PzB vs Wobbly - Clash of Steel

[PzB74]

Here are 2 good advice about how to evacuate stranded air groups (with or without ac).

1. If it is a Sentai (Navy) unit and it got damaged ac: transfer it to a carrier. All damaged ac
immediately follow suit.
2. If the air group doesn't have any ac: transfer in a small unit with the same ac tye and immediately
withdraw it. This gives your stranded group the ac it needs to immediately transfer out.

As I told Ken, I find the routines that handles the evacuation of stranded pilots/air groups for hopeless.
So any mean is a just one..

I'm using my light surface units to ferry reinforcements to most of the bases between Lae and Kavieng.
Engineers, AA, garrisons and supplies are moved in quickly to make it difficult to penetrate this 'barrier'.

I've airlifted a good portion of an engineer regiment from Shortland - it should be possible to save a fair
amount of troops before the base falls. There is no use fighting to the bitter end: when time is up it's time
to head home and regroup for the next battle.

It is really cheap to release tank regiments from China: 146 pp [:)] So more are on their way to the Pacific.
Not very funny to fight mano el tanko on a small atoll...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 06/18/43

Surface Combat

An aggrssive little PT unit reacted against a barge at Talasea from Arawe....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Talasea at 59,88

Japanese Ships
AG AG-101, Shell hits 31, and is sunk

Allied Ships
PT PT-168
PT PT-169
PT PT-170
PT PT-173
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Invasions

TF 1061 encounters mine field at Buin (64,92)

TF 1061 troops unloading over beach at Buin, 64,92

Allied ground losses:
200 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1084 encounters mine field at Buin (64,92)

TF 1084 troops unloading over beach at Buin, 64,92

Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
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Air Combat

It is almost impossible to keep a CAP over Kavieng because it 'melts' away
over Rabaul. Silly, silly...

Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 61,88

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 37
B-25J Mitchell x 39

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed
B-25J Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Rob Brennan UK]

Doesn't changing the range down to say '0' mean that they won't fly CAP over bases further away? it's the logical response but game mechanics have a tendency to flaunt the obvious and/or logical. [:D][:D]

Goos luck as ever

[Speedysteve]

Hi Rob/John,

No I think with CAP it will always have a chance of flying CAP upto 2 hexes away whatever..........

Regards,

Steven

[PzB74]

Over the last week I've had a full size Tony Daitai (36) ac at CAP over Kavieng - 90% CAP, range set to 0. After only a short week the
Daitai has been reduced in size to 20 ac. All of the 16 ac that were lost went down over Rabaul. 11 alone in yesterdays large and heavily
escorted raid.

Sometimes it was advantagous to have them protect Rabaul but when Ken sent P-38 escort fighters along the losses became really bad.
The worst thing is the tactical drawback caused by the lack of controll....

So Kavieng is now without CAP! All bases that are only 1-2 hexes apart will suffer this fate if the Allied player uses the routines
to his advantage. I would really like to know if there is a way to circumvent this problem!

Thx for the input guys!

[Speedysteve]

Hi John,

AFAIK there isn't. It's hardcoded that CAP can now potentially fly upto 2 hexes away from it's assigned hex. I take it as rough with the smooth since if you remember the old rule there was NO chance that CAP would deviate from it's assigned hex. Some complained that CAP should be a bit more flexible and here we are with the current solution.

I'm neither for it or against it. It has pros and cons as far as I see it.

Regards,

Steven

[PzB74]

Too bad Steven...I think it's more positive for the Allies than Japan. The latter can't afford unintentional air losses from mid 43 and onwards.
I would say that the aggression rating of the fighter units commander should have played a role. The local base commander should also be
able to issue directives: increased CAP range for 0-1-2-3... hexes allowed. This would have fine tuned the routines.

Guess I have to adapt - as usual [:'(]

[wobbly]

Can you LRCAP Kavieng from another base?

[Honda]

Rabaul?[:D]

[PzB74]

[:'(]

Hi Al... I can - but that produces new problems:
1. The Tony is a very short legged fighter utterly unsuited for LRCAP missions
2. If I put Tojos or Zeros on long range CAP over Kavieng they would have to be based at Emirau.
3. If-when Ken bombs Emirau my CAP will go up in smoke on the ground and I would need to heavily CAP Emirau as well.

It's a loose loose situation I'm afraid!

I can nly challenge Allied air supremacy out of their escort fighters max range from now on.

[Monter_Trismegistos]

LRCAPing Kavieng from Kavieng also didn't work?

[PzB74]

Doesn't LR-CAP 'leak'?
Must admit that I've not tested this out myself - but I will certainly do so!

This could be the solution to the problem Monter [:)]

[ragtopcars_slith]

Pzb
I beleive that if you LRCAP over your own base, you don't have the leak, but you also don't get the full amount of aircraft performing CAP... i think it would be worth it though since you are losing so many aircraft!
i cannot say what the percent is but it just doesn't fly as many.

good luck!

[8D]
derek

[PzB74]

I know LRCAP isn't perfect Ragtopcars, but it's better than nothing - especially if it doesn't 'leak'..!-)

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 06/19/43

Bombardments

Poor Buin is hit again and again...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Buin, at 64,92

Allied Ships
DD Evertsen
DD Warramunga
DD Anderson
DD Hughes
CL Denver
CL Columbia
CA San Francisco
BB Oklahoma

Japanese ground losses:
145 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 8
Port supply hits 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1061 encounters mine field at Buin (64,92)

TF 1061 troops unloading over beach at Buin, 64,92

Allied Ships
DD Monssen

Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Another example of 'CAP leakage' - a carrier tf 2 hexes from Rabaul 'lends' quite a few
fighters to Rabaul. The results are pretty good today, but I really don't want my highly experienced
navy pilots to oppose milk runs.

10 transport ac were lost over Shortland today as Ken long range cap'ed the base...
Got all the operational engineer units out though. Shortland is completely isolated after the fall of Buin.
The 10k troops there are mostly secondary units that have been gradually worn down.

Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 61,88

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 36
B-25J Mitchell x 33

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 5 destroyed
B-25J Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 61,88

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
A6M3 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 3
B-24D Liberator x 43

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 11 destroyed, 21 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
43 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some experienced Oscars were put on naval attack and hit the PT boats
that are slowly making their way back home after expending all their fuel to
get to Talasea.

Day Air attack on TF at 56,87

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PT PT-173, Shell hits 4
PT PT-169
PT PT-170
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

The fatigued, out bombed and malaria ridden troops at Buin could not
hold but will continue to fight the invaders to the last!

Ground combat at Buin

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8066 troops, 84 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 7314 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 14 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Buin base !!!

Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
164 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Solomons and New Guinea 19-06-1943

As you can see the Allied steamroller quietly 'consumed' Buin today. I considered to intercept the Allied ships with one or
two surface groups but decided against it. Still waiting for an opportunity to hurt the Allies.

I've marked the expected Allied expansion in the area: the game allows the Allies to advance much quicker than what happened
historically so it is important to slow them down as much as possible even though the cost is high.

[Speedysteve]

Hi John,

I still believe that if you LRCAP and target a base it STILL has a chance of some leakage upto 2 hexes away......

Regards,

Steven

[DuckofTindalos]

VERY rarely. Might be one or two planes straying from their target hex.

[Speedysteve]

It can still happen though Mr T i've seen it.

There is no way that I know of to GUARANTEE that EVERY CAP plane will fly in 1 hex.

[PzB74]

Not been able to test out the theory yet guys, Ken hasn't been attacking Kavieng lately and I'm not keen on torching my plans [8|]

Only the usual air bombardments this turn! I guess Ken is preparing for his next moves and I will try to be ready for them.
Thus far I've tried to nibble away at his forces at the expense of my naval bombers and escorts. While expensive several destroyers and a light cruiser have been sunk
while a battleship was damaged. Not a single Japanese destroyer has been sunk and I think this is encouraging as the situation is far from ideal in the Solomons and New Guinea.

Since all British and most of the old US battleships have been sunk or damaged Ken will have to use his newer models for bombardments in the future. This is costly due to the counterfire
and mines that will be encountered. Hopefully Japans 12 battleships can be put to good use... The Yamato and Musashi have been repaired and only got 5-7 sys damage. Not going to risk these
ships until 'the real thing' comes down - takes way too long to fix them.

Btw does anyone know whether the Ise and Huyga can be converted to hybrid carriers - and when? Don't think this is a project I will duplicate though [:'(]

800 Jap ac are currently undergoing training in China and I have to rotate out some groups with an average of 70~ exp to make room for new ones. Numbers is not the problem really: sending in
large number of ac results in really heavy casualties and only limited damage to their targets. We HAVE to catch the enemy of guard to inflict heavy damage. So we wait....
10 more days until A6M5 Zeke production can start: initial delivery will be 275 units pr month

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 06/20/43

Ken will have to spend some time reducing the troopers that melted into the
jungle at Buin.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Buin

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4291 troops, 53 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 6834 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 12 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Historical organization of Japanese Forces, Southeast Area, July 1943

As you can see there were more forces in the Solomons/New Guinea during WWII than I've deployed.
That's because I don't consider this area to be the main defensive perimeter of the Empire and it would be folly
to waste more troops than necessary in these initial defensive battles.

[String]

If you have either the Ise or Hyuga in Osaka after january 43 they will begin conversion and enter the ship building queue. 120 days for 100~ naval points per day, per ship. NOT worth it, unless you can soup up your rufes to corsair levels [:D]

Some experience from Koepang battles. Always send your battleships in in twos or threes. Preferrably a good new one, Yamato or Nagato class, with an old one in tow. The enemy tends to concentrate on one, rarely on two battleships and with any luck they will be of the older types. Also try to keep your Kongo class away, those will suffer, better used as a last resort stopgap measure. Have either Yamato or Musashi been in combat before? What is their night experience? DO check all your BB leaders before sending them in the battle, preferrably in port. Leader bug can do nasty things to such important ships, and iirc some older BB's have crappy leaders anyway.

I personally liked to use semi-agressive or more careful leaders on my BB's as agressive ones tend to put those VERY valuable units at too much risk. IF you can damage or sink most of the US BB's then your own Battleships will be like gold, when they get there they can damage or destroy any US landing, cruisers being no match for them. But you already know that [:D]

One more note, in 43 your destroyers will get shot up badly by american ones. I had a lot of surface actions and it was always the same.. Even if my capitals got away lightly my destroyers always were damaged, heavily even, and usually all of them. CA's held their own, as did BB's. Can't comment on CL's as I didn't use them much, and when I did they ran into a very superior force and got sunk. Anyway, japanese CL's are more like big armored DD's (the old ones), they are only a threat to enemy DD's with their 5.5" guns and the only big weapon they have is their torpedoes, and even then some of them have the old 21" types ... and the new ones with 6x6" guns are better as carrier escorts imho.

What else, some of the PG types with good guns, i think those are the newer eteroforu class? can be useful against PT's. Or perhaps those were the newer PC's i was thinking of? Anyway, check your PG's and PC's and the ones which have two bigger guns are quite useful in this role. Yes they will suffer losses, but better PG's than PT's.

[PzB74]

Don't worry String, not going to convert them [:D] Thx for the info though, nice to know...!

I will experiement with new surface group compositions: more heavy/light cruisers and fewer
destroyers. The light cruisers are good at suppressing enemy destroyers and Jap ca's still field
a formidable punch with their massive torpedo batteries...

Here is the list of the Japanese battleships and their day/night experience ratings:

Name Day/Night experience

Yamato 77/69
Musashi 68/74

Kongo 84/79
Kirishima 78/79
Hiei 74/81
Haruna 79/83

Nagato 82/79
Mutsu 81/71

Hyuga 72/68
Ise 81/73

Fuso 81/79
Yamashiro 81/70

The fast Kongo's all have excellent day/night exp, so does the two Nagato class ships.
A heavy surface battlegroup could consist of 1 Yamato and 1-2 Nagato class ships + 4 ca, 2 cl and 4 dds.
A fast battlegroup made up from 2-3 or even 4 Kongo class ships can move in at full speed (6/6 hexes) and out
again while smashing up enemy cruiser groups or bombarding a base. Otherwise these ships will be used as carrier escorts.

The Fuso/Yamashiro and Ise/Hyuga class ships are slower and not so formidable - mostly to be used in bombardments.

New escorts

As you can see I'm using the new high durability PCs to escort my replenishment fleet.
Endurance of 8000, excellent asw capabilities and a reasonable speed make them ideal.
Not sure they would fear well in a surface engagement though - even against PTs.



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 06/21/43

Surface Combat

The mines at Buin claimed another victim!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1205 encounters mine field at Buin (64,92)

Allied Ships
MSW Quail
MSW Finch
MSW Rail
MSW Turkey
MSW Oriole
DE Austin, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gasmata was hit heavily from the air today and there are many enemy surface groups
in the nearby bases. Not sure there's much that can be done to stop an enemy invasions here!

[String]

ORIGINAL: PzB


The fast Kongo's all have excellent day/night exp, so does the two Nagato class ships.
A heavy surface battlegroup could consist of 1 Yamato and 1-2 Nagato class ships + 4 ca, 2 cl and 4 dds.
A fast battlegroup made up from 2-3 or even 4 Kongo class ships can move in at full speed (6/6 hexes) and out
again while smashing up enemy cruiser groups or bombarding a base. Otherwise these ships will be used as carrier escorts.

The Fuso/Yamashiro and Ise/Hyuga class ships are slower and not so formidable - mostly to be used in bombardments.

Hmm.. I disagree here on the oldies. Fuso/Yamashiro and Ise/Hyuga both have nice batterlies of 10x14" and have good armor. Nothing special, but good enough to stop 14" rounds from moderate distance. I'd include 1-2 of them in your heavy surface group. The Nagato class already brings the speed down to 4 hexes per phase, and getting any of them damaged, or even sunk isn't catastrophic while heavy damage to Nagatos/Yamatos would be. IMHO

Take care with the fast battleships, they have thin armor, and iirc i've seen their tower armor penetrated by allied CA's at close range during night battles.