Throughout February 1943, the opposing navies performed a strange dance, like that of mongoose and cobra, in the Central Pacific. As U.S. ships, from carriers to transports, shuttled back and forth between Wake and Marcus islands, Combined Fleet moved apace from Truk to Saipan to Iwo Jima. On each trip south, Spruance's big carriers (once with baby flattops in tow) and the slow and fast battleship groups hammered Eniwetok or Bikini, and more troops, cargo ships, and supplies accumulated at Wake. In early March, the Japanese Navy parked itself on the sidelines -- fuel may be starting to run low; week in, week out, Allied submarines harvest Marus and tankers -- and at that point the Marines simply steamed over from Wake and grabbed Bikini.
The Japanese reaction was ... astonishing. Two groups of four carriers each sortied purposefully from Truk.
And raided Buna. In New Guinea.
Well, granted, the situation in the South Pacific had become static: the Japanese at Wewak are few in number, and those at Guadalcanal, though plentiful enough (consisting of the 6th and 20th Infantry Divisions and the 41st and 64th Infantry Regiments) are Doing Without in the midst of some genuinely unsympathetic U.S. troops; still, they are obstinate. (Japanese obstinacy has also held up progress at Rangoon. Time for corkscrew and blowtorch.) U.S. and Australian units not in actual contact with the enemy in northern Papua had been going about their business, stockpiling supplies, building up airfields, etc., while most of the air groups between Milne Bay and Wewak, equipped with everything from Kittyhawks to Beaufighters, passed the time pounding away not too effectually at enemy entrenchments. There were hardly any enemy aircraft, occasionally a dozen Zeroes escorting six, three, even one Betty or Nell bomber: a clear sign that the Japanese air arm has been badly hurt. (Another sign, over Rangoon: Fulmars bagging Zeroes in wholesale lots without loss to themselves.)
So: surprise! the enemy carriers show up at Buna, of all places. They give it a respectable shellacking. Allied fighter-bombers make piecemeal attacks, get shredded -- not before RAAF Beaufighters put a torpedo into either the Junyo or the Hiyo (didn't quite sink it, but I cheered anyway) -- and then the carriers steam away, leaving what I take to be a transport group naked and alone in the middle of the Bismarck Sea, within range of half a dozen Allied airfields. This recalls the tactic the enemy employed off Palmyra and Johnston Island in '42. It plumb eludes me.
P.S. The Australian 7th Infantry Division has retaken all of Celebes. The Japanese had abandoned it! This, too, plumb eludes me.
[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
The War Effort
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Blackhorse
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Eastern US
Re: Japanese strategy. Stonewall Jackson said the best strategy was to "mystify and mislead the enemy." Perhaps he should have said, "mystify and mislead 'em, but not so they're happy about it." So the A.I.'s not the brightest star in the strategic firmament -- what do you expect from a 520kb DOS program? 
Rewind to January: Only 14 Japanese TB/DBs survived and they damaged/crippled three of your heavy carriers? Demand a recount, appeal the call, kick dirt on the umpire's shoes . . . you wuz robbed!
"Corkscrew and Blowtorch": Indulge my fading memory -- is that the name for the Marine cave-hunting tactic of tossing in a satchel charge, followed by a flame thrower? Or something else? . . . Eh, what did you say your name was again?
[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Blackhorse ]</p>
Rewind to January: Only 14 Japanese TB/DBs survived and they damaged/crippled three of your heavy carriers? Demand a recount, appeal the call, kick dirt on the umpire's shoes . . . you wuz robbed!
"Corkscrew and Blowtorch": Indulge my fading memory -- is that the name for the Marine cave-hunting tactic of tossing in a satchel charge, followed by a flame thrower? Or something else? . . . Eh, what did you say your name was again?
[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Blackhorse ]</p>
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Steve,
I'm impressed by the after action reports,very well written and informative. Just one question about Halsey's 6 carrier fleet, where do you get replacements for that many planes at port without sitting around for a month? Thats been my grudge against "stacking up" on carriers is that they deplete and I spend most of my time around major ports to keep them re-supplied. (I even have 300 F4F's in the supply pool and it doesnt help...)Keep up the good work- your doing better than I can at this point in the war!
I'm impressed by the after action reports,very well written and informative. Just one question about Halsey's 6 carrier fleet, where do you get replacements for that many planes at port without sitting around for a month? Thats been my grudge against "stacking up" on carriers is that they deplete and I spend most of my time around major ports to keep them re-supplied. (I even have 300 F4F's in the supply pool and it doesnt help...)Keep up the good work- your doing better than I can at this point in the war!
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
Blackhorse, you remember correctly: corkscrew and blowtorch = satchel charge and flamethrower. The present stalemates at Guadalcanal, Wewak, Rangoon, and Mandalay are attributable at least partly to the quality of the Allied units involved. There simply are too many mediocre ones, e.g., the U.S. 37th Infantry Division, and not enough good ones, e.g., the Marine Raider battalions. Inasmuch as the Australian Home Defence forces might as well be on the planet Saturn for all the use they are to me, I had to strip the Hawaiians to get onto Marcus Island and Guadalcanal, and Ceylon and India to hold Mandalay (where the opposing armies have been deadlocked since early 1942) and get back into Rangoon. General Scoones and his men (whom I spent the past game-year patiently collecting at Port Blair) now have Rangoon, Japanese forces at Mandalay are cut off, and that's all to the good. Still, even supported by Admiral Phillips' battleships sitting in Rangoon harbor and by aircraft from as far away as India, Scoones cannot seem to run the Japanese 55th Infantry Division and the 1st Indian National Army out of town. Doesn't bode well for future operations closer to the Japanese Home Islands. I intend, wherever possible in this campaign, to hit the Japanese "where they ain't," but some toe-to-toe engagements are unavoidable. Our boys probably won't be home for Christmas.
As to keeping a six-carrier task force supplied with aircraft, losses were low and replacements regular during Halsey's 1942 campaign because his flattops attacked bases around the Japanese defense perimeter -- from which only a handful of bomber groups could counterattack at a time -- and stayed close to their home port, which moved around almost as much as they did.
Speaking of carriers, my baby flattops (some carrying the brand-new F6F Hellcat) acquitted themselves well in the recent Marshalls operation, Saratoga and Yorktown are on the mend at San Francisco, Lexington and Wasp have just about completed repairs at Midway, and the British Admiralty finally forgave me for losing Indomitable, Formidable, and Hermes, and let me have Victorious, equipped with the butt-ugliest of all WW2 aircraft, the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber.
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
As to keeping a six-carrier task force supplied with aircraft, losses were low and replacements regular during Halsey's 1942 campaign because his flattops attacked bases around the Japanese defense perimeter -- from which only a handful of bomber groups could counterattack at a time -- and stayed close to their home port, which moved around almost as much as they did.
Speaking of carriers, my baby flattops (some carrying the brand-new F6F Hellcat) acquitted themselves well in the recent Marshalls operation, Saratoga and Yorktown are on the mend at San Francisco, Lexington and Wasp have just about completed repairs at Midway, and the British Admiralty finally forgave me for losing Indomitable, Formidable, and Hermes, and let me have Victorious, equipped with the butt-ugliest of all WW2 aircraft, the Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber.
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
Spring 1943: Following the Buna raid during the third week of March, Admiral Nagumo's carriers steamed off, eventually to show up in the vicinity of Marcus Island. What had appeared to be a transport group abandoned off the Papuan coast turned out to be Admiral Fujita with the undamaged Junyo-class carrier and three light carriers, Zuiho, Shoho, and possibly the new Ryuho. Following the first raid, more Allied bombers had been moved to Papuan airfields, and these duly sank one of the Zuihos and scored crippling hits on another and on the Junyo. Fujita retired; on the way home to Truk, he ran afoul of a lone scouting U.S. submarine, which seems to have put the big flattop out of its misery. I say "seems" because I didn't know the Japanese had lost a CV until I looked at the list of ships sunk some game-weeks afterward.
Nevertheless, I was encouraged to a reckless optimism, and thereby suffered a stinging defeat, my own little Dieppe, at Eniwetok. A botched assault on the island from its neighbor, Bikini, cost me a good portion of the Americal Division and some miscellaneous squads. I managed to evacuate the survivors, but the whole episode was sobering.
And worse followed. Nagumo's carriers, as I said, had gone to Marcus Island, which they attacked to no lasting effect. The shuttling of ships back and forth between Marcus and Wake, Saipan and Truk, began anew. Lexington and Wasp, fresh from the repair yard at Midway, steamed west with escorting destroyers to rejoin Hornet and Enterprise. Off Marcus, Nagumo turned up smack in the middle of them, and as in the previous carrier duel, the U.S. Navy came off second-best. SBDs and TBFs set Akagi and Kaga afire and scored hits on their two companions (either the Hiryus or the Shokakus), but Japanese bombers sank, first, Wasp, then, Lexington, and set Hornet and Enterprise afire from end to end. Hornet barely made it to Marcus; The Big E limped off to Midway.
This disaster pretty much forestalls any major offensives in the Central Pacific. Essex and the light carriers Independence and Belleau Wood are working up on the West Coast, Saratoga and Yorktown are being repaired there, but for the time being the U.S. Navy is back to hit-and-run operations.
In other news, the 4th Marine Division landed at Guadalcanal, where the 24th, 37th, and 41st Infantry had for some time accomplished precious little in the way of rooting out the profoundly entrenched Japanese; now there are four U.S. divisions accomplishing precious little. At Rangoon and Mandalay, the Allies and the Japanese resemble antler-locked deer. In the South Pacific, at least, the release of hitherto unavailable Australian troops produced successes in New Guinea, the northern coast of which has been reclaimed as far as Hollandia, and the Southern Resource Area, where the U.S. 1st Marine Division landed unopposed at Soembawa. Japanese engineers had quite improved airfields since seizing Celebes and Borneo; B-24s now use the one at Macassar to bomb Palembang. After the Australian 7th Infantry Division took Kendari, enemy pilots across the strait at Balikpapan began making nuisances of themselves, so the Aussies piled onto their transports, steamed over, and captured the place. Tarakan was just up the road, and the 9th Infantry Division had just arrived, so the Aussies captured that, too. Then came the 1st Armored Brigade, and Brunei lay beckoning, so they captured that. I take back every unkind thought I entertained about Aussies when I couldn't pry them loose from their island continent.
Incidentally, how do I reunite ground forces after dividing them?
This campaign is playing out like none other. Given the fleets involved -- the world's three largest navies -- and the necessity of using them to go nearly anywhere to do nearly anything, there has been remarkably little combat (or even contact) between warships: two carrier duels and one exciting, albeit inconclusive, little dustup between Doorman's light cruisers and Japanese destroyers in the Java Sea. Before Nagumo wrecked my carefully husbanded flattops, I had found myself thinking that the IJN might even become irrelevant, like the Italian battlefleet after 1940, if I simply continued to concentrate on reducing Japan's ability to move fuel, supplies, and troops.
As of June 6, 1943, ship losses are:
Japanese <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
1 x CV, 1 x CVL, 2 x CVE
7 x CL, 3 x CS
30 x DD, 17 x DE, 43 x PC
6 x AO, 123 x AP, 479* x MCS, 30 TK
11 x SS
* This figure includes literally hundreds of ships evidently scuttled when the Australians seized Balikpapan and Brunei.
Allies <img src="frown.gif" border="0">
4 x CV, 1 x CVL
4 x BB, 1 x BC, 1 x CA, 3 x CL, 1 x CLAA
18 x DD, 20 x PC
1 x APD, 5 x AO, 9 x AP, 65 x MCS, 3 x TK
24 x SS
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
Nevertheless, I was encouraged to a reckless optimism, and thereby suffered a stinging defeat, my own little Dieppe, at Eniwetok. A botched assault on the island from its neighbor, Bikini, cost me a good portion of the Americal Division and some miscellaneous squads. I managed to evacuate the survivors, but the whole episode was sobering.
And worse followed. Nagumo's carriers, as I said, had gone to Marcus Island, which they attacked to no lasting effect. The shuttling of ships back and forth between Marcus and Wake, Saipan and Truk, began anew. Lexington and Wasp, fresh from the repair yard at Midway, steamed west with escorting destroyers to rejoin Hornet and Enterprise. Off Marcus, Nagumo turned up smack in the middle of them, and as in the previous carrier duel, the U.S. Navy came off second-best. SBDs and TBFs set Akagi and Kaga afire and scored hits on their two companions (either the Hiryus or the Shokakus), but Japanese bombers sank, first, Wasp, then, Lexington, and set Hornet and Enterprise afire from end to end. Hornet barely made it to Marcus; The Big E limped off to Midway.
This disaster pretty much forestalls any major offensives in the Central Pacific. Essex and the light carriers Independence and Belleau Wood are working up on the West Coast, Saratoga and Yorktown are being repaired there, but for the time being the U.S. Navy is back to hit-and-run operations.
In other news, the 4th Marine Division landed at Guadalcanal, where the 24th, 37th, and 41st Infantry had for some time accomplished precious little in the way of rooting out the profoundly entrenched Japanese; now there are four U.S. divisions accomplishing precious little. At Rangoon and Mandalay, the Allies and the Japanese resemble antler-locked deer. In the South Pacific, at least, the release of hitherto unavailable Australian troops produced successes in New Guinea, the northern coast of which has been reclaimed as far as Hollandia, and the Southern Resource Area, where the U.S. 1st Marine Division landed unopposed at Soembawa. Japanese engineers had quite improved airfields since seizing Celebes and Borneo; B-24s now use the one at Macassar to bomb Palembang. After the Australian 7th Infantry Division took Kendari, enemy pilots across the strait at Balikpapan began making nuisances of themselves, so the Aussies piled onto their transports, steamed over, and captured the place. Tarakan was just up the road, and the 9th Infantry Division had just arrived, so the Aussies captured that, too. Then came the 1st Armored Brigade, and Brunei lay beckoning, so they captured that. I take back every unkind thought I entertained about Aussies when I couldn't pry them loose from their island continent.
Incidentally, how do I reunite ground forces after dividing them?
This campaign is playing out like none other. Given the fleets involved -- the world's three largest navies -- and the necessity of using them to go nearly anywhere to do nearly anything, there has been remarkably little combat (or even contact) between warships: two carrier duels and one exciting, albeit inconclusive, little dustup between Doorman's light cruisers and Japanese destroyers in the Java Sea. Before Nagumo wrecked my carefully husbanded flattops, I had found myself thinking that the IJN might even become irrelevant, like the Italian battlefleet after 1940, if I simply continued to concentrate on reducing Japan's ability to move fuel, supplies, and troops.
As of June 6, 1943, ship losses are:
Japanese <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
1 x CV, 1 x CVL, 2 x CVE
7 x CL, 3 x CS
30 x DD, 17 x DE, 43 x PC
6 x AO, 123 x AP, 479* x MCS, 30 TK
11 x SS
* This figure includes literally hundreds of ships evidently scuttled when the Australians seized Balikpapan and Brunei.
Allies <img src="frown.gif" border="0">
4 x CV, 1 x CVL
4 x BB, 1 x BC, 1 x CA, 3 x CL, 1 x CLAA
18 x DD, 20 x PC
1 x APD, 5 x AO, 9 x AP, 65 x MCS, 3 x TK
24 x SS
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
It seems to me that I always come up on the short end of every carrier duel with the big Japanese carriers until late 43 when AA starts clocking their strikes. The only times I ever sink multiple CV's is when land based air strikes hit the Jap CV's when they are out from under their own LBA cover. I have never had anything like Midway happen for me.
Im sure others have, I just haven't been that lucky.
Also, surface combat seems very, very rare no matter how many TF's I have set for reaction moves with good leaders. I get maybe 1 a game. Others get more, I've followed their advice and I still don't get any surface combat.
Im sure others have, I just haven't been that lucky.
Also, surface combat seems very, very rare no matter how many TF's I have set for reaction moves with good leaders. I get maybe 1 a game. Others get more, I've followed their advice and I still don't get any surface combat.
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
I confess, stretch, that my immediate reaction to having my carriers sunk or wrecked, after only nicking Nagumo's, was on the order of, No fair! Fall down! I shot you first! It also struck me that the game inverted what I'd always understood to be advantages peculiar to British and American carriers. Historically, the British flattops, with their armored flight decks, shrugged off bomb hits and kamikazes ("Sweepers, man your brooms!"), yet mine folded up like punctured air mattresses. And, following the loss of Lexington in May 1942, the U.S. Navy devised excellent damage-control procedures and equipment that made all the difference aboard Franklin late in the war. The Japanese did not, particularly, with the unhappy result that the same sort of secondary explosions that had doomed the Lex two years earlier claimed Taiho.
Ah well. I'm not going to whine about it, or concede defeat. I got careless and forgot the very words I had put into Halsey's mouth: "Jap Fleet Still Potent Threat."
Ah well. I'm not going to whine about it, or concede defeat. I got careless and forgot the very words I had put into Halsey's mouth: "Jap Fleet Still Potent Threat."
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Blackhorse
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Eastern US
If you leave them together on the same base, they will eventually reunite. If you want to combine them faster, load both units into the same transport or cargo TF. Then immediately unload them. They should combine into one unit when you unload.Originally posted by Steven Utley:
Incidentally, how do I reunite ground forces after dividing them?
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
Thanks for the tip, Blackhorse. And do I correctly understand that in the instant after even a single Allied unit has set foot on any Philippine Island, kamikazes swarm out like killer bees? I ask because, with Celebes and Borneo back in Allied hands, Macassar Strait is like four lanes of interstate highway leading to the archipelago. And Jolo port, my God, is full of merchant ships, hundreds of them -- practically mine for the taking.
[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
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LargeSlowTarget
- Posts: 4963
- Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Hessen, Germany - now living in France
Steven's loss ratio in submarines (11:24) confirms my suspicion that there is something wrong with the performance of Japanese/Allied subs. In my games, sub losses were roughly in the same 1:2 ratio even in 1945. I doubt that the combined Allied Navies lost twice the number of boats in comparison with the IJN. A quick (so don't hang me if I missed a boat) check in my 'day-to-day-ship-losses'-reference reveals that by the end of June 43 the Japanese had lost 29, the US 13, the UK none and the Dutch 7 subs due to enemy action in the PTO. That's 29:20, so the 1:2 ratio in PW is definetly out of balance. Either the spotting of subs or the attack/defense values should be tweaked. I have lowered/increased durabilty values of Japanese/Allied sub respectively (see below) and got a ratio of 61:45 (by May 44) in my current game. Seems closer to it.
GE Type IX 9
I-176 6
I-400 7
RO 4
Porpoise 6
Gato 9
"S" 4
"T" 7
K.XIV 4
Salmon 7
LST
GE Type IX 9
I-176 6
I-400 7
RO 4
Porpoise 6
Gato 9
"S" 4
"T" 7
K.XIV 4
Salmon 7
LST
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Blackhorse
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Eastern US
Go for it! If the Special Attack rules haven't changed since version 1.0 (big IF, I know) then the Japanese can convert up to 5 squadrons/week to Kamikazes beginning in 1944.Originally posted by Steven Utley:
Thanks for the tip, Blackhorse. And do I correctly understand that in the instant after even a single Allied unit has set foot on any Philippine Island, kamikazes swarm out like killer bees? I ask because, with Celebes and Borneo back in Allied hands, Macassar Strait is like four lanes of interstate highway leading to the archipelago. And Jolo port, my God, is full of merchant ships, hundreds of them -- practically mine for the taking.
[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]
The conversions can only begin after you have invaded the "Inner Defense Perimeter." Japan's Inner Defenses include the Philippines, but they also include Tarakan and Balikpapan.
Since its not 1944 yet, and you've already breached the perimeter -- go ride that big wide highway, cowboy!
[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Blackhorse ]</p>
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Sniff. I am jealous. In the game I just started, I forgot to check intel on December 21, 1941. I had selected Johnson island to regroup my forces. The IJN had also selected Johnson as a target, so long before I was ready, I encounter eight IJN flattops with Lexington and Enterprise with Saratoga on the way. Lexington blew up quickly and Big E was heavily damaged (~95%). Saratoga arrived late in the battle and sank a Soryu and a Zuiho class carrier. I am grateful that no counterattack came as the six four stackers in attendance would not have been able to defend Sara. My surface forces shoot the meatballs out of the transport fleet. Another invasion fleet takes Christmas Island and my LBA training area is established.
A few weeks later, I check intel, Midway is a target. It was, though I think I should have ignored the warning. Both Yorktown and Saratoga go under in exchange for a couple of CVL's. The Japanese invaders are not amused to discover that I diverted the 41st division to Midway, and I get a promotion to my Marine commander. Midway holds, but I am down to one carrier in drydock. My Vindicator group based at Wake takes some parting shots a the damaged IJN BBs making their way to Japan for repairs.
A couple weeks later, my surface forces encounter another IJN attempt to take Johnson Island. My cruiser force under Halsey seriously damages two BBs in exchange for two CAs sunk and four CAs damaged. My battleship (ok, Colorado) force under Spruance shoots the meatballs out of the transport fleet.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, things are pretty slow. I was able to evacuate the Australian 8th division to Medan, where with an two Indian divisions, the Dutch battalion garrison, and much of the Chinese air force, they are holding. There are three Japanese divisions in Medan, including the guard division, but between the constant sorties of the Eastern Fleet and the Chinese air force, they remain cut off at pretty hideous cost to the Japanese.
I still hold Java, mainly due to a complete lack of effort on the part of the Japanese. The Dutch airforce is being reequipped and trained by bombing Balikpapan regularly. Timor is still in my hands, most of Borneo, and the two squadrons operating out of Rabaul are irritating the IJN by picking off the occasional AP headed for the Solomons.
Currently, March 1942, I am waiting for the Enterprise to be repaired as I train the Hornet's airgroups. My surface forces are watching for further incursions, but I know that if my two healthy battlewagons tangle with the Yamato and accompanying Mutsus, I may be out of battleships for a while.
I wish my subs were as effective as Steven's. I do get the occasional tanker, but I think that the IJN tendency to leave them in the neighborhood of Wake has cost him more than my subs have nailed.
Looking for that opportunity to take the initiative.
Chanman
A few weeks later, I check intel, Midway is a target. It was, though I think I should have ignored the warning. Both Yorktown and Saratoga go under in exchange for a couple of CVL's. The Japanese invaders are not amused to discover that I diverted the 41st division to Midway, and I get a promotion to my Marine commander. Midway holds, but I am down to one carrier in drydock. My Vindicator group based at Wake takes some parting shots a the damaged IJN BBs making their way to Japan for repairs.
A couple weeks later, my surface forces encounter another IJN attempt to take Johnson Island. My cruiser force under Halsey seriously damages two BBs in exchange for two CAs sunk and four CAs damaged. My battleship (ok, Colorado) force under Spruance shoots the meatballs out of the transport fleet.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, things are pretty slow. I was able to evacuate the Australian 8th division to Medan, where with an two Indian divisions, the Dutch battalion garrison, and much of the Chinese air force, they are holding. There are three Japanese divisions in Medan, including the guard division, but between the constant sorties of the Eastern Fleet and the Chinese air force, they remain cut off at pretty hideous cost to the Japanese.
I still hold Java, mainly due to a complete lack of effort on the part of the Japanese. The Dutch airforce is being reequipped and trained by bombing Balikpapan regularly. Timor is still in my hands, most of Borneo, and the two squadrons operating out of Rabaul are irritating the IJN by picking off the occasional AP headed for the Solomons.
Currently, March 1942, I am waiting for the Enterprise to be repaired as I train the Hornet's airgroups. My surface forces are watching for further incursions, but I know that if my two healthy battlewagons tangle with the Yamato and accompanying Mutsus, I may be out of battleships for a while.
I wish my subs were as effective as Steven's. I do get the occasional tanker, but I think that the IJN tendency to leave them in the neighborhood of Wake has cost him more than my subs have nailed.
Looking for that opportunity to take the initiative.
Chanman
"As God is my witness, I thought that turkeys could fly"
5 / 1944
Last month was quite a disaster to allies. 4 essex class carriers and 2 Independences tried to get to Johnston island. I sunk them all with betty's operating from Pearl Harbor and carrier force.
As soon as US ports produce new ships they are immediately destroyed.
Japanese troops are still fighting to get the US troops near San Diego to surrender. Los Angeles should fall after that. Peggy and Helen squadrons in San Diego bomb Los Angeles at night. We couldn't get air superiority over west coast yet.
total ship losses:
allies 21 CV, 11 CVL, 39 CVE, 18 BB...
japanese 0 CV, 2 CVL, 1 CVE, 0 BB...
Ok, the AI is not so great opponent anymore. I still got lot to learn from this great game. I had luck in the 1942 when subs sunk 3 US carriers. After that I kept the pressure on allies so that they couldn't grow in strength.
Last month was quite a disaster to allies. 4 essex class carriers and 2 Independences tried to get to Johnston island. I sunk them all with betty's operating from Pearl Harbor and carrier force.
As soon as US ports produce new ships they are immediately destroyed.
Japanese troops are still fighting to get the US troops near San Diego to surrender. Los Angeles should fall after that. Peggy and Helen squadrons in San Diego bomb Los Angeles at night. We couldn't get air superiority over west coast yet.
total ship losses:
allies 21 CV, 11 CVL, 39 CVE, 18 BB...
japanese 0 CV, 2 CVL, 1 CVE, 0 BB...
Ok, the AI is not so great opponent anymore. I still got lot to learn from this great game. I had luck in the 1942 when subs sunk 3 US carriers. After that I kept the pressure on allies so that they couldn't grow in strength.
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
June 1943: Admirals Nagumo and Fujita continued to raise merry hell in the Central Pacific, bouncing Sangamon and two Bogue-class escort carriers at Wake Island during the week of the 6th. Despite a valiant defense -- too slow to outrun fleet carriers, my poor baby flattops had to stand and fight -- Sangamon was trashed and one of the Bogues sunk; in return, SBDs scored a single lousy hit on a light carrier, prompting me to use colorful language and wonder if the person(s) who calculated all the odds for this game hadn't gone on to greater mischief in the employ of the Florida Voting Commission.
Be that as it may, the Japanese tarried too long in the area. The next round of land-based air attacks inflicted damage on two of Fujita's carriers, which later fell afoul of U.S. submarines: Junyo/Hiyo (whichever) suffered further damage, and Zuiho/Shoho/Ryuho sank. About damn time, too. And as Nagumo's force rounded Marcus Island, SBDs based there ventilated a Hiryu- and a Shokaku-class carrier. I began to feel slightly less put upon. I also realized that I had lost track of damaged enemy carriers: "Wait a cotton-pickin' minute! Didn't my planes set Watzisnami afire two weeks ago and an ocean away?"
So, well, anyway, what does the cautious Nagumo then do? Does he put about for Yokosuka naval yard to have his banged-up flattops repaired? No. He does not. He raids Madang, in New Guinea, to no particular effect and for no reason I can make out. You tell me.
Also in June, General Scoones' British and Indian forces finally shoved the Japanese and Indian Nationalists out of Rangoon, U.S. troops at Guadalcanal continued to kill Japanese troops a few at a time, two different Marine divisions retook two different islands, Santa Cruz and Bali, and U.S. and Australian forces pressed on to Sarmi in New Guinea. The question of whether or not to invade Jolo became moot when it transpired that the harbor had been cleared of cargo ships. Some of these went to Kuching, which kept them within range of Brunei-based B-25s; a dozen and a half were sunk in port (as well as seven transports en route). Others apparently went to Haiphong, where Kunming-based P-40s and SBDs could attack them, and did.
Meanwhile, San Francisco harbor has filled up with new aircraft carriers -- Essex, Bunker Hill, Independence, Belleau Wood, babies -- and Saratoga and Yorktown are probably within a few weeks of completing repairs. If the Japanese carrier commanders will but oblige me by continuing to attack Allied airfields and take hits, even if only non-fatal ones, I may soon be able to blast another gaping hole in the enemy's (already porous) defense perimeter.
P.S. Regarding the ratio of Allied-to-Japanese submarines lost, the disproportion may arise from the simple fact that I keep my submariners busier in more places; the only Japanese submarines I've encountered have been in the area bounded by Hawaii, Midway, and Johnston Island. The best hunting grounds, whether in Macassar Strait or the waters north of Formosa or those south of the Home Islands, tend also to be the most dangerous. I've lost two dozen submarines in 19 game-months, but in terms of cost-effectiveness -- the ratio of Allied subs sunk to Japanese merchant ships sunk -- these losses are acceptable.
[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
Be that as it may, the Japanese tarried too long in the area. The next round of land-based air attacks inflicted damage on two of Fujita's carriers, which later fell afoul of U.S. submarines: Junyo/Hiyo (whichever) suffered further damage, and Zuiho/Shoho/Ryuho sank. About damn time, too. And as Nagumo's force rounded Marcus Island, SBDs based there ventilated a Hiryu- and a Shokaku-class carrier. I began to feel slightly less put upon. I also realized that I had lost track of damaged enemy carriers: "Wait a cotton-pickin' minute! Didn't my planes set Watzisnami afire two weeks ago and an ocean away?"
So, well, anyway, what does the cautious Nagumo then do? Does he put about for Yokosuka naval yard to have his banged-up flattops repaired? No. He does not. He raids Madang, in New Guinea, to no particular effect and for no reason I can make out. You tell me.
Also in June, General Scoones' British and Indian forces finally shoved the Japanese and Indian Nationalists out of Rangoon, U.S. troops at Guadalcanal continued to kill Japanese troops a few at a time, two different Marine divisions retook two different islands, Santa Cruz and Bali, and U.S. and Australian forces pressed on to Sarmi in New Guinea. The question of whether or not to invade Jolo became moot when it transpired that the harbor had been cleared of cargo ships. Some of these went to Kuching, which kept them within range of Brunei-based B-25s; a dozen and a half were sunk in port (as well as seven transports en route). Others apparently went to Haiphong, where Kunming-based P-40s and SBDs could attack them, and did.
Meanwhile, San Francisco harbor has filled up with new aircraft carriers -- Essex, Bunker Hill, Independence, Belleau Wood, babies -- and Saratoga and Yorktown are probably within a few weeks of completing repairs. If the Japanese carrier commanders will but oblige me by continuing to attack Allied airfields and take hits, even if only non-fatal ones, I may soon be able to blast another gaping hole in the enemy's (already porous) defense perimeter.
P.S. Regarding the ratio of Allied-to-Japanese submarines lost, the disproportion may arise from the simple fact that I keep my submariners busier in more places; the only Japanese submarines I've encountered have been in the area bounded by Hawaii, Midway, and Johnston Island. The best hunting grounds, whether in Macassar Strait or the waters north of Formosa or those south of the Home Islands, tend also to be the most dangerous. I've lost two dozen submarines in 19 game-months, but in terms of cost-effectiveness -- the ratio of Allied subs sunk to Japanese merchant ships sunk -- these losses are acceptable.
[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
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Blackhorse
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Eastern US
You're down to one carrier (in drydock) and two battleships, and "looking for that opportunity to take the intiative?" -- now that's an aggressive commander. It reminds me of the famous battle dispatch: "Our losses heavy. Enemy losses unknown. Situation: we are winning."Originally posted by chanman:
Currently, March 1942, I am waiting for the Enterprise to be repaired as I train the Hornet's airgroups. My surface forces are watching for further incursions, but I know that if my two healthy battlewagons tangle with the Yamato and accompanying Mutsus, I may be out of battleships for a while. . .
Looking for that opportunity to take the initiative.
Chanman
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
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Blackhorse
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Eastern US
ROTFL. Am I to infer that you think the "Brave Sir Robin" approach might be a better strategy in these circumstances?Originally posted by Steven Utley:
It reminds me of King Arthur's fight with the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!
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LargeSlowTarget
- Posts: 4963
- Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2000 8:00 am
- Location: Hessen, Germany - now living in France
Steven, keep on posting your funny battle reports. 'Watzisnami' - I'm still ROTFLMAO.
Concerning the subs, I deploy (and redeploy every 3-5 turns) my subs in the same areas as you do, since it wouldn't make much sense to put them south of Fiji, obviously. I have also observed the concentration of Japanese subs around Hawaii and its approaches. AZOC shows that the AI maintains strong air patrols in my target areas, but so do I in his. I have PBYs, SBDs and Hudsons (long range!) on all bases around PH and the outlying islands, but they hardly ever get a sub. The Japanese LBA sinks one or even two of mine every 2-3 weeks. Are my pilots blind and is my ASW equipment useless?
During routine convoys I loose subs to escorts much more often than the Japanese do. This may still be tolerable because I put my subs in harm's way i.e. on convoy routes on purpose, while the AI selects spots where it hoped to intercept my fleet units in and out of PH etc. during the execution phase, but seldomly attacks my routine convoys. Also, the number of escorts is much higher on the Japanese side due to the scores of PC boats, and the number of convoys is also higher due to the necessity to ship home the resources and oil.
One should assume that the escorts are effective against subs both in routine convoy phase and the normal execution phase. But during the latter the escorts screening my TFs are totally ineffective against subs. I would expect that, after a Japanese sub attacked, damaged or even sank one of my capital ships, at least some of the 16-20 screening destroyers would hunt down the culprit with a vengeance, and stay as long as necessary for the job. But in most cases they only kill some fish with a few depth charges and sail away.
Be it as it may, the discrepancy of sub losses in PW shows that something is wrong with the sub modeling in PW - a 1:2 ratio instead of a historical 3:2 (as I said, those figures are not scientificly exact, just an educated guess. I'll check the numbers more thoroughly). Another point - at the end of the war the Japanese sub fleet was almost annihilated, in PW there are always scores of Japanese subs still active.
Therefore, I would again recommend tweaking either the spotting/attack/asw weapons routines, or the easier way by altering the durability rates.
Okay, enough rambling for tonight, I'm starting to get bored myself
<img src="wink.gif" border="0"> . This post would probably better be a seperate topic anyway.
LST
Concerning the subs, I deploy (and redeploy every 3-5 turns) my subs in the same areas as you do, since it wouldn't make much sense to put them south of Fiji, obviously. I have also observed the concentration of Japanese subs around Hawaii and its approaches. AZOC shows that the AI maintains strong air patrols in my target areas, but so do I in his. I have PBYs, SBDs and Hudsons (long range!) on all bases around PH and the outlying islands, but they hardly ever get a sub. The Japanese LBA sinks one or even two of mine every 2-3 weeks. Are my pilots blind and is my ASW equipment useless?
During routine convoys I loose subs to escorts much more often than the Japanese do. This may still be tolerable because I put my subs in harm's way i.e. on convoy routes on purpose, while the AI selects spots where it hoped to intercept my fleet units in and out of PH etc. during the execution phase, but seldomly attacks my routine convoys. Also, the number of escorts is much higher on the Japanese side due to the scores of PC boats, and the number of convoys is also higher due to the necessity to ship home the resources and oil.
One should assume that the escorts are effective against subs both in routine convoy phase and the normal execution phase. But during the latter the escorts screening my TFs are totally ineffective against subs. I would expect that, after a Japanese sub attacked, damaged or even sank one of my capital ships, at least some of the 16-20 screening destroyers would hunt down the culprit with a vengeance, and stay as long as necessary for the job. But in most cases they only kill some fish with a few depth charges and sail away.
Be it as it may, the discrepancy of sub losses in PW shows that something is wrong with the sub modeling in PW - a 1:2 ratio instead of a historical 3:2 (as I said, those figures are not scientificly exact, just an educated guess. I'll check the numbers more thoroughly). Another point - at the end of the war the Japanese sub fleet was almost annihilated, in PW there are always scores of Japanese subs still active.
Therefore, I would again recommend tweaking either the spotting/attack/asw weapons routines, or the easier way by altering the durability rates.
Okay, enough rambling for tonight, I'm starting to get bored myself
<img src="wink.gif" border="0"> . This post would probably better be a seperate topic anyway.
LST
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Steven Utley
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 10:00 am
I am less bothered by submarine losses than by my inability to deal a death blow to any Japanese fleet carrier. I've always been under the impression that Japanese (and American) aircraft carriers were (to employ someone's phrase) eggs armed with sledge hammers, but now I'm caught in a kind of wargamer Hell where I bomb and torpedo the same damn Junyo-class flattop, see flames shoot up out of the gaping wounds in its flight deck, every two turns. It's disheartening.
[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Utley ]</p>
Y'all misunderstand me on the subs. I am pretty aggressive with my sub placements, I just am not getting a lot of contacts this game. Not really a problem.
As far as being an aggressive commander, well, shucks. Usually I am pretty conservative, though I have been known to 'throw the deep ball' on occasion. The first battle was my fault, if I'd checked Kwajalein with SigInt, I should have seen that Johnson island was not a great place to gather the remnants of the USN. The second battle was also my fault, though I contend that two carriers coupled with the (plenty) of land based air I had on Midway should have done better. Instead, I get bailed out by Vandegrift leading the 41st division and two Marine defense battalions.
As far as looking to take the initiative, I think that I have a reasonable chance here. The IJN carriers are fairly intact (losses are 1xCV, 3xCVL), but their air groups have not had an easy time. Japanese Nells and Bettys have been lost at an appalling rate to the p40's on Java, Medan and Rabaul. On my side, the long time in drydock for Enterprise means her airgroups are about 90 experience and Hornets are approaching 80. My fleet escorts are coming out of repairs, meaning that when the CV taskforce leaves port, I expect a flak value of ~3000 instead of the ~2400 I usually have this early in the war. Japanese resources are not in good shape, so their ability to respond to me will start to decrease rapidly.
Not too much has happened since my last combat report. Enterprise is repaired enough that I can think about her sailing sometime soon and her air groups have been training aggressively. Hornet has been training her air groups on the Christmas Island bombing range and should be ready about the time Enterprise is. My battleship group is up to three with the addition of the Idaho, though I am aware that the IJN battlefleet still outguns me rather heavily. My british aircraft carrier airgroups (equipped with F4Fs, I can't see building Fulmars or P39s) and the two Chinese P40E groups at Medan were pretty thoroughly chewed up by a dynamite Zero group that showed up at Singapore. I still hold Java, Medan and Mandalay out West and Wake out East. The Japanese drive on the Solomons has been frustrated by a couple of air groups operating out of Rabaul that have sunk several of the 3xAP transport TFs the AI sends to out of the way places. It is the end of May, 1942.
Chanman
As far as being an aggressive commander, well, shucks. Usually I am pretty conservative, though I have been known to 'throw the deep ball' on occasion. The first battle was my fault, if I'd checked Kwajalein with SigInt, I should have seen that Johnson island was not a great place to gather the remnants of the USN. The second battle was also my fault, though I contend that two carriers coupled with the (plenty) of land based air I had on Midway should have done better. Instead, I get bailed out by Vandegrift leading the 41st division and two Marine defense battalions.
As far as looking to take the initiative, I think that I have a reasonable chance here. The IJN carriers are fairly intact (losses are 1xCV, 3xCVL), but their air groups have not had an easy time. Japanese Nells and Bettys have been lost at an appalling rate to the p40's on Java, Medan and Rabaul. On my side, the long time in drydock for Enterprise means her airgroups are about 90 experience and Hornets are approaching 80. My fleet escorts are coming out of repairs, meaning that when the CV taskforce leaves port, I expect a flak value of ~3000 instead of the ~2400 I usually have this early in the war. Japanese resources are not in good shape, so their ability to respond to me will start to decrease rapidly.
Not too much has happened since my last combat report. Enterprise is repaired enough that I can think about her sailing sometime soon and her air groups have been training aggressively. Hornet has been training her air groups on the Christmas Island bombing range and should be ready about the time Enterprise is. My battleship group is up to three with the addition of the Idaho, though I am aware that the IJN battlefleet still outguns me rather heavily. My british aircraft carrier airgroups (equipped with F4Fs, I can't see building Fulmars or P39s) and the two Chinese P40E groups at Medan were pretty thoroughly chewed up by a dynamite Zero group that showed up at Singapore. I still hold Java, Medan and Mandalay out West and Wake out East. The Japanese drive on the Solomons has been frustrated by a couple of air groups operating out of Rabaul that have sunk several of the 3xAP transport TFs the AI sends to out of the way places. It is the end of May, 1942.
Chanman
"As God is my witness, I thought that turkeys could fly"