Hunting the Hibiki: Q-Ball (Allies) v Cuttlefish (Japan)

[princep01]

Q, for what it is worth, I agree with crsutton's comment re leaders for those air groups. I forget to change them out too.

Even more than that though, I think your bombers would have scored some hits had you attacked at 4000 (or less), rather than 8000 feet. Yes, the cost would have been higher, but to lay some nice size bombs on those CVLs would have been a serious setback to the Little KB's future predatations. The planes you would have expended are just that; expendable. But, nice job getting them to concentrate and fly. I'm sure MR. Cuttlefish was squirming a bit as those attacks developed.

[Q-Ball]

princep01: To bomb under 6K, they would have had to train in "LowN", not "NavB", that's my understanding anyway. I didn't do that. I perhaps should have, so that they were ready for that. What do other players do with the Allied bombers, train in NavB or LowN?

Combat Report, March 4,5 1942

Fall of Luzon: As predicted, Luzon fell on the 4th of March. The troops were a wreck after the retreat from Clark, and Cuttlefish nearly destroyed them on the 3rd. But otherwise, a pretty quick conquest.

On both Luzon and Malaya, I did not resist outward, but immediately retreated everyone to Singapore and Clark. Singapore held until Feb 13, and Clark March 4. Not sure how other AARs are tracking; my other PBEM, my opponent resisted forward, and both Singapore and Luzon were closed out by the beginning of February. In that game, Erik would admit that he allowed his forces to be split, so that hastened the fall. Either way, I do think in AE that these points are softer, and will fall quicker than history IF you bring more troops than the Japanese historically did (which makes sense!).

Wainwright refuesed to surrender the rest of the PI; Cagayan "holds", meaning a japanese unit is in the hex and we are sittng there eating supplies. AS Canopus is docked at Cebu, and still dishing out torpedos and fuel (Shhhh!)

DEI: Cuttlefish's units are marching on Palembang. The big question on Palembang isn't so much about whether or how long it will hold, but what condition the place is in when it falls.

As you can see, I am bombing Oosthaven's port for lack of anything better to do with KNIL airforces.

China: It's ON in KUKONG (hey that rhymes!). The Japanese have approached the town. I have scads of units, but they are Chinese. At the moment i control the air over Kukong thanks to the AVG, and I'm bombing the Japanese troops. We'll see if the place holds or not. I don't think Cuttlefish has alot of artillery there, which helps.

India: The last troops crossed the Burmese border in good order. I am going to use all the Burmese units to meet garrison requirements in India, and free up other units. The Indian forces in general are really low quality at the moment, so alot of units are on Rest/Train to learn to fight. I am going to build up Imphal and Akyab, and stand there. We basically traded Burma for 3 months of time.

South Pacific: We have used the absence of KB to unload alot of troops. I have instructed everyone to HURRY UP and finish, because we are about to the point that they could be showing up again.

41st Division is 95% unloaded at Noumea, and I sent some empties home. A Tank BN there is about 30% unloaded. 2 Regts of the Americal Div are unloading at Suva. I am more worried about Noumea, because I think it's more likely that KB would show there vs. Suva.

[Q-Ball]

Shipping Losses to Date, March 5, 1942

Here is a summary of shipping losses to date for each side.

Japan:
These are edited down to ships that are confirmed sunk, or that I'm 90%+ sure are sunk. There are others that I know I didn't sink (like CA Atago), that are wishful thinking by Allied intel. So I feel pretty good that this is conservative/accurate:

CL Sendai, Tama, Jintsu
6 Modern DDs (Fubuki and up): Including Hibiki
2 Older DDs
2 TBs
1 SS

4 xAPs
26 xAKs
6 PB/SC

Overall, I have stung a bit in the warship category, but Cuttlefish's other losses are pretty light. Note that he has lost ZERO TKs or AOs. Cuttlefish is advancing fairly slowly and protecting his transports, which is limiting his advances, but also his losses.

I tend to play Japan the opposite; I want to move fast, even if that means transport losses early. In my other PBEM I won't say how many (as Erik can read this), but he konws it's alot more than 26.

Allies:

BBs, Arizona, Oklahoma, California
CA Houston
CL Tromp, Java
8 DDs, all Dutch or old USN 4-stackers
2 SS

6 xAP (including 3 BIG ones, Wakefield, Dominion Monarch, West Point)
52 xAKs
14 TK/AOs

My warship losses are very light; 3 Pearl Harbor BBs, and a handful of warships in the DEI. I can afford to take some chances with cruisers in the next couple months, because I have really lost very little.

Allies have plenty of AKs, I'm not worried there. The only losses I rue are the large APs; those are useful.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, March 7, 1942

Sub Wars: At some point I will post a comprehensive sub strategy and tactics, and I'll probably wait until the SRA is done, because at the moment, I have sub bases handy in that area, particularly Soerbaya. Once the real war starts, I'll put together a sub plan.

In the meantime, I have been disappointed with the results; we have 2-4 sightings a day of TFs, sometimes there are attacks, rarely have there been hits. The last two days we sank something, O-23 sank a loaded transport off Makassar, and USS Pollack got an xAK off Hokkaido.

Big E Update: Below is the Big-E; 101 days on Critical Repair. That was really a bad torp hit, alot of Float and Engine Damage.

At this point, I can't even load her airgroups back on the CV; they are at Capetown. I don't know if I'll complete repairs there or move her to the East Coast, but I don't see a point to moving her until she can make 20 kts.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, March 8.9 1942

China: Japanese are bombarding Kukong, and we have had some big aerial battles; CF is sweeping with Oscars, and I have AVG Curtiss fighters over Kukong. Last turn, 6 AVG planes were shot down vs. 6 Oscars, and we have had similar exchanges. AVG has shot down Jap bombers as well. At this pace, the Japanese will get control, as I am running out of the P-40 planes for AVG.

DEI: See below; a big fleet shows up and shoots down a pile of my Dutch bombers. I don't want to insult any Dutch players on this forum, but the KNIL airforce stinks. Not much of a points really. The Dutch subs are good at any rate.

SW Pac: The unloading at Noumea is VERY slow; I have this feeling that we are going to get crushed at Noumea. At this point is mostly the Tank Bn unloading.

[Rainer79]

Oh the joys of the KNIL airforce. Not often have so many flown so much to hit so little...

You can turn on the upgrade option for the Enterprise BTW. Ships can now upgrade while under repair. You don't have to wait until they are completed anymore.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
SW Pac: The unloading at Noumea is VERY slow; I have this feeling that we are going to get crushed at Noumea. At this point is mostly the Tank Bn unloading.

You've probably done this countless times, Q-ball, but I'll throw it out there anyways for some other readers.

When I'm stuck in slo-mo unload mode because one stinkin' unit is holding up a massive convoy, I'll identify the ship(s) that are still unloading and split them off into their own new TF (with an escort or two). The main body, freed up from the tardy unloaders, can get out to sea ASAP.

In AE, this is particularly useful because if you limit the convoy unloading to one or two ships, you can usually dock them versus unloading at the snail's pace of undocked TFs.

[Q-Ball]

Rainer79: I'll do the upgrade when I get to the US West coast and a bigger shipyard; it will go quicker. For now, I just want to get some speed up on Big E.
Chickenboy: I am doing some of that, but it still takes FOREVER. I have had 2 docked xAKs with 41st Division Motorized Support at the docks for a couple days. Part of it is that all the building I am doing there is on FORTS, and nothing else. I don't want to do alot of building until I know I can hold it.


Combat Report, March 10, 1942

The only other significant action today was a USN Sub clanked a torp off a transport off Japan (one day they will explode!), and more air war in China. The China air war won't last too much longer, as I will run out of AVG fighters before CF runs out of Oscars.

Carnage in the Sunda Strait:
The big day was the KNIL airforce attacks in the Sunda Strait. As expected, I lost alot of planes for not much damage; 1 bomb hit on Ryujo, and 3 Zeros shot down. And that only cost me 44 planes.[:'(] We no doubt made a couple Zero aces today.

The Dutch coordinated nicely, with over 70 planes in the first strike package. CAP was over 30 Zeros.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
1 bomb hit on Ryujo

Was that one of those 300 KG ones? Against Ryujo, that might be sufficient to put her out of action for awhile.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

In AE, this is particularly useful because if you limit the convoy unloading to one or two ships, you can usually dock them versus unloading at the snail's pace of undocked TFs.

There's a bit of good news on that point - I think Don Bowen mentioned this went in with Patch 1. Either way, it really helps. When you have too much shipping to dock, during turn execution the game engine will 'dock' ships up to the capacity of the pier. They unload as though docked (because they are), but at the end of turn execution they are undocked and (of course) part of their TF. All this is abstracted - they calculate how much space is available and look at what ships are needing to load or unload (they don't actually have to mess with TF's).

Now, if a bunch of ships are unloaded already then you certainly want to get them out of harm's way as you said. But if they are in safe waters, you can forgo the extra micromanagement and your 'Harbor Master' will take care of things!

The trick then becomes to make sure that TF's not needing to load/unload/refuel/rearm are not taking up space at the pier. I've noticed that TF's like replenishment TF's will go ahead and dock even if you have them set to remain on station. I asked for a feature change but they said they were full up for Patch 2.

[Q-Ball]

Chickenboy: It was a 300kg-er. The Dutch don't hit much, but they do carry pretty big bombs. The combat report said "Fires" but not "Heavy Damage"; I suspect it isn't in danger of sinking, but probably needs yard time. It will be interesting to see how much CAP is up tommorow; if Ryujo's 28 Zeros are grounded, I will see alot less.

witpqs: I have noticed that it works, the ships "rotate". I am manipulating it though to get the 41st Division ships completely unloaded an on their way, THEN focus on the Tank Bn, which is 40% ashore. I want to keep as few ships around as possible, in case KB shows up to ruin my day. I have a surface combat TF there to fight off a Surface Raid if that happens.

Overall though, all these unloading TFs make me nervous.

[d0mbo]

Hey, give de KNIL pilots a break!

You are just using them the wrong way.

Keep them dispersed, and throw them piecemeal into the action against overwhelming odds.... oh wait, i am mixing up AE and history again

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: d0mbo

Hey, give de KNIL pilots a break!

They get a break when they hit something![:D]

Combat Report, March 11, 1942

DEI: Merka falls, so Cuttlefish has a toehold on Java. At the same time, that large fleet sailed away, so I am setting all my Dutch bombers to hit the airfield at Merak. Not sure if they left CAP behind, I guess we'll find out. Tommorow, Dutch P-40s and B-25s go into action for the first time.

South Pacific: 41st Division is done unloading at Noumea, and the transports sail away. That is a relief! The Tank Bn is still unloading. Same for the Regts at Suva.

A USN Cruiser force visits Nukufetau, and sinks an AK/PB unloading supplies. With a shore bombardment, there is only a SNLF company there. I have been bombing it every day from Pago Pago, just to keep CF from building anything there; the port now is probably pretty banged up.

CBI: More air wars over Kukong. Japanese approach Lashio. All other troops are at Akyab and Imphal; no idea what the next move is for Japan, other than attacking Lashio.

[d0mbo]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball


They get a break when they hit something![:D]

Fair enough [;)]

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

In AE, this is particularly useful because if you limit the convoy unloading to one or two ships, you can usually dock them versus unloading at the snail's pace of undocked TFs.

There's a bit of good news on that point - I think Don Bowen mentioned this went in with Patch 1. Either way, it really helps.

Sweet! Rock on!

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, March 12, 13, 14 1942

Not a whole lot to report, other than in China.

Kukong: First attack by Japanese was 1-1, and dropped the forts. Although it will take a couple days, I foresee this as a defeat. That will open a road to the rear of Changsha, which is bad; we don't want to lose Changsha. So far this doesn't have the mark of a major offensive, but if Cuttlefish gets rolling he might start putting more troops in to this.

Lashio: The last outpost in Burma was also attacked, a 1-5 attack by a couple Regts and tanks. It was kind of a probe, Cuttlefish is now figuring out he will need to get more guys to take Lashio.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have left them there. He can concentrate all his Burmese forces on Lashio, while the British Army languishes around Imphal. At least I can maybe build Akyab up while his attention is focused on Lashio.

DEI: The KNIL airforces bomb Oosthaven and Merak constantly. The 2 Regts that landed at Merak aren't moving--strange. We are pounding the port to make it harder to reinforce. Dutch are slowly upgrading to B-25s and P-40s.

Kido Butai: No idea where it is, and at this point, it could appear ANYWHERE. I haven't a clue where it is, or even what Cuttlefish's intentions are after the SRA falls. I have received no intel on that at all.

British Generals Conferring on Next Move in India:

[Cathartes]

To bomb under 6K, they would have had to train in "LowN", not "NavB", that's my understanding anyway. I didn't do that. I perhaps should have, so that they were ready for that. What do other players do with the Allied bombers, train in NavB or LowN?

Doesn't "LowN" mean skip bombing essentially? I think you can train NavB a little lower and be ok.

[Canoerebel]

Not sure how Kukong is a threat to Changsha's rear. There are other bases - Hengyang, Kweilin - that should be garrisoned by the Chinese and would protect Changsha's southern flank.  Or am I missing something?
 
 

[CaptBeefheart]

I found that bringing my troops to Noumea, Suva, Pago Pago et al. in amphibious TFs made the unloading go a lot faster before I built the ports up to proper levels. Amphib requires more capacity, but at least the TFs and troops are not sitting ducks for so long.

[Q-Ball]

Canoerebel: Perhaps an overreaction, thinking about a move on Hangyang; it's clear terrain, and would cut the rail line to the south, but there would still be supply lines open. Not that I have supplies or anything. Still, Kukong looks doomed.

Cody: I pretty much use only Amphibious TFs for moving troops. They still unload slow.

Combat Report, March 15,16,17 1942

Air Battles Over Java: The Japanese came back with more reinforcements for Merak. We attacked Japanese shipping; NO hits at all. Had to try though. CVL Ryujo is nowhere to be seen, so probably she is back in Singapore repairing......

Our Dutch losses have made several Zeros aces.

Lashio: Japanese troops gather at Lashio to push me out of the hex.

Kukong: Should fall in a couple days. Japanese also attacking my stack near Sinyang, so looks like IJA is finally on the move.

Kido Butai: No idea where it is!