Return of the Sheep! - JocMeister(A) vs. MrKane(J)

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Can I politely request those reading both AAR keep quiet, from MrBlizzards & BBFanboys posts you could assume something is VERY imminent and you may give Joc time to avoid the trap. (Being hypothetical here, I cant see him picking up and moving out)

Sit back and enjoy from the bleachers, dont feel you have to have input.

To be clear, I am not reading the other AAR, and am as mystified as Jocke about Japanese intentions. All I did was find a smiley that was laughing for Lowpe.
Lowpe's comments did make me think there is something "out of the box" about Mr. Kane's plans which piqued my interest in watching how this all plays out, but did
not give me any clue as to what they are.

I am one of those reading both. As such, I have been very careful about not being specific about anything, and keeping my comments of a more "meta" nature. General strategy, consequences of choices independent of the action of your enemy, etc.

[MrBlizzard]

Don't worry,
my post was a hope for a clash just based on the picture above with many TFs included an amphibian one.
I really don't know if something is impending so any assumption based on it would be misleading.

[catwhoorg]

Tempting as it may be, I'm just reading this side.

I will afterwards go back and take a day and re-read both side by side. This has been epic so far thats for sure.

Enjoy the birthday party Joc.

I got news another friend of mine lost their father last night, seemingly very healthy and active and then just gone.

[JocMeister]

Hey guys. Back home but havn´t had time to run the the turn. Just read the CR. No landing yet. A 3 BB bombardment of Suva with minimal damage. I hope I can do the turn and give an update before bed.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Here we go indeed![/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Don´t think I´ll be able to send the turn back to Tom tonight. So tired my eyes just burn when I look at the screen. Considering the situation I want some sleep before I do this turn.

Still no landing. Perhaps he is coming for the Samoans after all. But why go this route??? No more recon anywhere. Perhaps the target is Suva? [X(]

Here is the bombardment of Suva. 4 DIS on the 41st.

Night Naval bombardment of Suva at 132,160

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Fuso

Allied ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

E8N2 Dave acting as spotter for BB Hyuga
BB Hyuga firing at 41st Infantry Division
BB Ise firing at 41st Infantry Division
BB Fuso firing at 41st Infantry Division

During the night phase we had 4 sub attacks. All against DDs and all misses. Every single US sub you see in the screen except the one in the SW corner has a 10/10 DL.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
Every single US sub you see in the screen except the one in the SW corner has a 10/10 DL.

FYI this is why it's a bad idea to send every sub in at once. Good to keep them staggered and continuously going in and out of the battlefield. After all, the easiest kills happen away from the main battlefield where there is less detection from the air.

[aztez]

Put your submarines on patrol setting with 0 day "stops"...the DL should reset once they change hexes.

Other than that... well I think he will try to take Fiji first and most likely Samoa next.

I do hope you are prepared since time make him bleed...

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: aztez

Other than that... well I think he will try to take Fiji first and most likely Samoa next.

I do hope you are prepared since time make him bleed...

Wowser! [X(] What an attack. I see only one invasion fleet, plus maybe some fast transports there or maybe they are asw hunter killer groups.

Talk about target rich environments! How big is the IJN in this game?

[Bullwinkle58]

I really got nothing. One things occurs to me looking at the screenie--reef city. Not many places on the map with more. They channel his movements in close. Might move your subs into the holes. His ASW isn't good yet and they might get a shot off despite DL.

[Lokasenna]

Don't forget minefields at Suva!

[JocMeister]

He must have brought the entire IJN. [X(]

Keeping them fueled must put a strain on his shipping! I´ve done pretty much nothing but haul fuel to SOPAC from day 1 and I have to be very, very careful with it.

[JocMeister]

I sent the turn back to Tom. Nothing spectacular planned from the allied side next turn. I´m still doing stuff out of sight that needs to finish. Lets see if Tom comes for the Samoans. Lack of transports seem to speak against that though. Perhaps its all just a big feint to try and lure allied CVs into action.

Considering the incredible Japanese focus on SOPAC it seems prudent to make some moves elsewhere. I feel pretty confident Tom won´t be able to dislodge me from Fiji or the Samoans in a hurry. Such a move would take months and months and I should have time to react on that if needed. I have 700-1000 AV at key bases in good terrain and well dug in. So for now allied reinforcements will be focused elsewhere. I´ve picked a couple of targets I´ll focus on for now. I started by changing the prepp of some restricted troops I intend to buy out. Also bought out 2/3rds of 40th ID.

So for now I´ll just keep adding as much pressure as I can and take advantage of any situations that may arise. Meanwhile I´ll be waiting for prep.

This is how the VP trend looks when China "only" have around 500 casualties per turn and the STRAT bombing in OZ is almost halted. Sadly it will all go to hell when Chungking falls and I lose 800 VPs from the base while Tom gains 1600... not to mention all the troops... I hate China.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Inconclusive CV Battle![/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

To be more specific its wasn´t a CV battle per see. But rather one of those ridiculous "1 hex advantage" Japanese strikes. Luckily this time I wasn´t mauled by it as I was in my game vs. Erik in 42.

In all honestly I think I deserved some luck and this time I got it. Looks like something botched for Tom and that saved me. He later confirmed this in an email as KB had reacted.

During the night...almost...again...almost. Two hits. Two duds.

Sub attack near Moala at 133,163

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu
BB Yamato
BB Haruna
DD Oboro
DD Ushio
DD Sazanami
DD Akebono

Allied Ships
SS Gudgeon

SS Gudgeon launches 6 torpedoes at CV Hiryu

We also launch at a DD and CA Chikuma. No hits. After that search results start coming in and things get really hairy. Not really sure what happened here. I had set Illustrious to retire towards Christmas (She had delivered DBs to Savaii) but for some reason she moved back towards Savaii. Very lucky here.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Ta'u at 150,160

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
D3A1 Val x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 7 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Bomb hits 1

[/quote][/size=1]

Then comes the big strike. Several things helped this not becoming a disaster.

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 121
B5N2 Kate x 77

Allied aircraft
Sea Hurricane Ib x 16
Martlet II x 16
F4F-3 Wildcat x 51
F4F-4 Wildcat x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 8 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 21 destroyed, 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Hurricane Ib: 1 destroyed
Martlet II: 2 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable
CV Formidable
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 1
CA Chester

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

Its a very good sized Japanese strike. Luckily for me the 7 hex strike meant the DBs didn´t participate. The "CAP KB" was also left behind in the reaction which meant a lot less escort planes. My CAP quickly got in among the bombers and shot down 10-15 before they reached the CVs.

And then the most deciding factor...For some reason the Kates had bombs instead of TTs. That saved the day as bombing fast CVs from 10k altitude in heavy rain is very hard. Had they carried TTs I would have been a goner. Tom had also set some 50 A6M3as to Strato Sweep Pago Pago. They could have made a big difference had they taken part in the strike.

Not happy with how my CAP behaved though and I had way to few planes in the air. I made some changes to the settings and hope I can get more planes in the air the next time. I´m going to try and sneak out of Toms search and get into a better position. Unless he makes a full speed run this should be successful.

I´m not out of the woods yet. I don´t have enough fuel on my escorts to put my CVs on full speed. If I do I risk an unwanted fuel stop which I can´t risk. So if Tom sets the KB to full speed he may catch me next turn. But I hope he doesn´t want to take on the full allied CV fleet without the extra 200 Fighters on "CAP KB". Also having reacted I after what Tom said was full speed run I hope he is low on fuel too.

Looking at the TFs Tom have I´m not so sure there is going to be any landings. This might just have been a very expensive CV hunt. We will see. Don´t want a CV fight right now. I want Wasp and Avengers before starting to think about that. Will be some nervous waiting for the next turn.

[CaptBeefheart]

Good luck! This should get entertaining soon.

Cheers,
CC

[koniu]

I hope he lose lot of planes and good pilots. I will not be easy to replace them so far fromnearest friendly base.

[JocMeister]

Updated!

[aztez]

Why aren't you attacking that carrier fleet with LBA assets flying from airfields around Pago Pago?

You should have adequate number of bombers etc avalaible to do so? Also you have 3 mutually supporting airfields so he cannot supress them all.

His carriers were also separated so it would have been more than gold opportunity to knock out that CV TF once an for all.

That setup is pretty much what I had oncoming towards Hawaji where LBA took major casualties but knocked out quite a few aircraft in return.... and the allied carriers finished the job up.

He could not have survived that strike if it had LBA and carrier planes attacking. Unless ofcourse he would have been lucky.

I would expect that the two separate carrier TF's will rendevouz soon. Propably next turn and the has much higher CAP in the air.

Just some thoughts! [:)]

[BBfanboy]

On post #1005 there are CL and CA TFs that appear to be hunting north of Tahiti - they might be hoping to ambush your carriers.
There are also two APDs spotted and there could be more in that TF. There probably is a landing of some kind taking place unobserved, or about to take place.
It is possible he meant to reinforce at Nadi and you spoiled that by evicting his previous foothold, so the landings he was covering have been called off.

All this speculation to say the FOW has not lifted!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: aztez

Why aren't you attacking that carrier fleet with LBA assets flying from airfields around Pago Pago?

You should have adequate number of bombers etc avalaible to do so? Also you have 3 mutually supporting airfields so he cannot supress them all.

His carriers were also separated so it would have been more than gold opportunity to knock out that CV TF once an for all.

That setup is pretty much what I had oncoming towards Hawaji where LBA took major casualties but knocked out quite a few aircraft in return.... and the allied carriers finished the job up.

He could not have survived that strike if it had LBA and carrier planes attacking. Unless ofcourse he would have been lucky.

I would expect that the two separate carrier TF's will rendevouz soon. Propably next turn and the has much higher CAP in the air.

Just some thoughts! [:)]

Hey! [:)]

I don´t have much in terms of LBA. The USMC have a bunch of DB squadrons with trained pilots but no planes. [:(] All their squadrons arrive with Vindicators or SBD-1 and 2s and only with 2 planes in each. I don´t have any planes to fill them out with and they ALL upgrade to SBD-3. The SBD-3s I have in the pool have gone to the CVs to replace older SBDs and Helldivers.

Besides that most USMC DB squadrons withdraw in 42 so I´m reluctant to pay PPs for them as I would lose the planes when they withdraw.

2Es I only have a BG of Marauders in OZ. The rest of the BGs are flying 2-4 Bolos and upgrade to B17Es (no planes in pool) and/or withdraw in 42.

PDU OFF really changes a lot things. For instance I have 46 Helldivers in the pool but only 1 LBA squadron that can use it.

[Lowpe]

Keep the turns rolling -- this is great fun!