Dutch AVP Arend: Scenario 1 Exploits

[WEXF]

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More specifics were shared on the situation at Soerabaja. The Japanese had made a deliberate attack on the base but were not able to conquer the city. Three of the smallest Dutch remnant units were eliminated but each of them have had small detachments evacuated to Australia and will hopefully be able to rebuild to some degree overtime. Most of the reinforcements that will be able to add to the Dutch units in Australia will be support and aviation support as the relevant Dutch pools are pretty empty.
One of the three eliminated units was the Medan Garrison. The remnant in Australia is at Perth under the command of LTC Cavendish and is made up of only 1 rifle squad and 3 AAMG. There is the potential for this unit to add 36 support.

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[WEXF]

The next day of repairs on AVP Arend show her now at 0-18-0 17(41%)=41.5. She had been at 0-20-0 6(14%)=42.9. That means that the Perth SY provided a total of 97 Equivalent Repair Points this turn. Last turn 91 were delivered. One week is all that is shown to remain for repairs to be completed.
The numbers are coming together. It has been consistent that roughly 42 Equivalent Repair Points are necessary to remove 1 point of damage. That would mean that the 18 points of flotation damage that remains would need 18x42=756 ERP to complete the work. At the rate of 97 ERP/day for the remaining 7 days there would be only 679 ERP delivered or 77 short of what was needed. However, the number of ERP that are being delivered has been increasing each day so it makes sense that over the next week that trend will continue and all the work needed will be done.

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No additional improvements in the air skills of the 700 Squadron's pilots were reported this turn.

[WEXF]

Repairs on Arend continue to progress. She had been at 0-18-0 17(41%)=41.5 and is now at 0-16-0 33(80%)=41.3. That calculates out to 88 equivalent repair points being received this turn. Last turn 97 were received. The numbers continue to get closer as the days needed to complete repairs remained at 7. If 90 ERP are delivered each day that would total to 630. For 16 damage to be repaired with each needing 42 ERP that comes to 672.
Good news on the training of the pilots of 700 Squadron as PO Caruthers ASW went from 27>28 and his Defense from 44>45.

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[WEXF]

As the sun cam up on 29May repairs on AVP Arend has again moved along as expected. She had been at 0-16-0 33(80%)=41.3 and was now at 0-13-0 3(7%)=42.9. That calculates out to Arend having received 93 Equivalent Repair Points from the Perth SY this turn. Last turn she received 88. The estimate is now just 6 more days being needed to complete the work. The numbers are getting very close. If 93 ERP are received each day for the 6 remaining says the total would be 558. Using the 42 ERP being needed to repair each point of damage calculates out to 13x42=546.
Additional good news from 700 Squadron as PO Caruthers improved his ASW skill from 28>29.

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[WEXF]

The evening get together at the Officer's Club found most of the discussion centered on the likely upcoming loss of Java. Although some pockets of resistance remained, the large base at Soerabaja and the key base of Tjilatjap would not be able to hold out for long. There was a rumor that a last ditch attempt to extract remnants of some units to Australia was being undertaken. One of the units was Korps Marechausee BN (KMB from now on). This infantry unit originally was based at Sabang on Sumatra, under the command of Major van den Prock (fixed in the Editor). Originally KMB was at 128% of TOE with a number of devices dispersed. In total KMB had 60 KNIL rifle squads and 48 support. KMB's TOE was quite different as it also included a few 47mm ATG, 80mm Mortars and Vickers squads.

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As the situation on Sumatra worsened KMB was moved from Sabang and joined in the defense of the oil fields at Medan. On 6Apr, near Medan, KMB surrendered to part of the Japanese 18th Division. At the time KMB consisted of only 4 squads and some support troops.

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A few PP were spent to "buy back" KMB and its return date was set at the end of May.

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[WEXF]

The expectation of what KMB would look like when it returned in late May was low. Only a single 80mm Mtr and 14 Second Line Troops were in the plan.

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On May 28, as orders were being written, KMB had arrived at Tjilatjap to join the 5th Coastal Gun BN.

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KMB was exactly as had been expected: one mortar and 14 troops. Interestingly, command was now under the higher ranked LTC Konink. 2PP had been spent to change the command to ABDA.

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28May was going to be a busy day. The enemy successfully attacked Tjilatjap, but KMB was not listed as taking part in the battle.

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A staff officer from Perth HQ, also at the club, said that he expected a briefing would be scheduled soon to update everyone on what was happening on Java.

[WEXF]

The officers in Perth gathered for a hastily called "Sumatra" briefing. They were told that a decision had been made to try and extract the Korp Marechausee BN from Tjilatjap. KMB had just arrived following being rebuilt but it was unclear whether an extraction would be possible while a battle was raging for control of the base? Command decided that the 3 PBY-5 Catalina patrol planes of GVT-5 based at Exmouth would fly the mission. The range was about the maximum that could be flown but the decision was "GO"!
GVT-5 had originally been equipped with Do-24K-1 aircraft and based at Ternate but as bases in Australia were changed to ABDA Command, was able to transfer to Exmouth. The three planes and pilots were in excellent condition with low fatigue and no damage. Morale was high.

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The mission had pretty good weather and was successful in that a remnant of KMB safely made it to Exmouth. Details of the mission showed that all three PBY-5 took part. This was confirmed by looking at the missions flown by the pilots. The KMB remnant now in Exmouth amounted to only a single disabled "support" containing only 5 "other troops". One of the troops was the commander, LTC Konink. What happened to the other 9 troops and the 80 mm Mortar was unclear, but they were not extracted. There is no doubt that the three planes had the capability to carry the rest of KMB, but they just didn't make it out.

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The plan was for the remnant to be rebuilt to the extent possible, given the shortages of devices available to Dutch troops, by basing KMB at a base with lots of supplies, like Perth. On 29May GVT-5 was ordered to fly KMB to Perth. The squadron was set for 60% "rest", expecting that not all planes would be needed. [Note: I believe the 60% setting would have had one of the planes not flying.]
Weather on 29May was "Clear Sky" but the mission never took off. KMB remained in Exmouth.

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Looking at the unit screen for KMB on 30May, Fatigue is up from 2>3 and Morale is up from 40>42. A decision was made by command to keep KMB set at "rest" in Exmouth, instead of at "combat", until the disabled "support" recovers before trying to move it to Perth. Hopefully, the KMB remnant will survive in Exmouth. It certainly could not make it over land through the terrible terrain of northern Australia.

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[WEXF]

The small remnant of KMB in Exmouth did not have the ability to hang on. On 31May a message was received saying KMB had "Dispersed" or "ceased to exist". It will be interesting to see if the commander LTC Konink will at some point be "ready for assignment" or if he is gone forever.

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KMB now appears in the list of "destroyed units".

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I have always said that I am doing this AAR as a way of learning some of the details on how WITP-AE works. Notice that on 30 May KMB was not listed as a "Destroyed Unit". That was expected. I noticed for the first time that a "mouse over" of the Dutch destroyed units shows a statement that reads: "Cannot rebuild units that have no active home base". The home base for Dutch units starts as Tj and if Tj is captured Soerabaja becomes home base. Now that both are gone-that's it. At some point when one of the two are recaptured the status will change again but that is some time in the future!

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I also learned something else from the mission to extract KMB. At the time of the mission Tj was under attack and the day of the extraction Tj fell to the enemy. The Static unit in Tj at the time of the attack was forced to retreat and in the process lost all of its coastal guns. With those guns gone the unit is still shown as "static" but it can move as shown in this screen.

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Hopefully the unit will make it to the mountains to help with the final defense of the DEI.

[WEXF]

The long anticipated fall of Soerabaja has happened. It looks like out engineers did a pretty good job of leaving the base in shambles. The port is completely damaged and most of the facilities will take quite a while for the enemy to repair if Japanese high command will allocate the supplies needed for the job.
Many of the 14 defending units that were destroyed were pretty weak and 6 of them have remnants in Australia (red mark in the screen).
The large enemy force is likely to move toward Batavia to finish their consolidation of the DEI.

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[WEXF]

There was some more good news as the progress report on the repairs of AVP Arend were reviewed. She had been at 0-13-0 3(7%)=42.9 and was now at 0-11-0 20 (48%)=41.7. That calculates out to Arend having received 101 Equivalent Repair Points this turn. She received 93 last turn. Indicators are that it will only be 5 more days before Arend is ready to join the fleet.
The numbers are fairly consistent. As repairs continue, the number of "repair points" needed to remove a single point of damage (as calculated from the data in the upper right box of the ship screen has always been around 42. As the damage levels have been dropping the number of "Equivalent Repair Points" that the 30 "Repair Points" provided by the Perth SY have generally been increasing.
The 11 remaining flotation damage would take 462 RP if calculated by using 42 as the number needed for each point of damage.
If 101 ERP are received each of the next 5 days the total would be 505.
One thing that is absolutely clear is that the 30 RP provided by the SY, if not adjusted by the "repair Manager", would not be enough to repair the 11 remaining points of damage in the remaining 5 days.
More good news. The ASW skill rating for PO Caruthers has improved from 30>31. Fatigue on the Walrus II float plane is only 10.

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[WEXF]

Another day of repairs has been completed on Arend. She is now at 0-9-0 32(78%)=41. She had been at 0-11-0 20 (48)=41.7.
The number of Equivalent Repair Points received this turn were 96. Last turn Arend received 101. The estimate is now that only 4 more days will be needed before Arend will be re-joining the fleet.
PO Caruthers has also improved his ASW skill level from 31>32. Fatigue on the Walrus II is at 11.

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LCDR Goerk is starting to wonder when he will be getting his orders telling him where AVP Arend will be assigned after repairs have been completed.

[WEXF]

Another briefing was held to expand on recent air evacuations from the DEI. On the day that Soerabaja fell the Makassar Base Force had just arrived after being rebuilt. To be sure it was in very weak shape at only 10% of TOE. A squadron of PBYs was sent in to try and extract some portion of the unit to Exmouth. It was successful but was only able to transport 2 40mm AA guns.

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The plan was to rebuild the unit to the degree possible. As orders for 31May were being written Makassar Base Force had already received some engineering and aviation support reinforcements as well as a Militia Squad and was looking like it would once again be able to contribute to the war effort. It will take time but it will get done!

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[WEXF]

As the month of June42 starts Arend is now at 0-6-0 15(36%)=41.6. She had been at 0-9-0 32(78%)=41.0. That means Arend received 108 Equivalent Repair Points this turn, She received 96 last turn. The estimate is that it will only be 3 moreruthers days before Arend is ready to join the fleet. The exact location of her new assignment is classified but the scuttlebutt is that she will be stationed near Perth.
Good news was also received on the training of the pilots of 700 Squadron. PO Caruthers increased his ASW skill from 34>35.

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[WEXF]

The 2June results for the repairs on Arend continue to be consistent. She had been at 0-6-0 15(36%)=41.6. Arend is now at 0-4-0 38(92%)=41.3. This means that Arend received 109 Equivalent Repair Points this turn from the Perth SY, set at "high" priority. Last turn she received 108. The estimate is that only 2 more days will be needed before Arend is ready to return to the fleet.
I thought this would be a good time to review what has happened to AVP Arend so far during the war. She was originally based at Ambon where she provided seaplane support for some Dutch patrol planes. On 27Dec41 Arend was hit by a single 250kg GP bomb dropped by a D3A1 Val and suffered heavy damage and was on fire. The fires were extinguished but damage was really bad at 41-62(51major)-8.
Captain LCDR Goerk and his crew (starting experience 25-20 now 33-26) managed to get Arend to Darwin for some repairs and eventually was able to move along the northern coast of Australia to Exmouth and then south to Perth where repairs have been continuing to the present day.
Arend is a slow, small ship at only 1020 tons and is lightly armed but not defenseless. Her 75mm AA guns provide a decent range of 12,000 to defend against surface action by enemy submarines as well as decent AA to augment some small AAMG. Her 75mm SA No. 4 AA guns have a ceiling of 25,000, effect of 13 and a ROF of 28. She is one of only a few Dutch AVP tenders that has the ability to carry a single onboard aircraft while also being able to support 7 seaplanes.

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Some additional excellent news was that PO Caruthers had improved his ASW skill from 35>38 and his experience from 46>48!

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[WEXF]

Intel on the condition of Soerabaja has come in for two more days. Allied detection levels are dropping as recon over the area is no longer possible. It does look like the condition of the refinery, oil facilities, light and heavy industry and the port, airfield and shipyard are in pretty bad shape. It will require lots of time and supply for Soerabaja to become a major base for the enemy.

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[WEXF]

Excitement is really running high as the crew of Arend is anticipating their ship being ready for action after months of repairs. Latest data has Arend at 0-1-0 21(51%)=41.2. This turn she received 109 ERP compared to 108 last turn. The estimate is that only a single day is needed to complete repairs.
A decision has been made on where Arend will be ordered to but all the crew has been told is that it will be along the west coast of Australia.
PO Caruthers has improved his ASW skill from 38>39.
LCDR Goerk bought a round of drinks for the crew and pilots that were about to get back in action!

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[Spanno]

Just caught up and I believe I've done it at the right time, can't wait to see where the ship goes to next!

[WEXF]

Just caught up and I believe I've done it at the right time, can't wait to see where the ship goes to next!

Spanno:
Great to know that you are enjoying the AAR. I wonder how many are actually following this. I decided to do the AAR as a means of improving my understanding of how our game works and from that point of view this has been a great process. I have learned a lot. The orders for AVP are being cut as I am writing this.
First, I want to share another small rule clarification that I just learned.

[WEXF]

On page 16 of this AAR I talked about a number of Dutch ground units that had been destroyed and were in the process of being rebuilt. My understanding of the rules for the return of rebuilt Dutch units was according to Rule 16.6 that reads in part:
"...If all arrival locations for the unit are enemy controlled, the unit will arrive as soon as one of the locations is recaptured..."
Dutch units have Tjilitjap and Soerabaja listed as arrival locations.
Here is the way the "Arrival Schedule" looked on 3Jun. The Kendari Base Force is expected to arrive in 2 days but the Base of Arrival, Tj, is shown in red because it is under Japanese control. Soerabaja is also under Japanese control so I thought that the Kendari Base Force would not arrive on map until one of the two were re-captured.

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I was wrong. On 4Jun Kendari Base Force arrived in San Francisco! It was a skeleton of a unit as was expected. These two screen shots show what was expected when the unit was "bought back" and what arrived in SF.

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Everything is the same including the name of the unit commander. The same 5 "devices" are included but there is more information on what the unit could be built up to as it receives reinforcements, attempting to get to its TOE shown in this screen.

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Naturally, not all of the devices needed will be available to Dutch units but many are "common", so it is expected that the Kendari Base Force will become a significant "support" unit.
The 12.7mm AAMG upgrades to Bren AAMG(2). The Bren is much more effective (14 vs. 10) but has a lower ceiling (2100 vs. 3200). Not likely to be a factor against enemy aircraft other than strafing fighters but could be a decent ground defense weapon.
Hopefully, being in SF will help with the rebuilding. It will be interesting to watch the progress. Two more Dutch units are scheduled to arrive is a few days. I will be looking for then as I ride the cable cars to the top of Nob Hill!

[BBfanboy]

Interesting that the TOE shows 40mm AA gun 42 in two different slots, 2 each instead of 4 in one slot. I wonder if this is because a device the unit had at game start was replaced in the TOE upgrade to 40mm in the same slot. (IIRC there were some Rheinmetal AA guns in Dutch units).
The only other reason I can think of for the same device in two slots is some hidden algorithm for how the AI handles the AA devices protecting the unit - like covering attacks from different directions? I have no evidence of this happening but IRL in a 46 mile wide hex the unit could be spread out enough that the AA guns on one side of it could not fire at an attack from the other side.