Banzais Don't Make Victories - Anachro (A) vs John 3rd (J) BTS 5.7

[Anachro]

I once took on the full KB (6 carriers) with 3 USN carriers in Jan '42 in a previous PBEM game. The planes werent the greatest (Buffalos and Devastators) but I managed to sink 3 carriers (during and in ensuing days) for the loss of one and significantly damaged at least 1 or 2 more. But there was a lot of luck and other factors that went into that result.

Happened down south near Luganville and KB was operating without the benefit of reconnaissance (kind of Midway-esque) and had been doing sorties for a few days. Pilot fatigue might've been a factor. You'll note these were no TBD torpedo hits.

THIS IS NOT FROM CURRENT GAME

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 14
F4F-3 Wildcat x 19
SBD-2 Dauntless x 35
SBD-3 Dauntless x 69
TBD-1 Devastator x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 3 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 destroyed, 14 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 5 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Soryu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 1
CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 5
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 3
CA Chikuma
DD Kagero
CV Akagi
DD Shiranui
DD Hamakaze
DD Urakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 7
F4F-3A Wildcat x 13
F4F-3 Wildcat x 11
SBD-2 Dauntless x 24
SBD-3 Dauntless x 49
TBD-1 Devastator x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 10 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBD-1 Devastator: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 1
CV Akagi, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CA Tone
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
CV Hiryu, on fire
DD Isokaze

I try not to let the success here cloud my judgement in the present game, but it is so hard.

[Bearcat2]

I think you have played the opening month particularly well; look out for those Assault Div's, they have amph tanks.

[Anachro]

Dec 27-29 1941

Various elements of Force Z + Dutch cruisers and destroyers are hiding in parts of the lower DEI to eventually escape to Australia. I believe they will eventually be able to do so, but John just constantly has his CV fleets roving throughout the area. Singapore is down to 2 forts but might get to 3 if John doesn't attack soon. Thee focus will be on moving south, repairing, and preparing to blunt deeper pushes into the South Pacific. If I need to push ships to India I will do so.



In the SoPac, I send a CL/DD force into Rabaul and sink 2 DMSs plus PB and some cargo ships. The force will move south to repair and replenish; one destroyer takes a mine. KB 2 has moved out of the SoPac and up north of Darwin. I would imagine KB1 moves over to SoPac from Hawaii, but part of it was spotted between PH and Midway 2 days ago. Who knows where it is now. John is either just doing a lot of raiding looking for ships or he is trying to keep me immobilized in the eastern Pacific to prevent me from setting up my convoys.

3 Carriers are in or near Sydney. 1 British CV and 2 USN CVs. The Saratoga is moving to south of PH to refuel before moving to Sydney. CV Yorktown just arrived in San Diego.

[Anachro]

Dec 30 1941

A good day for me were nothing bad happens. I forgot to note that in the previous turns, John captured Kendari and has already stationed bombers there. I will attempt to put low-value ships in range of it with CAP traps to wear down the numbers and help with extracting my fleets from the DEI. For now, the KB task forces are moving away, giving me a window to move Force Z and others down. Fuel is a problem for some, so I am slowly moving ships into their ports to do sea replenishment to move farther south. Force Z should be able to make it to Darwin on its own. Got 2 AG's safely into the same port as BC repulse, not sure how helpful they will be. I will put an AR into port tomorrow and see what happens. I get the feeling I need naval support and not just ships, but naval support is in short supply in the DEI. Maybe I can fly some units from Singers if there are any.

The main event this turn was that Singapore largely held without any reductions in the forts and I managed to setup a few CAP traps in China and the DEI to get some of his bombers.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24468 troops, 297 guns, 35 vehicles, Assault Value = 1683

Defending force 38602 troops, 445 guns, 253 vehicles, Assault Value = 435

Japanese adjusted assault: 249

Allied adjusted defense: 853

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1236 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 30 (4 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
219 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Elsewhere, whereas the CV Yorktown had appeared in San Diego last turn, I was weary. Given John's predilection for deep raids and sub activity (and my bad luck so far with some well-escorted cruisers), I decided to switch some patrols and bombers over to ASW missions in Los Angeles and San Diego. The reason they weren't set so before is because the quality was rather low and I needed to train them up (still do!). ASW will be trained up over time, but now that I am beginning to plan my convoys, I need some unskilled ASW searched going to at least spot his subs, even if I can't sink them.

It was a good idea to scout the waters of San Diego / Los Angeles first...



Lots of smaller unit reinforcements this turn to begin moving to spots of need.

[jwolf]

Darwin may not be very safe. He can block the exit into the Coral Sea, and from the other side can move carriers from the DEI toward NW Australia. I would not leave capital ships there for long, if at all.

[Anachro]

I have no plans to leave them there, but Darwin has lots of fuel, which all the ships sorely need. Once Force Z replenishes there, it will move farther south.

EDIT

Also, lots of ships need repairing. Minor ones will be fixed in Sydney/Brisbane. Some might need to be sent back towards PH. Once everything is in place, I should have 3 BCs, 1 BB, many CA/CLs, decent amount of DDs (need more), 4 CVs in SoPac.

[ny59giants]

18 plane American FPs - Most are set so they can upgrade to SBDs. However, you will need to check them all as I've allowed some to upgrade to Avengers. Many of those come in mid-42 and beyond.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum
18 plane American FPs - Most are set so they can upgrade to SBDs. However, you will need to check them all as I've allowed some to upgrade to Avengers. Many of those come in mid-42 and beyond.

It will be far into the future (maybe even 43) when there will be enough spare SBDs to fill them

[Anachro]

Dec 31 1941

Another day, another CAP trap. I set one nicely as Rangoon, but I forget to setup my fighters at Balikpapan. Oh well, still down a decent amount of planes. In other news, John takes back Khota Baru, shutting down that airfield as a means of lifting troops out. I still have a base nearby I'm flying other troops to Rangoon from. Some are also going to Medan and up to Sorong.



Convoys earmarked for base groups, troops, AA, CDs to head to Noumea, Luganville, Efate, Suva, Sasanavu (is this the spelling I forget), as well as Palmyra, Pago Pago. Bought out an additional (Sep) US Army Inf Regiment to help with reinforcing. Still have no idea as of yet as to where he is going: India, SoPac, NoPac, Australia, etc. Too bad he isn't updating his AAR so I can read his thoughts some years down the line.

[Canoerebel]

I think and hope he'll resume his AAR sooner or later. It would probably be counterproductive for a bunch of well-meaning forumites to begin encouraging him, which might come across as prodding, but an occasional encouraging word might help.

I'm afraid the my little spoof AAR in his name did not achieve the intended goal of making him laugh. Rather it seemed to discourage him. I'll try to make that right, but at the moment I think he just needs some space to relax.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I think and hope he'll resume his AAR sooner or later. It would probably be counterproductive for a bunch of well-meaning forumites to begin encouraging him, which might come across as prodding, but an occasional encouraging word might help.

I'm afraid the my little spoof AAR in his name did not achieve the intended goal of making him laugh. Rather it seemed to discourage him. I'll try to make that right, but at the moment I think he just needs some space to relax.

In the opening six months the IJ player has so much to try and do that it must be nigh impossible to relax. Add to that getting slapped in the face by an uncooperative opponent, and I don't see John feeling relaxed for a while... but I do hope he resumes his AAR at some point. Those newbies trying to get a feel for the game benefit greatly by seeing what the perspectives and problems are for each side concurrently.

[Anachro]

Jan 1-2 1942

Happy new year, everyone! Not a huge update. Not much air or sea action to report. Normally, I'd do an end-of-the-year review, but I'm a bit harried at the moment. Will do a larger update this weekend. Singapore is down to 1 fort an he is bombing daily. I expect it to be taken in the next 2-3 days. Elements of various parts of the III Indian Corps are being extracted to Rangoon for transport to India. Today, Force Z will depart Darwin with just enough fuel to take it to Townsville. KB2 and 3 are up north of Ambon, but even if they move down they shouldn't be able to catch it. There are now 3 CVs in Sydney.

Sigint picks up notice that a Shipping Eng unit is prepping for Rangoon. Does he plan to land at Rangoon by sea or is this simply for future garrison duty? Tea leaves remain very opaque as to his target beyond the DEI. KB2 and 3 mostly spend their time in the DEI. KB1 or part of it is moving southwest towards Kwajalein.

CV Yorktown remains in San Diego as John is stacking subs just south of San Diego. Most likely he knew the exact date she appears and when. Until I get better ASW assets into the area (doing now), she will remain in port. ALL Cruiser-carrier hybrids are safely off-map or close to it and will stay there while they undergo later conversion to CVLs.

[apbarog]

As for the US float planes, I use most of them for training US Navy fighter pilots. I've found that I've had plenty of US Marine Corp fighter pilots, but far too few US Navy fighter pilots. Put them on Training and Sweep and they'll get air-to-air training. Later move the altitude down to 100 feet and they'll get strafing and more importantly defense skills.

[ny59giants]

There are dedicated training groups in this mod (USN - 3, Marines - 2, Army - 3, and Brit -1).

[Bif1961]

Since John is a Subway Mogul, he might be too busy with RT to do an AAR at this juncture.

[Anachro]

Haven't got the turn yet because John forgot to include the file in his email, but I did get this ominous message:

This turn might be a good one to have a beer nearby while watching…

That could mean anything. There was a clearing of subs north of San Diego, so I made a run out for it with CV Yorktown, well-escorted. Maybe she was torpedoed. Or perhaps his planes reached and struck Force Z as it was going around the corner of Australia towards Townsville. We'll find out. Wishful thinking on my part hopes it means something happened to him. For now, I'm left a nervous wreck given the message and no replay to watch. CV Saratoga was also heading South towards Palmyra and KB 1.5 was up near Midway.

What happened?! TELL ME NOW

[CaptHaggard]

Anachro—

This used to happen to me all the time: the old ominous message that can cut either way. I'd be going nuts inside while endeavoring to exude a perfectly composed exterior. And I never had to wait for a file, either. That's tough.

Weird thing is, it was NEVER what I imagined.

Good luck!

[jwolf]

My take:

Good turn to have a beer = OK for you

Good turn to have a hard drink = BANZAI!!

As said above, good luck!

[Bif1961]

Sounds like a missive from Tokyo Nose.

[Anachro]

Jan 3-5, 1942

Not a great turn for me, but could've been much, much worse. Let's just say that John really likes his deep raids. Carriers appear off of Panama and catch a bunch of British and American tankers. What he doesn't know is that CV Yorktown and a bunch of damaged PH BB's are very close by. I think I can safely get CV Yorktown out of the way, but if he moves south he will most likely gets my BB's. I'll put them on fast speed and try to get off map. The tankers to the southwest will also move southwest at flank speed.



Another KB appears out of the blue off Australia just north of Exmouth and I don't know how it snuck by given the search I have all around. Oh well, it sinks a bunch of transports and 1 DD. Sad. This is the value of having so many KBs. He can hit so many places and really freeze my ability to setup my convoys for a long period of time. I don't know where he is getting the oil for the KB of Panama as it has been moving all around the eastern Pacific for the past month.



He lands at Densapar just south of Sorabaja where I placed a bunch of mines. A CA, CL, DD, AK, and SC all take mines. Most likely, only the SC and DD are sunk. So there's that at least. The deep raids of early '42.

TF 77 encounters mine field at Denpasar (58,108)

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 26, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

TF 11 encounters mine field at Denpasar (58,108)

Japanese Ships
CA Chishima, Mine hits 1
CL Natori, Mine hits 1

TF 77 encounters mine field at Denpasar (58,108)

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 24
SC Ch 23
xAK Syoan Maru, Mine hits 1

2 mines cleared

TF 43 encounters mine field at Denpasar (58,108)

Japanese Ships
DD Mazabuki, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Nonetheless, I sent John an email saying he had me worried over nothing. Can't let him know I'm shocked by the deep raids. Stiff upper lip and all that. I knew he would do a deep raid, just didn't expect it off of Panama. The only consolation it could've been much worse given how close my BBs and CV are to his Panama KB.