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6/24/44

Battle of Ternate: Dave pulls back KB, as I move DS down towards Boela. There are no major sea/sub clashes. Dave sends bombers to try Ternate's CAP (and he did the same yesterday). Both times, the Japanese aircraft got chewed up.

DS will loiter for a day to try to get a finger on the pulse of Dave's intentions. Additional Allied offensive activity remains a possibility.

Way down south, a few triage carriers finish repairs and leave port. In ten days, DS will have another CV, CVL, and about nine CVES. In four weeks, two or three additional CVs will be ready.

A question I have posed to myself: Was it and is it worthwhile to get embroiled in time-consuming fights for places like Ambon and Ternate? Would it be better to detach DS and the Allied ground forces to move on, to newer ground?

I chose to get embroiled, for a number of reasons. First, so many Allied carriers and combat vessels needed time in yards that there was a window where major expeditionary action wasn't likely for awhile. Second, I like the configuration of the bases and the OOBs. This is good ground to fight for. The key was taking and building Timor big. Until the Allies get a few big bases forward it can be a real hazardous and costly to try to get started from Oz. Here things happened so quickly that I was able to seize Timor and forward islands and get lodgments on Celebes and the Moluccas. Now this is good territory to hunt enemy subs, ships and aircraft.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

A question I have posed to myself: Was it and is it worthwhile to get embroiled in time-consuming fights for places like Ambon and Ternate? Would it be better to detach DS and the Allied ground forces to move on, to newer ground?

I chose to get embroiled, for a number of reasons. First, so many Allied carriers and combat vessels needed time in yards that there was a window where major expeditionary action wasn't likely for awhile. Second, I like the configuration of the bases and the OOBs. This is good ground to fight for. The key was taking and building Timor big. Until the Allies get a few big bases forward it can be a real hazardous and costly to try to get started from Oz. Here things happened so quickly that I was able to seize Timor and forward islands and get lodgments on Celebes and the Moluccas. Now this is good territory to hunt enemy subs, ships and aircraft.

I think you are winning the Numerator/Denominator battle too, with your damage control advantage keeping losses down and some points for seized bases. Not too sure about LCU and Aircraft points. Reducing his oil/fuel draw has to count for something too even if you get no VPs for that.

6/25/44

"It's the denominator, stupid!" Here's the current intel screen. For comparison purposes, scroll back a few pages to about 6/6/44, the date the Allies drew even in points. I posted the same screen then.

The air war has gone very well. The Allies have destroyed hundreds of aircraft on the ground the past few weeks. Especially at Waigeo, Sorong, Ambon, Namlea and Kendari. I think the total number of Japanese aircraft destroyed the past three weeks has risen dramatically (but somewhat offset by the big, weird air battle in which I lost 300 naval aircraft and Dave lost 250+ that were on search and/or ASW missions.

While the denominator is the key to victory, there are larger issues. There are times a player has to put his head down and push or advance or fight. Even if the VPs aren't favorable, doing so may gain some key advantage that overrides everything else. I think there's an element of that here. The Allies had pushed hard, far, fast. Then I had to buckle down and deal with Dave's strong counterattacks.

And the real bottom line? "It's about the fun, chum!"

It looks like Dave's lost 450+ aircraft on the ground the past 19 days.

6/25/44

DEI: KB remains stationary in the Sulu Sea. Allied landings take place at Namlea and Ambon, without incident.

The Japs have a naval guard unit at Namlea. 41st USA Div. (fresh from Marcus, but 100% prepped for Namlea) came ashore in great shape. This shouldn't be a major contest.

At Ambon, a reinforcing division landed. Dave is very strong here. The landing is meant to stabilize the contest, ensuring that the Japanese can't defeat the one division that was ashore. Lots more Allied troops are nearly fully prepped at Darwin, and they'll come forward fairly soon.

6/26/44

Battle of Ambon: Here comes KB! Dave moves his carriers, apparently at flank speed, from the Sulu Sea to north of Kendari. They end up eight hexes from DS's position yesterday, eight hexes from DS's ordered position for today, and closer to Allied shipping at Namlea and Ambon.

6/26/44

Battle of Ambon: KB launches it's alpha strike early in the a.m. phase.

This is Dave's second 8-hex strike in a month but this time it doesn't matter, for DS is configured solely defensively. (So many strike aircraft were lost in the most recent carrier engagement - their places taken by additional fighters.)

6/26/44

Battle of Ambon: After the alpha strike, smaller strikes seek shipping from Namlea to Ambon to Ternate. Most of these gets treated roughly. One gets through to molest the big transports. Another sinks two low-value DDs guarding the straights. A lot of IJN aircraft downed for little return.

6/26/44

Battle of Ambon: P.M. strikes are smaller, CAP does well, two hits scored, neither does more than minimal damage.

Will you close the distance seeking a strike, or will your paucity of strike aircraft and your need to cover landing forces cause you to sit still and dare him to try a second strike?

I only have a handful of strike aircraft aboard (they're doing ASW duty). When DS sailed from Darwin, I knew she had only one strike to give, because she was top-heavy with CVEs. She gave that strike about ten turns back, then converted over to defense.

No way Dave comes forward after that debacle, so my guys will stay in play a few more day to deliver supply to the two beachheads.

It has to be discouraging for the Japanese to fly into a 1000 plane CAP.

6/26/44

Battle of Ambon: IJN carrier air paid a steep price.

This is much bigger than a "denominator" clash, but from that standpoint the Allies came out ahead about 4:1. He lost 400+ aircraft. I lost about 100 points, between aircraft, one good APA (it surprised me and sank), an AK and two small DDs.

This creates new opportunities that I'll be mulling over this weekend (out of town for a family get together). CV Formidable, a USN CVL, and eight CVEs will arrive at Darwin in about five days. From there, the enhanced DS will likely escort troops to handle Kendari plus Bima and maybe Mataram and Denpassar. Also under consideration will be proceeding with the invasion of Java.

ORIGINAL: jwolf

It has to be discouraging for the Japanese to fly into a 1000 plane CAP.

This is much more close to reality than what Anachro has to deal with in that pure fantasy scenario from parallel universe he is playing.

ORIGINAL: 821Bobo

ORIGINAL: jwolf

It has to be discouraging for the Japanese to fly into a 1000 plane CAP.

This is much more close to reality than what Anachro has to deal with in that pure fantasy scenario from parallel universe he is playing.

Oh, I agree completely. But it still must be hard on the Japanese player.

BTW Dan, now I have learned of a new type of battle: a "denominator clash" [:D]

So you pulled the Ali rope-a-dope and let his Foreman KB punch himself out, while you conserve and build the attack strength of the DS to deal with him next time he ventures forth with a KB sortie like this. On the upside every time he does this his aircrew replacements are probably of a lower experience and quality, while you fighters have gained in kills, and experience.

Did you see torp’s drop and miss? Or is the KB out of torpedoes? If so, they have to reload in a safe port with torpedoes.
Somehow losing 400 air platforms without the enemy losing major capital ships I.e CV’s means a loss of initiative. I think of the Mariana’s Turkey-shoot IRL.

So both sides have now suffered massive losses of naval strike aircraft. Looks a lot like 1943 where the CVs were pretty much removed from the field. At this point the allies have plenty of things they can do including building and consolidation. If they want to move forward the next big leap will require the CVs to reload. Depending on plane and pilot pools this may take a bit. Both sides have good, interlocking bases. Allies might have a good edge in LB air and surface ships. Plenty of fun to come me thinks