JFB in charge of the USN??? BtS Lite ver. 4.5 Kitakami (A) vs Falken (J)

[ny59giants]

PM- two small xAKL and AM from Cairns. If they get sunk, no big deal. What troops are you sending there?

[Kitakami]

Ok... a taste of next turn (I have the combat report, but not the turn):

Allied Shock attack at Pegu (55,53)
Japanese ground losses:
* 2324 casualties reported
*** Squads: 49 destroyed, 0 disabled
*** Non Combat: 63 destroyed, 16 disabled
*** Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
*** Guns lost 19 (10 destroyed, 9 disabled)
*** Vehicles lost 17 (6 destroyed, 11 disabled)
*** Units retreated 3
Allied ground losses:
* 145 casualties reported
*** Squads: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
*** Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
*** Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!
.
.
.
Defending units:
144th Infantry Regiment
15th Army
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

That was good! Someone wrote here that I should make the Japanese bleed in Burma. Well, I am following orders, sir!

[ny59giants]

You now have FOUR American CVs!! 😁 That’s 360 aircraft plus CVLs and hybrids. If you fight you want a knife fight not a sword fight. Get in close. Take off TBs and add your Marine fighters.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
PM- two small xAKL and AM from Cairns. If they get sunk, no big deal. What troops are you sending there?

Ok... small transport TF, check!

This is what is currently in Port Moresby:

7th, 11th & 30th Aus Bdes
Lark Force
NG Vol Rifles Bn
4th Aus lt AA Rgt
21st, 22nd & 13th Fld RAA Rgt

Plus support units. 15th Aus Bde, New Guinea Force HQ, and 1st RAA Med Art Rgt are being downloaded as I write this.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
You now have FOUR American CVs!! 😁 That’s 360 aircraft plus CVLs and hybrids. If you fight you want a knife fight not a sword fight. Get in close. Take off TBs and add your Marine fighters.

The one thing that worries me is the SBD-1/2, which have no armour. That, and that I am still a bit light on fighters (fighter levels are 45, 45, 45, 25 at this point). But if you think I can do some havoc without too much risk, I just might try...

[ny59giants]

Allied damage control vs Japanese: This is a big adjustment for you. [:D] Ships like Soryu and Hiryu are very brittle compared to the Allied CVs. They will be sunk with as little as three 1000 bombs from your SBDs. Upgrade your DBs to SBD-3s ASAP.

[traskott]

How about your convoys? I have read ( two pages before ) you are using only xAKs with +14knots of speed. Still doing it? Thanks.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
Allied damage control vs Japanese: This is a big adjustment for you. [:D] Ships like Soryu and Hiryu are very brittle compared to the Allied CVs. They will be sunk with as little as three 1000 bombs from your SBDs. Upgrade your DBs to SBD-3s ASAP.

Indeed, American CVs are much tougher to sink. I had forgotten I was on the other side of the fence... again! Thanks for the reminder.

Thankfully SBD-3 production is 33 planes per month. A lot of the squadrons are already fielding it. The others soon will. The range difference is most helpful. It is the poor Marines that are feeling unloved. Their squadrons are not as easy to upgrade.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: traskott
How about your convoys? I have read ( two pages before ) you are using only xAKs with +14knots of speed. Still doing it? Thanks.

Regarding convoys, I am slowly learning what works and what doesn't work. All 13-kt+ ships are on the map. All 12-kt and slower ships are off-map, with the exception of the large number of AKEs. Perhaps it is not optimal, but that is the way I moved things on turn one, so I am now stuck with a lot of it. The one thing that is complicated is that larger ships take more time to unload, and that is tough until all my ports are larger. It makes for stationary targets for enemy planes, just like last turn.

[traskott]

Port size was my concern: fast transporte use to be big transports, so unload them will take forever. May be using small xAPs to move supply in map??

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: traskott
Port size was my concern: fast transporte use to be big transports, so unload them will take forever. May be using small xAPs to move supply in map??

There is an idea. I will look into carrying capacities of all the 13-kt xAPs that have just finished conversions. Thanks!

[BBfanboy]

I don't risk those 13 Kt xAPs with the 1000/1200 capacity - they are extremely useful when you start doing invasions. They can dock at a size 1 port, can carry a small unit (like Pt Svc Dets and CBs) and a few of them can carry a regiment easily. Most of all, they offload fairly quickly and can vamoose while your bigger ships are still unloading supply.
I use some of the bigger xAPs that have a fair amount of cargo capacity because they take too long to unload in an amphib operation (which is always under threat of enemy air and sea interdiction). Put them in a Transport TF so they will use some of their troop space for supplies.

[DOCUP]

Your doing a great job. Your air losses seem good to me.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: traskott
Port size was my concern: fast transporte use to be big transports, so unload them will take forever. May be using small xAPs to move supply in map??

The large, 20-kt French xAPs will be moving USA Inf Rgts from the East Coast to Cape Town for the short term at least. No need to worry about port size when doing that run

[Kitakami]

Jan 16th, 1942

An interesting turn, during which both my esteemed opponent and I had advances and setbacks. As I wrote a few posts ago, I shock attacked in Pegu, and pushed back a bridgehead there, with important Japanese losses. He will have to cross the river again, and will not be able to do so without important reinforcements.

But there was a minor Japanese success in Port Moresby. The Australian TF downloading troops and supplies there got attacked by Japanese CVE-based air. No Allied ships were sunk, but several will require dock time. It seems I am not being cautious enough and am doing too much outside air cover.

[Kitakami]

Air losses seem to continue favoring the allies, and I am at a loss why (I don't want it to happen to me when roles reverse). Could it be that Falken is fighting at too long a range? His sweeps seem to be doing OK, but his escorts are not.

[Kitakami]

I lost Siquijor, Salamalua and Tandjoengpinang last turn. Also lost a number of ships in KB's CarDiv mop-up ops west of Sumatra. I should have sailed west, instead of north. My opponent followed, and got more ships. Only 3 DDs survived from that TF. At least the two APs that can be later converted to APAs had already left.

[Kitakami]

If Tracker is to be believed (and I have found it to be more accurate that the game itself), I have destroyed about 200 more planes than I have lost. That is not bad at all!

[Kitakami]

The DEI:
Besides the minor bases being lost, there has not been much action there on land. Hiryu and Soryu are a different story, of course. I wonder where are the other two CarDivs?

Malaya:
Only Fortress Singapore remains. Yet, I do not see my esteemed opponent moving in for the kill. What is he planning?

The Philippines:
Allied forces in Davao have retreated to Oroqueta, a Japanese base. Since it was empty, I will take it next turn, and then try to siphon off the little supply currently in Zamboanga. If I am successful, those troops might last just a bit longer.

Burma:
A quiet turn. I have sent a battalion from Pegu to Rangoon for R&R. Chinese infantry keeps moving towards the region.

China:
A few Japanese attacks, but nothing noteworthy.

[Kitakami]

The Solomons, Papua New Guinea, and islands nearby:
Besides the Japanese air attack on the TF downloading in Port Moresby, the only noteworthy item is the transports that are still downloading troops in Luganville. AV is currently 284, which should be able to hold on against one IJN Assault Div. Need to fortify the place, though. This TF has no air cover. I am seriously considering sending some that way.

Lots of subs patrolling possible invasion sites, and several Catalina Sqdns doing their thing, but no major IJN forces detected.