To Young to Die, To Old to Rock and Roll

[BBfanboy]

Nice! You gutted probably 2/3 of KB's bombers and 1/3 of the fighters. He is in no shape to continue with naval air strikes.

IMO he would be foolish to send in bombardment or SCTFs. They may be able to streak in and out the max 6 hexes, but if you move your CVs a few hexes north they will be caught and hammered in daylight.

With 5 CVs and a CVL pretty much intact (assuming Yorktown's two bomb hits were minor) you could even consider a port/naval strike at Truk. He will likely have most of his fighters out escorting LBA attacks on your invasion. 400+ Hellcats is a buzzsaw[:D]!

[zuluhour]

I'm sure there will be another carrier engagement soon as I prepare to mount assaults in CenPac. The last 48 hours have been very quiet on the ocean, and welcome. A fresh CV at Christmas steams to SoPAC to join the fast carriers. She has a new CVL in tow as well. Good news from Guadalcanal. The Japanese division was certainly elite, highly experienced and well led.

[zuluhour]

All Japanese are cleared from Guadalcanal on the 14th.

[zuluhour]

I declare the battle of New Ireland a success! All US naval vessels involved are safe, in port. I am still sorry I did not push a potential show down
with KB the following day but it would have undoubtedly been under the cover of Truk LBA. Forces are moving north towards Kavieng which was hit
by shore bombardment last night. Namatanai is at level 3 forts and climbing, the airfield is at 3 and climbing, and minelayers began stringing mines
offshore last night. A flotilla of PT boats is several days out. Buka is occupied and boasts a level 2 field and is now home to more aircraft to support
the New Ireland operations. I need to get a port level 2 up very soon, but will finish the forts at least (4) and the airfield at (4) before switching
construction to the piers.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

I declare the battle of New Ireland a success! All US naval vessels involved are safe, in port. I am still sorry I did not push a potential show down
with KB the following day but it would have undoubtedly been under the cover of Truk LBA. Forces are moving north towards Kavieng which was hit
by shore bombardment last night. Namatanai is at level 3 forts and climbing, the airfield is at 3 and climbing, and minelayers began stringing mines
offshore last night. A flotilla of PT boats is several days out. Buka is occupied and boasts a level 2 field and is now home to more aircraft to support
the New Ireland operations. I need to get a port level 2 up very soon, but will finish the forts at least (4) and the airfield at (4) before switching
construction to the piers.

I hope the TWITS at Zulu HQ were responsible for the planning and execution of the operation. After all these years the TWITS deserve a resounding success after all.[;)]

Alfred

[ny59giants]

It's time for that CV clash.

You have Hellcats and Corsairs to protect your CVs and I have my numerous CVEs come along to add massive CAP.

[Sangeli]

Nicely done shooting down those KB pilots! You wiped out nearly an entire generation of bomber pilots. There's no way Japan can even hope to replace those pilot losses. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan is forced to keep carriers in port due to lack of sufficient pilots.

One piece of advice I have for you regarding this AAR is to try to make your graphics more readable. Putting an image behind the text can look cool but with certain combinations of color it's just hard to see.

Also I'm curious about your sub wall tactics. Is the purpose just so that if the IJN sorties in that direction they HAVE to pass through at least one hex with a sub? Has it worked?

[zuluhour]

per Alfred.

Pvt Parts is out of the doghouse.
Corporal Punishment is relieved from KP.
Sgt. Pepper awarded a half case of a fine hedonistic red blend.
Captain Obvious.....well it's obvious.
Major Pain, Major Disruption, and Major Minor shall be promoted to General, skipping Colonel and light bird entirely. Hence forth they
shall be, Captain Obvious if you would.:
" General Confusion, General Chaos, and General Dismay"
HUZZAH!!

per NY59giants:
I do think I should have forced the issue the next day, the time is near.

[zuluhour]

per Mr. Sangeli:

I am constantly screwing around with the web and paint and Gimp searching for some kind of "look". I am would like
to find a style and stick with it for a whole AAR. Trouble is my mood, my bizarre taste, my energy level after toiling all
day. Some of the stuff looks different when I post it, some of it just gets posted because either its getting late and Im
tired of messing with it or I might be getting lucky before I'm finished with it.[;)]

About the subs, no, the "wall" tactic has been, well, useless. No early warning, no hits, nada. I confess to playing a very simple
sub game here. There are groups of six boats trolling in his rear, (that doesn't sound good) but I have had little luck there
as well (that sounds even worse). Lars has managed to sink or damage almost every patrol off the PI, HI, and Marianas.
I just ordered another group to Midway and one to Arorae. They will base there with tenders and augment the "deep" strategic
threat. I am open to any thoughts on this.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour
About the subs, no, the "wall" tactic has been, well, useless. No early warning, no hits, nada. I confess to playing a very simple
sub game here. There are groups of six boats trolling in his rear, (that doesn't sound good) but I have had little luck there
as well (that sounds even worse). Lars has managed to sink or damage almost every patrol off the PI, HI, and Marianas.
I just ordered another group to Midway and one to Arorae. They will base there with tenders and augment the "deep" strategic
threat. I am open to any thoughts on this.

Well my sub campaign in my current game is doing rather well, especially of late, so maybe I can give you some pointers:

1. Detection is everything! As long as your subs are being detected, they are unlikely to make successful attacks.
2. Set your patrol zone so that subs have a quiet place to let their DL drop a bit. My most successful patrol tactic so far has been 2 patrol end points separated by the cruise distance of the sub (for modern USN subs that's 4 hexes). I will set one of the end points to where I think convoys might go and set the other end in the open ocean. The idea is that subs will travel from the safe zone further away from air patrols in the night phase and end up in the right spot before aircraft can detect them.
3. No wolf packs. IRL it might have worked but in WitP there doesn't seem to be much gain in putting multiple subs in the same TF. More sub TFs = more success.
4. Monitor sub detection along your patrol routes. This one is a little tricky because it requires more micromanagement. But if you notice that your a sub is always having a high level of detection then you should adjust your patrol zones.
5. Focus on convoy interdiction instead of combat ships. It is very tempting to want to use your subs to compliment your main fleet in battle. The Japanese thought this way. But by and large its a misuse of resources. All those float planes aboard cruisers make it very difficult for the subs to land a hit.
6. Subs should be focused to counter the needs of the Japanese convoys. Look at some of the Japanese industry guides players have made to see where convoys are likely going. Right now my favorite "hot zone" is the east China sea east and north of Taiwan. The tanker route from Singapore to Japan is THE lifeline of its economy. I've had a lot of success there.
7. Against IJN capital ships, prediction and micromanagement is key. Even though my focus for subs is on convoys, I still use subs against combat TFs as well. The best chance you have at hitting an IJN capital ship is when it makes a full speed dart into the open ocean at night. If you vector in a previously undetected sub into the same hex that the KB ends up after a full speed there is a VERY good chance you will end up firing a torpedo at a CV. Often times that means having to send your subs at full speed as well for that extra range which means you have to manually set the order.
8. Being detected is itself a form of detection! One tactic I like to use with my subs is to cover the open ocean where I think the KB might come. When a sub in the open ocean gets a 10/10 detection level and you start getting messages about it spotting torpedo bombers, there's a good chance the KB is nearby. Instead of needing a wall of subs to detect the KB you just need a handful of them spread out in nice intervals.
9. Forward deployment is more important than a safe tender. The best base for your subs is the most forward base that can be stocked with some fuel. Ideally you would put your tenders there too but if that's an issue you can just put them in a nearby base that is slightly closer. The shorter the travel from the refueling point to the patrol zone the longer your subs can stay in place. Subs that need rearming and/or repairs can be sent back to a more secure base on an as needed basis. You'd be surprised how much more patrol time a sub based at Tarawa has off of Japan compared to one based at Arorae.

[zuluhour]

SOME UPDATES:

[zuluhour]

another:

[zuluhour]

yep, another:

[zuluhour]

last one:

[BBfanboy]

If he hasn't spotted your troops yet he is going to panic when you cross into Chiang Mai and start marching down the good road from there. [:)]

[zuluhour]

The lead elements of Third Corp are 31 miles from the Thai border in move formation. The day after tomorrow I will put recon up
and try saturation bombing. I plan to hit the border with all the B24s in India as well as the first raid for the B29s. Call it an ice breaker.
I'm getting signs he is preparing for them. A/F symbols appearing in China and Bangkok etc..

[zuluhour]

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 550 troops, 53 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 148

Defending force 10849 troops, 210 guns, 156 vehicles, Assault Value = 190

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment
5th Armored Car Co
11th Tank Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Jaluit Base Force

Defending units:
31st Infantry Division
41st Base Group


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 9205 troops, 202 guns, 136 vehicles, Assault Value = 188

Defending force 4902 troops, 75 guns, 103 vehicles, Assault Value = 148

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 263

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2660 casualties reported
Squads: 53 destroyed, 134 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 42 (2 destroyed, 40 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (2 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Assaulting units:
31st Infantry Division
41st Base Group

Defending units:
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment
5th Armored Car Co
11th Tank Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Jaluit Base Force

[witpqs]

Ouch!

[Sangeli]

I've had fully prepped units take that kind of casualties on an atoll invasion. At least you were smart enough to land a whole division instead of multiple regiments.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

I've had fully prepped units take that kind of casualties on an atoll invasion. At least you were smart enough to land a whole division instead of multiple regiments.

Changes in the game engine have muted that effect. Multiple regiments are OK now.