Scen 1: Let the better propaganda win Historiker (J) vs. USS America

[USSAmerica]

This is my 3rd PBEM campaign I've started, and along with 2 games started against the AI, I've never had a Japanese opponent try for a second day of attacks at Pearl Harbor. When I got my Turn 2 to enter orders, I noticed the mouse recon of his KB indicated they were still heading SE, toward PH. Now, this very possibly was incorrect information from the previous day, but it got me thinking...

Torsten's Day 1 attacks at Pearl did a good number on my BB's there. Without revealing too much I can say that none of them will be going anywhere anytime soon. The thing is, there were almost no hits on any of my CA's or CL's in port. Usually a couple of them are crippled or sunk in the attack. With the idea planted in my head that Torsten might try a second day of attacks, and the hint (accurate or not) that the KB was still heading SE, I decided to roll the dice. I put all my CA's and CL's into a SCTF with about 8 or so DD's. There were around 15 ships total, and I put a very aggressive and Naval skilled TF commander in charge. I think the commander might even have been Nimitz. [:)] Then I sent them to Patrol about 1 hex North of the KB's reported location.

My hopes were that I might catch the KB in a surface engagement and maybe cause a little damage to a CV or 2, putting them in the yards for a month or two. This would at least slow down the early Japanese advance. This was a big gamble, but some of the factors I took into account were Torsten having all his bombers set to Port attack for another day of bombing, his ships being very far away from any friendly port, my ships being very close to a big port with a shipyard, and the fact that losing several of these cruisers would still balance out to an "average" loss at Pearl. I decided the risks were worth the reward.

Well, my SCTF did catch the KB at night at about the same location they were spotted the previous day. I only have the combat replay to go by, so no firm results yet, but my hopes were met and maybe even exceeded! Several of my CA's got a bloody nose, from a couple of Japanese BB main gun hits, and even 1 or 2 8 inch gun hits from one of the CV's. None of them were reported to sink during the battle. I lost a DD or two, but took down 1 Japanese DD if I remember correctly, and scored several 6 and 8 inch hits on a couple of CV's! Both of the CV's were seen burning pretty good, so they are surely out of the fight for a couple of months. Now, my hopes for an even better end result lay with poorly trained Japanese damage control parties and fires getting out of control. It is a loooong way for them to the nearest friendly port.

Effectively, almost everything went right for me, and almost everything went wrong for Torsten in this engagement. It turned out that he also did have all his KB bombers set to port attack, so they didn't even bother my SCTF. I have to say that this amount of fun on my first real turn will easily get me through the many months of poundings that I'm preparing to endure. [8D]


As for Lexington being torpedoed by a sub near Wake Island, well, let's not talk about that. [;)]

[denisonh]

Looks like 8 December is the day that will live in Infamy.....

ORIGINAL: Historiker

THIS IS THE ENGLISH BROADCASTING SERVICE OF RADIO TOKYO

Dutch Aggression leads to war -- His Majesty's forces achieve descisive victories -- Gen. Tojo speaks to the nation

Dutch Aggression leads to war
On December 7th, a presumably Dutch SS attacked the defenceless civilian ship Johore Maru carrying III/143rd Infantry Bn. to a friendship visit to the Kingdom of Siam.
The loss of more than 1.000 lives was just one more act in a series of aggression by the western powers.
Fortunately, our armed forces were prepared this time...
Army units that were on an maneuver in the gulf of siam were immediately detached to land at the shores of the Malayan peninsula.
The Kido Butai and serious forces of the submarine service operation in the international waters off the Hawaiian peninsula immediately retaliated against the US aggressors.
Planes of the Army and Navy retaliated against Manila and Clack Field.

His Majesty's forces achieve descisive victories!
In our retaliatory strike with planes of the Kido Butai, which was operating in the international waters off Hawaii by accident, the Pacific Fleet of the USN was wiped out. Only a frew hours later, one of our subs managed to sink CV Lexington off Wake.

Gen. Tojo speaks to the nation
Dear fellow citizens. Several months of western aggressions finally lead to war. Despite the maximum efforts of his majesty's goverment, we weren't able to avoid war.
After months of increased tensions, illegal support for the usurpator Chiang Kai-Shek against the legal government of Wang Jingwei, the vicious western powers have unveiled their intentions to colonize the rest of Asia.
But this time, they won't face weak Vietnamese, Burmese or Chinese forces. This time, his majesty's forces will give them bloody noses!
His Majesty has ordered our armed forces to defeat the enemy once and for all, and we will follow his orders!
His Majesty has also ordered us to liberate the colonized asian people and we are honored to fulfill his wishes!
I can trust in all of you to do your best. There are great challenges ahead of us, but victory is certain. Japan hasn't been defeated for two thousand years, and will remain undefeated at least another two milleniums.

Tenno Banzai!

[BBfanboy]

Great job on the cruiser/CV engagement USS A. I have done the same thing against the AI [although a sub took out one CA as it left PH]. Kaga and Akagi are armoured as they started their life as battle cruisers so my shells could not penetrate in a hull hit, but I did get some deck hits that caused fires. Shokaku and Zuikaku also have some armour that seems to keep out 5" shells and even 6" shells if you are not real close.

I had several DD TFs out hunting as well and they kept up the attacks on subsequent days and nights, scoring a few more hits and even a couple of torpedo hits. The best results were had by my subs which caught two of the cripples and finished them off [confession - I was playing reliable USN torps ON].
Hardest opponents were the two CAs with KB - accurate shooters of both guns and torps and darn tough to damage them too. These guys are every bit as dangerous as the Kongo battleships.

[Historiker]

I just want to remind all the readers to the title of this thread [;)]

[USSAmerica]

Well, it's over! The Imperialist Japanese aggressors have admitted they bit off more than they can chew.

After being severely disappointed in their ability to sink our invulnerable battle fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, they tried a second attack, as described above. Our cruisers and destroyers engaged the enemy carriers in a surface fight where we did not manage to sink any of them, but damaged Hiryu enough that she was detached for home. The other 5 Japanese CV's stuck around Pearl for a 3rd attempt at our BB's. They did land some more bombs on them, and despite causing 95-98 flotation damage on a couple, they again did not sink a single BB. I decided I was still playing with "house money", and ordered my SCTF at Pearl to attempt another engagement. The KB slipped a bit south, but my SCTF found and reacted to them. In a very long daylight battle, I landed a few 6 and 8 inch shells on one of the CV's, and gave as good as I got against his escorting BB's and CA's, but I didn't knock any of the CV's out of action. I knew that was trouble for my boys. They got pretty well beat up by many, many daytime air attacks, but a few might have made it home to Pearl. They earned their paychecks, however, by damaging one of the CV's enough that it would need a bit of yard time, and forcing Hiryu to be detached earlier.

I took a big risk and sprinted the Enterprise TF at full speed to the east, hoping to catch the Hiryu TF or the replenishment TF that I spotted in the area, and hoping to not catch the rest of the KB. My surprise was effective, as the Big E launched a full Alpha Strike against Hiryu and sunk her. I was then surprised in return as Hiryu's airgroup got off a counterstrike. Not a massive one, but plenty enough when Big E was shaken by an AMMO STORAGE EXPLOSION, followed up by a FUEL STORAGE EXPLOSION. All in all, a fair trade from my perspective, and enough of a morale hit for the Japanese high command that peace talks were immediately opened. [8D]

We've decided we are both tired of the first 6 months of war, so we have agreed to take Nik's May '42 scenario out for a spin. It seems that the ASW db tweaks are included in it already, mostly to dial back the Uber "E's". I've also allowed several hundred additional planes to be added to the Japanese pools, 600 fighters and 700 bombers. More targets. [:D]

We're kicking things off with that scenario pretty quickly, so the action will be shifting to a new AAR soon. I know Torsten is interested in a closed AAR for his side, so he can get advice and float ideas with the other JFB's. I'm undecided if I'll keep an AAR. I'd love to, but time is never on my side. [:)]

[Chickenboy]

Good job in winning this one, Torsten!

[USSAmerica]

[:D]

[Historiker]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Good job in winning this one, Torsten!

I'm da man! [&o]

[Historiker]

ORIGINAL: USS America

Well, it's over! The Imperialist Japanese aggressors have admitted they bit off more than they can chew.

After being severely disappointed in their ability to sink our invulnerable battle fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, they tried a second attack, as described above. Our cruisers and destroyers engaged the enemy carriers in a surface fight where we did not manage to sink any of them, but damaged Hiryu enough that she was detached for home. The other 5 Japanese CV's stuck around Pearl for a 3rd attempt at our BB's. They did land some more bombs on them, and despite causing 95-98 flotation damage on a couple, they again did not sink a single BB. I decided I was still playing with "house money", and ordered my SCTF at Pearl to attempt another engagement. The KB slipped a bit south, but my SCTF found and reacted to them. In a very long daylight battle, I landed a few 6 and 8 inch shells on one of the CV's, and gave as good as I got against his escorting BB's and CA's, but I didn't knock any of the CV's out of action. I knew that was trouble for my boys. They got pretty well beat up by many, many daytime air attacks, but a few might have made it home to Pearl. They earned their paychecks, however, by damaging one of the CV's enough that it would need a bit of yard time, and forcing Hiryu to be detached earlier.

I took a big risk and sprinted the Enterprise TF at full speed to the east, hoping to catch the Hiryu TF or the replenishment TF that I spotted in the area, and hoping to not catch the rest of the KB. My surprise was effective, as the Big E launched a full Alpha Strike against Hiryu and sunk her. I was then surprised in return as Hiryu's airgroup got off a counterstrike. Not a massive one, but plenty enough when Big E was shaken by an AMMO STORAGE EXPLOSION, followed up by a FUEL STORAGE EXPLOSION. All in all, a fair trade from my perspective, and enough of a morale hit for the Japanese high command that peace talks were immediately opened. [8D]

We've decided we are both tired of the first 6 months of war, so we have agreed to take Nik's May '42 scenario out for a spin. It seems that the ASW db tweaks are included in it already, mostly to dial back the Uber "E's". I've also allowed several hundred additional planes to be added to the Japanese pools, 600 fighters and 700 bombers. More targets. [:D]

We're kicking things off with that scenario pretty quickly, so the action will be shifting to a new AAR soon. I know Torsten is interested in a closed AAR for his side, so he can get advice and float ideas with the other JFB's. I'm undecided if I'll keep an AAR. I'd love to, but time is never on my side. [:)]

BTW:
The attached BBs and CAs did their job as intended.
No CV ever stopped to be able to launch and recieve planes. The highest damage was a mere 14 sys on one of them.

The rest are outright lies of the imperialist aggressors, of course! My CVs were sent out as commerce raiders and did as they were told to. Both Akagi and Kaga managed to put a lot of 8in shells into enemy ships.
They were so effective, that the Imperial High command considered to abandon those stuipid idea of starting planes from a ship and use the own fleet only for surface action.