Grudge Match

[John B.]

So far Moresby is holding out! He has a division and two regiments there but I've managed to fly in two battalions and I still have over 40,000 supplies so I may be there a long time as the air bridge continues to feed troops in (as a bonus, I don't need to pay PP to fly in restricted Aussie units). My shore artillery has taken a steady toll of his merchants which helps to make up for the fact that my subs are terrible. Scott did catch me at Horn Island, and, thanks in part to a mistimed counterattack by me he took it. I got a CL and two DDs there who took out a big AP and a DD but his KB put a torpedo into the CL which will live but it's about to spend some time in the yards.

The big news is my pending carrier attack on his numerous ships at Moresby. See next post.

Scott did an air drop into Djokarata that killed some planes on the ground but Java still holds out. I did my raid on Palembang and got some oil hits and the British carriers put torpedoes into three small TKs. Not much, but you really can't get much out of those carriers so I'll take what I can get.

In china he bombs at will and I ganged up on an IJA division that had cut off Kukong. In Burma we continue to face each other at Pegu. I'm going across the river into a RTA division one hex NE of Pegu. I should be across in a few turns and may force him back from Pegu to avoid being cut off.

[John B.]

Here is the Moresby situation. He has a number of forces at sea in the Moresby hex including numerous AKs and a BB/CA taskforce. In Lae (three hexes north) is the KB with at least 5 carriers. He has been bombing quite a bit from there so I don't know how fresh it is. The two hexes in green are where the 4 American carriers will be patrolling at dawn. This puts me 5 hexes from Moresby which is extended range for the Devastators. It also puts me 8 hexes from the KB which should be out of range for the Vals and at extended range for the Kates. To help out matters I've just flown three squadrons of fighters P-39s and P40s into Moresby. Two of those squadrons will sweep over Moresby to clear out any CAP and one squadron will sweep over the KB (more on that in a minute). My hope is to get off a good attack on his ships at Moresby and take down a bunch of his AKs plus some surface units with a massed airstrike. Because I'm close to the KB I'm leaving 40 CAP over my carriers with the hope that the sweeps over Moresby will reduce the need for escorts. I have Halsey in command and he may react towards the KB. In that case, my hope is that the sweep over the KB will at least let some of my bombers get through. Of course, things get a lot more dicey if Scott moves down a few hexes. He might put himself in range of me and I could be out of range of him. American nightmare scenario! Gulp!!!

[Capt. Harlock]

I have Halsey in command and he may react towards the KB. In that case, my hope is that the sweep over the KB will at least let some of my bombers get through. Of course, things get a lot more dicey if Scott moves down a few hexes. He might put himself in range of me and I could be out of range of him. American nightmare scenario! Gulp!!

auugghh -- the suspense![X(]

[John B.]

SAVAGE BOMBING RAIDS OVER MORESBY, SHIPS IN FLAMES!!!!!KB AWOL!!!!

Well, it looks like I caught Scott in a nice little ambush. He actually moved the KB, but not due south like I feared but more south west so it did not take part in the battle. There was one zero on cap when the planes came over and it had zero effect. I tried to take a screen shot but it did not work. But, from the battle reports, it appears that a IJN BB took 10 hits from 1,000 bombs. All were stopped by armor but it is on fire and likely to be headed for the yards. I did get multiple hits on about 7 AKs, an AP, and 2-3 PBs. I also seem to have savaged 3-4 DDs. There is a small bonus for those since I think he had very good Naval commanders on board to serve as ASW platforms. I seem to have lost a total of 3 planes to AA. I'm satisfied at the damage caused and it will set back his Moresby operation quite a bit as I believe these ships were all on resupply. I am continuing to fly in more troops and have increased Morsby's assault strength by about 100 in the past week. I believe I just may hold it. And, in so doing, and continuing to sink ships, I make it harder for Scott to push on down towards Fiji.

The one problem for me is to get away. The KB is near the tip of New Guinea so if I head due south he could put the pedal to the metal and get within strike range albeit close to the coast of Australia. since I think that discretion is the better part of valor I've opted to go past Horn island and head towards Darwin with my carriers. If need be they'll take the long way around OZ back to Sydney.

Scott has launched his invasion of Java. He has come ashore near Batavia in two places and he still has his aerial bridgehead at Djokarta. I have planes set on anti ship bombing this turn and I'll continue to hammer the paratroops at Djokarta since my bombers seem to have killed 7 squads there last turn. My basic plan is to withdraw into Soerebja and ride it out as long as I can. It will be at level 4 fort and have about 75,000 supplies. I have put any unit I can spare into there so we'll have to see how they fare.

[Capt. Harlock]

Well, it looks like I caught Scott in a nice little ambush. He actually moved the KB, but not due south like I feared but more south west so it did not take part in the battle. There was one zero on cap when the planes came over and it had zero effect. I tried to take a screen shot but it did not work. But, from the battle reports, it appears that a IJN BB took 10 hits from 1,000 bombs. All were stopped by armor but it is on fire and likely to be headed for the yards. I did get multiple hits on about 7 AKs, an AP, and 2-3 PBs. I also seem to have savaged 3-4 DDs.

Kudos!

[Lowpe]

If you really want to get a picture of a battle, use cntrl-p to pause the action and then print screen. Switch out to your paint program and paste. Then switch back to the game.

Or watch the replay twice and get it the second time thru. [;)]

[John B.]

C.H. thanks! Now let's hope I get away unscathed!

Lowpe, Good advice, but I'm not sure how to switch out during the game to my paint program. My game fills the entire screen. I can save it and exit during the orders phase but is there a way to switch out during the combat report segment?

[Quixote]

John, you can hit ALT-TAB (hold down ALT then hit TAB) and it will minimize AE (or whatever else you have up at the moment), allowing you to then drop and save your screenshot. You can take and save multiple screenshots in the same turn this way. Also, good luck escaping with your CVs intact.[:'(]

[John B.]

Time for a quick update. The CVs made it out ok and I thought I'd send them over to Java to create some mischef, but they were spotted by Japanese search planes and rather than face an onslaught of Bettys and Nells I figured I had done enough damage so the American carriers are making the long trek back to Sydney for repairs and to upgrade the Yorktown class. As for Moresby, I've flown in three battalions and, if I can keep it in supply I think Scott will have a tough time taking it. He send another BB bombardment task force in but it just shelled and went away.

He has invaded Java and will take Batavia in the next few days. THat's ok, I'm holed up in Soerebaja. Not as many VPs but it's got the oil and I don't want Scott to have that if I can avoid it. I've managed to hunt down his various raiding parties on Java while he's been fighting at Batavia but the Dutch will go away sooner or later.

Stalemate at Pegu. I've been running AKLs one at a time to Rangoon and, thus far, these have been ignored by his airforce. If this keeps up I may be able to keep the place in supply and not take such heavy ship losses.

Nothing much in China. As I"ve noted before, that's a good thing.

[John B.]

Time for an update. It's April 26, 1942 and there is not much to report. The KB has disappeared and I suspect it's in Truk but it could be heading out for some daring raid hence all the air patrols are on high alert. My carriers just got back to Sydney for some R&R. The Yorktown class need to upgrade and the Saratoga and Lexington need some minor repairs. The supply lines to Australia remain open. At Moresby, he basically has two divisions. but, he seems to be very short of supply as they have not been reorganizing and still have a low reported strength. I've been mining the harbor and my troops there are fit (the airbridge has been flying in supply). On Java he has basically cleared the island except for Soerebaja. But, that is a fortress with 77,000 supply so it's going to be a hard slog for him (level 4 fort and an airfoce as well). He is still bombarding Clark field. I actually think that at this point he would have been better taking some lumps and attacking a month or so ago to free up the three divisions he has tied up there.

In China no change. Just a stalemate and that is fine with me! In Burma there is a stalemate at Pegu and I've got an Indian and two Australian divisions on the way so I may get the upper hand in a little while. He just put a Thai division across the river north of Pegu and it ran into said Indian division. It's about to get smacked back with three armored brigades that were resting in an adjacent hex. The big worry is supply. Rangoon produces nothing and so I've been sneaking in AKLs one at a time peeling them off of a big fleet of there near Akayb. It's worked thus far but it's a tenuous line to be sure. I've been upgrading my subs and finally got a couple of AKs.

[Capt. Harlock]

Rangoon produces nothing and so I've been sneaking in AKLs one at a time peeling them off of a big fleet of there near Akayb

Am I correctly reading that you still hold not only Clark, Soerebaja, and even Rangoon? Does that mean that the Burma Road is still open to China?

[Sabre21]

You mentioned earlier about his torpedo planes not being at the right altitude. Is there a preferred altitude when dropping them? I haven't seen any in the rulebook.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Sabre21

You mentioned earlier about his torpedo planes not being at the right altitude. Is there a preferred altitude when dropping them? I haven't seen any in the rulebook.

[font="Arial"]No matter what altitude you set them, they will come down to 100 feet to drop their torps and return to set altitude.
The altitude setting only matters for interception by enemy planes and AA. I think those TBs may have been at extreme range and carrying bombs,
which are not nearly as effective.[/font]

[John B.]

C.H. Yes, the Burma road is still open. Pumping that 500 supply per day into China! It's one of the reasons that I opted to try to fight for burma. Clark I only hold because he has opted for the "barrage me out" attack. Soerebja is now surrounded but it should hold out for awhile. The KB is back and spotted south of Rabaul. I wonder if he's heading south or going to reinforce Port Moresby. I tried to run in a supply convoy but the Nells obliterated it. Fortunately it was just AKLs but no fun to lose stuff for no reason.

BBfanboy, I've noticed with my carrier torpedo planes that if I set them at too high an altitude they will drop 500 lb bombs and not torpedoes. Also, in terms of intercepting Bettys etc... carrying torpedoes, should one set CAP at the higher altitude or the lower one?

One final question. Does anyone have an easy way to set the search arcs? Too many times I'll set the am and pm arc and then look at the result and it will be some tiny sliver in the wrong direction. So, I opt for the 360 which at least covers everywhere but dilutes the search resources.

[BBfanboy]

[font="Tahoma"] You could be right about altitude mattering - I have always used 1000' because the TBs will be harder
to spot until they are close and because high flying CAP will have a hard time getting down to intercept if they are being
engaged by escort.

That partly answers your question re: CAP. I am convinced it should be layered wherever possible. Getting the bounce is not
the whole battle - it gives momentary advantage. Look at aircraft maneuver bands and use them to guide you, but if you expect
TBs set at least one squadron on CAP at 5000 feet. Higher flying CAP can tie up his fighters while the lower CAP goes after
bombers. Even if he has bombers coming in at 10,000 feet the CAP at 5K should be able to climb to intercept from below without
much danger from defensive fire. I don't think many Japanese aircraft had belly guns.

Search Arcs - there is a "set on the map" option that lets you click to set the centre line of the arc. I don't like it because
I am not sure how to set the width of the arc in that method. I am an old Scouter so I know my compass pretty well and use the
hex geometry to figure out the degrees needed to get the arc I want. Each corner of the hex is 60º from the next one. The middle of
the hex side is 30º from the corner. North is 0º, East 90º, South 180º and West 270º. Using those anchor points and the hex geometry
I can easily estimate the range of º I want to search. Remember to check the clockwise/counterclockwise setting to ensure your morning
and afternoon searches go in the right order. [/font]

[John B.]

Well we may be on the eve of a bit of action here. It is May 14th 1942 and Scott is still stuck in Moresby. He landed another division and some support troops but his assault failed. I've got about 34,000 supply and about 200 AV and I'm rebuilding it to fort level three. The KB is off the radar and next turn I'll run a bombardment task force into Moresby. This will slow him down even more as I don't think he has enough support troops there and I'm pretty sure he is not supply rich. I have my carriers (5 in all now) just behind the bombardment task force to supply air cover and I put fighters into Moresby so we shall see. My big fear is his land based air swarming the flattops. I was tempted to put the Moresby troops into an attack to follow the bombardment, but I think I have the edge here right now so I'm holding off.

My counter attack at Baker's Island went in and now we're all staring at each other. He is either reinforcing or pulling back, the PBY mission tomorrow will tell me more.

In Burma, we're staring at each other at Pegu. I was going to go across the river to try to encircle him with several british armored units but my recon just showed that he moved in his own armored unit. So, I'm nixing that and I have 4 British BBs about to bombard Pegu. I've got about 75 fighters in Rangoon so I"m also taking the opportunity to run in a new supply convoy since that is really rangoon's weak spot. He has lots of torpedo bombers over here so there may be some losses.

He is besieging Soerebja. He did an assault and lost some squads but I've got the supplies stockpiled so, again, it will be awhile.

Stalemate in China. No other way to put it. I'm resting my troops and not using supply. With Burma open I've also developed Ledo into an air transport base with about 45 TRs there now. So, China is getting about a bonus 600 supply per turn now. We will see how long we can keep that up.

Sub war is better now that I have radars, but his subs are actually picking off stragglers. I'll need to get more escorts into the auto convoys.

[John B.]

Here is the situation in China. Pretty much the same for all of 1942.

[John B.]

Here are my task forces outside of Moresby. I've got a DMS set to run in and add 50 mines. So far he has avoided all my mines there, but here's hoping. He may also have mines. I guess I'll find out.

[John B.]

Well sometimes it pays to be lucky! More on that in a bit. First, I had a very good turn in the air. The intel reports showed 76 Japanese losses to 16 allied. Not sure if it was that good, but his fighter sweeps over Moresby ran into a wall of planes from the US navy and lost about 9 zeros for one F4F. The most fireworks occurred near Rangoon where two squadrons of the AVG and several RAF squadrons were credited with more than 20 Nells and a few oscars for no hits on the convoy heading in. Even Soerebaja jumped on the bandwagon with the Dutch taking out three sallys and 4 Vals plus a couple of fighters. All in all, a good turn in the air.

The luck came in my DD Laffey (may it rest in peace very soon) heading to do an ASW mission at Baker Island in advance of a bombardment mission. In one of those "Huh, I wonder what that is doing there moments" a Kate was seen tracking it at dawn. Sure enough, a morning air attack with 15 Vals and one in the afternoon with 45 confirmed the presence of the KB in full strength. As you will see from the photo below, the bombardment task force was just out of range. If the Laffey had not been there, tomorrow it would not be a destroyer but BBs that would have taken the KB's worst and lots and lots of VP. So, the Laffey took two hits and is 50% on fire and likely to go down, but, it did force an early unmasking of the KB and has saved lots of convoys who are now re-routing.

Also, this means I'll be running a resupply convoy into Moresby now that I know the carriers are elsewhere. I'm leery of IJA landbased air (no Bettys were seen yesterday) but hopeful I can take advantage of my carrier superiority in the Coral Sea to get more into Moresby. As for Rangoon, the resupply convoy will dock tonight and the bombardment task force will be off the coast of southern Burma. Let's hope he takes a day off to rest his shattered squadrons!

[John B.]

Sometimes war is a matter of inches. The E task force is the Laffey and the one to the east is the bombardment task force. Just out of range and Scott did not see it with his searches. It is now heading 180 degrees away from Scott!