Back and Better Than Ever Vettim 89(A) vs Greasylake(J)

[vettim89]

Ouch regarding New Caledonia. I feel your pain.

I like to put an AV or AVD or whatever at one of the Channel Islands (off LA) to host a Kingfisher squadron on ASW. With a three hex radius, that covers the LA approaches pretty well.

Regarding the deployment of your AUS and UK divisions, is your opponent known for doing end arounds? You'd hate for them to be hanging in Burma while he lands somewhere in India.

Good luck.

Cheers,
CB

I have a lot of ASW patrol AC near the WCUSA including a LB-30 squadron and Larry has not ventured there. Larry is a what I call a sneaky conservative player. By that I mean he plays pretty close to the vest but will pull a surprise move every now and then. That said, I still own all of the DEI except Miri which I have pounded to irrelevance; so I think any shocking moves in the near term are out of the question I am sending the 7th Aussie DIV to Oz. I am keep the 6th in India for now.

[vettim89]

The IJN SCTF has strayed further south an is in the Macassar Strait. I have a small convoy at Balikpapan which is departing. Two SCTF based around CLs (one Dutch, One British) are rushing to cover the convoy. We shall see what happens here. I am sure the Coral Sea romp is satisfying to Larry, but those CVs would probably be of better use here. I have three SCTF in the area: the above mentioned two plus one built around USS Houston south of Ambon

Bombardment attack at Bataan brought a comment from my opponent brought snide comment about future war crimes.

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26254 troops, 380 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 1643

Defending force 54099 troops, 851 guns, 773 vehicles, Assault Value = 1673

Japanese ground losses:
1859 casualties reported
Squads: 49 destroyed, 75 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 22 (11 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

AMPH TF arrives at Pago Pago to pick up teleported units and deliver them to Not-Pago Pago.

IJN remains in force in the Coral Sea. I debated this one. I have some merchies holed up at Brisbane and Sydney. I also have some surface units at Sydney including Canberra in the yard. I thought about forming a SCTF and have them run towards Melbourne at top speed. My fear with that is if Larry pursued I would have a TF out of fuel being chased by 10+ carriers. So I opted to keep them in port and formed some sacrificial TF with xAKL and AMc at each base. There are 50 P-40E with atrocious training at each base. My hope is that Larry will set his bombers on Naval strike as primary and either Port of Airfield attack as secondary. The sacrificial lambs will hopefully keep the nasties away from the bases themselves

[CaptBeefheart]

Those KB cruises around SE Oz can really increase the pucker factor. At least you have some fighters there. Even with lousy EXP and AIR ratings they should be able to make it a bit painful for the IJN.

Cheers,
CB

[BBfanboy]

Those sacrificial TFs could also burn up KB sorties so it has to RTB. Good move.

[Sardaukar]

I had bad experiences with using Suva as stockpile base for fuel from WC/Panama even against AI.

Lost quite a few TK when KB gave a visit (yea, even AI can do that).

Auckland in NZ is way safer bet.

[vettim89]

The IJN CVs flee north//NNE. Only a replenishment TF visible in northern Coral Sea. We will continue our vigilance.

Some how SS pollack wandered into a Japanese port, hit a mine, and sank. No longer trusting the AI for sub routing

The IJN SCTF caught up to my convoy and slaughtered them. Then it tangled with Dutch PTs and sank two for good measure. My SCTF did not attempt an intercept. Too far away. Again sloppiness on my part

SCTF vs PT.jpg (244.77 KiB) Viewed 60 times

Night Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 64,98, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
CL Kinu
CL Kuma
DD Natsugumo
DD Murasame
DD Uranami
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
xAK Taiyuan, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Yu Sang, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Liran, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
PC Zeeman, Shell hits 13, and is sunk

An I-boat finds CA Cornwell off the SW India coast and puts a torpedo into her. Again a well escorted TF with I think five DDs

IJN ASW TF roughs up an S-boat at Rabaul. I tried to use my opponents tactic of going right into a port hex; oddly didn't work for me. Also hit a mine at Rabaul

Bombardment at Bataan still leaning towards the good guys favor

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15656 troops, 267 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 1627

Defending force 53975 troops, 849 guns, 772 vehicles, Assault Value = 1670

Japanese ground losses:
156 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 45 (31 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 26 (23 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
201 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

[vettim89]

A quiet turn after all the action of late

SCTF arrive at Balikpapan and the IJN SCTF is now back in the Sulu Sea. Too little, too late

Another S-boat finds a mine but is not sunk. Pretty banged up and she may not make port. Check all my sub patrol zones to make sure none of them are near ports.

USS Gato found a nice fat xAP south of the Home Islands and fires dud torpedoes at it. <sigh>

IJN SCTF is spotted near Rossell Island. A REPL TF is about 150 NM north of there.

IJA has moved to Kweiteh in north-central China

Ground combat at Kweiteh (90,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 20755 troops, 171 guns, 29 vehicles, Assault Value = 765

Defending force 3028 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 146

Assaulting units:
110th Division
32nd/A Division
32nd/B Division

Daily Bombardment Attack at Bataan

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15307 troops, 241 guns, 138 vehicles, Assault Value = 1657

Defending force 53879 troops, 848 guns, 771 vehicles, Assault Value = 1672

Japanese ground losses:
98 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 12 (3 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (5 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Possible important USN operation goes off next turn. Stay tuned

[vettim89]

Well a USN fleet boat finally hit something: a CM near Rabaul

With my full knowledge of the location of IJN carrier power (One CVTF still in the central Coral Sea BTW), I thought I would raid the Marshalls with two carriers (Yorktown and Saratoga). Well it did not go as planned. First my offensive strikes yield a hit on an xAK and an escort. Bombing raids on the AB at Roi-Namur and the port at Kwajalein yielded nothing. But first the enemies air power showed up. This is going to get ugly

code brown.jpg (97.56 KiB) Viewed 19 times

Morning Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
G3M2 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1

then

Morning Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 60 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
G4M1 Betty x 9

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1

then

Morning Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

then

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
G3M2 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 6 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

then

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G4M1 Betty x 17

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1
CA Portland
CV Saratoga, on fire, heavy damage

but wait, there's more

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 138,115

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
G4M1 Betty x 9

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CV Saratoga, on fire, heavy damage
CA Louisville, Torpedo hits 1

Yorktown can make 2 kts and is at 91 FLOT damage. She will like be finished off next turn

Sara is in slightly better shape but unless the Japanese concentrate on Yorktown, I doubt she will make it out either

not good.jpg (101.19 KiB) Viewed 19 times

B-17s hit Miri but bad weather led to only 3 hits.

Daily Bataan update

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15354 troops, 250 guns, 142 vehicles, Assault Value = 1685

Defending force 53630 troops, 846 guns, 766 vehicles, Assault Value = 1650

Japanese ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 17 (6 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (8 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
147 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Hey I took a shot. Was not expecting that much resistance. Obviously my opponent was waiting for me to try something like this. Now forced to make future plans down two CVs.

[vettim89]

Japanese air finishes off both Saratoga and Yorktown.

So ends a miserable month. That said, Larry is going to have his industry crash to a halt by the end of 1942 if he doesn't speed things along in the DEI Going to go over some deployments to start off March. Will just sulk into a corner and whimper for now