Scenario 11 Marianas. Jersey Boy vs Fighting Illini

[BBfanboy]

Were you trying for the 10 hex distance?? Even if some of your planes can make that far at max range, that is much too far for carrying ordinance.
You have overwhelming numbers of planes relative to his forces and should not fear getting within his strike range. As in the real "Turkey Shoot", your CAP should massacre most of the attackers and AA will take down almost all the rest. Those that get through are not the aces of 1942, but half trained and with little experience. They will miss much more than hit.

But before you do move in, check the number of sorties you have left. You have been frittering them away on ground attacks and such so you may not be able to put together a full strike now when it is critical to do so.

[nardiajn]

Hello again to all who follow..
lucky me didnt play my turn last night (had a beer too many )
but... not much action...
I had a sub put a fish into CV Junyo east of Tinian...hope it stuck his rudders...
for BBfanboy, yes, I was trying to hit him at 10 hexes...but as I am learning.. I didnt know carrying ordinance made a difference..keep up the tips, I do take notes.
sending a few of my CVs back to port to refuel and get the sorties back up to full strength.

my opponent (I love this game and players, as I do get advice) but.. he stated I needed to set LRCAP at a destination in order to have air cover.. doh...

[BBfanboy]

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh but I had been dropping hints that his fleet was going to show up in June and you needed to get your carriers fully ready. In this scenario bombing ground troops is a diversion from the main job of protecting the landings.

IRL the Japanese tried to trick Spruance into leaving the landing area to chase their carriers into the Philippine Sea where they could use the LBA as well as carrier aircraft to try and cripple Fifth fleet, then send in their massive fleet of surface combat ships. Spruance recognized the landings were more important than the IJN CVs (Halsey likely would have taken the bait) and his CV CAP ate up the Japanese aircraft that were at extreme range to strike at the Marianas. Only when it was clear they had shot their bolt and CVE aircraft could handle air cover did Spruance move to strike the Japanese. You should follow a similar strategy.

I will give another hint because IRL Spruance would have had pretty good intel on the Japanese naval ships available to oppose him: they are bringing many more BBs and CAs than you have. Keep your CVs away from them and hit them with air strikes before considering sending in your BBs. I would keep my fast BBs with my CVs until his ships have been hit hard. Do not use the fast BBs for bombardments at this time.

[nardiajn]

Hello again -

quiet turn for the most part.. .I had a sub put 2 more fish into CV Junyo West of Tinian.. one for the good guys..
but my sub sunk by his escorts.. Capt. will get a posthumous medal for his service.

landings at Tinian continue, while I also landed at Pagan and Ponape...
some CVs are heading to port to rearm.

to my friend BBfanboy, keep those comments coming. I am thankful for the advice. I will be more patient and supply coverage for my landings. Still somewhat confused by why my cap didnt cover the landings from 2 turns ago.
However, I did set my LCAP to Tinian and Pagan.. hopefully thats the way to cover landings.

[nardiajn]

bad day at the office...
while I had a few CVs lurking near Tinian to provide air cover ... a few other went to various ports to refuel/re-arm.
with that being said, landings at Panape, Pagan and Tinian continued.
my amphib TF at Panape encountered a IJN CA but that was fine and dandy as my supporting ships took care of her.
Pagan landings un-opposed.
now the bad news, Tinian were once again intercepted by a slew of IJN CVs and her planes.. chewed me up pretty well, although I unloaded most troops.. my LRCAP did intercept, but with various altitudes of 15k - 10k not as well as I needed.

he has another CV TF heading East towards PH, as a amphib force encountered that with decent results, BBs supporting the amphib..
while a bad day at the office, I am keeping firm and not pursuing his fleet just yet, as I need those islands
lets see what today brings
pics attached to this and following message

[nardiajn]

bad day at the office [:(]

[nardiajn]

hello again my faithful followers

finally a stroke of luck for the good guys.
still landing at Tinian, but this time my CV TFs LRCAP participated in the turkey shoot.
to quote my friend and opponent.
" I sent a couple squadrons on short range to hit your landing at Tinian, and your Hellcats had them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I lost nearly 50 fighters (and several bombers) and barely scratched your planes. I did get a hit on a CVE Sangamon"

CVE is doing ok, pulling her back for a quick (I hope repair) but.. glad I finally caused him a headache or two.

He still has a CV TF behind my lines (near midway) but I am being patient as he HAS to return to his supply
my search planes have him, just need to get my escorts and dive bombers close enough.
Corsairs, might be moving to one of my CVEs... have a thing for Corsairs, as I grew up watching Black Sheep Squadron..
those were the days...

[BBfanboy]

Check those Corsairs to see if the squadron is "carrier capable". The first Corsair model is land only.

[nardiajn]

hello followers
been a few days to post..
however, summer weekends are tough

still landing at Tinian and Pagan...
not sure how long to use my troops in bombard mode.. I figure at least 2 weeks ?
my CVs are still supporting the landings

he has a CV TF still lurking (currently near Wake) but I plan on attempting to intercept on his way back.
he must take the Northern route.

my CV sorties are at least 90% full.... lots of repairs as he has intercepted some amphib TFs coming from PH, with my DD escorts... hate guerrilla warfare

[nardiajn]

hello fans (or curious followers)
well, still unloading at Tinian... my amphib TF got lit up by the bad guys...hopefully they had too much saki.
but my LRCAP from my CVS also chewed up his airgroups... thankfully.

as you can see from the pic.. the next few turns can prove interesting...
my CV TFs, have plenty of sorties left... and CAP is at 30, LRCAP is same (for some CVs) and rest is escort.
wish me luck
my TFs are sill offloading and are dead meat.
lets hope for horrible weather.

[Barb]

Hi, Why you do not position your carriers to the hex next to Tinian? Just set up normal Escort/CAP at 50% for fighters and usual range 6 or so. That way you will have escorted strikes and your ships at Tinian will get support from "Leaking CAP" from your carriers (i.e. radar detected raids are announced and CAP is drawn to the target hex).
What is your actual carrier strength?

[nardiajn]

Update time... well not the best of turns...
my amphib landing at Pagan was smoked out of existence by his BB TF..
although my CV TF was to provide cover, they missed the boat (no pun intended)
amphib minus cover vs BBs = goodbye to the invasion
also amphib at Tinian was hit by some his carrier planes, my other CV TF intercepted and took out some Jap
planes... although that amphib TF was much smaller, they got the chance to dis-embark.

at the end of my turn, my CV TF (that was supposed to provide air cover for Pagan) launched a strike against his CV TF
and had a few hits, not sure how damaged they are, but hits non-the-less. without a dry dock for him, I am pleased

next two screens show the 'eventful' turn

Update : I fired off my turn and mentioned to my opponent that I was baffled as my CVs didnt hit his BB TF.. his comment
I moved the BB TF about 6 hexes out the turn before, then I set them for a full-speed run, with one patrol point at Tinian, and the other way back toward home port. That way they run in during the night phase, then run back out in the opening day phase before they are spotted. Kind of like ‘running the slot’ in Guadalcanal.

as stated, he is very good and gave me his plan... good for him, bad for me
at least I know why I didnt bomb/torpedo the heck out of him

[nardiajn]

allies hit Jap CVs

[nardiajn]

the action map...
still bothered by my CVs that didnt provide cover against his dang BBs

[BBfanboy]

His BBs sprinted in at night and sprinted back out. You should have had at least 2 of the old BBs embedded in the TF or a fast BB TF patrolling in front of the invasion. He also has a lot of CAs he can use to raid your invasions.
With the loss of those major transports and the troops you will now be unable to take one of the major islands the scenario requires.
The two bomb hits on his CVs are nothing without secondary explosions - they will stay on station. Loss of aircraft is the only thing that may make him retreat.

This is why in the beginning I counselled against invading Ponape and Pagan, and using your CVs and BBs in bombardment of places far away from the target of the scenario. Having major fleet elements absent when he comes is not an option.

And Crackaces is correct, your fleet should be standing between the enemy main line of approach and your invasion locations.

[nardiajn]

update time..
well as I said I am not the best player, thankfully its just a game
I continue to land at Tinian/Pagan and soon Saipan
my CV TFs tore up his aircraft from unknown locations
CAP and LRCAP did the damage thanks to the advice of my followers.

The reason I was a few hexes (East ? or to the right of Tinian/Saipan) were due to fear of his airfields tearing up my CVs
guess being a nervous Nelly isnt a good thing

[nardiajn]

Hello my followers...
well while I learned some valuable lessons in this one, I took notes from my opponent
and from my followers (thanks !!) I still fight on..
I will lose the game.. still in a fight for Tinian and Pagan...
I deliberate attack for a few turns.. then bombard.. still fighting in the trenches continues
last turn.. I spotted a IJN CV TF heading south east of Truk and with some carriers returning from
yet another amphib landing at Tinian..I suprised him
scratch 2 CVLs and heavy damage to another...
at least I did something correct

[nardiajn]

well game over... my hat off to my undefeated opponent Joe.. a class act all the way
I played well (considering) but, learned a ton....
thanks to Joe and the folk who commented

end result a decisive Japanese victory
I never took Tinian.. although I blasted the island for a a few weeks
only island worth note is the taking of Pagan

[Justus2]

Al,

Thanks for the compliments, great to read your AAR and get some insight on your strategy. I thought when you went for Ponape it was to be a fighter base to escort your bombing of Truk. Pagan held out WAY longer than I ever expected, and I'm glad it did, as it held most of your LBA away from the Marianas. Definitely did a good job w/ASW, I don't know why but you were right, my sub captains liked to go after the DEs first! [:D]

Thanks again for a great match!