Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: inqistor

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I lost the Kako today from very old damage. I can't remember the details but she got beat up around Merauke quite a while ago and made it to Koepang. Her fire damage never went out so I was never able to attempt to repair her. She sat there forever with low levels of fire and her damage levels slowly increased. Two CAs down. [:(]

There is rare, strange bug, that disbanded ship keeps 1 fire forever (maybe only in small ports). The only solution is to put it into TF, and fire will disappear.

There was topic about it in Tech forum some time ago. I had it happening in Guadalcanal Scenario.

+1

I run into it once or twice a game ...

I lost the CV Hiryu to this bug as well. Creating and disbanding a new TF did not help. The fires never went out for almost 2 weeks and system damage increased to the point the choice was let her sink in Billiton or try and get her to a larger port, she sank en route.

[obvert]

If you have 96 fighters available why would you LR CAP Port Moresby instead of sweeping it?

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: obvert

If you have 96 fighters available why would you LR CAP Port Moresby instead of sweeping it?

Because I haven't played the game in 4 months! *Smacks self on forehead*

Sheesh. It never entered my mind. Gotta do that next turn.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

Just curious - how far along is Musashi (if you didn't stop it)?

The Musashi has been plodding along. 1 Dec 42 I think. I'm on the Mac side of the computer so I can't open it up right now.

[Mike Solli]

15 May 42

Really weird turn. Very little happened that I saw. I saw no air-to-air combat at all yet there were 6 Zeros shot down (+5 op losses), 8 P-40s shot down (+5 op losses) and 5 Kittyhawks shot down, all over Pt. Moresby. There was no replay nor did any of it show up in the written combat replay. Anyone have a clue why this happened?

I received the I-11 this turn. I accelerated 3 DDs with the extra naval points.

[PaxMondo]

If your CAP tangles with 4E's on patrol, recon, or search ... 4E's have really high kill stats.  [:@]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Because I haven't played the game in 4 months! *Smacks self on forehead*

[:D][:D][:D]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: obvert

If you have 96 fighters available why would you LR CAP Port Moresby instead of sweeping it?

Because I haven't played the game in 4 months! *Smacks self on forehead*

Sheesh. It never entered my mind. Gotta do that next turn.

If your rules allow it the LR CAP is great to add to sweeps. Jocke has been nailing me with this for a while.

[Mike Solli]

16 May 42

Sub War

The Ro-62 put a bunch of shells into another xAKL off Pt. Moresby. Weird. Didn't use her torpedoes even though she had them. Two days in a row now....

SE Fleet

Looks like Ted wants to put Milne Bay out of business. His B-17s hit the airfield again. That's fine. He bombs from 20k feet and usually misses. He didn't this time though and the runway and services are both ~50 or so and he destroyed 2x Zeros on the ground. I have 2x chutai of Zeros and a chutai of Dinahs there. Let him spend all his time hitting this one base.

Apparently, LRCAP doesn't show up in the combat replay. Losses for today were:

4 Zeros shot down + 1 op loss
3 Oscars shot down + 2 op losses

vs.

8 P-40s shot down + 1 op loss
4 Kittyhawks shot down

China

Another bombardment of Sian reduced the Chinese AV to 2478 while mine increased slightly to 3533. I need to rest the artillery to allow the supply to build up again.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

DD Naganami - 5 of the Yugumo class - headed to KB.
DD Akizuki - 1st of the Akitsuki class - headed to KB as well.

[Mike Solli]

17 May 42

Sub War

The I-17, patrolling SE of Norfolk Island, caught and sank an xAK loaded with troops. Banzai! At least she used torpedoes.

SE Fleet

B-17s visited Milne Bay again today. This time they didn't do any additional damage.

Burma

Japanese units are beginning to arrive at Imphal. An infantry division is in the hex and the rest of the invasion force is nearing Imphal.

The 7x CAs that were to target Cox's Bazaar were diverted to Akyab. They did practically no damage to the airbase there but did hit the 17 Indian Division and an Indian CD regiment. Akyab is isolated. The Japanese 18 Division is sitting on the road between Akyab and Cox's Bazaar. Approximately 40k Allied troops are there.

Australia

Two Japanese infantry divisions destroyed the Sparrow Bn and 19 Aussie Bn, the remains of the Darwin garrison, just north of Daly Waters. I don't see anything to the south. The Japanese will take Daly Waters and a tank regiment that is not far behind will move to the east to see what they can take easily. Soon I will withdraw the divisions. I am sending Naval Guard units and SNLF companies to Australia to garrison the place. I hope to hold it through the end of 1942, longer if I can. I don't want to lose any important troops there though.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: xAK Teikai Maru - Std-C class that will convert to a TK next month.

[Mike Solli]

18 May 42

Not much happened other than one of the Ro class subs off Pt. Moresby used the last of her deck gun ammo (1 shot) at an xAKL then submerged. Sheesh. She had torpedoes but refused to use them.

The only other event of note is that the A6M3a factory accelerated one month to Oct 42. I've been tracking the % increase and realized something. Each size 30+ factory will increase the acceleration of an R&D factory by 1 percent per day. I have 5x 30 point and 1x 60 point R&D factories for the A6M3a. They increase the R&D by 6% per day. If you want to increase a factory >30, do it after it becomes operational, not while it is an R&D factory.

[Mike Solli]

19 May 42

Sub War

Another Ro class sub fired 1 remaining deck gun round at an xAKL off Pt. Moresby and submerged while failing to shoot any torpedoes. I realize the xAKLs are small, but this is getting ridiculous.

Up in the Alaska theater, the I-30 put 2 torpedoes into an xAK sinking her east of Seward.

Ted finally sent a sub off the coast of Japan. Four hexes south of Kobe, the Gudgeon fired 4 torpedoes at an xAK. Two were duds and 1 hit, badly damaging her. I don't think she'll make port. She was part of a small convoy that had shipped a unit somewhere and was hauling resources back to the Home Islands. I have an ASW TF of 4x SCs that'll arrive there tomorrow to investigate.

SE Fleet

B-17s unsuccessfully attacked Milne Bay again. Runway damage is down to ~30. One B-17 was lost.

China

I decided to DA Sian today, to see what I'm up against. The 3:1 attack discovered level 2 forts. Losses were 4905(23) Japanese to 5924(111) Chinese. I'll rest a day to replenish supply and then try again.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: BB Yamato! - I now have 6x CVs and 6x DDs accelerated.

[Mike Solli]

I forgot about by little incursion to take Merauke (south side of New Guinea). I've gotten together KB (minus Shokaku and Zuikaku who are in Kobe waiting to upgrade in June), MKB, a surface group of 2 BB and 3 CA, both replenishment fleets and a division and some other smaller units at Boela. Today I sent MKB in to make a port attack against Merauke from 7 hexes out. KB will be hiding a few hexes to the west of MKB ready to stomp anything that may come out supported by the surface group. The invasion fleet will wait until the area is cleared out before going in.

[sanch]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
The Ro-62 put a bunch of shells into another xAKL off Pt. Moresby. Weird. Didn't use her torpedoes even though she had them. Two days in a row now....

Perhaps a super-aggressive commander?

[Mike Solli]

I doubt it. Same commander as I began the game with. Also, two different Ro class subs have decided to use deck guns vs. their torps. Such is life.

[Mike Solli]

20 May 42

Sub War

The Ro-42 found another xAKL (that had been damaged by deck guns earlier) and put a torpedo into her sinking her. Finally. Actually, she's used up all her deck gun and machine gun ammo so she had no other choice.

SE Fleet

I have 2x Oscar Sentai in this sector. I've decided to station one at Buna and fly continuous sweeps of Pt. Moresby. The other will be refitting at Rabaul. Currently I have >50 Oscars in the pool and >150 IJA fighter pilots in the reserve (50+/70+). I can afford to use the IJAAF right now and I want to conserve IJN fighter pilots. My on map training is insufficient right now. Not enough training fighter units. I have converted some floatplane training units from NavSearch to fighter pilot training but it'll be a few months until it bears fruit.

Anyway, 23x Oscars flew and, at a cost of 4x Oscars, they shot down 4x P-40s and 2x Kittyhawks with another P-40 op loss. I can do this loss ratio all day and come out ahead.

Merauke

Mistake here. I sent a port attack and (fortunately, I guess) only 15x Vals and 5x Kates flew, escorted by 23x Zeros. 16x P-40s rose against them. One Zero and 2x P-40s fell before the remaining P-40s got to the bombers and shot down 6 Vals and a Kate. The remaining bombers did nothing. I should have sent in a sweep or two. I'll do that tomorrow.

Sumatra

I took Sibolga, Sumatra, destroying the garrison and eliminating the last Dutch vestige on that island. I'm in the process of cleaning up the string of islands along the west coast of Sumatra. There's not much of the SRA still in Allied hands. One island is all that's left (in the southern SRA) and a few remnants of units rotting in the jungle here and there are all that's left.

[Mike Solli]

21 May 42

China

Sian was liberated today! Unfortunately, the infrastructure was trashed:

Manpower - 1(1)
Resources - 0(160) - I'll rebuild this to 10.
Oil - 9(20) - I'll definitely rebuild this.
HI - 0(10) - I'll rebuild this.
Refinery - 0(20) - I will not rebuild this.
LI - 0(60) - I will not rebuild this.

SE Fleet

Today's sweep over Pt. Moresby was wildly successful. 17x Oscars met 9x P-40s and 3x Kittyhawks, shooting down 6 and 1 respectively (+3 op losses) for the loss of 1x Oscar. Banzai! This sentai moved to Rabaul and has been replaced with a 42 plane sentai for operations tomorrow. I wish I had a third Oscar sentai. That would allow quicker rotation and more time for refit.

B-17s visited Milne Bay again. This time my Zeros shot one down (+ another op loss) for the loss of one Zero destroyed on the ground.

Merauke

Zuiho sent 18 Zeros to sweep Merauke today. For the loss of 1 Zero (and pilot MIA) and another op loss, they shot down 6x P-40s, along with another op loss. I moved MKB since yesterday and 2 subs appeared where MKB was yesterday. MKB is withdrawing for a bit and I am sending DD ASW TFs to the location where MKB was yesterday as well as today. Both hexes are shallow. I'm hoping to get some hits on some Allied subs.

Other Stuff

Hiryu's fighter daitai (18 plane capacity) arrived today. I'm using it as a fighter training unit.

[obvert]

Sucks to lose all of that industry in Sian. Hopefully now though you've trashed enough Chinese that the next targets will fall more easily and produce less destruction.

It's amazing what concentrated Oscars can do with good pilots against P-40s. Looks like you're on your way in PM to breaking their back.

[Mike Solli]

obvert, I agree to an extent. In reality, it's only the oil, HI and some of the resources, overall 40k in supply to repair (and 20 days optimally).

[Mike Solli]

Yeah, you're right about the Oscars. The pilots are very good. I'll get more info later when I have some time.