Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: jmalter

fingers & eyes crossed to be sure, toes curled, bungholes tightened, jaws clenched, upper lips stiffened!

I hope our esteemed host has his ducks lined up properly, for best strike co-ordination, search, escort & CAP. If the weather-gods smile, he might just slip in undetected & deal some hurt to IJ shipping & combatants.

I see 3 CV TFs, so I assume 2 CVs per TF, that'll be best for co-ordination at this stage of the war. The idea of a quick hit&run raid is great, so long as apb doesn't neglect the "&run" part.

Depending on DL I'd be surprised if the Pbang strike goes off. At this stage of the war.

18 Feb 42

Denpasar (Bali) is invaded. At least several carriers are in that hex. No Dutch planes decided to attack there this turn. A bunch of PT boats were sent in to interfere with the landing, but are unsuccessful, with 2 lost for no gain. 2 PT boats did launch torpedoes at xAK's, but missed.

Now for the excitement.

15 Nells flying from Singawak attack the Allied carriers southwest of Palembang. They are unescorted, and all are shot down, with a CAP of 6 Sea Hurri's, 22 F4F-3A's, and 14 F4F-3's.

Then 9 Betty's escorted by 15 Zeros, all originating at Singawak, arrive. Most of the Betty's are shot down, along with a couple of Zeros, but about 6 F4F-3's are lost. The few Betty's that survived did not drop.

As for the Allied response, the Japanese carrier group and the combat task force that were spotted on the previous turn were not spotted this turn. Ships at Palembang were spotted, and there were more there than spotted previously.

The first strike was 9 Dutch bombers flying unescorted. 23 Oscars intercepted, and most of the bombers were lost. No bombs dropped.

The first carrier raid consisted of 18 SBD-2's, 54 SBD-3's, and 15 TBD-1's, escorted by 9 Fulmars, 27 F2A-3 Buffalo's, and 27 F4F-3's. The Oscars were not up to the challenge, with about 8 destroyed, with no losses to the strike package.

Bomb results were excellent. Most of the xAK's had fuel loaded, so lots of bomb hits were overkill. Significant number of noncombat troops were lost. I was amazed to see a TBD get a torpedo hit too!

Japanese Ships
xAK Yodogawa Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Kosin Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kirishima Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Toa Maru, Bomb hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kagu Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAK Nitisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Tacoma Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Eiko Maru #2, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Kamitsu Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
819 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 30 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 8 (5 destroyed, 3 disabled)

An afternoon follow-up raid had some success. 18 SBD-3's were escorted by 20 Buffalo's and 23 F4F-3's. They were intercepted by 18 Oscars. The Oscars faired better this time, with about 5 US fighters lost.

A couple of the nice AK's were hit, as well as destroyer Asagiri.

Japanese Ships
AK Tosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Kinka Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
TB Manazuru
DD Asagiri, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires


The 3 Allied task forces each consisted of 2 carriers each. Not all of the bombers flew missions. About half did not fly. All carriers are now proceeding generally west at full speed. An AO task force is positioning way out in the Indian Ocean for refueling. US carriers start upgrading in March 1942, so I'm considering just going off-map to Capetown and take the long way home. I wanted to hit back somewhere, and that is accomplished. I showed the fleet at Sumatra. Once they disappear, the Japanese will have to be more cautious with any Ceylon/India activity, or at least bring all of KB for it.

Time to go hide for awhile.

With little air to air action so far in the war, I now have 3 pilots with 3 kills leading the list. One is the famous Thach. Another is a Canadian pilot flying a Sea Hurri. The last is a Dutch pilot.

19 Feb 42

Allied carriers made a full speed run west away from Sumatra and are not spotted. They will continue west to meet an AO task force. Ships will either go the long way from Capetown to Panama to the West Coast for upgrades, or head to the West Coast on map. Considering my options.

Soerbaja is swept by Zero's. All Dutch fighters were on bomber escort duty, and bombers and fighters did not fly.

Denpassar (Bali) falls.

Port Moresby refugees are shock attacked at Kokoda, and kicked back to the northwest.


20 Feb 42

CV Kaga task force appears next to Denpassar. Kaga is hit by a torpedo from Dutch sub O21. No damage or fire is reported. Most of the Dutch bomber force flys to Denpassar to bomb the airfield. Light fighter escort is provided, but over 20 Zeros appear over the island. Almost all of the Dutch bombers are destroyed, with minor damage done to the airfield. Zeros were flying from Kaga, Ryujo, Zuiho, and Hosho.

oh well done, apb!

Drawing blood like that must have felt good, I hope you got good exp gains for your ships & airgroups, they deserve it! I had sorta assumed that you knew your CVs were undetected on the turn when you gave them orders to run in to the launch hex. You certainly had the right mix of CAP / Escort for your fighters, correctly assuming that recently-arrived IJ airgroups at newly-conquered bases would be flying search / overwatch of the waters around Pbang.

Weird that you tagged his xAKs w/ 'fuel loaded', though. It's part of my prime directive for amph-assault loading to tag the 'do not load fuel' button. I assume your strike was tasked for Nav Attack, or were some DBs set for Port attack against docked shipping?

Worried that only half your strike-aircraft launched. Do your CV captains / CVTF commanders have sufficient air-skill?

Glad you didn't hang around for a 2nd-strike, it was enough to show up 'out of nowhere', bring some hurt, then disappear. You did decent damage, then got away scot-free (except for accrued full-speed steaming damage). No need to risk your CVs hanging around for a 2nd-day strike. You put a hvy pounding on some high-value shipping, prob'ly disrupted his amph-capability a bit.

Dunno about your future plans, though - after your CVs refuel, can't you do their upgrades at Cape Town? If the upgrades will take 21 days, you can xfer their planes to Cape Town for Training, then decide later if you want to bring them back into action via Sydney or San Diego.

Thanks jmalter.

It did feel good, even if it resulted in just 8 or 10 cargo ships hit. Yes, I was undetected until I moved in to a point 4 hexes from Palembang. I sent my Buffaloes in as escort figuring that they were my worst planes and wouldn't do as well on CAP. Except for the planes not flying, things went well. I did assign appropriate commanders for the task forces, but hadn't worried about the carrier captains. Good point on that.

All of my strikes were naval attack, nothing went against the port. I know that my opponent is aware of the danger of loading fuel on ships that have men loaded on them too, as we've discussed that previously. Could be an error and he didn't want to reload the task force.

I'll think about staying at Cape Town. I will have to upgrade cruisers also, I believe in April. I have some transit time to get there, so I have some time to consider options.

All in all I didn't do anything close to game-changing damage, but I think it will affect how my opponent proceeds in the near future, which was my primary goal.

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Thanks jmalter.

It did feel good, even if it resulted in just 8 or 10 cargo ships hit. Yes, I was undetected until I moved in to a point 4 hexes from Palembang. I sent my Buffaloes in as escort figuring that they were my worst planes and wouldn't do as well on CAP. Except for the planes not flying, things went well. I did assign appropriate commanders for the task forces, but hadn't worried about the carrier captains. Good point on that.

All of my strikes were naval attack, nothing went against the port. I know that my opponent is aware of the danger of loading fuel on ships that have men loaded on them too, as we've discussed that previously. Could be an error and he didn't want to reload the task force.

I'll think about staying at Cape Town. I will have to upgrade cruisers also, I believe in April. I have some transit time to get there, so I have some time to consider options.

All in all I didn't do anything close to game-changing damage, but I think it will affect how my opponent proceeds in the near future, which was my primary goal.

I think inadequate fighter escort will sometimes make a squadron refuse to fly. The squadron leader's aggression has to be high enough to overcome the trepidation.

The Japanese have quite a few xAK-t with the extra tank for fuel. Even when you set "Do not load fuel" for the Amphib TF, I believe this fuel tank still gets loaded as the AI seems to treat it as part of the cargo capacity.

21 Feb 42

You may be right BBfanboy. My naval strike had all of the planes I had allotted for escort but not all of the naval attack planes. It may not have formed another strike because all of the escorts had flown. I may have done better to have put some escort and strike at a different altitude.

Two naval engagements occur at Banjoewangi between Dutch PT boats and a Japanese cruiser task force. One PT boat is lost with several torpedoes launched and missing. No invasion occurs here. The Japanese carrier task force has moved north and is now south of Balikpapan, reportedly heading north.

Two Dutch bombers, accidentally still set to hit the airfield at Denpassar, bomb the airfield with little effect. No CAP there this turn.

Battleships Ise and Nagato bombard Wenchow. They sail over several Dutch subs waiting for them, and neither side spots the other. Damage to Wenchow is more substantial this time, with hits to manpower, the airbase, the port, supply, and fires are started. Fort building is at 3 there, and is not currently building, so the bombardment really matters little, but looks good.

The Dutch subs hope to catch them next time. 3 Japanese ground units have appeared next to Wenchow, so an assault is coming.

Allied carriers approach the west edge of the map. I've decided to not send them off-map after all. They will take a wide path around Australia, stop at Melbourne, then head for the West Coast. The advantages of staying on the map are having a shorter amount of time to return to base, and keeping the flexibility to react to some future attack nearby on their way home. The disadvantages are using up on-map fuel on the way home, and the risk of a sub getting a lucky contact and/or shot.

I have another replenishment task force setting up well to the southwest of Perth. It will provide enough fuel for all ships to make it to Melbourne.

22 Feb 42

Spotted a sub off the coast of Newcastle, Australia. Not enough pilots trained in ASW yet. I'll start some effective air ASW in a month or so. Was doing lots of naval training with my Australian units.

Lily's show up based at Darwin, and start bombing my retreating base units. Alice Springs is building but that's still a long way from the enemy right now.

What's left of the Dutch bombers attack shipping at Denpassar. No CAP is found, but no bombs find a target. xAK's and CA's attacked, no luck.

Paratroopers drop on an undefended Derby, Australia, and it falls.

US carriers begin the haul towards southern Australia. Brit carrier Hermes is split off from the Brit task force, and heads to Cape Town. It will take the long way around to the West Coast. I am going to use it for ASW work between the West Coast and Pearl Harbor. Showing a carrier in the area when the real carriers aren't there could be a good side effect. The other Brit carrier (Invincible? not sure) will follow the US carriers and work with them for the time being.

23 Feb 42

Dutch PT boats (actually TM's) slip into Denpasar and fight a small task force consisting of 3 PB's and 1 xAK. The Dutch force attacks at 2000 yards, getting 1 torpedo hit on a PB, sinking it, and 2 torpedo hits on the xAK. One of those hits was a dud. 5 shell hits also landed on the xAK, leaving it on fire and with heavy damage. It wasn't carrying troops or fuel. This is the best performance of any PT's so far.

Battleships Ise and Nagato again bombard Wenchow, and again avoid all of the Dutch subs. It crossed my mind that they may be coming from Hong Kong instead of Shanghai. If this is true, they would be avoiding all but one of the subs. I was sure that they were rearming at Shanghai, since I've repeatedly seen a task force hugging the Chinese coast in that direction, and then got bombarded the next day. It's possible that my opponent is being super sneaky and placing a decoy task force in that hex for me to see. I've moved one sub onto the Shanghai route, just in case. This gives me 2 subs on the Shanghai route and 3 on the Hong Kong route.

The bombardment does do some industry damage, as well as airbase and port damage, and some fires are set. Enemy troops are now in Wenchow also. I'm moving another Chinese corp into town from the town in the north. It will take at least a week to move them in. Wenchow should be a tough nut to crack, with a strong Chinese corp there behind 3 forts.

Only other action is bombing of Clark AFB, as usual, and the Lily's bomb a retreating base unit in northern Australia, again.

24 Feb 42

The Japanese cruiser force at Denpassar crosses the straits and attacks Dutch TM's at Banjoewangi, sinking one.

SS I-123 is spotted near Ceylon.

The Lily's from Darwin bomb retreating units again.

Troops at Clark AFB are heavily bombed, but to little effect.

The first probing bombardment attack at Wenchow occurs. The Japanese have brought 2 infantry divisions, a tank regiment, 2 engineer regiments, and 2 artillery units. Assault values show 937 to 391. Forts there are at 3. I would say that the Chinese should hold, but, as always, the experience level is low.

The Japanese 65th Brigade clears the static defenses at Subic Bay. Just Clark and Bataan left now on Luzon. The subs that were supplying China are now supplying Bataan.

25 Feb 42

Another engagement between Dutch torpedo boats and the Japanese cruiser force, and 2 torpedo boats are lost near the eastern tip of Java.

The Japanese air force finally shows up over Java, launching heavy sweeps of Batavia and Soerbaja. The Dutch lose 30 fighters, with the Japanese losing 9. I have no shipping of value to protect here, so I will stop putting up CAP, and only use the fighters for sweeping and escorting. On this turn, all of my bombers are set for naval strike, with as many escorts as I can, and some sweeping over Denpassar. Maybe I'll have some luck. I'm going to lose every plane. I might as well lose them attempting to hit some ships.

Enemy bombers hit Dutch units adjacent to Palembang. In Australia, Lily's again hit a retreating base force south of Darwin.

Near Tandjoengbalai, south of Medan on Sumatra, Dutch sub KXII gets a torpedo hit on an xAK. This could be an invasion task force for northern Sumatra, or a supply convoy to Rangoon.

At Wenchow, the first Japanese deliberate attack occurs, going off at a 1 to 2 odds, and dropping the forts from 3 to 2. Casaulties are 943 for the Japanese and 597 for the Chinese. Another Chinese corp is coming in from the north, about 5 days out, barring any air interdiction. Dutch subs continue to wait for the battleships.

In Burma, the Japanese 33rd Division shock attacks across the river into Shwebo. and destroys a weak Burmese battalion. Will the Japanese continue into the jungle?

26 Feb 42

Mines are being swept at Rangoon. The transport task force attacked northwest of Singapore did not go to Sumatra, so it's a good bet they have supply and are headed to Rangoon.

Many Japanese bombers bomb the ground troops at Probolinggo, near Soerbaja. Casualties are high in the clear terrain. It's just a tiny Dutch unit there anyhow. A landing here will succeed easily.

12 Dutch fighters sweep Denpassar, against 9 Zeros on CAP. Almost all of the Dutch fighters are lost, with no Japanese losses. The bomber strike didn't fly because no ships were spotted this turn.

Enemy carriers still at Balikpapan. Others spotted at Borneo. Intel suggests troops moving to Davao, probably massing for Java.

At Wenchow, the Japanese deliberate attack again, with 1 to 1 odds (close to 2 to 1), dropping the forts to 1. Chinese casualties are over twice the Japanese. I guess they can just keep attacking and take it quickly. I'd hoped it would take some time. My reinforcements are about 4 days away, too long. And it may not matter anyhow. Still no sign of the battleships returning.

27 Feb 42

An island south of Davao is invaded, Talaud-eilanden. Back-filling by the Japanese.

Same Lily bombing south of Darwin. Same bombing at Clark. More bombing on the Dutch units just southwest of Palembang. They will be assaulted soon.

Ambon is bombed by Betty's and Nell's from Kendari and/or Macassar.

Chusien, north of Wenchow, is lightly bombed by Ann's. Probing bombing to no effect.

Wenchow is bombed by Sally's and Lily's. Wenchow is again deliberately attacked, for the third day in a row. The attack is 1 to 1, reducing the forts to 0. Casualties are fairly even, around 600 for each. Still a few days for another Chinese corp to arrive, and since it is spotted now, I expect it to be interdicted and slowed.

Liner Queen Elizabeth is about to arrive at San Francisco, with SYS damage of 31. It is due to withdraw in about a month and a half. I have time for one more run. US 40th Division will be bought out in 12 days and sent on the liner to New Zealand or Australia. I'll have some time for QE to repair while waiting.

28 Feb 42

Another month comes to a close. This is always a welcome thing for the Allies. Next month is always better than this month. Reinforcements, supply, and fuel continue to be moved around. Allied carriers are near the southwestern tip of Australia, heading east.

US subs have been spotted at Bataan unloading supply. The Japanese respond by bombing the port there. The supply effort is rather insignificant. It might add a day or two to the defense. This makes the response insignificant as well.

Wenchow falls easily, with 5 to 1 odds. The survivors are kicked to the northwest, where the Chinese corp that was headed into town is. That corp will now move back north, with the rest heading west. They will be bombed and caught by units from Wenchow. This is just how it is on the plains of China. I had hoped for a longer defense.

The Dutch units at Praboemoelih, southwest of Palembang, are routed again.

Japanese task forces are spotted just south and east of Denpassar. This could be the run-in to eastern Java. Dutch bombers are set for naval attack with minor escorts assigned.

1 Mar 42

Air attacks on Bataan with insignificant damage.

Bombers hit the Chinese corp that was kicked out of Wenchow.

The 4 US carriers and 1 Brit carrier refuel off the coast of Albany, Australia, and head for Melbourne.

Lots of ground units at Davao. It's a staging base for somewhere. So far in the last week I've seen the 4th infantry regiment, 16 Army HQ, 17 medium field artillery, as well as the 4th infantry division at Davao or headed to Davao. I'm seeing about a dozen units there that weren't there fairly recently.

The Dutch subs that were stalking the Wenchow area will watch the waters north of Singapore on the route to Rangoon/Ceylon. They will base at Columbo. I'm seeing a sub or two around Ceylon now, and at least one small task force has gone to Rangoon. I expect this area to heat up. I at least have to act like some type of Ceylon/India invasion will occur.

2 Mar 42

My few units that were kicked out of Wenchow get bombed again. They won't escape another ground attack when the Japanese catch up.

And Sally's bomb weak Dutch remnants at Lahat near Palembang. Those will be cleaned up soon also.

Dutch subs returning to base from off the Chinese coast get a 10/10 DL a good ways west of Takao. Something is on the move in this area.

A US sub mines the eastern tip of Java. Multiple Japanese task forces are at Denpassar, just one hex away. When I had PT boats on the tip, Japanese cruisers came in to clean them up. Hopefully some will find mines next time. I move PT's back to the tip of Java again as bait. There aren't a lot of mines, but I can hope. I will also mine a base on the opposite side of Java from Soerbaja. Japanese recon has shown interest there. The base is clear terrain and is lightly defended.

Allied carriers will skip refueling at Melbourne on the way to the West Coast. They will go straight to Auckland instead.

More ships go into upgrade mode. Mostly xAK's, some DD's. April will be a big upgrade month. Besides the US carriers, US subs upgrade with radar. Also, two types of US Destroyers can convert to DE's. (Wickes and Clemson?) I will do those conversions.

ORIGINAL: apbarog

More ships go into upgrade mode. Mostly xAK's, some DD's. April will be a big upgrade month. Besides the US carriers, US subs upgrade with radar. Also, two types of US Destroyers can convert to DE's. (Wickes and Clemson?) I will do those conversions.

You probably know, but the conversions offer a choice of ASW or APD. I find the APDs invaluable until you have the first LSTs. I muddle along on ASW until the mainline DDs get their ASW rating 6/8 upgrades. But APDs are really useful in many island chains.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: apbarog

More ships go into upgrade mode. Mostly xAK's, some DD's. April will be a big upgrade month. Besides the US carriers, US subs upgrade with radar. Also, two types of US Destroyers can convert to DE's. (Wickes and Clemson?) I will do those conversions.

You probably know, but the conversions offer a choice of ASW or APD. I find the APDs invaluable until you have the first LSTs. I muddle along on ASW until the mainline DDs get their ASW rating 6/8 upgrades. But APDs are really useful in many island chains.

And the really neat thing is that APDs can do ASW duty too, even when they are loaded.

I had decided to go with DE's and better ASW. However, I'll look up the ASW for the APD's and see if it is as good as the DE's would be. If so, the APD's make more sense.

APD ASW is not as good as DE's. IIRC the numbers are DE-6, APD-4, original DD configuration -2.