japan) vs. Bakerman (Allies)

[obvert]

Banzai!! Nicely done.

I'd say Lex is done and Yorktown in a bad way. If you saw engine damage messages on Enterprise or Hornet they might be a while getting anywhere safe. The damage control can keep them going for days at critical levels though so a follow-up would be advisable. He has a lot of surface elements untouched there though. I would be wary of a charge at flank toward your ships.

Do you have any LBA in range? Also, do you have surface forces following with the KB? Even getting the damaged CVs engaged could help them over the top. With that kind of damage he'll have to move out in cruise so you most likely have time to catch them. I would pull the KB back now, try to get them refueled and go back for them, especially if you are closer to your bases they they to theirs. I'd also throw every sub within range in front of his retreat path. Slow CVs are big targets.

Strange the low CAP numbers for the Allies. Assuming he launched before your strike that is also a VERY small attack from that many Allied CVs.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Banzai!! Nicely done.

I'd say Lex is done and Yorktown in a bad way. If you saw engine damage messages on Enterprise or Hornet they might be a while getting anywhere safe. The damage control can keep them going for days at critical levels though so a follow-up would be advisable.

+1

Bring your fuel closer if you have at least 1 more raid worth of bombs, I would go for it. You need to kill the cripples, bombs will do fine against CV/CA's.

You had some good luck here (thunderstorms and you got through!), BANZAI!!!

[FDRLincoln]

Yes, there are Bettys (with torpedoes) and Zero escorts in the area set to attack. I also have three submarines set up along his line of retreat. There is a SAG with four cruisers that will be in position to intercept in a day.

KB is pulling back to refuel from the replenishment group which will take a day. I also note that the positions of Saratoga and Wasp are unknown, so I'm wary about charging after him. I'll see how things look once KB has the tanks topped up.

[FDRLincoln]

He is a very aggressive player, so it would not surprise me if he sends his surviving cruisers and destroyers on a dash to try and catch my carriers at night.

[Crackaces]

Strange the low CAP numbers for the Allies. Assuming he launched before your strike that is also a VERY small attack from that many Allied CVs.

Something like setting planes on LRCAP rather than CAP reducing the number of responding aircraft or setting a whole bunch of planes on training .. but something very very bizzare for only 13 planes to defend .. and the numbers on the attack given clear weather leads me to think a huge Allied mistake ..this game punishes those that do not pay attention to details .

[FDRLincoln]

My opponent won't have time to run the replay and do his turn until tomorrow, but I told him there was a big battle in the Coral Sea. It turns out that he was sending his stuff up there to try to disrupt my landings at Buna and Lae (which was part of the bait). He says he did not know that my carriers were present.

All of my flight decks except Hiyo and Unyo (which are supporting the Timor operation) were in the Coral Sea area but he didn't know this. I saw his carriers, but he didn't see mine. Midway in reverse basically. We'll see if Allied Damage Control can save his fleet.

[FDRLincoln]

My opponent is highly competent and aggressive and makes few mistakes. Something went badly awry for him in this battle.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: FDRLincoln

................

All of my flight decks except Hiyo and Unyo (which are supporting the Timor operation) were in the Coral Sea area but he didn't know this. I saw his carriers, but he didn't see mine. Midway in reverse basically. We'll see if Allied Damage Control can save his fleet.

His CV's saw yours as you saw his ..

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 106,137
Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 89



Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 30
SBD-2 Dauntless x 9
SBD-3 Dauntless x 39
TBD-1 Devastator x 27
.............

Otherwise I am thinking it would have been an afternoon attack after your planes attacked .. but instead an exchange occured ..

I am getting more convinced that groups were left in training mode thinking the big blue sea was empty .. nice hunting FDRLincoln!!!!

[FDRLincoln]

Well my thinking is that, operationally, he didn't know my carriers were there and wasn't prepared to face them.

Given how detail-oriented he usually is, I wouldn't expect him to have left his squadrons on training, but everyone can make a mistake.

[FDRLincoln]

Maybe the thunderstorms in his hex disrupted his flight operations, but somehow didn't interfere with my attack?

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: FDRLincoln

Maybe the thunderstorms in his hex disrupted his flight operations, but somehow didn't interfere with my attack?

What I have observed in the AAR's is that the TF's in the thunderstorms get added protection while the TF's sitting in the clear are dead ducks .. the opposite occured here. Way less platforms launched even on CAP thus why I suspect some training configuration like %30 training ... But the good news is that you caught your enemy flat footed and now the IJ can breathe .. unitl '44 [;)]

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: FDRLincoln

Well my thinking is that, operationally, he didn't know my carriers were there and wasn't prepared to face them.

Given how detail-oriented he usually is, I wouldn't expect him to have left his squadrons on training, but everyone can make a mistake.

Mistakes definitely happen. Smeulders in our PBEM sent his Allied CV's on an attack against Japanese shipping at Lunga, not suspecting KB was around. No Allied naval air strikes flew, because all the carrier aircraft had been stood down and forgotten to be changed back. Luckily for him, KB ended up one hex too far away, otherwise it most likely would have been a massacre.

It's so easy to forget to change a setting in this game, especially if you let yourself get distracted.

Regardless, nice job with the ambush and reaping the reward from committing your forces according to plan!

[FDRLincoln]

Maybe...but Saratoga and Wasp are still out there, and I don't know for sure that all four of his CVs sunk...I suspect only two did. Still, his carrier force has suffered a severe blow, and this gives me some breathing room for several months at least.

[FDRLincoln]

He has been using the British Navy aggressively in the Burma Area, and I need to get some CVs out there to do something about that. I almost did this a week ago but decided to keep my carrier decks concentrated for the pending battle.

[FDRLincoln]

My opponent says Lexington is sunk, Yorktown will probably sink. Enterprise is on fire and may or may not survive. Hornet will make it unless she runs into a submarine.

He also says that he screwed up his combat orders due to work exhaustion. He is not asking for a replay, but he is discouraged and is thinking about resigning the game. I am trying to talk him out of it. He says if he loses all four CVs, that he can't stop me from an auto-victory.

I am trying to talk him out of it. His situation isn't as bad as he thinks. He still has Saratoga and Wasp, plus his surface fleets are in great shape...he hasn't lost a single modern US destroyer or cruiser. My supply lines in Burma and southern China are weak, and he's already attritted my merchant marine enough that I have a shortage of tankers and APs.

I really want to keep this game going.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: FDRLincoln

He is not asking for a replay, but he is discouraged and is thinking about resigning the game. I am trying to talk him out of it. He says if he loses all four CVs, that he can't stop me from an auto-victory.

I am trying to talk him out of it. His situation isn't as bad as he thinks. He still has Saratoga and Wasp, plus his surface fleets are in great shape...he hasn't lost a single modern US destroyer or cruiser. My supply lines in Burma and southern China are weak, and he's already attritted my merchant marine enough that I have a shortage of tankers and APs.

I really want to keep this game going.

I hope he will continue as well. The Allied side can weather a few defeats far better then the Japanese can. Even without CV's, the Allies have many options to strike back, even if it means simply a land campaign in Burma for awhile, or relying on a bombing campaign until the fleet recovers.

Myself, who almost a PBEM because of the lack of fun (not because of a defeat) and finding out I loathe playing Japan with PDU-off, I can empathize with your opponent. There are numerous AAR's where opponents have encountered serious setbacks on both sides recently. Perhaps point a few of those out to your opponent, and maybe he'll take heart seeing how others are coping and adjusting. There's lots of game left, it's too soon to throw in his cards.

I hope the game moves forward.

[FDRLincoln]

If he resigns, I may ask to see if someone else will take over the game from him.

[FDRLincoln]

After some encouragement, my opponent will continue the game. He still has 2 untouched CVs and is certain he can save Hornet and perhaps Enterprise, plus he has plenty of land-based air and "atoll fortresses" as he puts it.

[FDRLincoln]

My opponent reports that Enterprise sank and Yorktown is in sad shape and might not make it to harbor. Minneapolis also died of her injuries. Hornet will survive.

So, the results of the Battle of the Coral Sea:

US Confirmed Losses: Lexington, Enterprise, Minneapolis, almost 200 aircraft.
US Cripples: Yorktown
US Damaged: Hornet
Japan Losses: 34 aircraft
Japan Damaged: Soryu will need about perhaps 3 months in dry dock to repair SYS and HULL damage and refit. Zuikaku will need about 3 weeks.

[FDRLincoln]

My opponent has been using his British fleet to conduct frequent bombardments of Rangoon and Victoria Point, using Port Blair as a staging base. I finally got sick of this, and deployed the Main Battle Fleet to stop him. There were no British carriers in the area, so this was a surface battle, and a bloody one.

It began with a close-range night action, as my Torpedo Squadron led by the Long-Lance equipped CL Kitikami got in the first blows.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Victoria Point at 49,63, Range 1,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Naka, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Kitakami
DD Fubuki
DD Usugumo
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 2
DD Sazanami, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Uruyuke

Allied Ships
BB Revenge
BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1
BB Ramillies, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 6, and is sunk
BB Resolution, Shell hits 25, Torpedo hits 8, and is sunk
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CL Hobart
CL Mauritius
CL Newcastle
DD Tjerk Hiddes
DD Stronghold
DD Decoy
DD Fortune
DD Griffin



Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms with 42% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 42% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 5,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
Range closes to 1,000 yards...
CL Kitakami engages BB Resolution at 1,000 yards
CL Naka engages BB Ramillies at 1,000 yards
DD Uruyuke engages BB Resolution at 1,000 yards
BB Resolution sunk by DD Sazanami at 1,000 yards
CL Newcastle engages CL Naka at 1,000 yards
Range increases to 2,000 yards
BB Ramillies engages CL Naka at 2,000 yards
BB Ramillies engages CL Naka at 2,000 yards
DD Uruyuke engages BB Ramillies at 2,000 yards
BB Ramillies sunk by DD Asagiri at 2,000 yards
CL Newcastle engages CL Naka at 2,000 yards
CL Mauritius engages CL Naka at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
DD Uruyuke collides with DD Sazanami at 49 , 63
CL Kitakami engages BB Royal Sovereign at 3,000 yards
BB Revenge engages CL Naka at 3,000 yards
BB Royal Sovereign engages DD Uruyuke at 3,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages BB Royal Sovereign at 3,000 yards
CL Newcastle engages CL Naka at 3,000 yards
DD Usugumo engages BB Royal Sovereign at 3,000 yards
DD Fubuki engages BB Royal Sovereign at 3,000 yards
DD Asagiri engages DD Griffin at 3,000 yards
DD Fortune engages DD Sazanami at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
BB Royal Sovereign engages CL Kitakami at 4,000 yards
CL Naka engages BB Revenge at 4,000 yards
CA Cornwall engages CL Naka at 4,000 yards
DD Asagiri engages DD Griffin at 4,000 yards
CL Naka engages CL Mauritius at 4,000 yards
CL Hobart engages CL Naka at 4,000 yards
Task forces break off...