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

[Lokasenna]

Fireworks.

I pulled a Lowpe, but it's not all roses for the Allies.



This is what happens from 18x 1000lb bomb hits. Yamashiro actually took more (20), but less damage. I think the rolls against Musashi were better, as more of her topsides were destroyed. 1 hex from Jaluit, each of them, which is a size 3 port. If Musashi lives, she's out for a very long time.

[Lokasenna]

Here's Yamashiro. Barring a repair catastrophe, she'll live. Might even return to service in late '43.

[Lokasenna]

I found an oops in my battle plan. I had used Ryuho previously, in the last strikes I had for KB. I'm not sure why she ended up with a full 36 planes this time (maybe I upgraded? but the unit is size 45...), but that is 116% capacity. She has to have 35 or less in order to conduct operations. Having 35 more Zeroes on escort (even A6M5) might have saved a lot of my Jills, and therefore made this upcoming day a lot easier to decide on.

[Lokasenna]

Combat report excerpt, followed by the picture:

ASW attack near Mili at 136,123

Japanese Ships
DD Fujinami
BB Kirishima
CL Ninaru
DD Onami
DD Niizuki
DD Hayanami
These are escorts for "KB2"...somewhat of a close call here

Allied Ships
SS Ray

SS Ray launches 2 torpedoes at DD Fujinami

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Night Naval bombardment of Tarawa at 136,128

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
CA Kako
CA Kinugasa
CL Yura
CL Isuzu
CL Nagara

Allied ground losses:
243 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Port hits 17
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 5

E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BB Kongo
BB Kongo firing at Tarawa
CA Kako firing at 1st Marine Division
CA Kinugasa firing at 1st Marine Division
CL Yura firing at Tarawa
CL Isuzu firing at 1st Marine Division
CL Nagara firing at Tarawa

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Night Naval bombardment of Tarawa at 136,128

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro
BB Musashi
CL Kuma
DD Hikokaze
DD Satsukaze
DD Wakaba
DD Hatsuharu

Allied ground losses:
263 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BB Yamashiro
BB Yamashiro firing at 1st Marine Division
BB Musashi firing at 1st Marine Division
CL Kuma firing at 1st Marine Division
DD Hikokaze firing at 27th Infantry Regiment
DD Satsukaze firing at 1st Marine Division
DD Wakaba firing at 1st Marine Division
DD Hatsuharu firing at 1st Marine Division

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Sub attack near Makin at 145,124

Japanese Ships
SS I-35, hits 6, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
CLAA San Diego
DD Conyngham
DD Mustin

SS I-35 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Saratoga
We get our own close call on him here, but I-35 is sunk for her troubles. Imagine what this could have done to the upcoming air battle!

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Makin at 140,124

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 77
B6N2 Jill x 75

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 113 Good CAP for the AM...

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 11 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 29 destroyed, 15 damaged Only 33 make it to drop, between A2A and AAA
B6N2 Jill: 6 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 1
CV Hornet, Torpedo hits 1
CVL Independence, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Ammo storage explosion on CV Saratoga
Massive explosion on CVL Independence

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Makin at 140,124

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 12
B6N2 Jill x 16

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 90 We downed a few, damaged others

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 3 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 9 destroyed All lost

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Jaluit at 134,121

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 18 Leaky CAP, Taiho-1 takes a beating

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 52
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 40
SBD-5 Dauntless x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 2 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 13, heavy fires
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 8, on fire
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage Scuttled later
DD Hikokaze, Bomb hits 1
DD Satsukaze
DD Wakaba, Bomb hits 1, on fire

His turn. All hits on all ships are 1000-lb

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Jaluit at 135,120

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 22
D4Y1 Judy x 39

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Sampson, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Carmick, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
1 pesky Fletcher down

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Jaluit at 134,121

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged 6 shot down

Japanese Ships
BB Musashi, heavy fires
BB Yamashiro, on fire

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Makin at 140,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 62
B6N2 Jill x 28

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 14 [X(] This is what is giving me so much pause in my orders. Yes, my Jills got butchered, but apparently all of his CAP had to ditch.

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 5 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 11 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 6 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 2, on fire 1 of these hits appeared to do minimal damage.
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CVL Independence

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Jaluit at 134,121

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 32
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 26
TBF-1 Avenger x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 12, heavy fires
DD Wakaba, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
DD Hatsuharu
A much smaller strike this time probably saves Yamashiro from suffering worse than she did. The strike package is about half of what it was in the AM, due to ditching.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Jaluit at 135,120

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 9
D4Y1 Judy x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Sampson, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Bye-bye, second pesky Fletcher

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Afternoon Air attack on 3rd Marine Defense Battalion, at 136,128 (Tarawa)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 100 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D4Y1 Judy x 124 No other targets within range [:(]

Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y1 Judy: 3 damaged

Allied ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

I had not figured he would pursue me back west. It had occurred to me that while I knew he had at least 4 CVs (and 2 CVLs from previous air attack sightings), plus the RN CV (size 54 at some point but maybe not yet), he hadn't really revealed them all. I estimated he could have 2 CVs hanging out to the east, waiting to pounce. I'm not sure if that's what happened here with the TF all the way off to the east, or if it's a split from 2 turns ago that did a dogleg towards Baker on the 28th and then jaunted north this turn.

What DID surprise me is the presence of Lexington. I had thought her sunk for sure at the pier at Trincomalee all the way back in April 1942. I had the SBD numbers destroyed on the ground at that time.

She did not sink this turn. I have 8-9 subs available in the area and will definitely pursue with them. I have Katsuragi's VF unit at Kwajalein, with the new A6M8, and will transfer it to Zuikaku or Akagi if I pursue.

[Lokasenna]

Blast! I forgot to post this, but here's what KB did on the turn prior (the 27th). Curse me for posting out of order! I suppose I could edit the posts to be in proper order, but... it's just the one big thing.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Tarawa at 144,128

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 67 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 54
B6N2 Jill x 13
D4Y1 Judy x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 4 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
AK Caledonia
AK Chicot, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
DD Norman
DD Endicott
DD Renshaw
APA Pierce, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Lynx, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP President Coolidge

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
13 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Lynx


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 145,127

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 18
B6N2 Jill x 48

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 8 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CL Caradoc, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APA George Clymer, Torpedo hits 1
CL Concord, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
APA Doyen
DD Sims, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APA Fuller, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APA President Adams, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
APA John Penn, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
11 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
10 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
9 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Makin at 140,126

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 16
D4Y1 Judy x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Albireo, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Albireo


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 146,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 111 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 8
B6N2 Jill x 6

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Magazine explodes on BB Pennsylvania the 5th hit did this, totally unnecessary. Sank like a stone.


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 145,127

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 6
B6N2 Jill x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
APA Arthur Middleton
APA John Penn, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 145,127

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 3 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
DD Harding
DD Voyager
APA U.S. Grant, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

+249 VP differential on the day. By my estimation, I sank:

2 AK
2 APA
1 CL
1 BB

Crippled:
1 CL
1 DD
1 APA

Damaged:
3 APA


Losses:
~12 aircraft

[Lokasenna]

The beloved KB airwing... my poor Jills. Pilot losses among Taiho-3 were not bad, but Unryu-3 and Amagi-3 got gutted. Likewise, pilot losses among Zuikaku-3 were almost nonexistent and Shokaku-3 didn't come out too badly, but Soryu-3 and Hiryu-3 were hit relatively hard, and Akagi-3 (the biggest of them all at size 27) didn't get off lightly either.

Hiryu-1 took a beating, with 2 aces lost plus others. Zuikaku-1 is OK. Taiho-1 also OK, as a lot of those aircraft losses were over our own battleships.

Thankfully, NavT/NavB pilots are easiest for me to replace right now, but it is going to take a few months to build up my reserves again.

The Judys and Jills from Katsuragi are at Truk. The Judys probably can't reach, but the Jills might be able to... I could reorganize things a bit and get Katsuragi's complement aboard several CVs, making fuel the only concern for a pursuit.

[Lokasenna]

The Herman Cain 9-9-9 Plan comes to Manila! [:D]

I am gambling here that his eventual axis of advance comes through Luzon. I don't plan to defend the southern part of the island, but I think the map allows for a hard defense of Manila and the areas north of there. Clark Field is building now also, with minimal building at Bataan. Will fortify the other good terrain hexes, and probably a little bit at Aparri due to its potential as a drop point for supplies for me, or as an audacious landing for him.

[JocMeister]

Pilots can be replaced...Ships not!

Even if both your BBs sink and none of his CVs you made a good trade IMO. He will be in the yards for a very long time even if he gets the ships back to a yard. Can´t understand how his CAP went from 100+ to just 14. Could be that his flight decks are inoperable. In that case it will be a slaughter tomorrow.

Or that the CVs you damaged were detached in a escort TF that somehow got away from the rest of the CVs. If he has much of the CAP at 0 range that could explain the really low numbers!

I think you should be very happy with the turn! Poor Steve!

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Pilots can be replaced...Ships not!

Even if both your BBs sink and none of his CVs you made a good trade IMO. He will be in the yards for a very long time even if he gets the ships back to a yard. Can´t understand how his CAP went from 100+ to just 14. Could be that his flight decks are inoperable. In that case it will be a slaughter tomorrow.

Or that the CVs you damaged were detached in a escort TF that somehow got away from the rest of the CVs. If he has much of the CAP at 0 range that could explain the really low numbers!

I think you should be very happy with the turn! Poor Steve!

I am pleased. Other than Musashi (and Yamashiro to a lesser extent), this was all good for me. I'd give Musashi >50% odds of sinking. Maybe 40/60 she lives. It doesn't look good, that's for sure. In terms of VPs, this was not a great trade for me, even if Lexington sinks. However, I have such a VP cushion that those aren't an issue. What did happen, though, is I think I bought maybe 2 months of time before he can do this again. That might be worth Musashi. In the last 3-4 days, I got a lot of torpedo hits on various ships.

CL Kuma is actually the loss so far that I am feeling the most. I purposefully did not upgrade her this last time through because she would have lost her mine racks. Now they're gone in any case! But I had wanted to use her to help with defenses.

I've decided not to pursue and press my luck. He has at least 4 CVs capable of conducting operations, and my fighter strength is just a little too low for my liking in taking that on (especially with Ryuho unable to launch because of my silly error [8|]). I've gained enough here. Overall, I think I got lucky. If he had moved just one hex farther west, things might have gone very bad - either with torpedoes against the BBs, or swarms of DBs against my CVs. His pilots ate mine up, even when mine were the ones on CAP. That was unexpected and unpleasant.

[Lokasenna]

Air losses.



Bullwinkle seems to want a break from the game. I hope he does not throw in the towel. He took some lumps this turn, but I still don't think he's taken anything that breaks his OOB. I forget how many older BBs I've sunk, but not many. I have sunk North Carolina and a bunch of cruisers. I may have sunk 1 APA before yesterday, so definitely still less than 6 there. Only Enterprise sunk, and maybe Lexington will go down, but maybe not. He'll get a lot of the ditched pilots back.

[Lokasenna]

A peek at VPs. We each gained 169 VPs for the turn. So I definitely did not sink any CVs. I'm not sure I got points for all of the Ops losses of his. I got +54 base VPs on the turn, and +4 LCU VPs. And I am pretty sure that those 2 Fletchers sank, which is 20 or 22 points... That's 80 points right there. So I definitely think I did not get all the VPs for the ops losses. Maybe none, if a couple of damaged ships from yesterday also sunk.

[JocMeister]

I doubt he will throw in the towel on the account of this. He is tougher then that! Although I think you bought a lot more then 2 months. Lex and Sara will be out for a long time even if they survive. Given Sara took 3 and Lex 4 torps they are in bad shape.

If Lex makes it back I would be very surprised. I´ve lost her to less then that. I think Steve will have to rely on LBA hopping for a couple of months until more Essex CVs starts arriving. Remember that many of his pilots where shot as well.

PS, I think I figured out that CAP thing. Most likely Sara/Lex couldn´t handle AC and diverted to the other CVs. They in turn got overloaded and couldn´t fly sorties.

[Lowpe]

It seems like maybe you can really finish the job tomorrow![:)] I wish I had pulled off a trade like that. EDIT: Just read Joc's point on overloading, bet he is correct!

What is your Jill production at? I went back to you post on plane production from last year, and you were thinking about producing 2 a day.

I hope he continues....

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

It seems like maybe you can really finish the job tomorrow![:)] I wish I had pulled off a trade like that. EDIT: Just read Joc's point on overloading, bet he is correct!

What is your Jill production at? I went back to you post on plane production from last year, and you were thinking about producing 2 a day.

I hope he continues....

I have 152 Jills in the pools today. I am producing I think 4 per day (closed the turn, with no interim save, and closed Tracker, which takes ~5 minutes to load and I'm "working" from home today). I turned 2 factories back on at 1/day because I anticipated a battle soon, and needing to replace losses. Glad I did. I'm also trying to upgrade my remaining Kate ASW units to Jill for the range boost.

I sent the turn back with my KBs retiring to Truk. I cast a net with my subs hoping to catch Lexington if she doesn't sink on her own. I think she is probably a goner, though. Maybe 20% chance she lives.

I think one of the hits on Saratoga was either of the FOW variety, or the "torped hits, belt armor penetration, we took 5 minor Floatation damage" variety. No other damage messages. Normally you see something like "damage to engines" or "severe damage" or "listing, counter-flooding" if the torpedo hit was worth anything. With only 2 hits and no heavy damage listed, I think she is fine. Not able to conduct flight ops, but not in danger of sinking and able to make good enough speed to escape.

Thinking more on Musashi, I think she's dead. It will all come down to the first damage control roll and how much System gets burned up by the fires.

I think his TF composition here was Saratoga/Lexington/Hornet/Independence and nothing else.

I think his other TF's composition is still Yorktown/Essex (maybe)/that RN CV (Victorious?)/Belleau Wood (maybe). I think he might have a couple more CVLs by this point.

I have yet to see his CVEs. I think they could have helped him here, even if it was just with CAP. I'd rather lose a CVE than a BB, and I'd rather lose 2 CVEs than 3 amphibs. It's a tough call though, given our VP status. I have about 35,000 permanent VPs between planes/men/ships, which is a large hill for him to climb.

I don't think his pilot losses were very bad. He did not lose very many planes over my ships, and everything else was either to ditching (which he'll get back within 1-2 months in the Reserve pools) or shot down over his TFs (which just stay in the group roster if not injured).

[Lokasenna]

I'm amazed. Systems damage only increased by 1 point before the fires were put out.

[mind_messing]

Japanese damage control isn't terrible, at least on the proper warships (due to EXP, I bet), it just isn't very good either. I've managed to nurse couple of 70+ major FLT damaged warships back to port in our game. It is possible, but the hard thing is the ships reaching port in the first place.

If they get to port and you can drive that system damage down, you stand a good chance of geting the ship back in the fight.

Also, if possible get the battleships to bigger ports along with the naval HQ's. It might speed things along some, and you might even be able to repair some of the minor topside damage in situ.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Japanese damage control isn't terrible, at least on the proper warships (due to EXP, I bet), it just isn't very good either. I've managed to nurse couple of 70+ major FLT damaged warships back to port in our game. It is possible, but the hard thing is the ships reaching port in the first place.

If they get to port and you can drive that system damage down, you stand a good chance of geting the ship back in the fight.

Also, if possible get the battleships to bigger ports along with the naval HQ's. It might speed things along some, and you might even be able to repair some of the minor topside damage in situ.

I've got plenty of naval at Truk, and I'll move Yamashiro soon, but I'm not moving Musashi for a while. Hopefully he doesn't figure out she's there, or if he does won't be able to do anything about it. Him having damaged CVs and no airfield yet at Tarawa helps, but I won't be able to keep Tarawa down forever.

I expect him to move for Nauru/Ocean next, which will fall like dominoes as I don't have them well-defended. A mistake on my part, but it's too late to correct now. At that point, Tabiteuea becomes untenable.

I'm going to see which points Musashi repairs first. I expect it will be the Sys damage for a bit, but it might be the others. I might try moving her at cruise speed for Kwajalein first if we're talking about Sys 50 and no other damage. She can still make good speed, but I'm concerned that with any flooding at all she'd have to make a damage control roll and fail with such high system.

I'm glad I had a 75 Inspiration guy aboard. I've heard that helps with DC. I'm just amazed that Sys only went up to 62. I fully expected to open the turn and find her with 80+ Sys and still a few fires, making survival questionable. As it is, we're looking at at least 6 months before the System damage alone is repaired, and then time to replace all of those guns. So many guns blown up.

[mind_messing]

Reading through this AAR, I keep getting a surprise seeing how our thinking on various topics is very similar...

[Lokasenna]

Sad panda.

The I-26 is sunk with 2 torpedo hits from SS Paddle during the night.

Then, almost taking a page from Jocke's Silent Service, SS Triton launches 6 torpedoes at Hiryu outside of Kusaie and misses. DD Aogumo hits her with 1 depth charge but that will only scare her. KB is going to jaunt north before continuing to Truk for fuel and planes. The 2 finished CVLs are heading there now from Tokyo, actually. Will probably break Ryuho off to go join the other slow decks at Medan/Singapore ("new MKB" is a Burma-area contingency force, with just Hiyo/Junyo/Zuiho for now).


That's pretty much the highlights from August 30. Quiet day in terms of action.

[Lowpe]

I would not leave Musashi there, get her some escorts, as many as you can spare and get her moving now before the subs flood the area. An AV would be nice too.

Jaluit was the logical place for her to go, and shaving one point of sys damage off every two days or so won't save her. Get her away from the Yank subs now!

Put her on cruise and get out of there! Only more subs are going to come I think.