BBfanboy wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2026 4:40 am
After the first clash in the Celebes Sea, heavily damaged DD Pope and DD Parrot left the Allied TF. Since Myoko found Parrot alone, we can be quite sure that Pope went down.
I also think there is little hope for Houston. Crew experience is not yet high on Allied ships and the CA's design is old - less compartmentation etc. Should be less durable than the IJN CAs.
Now you just have to catch that Allied TF with nearly empty magazines ...
Houston defintitely went donw. LST confirmed that he had lost Houston and 2 destroyers with several other destroyers in difficulty.
As for catching Boise and friends with nearly empty magazines... I'd need something useful in the area to do that and I simply don't have it. A couple of submarines in their path is the best I can hope for.
Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'
zebrazwo wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2026 1:43 am
Ouch. That hurt a little.
One thing you can be certain of when playing the red side... you are going to see ships go down. In this case I made a receipe for disaster within the first 2 weeks. Ouch is so right. The 2 CS are invaluable and between those 2 and the CVL almost 100 planes went down and no doubt a large chunk of aircrew as well. 25% of the Myoko class also gone. Trading Houston for these 4 is bad news so early in proceedings.
While taking a piece like Houston off the board is nice, the price you ended up paying was, I'm sure you will admit, too high. Are you changing any of your plans now because of the missing assets?
zebrazwo wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2026 1:43 am
Ouch. That hurt a little.
One thing you can be certain of when playing the red side... you are going to see ships go down. In this case I made a receipe for disaster within the first 2 weeks. Ouch is so right. The 2 CS are invaluable and between those 2 and the CVL almost 100 planes went down and no doubt a large chunk of aircrew as well. 25% of the Myoko class also gone. Trading Houston for these 4 is bad news so early in proceedings.
While taking a piece like Houston off the board is nice, the price you ended up paying was, I'm sure you will admit, too high. Are you changing any of your plans now because of the missing assets?
The immediate change was the cancelling of BB/CV Shinano. Even though a crippling move to chase this shipyard points guzzler I had decided to give it a go. The mod calls for it to be accelerated until 21.03.43 at 684 points a turn. An absolutely hugh percentage of the 1384 a day that are available. It would not have been unitl Musashi was complete on 13.08.42 that I would have found a spare 233 points to use. I now have 684 naval shipyard points to utilize each turn which now means that DDs Akizuki, Kazegumo, Makigumo and Naganami along with CVL Shoho and CV Taiho have been accelerated. This is the silver lining from the Celebes Sea encounter - no more Shinano but a host of ships back on normal timelines and some good acceleration happening.
Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'
SierraJuliet wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:49 am
...
The immediate change was the cancelling of BB/CV Shinano. Even though a crippling move to chase this shipyard points guzzler I had decided to give it a go. ....
I too struggle to build this ship. The $!##$! cost ... I can't remember the last time I did ... a long time ago. I can say it was deflating when I got it though. IIRC, a little after 2 months, it ate 4 torps and spent the rest of the war in RSY ... I was kinda looking forward to seeing if you had better luck ....
SierraJuliet wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:49 am
...
The immediate change was the cancelling of BB/CV Shinano. Even though a crippling move to chase this shipyard points guzzler I had decided to give it a go. ....
I too struggle to build this ship. The $!##$! cost ... I can't remember the last time I did ... a long time ago. I can say it was deflating when I got it though. IIRC, a little after 2 months, it ate 4 torps and spent the rest of the war in RSY ... I was kinda looking forward to seeing if you had better luck ....
I just thought of a change for the Shinano. Build an empty hulk at a lower cost and then have an upgrade to the BB or the CV version. Much like the Yamato and the Mushashi entered service earlier than in the game, give them an important upgrade that takes time.
Last edited by RangerJoe on Tue Mar 31, 2026 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).” ; Julia Child
SierraJuliet wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:49 am
...
The immediate change was the cancelling of BB/CV Shinano. Even though a crippling move to chase this shipyard points guzzler I had decided to give it a go. ....
I too struggle to build this ship. The $!##$! cost ... I can't remember the last time I did ... a long time ago. I can say it was deflating when I got it though. IIRC, a little after 2 months, it ate 4 torps and spent the rest of the war in RSY ... I was kinda looking forward to seeing if you had better luck ....
Yep, that would be more than deflating after spending so much and waiting. At least you saved it from sinking.
I have in the back of my mind to review the situation once Musashi is built and reconsider then. That would push the build back by around 8 months but if I can squeeze the points out of the naval shipyards I may consider it. Of course after another 8 months I'll know how the overall picture of how the contest stands and that will impact on any decision to magic up Shinano.
Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'
SierraJuliet wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:49 am
...
The immediate change was the cancelling of BB/CV Shinano. Even though a crippling move to chase this shipyard points guzzler I had decided to give it a go. ....
I too struggle to build this ship. The $!##$! cost ... I can't remember the last time I did ... a long time ago. I can say it was deflating when I got it though. IIRC, a little after 2 months, it ate 4 torps and spent the rest of the war in RSY ... I was kinda looking forward to seeing if you had better luck ....
I just thought of a change for the Shinano. Built an empty hulk at a lower cost and then have an upgrade to the BB or the CV version. Much like the Yamato and the Mushashi entered service earlier than in the game, give them an important upgrade that takes time.
Hi RangerJoe. LST's Shinano option arrives as an incomplete hull without armament which allows for a choice to be made to convert to either BB or CV. The arrival date is set to around April '43 on the understanding that the build is accelerated, for a late '42 arrival of the incomplete hull, in order to burn more construction points (which is to compensate for the fact that conversions do not use construction points). It's not so much the time needed to await the arrival it is the stupendous amount of resources required to produce it which is ths issue.
Now that I've read through LST notes again I definitely will reconsider restoring the build as I'd forgotten that the arrival date pushes forward so much because of the acceleration. It is still a full year of burning up 684 ship build points a day though! The jury will stay out unitl Musashi turns up.
Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'
; Julia Child