Deja Vu All Over Again - apbarog(J) vs OPilot(A)

[apbarog]

250 turns into the game. And I'm starting to feel that feeling that all Japanese players feel, when there are the first signs that the tide is beginning to turn. Time to start changing my mindset and preparing for the inevitable.

[apbarog]

12 Aug 42

Japanese troops landed at an unoccupied Boela. I've waited to land here. When I took Babo, B-17s promptly destroyed all of the oil. Now that Darwin is captured, Boela should be safe from bombing.

OPilot made a big effort to bomb Magwe. He went for the oil this time. I was ready, having moved Zeros and Nicks in, but was overwhelmed.

16 Hurricanes swept, finding 25 Zeros and 40 Nicks. The Hurricanes did well, being higher than the Nicks, but lower than the Zeros.
17 Hurricanes swept at 37900 feet, higher than all Japanese fighters.
16 Blens and 3 B-24Ds attacked. Some were shot down but oil was hit.
25 Wellingtons attacked, some were lost, and one oil was destroyed.
16 more Hurricanes swept at 31900 feet.
12 B-25s attacked, some were downed.
7 B-24Ds attacked, some were damaged. Some oil was hit.
15 more Hurricanes swept at 33900 feet.

Total air losses were 13 Nicks and 6 Zeros while downing 11 Wellingtons, 9 Hurricanes, 5 B-25s and 5 Blens. It was costly for both sides, but the enemy did destroy 43 of the 300 oil at Magwe. It is obvious that the oil will not be protected completely and it will be destroyed over time, even if defended. With the enemy holding Akyab and Cox's Bazar, Magwe is within Hurricane reach. I'll do what I can to make it costly but the oil is just temporary, at this point.

Did heavy bombing of Tsuyung. The Japanese troops there now have supply and will attack.

South of Darwin, we caught up to the fleeing enemy. If they are still there at the end of this turn, we'll attack.

[IdahoNYer]

What's Magwe fort level and how much AA is there? Any of that helping??

You going to look at trying to secure Akyab? As your right, as long as Magwe is in Allied fighter range, its going to be tough.

[apbarog]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

What's Magwe fort level and how much AA is there? Any of that helping??

You going to look at trying to secure Akyab? As your right, as long as Magwe is in Allied fighter range, its going to be tough.

Not sure about the fort level at Magwe. I'd guess a 3. There are multiple AA units. I'll take another look at them.

No chance of going for Akyab. It's built big and so is Cox's Bazar and Chittagong is huge. Other huge bases between there and Ledo. I'm not going to clear the skies there. I plan on trying to keep what I have for as long as possible.

[apbarog]

13 Aug 42

Dutch sub KXII hit light cruiser Natori with a torpedo near Boela. Natori is with KB. Carriers not spotted but a CS was. Natori isn't badly damaged, with SYS 10/FLOT 10-8/ENG 0/FIRE 0 and will not slow down the carriers. KB will rendezvous with 3 AOs east of Koepang and then head to Truk to replace lost planes and top off the tanks. I'll then decide whether to head towards the Marshalls or the South Pacific. Right now, south seems the right choice. Enemy troops landed at Baker Island in the past couple of days. Baker was always Allied, but unoccupied. I had a sub there, which spotted 3 xAPs. Bettys from Tarawa didn't attack. Bad weather and a small airbase at Tarawa. US carriers have had time to get to the Marshalls, and I haven't seen anything. They could be near Suva or New Zealand by now.

Japanese bombers hit Tsuyung heavily in moderate rain. Good base damage and damage to the troops. The fight at Tsuyung looks promising.

Ground combat at Tsuyung (68,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15706 troops, 160 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 476

Defending force 17368 troops, 73 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 415

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 1340

Allied adjusted defense: 628

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
278 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled

Allied ground losses:
510 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
14th Tank Regiment
55th Division
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
15th Army
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
43rd Chinese Corps
22nd New Chinese Division
61st Chinese Corps
2nd Reserve Division
102nd RAF Base Force
NCAC
8th Group Army

Again we have to resupply before attacking at Tsuyung. Lots of transports dropping supply.

The Japanese stack destroyed the A/B Hy Cst Arty unit south of Darwin. All of the other enemy units escaped to the next hex south. We chase.

An empty Boela is captured by the Yokosuka 4th SNLF. The oil is partially damaged. Depending on what bombers OPilot could use, he could hit Boela from Katherine to further destroy the oil. KB is nearby, and I considered moving it adjacent to Boela to protect it, but I decided that it is more needed in the South Pacific.

[apbarog]

14 Aug 42

I-18 spots New Mexico and Idaho near Funafuti. 2 torpedoes missed destroyer Lang. Trouble spotted. I-18 then attacked again, still at night.

Sub attack near Funafuti at 135,150

Japanese Ships
SS I-18, hits 1

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Chicago
CA Indianapolis
DD Dunlap
DD Balch
DD Fanning
DD Ellet
DD Benham

Ammo storage explosion on CV Enterprise
SS I-18 launches 8 torpedoes at CV Enterprise

OPilot lost Yorktown earlier in the war with similar damage and ammo storage explosion. I moved subs to intercept Enterprise if it survives and heads to one of several bases in the area. Subs also moved to approach routes to Luganville and Ndeni.

Japanese troops at Tsuyung now have supply, so another attack is ordered. I expect it to go well, judging from the previous attack.

[apbarog]

14 Aug 42 - Indian Ocean

More trouble spotted.

[apbarog]

15 Aug 42

British battleships Valiant, Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse bombarded Cocos Island, doing minor damage. British carrier or carriers supported from one hex west of Cocos Island. 26 Albacores bombed the tiny 4th JNAF Coy at Cocos, the only ground unit there. No invasion occurred. Just a raid of opportunity? Not sure yet. And where will the enemy task forces retire to? They could go back to Ceylon, or they could go to Australia. I do want to know the answer to that. A sub is moving to a point 2 days south of Cocos for a possible intercept, should the enemy go that way. Mini-KB will reform at Batavia today. If there is no enemy invasion at Cocos, the task forces will be long gone by the time mini-KB can get there.

And hey, we took Tsuyung! Wasn't sure that was going to happen in the mountain terrain and with enemy forts.

Ground combat at Tsuyung (68,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15530 troops, 160 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 455

Defending force 16913 troops, 70 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 370

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 876

Allied adjusted defense: 406

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Tsuyung !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
197 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
3330 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 217 destroyed, 70 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 25 (22 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 7

All units head towards Kunming, chasing the retreated enemy. They switch their target to Kunming, as does the Southern HQ which is supporting from Lashio. Bombers will hit the retreating enemy troops in order to slow them down and allow another ground attack on them before they can get to the forts at Kunming.

I note more enemy fighters at Norfolk Island than usual, up to 67. Two big enemy task forces are there, one of which is a big cruiser force.

[apbarog]

16 Aug 42

6 Japanese cruisers bombard Akyab. 535 casualties and moderate base damage. No fighters damaged. OPilot saw me coming. Just a nuisance raid with the British carriers down by Cocos Island.

Bombed defeated Chinese troops between Tsuyung and Kunming. The enemy is moving to Kunming, and I'm slowing them down in the hopes of attacking them. This won't work, as I now see movement out of Kunming into this hex, so fresh enemy units on the way. Kunming seen with 35000 men while the stacking limit there is 25000.

Flying Tigers reappeared at Kunming. 12 Sallys and 12 Oscars attacked and found 68 Warhawks. The Oscars somehow held the fighters off of the bombers, but 8 Oscars were lost. The Sallys managed to do minor damage to the airbase. Tojos swept Kunming afterwards, against far more enemy planes. Total air losses there were 12 Warhawks and 6 Tojos.

The enemy's 1st Somerset LI Battalion invaded and captured Cocos Islands, destroying the tiny 4th JNAF Coy and destroying 5 Jakes. Mini-KB is leaving Batavia today for Cocos. I doubt that enemy ships will still be around. If they are gone, battleships will break off of the task force and bombard Cocos. A brigade in China will start to prep for Cocos, as does a tank regiment in Tokyo. I will not allow Cocos to build up and I will recapture it, eventually.

A task force that I believe has the damaged Enterprise in it moved just 3 hexes to the southeast, heading towards Wallis Island. 3 subs hope to intercept. I think that the rest of the armada is now at Pago Pago. KB is approaching Rabaul.

[apbarog]

17 Aug 42

One hex to the northeast of Norfolk Island, RO-34 fired torpedoes at destroyer Stuart but missed. Cruisers Canberra, Australia and Hobart and 3 other destroyers were spotted. Not an ASW TF. Nothing approached Noumea, so I'm guessing the OPilot exited Norfolk to the northeast in order to avoid subs to the south. Don't know what else they'd be doing going that way just one hex. Unless they are on the way to Noumea and are just hidden by weather today.

The task force suspected to have damaged carrier Enterprise in it moved 3 hexes today but didn't go to Wallis Island. It's headed towards Savaii or Pago Pago. Japanese subs are forming a line to intercept.

I had mentioned that I had moved a sub 2 days steaming south of Cocos Island. I wanted to know if the British carriers and battleships were headed to Australia or back to Ceylon. The sub spotted a task force in the expected area on the expected day, but only saw 3 ships, 2 of which were AMs. So, nothing definite, but I'd say that all of the ships are here and heading to Australia. The AMs are probably the escorting ASW TF.

[apbarog]

18 Aug 42

Interesting turn.

I-175 missed destroyer Arunta with 2 torpedoes south of Noumea. The enemy then bombarded Noumea.

Night Naval bombardment of Noumea at 115,160

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 27 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 2 damaged
C5M2 Babs: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
CA Canberra
CA Australia
CL Hobart
CL Perth
DD Norman
DD Nizam
DD Napier
DD Nestor
DD Arunta
DD Stuart

Japanese ground losses:
868 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 78 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (3 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Airbase hits 44
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 99

That's a nuclear bombardment for just some cruisers. I spotted this TF one hex northeast of Norfolk yesterday, during the night. But then they weren't spotted during the day. I should have gone with my first thoughts and known that they were coming to Noumea. As I said yesterday, what else could they have been doing? My bigger cruiser TF arrived at Noumea from Luganville, but during the daylight, after the damage was done. B-17s added more damage to the airfield as the Zeros didn't fly.

Just northwest of Kunming, OPilot reinforced the hex with fresh Chinese troops, and despite having a supply penalty, easily held the hex. I'll try to wear them down but it's so difficult in the mountains.

Ground combat at 68,47 (near Kunming)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15494 troops, 160 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 453

Defending force 29015 troops, 112 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 742

Japanese adjusted assault: 302

Allied adjusted defense: 1645

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5

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

Japanese ground losses:
1094 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled

Allied ground losses:
323 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Near Pago Pago, my subs didn't spot the US carriers, but they did spot battleships Idaho and New Mexico, and I-16 got a torpedo hit on Idaho. That'll be some yard time. Based on mouse-over spotting reports, all enemy ships will get to Pago Pago today, so I have one more chance to finish Enterprise, and I flood the last few hexes on the way.

Turned out the British were still at Cocos Island. See the graphic for the details. I did neglect to say that Illustrious had a reported fuel storage explosion, but the damage noted doesn't seem to back that up. Enemy torpedo bomber strikes on my carriers were unescorted and no torpedoes were dropped. Some bombers turned back. The others were downed.

[apbarog]

19 Aug 42

I-25 missed DD Fanning with 2 torpedoes near Pago Pago. BB North Carolina spotted. Probably a carrier TF.

I-1 hit Wasp with a torpedo west of Pago Pago. The sub then missed DD Lang with 2 torpedoes. BB New Mexico spotted. I-1 would be hit by a depth charge and finished off with air ASW later in the day.

I-22 spotted 5 AOs at Pago Pago. The sub was hit by a depth charge and is SYS 27/FLOT 40-13/ENG 12-8/FIRE 0.

19 P-40Es swept Lashio, finding 16 Tojos and 23 Nicks. 11 Warhawks shot down, at the cost of 6 Nicks and 4 Tojos. B-25s attacked and 6 were shot down. Some planes were damaged on the ground.

Over 30 B-17Es bombed Noumea from Suva, running into 24 Zeros on LRCAP from La Foa. 3 B-17s were shot down and base damage was minor.

Bettys bombed Cocos Islands' airbase, causing moderate damage and hitting some Sea Hurricanes there.

Albacores attacked Japanese ships near Cocos Islands, and all 12 of them were shot down before dropping torpedoes. In the afternoon, 9 Kates attacked the British BB TF near Cocos. BC Repulse, BB Valiant and CL Danae were targeted, but all torpedoes missed. No torpedoes left on the Japanese carriers.

18 Kates attacked the same British TF, but these Kates had no torpedoes. 2 bombs hit Valiant and 2 bombs hit Prince of Wales, but all did not penetrate. A radar was reportedly destroyed.

[apbarog]

19 Aug 42 - Pago Pago

[apbarog]

20 Aug 42

Japanese BB TF reacted to the west and engaged a task force with just one carrier in it, Formidable. Formidable hadn't been damaged so far. The fight was not very long. Formidable took one small caliber shell from Yamashiro, and hit Yamashiro with 2 shells of her own! Crazy. Lots of torpedoes were fired on both sides, with no hits.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Cocos Islands at 29,99, Range 11,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Shell hits 3
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2
CA Maya
CL Kinu, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Tama, Shell hits 1
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio
DD Yukikaze
DD Shiratsuyu
DD Shigure
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare
DD Yamakaze

Allied Ships
CV Formidable, Shell hits 1
CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 2
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
DD Scout
DD Arrow, Shell hits 1
DD Decoy
DD Electra
DD Encounter
DD Express

Still at night, in the same hex, Japanese ships ran into the British BB TF, which was low on ammo as it had bombarded Cocos Island a few days ago. Japanese ships had used some ammo in the first fight, but not a lot. Lots more torpedoes fired on both sides. The only hit was a torpedo fired by a Brit cruiser, and that hit may not have really happened, judging by the lack of damage.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Cocos Islands at 29,99, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 12 [SYS 19/FLOT 4-0/ENG 2-0/FIRE 0]
CA Maya, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1 [SYS damage less than 10]
CL Kinu, on fire [SYS 10/FLOT 9-7/ENG 4-0/FIRE 0]
CL Tama
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio
DD Yukikaze
DD Shiratsuyu, Shell hits 2, on fire [SYS 34/FLOT 10-3/ENG 5-0/FIRE 0]
DD Shigure
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 1
DD Samidare
DD Yamakaze

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
BB Valiant, Shell hits 14, heavy fires [took many big gun hits]
BC Repulse, Shell hits 2
CL Danae, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
CL Durban
DD Griffin, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hotspur, Shell hits 1
DD Inconstant
DD Isis, Shell hits 1

Oscars swept Kunming and found that the Flying Tigers were back again. The Oscars did unusually well versus many more Warhawks. Kunming's airfield is damaged. 14 Warhawks were shot down, for the cost of 13 Oscars.

Way, way up in northern China, the 15th Tank Regiment and the 2nd Ind. Mixed Brigade defeated the 9th Separate Brigade, pushing it west into Kiuchan. Japanese forces will move in an try to capture the base. Air transports continue to drop supply to the Japanese troops.

Between Tsuyung and Kunming, we attack again. Bad odds but decent results.

Ground combat at 68,47 (near Kunming)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14825 troops, 160 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 388

Defending force 25473 troops, 112 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 726

Japanese adjusted assault: 267

Allied adjusted defense: 1069

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4

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

Japanese ground losses:
640 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Vehicles lost 38 (1 destroyed, 37 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
506 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th Tank Regiment
55th Division
15th Army
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
43rd Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
64th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
2nd Reserve Division
8th Group Army
102nd RAF Base Force
22nd Group Army

Attacks will continue when the troops have supply. The 55th Division will exhaust itself and then be replaced by another division waiting at Tsuyung.

[apbarog]

21 Aug 42

I-173 sank tiny CMc Soemenep near Horn Island. Mining at work. Another CMc spotted.

4 US destroyers bombarded Adak Island. Second time in a week. Minor damage done but a couple of guns were destroyed. I'm not interested in committing much to the Aleutians. B-26s then bombed Adak.

53 Sallys with 39 Oscars attacked Kunming, and found 30 P-40Es. Some Oscars and Sallys lost. Light airbase damage done in severe storms. Tojos swept afterwards. Total air losses were 9 Oscars, 4 Tojos and 4 Sallys while downing 8 P-40Es.

Dutch sub KVIII sank tiny AMc Hakata Maru #6 outside of Rangoon. The sweeper was keeping the approach to Rangoon and the shallows to the west clear of mines.

A Japanese division and 2 artillery regiments bombarded Bandoeng, just to remind myself how much the Dutch still have there. It's a huge stack, and despite it being August 1942, Bandoeng still has supply. I bomb it every day, but it still has supply. I definitely won't attack at Bandoeng until the Dutch are out of supply, but I may not ever attack. I wonder just how high the fort level is. And the mountain terrain. For now, we keep bombing and keep the enemy isolated. I do think that leaving the Dutch there will be an incentive for OPilot to make a landing on Java, to rescue the Dutch. I know that it would cross my mind. I hope to prepare for this possibility.

Japanese river crossing into Katherine in Australia.

Ground combat at Katherine (76,128)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 28992 troops, 349 guns, 174 vehicles, Assault Value = 875

Defending force 11091 troops, 150 guns, 79 vehicles, Assault Value = 192

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 277

Allied adjusted defense: 214

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1387 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 75 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1238 casualties reported
Squads: 24 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 29 (10 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
16th Division
2nd Division
5th RF Gun Battalion
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
25th Army
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
2/2nd Ind Coy
Sparrow Force
4th Australian Brigade
Gull Force
2nd Australian Brigade
19th Australian Battalion
5th Base Group
Katherine RAAF Base Force
131st Field Artillery Battalion
Darwin RAAF Base Force
North Territory Cmd
24th Avn Sup
10th RAAF Base Wing

Our next attack will be after a bit of rest, to bring the disruption levels down.

The picket line set up west of Sabang has spotted enemy ships fleeing north, sooner that I had expected.

[apbarog]

22 Aug 42

Lots of P-40Es on the ground at Kunming, and not flying. Many Japanese bombers hit today and damaged scores of them, destroying 4. The base is showing 78 damage. There's no rail out either, so my bombers will keep pounding the base and destroying the Warhawks.

Just northwest of Kunming, our attack goes well, but not enough to take the hex. There's over 50k troops at Kunming now, and its stacking limit is just 25k. Movement is shown out of Kunming into our contested hex, so the fight there won't be won immediately. Have to wait for resupply now.

Japanese cruiser force still in a blocking position between the British carrier TF and Ceylon. I want a battle. The enemy ships are low or out of ammo.

[apbarog]

23 Aug 42

I-24 sank tiny YO Y-6 near Funafuti. Funafuti is a forward unbuilt Allied base, and probably has float planes.

Dutch sub KVIII sank PB Shinko Maru #1 in the shallows west of Rangoon.

Japanese forces captured Katherine, causing 5425 casualties with a huge number of destroyed squads and devices. We continue the chase south.

And now for the big fight in the Indian Ocean.

[apbarog]

And note that the Japanese have 3 damaged cruisers and 4 damaged destroyers now heading to Singapore. Damage is not severe (beyond the 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers sunk). The worst SYS damage is 32 and the worst FLOT damage 23.

[pontiouspilot]

Exciting turns! You are having better submarine luck than me. Enterprise is likely gone. Maybe not the tougher Brit CV. I have always found the old Brit BBs to be fairly effective in a gun fight but torpedo magnets. That may be a function of their experience and their slow speed. You may have a great window of opportunity opening before the '43 influx of US CVs.

[apbarog]

ORIGINAL: pontiouspilot

Exciting turns! You are having better submarine luck than me. Enterprise is likely gone. Maybe not the tougher Brit CV. I have always found the old Brit BBs to be fairly effective in a gun fight but torpedo magnets. That may be a function of their experience and their slow speed. You may have a great window of opportunity opening before the '43 influx of US CVs.

I have had good luck with the Japanese subs. They've sunk Yorktown and probably Enterprise. They put one torpedo into Wasp recently. They almost certainly sank a British battleship yesterday. They hit Idaho with a torpedo recently. And the Brit carrier is unknown.

I do think that OPilot had his first major operation underway east of Luganville last week, until Enterprise was torpedoed. I think he will be more cautious with fewer carriers available. For awhile.