Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The USN has much larger fuel bunkers on their ships. The CVs alone have Endurance values north of 10K. I didn't need oilers for my trip to Japan in April '42, not like Japan needs oilers if they want to hang around Hawaii at all.

Sure. When did you do that though? Mind messing is saying that I should have gone to the HI instead of to the DEI. Although I'd have loved to hit some industry in the Home Islands, it just wasn't feasible at this point in game with the fuel the CVs begin with and the available mobile replenishment options in the first two weeks of the war.

We traded a couple of sentences about your operation in an email. No reason I can't just basically repeat what I said, which is simply that I agree with your strategic goals on it but I would never have entered the Makassar Strait at this date unless I had managed to fly USN Catalinas to the area to get eyes on Jolo and the Java Sea approaches.

I probably would've just tried bombing Balikpapan from the eastern side of the Celebes, honestly. Or Samarinda. Each point costs 1000 supply and 1000 days before Japan makes that back.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The USN has much larger fuel bunkers on their ships. The CVs alone have Endurance values north of 10K. I didn't need oilers for my trip to Japan in April '42, not like Japan needs oilers if they want to hang around Hawaii at all.

Sure. When did you do that though? Mind messing is saying that I should have gone to the HI instead of to the DEI. Although I'd have loved to hit some industry in the Home Islands, it just wasn't feasible at this point in game with the fuel the CVs begin with and the available mobile replenishment options in the first two weeks of the war.

We traded a couple of sentences about your operation in an email. No reason I can't just basically repeat what I said, which is simply that I agree with your strategic goals on it but I would never have entered the Makassar Strait at this date unless I had managed to fly USN Catalinas to the area to get eyes on Jolo and the Java Sea approaches.

I probably would've just tried bombing Balikpapan from the eastern side of the Celebes, honestly. Or Samarinda. Each point costs 1000 supply and 1000 days before Japan makes that back.

I agree. I had Vindicators at Macassar searching the Sulu Sea and PBYs at Ambon with the Dutch boats and other light bombers at Tarakan, Several recon planes at Cebu. It was pretty covered, but still missed some.

I want to own what happened. It was two days there, one day too many. My mistake as I've said numerous times, but strategically, it was the right choice based on my goals to hit the oil and sink or damage as many IJN forces as possible to limit next stage options for mid-42. I stand by that.

[font="Times New Roman"]SINGAPORE[/font]

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Here is a pic of what is here. One last Malaya brigade is being flown down into the city, which is another 40 AV. The forts are 3.55 and increasing with little bombing so far on the base. With supply at ~63k and fuel ~58k I feel like the base is in decent shape. the sooner the Japanese cross the sooner the industry stops producing of course, but it seems like they don't yet have the forces ready.

Reinforcements are off for the large majority of units, with a few base forces allowed to add, hoping to get some more engineers and tractors to build forts faster.

I've now changed the two division commanders and the Aussie brigade commanders, plus a few of the Bn commanders for the ones with Indian or British squads.

If disabled squads have time to repair, there will be up to around 1350AV here.

Questions:

What is your view on placing small AV units in reserve mode? I assume that you'd keep the small units in play for the initial crossing assault to give you the highest possible AV value, but is there any sense in putting them in reserve mode for later combats in order to preserve their AV as long as possible? Small units seem to get chewed up fast in large brawls between divisions.

How much extra supply have you managed to pour into Singers? With that amount of AV behind forts, supply might become a determining factor for how long you hold out.

What about fighters to delay airfield damage so that forts can continue to build?

ORIGINAL: Simonsez

Questions:

What is your view on placing small AV units in reserve mode? I assume that you'd keep the small units in play for the initial crossing assault to give you the highest possible AV value, but is there any sense in putting them in reserve mode for later combats in order to preserve their AV as long as possible? Small units seem to get chewed up fast in large brawls between divisions.

How much extra supply have you managed to pour into Singers? With that amount of AV behind forts, supply might become a determining factor for how long you hold out.

What about fighters to delay airfield damage so that forts can continue to build?

There is no extra supply. Just what was on Malaya originally, but I tried to draw it all down. As above, currently that's ~63k. The HI/LI are still producing though, so even though the forts use some, it's holding steady now.

The AA will mostly protect the base. It's going to be difficult for the IJAAF to strike here without a lot of losses, but fighters are in base now as well. If I can get Hurris here that would be nice, but they're not around until next month.

Every unit will be in combat mode for any water crossing shock attack. I don't care if they evaporate, but all the troops, guns and vehicles available will make the crossing harder. No sense in saving them for later. The crossing has the most potential to wreck some IJA troops.

A view of the area. Notice the subs around the mini-Kb, in the area near the tip of the Celebes which the KB might have moved through, and less visible, the 3 sitting in the Balikpapan hex.

About 20 subs are approaching North of New Guinea toward Ambon.

The battles around Palembang continue. The devastated USN CA force tries to move back to Singers but the Chester and DDs had extensive damage.

The 2 CA/ 2 CL force that moved in last turn to sink four IJN DDs now finds more CL/DD TFs flooding into the area.

In a running battle the USN eventually punishes the IJN but not without some pain. I still don't know the image results, but some shots were landed as shown below. Luckily no long lance hits. We've been lucky there. The night experience of these ships is 60+ now, which is great if they can live to fight another day. The IJN CAs Maya and Atago disbanded in Palembang, and more will be seen of them soon. [:)]

[font="Trebuchet MS"]AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 08, 42
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Isuzu
CL Kuma, Shell hits 5
DD Shirayuki, Shell hits 1
DD Yakaze
DD Tachikaze

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Houston
CL Honolulu, Shell hits 2
CL Boise, Shell hits 3
DD Craven

Reduced visibility due to Rain with 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 64% moonlight: 6,000 yards

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
CL Kuma, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Shirayuki, Shell hits 1
DD Yakaze
DD Tachikaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Northampton, Shell hits 2
CA Houston, Shell hits 1
CL Honolulu, Shell hits 1
CL Boise
DD Craven, Shell hits 1

Poor visibility due to Rain with 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 64% moonlight: 4,000 yards

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shirayuki, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Yakaze, Shell hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Houston
CL Honolulu
CL Boise
DD Craven, on fire

Low visibility due to Rain with 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 64% moonlight: 4,000 yards[/font]

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Another battle with CL/DD develops after this one.
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 1
CL Yura
DD Yamagumo
DD Harusame, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kiku

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Houston, Shell hits 2
CL Honolulu
CL Boise, Shell hits 3
DD Craven, on fire

Reduced visibility due to Rain with 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 64% moonlight: 6,000 yards
[/font]

CA New Orleans is sunk by Haruna after refusing to take on more fuel from ships in the TF. Really odd that I couldn't refuel her. Maybe damage made it impossible? She went to 0 and the DDs had plenty to get to Singers and could have topped her up. Sad how this has played out. A waste for sure.

Nice to see he's running BBs around with one DD though. I will vector subs accordingly!! [:)]

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Groot Natoena at 57,84, Range 6,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
CA Furutaka
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Low visibility due to Rain with 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 64% moonlight: 6,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...

[/font]

The Perth and Mauritius hit Mersing again, but it looks like some planes are based at Johore Bharu too. Might have to pay some attention there in coming turns. Messing port takes hits and some oaks should be burning out there soon with al of the air and naval strikes hitting them.

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Night Naval bombardment of Mersing at 51,82

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 2 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
xAK Mito Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Tokiwa Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Tarayasu Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Maebasi Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius

Japanese ground losses:
534 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 24
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Walrus II acting as spotter for CL Mauritius
CL Mauritius firing at Mersing
[/font]

Now this is what I'm talking about!! [&o]

Talk about persistence. The commander of the KVIII is hunted by Ikazuchi early in the night but continues to stalk and finds a chance to get at CVE Taiyo for one hit from four launched. One more please!! I feel like we're damaging a lot but not killing these ships off. I may have to pay some attention to Balikpapan port if it looks like the fields there are still damaged and there isn't a solid CAP up.

The fun may end in Balikpapan hex now as mines have been installed. I'll pull subs out to the safer areas around the port.

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ASW attack near Balikpapan at 64,97

Japanese Ships
DD Ikazuchi

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

SS KVIII is sighted by escort
KVIII bottoming out ....

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Sub attack near Balikpapan at 64,97

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo, Torpedo hits 1
DD Ikazuchi

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

SS KVIII launches 4 torpedoes at CVE Taiyo
KVIII bottoming out ....
DD Ikazuchi fails to find sub, continues to search...[/font]

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TF 465 encounters mine field at Balikpapan (64,97)

Allied Ships
SS KXIV, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

Even better!!! [X(][&o]

Yamashiro (if this is correct info and not Fuso) takes another fish!! This would be three for her, and if it is I need to hunt her down and deliver the final blow somehow. Solid work from the USN getting some torpedoes to blow up here. Two so far in the war and no two great big targets.
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Sub attack near Donggala at 69,96

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Torpedo hits 1
SC Ch 4

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon

SS Sturgeon launches 4 torpedoes at BB Yamashiro
Sturgeon diving deep ....[/font]

Vals show up unexpectedly and from the image it looks like most Allied ships are under the clouds. The AMc patrolling become targets, which is great, and get obliterated.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Singkep at 49,88

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
D3A1 Val x 23
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 24
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AMc Rahman, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AMc Jerantut, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb[/font]

The ship names displayed in animations and combat reports are always, always, always 100% accurate.

Whether that torpedo did any damage is another matter [;)]. What damage messages did you see?

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The ship names displayed in animations and combat reports are always, always, always 100% accurate.

Whether that torpedo did any damage is another matter [;)]. What damage messages did you see?

Mmm - I thought the ship names in combat reports were subject to some FOW??

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The ship names displayed in animations and combat reports are always, always, always 100% accurate.

Whether that torpedo did any damage is another matter [;)]. What damage messages did you see?

Mmm - I thought the ship names in combat reports were subject to some FOW??

Not sure which is the FOW - combat report or animation - but I have seen mismatches between them so one of them is not always accurate.
I suspect the animation because during the animation you sometimes get aircraft attacking a ship class whose image is not represented in the animation (i.e. the aircrew have misidentified a target). E.G., I had aircraft attacking CV Shokaku and the text in the animation said "attacking a Japanese CVL". The ID of Shokaku seems more believable because it was identified as such in every other attack and it was in KB (where a CVL would be unlikely).

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The ship names displayed in animations and combat reports are always, always, always 100% accurate.

Whether that torpedo did any damage is another matter [;)]. What damage messages did you see?

Mmm - I thought the ship names in combat reports were subject to some FOW??

They absolutely are not. I don't know that any dev has ever said so either way, but I've never seen ship names vary in combat reports. Ever.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Not sure which is the FOW - combat report or animation - but I have seen mismatches between them so one of them is not always accurate.
I suspect the animation because during the animation you sometimes get aircraft attacking a ship class whose image is not represented in the animation (i.e. the aircrew have misidentified a target). E.G., I had aircraft attacking CV Shokaku and the text in the animation said "attacking a Japanese CVL". The ID of Shokaku seems more believable because it was identified as such in every other attack and it was in KB (where a CVL would be unlikely).

I never have. The ship(s) shown in the picture part of the animation is always the same as the ship(s) shown in the combat report text.

What I think may be being conflated here is when it says "SBD Dauntless attacking Kongo-class Battleship" when it shows BB Fuso on the screen, for example. Those messages should be taken with boulders of salt - they are like the non-animation search result messages in the air phases ("B5N2 Kate attacking DD Fletcher; ...DD Fletcher reported HIT", etc.).

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The ship names displayed in animations and combat reports are always, always, always 100% accurate.

Whether that torpedo did any damage is another matter [;)]. What damage messages did you see?

No messages. Just a hit. No extras. [:(]

Sally's hit Singkawang. I'd moved some fighters here just by chance en route to Singers that couldn't make the jump in one turn. Good timing. Got about 5-6 Sallys and the fields did take damage, but they're not closed.

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Morning Air attack on Singkawang , at 56,88

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 26

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 5
P-40B Warhawk x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 29

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
24th PG/20th PS with P-40B Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
No.453 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes[/font]

Then the Allied 4Es go too Palembang. Some successful strikes here. Lots of hits on the CAs and CL in port, plus a bunch on xAKs that reported OIL CARGO BURNING, which I'll take as a positive sign! [:D]

Still no penetrations to CAs and I'm simply unable to get planes that drop 1000lb bombs to hit a port. Always get caught just as the CAP is able to function again. I may have to try to knock out the fields with the 4Es and then hit later with the Banshees and Vincents. Lost a good number of the Banshees today, which sucks.

CL Natori did take some penetrating hits though, so could be in trouble, finally.

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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
Ki-27b Nate x 7
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 6
B-17E Fortress x 14

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Natori, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kiku, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DMS W-3, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
PB Yahonui Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1
CA Atago, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
xAK Iwashiro Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-27b Nate x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
A-24 Banshee x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Banshee: 5 destroyed
A-24 Banshee: 1 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x A-24 Banshee releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
2 x A-24 Banshee releasing from 4000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-27b Nate x 2

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1

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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
Ki-27b Nate x 2

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Bomb hits 2
CL Natori, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nankai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire[/font]