Canuck's Revenge - ADavidB vs PzB (Wobbly's game continued)

[ADavidB]

Okay, it's July 8, 1942 and thanks to the kindness of PzB (John) I am now in charge of the Pacific Theatre. My job is to take over from my valiant Kiwi colleague and find a way to turn around this War. My first task will be to be certain that I can deliver enough Carling Black Label and Pabst Blue Ribbon to our valiant fighting forces to revive their fighting spirits!

I will be operating under "no peek" rules - I won't look at PzB's AAR and he won't peek at mine. This way I can put down my thoughts and ideas. Any comments, criticisms, suggestions and so on from the peanut gallery are gladly welcomed. Here is my assessment of the situation prior to the first turn that I sent to PzB.

Situation Assessment - Eastern and Central Pacific:

You can hear the gentle sound of tiny splashes of anchovies at the surface of the still ocean water thanks to the fact that there are almost no ships at all to be found in the West Coast ports or even Pearl Harbor. Nor are there many planes around to disturb the sounds of the gulls in the air. The "cupboard is bare" as far as shipping and air power goes - everything has been sent West. Surprisingly, there are some useful land units that have been left behind. But there is nothing around to transport them in, so they aren't going anywhere soon.

This situation leaves me feeling very vulnerable, so the first thing I have done is to give new orders to all those task forces that are currently steaming towards distant Australia to go at full speed to the nearest port. Sending troops into battle without the ability to supply them or their ships is an invitation to doom and I would rather have a few well-supplied troops and planes than lots of forces starving in isolation.

I've also started to set up a more comprehensive air patrol arrangement. If PzB already has or implements in the near future an aggressive submarine-based anti-shipping campaign in the Eastern and Central Pacific I will be in really big trouble because most of the transport task forces that are currently steaming ever-so-slowly to the southwest have no ASW with them.

Wobbly did grab the Gilberts, which does allow me to send task forces east and west without having to make too much of a detour due to Japanese LBA, but everything currently rests upon the forces in Tawara standing up to assaults by sea and air. I don't like having unsupported forces in vulnerable positions, so I am trying to set up some "defence in depth" to limit PzB's ability to knock out everything with one lucky blow. Fortunately there are some forces onboard ships in nearby transport TFs that will allow me to start to set up a defence, but it won't be to my liking for quite some time.

BTW - if you are wondering why I am speaking of "defence" in this situation and not "offence", it is because my most pressing need at the moment is to have the Gilberts act as a limit to PzB's ability to project force into the South Central Pacific. I have no forces available for any offensive operations in this theatre, and the only real reserve I have are four Northern Pacific RCTs that are stuck on the West Coast without any transport and are thus anything but a "mobile" reserve.

There is only one surface combat task force in the theatre, lead by a 20 knot BB. I don't like using 20 knot BBs in surface combat TFs. They are too slow and limit my ability to project force quickly and precisely. I will have to reconfigure this SC TF and make it into as lean and responsive a fighting force as I can.

But my ability to use any TF in the area is severely limited because of a lack of fuel in the locations where I need it. I am resorting to stationing AKs at "dot" islands so that I can do a "refuel at sea" in order to give my ships enough fuel to reach ports that do have fuel. Redistributing fuel in the Eastern and Central Pacific will be my number one priority and there is a severe local shortage of any ships that can carry fuel.

Situation Assessment - South Pacific:

Wobbly has started the foundation for a solid presence in the South Pacific. He has Lunga and other Eastern Solomons bases, but the situation is similar to that in the Gilberts. All of the Allied "eggs" rest upon Lunga holding and it is low in supplies and without fuel.

Once again, there is one combat TF in the theatre anchored by a 20-knot BB. I will be taking the same approach here as I am in the Gilberts. I will set up a fast combat TF to provide striking power and attempt to redistribute fuel, supplies and troops in order to set up a more mutually-supporting defence. A shortage of transport ships is again my number one problem here.

Once again, I don't anticipate starting any major offensive operations in this area - I just want to stabilize it so that PzB can't easily interfere with my shipping. There are more troops and bases in this area, and we aren't looking at atoll assaults, so I am hoping that any counterattacks by PzB will become bogged down in land fighting for a long enough time to allow me to build up my support infrastructure.

There are some transport task forces in this theatre, including a big fuel TF that was set to go to Australia. I'm diverting it and will split it up into individual ship task forces in order to put fuel in the various island bases that sit between New Caledonia and the Gilberts. I like to make certain that I have "supplies in depth" along all of my travel routes. A well-fueled and well-supplied task force can move farther, faster and more effectively than one that is limping along "in the red".

Situation Assessment - Eastern Australia and PNG:

The Allies hold Port Moresby, but in reality there are little in the way of significant forces or support in this theatre. There is one big fuel TF that is on its way to PM via the route that allows the Japanese LBA to get the most shots at it. I have diverted it to Australia. I don't intend to sustain naval operations out of PM, and therefore don't need extra fuel there. Nor do I want to give PzB's LBA more "free shots" then they deserve at what shipping I do have.

My biggest worry is the lack of base force air support in the Eastern Australian bases. I can't support the quantities of bombers and fighters that I want in order to keep PzB away from the shores of Australia, or to pound targets such as Gili-Gili. PM will be a pain to supply, but the forces there aren't bad, so I'll leave things put for a while, although I may stop trying to run a bombing campaign from there - level bombing uses up too much supply.

Again, there is no shipping around locally worth speaking of, nor any combat ships. I am trying to accumulate what is around in Brisbane to start to ship it to the East. If PzB happens to do some ship-based raiding I have in reality nothing to stop him.

The air forces in Eastern and Southern Australia are a motley mix - mainly Dutch and British escapees from the original fall of the DEI. Unfortunately, because there is little in the way of supply available, I can't even upgrade most of those planes to anything useful. Once again, this demonstrates why I am so insistent upon having a good, solid supply chain. It's a game-month to bring supplies from the West Coast of the US to the East Coast of Australia, and I don't have any supply transports at the West Coast right now. This captures the essence of my real problem - it will be up to two game-months before I can start to supply Eastern Australia properly because I will have to move shipping back across the Pacific to the West Coast before I can start to ship supplies westwards!

Situation Assessment - Southern and Western Australia:

Most of us ignore Southern Australia, but thanks to situation in the DEI, the South has just become much more important than usual. I am going to make Adelaide a key consolidation base of operations until the situation in the DEI stabilizes. Adelaide has some supplies and fuel - I am diverting a small fuel TF that was bound for Perth to Adelaide. There isn't enough fuel in that TF to really matter in Perth at this point, and I'd rather empty that TF and turn it around than take a chance at it getting caught in a potential debacle off of the West Coast of Australia.

Yes, the cupboard is definitely "bare" in Perth. There are a lot of ships there and more on the way, but no supplies to speak of and no fuel at all. I am resorting to using my AKs to provide "fuel at sea" to fill up the smaller ships to some extent. I've got three CVs in port - for some reason their fighters are on land. I will have to see what was done and why - they aren't badly damaged.

But Perth is a lousy place to have sitting the only functional Allied CVs. Not only is there no supply or fuel in Perth, there is little in the Northern Australian ports either. Essentially there is no way to support naval air combat operations off of Western or Northern Australia at this time, nor in the foreseeable future. Therefore, once I get those fighters back on board, I'm sending those CVs back to the Pacific and spreading them out in support of my operations in the South and Central Pacific where they can get support and have freedom of movement. Australia will have to rely upon LBA until new carriers enter Allied service.

My intention is to send everything that floats around the south of Australia to the Pacific. Sure, it will take a long time, but it will be safe from the KB unless PzB is willing to risk sending resupply TFs along for the ride. The AI often leaves the KB "high and dry" at sea somewhere, but I can't see PzB doing that. And if for some reason he happens to do that, then I will happily take advantage of the situation in the Central Pacific.

I don't want to send ships to the Northern Australian ports because they will be vulnerable to air and naval attack and they will use up the limited supply and fuel that is there. I want to start a heavy bomber air campaign against PzB's bases in Timor and vicinity and therefore I will need all the supply that I can get. I noticed from the combat records that PzB has lost a lot of planes, and I want to "help" him lose more. The major limiting factor again for me will be a dearth of air support units in the Northern Bases.

Situation Assessment - Java and the DEI:

Ugh. The situation in Java reminds me of Robert Heinlein's novel "Starship Troopers" (not the movie) when he describes the debacle during the first invasion of the home planet of the Bugs. Java will probably end up being a total write-off. I have already started to pull troops back from their futile attacks on the bases that the Japanese still hold. I want to bog down PzB as long as possible in Java, and in order to do that I will need my troops to last as long as possible. Trading blows with continuously strengthening enemies is not the way to do that.

The major problem will be one of supply. (That is sounding familiar, isn't it?) There is no supply available nearby, so what is there will have to last. Essentially this is the PI in December 1941 all over again. There are even isolated troops on a nearby island. I have no idea why or how they got there.

My first goal will be to put the air bases on Timor out of business. I will attempt to do that with the LBA that I have in Northern Australia. I need to do this so that I have a hope containing the Japanese counterattacks. I don't care and can't do much if PzB attacks from the North or East, but I don't want him to be able to attack from the South too.

I've set up a Pearl Harbor-style "stampede" of ships out of Tjilitjap harbor. (ZonkerH and Tophat know what that is like. <L>) I don't really care if the KB is off shore or not. As it is, all of my ships are sitting ducks in the harbor and provide no useful function there. I've grouped them together in a number of fairly sizable TFs - I can't escape notice and so don't expect too. But more flak is better than less, and I hope to fatigue, damage and destroy attacking aircraft. Even the KB has to go back to port once in a while. And every ship that I get free from that death trap is a ship that can come back to fight again on my terms in the future. I did scuttle one CV that was too badly damaged to try to move.

I've left the air craft that are in Java in place, with some rearrangements. I set everything on "naval attack", just to hinder PzB's counterattacks. He will need to commit a fair amount of air power to suppress me, and air power being used against Java is not being used elsewhere. (I hate fighting in so many fronts simultaneously!)

Essentially, PzB has damaged the Allied sortie into the DEI so badly that there is no truely viable threat left. If he were to just isolate and ignore Java it would make no difference. Without having Timor under my control I can't support my forces in Java. And I don’t have the forces, supplies and transports necessary to take Timor. My best hope is that PzB doesn't realize this and continues to make serious efforts to retake Java. If he goes after Java instead of trying to retake his lost positions in the South and Central Pacific I will have the time to rebuild in the East and start to plan a serious offensive for early 1943. If, on the other hand, PzB splits his forces and tries to assail all three fronts - Java, the South Pacific and the Gilberts simultaneously, I ought to be able to tie him up and drain his efforts. Again, my worst case scenario is that he leaves Java to "wither on the vine" and goes after the South or Central Pacific in a serious manner during the next two months.

Situation Assessment - India:

India is another "ugh" situation, but maybe not as bad as case as in Java. First off, I'm hoping to illustrate Sun Tsui's dictum that you should always allow your enemy some escape route in order to avoid having the enemy (in this case me) fight to the death and cause you unnecessary casualties.

So, for example, I've split up that big SC TF that was between Karachi and Bombay into three cruiser-lead SC TFs, with reactions set to "6" and both "destination" and "home base" set to Karachi. I've also put those few fighting ships in Karachi Harbor into an SC TF with the same settings. This way, if PzB's SC TF goes into Karachi, it will run into four SC TFs with plenty of DDs as well as cruisers that have torpedoes. I don't care how much damage I take - his ships will eventually run out of ammunition and operation points and I will eventually drive them off. My goal is to both damage his forces as well as allow my troops to start to repair the lightly damages airfields.

I've also put a number of torpedo bombers and fighters into Karachi. If things go as I plan, there ought to be a number of targets for them offshore in the daylight. At the same time I've set all my other LBA to do airfield attacks on Bombay. I want to put that airfield out of operation and damage/destroy as many of PzB's planes as I can. If Bombay can't provide air cover for PzB's ships, and can't bomb the airfield at Karachi, then I can get the breathing space that I need.

It doesn't matter how many planes I lose. I have lots of them, and I will lose them anyway if I can't stop PzB's land attacks. So I would rather use them up attacking his forces at Bombay in order to buy time. I have also ordered all of my forces to head to existing Allied bases such as Delhi and Ahmadabad. They won't get there fast, but they will move and start to interfere with Japanese supply routes. I will also start the routine of not engaging in artillery duels with the Japanese. That strategy has worked wonders in my other PBEMs since I started it. It may be too late to save Ahmadabad, but PzB will know that he was in a fight.

The other part of the Indian situation is the scattering of ships out in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. I don't know if PzB will bother to send carriers out to hunt them down. I don't really care and can't do anything about it anyway. If he sends carriers out to hunt that means that he doesn't have carriers someplace else where it might be important to me. And if he doesn't hunt down my ships then eventually they will get to where I want them. And who knows, if I can stabilize the situation in India, I will start to get some decent troops in a couple of weeks, and Karachi may once again become important as a supply port in the future.

BTW - I still hold Colombo. I've ordered the troops that PzB kicked out of Trimcomalee to try to march to Colombo. They aren't doing any good sitting where they are right now. There are a lot of Allied subs in the region, but most are trying to transport base force troops from Colombo to Karachi. I've cancelled those trips and ordered the subs back to Columbo. I intend to use them to "flood" the region around Karachi with subs on combat patrol. I'm also trying to build Karachi into a level 9 port so that I can rearm my subs there instead of having to send them down to Australia.

Right now I have no combat troops in Colombo, just two HQs and three base forces. If PzB invades before my "orphan" combat troops make it to Colombo, then it will be a relative cakewalk for him. That's another reason to not take base forces out of Colombo - I want to fill it with aircraft and attack his local air bases, ports and ships.

Situation Assessment - Burma and China:

The situation in Burma is very odd. Mandalay is sitting almost isolated but not under any immediate threat. For some reason there are four HQs there. I am spreading them out to the other Burmese bases that I still hold. I may well attack with the Chinese forces that are there, simply because it beats letting them just sit around doing nothing since they will eventually run out of supply.

I hold five bases in south-central China. I also have two huge groupings of Chinese troops sitting out in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing. I am trying to move those Chinese troops to somewhere worthwhile. I am also starting to try to use the Chinese air force for something, if only for nuisance value. I intend to flood the routes leading to my remaining bases with troops so that PzB will have to spend the time to roust them out before pursuing any attacks on my remaining cities.

Situation Assessment - the Soviet Union:

I've started to build up the forts and air bases there, as well as set training values for those planes. I can always hope that PzB either makes a mistake or gets "Victory Fever" and attacks. (But not attack too quickly.)

Dave Baranyi

[Grotius]

Sounds like a sensible set of plans. I'm glad to hear you've split up those surface combat TFs near Karachi -- best to keep such TFs under 15 ships. Good luck!

[ZonkerHarris]

I obviously haven't been causing you nearly enough problems in our game if you're willing to volunteer for these headaches! Good luck in pulling this game out of the fire.

[byron13]

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I did scuttle one CV that was too badly damaged to try to move.

You scuttled Lady Lex??!! [X(] OH NO!

[Central Blue]

sounds sticky. The game is a lot about supply lines. Holding Tarawa and Henderson field early is a leg up. To bad he's got Gilli-Gilli. Reading between the lines.... sounds like there is little going on at Noumea, Fiji, Samoa, Canton Island.

[byron13]

I'm curious how bad things are on Java. Wobbly seems to have grabbed a number of valuable bases that are mutually supporting. If (and I emphasize "if") there is sufficient supply and air available, it seems like Java would be a good sword to have PzB fall upon. It seems that your pilots now have the advantage in the air (other than against, at least for the time being, KB) due to pilot quality, making his aerial assaults and supporting efforts costly.

I always thought that the void south of Java was a huge weakness in the plan, but . . . Can Java be resupplied from the west while you clean out Timor? I'd hate to see you pull out of Java just because it is risky or hard. Such a huge foothold and thorn in the enemy's side should not be surrendered lightly. A stalemate on Java at this stage is a victory.

Or is the problem that Australia is pretty much denuded of supply, and the transports are too banged up to keep both Java in supply from Oz and Oz in supply from the U.S.? What kind of LCU strength is there in northern Oz?

Heck, at this point, I've completely lost track of the Allied capital ships. How many CVs, BBs, and CAs are there, where are they, and what are their condition?

[ADavidB]

Okay, the first fruits of my emergency plan came forward in the first night of sea battles. This is why I split my naval forces up:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
CL Tatsuta, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 1
DD Mochizuki

Allied Ships
CL Birmingham, Shell hits 3
DD Banckert
DD Witte de With, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kortenaer, Shell hits 1
DD Piet Hein, Shell hits 1
DD Express
DD Foxhound

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
DD Mikazuki
DD Mochizuki, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Birmingham
DD Banckert
DD Witte de With, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kortenaer
DD Piet Hein
DD Express
DD Foxhound

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 14, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire
DD Mugford, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Patterson
DD Barker
DD Stewart
DD Vampire

____________

PzB sent in a light surface force and paid for it in a big way. I don't care about my losses and they were well worth it. I love to see those Japanese DDs go down. That is 5 fewer DDs and one less CL to bother me and to look out for subs. Now I am even more determined to empty out those subs and flood the sea around Karachi with them.

I also sent everything that I had at the airfield at Bombay:

Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 12

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 9
Beaufort I x 10
Beaufort V-IX x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 5 destroyed, 11 damaged
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort I: 14 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 17 destroyed, 8 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
68 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 12

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 6
Wellington III x 43
B-17E Fortress x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 37 destroyed, 70 damaged
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 damaged
Wellington III: 8 destroyed, 5 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
593 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 84

________

That set him back. He has now pulled back his bombers and filled the base with fighters. That buys me more time to have my planes and bases recover. I've also got more planes on "naval attack" this turn. I don't care about air losses at this point. I'll trade PzB until the cows come home. If I don't use the planes I'll lose them.

My Naval escape from Tjilitjap started out fairly successfully too. PzB's LBA hit the TF full of damaged transports, but didn't find anything else. Now, it looks as if he is trying to send carriers back into the Indian Ocean to intercept what I have there, but that really doesn't matter. I'm getting more and more ships down to Perth and I was able to re-load my fighters onto my remaining carriers and start to more them out.

PzB has also sent a lot of air power at the various bases in Java. It won't be long before my air force there is pretty much put out of action. However, he is learning that "naval attack" is painful in small ways:


Day Air attack on TF at 16,59


Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 5
SBD Dauntless x 18
Kittyhawk I x 5
P-40B Tomahawk x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
DD Arashi
CA Myoko
CA Chokai
DD Akigumo
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Kazegumo, Bomb hits 1, on fire

and :

Day Air attack on TF at 16,59


Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 3
B-25C Mitchell x 17


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 1
CA Chokai
DD Nowaki

Sure, it's not much, but every bomb counts and every time one hits, a little damage occurs, speed is reduced a bit, and there is always the chance of something lucky happening.

On the land in India PzB continues to slug it out at 0:1 odds at Ahmadabad. I'll take it. The guys there are buying time. I'm working hard in the meanwhile to bolster up my other bases and collect my troops.

This will all take time, but PzB now knows that he can't take the situation for granted.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: byron13

I'm curious how bad things are on Java. Wobbly seems to have grabbed a number of valuable bases that are mutually supporting. If (and I emphasize "if") there is sufficient supply and air available, it seems like Java would be a good sword to have PzB fall upon. It seems that your pilots now have the advantage in the air (other than against, at least for the time being, KB) due to pilot quality, making his aerial assaults and supporting efforts costly.

I always thought that the void south of Java was a huge weakness in the plan, but . . . Can Java be resupplied from the west while you clean out Timor? I'd hate to see you pull out of Java just because it is risky or hard. Such a huge foothold and thorn in the enemy's side should not be surrendered lightly. A stalemate on Java at this stage is a victory.

Or is the problem that Australia is pretty much denuded of supply, and the transports are too banged up to keep both Java in supply from Oz and Oz in supply from the U.S.? What kind of LCU strength is there in northern Oz?

Heck, at this point, I've completely lost track of the Allied capital ships. How many CVs, BBs, and CAs are there, where are they, and what are their condition?

As far as your first point goes - the problem is supply. There isn't enough in Java to keep up a good defense, let alone do any more offensive operations. And PzB has put a ton of air power in the neighborhood which is tearing up the air forces that I do have there.

Right now I have NO SUPPLY anywhere around Australia!!!!! That's Right! Wobbly threw everything at Java in one huge gamble, without any backup. So yes, there are troops in Northern Australia that I could use for an invasion of Timor. But I don't have the ships, and I can't protect ships from the KB. There is no fuel or supply to support my remaining carriers and there is effectively no Allied surface force in the region. I've got a few damaged 20-knot BBs and escorts in Perth. There is no fuel or supply there, so I have to send them back to the Pacific too.

So I'm lucky that PzB is in a bit of a state of shock at my initial "rabid weasel" attacks in India and Java. This has made him a bit more cautious and may by me the time I need to set up a proper supply chain. Right now it is a house of cards and could fall down at any moment if I'm not careful.

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Central Blue

sounds sticky. The game is a lot about supply lines. Holding Tarawa and Henderson field early is a leg up. To bad he's got Gilli-Gilli. Reading between the lines.... sounds like there is little going on at Noumea, Fiji, Samoa, Canton Island.

There's little or no fuel and supplies at any of those places, so there is little I can do there. Fortunately PzB isn't snooping around so he doesn't know the sorry state of things. It's all a matter of time. I need 4 game-weeks to start to resupply the Eastern Pacific, 8 game-weeks to supply the South Pacific and Eastern Australia, and 12 game-weeks to supply Northern Australia and Java. I'm not likely to get 8 or 12 game-weeks of "rest" to be able to set things up. So I'm working in a triage situation right now.

But if I can cause PzB enough damage and losses in Java and India it may buy me whole three months that I need to reestablish a stable base of operations in the Central Pacific and be able to plan a serious and deadly thrust into the heart of Japanese territory in 1943.

We'll see -

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

I obviously haven't been causing you nearly enough problems in our game if you're willing to volunteer for these headaches! Good luck in pulling this game out of the fire.

Hey, I've learned a lot from our game, and I'm applying much of that knowledge right now. (I'm also applying some of the lessons that I taught to you too. [:D])

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

Heck, at this point, I've completely lost track of the Allied capital ships. How many CVs, BBs, and CAs are there, where are they, and what are their condition?

Okay, here's a rough picture of my ship situation:

CVs - 4 CVs with <20 damage (3 US, 1 Brit) all short or out of fuel and supplies and off the west coast of Australia. 1 CV at risk of sinking at sea in the Indian Ocean, with part of the KB nearby looking for it. (Wish me luck on this one.) Essentially none are usable for a couple of weeks.

BBs - 10 20-knot BBs with half less than 20 damage and the rest in various bad states. Most of the damaged ships are also at risk off of Java. Of the lesser damaged BBs, 1 20-knot BB is in the Eastern Pacific and 1 20-knot BB is in Noumea. There is also 1 28-knot BB in the Eastern Pacific.

CAs - 8 with less than 10 damage - most of these are in the East Pacific or South Pacific. 7 CAs with lots of damage at risk off of Java or in Karachi.

CLs - 14 with less than 10 damage - mainly in the Eastern or Southern Pacific, with a few in Karachi. 9 with lots of damage and at risk - mainly around Java or Karachi.

Lots of DDs with about a third of them seriously damaged.

There's not a lot to work with here for the next little while.

Dave Baranyi

[Grotius]

This is great reading, Dave. Keep up the great AAR!

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

This is great reading, Dave. Keep up the great AAR!

Thanks - I've got all of Wobbly's great work to match up to, so I need to work a bit harder yet.

Okay, here are the details of the Japanese ship losses as of July 9, 1942:

CV - 2 (same as the Allies)

AV - 2 (Japanese AVs and CSs are always pains to deal with so it's good to see two gone.)

CL - 4 (That's okay, but it's not good news that no Japanese CAs have been sunk yet.)

DD - 30 (That's GREAT news!!! I need to find my subs now and start to position them aggressively.)

ML - 15 (That's also great news. This means that there will be fewer mines to deal with in 1943.)

PC - 9 (I guess my subs will be dealing with these guys.)

PT - 3 (My subs will have to deal with them, but at least they can't fast transport troops.)

MSW - 17 (Hmmm - this has promise for my Solomons plans - he won't be able to remove my mines easily.)

PG - 7 ( Not bad, fewer for the subs to worry about.)

SS - 36 (Now that's really GREAT! No wonder Wobbly didn't bother with escorts for his transport TFs. None-the-less, I'm paranoid and I don't want to take chances with how many subs PzB has left.)

So in summary, PzB still has formidable surface forces, and a strong Naval Air contingent, but he doesn't have much in the way of escort capacity. This means that my subs are some of my best weapons right now.

The other thing that this means is that due to the losses of all those DDs and MLs, PzB will be hard pressed to do Fast Transport attacks to try to outflank me or do nuisance raids. That's very nice to know.

Now to continue to plan my strategy accordingly.

Dave Baranyi

[EUBanana]

[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

Excellent that you have stepped into Wobbly's long suffering shoes. May the best AAR continue!

[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

[EUBanana]

Interesting, reading your very first post here, that you say that Wobbly was a bit short on naval patrols and recon.

I almost got sawed off due to lack of naval search recon in my game, I think I've learned my lesson. I want Catalinas -everywhere- if possible now!

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

Interesting, reading your very first post here, that you say that Wobbly was a bit short on naval patrols and recon.

I almost got sawed off due to lack of naval search recon in my game, I think I've learned my lesson. I want Catalinas -everywhere- if possible now!

Well, as Zonker and I will both attest from our game, air patrols don't "guarantee" finding trouble before it finds you, but they beat the alternative hands down. [;)]

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

Excellent that you have stepped into Wobbly's long suffering shoes. May the best AAR continue!

Thank you. I have "big shoes" to fill here and I'll do my best.

Ganbarimasu! (Ooops - wrong AAR - I'm not the Japanese here...[;)])

Dave Baranyi

[CapAndGown]

Perhaps I am confused here. Did you intend to stop all offensive operations in Java? Including trying to take Batavia???? From your screen shot you already have a unit in the Batavia hex. Batavia can generate supply for you if you take it (it is a resource hex, yes?) I don't know what PzB has in Batavia, but it is at least worth a probe to see if it can be taken.

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

Perhaps I am confused here. Did you intend to stop all offensive operations in Java? Including trying to take Batavia???? From your screen shot you already have a unit in the Batavia hex. Batavia can generate supply for you if you take it (it is a resource hex, yes?) I don't know what PzB has in Batavia, but it is at least worth a probe to see if it can be taken.

You bet! I've pulled all the troops back from Batavia too. My forces are too fragmented, too tired, too fatigued and too short on supplies to be able to take anything that is defended. And PzB can bomb Batavia back into the Stone Age anytime that he wants so there is no reason for me to stay there - I can't protect it and I can't get any benefit from it.

What I want to do is establish a very costly war of attrition in Java. I want PzB to commit troops and supplies and air power. And I want him to do that for weeks and weeks and weeks. The effort that he will have to commit there if he wants to retake Java will be a major drain on his ability to do anything else, anywhere else except for in India.

So I want my fighting forces to stay able to fight for as long as possible. This means not taking unnecessary losses for bases with no real value to me. I want PzB to send transport TFs to the Javanese bases that he still holds - he will then have to contend with my LBA doing mass anti-ship attacks. This means a drain on his airpower.

Later on I will post an assessment of the Allied troop situation and you will get a much better idea of why I am doing this, both in the local context of Java as well as in the context of the overall War.

Let me leave you an image from WW II that represent what Java currently means to me - think Dieppe, and think a greater committment with a greater response...[:(]

Thanks for your comments -

Dave Baranyi

[Central Blue]

Do you hold Soerbaya? No malaria there if I remember correctly. DOn't know what you have to slow him down with, but it's nice to get the best unit there resting up while he's on his way.

If worst comes to worst... US subs make great troop transport during 1942...