Empire of the Sun - DesertWolf101 (J) vs Andy Mac (A)

[DesertWolf101]

February 8, 1942

Submarines

Near Karachi, I-166 damages AP Chilka with a torpedo hit.

Central Pacific

Japanese troops land and take Baker Island.

S/SW Pacific

Japanese troops land at Tanna and at Koumac (northern New Caledonia).

Philippines

With Mindanao secure and Luzon under siege, I begin ops to clear out the central Filipino islands. The first landing goes in at San Jose.

Java

A large Dutch army is cornered and destroyed at Tjilatjap. A smaller one, the surviving Batavia garrison, is destroyed when Buitenzorg is taken. The last remaining Dutch force of any significance is at Soerabaja.

Burma

Mandalay falls to the Empire.

[DesertWolf101]

February 9, 1942

Submarines

I-165 takes some damage from some Flower class corvettes near Karachi.

Near Midway, RO-65 attempts to torpedo AP St. Mihel but misses.

South Pacific

The Guards Mixed Brigade tests the defenses and Suva and finds them reinforced. In addition to the now combined 8th NZ Brigade and two local base forces, the Americans have landed an additional two base forces, an artillery regiment, and two artillery battalions. I think this is from that force that starts in transports in the area at the start of the campaign.

The 144th Infantry Regiment takes an undefended Koumac. The regiment starts marching south towards Noumea.

Philippines

San Jose is taken by the 7th Tank Regiment.

Java

Merak falls to Japanese forces.

[DesertWolf101]

February 10, 1942

Submarines

Having identified Tahiti as a base of interest to my opponent, mine laying subs dropped off some eggs there this turn and promptly got a hit on the American heavy cruiser Pensacola.

Grenadier is found lurking near Tokyo by some sub chasers and given several glancing hits. Hopefully enough to send it back home.

South Pacific

The battleships Hiei and Kirishima open up on the Suva defenses during the night, disrupting them in anticipation of the coming Japanese attack.

Northern Australia

A Bettry raid from Timor hits Darwin, destroying nine coastal minesweepers and the AR Castor. This is followed up by a raid from the MKB which knocks out another two coastal minesweepers.

[DesertWolf101]

February 11, 1942

Submarines

I-165 torpedoes and sinks PG Indus near Bombay.

The minefield at Tahiti gave me another gift today - DD Kilty slams into one and may even have sunk as a result.

South Pacific

A Japanese deliberate attack goes in against the Americans and Kiwis at Suva. The base is taken, the eight Allied units surrender, and Fiji comes under the control of the glorious Empire.

Ceram Islands

Troops from the 16th Division land at Ambon under the supporting guns of a few heavy cruisers. AP Hakozaki Maru takes some damaging hits from the coastal defense guns but survives the ordeal.

[DesertWolf101]

February 12, 1942

Submarines

Near Hawaii, I-169 and I-16 team up to strike at a small American convoy. Both AK West Portal and AK Sage Brush go down from successful torpedo strikes.

I-24 sinks the valuable AK Arcturus near Rangiora following two separate torpedo attacks.

North Pacific

AK Chicago Maru, making a fast supply run for the Aleutian islands, runs into a large task force of the three American CVs – Saratoga, Yorktown, and the Enterprise! This is invaluable information, and what more the AK survives the ordeal.

Philippines

Iloilo is captured by the 7th Tank Regiment.

Ceram Islands

The 16th Division attacks the Ambon defenses and takes the base.

Burma

The 14th Tank Regiment crosses the river into Katha and takes the base, driving back the Allied defenders.

[DesertWolf101]

February 13, 1942

Submarines

West of Los Angeles, I-2 finds and sinks AP Kota Baroe. The vessel was not carrying any passengers however.

Sumatra

The 2nd Tank Regiment takes Padang.

Northern Australia

My recon over the last several turns noted that my opponent was heavily building up the airfields at Townsville and that he had already placed more than a hundred aircraft there. I sent in a force of four battleships (Nagato, Fuso, Ise, and Hyuga) and some destroyer escorts to plaster the base. As the force gets in final position to hit the base tomorrow, Allied recon picks it up. Nevertheless, I decide to go ahead with the bombardment.

[Lowpe]

Careful with those mixed class battleship bombardments. They tend to dither if you aren't careful.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Careful with those mixed class battleship bombardments. They tend to dither if you aren't careful.

Thanks, will do. Does that happen even when they have the same max/cruise speed?

[Alamander]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101


Thanks, will do. Does that happen even when they have the same max/cruise speed?

I don't think it has much to do with the class of ship as it does with TF commander aggressiveness and with air superiority. Every turn, at the beginning of the resolution, you will see a phase in which the computer "checks for air superiority." It determines air superiority for various regions of the map (how this works I am not sure), but this seems to affect TF behavior and sometimes the behavior of your air groups. TFs tend to reroute if given discretion to do so (on "safe" or "safer" routing), bombardment TFs tend to stop short of their targets, and your bombers, if in groups with less agressive commanders, tend not to fly unless well escorted. The best practice for bombardment groups operating near a heavy enemy air presence is to set them to the "absolute" threshold for threat and to "direct" for routing.

Of course, care must be taken, because these settings will also leave them vulnerable to enemy surface groups that may engage them after the bombardment run or to bombers coming from a vector and base that you did not anticipate but that the AI commander may have anticipated with less aggressive settings.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Alamander

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101


Thanks, will do. Does that happen even when they have the same max/cruise speed?

I don't think it has much to do with the class of ship as it does with TF commander aggressiveness and with air superiority. Every turn, at the beginning of the resolution, you will see a phase in which the computer "checks for air superiority." It determines air superiority for various regions of the map (how this works I am not sure), but this seems to affect TF behavior and sometimes the behavior of your air groups. TFs tend to reroute if given discretion to do so (on "safe" or "safer" routing), bombardment TFs tend to stop short of their targets, and your bombers, if in groups with less agressive commanders, tend not to fly unless well escorted. The best practice for bombardment groups operating near a heavy enemy air presence is to set them to the "absolute" threshold for threat and to "direct" for routing.

Of course, care must be taken, because these settings will also leave them vulnerable to enemy surface groups that may engage them after the bombardment run or to bombers coming from a vector and base that you did not anticipate but that the AI commander may have anticipated with less aggressive settings.

Yes, all that is important, but I kind of assumed most of that is being done....there is a wide variance in IJN battleship fuel usage per hex (been a long time since I looked at it) & that is multiplied because the bombardment task forces will jump to flank speed -- and depending where you set your home port and your fuel stocks is I think a prime hidden reason why bombardment fleets dither even with aggressive leaders, direct absolute engaged.

BTW, it is not just perceived aerial threats that cause a variance in task force routing (depending upon tf settings).

PS: Just looked it up, they range from 16.5 fuel/hex per day to 31.34. See 6.2.13 the last paragraph spells it out in the manual -- basically fuel concerns over ride all Task Force switches.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Alamander

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101


Thanks, will do. Does that happen even when they have the same max/cruise speed?

I don't think it has much to do with the class of ship as it does with TF commander aggressiveness and with air superiority. Every turn, at the beginning of the resolution, you will see a phase in which the computer "checks for air superiority." It determines air superiority for various regions of the map (how this works I am not sure), but this seems to affect TF behavior and sometimes the behavior of your air groups. TFs tend to reroute if given discretion to do so (on "safe" or "safer" routing), bombardment TFs tend to stop short of their targets, and your bombers, if in groups with less agressive commanders, tend not to fly unless well escorted. The best practice for bombardment groups operating near a heavy enemy air presence is to set them to the "absolute" threshold for threat and to "direct" for routing.

Of course, care must be taken, because these settings will also leave them vulnerable to enemy surface groups that may engage them after the bombardment run or to bombers coming from a vector and base that you did not anticipate but that the AI commander may have anticipated with less aggressive settings.

Yes, all that is important, but I kind of assumed most of that is being done....there is a wide variance in IJN battleship fuel usage per hex (been a long time since I looked at it) & that is multiplied because the bombardment task forces will jump to flank speed -- and depending where you set your home port and your fuel stocks is I think a prime hidden reason why bombardment fleets dither even with aggressive leaders, direct absolute engaged.

BTW, it is not just perceived aerial threats that cause a variance in task force routing (depending upon tf settings).

PS: Just looked it up, they range from 16.5 fuel/hex per day to 31.34. See 6.2.13 the last paragraph spells it out in the manual -- basically fuel concerns over ride all Task Force switches.

Good reminder to reread the manual on occasion. As the section shows, the impact of the fuel state on the vessel's mission is indeed decisive.

[DesertWolf101]

February 14, 1942

Northern Australia

The Japanese battleship force sprinted towards Townsville, arriving in the hex and setting up for a daytime bombardment. Before they opened up with their guns however, waves of escorted Banshee bombers came in over the force. During the morning and afternoon, the dive-bombers carried out 71 attacks, dropping their payloads on the mighty ships and scoring 14 1,000-pound bomb hits in the process.

Fortunately, the giants’ deck armor was strong enough to handle the American semi-armor piercing bombs, none of which penetrated the battleships. The most badly hit, BB Nagato, had only 10 system damage, and that included wear and tear from the sprint towards Townsville.

Furious over being subjected to the aerial storm, the Japanese warships opened up at Townsville at the end of the turn with a devastating barrage, destroying over 50 Allied aircraft including some 20 P-40E fighters, around 10 of the Banshees that just attacked them, approximately 15 Catalinas, and almost ten Wirraways.

China

Japanese troops storm and take Hengyang, further tightening the cordon around Changsha.

[DesertWolf101]

February 15, 1942

Northern Australia

During the night, the battleship force gave a parting barrage, knocking out a few more aircraft with some of their remaining shells, and hightailed it out of the danger zone towards friendly territory.

This is where my opponent gets in his revenge: Seeing as how the Townsville airfield was shattered by the battleship bombardment, I sent in Betty bombers to hit a few ships that my recon detected in port there. My wily opponent however had stationed more P-40 and P-39 fighter squadrons at the Charters Towers airfields nearby, and these fighters moved in to slaughter my Bettys. Not one of the 21 Betty bombers made it back to base.

Philippines

The island of Panay is fully taken by the Empire as the 61st PA Infantry Division is cornered and eliminated at Roxas.

Java

Loemadjang falls to the 6th Tank Regiment.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

February 14, 1942

Northern Australia

The Japanese battleship force sprinted towards Townsville, arriving in the hex and setting up for a daytime bombardment. Before they opened up with their guns however, waves of escorted Banshee bombers came in over the force. During the morning and afternoon, the dive-bombers carried out 71 attacks, dropping their payloads on the mighty ships and scoring 14 1,000-pound bomb hits in the process.

Fortunately, the giants’ deck armor was strong enough to handle the American semi-armor piercing bombs, none of which penetrated the battleships. The most badly hit, BB Nagato, had only 10 system damage, and that included wear and tear from the sprint towards Townsville.

Furious over being subjected to the aerial storm, the Japanese warships opened up at Townsville at the end of the turn with a devastating barrage, destroying over 50 Allied aircraft including some 20 P-40E fighters, around 10 of the Banshees that just attacked them, approximately 15 Catalinas, and almost ten Wirraways.

China

Japanese troops storm and take Hengyang, further tightening the cordon around Changsha.

Yikes. The Bashees can be fearful if the Allies can get some decent trained pilots in them quickly. Even so, 17 hits is impressive.

I'd check the weapons on those BB's just to be sure. There might be a main gun or (more likely) some secondaries and AA that might need glued back on!

[Lowpe]

Curious did you have remain on station selected for the bombardment TF? Did I miss that?

Did you have daytime recon from the bombardment TF?

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

February 14, 1942

Northern Australia

The Japanese battleship force sprinted towards Townsville, arriving in the hex and setting up for a daytime bombardment. Before they opened up with their guns however, waves of escorted Banshee bombers came in over the force. During the morning and afternoon, the dive-bombers carried out 71 attacks, dropping their payloads on the mighty ships and scoring 14 1,000-pound bomb hits in the process.

Fortunately, the giants’ deck armor was strong enough to handle the American semi-armor piercing bombs, none of which penetrated the battleships. The most badly hit, BB Nagato, had only 10 system damage, and that included wear and tear from the sprint towards Townsville.

Furious over being subjected to the aerial storm, the Japanese warships opened up at Townsville at the end of the turn with a devastating barrage, destroying over 50 Allied aircraft including some 20 P-40E fighters, around 10 of the Banshees that just attacked them, approximately 15 Catalinas, and almost ten Wirraways.

China

Japanese troops storm and take Hengyang, further tightening the cordon around Changsha.

Yikes. The Bashees can be fearful if the Allies can get some decent trained pilots in them quickly. Even so, 17 hits is impressive.

I'd check the weapons on those BB's just to be sure. There might be a main gun or (more likely) some secondaries and AA that might need glued back on!

Yes it is impressive. Frankly I was surprised at the accuracy given how poorly my Banshee pilots fared against merchant vessels in my previous Allied match. As you mention, my opponent must have prioritized putting some good pilots in their cockpits.

Luckily though, the damage was quite minimal. I checked the gun mounts on all four ships and only one AAA battery was knocked out. Could have been a lot worse!

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Curious did you have remain on station selected for the bombardment TF? Did I miss that?

Did you have daytime recon from the bombardment TF?

Yes to both. I forgot to mention that I decided to risk the daytime bombardment for maximum effect. I also always try to remember to set recon for the bombardment TFs. The recon does not always fly for me for some reason or another but this time it certainly did which undoubtedly helped greatly with the result.

[DesertWolf101]

February 16, 1942

South Pacific

During the night, a light cruiser force on fast transport mode lands an SNLF unit at Savaii.

The 144th Infantry Regiment takes La Foa on its march down New Caledonia towards Noumea.

Sumatra

Japanese force assault and take Sabang in northern Sumatra. The island is now almost entirely under Japanese control.

Java

Japanese troops begin massing at Soerabaja. A bombardment goes in today to test the defenses.

[DesertWolf101]

February 17, 1942

South Pacific

The Samao Detachment is eliminated and Savaii is taken.

Philippines

Japanese troops land at Bacolod.

Indian Ocean

Japanese forces land on Christmas Island.

Java

A deliberate attack goes forth against Soerabaja. The garrison is wiped out and, even better, the infrastructure is intact. All organized Dutch resistance on the island is eliminated. Mopping up operations will continue over the next few days to take a couple of the remaining bases but Java has essentially been conquered.

[DesertWolf101]

February 18, 1942

South Pacific

Pago Pago has evidently been turned into an American stronghold. Fighter sweeps from the island fly over Savaii followed by some strafing by P-39Ds.

Northern Australia

Zero sweeps from Timor goes over Darwin. 17 Buffalo fighters rise up to the challenge and are very roughly handled. A Betty raid follows the sweeps to hit the Darwin airfields, knocking out some bombers on the ground (including a B-17D).

China

Chinese forces are driven from their positions at Siangtan with heavy losses. Some damaged H81-A3 fighters are found on the ground and destroyed. Changsha is now entirely isolated and besieged.