Monday Night Montage (ex-Moose Crossings) - (J) vs. Bullwinkle/Obvert (A)

[Lokasenna]

Well, it doesn't look like I can kill the Lex in port at Trincomalee. I just can't get the fires high enough. However, by my count she's taken 8x 800kg and 14x 250kg bomb hits, all of them through the flight deck. Several with Critical Damage or Severe Fires below Deck messages, one Fuel Storage Explosion. I'd guess her System damage is highest, probably above 70, maybe above 80, but definitely above 60. Her float damage probably isn't too bad, but maybe 50ish at worst.

I'm going to gather a couple of my midget sub carriers (currently all in the middle of the Pacific...) and try to get her at a pier. Or I may come back with KB in a month or so. The worst CV damage I have is Soryu's 22 Sys, the rest are all 10 or less. I can replenish the pilots, sorties, fuel, and planes and head back out in as little as a week. I could leave Soryu behind, and I might - transfer her airgroups, there's plenty of extra space on Akagi and the Shokakus right now.

By my back-of-the-envelope calculations and going by Alfred's Ship Repair 101 Guide thread, Lex will need months at Trincomalee just to get the Sys low enough to risk moving her. I guesstimated at Sys 60 and Trinc's level 6 port. Because of Lex's size, at that level of damage she'll only accumulate repair points at 54% or so of the usual rate, which means that her normal rate of repair of 70% or 58% (depending on if one of the sections of the equation can go negative) would be only one point of Sys repair every 3 days or so.


In the process, I've lost a lot of pilots, but Kaga's in reserve should still be enough to keep my KB airgroups at elite status. I'll just have no reserve. On the plus side, with the exception of CL Java, I severely damaged or sunk every single ship I scuffled with that was larger than a DD. He's down to Saratoga and Yorktown for CVs until he gets Hornet later this spring, and he'll have the use of Formidable and Illustrious for several months this summer as well. Otherwise, the skies above the sea are mine until late '42 when his CVEs begin to arrive. I hope I've delayed his counteroffensive until '43 [:)].

The cost of this was Kaga, CA Chikuma, and one DD so far, plus damage to other ships. I may lose a second DD to fires this next turn, or I may not. With Singapore's yard slowly repairing, it's going to take a while to get my ships back into commission, but I'm almost done needing KB to do most of the heavy lifting so I should be OK. The only task left for them in the SRA is covering the Java invasion, which has already begun without them.

I'm debating increasing the size of Hong Kong's yard. I don't want to increase Saigon as he'll probably get to it before war's end, but Hong Kong is less of a sure thing. And I can't get to Manila as I haven't taken Bataan yet. I'm sitting on him there. His flak appears to have stopped, so I'll move in as soon as my prep values are up to 100. Another month, 5 weeks maybe [:D]. I've got all the time in the world there.

[JocMeister]

Can subs get to ships anchored and disbanded in port? I though once disbanded they were considered to be protected by sub nets?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Can subs get to ships anchored and disbanded in port? I though once disbanded they were considered to be protected by sub nets?

They are. But midgets can attempt to penetrate. I figured out how to do the settings so that they'll act like the December 7 midget sub attacks, finally. Not that I'm at all guaranteed a shot at Lex with a midget that penetrates, what with somewhere between 2 and 5 CLs also in port. I'm guessing at least 1 of the CLs sank, but it's possible that none did.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

They are. But midgets can attempt to penetrate. I figured out how to do the settings so that they'll act like the December 7 midget sub attacks, finally. Not that I'm at all guaranteed a shot at Lex with a midget that penetrates, what with somewhere between 2 and 5 CLs also in port. I'm guessing at least 1 of the CLs sank, but it's possible that none did.

Cool, didn´t know that! [:)] Only possible with midgets I assume?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

They are. But midgets can attempt to penetrate. I figured out how to do the settings so that they'll act like the December 7 midget sub attacks, finally. Not that I'm at all guaranteed a shot at Lex with a midget that penetrates, what with somewhere between 2 and 5 CLs also in port. I'm guessing at least 1 of the CLs sank, but it's possible that none did.

Cool, didn´t know that! [:)] Only possible with midgets I assume?

Midgets and port air strikes should be it. I need to dig up a few subs and camp the crap out of the Trincomalee/Colombo area. He has lots of naval shipping in port here now, especially after all the damage he took this past week.

I'd be surprised if he had more than 10 ships in fighting condition, most of them DDs. Granted, I barely have 10 myself but I only lost 3 [:D].

The other "R-class" RN BBs may show up soon, though. I forget their arrival dates.

[Lokasenna]

General update...

Game date is up to March 5, 1942. I have that turn in my inbox and will run it later tonight. Highlights thus far:

KB & the IO
Pretty sure Lex is still alive, but also 80% sure she's still at Trinc. On my last day in the area, when I was moving to the NE, Steve ran into me with the Dutch CLAA and some DDs. CA Tone crippled the CLAA but a couple of my DDs are hit moderately, and DD Michishio eventually sinks from fires. Too bad, she'd hit a sub a couple of times - I have a soft spot for DDs that hit subs.

Java & SRA
I had to run a gauntlet of subs with KB, but plentiful ASW escorts and air/night search go me through without him even sighting me. Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku are now supporting a second wave of Java landings, enough to eventually overpower whatever he has on the island provided I continue to land supply. Av Supp is part of this wave, and I'm transferring in Oscars. I'm rather short on LBA fighter units right now. I don't have enough to go around, I'm probably short 3 Sentais for sufficient cover. I'm proceeding anyway. I'd rather get a little bloodied and have more time to fortify my positions than take too much time to conquer what I need.

BB Ise took a torpedo from Beests based out of Soera in the first wave of landings. She'll be fine, but needs a month in the yards (once Singapore's repairs, it's only at 18 so far). Hyuga had a similar scare on March 4, but leaky CAP from KB disrupted half of the TBs and the rest missed. I've lost a couple of xAKs, but so far I have 4 IDs on the ground in Java (2 at Kalidjati, 2 Semarang) plus an AA unit and 2 AF BNs at Semarang. Armor is landing at Merak in a day or so, and more at Banjoewangi in 4-6 days.

Also landing at Oosthaven. I'll be circling around to land at Benkoelen with an ID, and then holding the base with a regiment. I don't want Bullwinkle reinforcing Palembang from the west. There are already 28 units there.

My supply situation in Malaya is not great, but I have CRB still set to stockpile as I know I'll be loading up several more large reinforcement waves from there, and won't bother with "load troops only."


The Frozen North
Lots of scuffles up here. So far, it's been pretty even. MKB has wasted its TBs, due to my stupidity, against a strong CAP at Adak. He managed to reinforce the island before I got a second invasion in, but I managed to get most of my 3 units out before they were destroyed. In a DD vs. BB/DD matchup the other night, I put a torpedo into New Mexico, which felt nice. Nagato and Mutsu have arrived at Attu, but my AKEs are still almost 2 weeks out and I'm very low on fuel in the area. I want to replenish MKB's sorties and fuel before sending in the BBs, if I can.

China
I've driven him all the way back to the central valley now. It looks like only 25 units are in the western mountains, including at Paoshan, which has a brown square so is at least partially non-Chinese. So it would seem that I've moved quickly enough in the theater to prevent him from escaping, but I fear that now I'll have to contend with a much stronger Chungking than otherwise.

I'm mopping up in the North. Urumchi and Wasu are mine, and I've invested Sining. Lanchow and Kungchang will fall before May.

VPs
Now up to 1.88:1 [:)].


Will post more details by theater later on.

[Lokasenna]

Anybody notice my 'oops' in this screenshot? This has been a very active theater. Bullwinkle has commented that he's never seen so much committed here, so early.

Off to the NE, that's his CV TF. His only 2 USN CVs remaining in action at the moment. The SCTFs up there are 1 Nagato/1-2CLs/4-5 DDs each. I missed him by 2 hexes this turn. That's not the oops.

The escort TF is what's left of my MKB. Uh, 3 DDs. That's not the oops either.

[catwhoorg]

There appears to be mines laid in the middle of the ocean...

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Anybody notice my 'oops' in this screenshot? This has been a very active theater. Bullwinkle has commented that he's never seen so much committed here, so early.

Off to the NE, that's his CV TF. His only 2 USN CVs remaining in action at the moment. The SCTFs up there are 1 Nagato/1-2CLs/4-5 DDs each. I missed him by 2 hexes this turn. That's not the oops.

The escort TF is what's left of my MKB. Uh, 3 DDs. That's not the oops either.

Did his CVs not cream your SAG?

It's nearly impossible to catch CVs with slow BBs.

Just don't hit your own mines now!

PS - I admire your bravery for opening a thread like that in the main forum! It generally brings out all the dogs. This time things seem relatively calm and productive, so maybe there is hope. [;)]

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: catwhoorg

There appears to be mines laid in the middle of the ocean...

My CVLs/CVEs gobbled up his torpedoes already. They got it all over themselves, and had to take a bath afterwards. A nice long bath. The armor on the BBs doesn't care about his bombs. I was OK with losing the CLs if I had to.

Why yes, there are mines in the middle of the ocean. I was on my way to supplement to minefield at Amchitka when his CVs showed up. I had my CMs remain on station...but didn't revert to 'Do not lay mines'.

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Anybody notice my 'oops' in this screenshot? This has been a very active theater. Bullwinkle has commented that he's never seen so much committed here, so early.

Off to the NE, that's his CV TF. His only 2 USN CVs remaining in action at the moment. The SCTFs up there are 1 Nagato/1-2CLs/4-5 DDs each. I missed him by 2 hexes this turn. That's not the oops.

The escort TF is what's left of my MKB. Uh, 3 DDs. That's not the oops either.

Did his CVs not cream your SAG?

It's nearly impossible to catch CVs with slow BBs.

Just don't hit your own mines now!

PS - I admire your bravery for opening a thread like that in the main forum! It generally brings out all the dogs. This time things seem relatively calm and productive, so maybe there is hope. [;)]

They're his last functional CVs, so I had to go for them. Knocking them out would have given me another 4 months of complete freedom in the ocean. I just missed them. The SCTF that's farther east there went on full speed.

Oddly, his CAGs didn't strike at all. Maybe they were all on ASW? Vindicators from Umnak did plant a bomb on Nagato, but it bounced. And I shot one down.

I suspect that's a mistake he won't make again with his air groups. I'm bombarding Amchitka on my way back to Attu, where I'll have AKEs in a couple of days (they're just off-screen to the SW here). He's got P-38s, P-40s, and P-400s at Amchitka, rotating with Kittyhawks that are at Umnak and probably some P-39s as well. He put a lot up here, very fast. I didn't move on Adak in time. I'm hoping that he won't be able to defend it against my 6th Guards Division, on its way past Okinawa now, and 33rd Division from Singers if I have to. Fusan just finished building up (actually maybe a week ago but I forgot), so I have a bunch of engineers to buy out and send to the Kuriles/Aleutians. I guess I'm OK with only going as far as Amchitka, but I'm going to turn my northern flank into a series of fortresses. It's the only place on the map where if he wants to proceed, he either has to create risky SLOCs or smash every major base I create.


On that thread... I had to take a lot of barbs out. I didn't want it to turn into a flamefest at once, but I imagine it will at some point. Or at least as flamey as these forums get, anyway.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Nice minelaying work

One possibility for future battles like with the Lex at Trincomalee is to run a bombardment TF in there at night. That can be dangerous depending on the LBA and dive bombers based there, but some fast cruisers on Retirement Allowed and Full Speed can be in and out before the enemy knows what hit them.

By the way, the best use, at least in my opinion, for the Aleutians is as a sub base, with some fuel depots and an AS. It really cuts down the transit time for your subs hitting his cargo ships off California.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: leehunt27@bloomberg.net

Nice minelaying work

One possibility for future battles like with the Lex at Trincomalee is to run a bombardment TF in there at night. That can be dangerous depending on the LBA and dive bombers based there, but some fast cruisers on Retirement Allowed and Full Speed can be in and out before the enemy knows what hit them.

By the way, the best use, at least in my opinion, for the Aleutians is as a sub base, with some fuel depots and an AS. It really cuts down the transit time for your subs hitting his cargo ships off California.

I don't have enough subs yet to go there. I have some still floating around Hawaii, but mostly they're in the South Pacific or heading into the IO. Or repairing. At least 5 were damaged in the Aleutians so far, on top of the 3 that are currently stuck at Amchitka's port with 90+ damage in several categories.

I did send the 4 Mogamis off to try to bombard Trinc, but he either got a sniff or got a lucky hit, and they were seen two days in a row from nav search. I would have gone in anyway on that second day from 7 hexes away, but there were 8 ships sighting in a SCTF in the hex. I'm not anxious to tangle with his remaining CAs/CLs in the area until Akagi/Soryu are repaired and can provide LRCAP over my SCTF. I know he has a few undamaged ones. Akagi/Soryu will be ready in 3 weeks. I doubt Lex will move before then. 4 of my midget carriers are heading to Singapore, and they'll head out to Trincomalee as soon as they arrive.

He looks to maybe be evacuating Adak. I have no DL on the base today, but intel says 2 units. Of course, intel said 1 unit when there were really 11, so who knows. However, I did drown about 2000 American dogs in the frigid waters off the island today, with my bombardment groups. The first was reported as 105 non-combat, 130 engineers, 9 guns, and 107 vehicles. I'd bet that was a couple of engineer units, or else a large base force. The second was 85 non-combat. I'd guess that as an air HQ. Unfortunately, I also captured Neikiang and killed 10,000 Chinese, so it's hard to tell how many of my 107 LCU VPs this turn came from up here [8D].

[Lokasenna]

Alright. Need some quick advice! Gotta get the turn back tonight.



Basically, he took his CVs back west. Last turn, he pounded my ships in port with 10 B-17s. I put them all into TFs and sent a lot back to Tokyo (~30 xAKs, where they'll load up some more LCUs and fortify the Kuriles). Last turn, he sank 2 xAKs at Attu and damaged an AKE, AD, AG, and another 3 xAKs. AV Sanuki Maru will be scuttled due to fires (at 99), but her airgroup is saved by transferring to the port. Nagato and Mutsu took several bombs as well, but system damage is minor to slight. Mutsu is Sys 4, Nagato Sys 16.

At Attu, I have:
BBs Mutsu, Nagato
CA Nachi
CLs Tama, Kinu, Natori, Kitakami
16 DDs

Due to the AKEs, I have full magazines on all my ships. [:)] Converting them 2 months ago was the best thing I did.

[ To the SW, offscreen, I have Fuso with some DDs, a DMS, some PBs, and xAKs - carrying the 6th Guards Division. I want to land them on Adak after my airfield at Paramushiro-jima is large enough to allow me to transfer Nicks to Amchitka. Another week or so on that. ]


So... how do I catch him? I have 17 Jakes at Attu and Zeroes at Amchitka. Unfortunately, it's all the Zeroes can do just to fend off strikes against Amchitka. The Jakes have been attempting recon of Adak but it hasn't gone well. Unfortunately, I can't divide the Jake unit. I'll set them to night search for this turn... I have 6 Mavis at Paramushiro and a CS in support, but they don't reach much past Attu. Not really worth searching with them...

Do I put all my eggs in one basket and send Mutsu/Nagato/Nachi/2-3 CLs/6-12 DDs straight at the CVs?

Or do I split it - Nagato/1-3 CLs/4-6 DDs in one TF, Mutsu/Nachi/1-2 CLs/5-6 DDs in another?

Or Mutsu/Nagato/DDs in one and the cruisers/DDs in another?

FWIW, I think he's pretty light on escorts, although I did sink Big E so he could have adopted her battlegroup... I don't expect any BBs due to their speed, and all but one have taken torpedoes so far in the war [;)]. I also know that at least 2 of his CAs (possibly from Big E's group) and CL Honolulu should be repairing due to damage taken. I've sunk or battered 12+ USN DDs up here as well. So...if I can catch the CVs, I should do some damage, right? He's only 5 hexes away this time...

And routing - I expect him to go due east. He saw the BBs in the combat report obviously (or will when I send it to him), so I expect him to try to hightail it. However, I think he may have hightailed it here to begin with, and he may have to refuel his escorts on a high speed run, giving me a higher chance of catching him...

0% (or will it be 7%?) is not going to be kind for sighting purposes, but I would love to get in close before the combat begins.

All advice is hereby solicited! I want revenge for MKB, if I can get it!

[obvert]

Having lost a few ships hunting CVs with surface forces I'd advise caution, but it's your command of course. If you do want to go in you might consider flank moves with a retreat allowed to hedge your bets. Five hexes out is a pretty big head start if he's actually running away, and even a flank move might get you a few hexes short and stuck.

[Encircled]

He could be provoking you out.

He knows you are there, so why come so close?

One thing to bear in mind is that if he is five hexes away, that is the maximum range of his CV Torpedo planes.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Encircled

He could be provoking you out.

He knows you are there, so why come so close?

One thing to bear in mind is that if he is five hexes away, that is the maximum range of his CV Torpedo planes.

Yeah, they struck with bombs last turn.

I don't think he knew my surface forces were here. And if he did, he didn't know until today that I had AKEs around. In a port raid yesterday, he hit several xAKs with B-17s. I had something like 50 ships in port, to keep them safe from subs. Umnak's airfield being built up has changed that, so until I've got decent fighters up here I'm not going to be able to keep my ships around - they'll have to retreat to the Kuriles or Japan to pick up more stuff.

As for luring me out if he did know I was there with so much stuff, he only has fighters at Adak. I've been bombarding there too often, even just with DDs, for him to risk his very few early war SBDs and the like. I bombarded with Nagato/Mutsu several days ago. I think he thinks I blew my load and wouldn't be able to react. I wasn't able to see how this could be a lure.

I ended up sending 14 ships out in one SCTF. The Zeroes from Amchitka are on 60% LRCAP, for whatever good that will do. I'll have the turn back sometime today and find out tonight what happened... I could be entirely wrong about it not being a lure (I assume he was trying to sink my shipping), but I'd be surprised.

If he does run away at full speed, even if it's just a move and a half, I won't catch him...but I also shouldn't be in 4-hex range for TBD torpedoes, either. And those are the only things I'm scared of up here.

I have 6 subs in the area as well. 2 of the medium-size I-boats and a big Glen boat are covering possible paths for him this turn, and I have 3 more on their way into the area from the SE of Dutch Harbor.

[Lokasenna]

Well, no intercept. I'm not terribly surprised. I went at mission speed to conserve my fuel. I ended up 5 hexes from him again. Nagato and Mutsu took a half dozen bombs each, all to their armor. Sys damage on Nagato is slight, at 29, but Mutsu is still OK at 10.

He ended up running ENE, and is closer to Nome than he is to exiting the Bering Sea... I'm sending my SCTF to Amchitka this turn (already sent back to him), and seeing if I get any Nav Search sniffs on him. Also closing in with 4 subs. He either has to stay up near Nome, or run over my subs covering a lot of the exits from the Bering. I'm hoping I can keep his CVs up here for another, oh, 2 weeks....


Another thing of note is that 3 midget sub carriers departed Singapore 2 days ago for Trincomalee. Lexington is definitely still there, with the amount of assets he's got floating and flying around, seemingly focused on the eastern and southeastern approaches to the island of Ceylon. I have 20 midget subs available. I will burn them all trying to get at Lex if I have to! I can't believe he hasn't mined Trincomalee yet. I have I-162 venturing into the harbor every few days and no mines detected so far. This group of 3 midget carriers will arrive at Trincomalee in another 3-4 days. I have a 4th that's about 4 days behind. I may delay the first 3 until she catches up.

[Lecivius]

I have to say I'm interested in how your mini subs will do.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

I have to say I'm interested in how your mini subs will do.

It's a size 6 port, so I'm not too optimistic, but I know the Lex is severely damaged and the minisubs are what, 1 VP each? Even if they all go down in the harbor, I'm OK with it.

[offenseman]

Late arrival to this AAR. Fascinating read so far. Subscribed.