Silent Hunt Przemcio(A) vs DanSez(J)

[Przemcio231]

December 27th 1941

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 9020
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 10925
Nr of Warships Sunk: 5
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 4
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

Few faild attacks on enemy ships...

Malaya

Victory for ABDA air forces!!!! Japanese planes attacked Singapore first came unescorted bombers and brave allied fighter pilots downed 15 enemy Sally's/Lili's for no losses. Then came the sweeps of Japanese Army Aviation and allied pilots put up a good show, while i lost 4 Bufflo's in the melee i was able to down 17 Oscar fighers... so 4 for 32 enemy planes!!!! a good trade!

DEI

GREAT VICTORY scored by Eastern Striking force... the convoy carrying enemy troops to Kendari got sunk to a ship... but first during the night Easter Striking Force meet BabyKB of 3 CVL's and 4DD's... during the night in a confused melee i was able to put few shell's in Zuiho[:@][:@][:@][:@] a pitty becouse i had overwhelming advantage. Then while sailing for Kendari the Strike force met enemy transports and sunk all 4! Looks like Dave split his convoy and ordered escorts to depart... Now his escorts a CA and 3 DD's... are in the middle of Banda sea... my bombers went in but the results were bad no hits scored... will try my luck tommorow with nearly 30 Banshees covered by P-40's... if im lucky i might be able to get a shot at reatriting enemy CVL's...

[jwolf]

Rats, that was a shame because it looked like a golden opportunity. Very good news in the air war, though, well done!

[Przemcio231]

Well yes Ares was not with me this time... did everything correctly...

[Przemcio231]

December 28th 1941

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 8428
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 11025
Nr of Warships Sunk: 6
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 4
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

Enemy subchaser Ch-13 is sunk off Takao. My subs are really activ today they made 15 attacks agains japanese ships with only one succes.

DEI

Ambon airfield is bombarded by enemy CA that was part of the escort of convoy sunk yesterday... the damage inflicted was superficial[:)] Enemy CV group meet with the MiniKB just off Ambon. My recon tell's me that there is another surface group (probably CA's) off Menado and also some ships are spotted between Minanao and Celebes... they are far away but may be carrying enemy invasion forces. My Surface assets are retireing to Soreboja to replenish while Air groups in Menado, Kendari and Ambon are set to attack enemy naval forces. British 18th Division is unloading at Osthaven and will rail to Palambang[:D]
this will be a nasty suprise for Dan...
Im dissapointed with the preformance of ABDA air forces... maybe it will improve[:)]

Malaya
Another air battle over Singapore today... this time losses were close to 1:1 so i decided to pull back my fighter squadrons to replenish losses while tomorrow B-17's from Darwin will be sent to Singapore to bomb Saigon airfields[:)]

Philippines
Manila was occupied by the Japanese... but my winthrawal is complete i wonder how it will last...

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Przemcio231

December 28th 1941

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 8428
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 11025
Nr of Warships Sunk: 6
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 4
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

Enemy subchaser Ch-13 is sunk off Takao. My subs are really activ today they made 15 attacks agains japanese ships with only one succes.

DEI

Ambon airfield is bombarded by enemy CA that was part of the escort of convoy sunk yesterday... the damage inflicted was superficial[:)] Enemy CV group meet with the MiniKB just off Ambon. My recon tell's me that there is another surface group (probably CA's) off Menado and also some ships are spotted between Minanao and Celebes... they are far away but may be carrying enemy invasion forces. My Surface assets are retireing to Soreboja to replenish while Air groups in Menado, Kendari and Ambon are set to attack enemy naval forces. British 18th Division is unloading at Osthaven and will rail to Palambang[:D]
this will be a nasty suprise for Dan...
Im dissapointed with the preformance of ABDA air forces... maybe it will improve[:)]

Malaya
Another air battle over Singapore today... this time losses were close to 1:1 so i decided to pull back my fighter squadrons to replenish losses while tomorrow B-17's from Darwin will be sent to Singapore to bomb Saigon airfields[:)]

Philippines
Manila was occupied by the Japanese... but my winthrawal is complete i wonder how it will last...

Very nice AAR. Can I suggest to change plans. I believe that those B-17 will do much better bombing Saigon Port

[Przemcio231]

December 29th, 30th, 31st 1941

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 11208
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 15900
Nr of Warships Sunk: 7
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 5
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

Lots of sub action last 3 days but only two kills PB Eiko Maru and AK Meiu Maru fell victim to my subs. I get a lot off attacks but lots of misses&dud's hope the things improve overtime as Radar will be installed on my boats...

DEI
Not much happening around the DEI part of KB showed up... Val's bombed Ambon and Menado and now are retireing twards Vietnam between Mindanao and Borneo. 18th Division is unloading at Osthaven... it will reach Palambang in a few Days[:)] Heavy ship traffic off Kuching (Dan is probably sending troops to build up base there) After sinking of Kendari invasion force my ships retired to Soreboja for some repairs. Im hauling as much fuel to Australia as possible. Betty's from Khota Bahru i think attacked shipping off Palambang but with no succes... tomorrow my P-40's will be weaiting[:D] Well i should be proud off myself as the only bases lost in the DEI are the one's on North Borneo and even those were taken with heavy casuality's for Dan's Transport Fleet. Now that at least part of the KB is here my operations will be restricted as i don't want to lose my surface asstes.

Malaya
Im still thinking is it worth to make a stand at Kuala Lumpur... since Dan's troops just occupied Taiping i have some more time to think... Attack on Saigon didn't happen just yet as my B-17's decided to strike some ships flying from Soreboja and got damaged need to weait till they are repaired. I also displaced my fighters from Singapore (US went to Palambang while the rest to bases in Malaya) Demn should have transfered entire AVG to Malaya while i had the chance early in the game.

Philippines
Dan is unloading additional troops in Davao while another landing took place in Cayagan... but my troops are holding for now.

SW Pac
Just spotted two group of ships just E of New Guinea... wonder where are they going... my Hudsons from PM flew strikes against those ships but hit nothing. If he invades PM he is in for a hell of a suprise as there is an Aussie Division weaiting for him. My troops begun to unload on Luganville.

Overall
Im quite happy with the outcome of the war as today... i have over 50 P-40E's in the pool and 20 Lightnings.. my losses are not so severe... i lost 386 planes to this point... well Dan lost 385[:D][:D][:D] of those 80 were Betty's 60 Zero's 52 Nell's and around 40 Sally's... his bomber force took a hit.
I plan now to raid Marshall's and Wake as soon as rest of the KB wherebouts are known... Also Wake will be bombarded by surface ships... will make him pay for taking it...

[Disco Duck]

I am curious how your raid on the Marshals comes out. Everytime I try a raid this early I get a least one carrier heavily damaged. I have only played against the AI to this point.
I like the way you keep track of the sub war.

[Przemcio231]

January 1st/2nd 1942

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 11208
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 15900
Nr of Warships Sunk: 7
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 5
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

Number of attacks but most are dud's or misses... but a notable exception is the AMC Kinryu Maru which took a fish off Wake.

Philippines

Cayagan fell while Jolo was occupied by the Japanese... this is unfortunate i totaly forgot that Jolo is a lvl 3 airfield. I was thinking about sending my strike force from Soreboja but since Dan has carriers around i decided against it... On Luzon Japanese troops are holding back for now... 5 Subs are near Jolo to try to intercept enemy shipping.

DEI

ABDA fleet is composed of 3xCA, 10xCL and 28 DD's since i could not send my ships to Jolo i decided to make a sortie to Kuching... The strike force is composed of 2xCA's, 4x CL's and some DD's i will be in and out before Dan see me... There are some ships around Kuching so i should be able to grap some kill's... if not will just bombard the airfield.

Malaya

Still falling back... some air Jap air activity but the main action was a B-17's Raid on Saigon lunched from Singapore... 33 B-17's went in and the results of those attacks:

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 12
B-17E Fortress x 14

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 5
xAK Toba Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Neikai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Shirayuki, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DMS W-5, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Mitu Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Holland Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sanura Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 4
B-17E Fortress x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 2
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Fusemi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

I spotted over 90 enemy bombers on Saigon airfields... the raid met no Fighter or AA oposition... i think i should have went for the airfields so i would knock out some more Dan's planes... ohhh and at least i know that sinking of the Kumano on my minefield was FOW...

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Przemcio231
Still falling back... some air Jap air activity but the main action was a B-17's Raid on Saigon lunched from Singapore... 33 B-17's went in and the results of those attacks:

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 12
B-17E Fortress x 14

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 5
xAK Toba Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Neikai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Shirayuki, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DMS W-5, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Mitu Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Holland Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sanura Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 4
B-17E Fortress x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 2
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Fusemi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

I spotted over 90 enemy bombers on Saigon airfields... the raid met no Fighter or AA oposition... i think i should have went for the airfields so i would knock out some more Dan's planes... ohhh and at least i know that sinking of the Kumano on my minefield was FOW...

Very good result like for just 33 B-17. I do not understand why you are unhappy. You just disabled for at least month 3 heavy cruisers and one light cruiser (one can be even in risk of sinking), it is much better result than a few Sally and Ann bombers. He can produce a lot of a/c, but he cannot replace warships.

[jwolf]

Those results from Saigon look fantastic! Did you have any recon of Saigon beforehand?

[Bif1961]

Good port bombing results. What altitude did they bomb from and I ssume it was almost a clear day.

[Przemcio231]

They were bombing from 10k as this is the limit set by the house rules...
When i think about it maybe it was better to go for the ships in port... i downed 140 of Dan's naval LBA already and their crew quality sure took a hit...
I have no ilusions about the damage i did to the CA's as i dubt the bombs penetrated their armor... but maybe the attack will force Dan to move out of Saigon harbor right into my patroling subs...
I know need to evac Singapore ASAP as i bet Dan will send his bombers there [:D]

PS. No recon as i didn't have the planes with the range to do that and i didn't want to alert Dan of my plans...

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Przemcio231

They were bombing from 10k as this is the limit set by the house rules...
When i think about it maybe it was better to go for the ships in port... i downed 140 of Dan's naval LBA already and their crew quality sure took a hit...
I have no ilusions about the damage i did to the CA's as i dubt the bombs penetrated their armor... but maybe the attack will force Dan to move out of Saigon harbor right into my patroling subs...
I know need to evac Singapore ASAP as i bet Dan will send his bombers there [:D]

PS. No recon as i didn't have the planes with the range to do that and i didn't want to alert Dan of my plans...

Unfortunately the CAs he had there were Mogami class cruisers, which have heavier deck armour (but a bit less side armour) and a 500 lb bomb will not penetrate the deck.
The same bomb will penetrate the Kako, Myoko and Atago class CA decks. Not sure about Tone and Chikuma.

Still, a very worthwhile raid. [:)]

[Przemcio231]

January 3rd/4th 1942

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 11208
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 20775
Nr of Warships Sunk: 7
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 6
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

A good number of attacks but lots of misses and dud's but i was able to sink transport Teisen Maru off Kuching and torpedo AV Sanuki Maru (propbably some kind of a tender) near Wake but it will not sink...

Malaya
Decided to abandon Kuala Lumpur its to exposed and can be bypassed... Dan is sending his Army bombers on run's to Singapore with Oscar escort. When my planes in Palambang will re repaired will send 45 P-40's and bunch off Buffalos to intrcept[:)]

DEI
Had to scrap my Strike force sortie as i spotted enemy carriers heading for Kuching and some surface group was also heading to the base... decided its not wort the risk... well i was wrong it turned out that Dan invaded some small island of the N coast of Borneo with the cover of his CV's and surface forces!!!!! well i think it was not worth the effort as he landed over 100 AV there... Any way i will sortie the strike force once more maybe i will get lucky... Dan is night bombing Palambang with few Betty's so no damage inflicted. First units of the 18th Division reached the base! so it will be a tough nut to crack for Dan. Jolo airfield become operational so entire eastern DEI is off limits to anything except submarines.

SW PAC

My troops unloaded at Luganville and i see no oposition from that which is good.

Pacific
Im in the process of getting all of my carriers to Pearl to start raiding Wake and Marshalls!!! Wake will also be bombed by my CA's[:)]

[BBfanboy]

An AV is a seaplane service vessel. Anything with a V generally involves aircraft - AV, CV, AKV, AVD, AVP etc.
Putting [usually disbanded] an AV at a port that lacks an airfield or other aviation support enables you to operate and repair flying boats or float planes. The number of planes supported is shown on the ship screen.

Section 20.1.2 of the manual has an appendix defining what ship types do.

[Przemcio231]

January 5th 1942

SUB WAR
Tonnage of Warships Sunk: 11208
Tonnage of Merchant Ships Sunk: 20775
Nr of Warships Sunk: 7
Nr of Merchant’s Sunk: 6
Nr of Subs lost on Patrol:3

9 attacks all misses or dud’s... heh only 3 months and my subs will get radar... maybe then my effectives will increase..

Malaya/DEI
Time has come for a set piece battle... all signs point that Dan will be invading Singkawang. In any case Dan’s fleet is out in force. Kongo and Haruna were spotted and attacked by Blenheims from Singapore between Sumatra and Borneo, a surface Group with CL Isizu is close behind another group of ships with Atago and Takao are close to Kuching heading for Singkawang... probably an invasion force... enemy carriers are behind that... and there is also a transport group loading up after the folly of landing in a dot base N of Borneo.
British LBA attacks failed but only few planes flew...
I have most of my DEI fleet off Borneo... and time for my attack has come!
Japanese Army aviation hit Singapore but the number of fighters is less than normal while my LBA meet some Oscars over enemy ships (this means Dan moved some fighters from Malaya to Kuching)
This is what i will do... first all available fighters from USFEAF (40 P-40’s) and 3 squadrons of Buffalos will be moved to Singapore to ambush enemy bombers (the 4th was converted to Hurricanes and its repairing in Johore), all available Dutch Martin’s will be send to Palambang, while surface groups will move just a bit north and wait one day before proceeding ( i need to make sure he is making Singkawang landing) while Hermes will be used as a lure for enemy Carriers... if i play it right it should be able to lunch it’s TB’s at enemy Battleships while being out of range of Jap carrier planes.
Im currently moving all my A-24’s from Eastern DEI to Java and will use them as the second wave of my attack.
I have a number of subs speeding to the area!
Also there are those B-17’s but i don’t want to use them for striking ships as they are hardly able to hit anything that moves...
Also if it turns out that Dan is going for Palambang he is in for a rude surprise! As tomorrow i should have all of 18th Division in that base (right now its only a brigade with support troops).

Every other theatre is quiet.+

BTW thanks for the clarification BBFanboy... demn i own this game for years now and never bothered to read the manual[:D]

[jwolf]

I'm very interested to see how this plan meets reality during the next few days of your game. My own attempt at defense in this area in late December was pretty much a complete failure.

[Malagant]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

I'm very interested to see how this plan meets reality during the next few days of your game. My own attempt at defense in this area in late December was pretty much a complete failure.

I really wouldn't call it a complete failure at all. Ship losses on my end have been very high (total number of ships sunk between is us about equal)...every ship I sink of yours will be replaced tenfold (like the Hydra!), while mine are irreplaceable. You've managed several solid hits, including complete elimination of multiple support and infantry units (including a complete Infantry Regiment!)...hardly a complete failure!

Something to note when comparing our games is the date & pace of Empire advance. Looks like Dan is several weeks behind my pace, giving Przemcio a lot more opportunity to organize a defense. Imagine how thinks might be in our game if I'd waited until the second week of Jan to hit Singkawang. I knew it was going to be vital, so made effort to take it before you could mount a "serious" defense, and even still without a "serious" defense you sank half a dozen ships and killed several Air Support units as shark food.

That being said Prz knows the allocation and distribution of forces very well so knows exactly what he has available scattered all over to concentrate (before concentration becomes problematic and potentially more dangerous). Reading his actions here are terrifying from my perspective as a new JFB...I don't know what I'd do if faced with this aggressive and rapid a defensive response! [&:]

[Przemcio231]

Well just send the turn to Dan… He was swamped with work last 2 days. Any way let’s see what happens. Fighters were sent to Singapore, LBA to Palambang and CVL Hermes was sent to try to hit enemy BB’s, my surface groups are holding back for now 6 hexes S of Singkawang awaiting his invasion forces...
Well Dan’s loses are not that heavy in terms of ships as he didn’t conduct so many invasions... after a bloody nose i gave him early on... the only real losses he suffered are the naval LBA pilots since around 140 are dead... or captured
Guy’s there is no real possibility of defending the DEI if you are able to sunk a CA or two and some other ships, and delay the Japanese seizure of the DEI till let’s say march/april that is a success
I knew that Dan is inexperienced so i didn’t want to push on force Z survival on turn one as with POW and Repulse around i would wreck havoc on Dan’s forces...
I was always trying to figure why the developers set force Z on a suicide run... as they sunk on the 10th December...

[BBfanboy]

The suicide run for PoW and Repulse is part of the historic setup the game gives at the start.
If house rules permit, an allied player may be able to change the initial setup and send Force Z to safety, or to attempt to attack enemy convoys out of range of air cover.
I did this in one game against the AI and they ran into Nagato and Fuso at Kuching. The British couldn't hit anything, and the Japanese couldn't miss with their big guns or their torpedoes, so it was a suicide mission anyway![8|]