Continental Clash - Cuttlefish (J) vs castor troy (A)

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 14, 42
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Night Naval bombardment of Langsa at 46,74 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

108 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami, Shell hits 1
CA Ashigara
CL Kuma


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

another cruiser bombardment against Langsa, same result as the first one... these bombardments achieve exactly nothing... well, the CD unit got disrupted but who cares...

Medan Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Kumano
CA Kumano firing at Medan Coastal Gun Battalion
CA Mikuma firing at Medan Coastal Gun Battalion
Medan Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Mikuma
Medan Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Mogami
CA Mogami firing at Medan Coastal Gun Battalion
CA Ashigara firing at Medan Coastal Gun Battalion
Medan Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Ashigara
CL Kuma firing at Medan Coastal Gun Battalion
Medan Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CL Kuma


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Asiatic Fleet , at 79,76 (Clark Field)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 14
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 29



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 damaged


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


Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
14 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
15 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion ...
Also attacking Asiatic Fleet ...
Also attacking 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion ...
Also attacking Asiatic Fleet ...
Also attacking 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion ...
Also attacking Asiatic Fleet ...
Also attacking 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Coffs Harbour at 95,164

Japanese Ships
SS I-168, hits 1

Allied Ships
AM Warrnambool
CA Houston
AM Lithgow
AM Ipswitch
AM Wollongong

Houston earlier collided with one of my destroyers escorting my carriers and is now sent back to Sydney to enter the yard for repairs, probably not taking longer than a week... glad I-168 didn't get a shot at my heavy cruiser... tried for months so far, all my ASW TFs are literally useless and the IJN can keep subs off Australia's coast at will, we can't do anything against it...

Captain of SS I-168 elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
AM Ipswitch fails to find sub and abandons search
AM Wollongong attacking submerged sub ....
AM Wollongong loses contact with SS I-168
AM Wollongong fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Wollongong fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Wollongong fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Wollongong attacking submerged sub ....
AM Wollongong fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2606 troops, 163 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 1892

Defending force 74684 troops, 967 guns, 706 vehicles, Assault Value = 2526

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 8 (4 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
16th Division
11th Division
8th Tank Regiment
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
38th Division
2nd Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment
14th Army
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
31st Infantry Regiment
14th PS Engineer Regiment
192nd Tank Battalion
61st PA Infantry Division
91st PA Infantry Division
1st PA Infantry Division
26th PS Cavalry Regiment
45th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
41st PA Infantry Division
51st PA Infantry Division
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
11th PA Infantry Division
21st PA Infantry Division
31st PA Infantry Division
81st PA Infantry Division
194th Tank Battalion
4th Marine Regiment
71st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Constabulary Division
803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion
301st Construction Battalion
Provisional GMC Grp
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
Far East USAAF
USAFFE
II Philippine Corps
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
I Philippine Corps
Manila USAAF Base Force
202nd PA Construction Battalion
201st PA Construction Battalion
Asiatic Fleet
Clark Field USAAF Base Force
PAF Aviation
88th PS Field Artillery Regiment
1st PI Base Force
301st PA Field Artillery Regiment

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 15, 42
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Bataan at 78,77

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 9



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
MTB 12
MTB 8



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x D3A1 Val bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Medan Coastal Gun Battalion, at 46,74 (Langsa)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 12
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 18



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
18 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 8000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 100 kg GP Bomb
12 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Medan Coastal Gun Battalion, at 46,74 (Langsa)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 9



No Japanese losses


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


Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the start of some very intense days to come...



Morning Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160


Weather in hex: Moderate rain


Raid detected at 116 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 43 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 79
B5N2 Kate x 44
D3A1 Val x 40



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 10
Kittyhawk IA x 20
P-39D Airacobra x 16
P-400 Airacobra x 31
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Aylwin
DD Hull
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
DD Dewey
DD Farragut
DD MacDonough
DD Worden


after my B-17 appeared at Noumea I thought the enemy would react and flew them out again and filled the airfield with roughly 170 fighters and had a destroyer SAG at the base to welcome any attempt of bombarding the airfield... I didn't dare to move cruisers to the base as I also expected KB to be near enough to threaten them but DD should do fine even if attacked by KB... no bombardment TF showed up and it was KB to attack my destroyers in the morning... considering the excellent pre warning time and the 80/20 setting of my fighters I expected to drain this strike but once more, the fighters were pretty much useless doing not much... we tangle with an unexpected numerous escort for only a short time to turn onto the bombers but yet again only a handful are shot down... absolutely depressing...

what really strikes me is the big number of Zeroes on escort, KB must have more or less only a tiny CAP as this strike confirmed my suspecion that KB is not at full strenght as we identified aircraft from all carriers but those two that were hit off Java by the Dutch... those bomb hits off Java can now have a war turning effect because I decided to engage the IJN off New Caledonia if I would figure out that those two carriers are not with KB, means KB is missing some 140 aircraft... in total, there are probably only around 250 carrier based aircraft while our carriers carry 560 and are just one day away from the enemy... with the losses within this strike, I estimate the enemy's strenght as about 225 carrier based ac...

as you can see below, the Vals were once more LEVEL bombing... only Cuttlefish knows why... moderate rain, agile destroyers and level bombing Vals meant no hits on my ships... unhappy about my fighters' performance but we gained the important info that KB is missing two carriers (or exactly those two have not launched any aircraft, which I seriously doubt as my nav search also indicates a smaller KB than usual)...




Aircraft Attacking:
9 x D3A1 Val bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D3A1 Val bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D3A1 Val bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D3A1 Val bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
No.77 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
8th FG/36th FS with P-40E Warhawk (4 airborne, 11 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
58th FG/67th FS with P-39D Airacobra (4 airborne, 11 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
58th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
8th FG/80th FS with P-400 Airacobra (4 airborne, 11 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack


Attacking force 59930 troops, 674 guns, 724 vehicles, Assault Value = 1898

Defending force 74714 troops, 967 guns, 706 vehicles, Assault Value = 2525

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1 [:(]

Japanese adjusted assault: 831

Allied adjusted defense: 6178

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 7 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
13299 casualties reported
Squads: 90 destroyed, 779 disabled [:D]
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 139 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 172 disabled
Guns lost 102 (8 destroyed, 94 disabled)
Vehicles lost 156 (5 destroyed, 151 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
911 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 62 disabled [:D]
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 41 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Guns lost 37 (3 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (2 destroyed, 10 disabled)

another deliberate attack at Clark Field that ends in the same disastrous way the ones before did too... the enemy's assaulting units are trashed having combat squads disabled worth 2 divs plus a nice number of destroyed squads and equipment for literally nothing destroyed on our side and disablements spread out over all our units... this attack has only hurt one side, the Japanese... said it before, there is no chance to achieve something until we run out of supplies and at the moment there are something like 65-70000 tons of supplies left so we will hold for the coming months for sure... what really strikes me is that CF even orders an attack, don't know if it's pure frustration or overconfidence, he doesn't even come close to my base av, let alone having the needed strenght to take on a fully prepped, fully supplied Army in jungle/rough terrain...

IMO all he can do is turning this into a POW camp, leaving a couple of divs there to hold my units but any attack is close to suizide in the next months and if he wants to take the place at all cost he has to move in a dozen divs more which he probably won't have on hand as there are two operating on Sumatra and one or two are sitting at our POW camp at Bandoeng/Java... he also operates against New Caledonia so I am not sure if there are any spare divs available after we have heavily hit quite a couple of them already at Clark Field which were sent back to Manila for R&R if I can trust my intel...


Assaulting units:
11th Division
48th Division
8th Tank Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Division
16th Division
2nd Tank Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Army
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
61st PA Infantry Division
1st PA Infantry Division
14th PS Engineer Regiment
71st PA Infantry Division
194th Tank Battalion
31st Infantry Regiment
21st PA Infantry Division
4th Marine Regiment
81st PA Infantry Division
192nd Tank Battalion
11th PA Infantry Division
91st PA Infantry Division
51st PA Infantry Division
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
26th PS Cavalry Regiment
41st PA Infantry Division
45th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
31st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Constabulary Division
202nd PA Construction Battalion
201st PA Construction Battalion
Clark Field USAAF Base Force
USAFFE
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
88th PS Field Artillery Regiment
Asiatic Fleet
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
PAF Aviation
II Philippine Corps
I Philippine Corps
Manila USAAF Base Force
Far East USAAF
301st Construction Battalion
Provisional GMC Grp
803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion
1st PI Base Force
301st PA Field Artillery Regiment

[castor troy]

here are today's air losses...

[koniu]

Do your opponent always was using dive bombers on wrong attitude?

I am almost sorry for him as dive attack is only attack having chance of hit vs DD and smaller ships.

[castor troy]

situation around New Caledonia... as already mentioned, I have ordered my fleet to engage KB and/or all the other assets the IJN got in the area as we are pretty much sure KB is missing some carriers and doesn't really deserve to be called KB... expect to meet two carriers of 70 ac capacity plus two smaller ones with 50+ each, together roughly 250 ac at best minus the losses of today... means we will field at least twice the number of carrier based aircraft based on 5 USN carriers that were reinforced by a USMC fighter squadron each plus three RN carriers which will increase our Cap and carry our only effective torpedo bombers (Swordfish and Albacore)...

have also flown in a couple of Marauder squadrons to Noumea being set to nav strike at 9 hex as this would give them the same range as my carriers bombers which are all set to 6 hex... KB to be expected to either move closer to Noumea or staying roughly in place... we also expect a naval bombardment for sure (BB and CA being reported) and therefore we have ordered our destroyers at Noumea to stay there and we will also have the cruiser SAG NW of our cruisers moving in at flank speed to reach Noumea during the night as we have put everything in place yesterday already... the cruiser SAG is mostly made up by Commonwealth cruisers as those should do better in a night engagement than the US ones... if we only meet enemy cruisers we should do fine, enemy BB would be a tad tougher I guess... goal would be to fend off any attempt to bombard our airfield...

at the same time our troop convoys form up in the area too, covered by a SAG made up by some British BB, cruisers and destroyers... those convoys will stay SW of Noumea, we are actually not in a hurry to bring in the reinforcements as Noumea is absolutely safe anyway so if we end up having our carriers defeated tomorrow, the IJN flattops could suddenly also be a threat to my convoys, which carry no less than three divs (two USMC divs), plus lots of tank units, base forces, AA...

to be honest, everything is prepared to smack the IJN hard, if something goes wrong, I can't blame myself for the preparation or execution as we heavily outnumber the enemy in terms of aircraft (560 carrier based, 250 at Noumea vs 225 IJN carrier based ac), we have 10 subs (all got working torps) patrolling the area where the IJN is moving around, we have ample nav search so no enemy TF will slip through are search patterns, we should outnumber the enemy in terms of battleships, cruisers and destroyers and we have Noumea's level 4 port (easily built up to 5 or 6) for emergency repairs and Australia's and New Zealand's big ports nearby... looking at the odds, everything but a defeat of the enemy would surprise me but I`ve learnt from the past that the outcome can be different than the expectation... nevertheless, looking at the situation, I don't have the slightest doubt it's not a good idea to strike tomorrow...

my carriers are lead by a cruiser SAG that is followed by an ASW group and my carriers...

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: koniu

Do your opponent always was using dive bombers on wrong attitude?

I am almost sorry for him as dive attack is only attack having chance of hit vs DD and smaller ships.

not always, he had them dive bombing too in the past and I got no idea why he doesn't keep them at an altitude they dive bomb from (10,000ft instead of 9000ft). I even asked CF in the past so I guess he knows what he's doing, IMO he's doing something wrong here but oppinions may differ. [;)]

[castor troy]

here's how my carrier TF looks like... some people argue it's better to split their carriers and keep them below the stacking limits, I have always been a fan of keeping them together... easier to escort them, they don't react around like wild and on their own and you end up having an impressing AA value... if you are not aware of Babes or Babeslite, have a look at the AA value this carrier TF got, usually you are hard pushed to have such a limit in 45 in a stock game, this is what you get in Babeslite after doing the 4/42 upgrades... let's see how that will play out, most of my ships still carry the 1.1 instead of the 40mm Bofors but the AA values are truly impressive...

my carriers are currently covered by Force Z's BB/BC but Repulse will be replaced by BB Washington that got a better AA suit and is a stronger ship overall... not that usually I really fear my carriers running into an enemy SAG but it just makes me feel better to have two potent BB moving together with my carriers and POW alone currently got an AA value of 2000+ which at the moment is 2.5 times more than one of my upgraded USN CA...

[Miller]

That force plus your LBA would prevail against the full KB AND mini KB...........I bet he loses all his participating flight decks in the upcoming battle.

[castor troy]

Here we go, all orders reached the fleet and I was really excited about watching the replay...


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 16, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Lakatoro at 118,152

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Hiei
CA Tone
CL Jintsu
DD Makigumo
DD Samidare
DD Urakaze
DD Isokaze

Allied Ships
SS Truant


woohoo! Now that's a start I couldn't have dreamt of... Hiryu is hit hard as she suffers a fuel storage explosion from the second torp hit... as you can see from the position of the attack, KB has moved NE from yesterday's position while there is at least one TF moving SW towards Noumea which probably is the bombardment TF...



Fuel storage explosion on CV Hiryu
SS Truant launches 6 torpedoes at CV Hiryu
Truant diving deep ....
DD Samidare fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Urakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isokaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Samidare attacking submerged sub ....
DD Urakaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Isokaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Samidare fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isokaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Samidare fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Isokaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isokaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isokaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Miller

That force plus your LBA would prevail against the full KB AND mini KB...........I bet he loses all his participating flight decks in the upcoming battle.

the problem against full KB plus mini KB (doesn't exist anymore as two CVL were sunk off Borneo early on [:D]) is that the return strike would also cause damage to my fleet which is not something I like. I know many Allied player would always trade an IJN CV for an Allied one but that is not what I want to do, except the circumstances would really force me to. My goal is always to have the odds heavily favouring my forces to do damage and get away with as few ships sunk as possible. I can live with damaged ships but losing ships is something I really hate. I preferre not having a carrier engagement with the enemy over having sunk 3 IJN CV for 1 USN CV sunk.

But yeah, against his four carriers, my force really is something that should whipe the floor.

[crsutton]

CT, good luck with your battle. I know you are ahead of the game in real time and it has already happened. Once again, I am mystified by Cuttlefish's moves. My hard set rule as the Allies is that you do not use your carriers in 42 unless you are absolutely sure of KB position. Well I would think that this rule would also apply to any Japanese player who opts to split KB. To have a split KB operating in one location for such a long period of time is courting disaster when he does not know where your carriers are operating. It is like a death wish....

I am also mystifed by is level bombing with his vals. I actually use my avengers to level bomb small ships, including DDs and CLs. I prefer it over torpedo attack which usually miss and have plenty of sucess. But I level bomb at 1,000 to 2,000 feet. At 9,000 feet he will never hit a fast ship.

[Miller]

Rule No 1 for Japan: Never, ever split up the KB.

Rule No 2: See Rule No 1.

[Capt. Harlock]

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 79
B5N2 Kate x 44
D3A1 Val x 40



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 10
Kittyhawk IA x 20
P-39D Airacobra x 16
P-400 Airacobra x 31
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Aylwin
DD Hull
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
DD Dewey
DD Farragut
DD MacDonough
DD Worden


after my B-17 appeared at Noumea I thought the enemy would react and flew them out again and filled the airfield with roughly 170 fighters and had a destroyer SAG at the base to welcome any attempt of bombarding the airfield... I didn't dare to move cruisers to the base as I also expected KB to be near enough to threaten them but DD should do fine even if attacked by KB... no bombardment TF showed up and it was KB to attack my destroyers in the morning... considering the excellent pre warning time and the 80/20 setting of my fighters I expected to drain this strike but once more, the fighters were pretty much useless doing not much... we tangle with an unexpected numerous escort for only a short time to turn onto the bombers but yet again only a handful are shot down... absolutely depressing...

This is one time I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. I would have been delighted with those results -- you had only thirty first-line fighters against 79 Zeroes. (Okay, make it fifty counting the Kittyhawks.) Where are your Wildcats? And why do you still have P-400's in mid-June?

[witpqs]

P-400s are good fighters if you keep them down low and driven by good pilots.

[wsoxfan]

What's the average experience of your troops on the Phillipines? Would it be possible to mount a counteroffensive if he launches another of those attacks(in which the equivilant of two divisions were destroyed or disabled)? Anyways, good luck in the upcoming carrier battle.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

CT, good luck with your battle. I know you are ahead of the game in real time and it has already happened. Once again, I am mystified by Cuttlefish's moves. My hard set rule as the Allies is that you do not use your carriers in 42 unless you are absolutely sure of KB position. Well I would think that this rule would also apply to any Japanese player who opts to split KB. To have a split KB operating in one location for such a long period of time is courting disaster when he does not know where your carriers are operating. It is like a death wish....

I am also mystifed by is level bombing with his vals. I actually use my avengers to level bomb small ships, including DDs and CLs. I prefer it over torpedo attack which usually miss and have plenty of sucess. But I level bomb at 1,000 to 2,000 feet. At 9,000 feet he will never hit a fast ship.

thanks. Yes the battle happened already and to be honest, I was not counting on luck, I was completely counting on the odds, which were absolutely in my favour.

The whole operation against New Caledonia should not have happened the way it did IMO. Those two carriers that were hit off Java can't be out of the fight for long so he should have either waited for them or not gone for it at all, which would have been the best decision as 140 carrier based ac more still aren't a guarantee for success. In my case (probably not for most Allied players) it would have meant I would not send in my carriers though.

Yeah, also preferre to use my TBF to level bomb instead of doing unsuccesful torp runs. Am using them on 6000ft as they are trained on nav bomb and torp and they do just fine from that alt. Using them at 1000ft would mean needing to train them on lownav which I don't want as I can use the same pilots that are used for the dive bombers in the TBF with navbomb 70 and just have to train their torp skill additionally. But level bombing dive bombers really are a no go.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Rule No 1 for Japan: Never, ever split up the KB.

Rule No 2: See Rule No 1.

same goes for me with Allied carriers until a certain stage which only happens very late in the war for me.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 79
B5N2 Kate x 44
D3A1 Val x 40



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 10
Kittyhawk IA x 20
P-39D Airacobra x 16
P-400 Airacobra x 31
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Aylwin
DD Hull
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
DD Dewey
DD Farragut
DD MacDonough
DD Worden


after my B-17 appeared at Noumea I thought the enemy would react and flew them out again and filled the airfield with roughly 170 fighters and had a destroyer SAG at the base to welcome any attempt of bombarding the airfield... I didn't dare to move cruisers to the base as I also expected KB to be near enough to threaten them but DD should do fine even if attacked by KB... no bombardment TF showed up and it was KB to attack my destroyers in the morning... considering the excellent pre warning time and the 80/20 setting of my fighters I expected to drain this strike but once more, the fighters were pretty much useless doing not much... we tangle with an unexpected numerous escort for only a short time to turn onto the bombers but yet again only a handful are shot down... absolutely depressing...

This is one time I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. I would have been delighted with those results -- you had only thirty first-line fighters against 79 Zeroes. (Okay, make it fifty counting the Kittyhawks.) Where are your Wildcats? And why do you still have P-400's in mid-June?

No probs disagreeing with me. [:)]

We obviously completely disagree on the fighters, as I only had first line fighters at Noumea, driven by first line pilots (air 70 def 70). The P-39 is nothing worse than the P-40 and the P-400 is even better than the P-39 so in fact, the P-400 is the best fighter I have there. Only the single P-38 squadron at Port Moresby got better aircraft and that squadron is the only one I have.

The Wildcats are coming all behind the P-40, P-39 and P-400 and not only this, my USMC squadrons aren't as well trained as the USAAF ones. The Marine pilots all got 70 air skill but lack a little def skill, mostly in the mid 60s and the only frontline USMC squadrons I use are those that are on the USN carriers. The F4F-4 IMO is inferior to the above aircraft, if we are looking at it's speed, it's roughly 40mph slower than the USAAF fighters. Same armor, same gun value, probably more maneuverable (not giving much about that) and about the same climb rate but less durable? I would never switch a P-40 or P-39 for a F4F-4. Supporting the USAAF fighters yes, but if I would have more USAAF fighters I would use them instead of the F4F-4. Something different of course as soon as the Corsair is available.

The main problem in this engagement wasn't the performance of my fighters (they did well) but the duration of the engagement. There was an excellent pre warning time, there is a hell of a load of fighters at Noumea but the engagement was over in just a moment. All those fighters on Cap, all those escorts, they nearly did nothing. Then a short engagement within the bombers and that's it. He got away really light on losses here as a longer engagement would have probably meant a slaughter within the enemy's fighters and bombers. I am not afraid of KB's Zeroes on escort, mind you, my pilots are all excellently trained (will never get better in the whole war) and on escort, even KB's Zeroes are dead meat if not facing those early Allied pilots in their 50s air/def. I have depleted KB's airwings in so many games at losses that clearly favour the Allied I stopped counting. Something different of course if they show up on an strato sweep but on escort... boom

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: wsoxfan

What's the average experience of your troops on the Phillipines? Would it be possible to mount a counteroffensive if he launches another of those attacks(in which the equivilant of two divisions were destroyed or disabled)? Anyways, good luck in the upcoming carrier battle.

The troops are all around 60 exp. I am not planning a counter offensive to be honest as there is not much I could gain and I am fine with holding Clark Field and Bataan and keep the IJA busy. It's just all about supply and the less we consume the better. Taking Northern Luzon back won't give me more than holding my stronghold, in fact it would cause me more trouble as I would have to spread out my units which is something I try to avoid right from the start, hence my strong buildup at Clark Field.

[castor troy]

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Noumea at 115,160, Range 4,000 Yards



Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 1
BB Hyuga
CA Atago
CL Tama
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Hatsuharu
DD Isonami
DD Sagiri
DD Amagiri
DD Akebono
DD Ushio

Allied Ships
DD Farragut
DD Aylwin
DD Monaghan, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Dale
DD Worden
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Dewey, Shell hits 1
DD Hull, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

wonder if it's good or bad if things happen as expected... the enemy bombardment TF shows up, our destroyers are on station to meet the enemy... our squadron crosses the T, the bombardment TF takes three of our destroyers apart and the rest runs... the DD didn't even make use of their torps, let alone firing their guns, as always for each salvo fired by the Allied ships, the IJN fired roughly have a dozen resulting in three DD sunk for one non damaging 5 inch hit on a BB... once more I start to think I would just be better off having the enemy bombard my base instead of trying to do something against it... use BB and lose them to dozens of IJN torps and you are told you have to use non torpedo magnets like cruisers and destroyers and you end up with no hits on the enemy and your small ships sunk, try different and someone probably tells you you have to use bigger ships...

the conditions would have been perfectly to do a torp attack and retreat, instead the destroyers sit there, don't fire and are taken out by a bombardment TF... I am not arguing that this is an unrealistic result, it's just once more depressing to see the destroyers not even firing their weapons so the way to get the result is highly questionable...

Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 7% moonlight: 5,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 4,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 4,000 yards
Moosbrugger, Fred crosses the 'T'
DD Akebono engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
DD Dewey engages DD Ushio at 4,000 yards
BB Haruna engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
CA Atago engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
CL Tama engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
DD Ushio engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
DD Akebono engages DD Dewey at 4,000 yards
DD Farragut engages DD Ushio at 4,000 yards
DD Dewey engages DD Hatsuharu at 4,000 yards
DD Suzukaze engages DD Farragut at 4,000 yards
DD Umikaze engages DD Hull at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
DD Hull engages DD Sagiri at 3,000 yards
DD Hull sunk by BB Yamashiro at 3,000 yards
DD MacDonough engages DD Akebono at 3,000 yards
DD Monaghan engages DD Umikaze at 3,000 yards
DD Akebono engages DD Farragut at 3,000 yards
DD Suzukaze engages DD Monaghan at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
DD Umikaze engages DD Dewey at 7,000 yards
DD MacDonough sunk by BB Yamashiro at 7,000 yards
BB Haruna engages DD Dewey at 7,000 yards
CA Atago engages DD Dewey at 7,000 yards
DD Monaghan engages DD Umikaze at 7,000 yards
DD Aylwin engages DD Ushio at 7,000 yards
DD Monaghan sunk by DD Amagiri at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 11,000 yards
DD Amagiri engages DD Dewey at 11,000 yards
BB Yamashiro engages DD Dewey at 11,000 yards
DD Umikaze engages DD Dale at 11,000 yards
DD Aylwin engages DD Suzukaze at 11,000 yards
CL Tama engages DD Dewey at 11,000 yards
DD Hatsuharu engages DD Farragut at 11,000 yards
DD Aylwin engages DD Suzukaze at 11,000 yards
Task forces break off...