Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

8 October 1942

I lost a day in here somewhere but here we are. The TRAN TF arrives at Ramree Is and begins to unload in the daylight turn. It will take several days to get the supplies ashore. I brought over 30 k supplies. We will see if I elect to unload all of this. The plan was to get the base in good shape as far as supply goes on the first run thereby avoiding another run in under duress in the near future. Once the AB is built (already 7% to level 1), I can use C-47/Dakotas. Intersting that the Japanese also elct this turn to sweep Akyab with Tojo's. Hard fought battle but the Japenese were almost wiped out. A weak strike with Helens from Rangoon was brushed away. Unfortunately, I had my Albacores on NavStrike and they decided to run to Rangoon. I sunk a MSW but this was a useless dissipation of force. On the day the Japanese lost 45 a/c to 23 for Allies: 16 Ki-44b Tojo, 13 Ki-43 Ic Oscar, 8 A6M2, 6 Ki-49 Helen vs 9 P-40E, 6 Seafire, and 2 Sea Hurricane.

My DD's at PH are repairing nice with only 3 left above 10 Syst damage. CV's are doing nicely with only Enterprise over 5. Should be ready for Huey, Duey, and Louey in about 2 weeks. No firm timeline on this.

Lastly, as Larry has not opted to move any further in Oz and does not seem to be moving massive troop numbers in, I decided to evict him. Need the Av Support inbound from PH before I go, but once its there we are on.

Also need to start plans for operation Foghorn Leghorn: the buildup of Thursday Island. Once this is done, I will be able to move around the NE corner of Oz towards NEI. This is months away though. Early 43 for sure. By then LST's and LCI's will start trickling in for easier amphibious ops.

[vettim89]

9 October 1942

The airbattle rages on. Losses were about equal today with the AVG losing 8 P-40E's. This necessitated the upgrade of 4oth FS at Pago Pago to P-38G as the P-40E pool was empty. This squadron is a veteran of the PI and NEI campaigns and has avg Exp of 75; so, not a bad choice for upgrade. All the troops are ashore at Ramree Is and about 3 k supply. Larry has moved in over 80 bombers to Rangoon which necessitated my putting all the fighters at Akyab on LR CAp over Ramree Island. Depending on the outcome of the next turn's air battle, I may have to withdraw the TF's to refit the air groups. Fighters out of Mandalay swept Meiktela and shot down 8 Tony. All fighters are now switched to escort and I will send in the Liberators this turn. The LB-30 Squadron at Diamond harbor is almost ready to go. Both Chittagong and Akyab should see their AB's increase to 6 and 4 respectfully this turn. A Ro class sub tried to attack the TF at Ramree but was hit 8 times by ASW forces before it could get into position. Another sub lurks to the NW.

Some of the troops for Duey (Nanumea) are in place at Suvali now. I am sending a RCT, a CD unit, and a BF south from PH to augment the engineers there already. Sending a RCT, BF, SeaBee unit, and a CD to Canton Island for Louey (Baker Is). Most of 40th ID is at Noumea with addition BF and engineers inbound from Papete for Huey (Lunga).

[Capt. Harlock]

Do I upgrade an experienced P-40 unit or a unit with the useless P-39 airframes. The thing is I know the Aircobras are great barge busters if the need arises.

Sounds like they're not entirely useless! But my advice would be to upgrade a P-39 squadron first, since you have other P-39 units still available if the need should arise. At this point, the most pressing problem is something to match the A6M2.

[vettim89]

10 October 1942

Another huge air battle over Ramree Is. Again the Allies get the best with 45 Japanese losses to 13 Allied. Key losses: 20 Ki-44b Tojo, 8 Ki-21 Sally, 6 Ki-49 Helen, 5 Ki-61 KAIb Tony, 4 Ka-43 Ic Oscar, 11 Hurricane IIb, 1 P-40E, and 1 Seafire. One bomber got throw and boounce a bomb off Invincible. My TF remain at least one more day. There are 7 k supplies in place. I would like to get it over 10 k before I leave.

Overall things are going swimmingly.

[Alfred]

vettim89,
 
Oh no, not you too!  Now that Operation Swimmingly had successfully concluded in Cap Mandrake's AAR I had hoped we had been spared further exposure to the term "swimmingly".
 
Alfred

[vettim89]

11 October 1942

The air battle continues with Allied losses up a little this turn becasue my bombers finally flew and hit Meiktila. Only moderate damage there. Spits held up nicely. I need more of them. Hurricanes are taking a beating. P-40's seem to be holding up a little better. No hits on any ships. In fact no bombers even got through. Supplies at Ramree are up to 11 k. I think one more day is it becasue I need to withdraw a CV by months end. If Operation Wallace is to go off, I need to hurry.

A SCTF came in and bombarded Broome for little effect. A dutch SS tried to hit this TF on the way out but missed. I have a lot of subs off the north coast of Oz.

All but one of the units heading to the Crossroads in China will arrive tomorrow. My first Deliberate attack will go off then. Base AS strenght should be about 3 to 1 in the Chinese favor. Hopefull the isolation of the IJA units will hinder their recovery and I will slowly whittle them down. If this operation is successful, I will move east and attack the 16 units who have been trapped between Kanhsien and the Crossroads

(Note: for those of you who might not realize where The Crossroads is, it is two hexes due south of Hengchow, two hexes due west of Kanhsien, and two hexes due north of Canton)

Oh and don't worry. That was my one and only "swimmingly" comment. Just couldn't resist just once

[vettim89]

12 October 1942

The tempo fell this turn. I don't know if this is becasue Larry has decided the cost is too much or if he just pulled back for R&R. A/C loss were 13 to 7 today but 8 of the Japanese losses were frontline fighters. The Allied bombers return to Meiktila and do a little more damage. Cursor intel reveals only 20 fighters at Meiktila and 38 at Rangoon. I shifted my attack to Rangoon. This strike will be escorted by 55 P-40E's from Akyab and will includ 48 LB-30 plus about 30 Liberator I from CHittagong. All these A/C will be at extended range so I expect to pay a high cost. That said I am hoping to catch some of the 80+ bombers at Rangoon on the ground. The lack of a counterattack this turn encourages me to stay one more day. Supplies at Ramree are 13 k and AB is at 49% to Level 1.

I ordered a deliberate attack at the Crossroads. We will see how this goes. Supplies are still not where they should be, but if they are short for me, they have to be even shorter for the Japanese. I am attack now becasue of my failure to capitalize on a similar situation at Changsha a few months ago. I held off my attack until I thought the units were ready. By that time, the IJA had forced open the back door and the Japaness retreated. If I had done that attack a week earlier, it would have been a much better result. I also ordered an attack in the hex NW of Canton just to keep the pressure up.

A Dutch sub torpedos and sinks two MSW at Darwin in two separate attacks. Wish they were hunting bigger game, but losing MSW has got to be a concern for Larry as my mining campaign continues.

[vettim89]

13 October 1942

Raid on Rangoon went great! Lost 5 P40-E and 1 LB-30. A/C losses 57 to 9 today. My attack at The Crossroads just missed 2 to1. Chinese losses were 4k to 1000 for IJA. Still, the Japanese units are isolated and I hope this affects their recovery speed. Going to bombard for a few days then hit again. I drove the units out of the hex NW of Canton with a 8 to 1 attack. I will hold here as Larry is probably trying to move more units by seas into Canton. To my embarassment I found a large number of AP's docked at Noumea. These units are heading for PH to help with positioning units for Huey, Duey, and Louey.

[vettim89]

14-15 October 1942

Grommet has concluded. All units are back at Diamond Harbor and are are heading for Trico to prepare for Wallace. I decided to pay the 2000 PP and keep my CV. I have over 12k now, so I think I am ok. I am not sure I could even get it back to Aden now if I wanted to. Grommet cost the Japenese over 200 airframes most of which were frontline fighters.

Betty's from Tarawa raided Canton Island. They missed the TRAN TF offloading supplies. I have no CAP here at all. That is changed now as P-38's flew done from PH. They have to sit out a day per the HR rule regarding units transfering over 9 hexes. Maybe he'll keep trying.

Another Deliberate attack tomorrow at the crossroads.

[vettim89]

16 October 1942

Larry snuck another SCTF into my lines. This one hit Canton Island where a TF was unloading supplies. I am becoming exceddingly frustrated at my inability to detect these things no matter how many PBY's I have on Nav Search. The brave Navy boys in the SC's, MSW, and PG's fought to the death and saved there charges as only one AK was hit with one shell. I lost 4 SC's, 3 MSW, and 3 PG/PC's. I created PT boats at Canton Island this turn to hopefully help and further such actions. This is screwed up. A SCTF moving at max speed can only move seven hexes. That means it could not be more than four hexes away from Canton Island right now yet I see nothing and I saw nothing yesterday. I am posting from work but will post a screenie from home later. A squadron of P-38E/F's is posted at Canton Island now.

My deliberate attack at the cross roads came off at 1 to 1 with Chinese losing 2000 to 900 for Japanese. I will keep up the pressure here no matter the cost. There are two full Infantry Divisions, a Armored Division, and a mixed BGD trapped here. They must die. My bombardement attack on the 16 units trapped between Kanhsien and the Crossroads revealed the Japanese AV is only about 800. If I can win the battle to the west, these units will die next.

[vettim89]

The combat at Canton Island.

[vettim89]

18 October 1942

Larry repeats the success yesterday for a similar run today at Akyab. I lose DD Jervis and one AK is hit hard. That ship is running for Chittagon and may or may not make it. One of the two IJN CL's got banged up but weather prevented my air force from attacking.

I forgot to reset my units at the Crossroads and the did another Deliberate attack which of course came out at 0 to 1 and cost the Chinese 1871 casualties to 1277 fro IJA. Units for Wallace are about a week out of Trico. I have two squadrons of Beuforts waiting for Port Blair to open up. Av support is moving to be airlifted into Ramree Island which now has a level 1 AB.

A hug Australian army is moving north. Larry has abandoned Tenant Creek. I think he is pulling out of Oz altogether. I have to wonder is this is because he needs more units for China. If the best case scenario were to occur, I could conceivably wipe out 20 units in China in the near future.

[Capt. Harlock]

Larry repeats the success yesterday for a similar run today at Akyab. I lose DD Jervis and one AK is hit hard. That ship is running for Chittagon and may or may not make it. One of the two IJN CL's got banged up but weather prevented my air force from attacking.

I think cloud cover holds a big part of the answer why Larry is able to sneak his SCTF's in without being detected. You might want to put some of the less useful American subs on the routes to your transports -- could give you some advance warning even if they don't hit anything.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

I think cloud cover holds a big part of the answer why Larry is able to sneak his SCTF's in without being detected. You might want to put some of the less useful American subs on the routes to your transports -- could give you some advance warning even if they don't hit anything.

Well the crazy guy running this show got the idea that "Hey, lets mine Molocca 'cause all the TF's going to and from Rangoon have to pass through there". Crazy guy overlooked the fact that this hex was close to all kinds of LBA on ASW patrol and now looks at Trico's port screen to see all his "orange" syst damage subs. Silly rabbit

[vettim89]

19 October 1942

Well, what do we have here? No strikes launched but they gotta be close. I could get hurt here real bad. The TF's will be only 2 hexes from Trico tomorrow. Wonder if its a full KB or a smaller version. We shall see. Got every a/c that can fly in the Bay of Bengal on either NavSearch of NavAttack. If he starys too close, maybe some Beuforts out of Trico can land some torpedos into the buggers. This definitely reinforced the idea that it pays to pay very close attention during the combat replay

I slowed down the intensity of the air war in Burma in anticipation of Wallace going off. Now with Japanese CV's in the BoB, I will go after Meiktila again. If that works to my satisfaction, it is time to put pressure on Rangoon. Tony's are now fighting in China - ugh. Only twelve days until P40N-1 enter production which is the first plane the I-16's can upgrade to. I pulled my best squadron out of Changsha to Chungking in anticipation of this opportunity

Still waiting for DD repair at PH and SF. I need at least 20 of them in good shape to launch the operations. Have 24 at PH and 25 at SF. 3 more are in bound to PH from Panama escorting CVE Nassau. I also have some scattered in the SoPac that have not yet upgraded. I may need to extract all the data and see what I can put together. This pause is too long. The Dutch fleet plus CL Boise and CA Houston are at Noumea now. They can be called upon to contribute if needed. I may move them up to Pago Pago as they will be of more immediate use there. On the Good news front Wasp, Yorktown, and Saratoga sit at 0 system with Enterprise at 4 and Hornet at 3. Cruisers are looking good with all but a few below 5. Same with the modern BB's of which there are three now at PH (Washington, North Carolina, and South Dakota)

[vettim89]

20-21 October 1942

Slow few days. Another deliberate attack at Kanhsien cost the IJA 3977 to Chinese 1449 and came off at 0 to1 but lowered forts to 4. I ordered anotehr deliberate attack at the Crossroads. The IJA AV has only fallen about 200 since I started here. If it doesn't accelerate quickly I may have to give up on this op. If Kanhsien falls, all those units plus the 16 in the hex between these two spots become available. Another offensive air operation has begun in Burma. Ramree Island should be operational in a week or so with AB at level 2. This will allow 100 fighters to be used for the assault on Rangoon. When this op kicks off, it will be a fight to the death. I will not stop until Rangoon is out of action or I run out of planes.

[saj42]

Re ship upgrades at PH.

You mentioned 6x ARs at PH - only a max of 4 have any benefit to ship repair.
Rather than send your DDs etc back to SF to repair, you should build up Hilo (or one of the other Hawaiian ports) to max and base the excess ARs there. you have enough Seabees do to this quickly.

So when you have a major upgrade happen at PH move the DD/SS/MSWs etc to Hilo to repair thier Sys damage, thereby freeing up PH for the capital ships and saving the journey time to the WC.
I mainly use WC ports for combat damage repair (usually 15+ sys damage for CAs and larger vessels.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Tallyho!

Re ship upgrades at PH.

You mentioned 6x ARs at PH - only a max of 4 have any benefit to ship repair.
Rather than send your DDs etc back to SF to repair, you should build up Hilo (or one of the other Hawaiian ports) to max and base the excess ARs there. you have enough Seabees do to this quickly.

So when you have a major upgrade happen at PH move the DD/SS/MSWs etc to Hilo to repair thier Sys damage, thereby freeing up PH for the capital ships and saving the journey time to the WC.
I mainly use WC ports for combat damage repair (usually 15+ sys damage for CAs and larger vessels.

Thanks Talltho. Thats great advice. I already have built several of the HI ports. I am currently using one as a sub base exactly as you indicated but with AS.

[vettim89]

22 October 1942

In a surpise move, the IJA has landed at Broome. This base will likley fall tomorrow. Major implication here is that my 3500 nm range Dutch subs are no longer usable here. They were using Broome as a waypoint before deploying off Darwin.

My last Deliberate attck at the Crossroads was a disaster. It came off at 0 to 1 with losses at 859 to 2726 in the Japanese favor. These units will all now rest until Disruption falls below 20 ono all of them. The Chinese suck on offense.

Posting situation of DD's at PH. I could go now if a crisis developed which makes me breath a little easier. SHould be able to sortie the entire fleet in a week or so.

[vettim89]

23 October 1942

To my surprise the first attack at Broome is repelled. I have a wopping 25 AS strength here!. My old friend S-38 hit an AK and shrugged off the ASW counterattack. This move makes no sense to me at this point. A few months ago I fully expected it, but why now. Larry has stopped expanding south and I thought he was giving up on Oz. I guess I was wrong.

DD repair speeds along. Three addition fully upgrade and repaired DD's depart Seatle today with some damaged AP's that are now repaired and upgraded. They will head to SF where hopefully they will pick up a few more fully repaired DD's before escorting more SoPac units to PH. As much as this upgrade surge slowed me down, it will be nice to have over 60 fully upgraded DD's for operations. Same for the CV's and cruisers.

LBA launches out of Chittagong and chews up some japanese ships. Several 1000 lb bombs were dropped and hit the CL.