Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[bigbaba]

the loses are so damnd "one-sided" in favour of the allied. grats to the good progress of the war, vettim.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: bigbaba

the loses are so damnd "one-sided" in favour of the allied. grats to the good progress of the war, vettim.

Thank you Bibgbab. I have had some things go unexpectingly well for me that have led me to this point. I am planning on doing a June 7th/eighteen month update to give an idea of what those things are. the biggest is winning tow out of three of the major carrier battles so far.

So I think we are at 21 May 1943. Is there anything worse than those days after you send your ships on a big op and the time it takes for them to get there? Most of the units for Louey will arrive at Nanumea in two to three days. Tarawa currently sits at 133 Fighters 0 bombers. I will watch this number most carefully. I know there are sub laid mines at Abemama so the entire op will be proceeded by a MSW TF under cover of CV LRCAP. When we get to D-day - 14 from the Tarawa invasion I will send in the BB's to rip this base apart.

At Tavoy I have reduced forts to 6. If the weather would clear and let my bombers fly I might be able to speed this up a bit. Still have an Indian ID and a tank RGT one hex out of Tavoy.

The PM/Lae area has become a meat grinder of late with both sides taking heavy losses. Even though air losses are near equal, I have sunk a bunch of AK/AP's. I have some units that could help tip the scales to the Allied favor at Darwin. Perhaps its time to add some fuel to the fire in this zone if for no other reason to fuel the fire even more.

[vettim89]

After months of waiting, I just sent Larry the turn initiating Operation Louey. From Nanumea 64 B-17J set at 100 ft are sent to Tarawa escorted by 100 P-38. From Nukefutau 150 4E will attack Tarawa AB at 15k feet. From Nanumea two CVTF, a MSW force, an ASW force and the first four TRANTF set off for Abemama

Here's hoping

[ny59giants]

From Nanumea 64 B-17J set at 100 ft are sent to Tarawa escorted by 100 P-38.

I see there is no HR for your 4e bombers. Your opponent will continue to pay for that oversight.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

From Nanumea 64 B-17J set at 100 ft are sent to Tarawa escorted by 100 P-38.

I see there is no HR for your 4e bombers. Your opponent will continue to pay for that oversight.

No that was a typ - should have read B-25J

[vettim89]

23 May 1943

The turn could not have gone better. The day starts with 138 fighters and over 100 auxillaries based at Tarawa. The raids went off in the exact order I wanted them. Sometimes its better to be lucky than good. SO here it is:

Raid 1

The P-38's escort the B-25J raid in and it was pretty bloody. I lose 24 P-38G and 18 B-25J but the Cap is serious depleted.

Raid 2

The 4E do there stuff and I lose 2 B-17E. The CAP must have been fatigued and/or damaged by the first raid to the point of being completely ineffective.

Total Japanese losses for the two raids was 46 Ki-44 Tojo, 16 A6M3a Zeke, and 11 Ki-61 Tony.

Raid 3

The USN jumps the resupply TF at Tarawa. As you can see, the CAP was finished off by then

Day Air attack on TF, near Tarawa at 84,95


Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 59
TBF Avenger x 54


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 3 damaged
TBF Avenger: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Syogen Maru, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Asama Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kosin Maru, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
PG Kongosan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tangshan Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Fukeui Maru #7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Syohei Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
PC Ch 11, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Komaki Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Asakasan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PG Seisho Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
PC Ch 19 - darn, I missed one!

Image shows the state of affairs now. My transports should be able to offload at Abemama now without much interference. The good news is the REPL TF at Nanumea with CVE-R did its job and the CV air groups are at full strength

[vettim89]

24 May 1943

Transports are unloading at a terribly slow pace. This was good practice for me for the run up for the actual Tarawa operation. LST's are earning their nickname and will not arrive to next turn. When I go for Tarawa I now know that the LST TF will have to be the leader with everybody else following. No air opposition from the Japanese. Losses were 5 B-25J, 1 B-24, and 1 B-17 for 10 Ki-44 Tojo, 6 Ki-64 Tony, and 5 A6M3a Zeke (oh and a Dave)

Naval air continues to rip apart the TF at Tarawa which was bigger than I initially thought:

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 51
TBF Avenger x 52


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Syohei Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
PG Kongosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Asama Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Asakasan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tangshan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Seisho Maru, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

I still didn't hit that darn PC Ch 19!!!!!!! There is a TF just south of Kwajalein that is giving me a 3 CA, 1 AK reading so far. I can't beleive that Larry would send a SCTF into the maelstrom I have created south of Tarawa. I wonder if this is a CVTF. Hmmmm. Well this TF will need to get past more than a dozen submarines to get close. We shall see. I have a TF with 27 k supplies on board I wanted to get into Abemama, but I diverted it temporarily to Nanumea until I see what this phantom is about. Checked the ops report and there does not seem to be any Japanese CV a/c on search north of Tarawa. Hmmmmm, again

Tavoy forts fell to 5 with a deliberate attack that came off at 3 to 1. Troops are in good shape so we press on. One more tank RGT is at 44 miles progress to arrive here. Once here, I will Shock Attack and hopefully take the base

Both CV Formidible at Aden and CV Yorktown at SF turn green on the same day! CV Enterprise is stuck at 19 syst at PH. There is only one damaged AK at PH besides Enterprise yet she just won't rep up. Grr.

Now trying to decide about Tarawa. Once I take the port to 100 damage I can go but I am wondering if I might at least want to wait for Yorktown. CVL Cowpens will leave the Panama Shipping Channel next turn. If I wait for Yorktown that would give me three CV's and 4 CVL's to cover the invasion. Still nearly 50 days before I see any more new carriers (when I get 2 CVL's and a CV in a twenty day period). By then hopefully Enterprise would be operational again which would give me five CV's and 6 CVL's.

[vettim89]

25 May 1943

Unloading proceeds at Abemama. The Phantom TF I saw ended up being an ASW TF. Ch 21 is torpedoed by a Gato class boat and sinks. Tarawa AB is 100% damaged. The supply convoy is released and is now moving toward Abemama. The AB is alread 9% to level 1. I need to reread that amphibious ops thread as I thought I had unerloaded these TF's enough that they should have offloaded in a day. I loaded each unit into an individual TF then combined them all. I used the 5 to 1 ratio of AP/AK. I tried to provide 3x the neaded AP capacity for each unit.

Bad weather over PNG socked everybody in. In truth both sides could use a respite. The fighting here has been brutal and nearly even. My once veteran 75 Sq. RAAF is now mediocre - avg exp was 75 now 62. Good news is the novices flyinf USAAF a/c are now getting to be a little better experience. I have the first P-47C squadron on its way to Oz to enter the fray.

Tavoy falls under the weight of a 25 to 1 Deliberate Attack. The retreating Japanese units teleport through what will be a 45 to 60 day trail march for me to catch up to them. Well this happened to my units retreating from Magwe in 1942 so I guess I can't complain. Its decision time for me in this theatre. I can either wait for the UK CV's to try an amphibious op towards Victoria Point or move overland toward Bangkok. With the limited lift available, an Amphibious op seems dicey. Bu Bangkok is on the wrong side of the hill if you will, i.e. supplies can only move via land and air. Well lets get Tavoy repaired and some a/c in there while I stew on this.

[vettim89]

26-29 May 1943

Slow few days. My transports are still unloading at Abemama. I figured out what went wrong. For some reason a disproportionate number of troops loaded onto the AK's vice AP's. I don't understand why this happened as there was ample AP space available. A typical TF show the AK's at 50-60% load while the AP's were at 20-30%. I don't get it. Good news is Abemama has a level 1 AB and two squadrons of F4U-1's there.

The sub war has been intense with both sides ASW forces. I have several subs with moderate damage heading home. Larry has the same. SS Rasher topedoed and sank a TK loaded with oil in the Makassar Straits.

My Liberators hit Bangkok again and have reduce the undamage HI there to 2. Hopefully the next raid will permanent destroy some.

A TF with two BF is making its way to Tavoy. AV support is being flown in. Will send fighters in first then expand AB to 7. Will hammer Bangkok and Victoria Point from here

[ny59giants]

If you have the time, I would start to load AKs the day after you have started the AP loading. Don't want the AI to get confused!! [:D] I add the AKs to the other TF once they are fully loaded.

If you can keep Tarawa's AF knocked out, you could invade with just LRCAP over your transports.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

If you have the time, I would start to load AKs the day after you have started the AP loading. Don't want the AI to get confused!! [:D] I add the AKs to the other TF once they are fully loaded.

If you can keep Tarawa's AF knocked out, you could invade with just LRCAP over your transports.

I think the problem was I had less than a 5 to 1 AP/AK ratio. Where I should have had five AP and one AK, I had five AP and two AK. guess I thought if a little was good, more would be better. Guess I thought wrong.

As the the LRCAP thing, I considered it but as I would be very heavily relying on Abemama for that operation, one bad day of thunderstorms could spell disaster. I think I better do this under CV cover for safety sake.

30 May 1943

Everything but the AK's has about finshed unloading at Abemama. Larry snuck a sub in and torpedoes an AK which will likely sink. ASW forces punished this invader approriately but did not sink her. ANother ASW TF found I-30 south of Abemama and did sink her.

Almost hit "End Orders" when an icon caught my eye. Bangkok once again has a/c at it. In fact intel says there are 180 fighters there. I almost sent a ful raid of Liberators and B-24's in unescorted. Instead this planes will hit Vicoria Point where strike aircraft flew from last turn and sank two MSW at Tavoy. Av support is in place at Tavoy and about 80 Spits and Hurricanes are in place. As to Bangkok, this will be an even easier nut to crack this time with Tavoy in my hands. Last time I had to rely soley on P-38's ot of Rangoon. Now the UK fighters can assist the Op. Need to move and rest some units up but will probably start Operation Will He Never Learn in two days

[vettim89]

30-31 May 1943 (I messed up my dates)

Well this is why trying the invasion of Tarawa with just LBA LRCAP is a bad idea. Larry was able to fly several strike missions into Rangoon and torpedo BB Ramiles in the AM turn on the 30th. She will survive but will probably be out of the war for a year. Weather socked in all my fighters at Rangoon, Moulmein, and Ramree Island durin the AM turn. That is why I don't want to do the Tarwa invasion without the Carriers.

My ASW forces sink another sub at Abemama. Larry has now lost one Ro class and two I class subs trying to interfere here. Transports are slowing making their way back to Samoa. Once back there I will begin organizing for Operation Happy - the invasion of Tarawa. Abemama will go to a level 2 AB next turn. I have two more squadrons of F4U-1 waiting to transfer in. When it goes to level 3 I will move in SBD's which will pummel the port along with 4e from Nukefutau and B-25's from Nanumea.

The first Marine division is sitting at Kormac 100% prepped for Nauru Is (sp?). I will move a NZ Brigade or two up to take its place then move this unit up to Lunga. It will jump off from there to Nauru once Tarawa is occupied.

CVL Cowpens is two days out of Pago Pago. CV Yorktown has completed her April Upgrade and is at 8 SYST damage. CV Enterprise dropped to 18 SYST but is stuck there. I have two groups of DD's needing upgrades inbound to PH. They will escort The Big E to SF to finish repairing and upgrade at WC ports themselves.

I am really curious as to what the troop strength is at Wake. Unfortunately in Big B I do not have a singel aircraft capable of reconning the base from Midway.

Building up my fighter strength to start Operation Will He Ever Learn in a few days. I plan to commit about 200 UK fighters and 140 P-38G's to thsi op. My groups are all well experienced so I am hoping this plus overwhelming numbers will quickly elminate the fighter strength at Bangkok

[vettim89]

1-4 June 1943

Things slow over the last week of the war. I continue to pound Tarawa's port in anticipation of invasion in within the next two weeks. Lots of Japanese sub activities in the area but they have hit a grand total of one AK which will be saved in exchange for three subs lost. Yorktown seems to be stuck at 8 syst dam. Probably will drop 2 points in one day soon which seems to be a recurrent pattern for me - no change for a week or more than drop 3 or 4 points in two days. CVL Cowpens is at Pago Pago repping up her freshly upgraded F6F sq. I keep forgetting the CVL's arrive with F4f's and need upgrading before departing Panama. No biggie

Units are almost in position for Operation Will He Ever Learn. There are 192 RAF fighters at Tavoy, another 70 at Moulmein, and 144 at Rangoon. Cursor intel says 225 fighters at Bangkok so it will be bloody. My hope is my superior EXP will carry the day as all my units have been in the thick of it for over a year.

The IJA cleared my one unit off the trail from Sian to Honan. They then tried a deliberate attack on the 4th that was disasterous. Base AV is 2 to 3 in my favor behind level 9 forts. I have to wonder if this was just a probing attack to see how stout my defenses were.

[vettim89]

5 June 1943

Units are in place for Operation WHEEL (Will He Ever Learn). 192 RAF fighters will sweep Bangkok today. Depending on the results of this mission, I will send in 300 bombers from Rangoon tomorrow (1/2 B-25, 1/2 Liberators). This one will probably cost me a lot as fighter strength at Bangkok is now 248. Still Larry's refusal to engage me in a long term battle of attrition on the map forces me to engage him where I can.

I will hand it to Larry. He has the ability to force my hand and then get out when things turn against him very quickly. So many times I just want to send him a PM saying, "Stand still, Larry, so I can hit you!"

Checked the ships sunk screen today. US modern subs have sank 47 Japanese ships since the first of the year including BB Nagato. Up unitl 1 January 1943, I had sunk one TK. Now that number is more than a dozen. Lift has got to be becoming an issue for Larry as I also sank over 40 ships at Bangkok

[FOW]

Sealift will only become a problem once you sink 200+ AP/AK (IMO).
Tankers are a much more fragile commodity - sink 50+ of these and it will really hurt oil shipments.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: FOW

Sealift will only become a problem once you sink 200+ AP/AK (IMO).
Tankers are a much more fragile commodity - sink 50+ of these and it will really hurt oil shipments.

I will have to check those numbers but I know he lost over 30 AP around Bangkok. Will have to make TK a priority - oops, come to think of it, they already are.

6-7 June 1943

I am posting from work so no screenies but I do have some nice ones. Weather delayed Operation Whe(e)l by one day. It was a bloody day. Air losses were high on both sides but the Allies came out on top by a score of about 80 to 60. Bangkok is now empty again as I am sure Larry could see I only committed the RAF and the heavies were coming. They are being sent today any way. I am going to shut the AB down again and then dedicate the 2e to keeping it closed and the 4e to finishing off the HI and resources there.

Larry moved his carriers to just west of Tarawa and launched on the last TF unloading at Abemama. The F4U first wiped out a small strike of Kates (11 killed out of 11 sent). Then the big strike came in. A massive air battle ensued that was highly effective as far as shredding the strike but there were just too many bombers. Japanese losses were 27 A6M3a, 22 Kate, and 17 Val offset by 3 F4U lost. I lost two DD's and will likely lose two more plus two or three AK's. I am sprinting my CV's north to three hexes south of the current Japanese position. Unsure what I am facing here but the strikes were a combined total of 54 A6M3a, 74 Val, and 35 Kate. Thinking at least two CV's and a CVL. Cursor intel is no help. Still, the CAP has to be seriously depleted here as FOW reported all 54 A6M3a destroyed in the raid - a/c loss screen says 27 so that means there are a lot of damaged airframes.

I will oppose him with two CV's and 3 CVL's. CVL Cowpens is on its way to Nanumea but is still several days out. I left the TF with the damaged ships at Abemama. I am hoping this will distract at lesat some of the Japanese CV's. Should be a big battle next turn.

[vettim89]

8 June 1943

Our CV's met just west of Makin Island and luck was not with me today. Two strikes were launched against the Japanese CV's. The first scored no hits and the second scored only 3 bomb and one TT hit on Akagi and 3 bomb hits on Zuiho. Akagi's atttack gave me a magazine explosion critical damage read but who knows with FOW. Counter strike by the Japanese trashed CV Essex (84 syst, 74 flood, 47 fire) she's a goner. CVL Princeton was also hit hard.

Of course the prelude to all this was two bombardments of Abemama leaving that base trashed and almost devoid of functional a/c.

I am pulling everything back and leaving Essex as bait (well not really leaving her behind as I have no choice). Airframe losses were bad on both sides so my only hope is that Larry's carriers have shot their bolt. There is a TF NE of Tarawa with transports. I figure this may be an invasion TF for Abemama as the bombardment attacks mean an imminent invasion per our HR. I still have Wasp and two undamged CVL's heading south plus CVL Cowpens racing north. If I can get my carriers back to Nanumea, I should be able to to get things in order to counter the invasion.

[vettim89]

current situation

[vettim89]

9 June 1943

In PH, Adm. Nimitz breaths a sigh of relief as the Japanese TF's all run away. Now I am almost in the same exact position I was four months ago except now I am trying to save Essex vice Hornet. The difference is that this time I own the battlefield. Other than subs, there is no real threat to further damage to Essex. So now its just a race against progressive flooding. AR's inbound to Nanumea. If Essex makes it, she should be saved. Out of the war for a year but saved. My Undamaged CV's should be inrange of the CVE-R's at Nanumea next turn so the air groups should start looking better. Abemama is not repairing very quickly. Once I clean this mess up, I think I will bull rush Tarawa. Larry is down to one undamaged CV (Kaga). I need to get that AB

At SF, Yorktown drops to 6 Syst (a point in each of the last two days). Told you this was going to happen. My first RN CV upgraded to Corsair IV's. Just a few weeks before I can move on Port Blair

[ny59giants]

The questions is, have you made the appropriate sacrifices to the dice gods??
The next day will give the result. If your float damage decreases, you have a good chance. If it goes north, then she is apart of the sea floor.