Buried in the Sunset (Marbakka [A] vs. Texas_D [J]) - Reluctant Admiral 4.1

[ny59giants]

I usually set my CVs up as fighters at 15k, DB at 12k, and TB at 9k. I don't have issues with them performing at these settings.

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/7/1942

Two foolish mistakes and I'm likely to lose Port Moresby as a result.

First, on the last turn, I forgot to order my Banshees to Naval Attack. As a result, Japanese transports were able to get close enough to land at PM. I did a lot of damage to them this turn, but not enough to stop them from landing in significant numbers.

Second, I forgot to turn off Force Z's reaction setting. They were ordered at full speed for the Australian coast to avoid an engagement with the Japanese SAGs and link up with CA Pensacola and a fresh escort as well as a replenishment fleet. Instead, they engaged an enemy TF with 2 BBs and 2 CAs. The result was not impressive. We only managed 1 hit on each of the BBs (Nagato and Hyuga) and 1 hit on each of two DDs. In exchange, HMS Prince of Wales took 2 hits (very minor damage) and HMS Repulse took 8 hits causing moderate damage to SYS FLT and ENG but less than 20 major damage. She is being escorted to Townsville for emergency repairs, then I will move her to Colombo (eventually).

Meanwhile, he landed something like 500 AV at Port Moresby. I'm not certain, but I believe that will be enough to overwhelm my 360 AV, though they are behind 2-3 forts and have an average of 25ish days of planning. I don't think he'll take it on the first day, so I'm leaving the Banshees there tomorrow to hopefully do some damage before I have to evacuate them.

That'll teach me to rush turns back to him.

In other news, Oosthaven fell today.



I will merge what remains of Force Z with CA Pensacola and CL Leander and refuel them. Enterprise and Lexington are meandering in from the south and I'd like to at least have some sort of SAG in the area when they get here. Houston's BG is almost done repairing in Brisbane, but it will still be a few days before I can get them reformed and headed north.

EDIT: I forgot to mark that Australia's TF is disbanded at Milne Bay. Now that the enemy ships have passed, I think I can sneak them out and get Australia down to Brisbane. She has 75% Floatation damage though, so I'm not hopeful.

[BBfanboy]

In my experience the way to move ships with high floatation damage is:
1. escorted by an undamaged ship if possible
2. short hops to the nearest friendly port so that if flooding starts to increase you can disband there and get it back to the previous levels before hopping again.
3. Check the weather forecast for storms
4. Travel at cruise speed to reduce pressure on flooded bulkheads
5. Above all, reduce systems damage below 10 so that pumps and electrical will work.

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/8/1942

An ugly day at Port Moresby

- Repulse made it most of the way to Townsville and will complete the journey in the night. Her SYS damage went up but FLT is down a couple. She will be OK but out of the fight for a long time.
- PoW's TF (formerly Force Z) rendezvoused with CA Pensacola and CL Leander. They will refuel and then move a bit north east to block the retreat of enemy ships from PM. I'm not going to be aggressive with them, but it is slightly safer over there now that the BB SAG has been spotted in Rabaul. I also need to chase off the CL that has apparently discovered Australia's TF parked at Milne Bay. Time to brave a trip home for them.
- At PM, a deliberate attack by the enemy was repelled with decent results. He has landed roughly twice my AV so far. He will take it, but it will be a fight. Unfortunately, it will be a fight without Banshees. They made 3 bombing runs at the invasion fleet, but long range Zeros out of Rabaul slaughtered many of them and they only managed 3 hits. Add to that the constant bombardment from the escorts and at the end of the day I have 9 Banshees remaining between the three squadrons. I'll transfer them out ASAP. Sadness.
- USS Boise completed repairs a day earlier than I had dared hope, so Houston's TF has formed and is headed NE out of Brisbane. They will help escort any survivors from Australia's group and hopefully pickup one more CL in the process
- The CVs are now in play. This afternoon they crossed over the Brisbane-Noumea line by about 4 hexes. My plan at present is to sail them up to within range of Port Moresby but out of Rabaul's bomber range (which I still need to look up). There are several CAs and tons of shipping ripe for the picking there.

As for the KB, I have no clue where it is. I only can say that it is not in the Solomon or Coral Seas. I figure worst case scenario it is at Truk and shoots down when my CVs make their appearance, but I should still be able to flee full speed south and off into the Pacific (or to CT). I have a replen fleet headed to Sydney to refill and another headed back to Pearl to refill. I also have a small fleet on its way from the DEI to Perth which should be in position to help if I needed to flee around the Aussie mainland. I'm a bit nervous about using my CVs without knowing for certain where the KB is, but this could be a good opportunity to hurt him a bit and check his progress beyond PM.

[marbakka]

I forgot to mention that Kendari fell this turn as well. I think I had like 15 AV left there, so no surprise. Ambon and Soerabaja are the only remaining strongholds I have in the DEI.

[BBfanboy]

Re: your question about Japanese aircraft ranges - I presume you are mostly concerned about Betties and Nells [collectively "Netties"] because they can carry torpedoes - if there is an air HQ with a supply of torps at their base. They carry torps within normal range and bombs only on extended range:
Bettys - normal 17 extended 21 hexes
Nells - G3M2 normal 15 extended 18 hexes
- G3M3 normal 21 extended 26 hexes
You may also find some Sallys [bombs only load] and normal 10, extended 12 hexes
This data is available from the database - third button from the left at the top of the screen. You can also get info on AA guns there that might help you setting your level bomber altitudes. Unfortunately, the list is not split into Japanese and Allied sections so you will have to look closely at the gun designation to decide: if it says "type" or "T" or "year" in the designation it is Japanese. However they did have some foreign-made AA weapons made by Bofors and Hotchkiss.

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/9/1942

- IJ bombard attack in Changsha. Too bad he didn't just deliberate attack me. I now have 3000 AV in the hex. Bring it.
- IJ has ~25000 troops at Port Moresby
- I chose to form my healthy ships at Milne Bay into a TF and see if I could get them out. As luck would have it, IJN was trying to move at least 3 fleets of transport ships back to Rabaul.

Battle One
Japanese Ships
E Hachijo, Shell hits 1
E Kunashiri, Shell hits 3, on fire
E Ishigaki, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
AMC Kinryu Maru, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Hie Maru, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Huzi Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire
xAP Mizuho Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAP Atsuta Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
xAP Teikyo Maru, Shell hits 3

Allied Ships
CL Trenton, Shell hits 1
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
DD Voyager
PC Warrego, Shell hits 1
PG Moresby, Shell hits 1


Battle Two
Japanese Ships
PB Fukui Maru
PB Hakkaisan Maru
PB Kyo Maru #8
PB Nagata Maru, Shell hits 2
xAK Terushima Maru, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sinsyu Maru
xAK Nanman Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAK Venice Maru, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kogyoku Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Trenton
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
DD Voyager
PC Warrego
PG Moresby, on fire

For whatever reason, the third battle ended with no shots fired, which is a crying shame because it contained a huge number of AKs that I suspect are supplies for Port Moresby.
- But all that happiness is somewhat negated by the sudden arrival of what appears to be a lone CVL or perhaps even the mKB. They are located in the northern part of the Solomon Sea and launched an attack against my cruisers with 14 Kates and 11 Vals (no escorts). I -think- this is a lone CVL which will stay under LBA coverage from Rabaul, but it could just as easily be a trap. I've seen nothing to indicate that my carriers have been spotted, but he has to know they are due to make an appearance

I'm headed to dinner, but I'll be pondering these things: Do I send PoW's TF to "the corner" to clean up any transports that are still trying to make the turn? What do I do with Houston's TF? And most important, what is the best way to utilize my CVs in this case, or do I withdraw rather than risk my CVs? Decisions decisions.

[marbakka]

I should have updated last night before bed.

PoW was ordered to remain on station in that hex while Houston's TF was ordered to join them in that hex. The CVs were ordered to sail directly NW to take up a striking position behind the SAG screen.

I have not received the turn yet, but I did receive the replay, so I can tell you the unfortunate result. To make a long story short, I underestimated the range of the Betties by 1 hex. They attacked PoW in two waves of less than 10 each, but with the result that 3 torpedoes found their target. I have no idea what kind of damage it did except that she was reported to be "on fire." I'm pretty frustrated by this. The Allies have nothing that comes even remotely close to being that effective at that range. I'm tempted to unleash the fury of my CVs in retribution (which means it is probably a good thing I don't have the turn yet [:-] )

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/10/1942

Frustrating.

- Netties took full advantage of my math skills and put 3 torpedoes into the Prince of Wales. She received a far amount of major flotation damage and will have to be escorted to Colombo or Cape Town in time. For now, she is making for Townsville to join the emergency repair party with Repulse. An AR should be arriving in that port within a day or two and I'll have some P40 CAP over it if they can ever get some Aviation Support over there.
- Japan made a deliberate attack on Clark Field. They had 1 to 1 odds but the results were more like 1 to 10 in my favor. It's going to take him a little time to recover from that.


This leaves Pensacola with her own TF now that PoW is leaving. I forgot to turn off retirement on Houston's TF so they moved to their position and then back south a bit. Both of these groups will move up to a point which I believe is more than 15 hexes from Rabaul but within 4-5 hexes of PM. This is to screen the CVs which are moving up the Australian coast in the hopes of getting close enough to sink his TFs at PM. He will have a LRCAP of Zeros over them but it shouldn't be in enough numbers to stop my bombers from getting some good runs. My only real concerns here are a) that I'm moving my CVs into a bit of a restricted area where my egress is going to be obvious to the enemy, b) that I will have to enter the Netties bomb range (but not torpedo) to hit PM, and c) if my screening TFs don't do their jobs, I could end up tangling with heavy cruisers out of PM. My CVs have the option of shooting the Torres Strait (though that is not preferable). My fighter CAPs should be more than enough to handle a handful of bomb laden Netties, and I don't see any reason why I can't count on Pensacola and Houston to do their duty. The weather is partly cloudy. Unless I see someone while I'm working on the turn, the mission is a go.

Meanwhile, I will attempt to move CA Australia and the 2 wounded cruisers with her to Cooktown. She still have 75 flotation damage, so I have my doubts. Depending on how this turn works out, I may dispatch one of the combat TFs to escort her home. The longer they stay at Milne Bay, the greater the chance he will realize they are there and launch a port attack sinking all three. It's a terrible risk but better than near certain death.


(I'm working on this turn over the next hour or two. Let me know if you see anything dangerously wrong with the plan. As it stands, I have nearly 2 squadrons of fighters on CAP and just under that for escort)

[marbakka]

Green light. Turn sent. May the dice have mercy on their souls.

[ny59giants]

Horn Island - I see no aircraft symbol there. If not a PBY group, then some other search planes would help to see what is going on around there, especially to the west.

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/11/1942

Worst. Case. Scenario.

First, let me just note that my carriers did not launch a single offensive mission. When I watched the replay, I assumed that this was because the target TFs had moved away during the night/morning phase, but now that I have the turn, it is clear that they just didn't feel bothered to fly that day. This makes 3 times in my first few months of playing this game where my aircraft inexplicable failed to launch attacks. Japan doesn't seem to be having this problem. [&:]

Second, a scenario/nightmare that I had played out in my mind but ruled out on the basis that "if they were coming I'd surely be able to see them"...has happened exactly as I'd feared deep down. The KB magically sailed directly west through a double layer of Naval Search coverage out of Noumea and Suva arriving off the coast of Australia on the very same day that my carriers rush northward to attack PM. "Radio chatter" tells me that he was surprised to discover the carriers in the area and had hoped to intercept the British battleships that he assumed would be headed to Brisbane/Sydney to repair. Instead, he sunk USS Salt Lake City (CA, Pensacola Class) which had been detached from the CVs' escort because it randomly started taking system damage and slowed the whole group down. He also sunk CLs Trenton and Concord as well as their escorts PC Warrego and PG Moresby, all of which were slowly making their way to Sydney for repairs (they were part of Australia's TF that tangled with the BBs just under a week ago). He also sunk AVD Childs and AO Pecos who were refugees from the Soerabaja area and had already sustained damage before.

When all was said and done, this is the situation: A lone DD survivor of today's attacks will almost certainly be sunk tomorrow morning but is given orders to make for port immediately. PoW and her lone escort are likely to be caught in the open if the KB moves northward at all. They were headed for Townsville but Cairns is closer and so they will attempt a full speed run into that port (despite the preexisting damage!). My CVs are stuck between the Torres Strait and the KB. He knows they are there because a few Betties made a run at a DD in the group and encountered my carriers' CAP. Obviously, I will be making for the Torres Strait as fast as I can, but we are borderline on fuel, so 'full speed' is not really an option. Pensacola and Houston will follow 1 hex behind as a primitive screen against any thrust out of PM.

However, I expect it will all be moot. IF he knew the CVs were there, then he knows that I had to have used full speed to get them that far north. He also just sunk an AO and undoubtedly believes that it was intended as a replenishment fleet for my CVs (My real replen fleet was refilling in Sydney and will proceed with all haste around the south side of the continent to Perth. A low quantity, slow moving replen fleet is already filled in Perth and headed northbound to meet the CVs as they come around). I believe these things put together make it very likely that he will run the KB NW at full speed leading to our first CV vs CV encounter of the game. I don't fancy my chances in that battle one bit, though I do still hold out hope that he will have enough distractions on his northbound trip that he will not have the sorties remaining to finish me tonight. Perhaps he will think twice before following us through the Torres.

As for the coast of Australia, I've been caught with my pants down. Whatever surface forces are there are in shipyards and the 2 or 3 fighter groups that I recently received were just unloaded off of trains and are in a terrible state of disrepair. I believe the only CAP being flown over the entire continent is in Darwin. Fat lot of good that does me.

----

In China, a minor victory. I have succeeded in sneaking a small force behind his lines at Changsha cutting off his supply line. In anticipation of this, I already have a couple hundred AV moving into the hex, and my main Kukong force of ~1000 AV is a hex behind it. I'm (obviously) a newb, so I can't be sure of my understanding of the supply system, but it CAN'T be good to have 100,000 troops in an enemy city and have someone cut off your supply/retreat route. My Ichang and Sinyang attack groups have withdrawn to relative safety, so his rear is secured despite my best efforts. Northern China is eerily silent save for daily bombings out of Manchuria.

[BBfanboy]

Ouch! Now you know how Nagumo felt when he got the first report of US carriers at Midway [except his pants were not only down, they were away at the cleaners ...]. [:(]
Wonder if it was the weather that scrubbed your strikes? It should say so in the text that scrolls during the replay. Either that or they launched and "could not find the target due to weather".
You are making the best of a bad situation. There is a good chance that KB also does not have full tanks and may not be able to make a high speed run at you. Fingers and eyes crossed ...

Re: the Changsha enemy troops - the supplies they have in each unit will tide them over for quite a while, variable depending on how much combat they get into. After the supplies are used up it takes weeks for fatigue to go up to dangerous levels - less if they are in combat. They really only start dying off when their disabled troop count gets over 50%, but the AV does drop with each squad disabled. Long and the short of it - he will not collapse anytime soon but if he does not get relief there you should keep up the seige as long as possible. LUCK!

[marbakka]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Wonder if it was the weather that scrubbed your strikes?

The weather forecast was "partly cloudy." It is now forecasting 'overcast' where the KB is, 'rain' where my CVs are currently, and 'thunderstorms' where they are going. Never thought I'd be happy to order half of my naval strength to sail directly into a typhoon.


Could it be because they are (slightly) overstacked? I believe each carrier ended up with 94 planes with a limit of 90. I was told that it took 110% to affect flight operations, but by my math that would mean I'd need to have 99 before I suffered anything big.

[BBfanboy]

I have been able to launch full, coordinated strikes with a couple of extra aircraft on board. Even if 4 has an effect, it should not completely scrub the entire launch.
I still suspect the weather. The "forecast" is for a huge area and within that area individual hexes vary. You can never be sure what the actual weather will be in advance of the turn.[:(] There also does not seem to be a predictable progression to the weather where it goes from scattered cloud to overcast to heavy overcast to rain to heavy rain to thunderstorms to severe thunderstorms, etc. It seems to be a random dice roll every turn for every hex, regardless of forcast. Not one of the better features of the game.

I forget which key you press to bring up the weather "forecast" display but I think you can also get an overview of the area involved on the mini map where there is a weather button.

[marbakka]

Combat Report - 1/12/1942

Could I possibly be more newbish? Sheesh.

- The KB did, in fact, move NW (not full speed). They encountered the CA Australia, CL Achilles, and CL Perth all of which were sunk. They were severely damaged anyway, but it still hurts.
- They also caught up to PoW who for some bizarre reasons stayed formed in a TF until the end of the day when it disbanded as instructed. She took 7 bombs and is left with with 49/60/26/0 damage. 34 of the FLT and 16 of the ENG damage are "major." I tried to hint to him that she sunk, but he'd be a fool to believe it and I expect her to be finished off in port tomorrow. What he might not know is that Repulse is hiding in port nearby as well.
- And now for my epic foolishness. I thought I'd thoroughly checked everything. I KNEW deep down that I was forgetting something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. As it turns out, it was that I forgot to turn the react off of Houston's TF. As a result, they "bravely" charged into Port Moresby to engage the enemy there. The result was not bad at all:

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
CA Kako, Shell hits 5
CL Agano, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Arare
DD Kasumi
DD Uzuki, Shell hits 1
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 3
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Boise
DD Barker
DD Parrott, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Whipple

Furutaka took a real beating and I was a little surprised that she didn't sink on the spot. I was very disappointed with Boise who fired only 1 volley the entire battle.

Unfortunately, after they wrapped that battle up, the fleet commander decided that the boys deserved some shore leave in Brisbane and sailed the fleet directly south to the hex adjacent to the KB. The KB launched 13 Netties but failed to score any hits. The only damage they have from the entire day is 10 or less SYS damage and Marblehead has 3 major hits on the Engine. They can all make 30 knots or more still. However...they are in the next hex over from the KB, so....yeah. I will be sad to see these ships go. They are my favorites by far.

I'm left with a decision. Do I gun it for port in the early morning, docking and hoping to avoid a port attack? Or do I charge madly into the KB never to be heard from again...but possibly putting a few rounds into a CV or two before sliding beneath the waves?

[BBfanboy]

Carrier TFs are really hard to engage effectively.
First of all, they are usually well escorted by CAs and DDs. At this stage of the war these guys will have more night fighting expreience than yours.
Secondly, carrier TFs react away from danger so it is hard to connect with them in the first place. The Japanese used night scouts regularly so they might detect you if the weather is not too heavy.
Thirdly, even if you do connect with them, they are fast and the engagement will not likely last long because they will try to break off immediately.
And finally, even if you do engage and take some shots at their carriers, be aware that they are armoured as follows:
Kaga and Akagi have battlecruiser armour that will stop 8" and smaller shells at any range
Shokaku and Zuikaku have heavy cruiser armour that will stop 8" and smaller shells beyond 10K yards. Below that the 8" will likely penetrate but not 6" or smaller.
Hiryu and Soryu have light cruiser armour which may keep out 8" shells beyond about 14K yards and 6" shells down to about 7K yards. All smaller shells do not penetrate the belt armour.

With these limitations, almost all your hits on the carriers would be superstructure hits and flight deck hits causing some fires and systems damage but not the major damage you need to put them out of action. Your DDs or Trenton class CL could get a lucky torp hit though.

So it comes down to whether you want to have fun trying for the intercept or run the cruiser group at full speed which might get you out of range by morning if he does not go the same direction. Running would also cause him to use fuel and be less likely to follow your CVs. OTOH staying in the area would cause him to use up op cycles attacking you, and his pilots have to be getting tired.

Whichever way you go, good luck!

[marbakka]

I have now seen the replay, and it turns out that it didn't much matter what I told Houston to do because the commander had his own ideas. He attacked the KB (which only had 3 CVs in the TF that they engaged). They scored several hits on the Shokaku and a couple on one of the BBs but nothing to write home about. DD Barker was pretty badly damaged. After the battle, they figured that without anything better to do they would obey my orders and sail to Cooktown. Unfortunately, that was parallel to the KB1(?) and they suffered several air raids which damaged Houston and (I think) sunk Marblehead. Boise escaped without a scratch.

The real surprise was the carrier group that appeared out of nowhere north of Darwin (straight through my Naval Search umbrella again, I might add). That carrier launched against a group of AKs that were fleeing Darwin to the west. IF they were the ones I'm thinking of, they were carrying a fighter group.

I have to see the turn to know whether my carriers made it far enough to the west to have a chance of getting away. I seriously doubt it and I suspect I will have to choose between turning and engaging the 3 that are giving chase or engaging the 1 (or 2 or 3) that are trying to cut me off.

I suspect that Enterprise and Lexington are about to meet their end or something like it.

[DOCUP]

Good luck Marbakka.

[John 3rd]

Pretty wild reading!