Notes from a Small Island

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: No hits scored here, either. If Yamashiro is still inbound to Sapporo from the Sikhalin battle, she's slowed considerably.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: 4EB hit Bihoro's port - two strikes net just one hit on an MTB. I was hoping to score vs. a bunch of SSX that recon reported here. Perhaps they left overnight.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: More skirmishes with subs. As the turn is unfolding, I'm mulling over priorities for coming turns:

1. Try to avoid DS reacting into a KB or LBA bushwhack;
2. It isn't necessary for DS to go to Shikuka, short term, so seek to engage enemy subs with Allied ASW;
3. Get the Herd to Shikuka in good order.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: Riff-raff skirmish. It does look like Erik might've guessed "South Gap."

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: I-16 fires six shots, one hit, no explosion.

A host of Allies subs have cleared the Kuriles and entered the Sea of Okhtosk without incident. This is significant, because my sub corps at Shikuka was in bad shape - nearly all sub had medium or heavy damage by the time the siege lifted. They were still doing duty, though.

Each turn, a damaged sub or two is detached to return to the West Coast. Temporarily, I think Erik's ASW patrols will be down, due to his concern about LRCAP.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: IJN sub claims a LCI gunship. That's the bad news. The good news is that this means The Herd clear the gap too (it lagged far behind DS at the end of yesterday's turn).

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: RO-45 again.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: She must have an aggressive skipper. She misses this time.

The Herd has cleared the pass.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: I switched a number of TBM squadrons over to ASW patrol, since the odds of a carrier clash are pretty slim. There were quite a few reports like this one.

Sub warfare is Priority 1 the next few days.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: Refugees from Paramushiro.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: RO-45 is indeed a beast. She nails CL Richmond, which flagged the primary combat TF escorting The Herd. So The Herd is indeed in the Sea of Okhotsk.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: This xAK takes two hits and is done for. She wasn't part of The Herd. She was part of the two sizeable supply TFs that were playing around up above Petroplavask, trying to trigger Erik's suspicions. The two TFs then made haste ahead of DS into the Sea and will proceed by themselves to Shikuka. They don't have much ASW along, but this is their first loss.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

10/5/44

Shikuka: 4EB hit Bihoro's port - two strikes net just one hit on an MTB. I was hoping to score vs. a bunch of SSX that recon reported here. Perhaps they left overnight.

SSX have extremely short legs - around 80NM IIRC - so I doubt they left. I think you need aircraft set on ASW to hit SSX TFs unless they mini-subs disband in port.

[Canoerebel]

Indeed, recon reports some SSX remain disbanded at Bihoro.

[Canoerebel]

10/5/44

Shikuka: Death Star and The Herd will slow a bit. My hope is that Eric will allow for a bit more forward progress, thus creating some separation between his subs and my TFs, giving my ASW ships and aircraft one turn to work with before DS & The Herd resume normal speed to Shikuka.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

10/5/44

Shikuka: 4EB hit Bihoro's port - two strikes net just one hit on an MTB. I was hoping to score vs. a bunch of SSX that recon reported here. Perhaps they left overnight.

SSX have extremely short legs - around 80NM IIRC - so I doubt they left. I think you need aircraft set on ASW to hit SSX TFs unless they mini-subs disband in port.

The smallest ones are less than that - 40.

There are some with 400 Endurance, though.

[adarbrauner]

Wow RO-45!!

A pity it got lost and sank - with 18 hits on a RO, no much hope!

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

10/5/44

Shikuka: I switched a number of TBM squadrons over to ASW patrol, since the odds of a carrier clash are pretty slim. There were quite a few reports like this one.

Sub warfare is Priority 1 the next few days.

If you have not done it take one TBF squadron with good ASW skills and set it to 80-90 patrol with zero hex range. They will attack the heck out of any sub that ends up in the same hex as your carriers.

[Canoerebel]

Ross, thanks for the suggestion. I have a bunch of good ASW strike squadrons set a 3,000 feet and range 2 or 3. I'll change a few to range 0, per your suggestion.

For relatively new players, one of things I'm aiming for is to spot subs. Spotted subs have a much harder time attacking succesfully. Hidden subs score more often. So I'm dallying here a bit, not from timidity but to give my ASW time to spot and attack the host of enemy subs that lie between Death Star and port.

[Canoerebel]

10/6/44

Shikuka: The turn opens with a message or two that Allied ASW is reacting to enemy subs. Then, very shortly into the turn, the first enemy strike. I don't know if this xAK is part of The Herd, which is to move to this hex, or if it's part of the naked and almost defenseless TF moving out ahead of the others.

I've been worried about this turn since working on it yesterday. It's tough to send DS exactly where Erik knows its bound, seeing all the enemy sub icons that infest these waters. But it has to be done.