Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: traskott

Hurry up !!! don't let the japanese advance more !!! Fight in the jungle, in the beach.. ( well, you know, make what Churchill would have made ).

I intend to. I have a large reserve (I Australian Corps) at Jessore and the Fiji-New Caledonia area has been heavily reinforced with Marine and US Army units. If he wants Northern Australia he will get it as its getting very difficult to supply and reinforce this area. Anyhow, the next place he attacks he will find something bites back harder than it has so far!

I would also like to add that i HATE [:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@] the goddamn dud rate

Thanks

It is dangerous think that your enemy has going to do what you will want !!!

Imagine he attacks Espiritu Santo and WINs xDDDD

ORIGINAL: traskott

It is dangerous think that your enemy has going to do what you will want !!!

Imagine he attacks Espiritu Santo and WINs xDDDD

Fair point. But that area is the only area where i have concentration of force. Furthermore I can also reinforce. The Americal is already at Sydney and will act firebrigade division if he attacks in force. First, though, is I am hoping that SIGINT gives me some clue as to where the KB is. So far lots of radio transmissions at Singers and Cam Rahn Bay and several troops convoys heading into Rabual.

This is not my intention help you to defeat Fletcher. Take the follow information with some reserve as your own way.

I played with Fletcher only the first months of the great campaign. I played the japanese and Fletcher the allies. My strategy was:

1-Advance in Burma only to Akyab-Shwebo-Mytkyina line.
2-Take Singapore and Timor first with most troops.
3-Take Phillipines, Borneo and Celebes second with small troops.
4-Take Palembang after a amphibious landing in Osthaven and land fast move to there with suport of Raiding Paras.
5-Take Java.

And in the south.

1-Take Rabaul, Lae, Guadalcanal and do not going more to south.
2-Leave Port Moresby until april.

And the final move.

1-Invade northern Ozzie and take all bases and reach Alice Springs.

The allied countermesures was:

1-Launch an all-out effort with the I AUS Corps from Imphal to Mandalay.
2-Reforcing PM and take New Hebrides.
3-Counter the Java invasion with the Royal Navy with a formidable battle.
4-Launch a huge offensive in all of China fronts.

The results of this was in the moment of the play ceased:

1-The japanese were heavy defeated in the Burma front and the allies retake easly Mandalay, Shwebo, Prome and reach outskirts of Rangoon in april 42!!!
2-The japanese cannot take never PM and lose control over the Coral Sea.
3-The Royal Navy was heavy defeated in the Timor Sea losing all the carriers and many BBs.
4-The Chinese get control of many japanese bases.

Well, seems to me that Fletcher take this lessons to form the backbone of this contest.
1-Great offensive in Burma.
2-Landings in Osthaven..
3-Great offensive in China.
4-Take like a lightning PM and the South islands.
5-The KB wreak havoc in Java and Northern Ozzie...

Very interesting play anyway.

Greatings.

ORIGINAL: fremen

This is not my intention help you to defeat Fletcher. Take the follow information with some reserve as your own way.

I played with Fletcher only the first months of the great campaign. I played the japanese and Fletcher the allies. My strategy was:

1-Advance in Burma only to Akyab-Shwebo-Mytkyina line.
2-Take Singapore and Timor first with most troops.
3-Take Phillipines, Borneo and Celebes second with small troops.
4-Take Palembang after a amphibious landing in Osthaven and land fast move to there with suport of Raiding Paras.
5-Take Java.

And in the south.

1-Take Rabaul, Lae, Guadalcanal and do not going more to south.
2-Leave Port Moresby until april.

And the final move.

1-Invade northern Ozzie and take all bases and reach Alice Springs.

The allied countermesures was:

1-Launch an all-out effort with the I AUS Corps from Imphal to Mandalay.
2-Reforcing PM and take New Hebrides.
3-Counter the Java invasion with the Royal Navy with a formidable battle.
4-Launch a huge offensive in all of China fronts.

The results of this was in the moment of the play ceased:

1-The japanese were heavy defeated in the Burma front and the allies retake easly Mandalay, Shwebo, Prome and reach outskirts of Rangoon in april 42!!!
2-The japanese cannot take never PM and lose control over the Coral Sea.
3-The Royal Navy was heavy defeated in the Timor Sea losing all the carriers and many BBs.
4-The Chinese get control of many japanese bases.

Well, seems to me that Fletcher take this lessons to form the backbone of this contest.
1-Great offensive in Burma.
2-Landings in Osthaven..
3-Great offensive in China.
4-Take like a lightning PM and the South islands.
5-The KB wreak havoc in Java and Northern Ozzie...

Very interesting play anyway.

Greatings.

Thanks fremen

Turn Synopsis 4th April 1942

The night was wrought asunder by the booming of the guns of the IJNs battleships as they bombarded Darwin. The Northern Australian base was already a wreck after heavy aerial raids and now heavy ordinance was being used against its facilities. Furthermore a light transport, that has run the gauntlet of the northern Austrlaian coast to unload supplies at Darwin, was sunk while at anchor. For the moment it is clear that the Japanese have a free run all along the coast from Broome to Darwin.

IJN Raid on Darwin, night of 4th April 1942


Furthermore, worse news came from the Western Seaboard as carrier borner torpedo planes were seen attacking shipping near Perth. A light coastal minesweeper and a Dutch destroyer on ASW duties were sunk and several recon float planes were observed over the city. Lucikly two fighter sqaudrons had been using Perth as a training base and have been put on a high status of alert in anticipation of heavy raids on the morrow. 8th Pursuit Squadron and No 77 RAAF Squadron will protect the skies over Perth from any Japanese attack. Likewise shipping has been disperesed and an inbound convoy from Cape Town diverted to the southern Indian Ocean. Judging by the number of planes in todays raids, the number of carriers does not appear to be large. The sighting of CS Chitose at Rabaul may also indicate that these carriers are the smaller cousins of the larger fleet carriers still unaccounted for, though the sighting of the Chitose has put all American and Allied forces in the South Pacific area on full alert.

IJN Carriers near Perth.

Seems to me that's a long journey those CVs, CVLs have made to Perth - somewhere out behind them there have got to be AOs to replenish them........... or am I mistaken?

Roger

Hi Roger

Methinks the same. A Dutch sub enroute back to the battle zone after repairs at Perth has be rerouted to linger behind the area where the CVs/CVLs are sighted. Hopefully we can strike gold.

Turn Synopsis 4th April 1942

I suppose the day can be captioned 'Defeat at Sea, Victory in the air!'

As expected the enemy light carriers, Ryuho now identified after studying the wreckage of shot down planes, strucj Perth. As they did the 8th PS and 77th RAAF were waiting for them. 12 A6M2s escorted 12 B5N2s at around 10:40am. A strong CAP of Warhawks and Kittyhawks was up in the air to meet them. 11 fighters engaged the Zeros on escort while 16 others, holding high station, were vecotred onto the bombers. The less experienced Aussie flyers took the worst of the losses with 4 Kittyhawks being shot down, though all pilots were able to be recovered. The 8th PS, despite this being its debut in combat fared well accounting for two enemy fighters for no loss. As the fighters engaged each other the rest of the planes on CAP tore into the torpedo bombers with abandon. In their minds were the raids on Hawaii and Darwin and it was sweet revenge. The slow bombers were no match for the speedy fighters, and bereft of their escort, 6 went down in flames. 4 credited to the 8th and 2 to the 77th. The remaining 6 planes dropped thier bombs well short of their target and headed back to their carrier, spotted later at about 240 miles to the NNW.

Victory in the Air


This Japanese rebuttal made the loss of three USN destroyers earlier in the day more paltable. They had sortied in the hope of stubmling upon the Japanese carriers in the darkness and surprising them. Instead they encountered a group of IJN cruisers that efficiently dispatched the three four stackers. Three hits were recorded on the cruisers but damage was negligible as the shells were rather blunt on their armoured carpace.

The Stewart goes down as the Barker engages the IJN's Hakate


Japanese torpedo planes also sank a light transport just off Perth. I think i got off rather lightly as much of the shipping in Perth had scattered to the south and the south west.

Dutch resistance on Java continues as long as supplies remain in Soerabja and Batavia. Once again the TB Kari benefits from the poor aiming of Dutch bombardiers and for the upteenth time is straddled by bombs with barely a scratch on her paint. The pilots of 1-VI.G.IV are gaining a lot of experience fighting against some elite pilots over Semarang, the replay shows the * against the enemy pilots name that denotes an Ace coming up a few times and I think I may have got one last turn. The squadron now has 22 kills and an avg xp of 63. Is it worth taking these pilots out of Java? Will i be able to use them in any forthcoming reinforcement?


1-VI.G.IV in action over Semarang


1-VI.G.IV on the morning of 5th April 1942

Japanese troops occupied Port Blair wiping out the Viper Battalion and the base force there, they also made landfall on Greater Nicobar. Eastern Command on Ceylon eyed an opportunity to surprise the Japanese landings by carrying out a raid using the aircraft carrier Formidable and a fast raiding surface force centered around the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire. The planes of the Formidable will be in range of Port Blair tomorrow and the surface ships will then sweep in to mop up any remaining vessels. The Formidable will the hit Nicobar on the way back to Colombo. This operation will constitute the debut of the FAA Martlet in the Pacific Theatre.

All those torpedo planes are very juicy targets. Once killed, won't be anyone like them through all the game. 

ORIGINAL: traskott

All those torpedo planes are very juicy targets. Once killed, won't be anyone like them through all the game. 

By downing 6 Kates I hope I have halved the effectiveness of one of his CVEs or CVLs

Turn Synopsis 5th April 1942

The Japanese raiding force that attacked Perth seems to have changed course and is now heading on a NNW heading. Its bombers spotted, attacked and sunk a light freighter off Geraldton and was still seen heading NNW in the afternoon. Rendevous with oilers or are they heading home? I am quite satisfied with the defence of Perth. Other than the 3 four stackers, who were earmarked to be converted to APDs, losses were negligible considering Perth had several tender class ships in Port and Ramon just missed a large supply convoy from Cape Town. The 8th PS and 77th RAAF gained valuable combat experience and I doubt that the Japanese recovered any of their pilots shot down.

Elsewhere in the theatre:

Indian territory was bombed for the first time by Japanese planes since the war started. A large force of Sallys, escorted by 40 Ki-43-Ics attacked air installations at Chittagong. A standing CAP of 16 hurricanes lost 5 planes shot down while claiming one enemy kill. Over 50 fighters from Chittagong, Dacca and Comilla will fly CAP and LRCAP over the base tomorrow in case the IJAAF comes calling again.

Ki-43s were also identified over Milne Bay as they engaged B-17es from Charter Towers that were attacking Japanese positions there. Intell suggests that Milne Bay now has an operational fighter strip and as such a series of night time raids will be carried out once heavy bomber assests are set up at Townsville, by this I mean the transfer of 16 B-17es from Noumea of the 5th Bomber Group.



Royal Navy operations around Port Blair and the Nicobars proved a damp squib. The cruiser force made its high speed run into Port Blair and found no enemy shipping to attack, while the Albacores of the Formidable did not launch against enemy shipping spotted at Great Nicobar. A heavy swell socked in the deck at the same time as the sighting report was received from a patrolling Walrus. The carrier is heading on a SWS heading to be able to be in attack position one more day before heading back to Colombo.

Around Ceylon itself RN destroyers have engaged Japanese submarines for a second consecutive day. This seems to indicate a resumption of submarine ops in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.



6th April has also seen a massive transfer of trained pilots from General Reserve to front line units, and rookies going the other way. Training programmes initiated in early February are starting to reap good results and it is time for these pilots, some already veterans some graduates, to cut their teeth against the Japanese in the frontlines!

Turn Synopsis 6th April 1942

The news hit the Admiralty like a tidal wave. It hit Churchill like a hammer blow. It the family members of the deceased like an insurmountable wave of grief. The aircraft carrier Formidable along with the majority of its escorts had been sunk by Japanese aircraft carriers just off the Nicobar islands. It had been lining up an ambush on Japanese transports unloading on the Nicobars but instead it bumped into the main Japanese carrier force and in the simple physics of superior force and numbers the Royal Navy squadron was imply slaughtered.

The first indication something was up came when the Dutch submarine, SS-KXVII engaged cruisers and destroyers off Trinkat. The heavy vloume of shipping indicated that something major was up.



As dawn broke the air was full of search planes of both nationalities. Officers on the British ships began to get very concerned went reports began to come in of sightings of enemy carriers to the east of their current position. When a carrier model torpedo plane was spotted by the CAP of FAA Martlets the squadron was put on full alert. 35 minutes later the news of an inbound enemy strike broke over the ships.



300 bombers escorted by nearly 80 Zeroes made short work of the Martlets flying overhead and 10 minutes after being spotted the first planes began diving on the Formidable.



PLanes and flak filled the air as the Royal Navy ships and their Dutch destroyer escorts circled and sped around as Japanese bombs and torpedoes fell among them. The great carrier took one torpedo early on in the massacre that severely hampered her ability to maneouver, and she was far from being the only ship hit.

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 77
B5N2 Kate x 152
D3A1 Val x 143



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 21 damaged
D3A1 Val: 9 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 7 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Formidable, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 6, and is sunk
DD Isaac Sweers, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
CL Mauritius, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CL Dauntless, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Stronghold, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Panther, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Tjerk Hiddes, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
CL Glasgow, Bomb hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

120 miles to the east, FAA Albacores found the enemy carriers and with great valour started attack runs against the steel behemoths. Yet their slow speed was no shelter from the A6M2s on CAP and by days end all Albacores had been shot down with not even a sniff of a Japanese ship.



The news was kept secret in the United Kingdom as much as possible but the First Sea Lord immediately launched a board of inquiry. The immediate thoughts, however, were with the next move on the part of the Japanese. Was their target Ceylon, or did the presence of the main carrier battle fleet indicate an operation on a much wider scale? Surely the small landings on the Nicobars did not need such a massive presence of firepower and protection?

Ramon told me in an email exchange last night that this encounter was totally unexpected. To be honest it was on my part as well. Despite the loss of the Formidable, I wonder of this has put a strategic spanner in his works. I now know where the KB is and its likely destination. I know now its not in the Solomons area or in CENTPAC. Ramon also said that a similar move was foiled about a month ago when spotter planes and subs detected the KB in Georgetown. What is definitely going to happen is that Ceylon and the Indian seab board will be put on full alert! The idea behind the raid on the Nicobar landings was based on the sightings of several CS in the Solomons making me think the KB was there. I also have no doubt that Ramon is well aware of my build up in the Fiji-New Caledonia area. I also believed that a quick hit and run was possible as IJAAF assets in Rangoon were intent on attacking my Burma Army forces and raiding Chittagong. The situation could have been worse if the KB had caught the Dorsertshire task force as well. What I will do first is rebase most RN units from Colombo to Bombay as I have another carrier, the Hermes and a lot of RN CAs and BBs currently at Colombo.

Obviously Ceylon has truned into a hive of activity. All shipping has been disperesed to Goa, Bangalore and Bombay while surface assests have been ordered to hide among the Maldive Islands as the genus of a plan has been hatched by Eastern command. If more than one Carrier Division is present I can also expect attacks on Madras and Calcutta, though I doubt the latter as this will put the KB within range of substantial LBA. A squadron of P-40s has been transferred to Madras from Chittagong and aircraft in Colombo dispersed among the fields on Ceylon. The carrier Indomitable is being prepared to leave dry dock and will be ready in 48 hours. The main RN contingent, most R Class Battleships and cruisers, plus the Hermes, have been ordered to the Maldvies in the hope of being able to sweep behind the Japanese main force and spot and attack its support train. We pray for some good awful weather to help us in this endevaour!

Elsewhere:

Fighting rages in Batavia as the Japanese make the suburbs and the action descends into a nightmare of hand to hand, house to house butchery.

In North East China a Japanese attempt to approach Kweisui from the East was beaten back. An armoured car/cavalry brigade attacked Chinese positions outside the city and was bloodily repulsed. The burning hulks of 16 armoured cars testament to the effectiveness of recently arrived and eployed 37mm anti tank guns.

In the Fiji area the First USN Battlegroup, built around the New Mexico, has arrived and is going to rendevous with the Wasp. Following on behind three destroyer minelayers will carry out a fast minelaying operation of Tulagi. Recon by B-17s from Efate over this base will also start tomorrow.

The sea around Perth is clear of enemy carriers so diverted shipping is being ordered back to the base.