cap_and_gown(j) v witpqs(a) - no witpqs

[CapAndGown]

July 4, 1943

Not the fireworks I was expecting. A BB TF raced into Ndeni and bombarded the place:
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Naval bombardment of Ndeni at 120,143
Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Musashi
DD Tachikaze
DD Hokaze
DD Yukaze
DD Amagiri
DD Yugiri
DD Sagiri
DD Asagiri
DD Ayanami

Airbase hits 25
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 150
Port hits 49
Port supply hits 13

Amazingly, the allies did not try to contest this even though they have either a cruiser or BB force sitting just 4 hexes away. I was expecting our first major surface engagement since the opening days of the war.

I was shocked that my BBs were still at Ndeni during the day phase. They raced in, but they didn't race out! I forgot to set retirement allowed. Fortunately for me, all the allies had in the way of air power was dive bombers and some Mitchels. They just barely scratched the paint, although I suppose it was good practice for the pilots:
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,143
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13
SBD-3 Dauntless x 77

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 9 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 12, on fire
BB Ise, Bomb hits 7, on fire
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 9, on fire
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 9, on fire

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,143
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Tachikaze
DD Amagiri

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,143
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Yukaze
DD Amagiri

Some Mitchel's also tried to attack one of TF's at Tulagi. They were all shot down:
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 114,137
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 26
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 14

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 9

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 6 destroyed

[aprezto]

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

I was shocked that my BBs were still at Ndeni during the day phase. They raced in, but they didn't race out! I forgot to set retirement allowed. Fortunately for me, all the allies had in the way of air power was dive bombers and some Mitchels. They just barely scratched the paint, although I suppose it was good practice for the pilots:

A dozen sys damage on the big boys takes long enough to repair though - unless you're willing to keep using them slightly damaged?

[koontz]

ORIGINAL: JonReb

War Elephants!? Wait... really?

[X(]
War Elephants!?

is this Rome Total war or? [;)]

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: koontz

ORIGINAL: JonReb

War Elephants!? Wait... really?

[X(]
War Elephants!?

is this Rome Total war or? [;)]

WitP: Age of Empires. [:'(]

ORIGINAL: aprezto
A dozen sys damage on the big boys takes long enough to repair though - unless you're willing to keep using them slightly damaged?

I don't mind driving around in a beater. [;)] Doesn't really take that long to fix, especially if you don't mind not fixing it all the way. At Rabaul, where I have a size seven port, 240 naval points, and 14 ARs it would take 23 days in pierside repair mode at normal priority to totally fix it. I am not going to do that. I put it into harbor in readiness mode and will wait for the damage to come back down into the green; say about a week. Definitely not going to put it in pierside since I may need to scramble.

[CapAndGown]

July 8, 1942

Another bombardment of Ndeni, this time by a cruiser force. We ran into a sub during the extraction phase which put a torp into CL Isuzu. Fortunately, the damage is not too bad, though just a smidge too high to fix in theater.

Right now I am trying to draw out the US surface fleet. They were at Torres Islands, 2 hexes north of Luganville, but have now retreated back to the safety of Luganville's mega-CAP. I want to draw them out so that I can attack them with the KB which is hanging out between Ontong Java and Nauru (and seemingly, so far, undetected).

I was also hoping to shoot down some US transports flying into Ndeni (I assume they are flying in a base force). Well, my LRCAP intercepted some, but none were shot down. I also decided to bomb the runway there in case fighters had been moved in and my bombardment force had not killed them. But to protect the bombers, I sent out sweepers first. They encountered some P-38s on LRCAP. None were shot down, but they were sent packing before the bombers arrived.

Several ops losses to both sides, but nothing special.

My big plans for engaging the US fleet from long distance using the superior range of the Judy and Zero have been shot to hell by a decision by Gary Grisby long ago that the battle of the Philippine Sea cannot happen in WitP. Turns that carrier based planes cannot attack from more than 8 hexes away. Wonderful. (What a crock!) So now I have to seriously rethink how I am going to approach the eventual CV clash.

[CapAndGown]

A few more random notes:

A Yugumo 12/43 class DD arrived two days ago and is on its way down to the Solomons. This is significant because the 12/43 Yugumo's have surface search radar (type 22). This is my first ship to have surface search radar. (A bunch of Shiratsuyu's with type 22 radar will finish refitting on August 1.) This new ship will be added to one of my surface combat groups as soon as it arrives in theater.

More adjustments to production.

In looking over my merchant marine situation I find that I have over 300 xAKs, and perhaps as many as 400 sitting idle. (plus another 200 xAKL's) Therefore I have decided to stop production of all but STD-A class xAKs. I have also decided that any large TK arriving after June, 1944 will not be built. I am looking to get to the point where I can reduce that amount of HI I am spending on merchant shipyards.

George's and A6M5's will become available next month. To prepare for this, I converted two R&D factories over to the George so that they can begin repairing now and start producing planes the very first day the George arrives. (I think I chose the Tony 100 factory and a Tojo IIc factory that had not repaired very far to convert.) I also ordered my A6M3a factories to expand. Currently, I am producing 120 A6M3a's a month. I want a rapid transition to the 5 model (because of its higher durability and greater speed) so I am expanding A6M3a factories to 180 now so that I will be producing that many 5 models when they convert in early August.

I am starting to build a significant stockpile of engines. More on that in a later post.

[CapAndGown]

July 10, 1943

Witpqs sent an S boat into Tulagi harbor to try to shoot at my CAs there. The DDs found it first and landed one or two DCs on it. I am sending in a mine layer to discourage such activity in the future. Another mine laying TF is going to Munda. More PBs were converted to ACMs. I lose an ACM every couple of months to an accident. The Solomons region is infested with subs. I am bringing down some E class boats (former destroyers with high levels of experience) to deal with this and to provide my surface combat TFs with more escorts.

An interesting development today in the realm of intelligence. I got two "heavy radio transmission" reports from Pearl Harbor. First off, I believe that this is where the allied carriers are as they await the arrival of the July reinforcements. More interestingly, because there were two of these reports, I got to "peek" at the forces there. According to the rollover 305 ships are in harbor (no doubt getting ready to load up the next invasion). That is not so interesting since that number is subject to change as soon as his invasion fleet sails. More important than the ships number was the report on the number of AC. Only 35 fighters, 25 bombers, and 40-50 auxiliary are reported. I have also noticed that Colombo is not that well guarded with fighters whenever I have sent recon over there. So I think I am seeing a pattern. It would seem that witpqs is not that worried about a raid on his rear area bases. Right now, of course, his carriers are probably at Pearl and can defend the place. But if this indicates that witpqs is the kind of player that likes to move all his assets forward with very few guarding his rear, then a deep raid might be a real possibility. In particular, I am now thinking about either Colombo or Perth since since I can move into the Indian Ocean undetected. Such a raid could have the advantage of causing witpqs to draw some of his assets away from the front meaning I would not be facing quite the numbers I might otherwise have to face.

[CapAndGown]

July 11, 1943

For two turn in a row I have had a spotting report indicating there is a cruiser TF at Torres Island. Last turn I was not sure whether this report was correct. I am still not sure it is correct. But I have decided to take a chance and try to hit some allied cruisers with the KB.

The Torres Islands are a level 2 airfield so I expect a good deal of opposition by the CAP. I can also expect a return strike, though hopefully not too big. I will be striking from 8 hexes away, the maximum allowed even though the Judy could hit from much further away if not constrained by this artificial limit. I am hoping the 8 hex range will limit the damage of any return strikes. I have set my CAP fighters to 40%. Of course, the 8 hex range may mean I get a bunch of uncoordinated strikes, which could be costly. But I would rather lose planes and pilots than ships.

To provide some insurance, I set two Sentai's of Zeros to sweep Torres Island. I am hopeful that their faster cruising speed will allow them to reach the target before the strikes from the KB arrive, though there is a good chance they will not. Hmm. Maybe I should have set some of the fighters on the KB to sweep rather than escort. Oh well, the turn is sent.

To provide even more insurance, I set two sentai's of Helen's to night bomb Ndeni. Witpqs still has not stationed any planes there, but that could change at any time. A strike from Ndeni would be nasty since my ships would be only 4 hexes away.

Overall, this is a gamble, particularly as to whether my spotting report is anywhere close to correct. I hope the gamble does not go pear shaped.

[CapAndGown]

July 12, 1943

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not one of my attacks happened. No night bombing of Ndeni. No sweep of Torres Island. No naval attacks by the KB. Nothing. And no explanation.

Time to go back to my test bed and find out if the Japanese really can attack from 8 hexes. I bet they can't. I bet that the superior range of Japanese carrier AC is not available at all.

[CapAndGown]

Follow up:

I just ran a test, and yes, the Japanese can attack from 8 hexes. So I have no idea what happened. No messages about weather. There was a good clean spot from multiple different search AC. So I have no clue as to why I did not get an attack.

Well, anyway, I am not sticking around now that the enemy has been alerted to my presence. Time to make the KB disappear again.

[CapAndGown]

July 13, 1943

Witpqs has had several subs constantly hanging out at Stewart Island just south of Tulagi. This is one dot that I never captured since it is a 0/0 SPS base. But this heavy sub activity has me wondering if witpqs is trying to set up a patrol base there on the sly. I will fly some recon there tomorrow to find out. I am also setting up some LRCAP over the island in case he is flying people in. At just 140 miles from my bases and with a continuous CAP over head, you would think somebody would notice if air transport were flying in, but I doubt you can intercept air transports with leaky cap in this game.

I am somewhat miffed that none of his subs have hit my mines. I laid over 60 of them there to try to hit those subs but no joy.

[CapAndGown]

July 14, 1943

Paramashiro-Jima was reconned today. Witpqs is reconning just about everything in the Pacific, but this one got my special attention. I have a Nav Guard there plus the static CD unit. Not enough to defend against even one division. So I loaded up two more Nav Guards that were waiting to be shipped to the south and they will, hopefully, be unloading at Paramahiro if a few days. For the rest of the Kuriles I have a division split up into three regiments and scattered across three islands.

Wake has also been reconned for the last two days. This one doesn't bother me. It makes a good search base, but is not really useful for anything else and not really defensible.

My first recon of Stewart Island did not turn up anything, but I will continue to take a look to be sure.

[CapAndGown]

July 17, 1943

Japanese Intel scores an important and rare coup. "Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at 205,79." (See Map)

This is apparently the allied July reinforcement carriers two days out from San Fransico and 5 days sailing from Pearl Harbor. At least, that is how I interpret the "Heavy Volume" message.

So, 5 days from Pearl. Then refuel, then they set sail for their next invasion. An invasion of either Wake or the Gilberts would take an additional 6 days to reach its target assuming the transports set sail before the carriers with the expectation that the carriers faster cruising speed will allow them to catch up. Let's say then that an invasion is about 2 weeks away. (I should note that this spotting caused me a sigh of relief knowing that the Kuriles are probably not the target and that even if they are I will have adequate time to strengthen my defenses and push out my pickets further to give me greater advance warning.)

I will now let you in on the deepest, darkest secret of the empire because I would like your advice: By Sept. 17 the IJN will have 15 CVs, 6 CVLs, and 6 CVEs (plus that piece of crap Hosho). The Taiho arrived in February and 3 Unryu's arrived at the end of April. Three more Unryu's will arrive by Sept. 17, with the first arriving on August 28. In addition, 2 CVEs will arrive in 20 days and the Chitose and Chiyoda will have finished their conversions at the same time the first of the new Unryu's arrives. This means that within 60 days my carrier force, which now consists of 12 CVs, 4 CVLs, and 3 CVEs (plus Hosho), will gain 3 more CVs, 2 CVLs, and 2 CVEs.

Another thing to consider: A6M5 production begins in August. If the factories are quick to convert (sometimes I have seen them take up to a week or more to convert, sometimes they convert right away) I can probably equip several of my carrier squadrons with this superior AC by the time the last of the Unryu's arrive.

The question then is simple: should I wait for this augmentation of my carrier force before accepting battle? Or would it be better to strike before the allies become even more powerful?

If my intel assessment is correct about the likely position of the new allied carriers, then the earliest we can expect an invasion is in 14 days, maybe 20. This is about 40-50 days before my battle fleet reaches its maximum potential strength.

My inclination is to wait. If he goes for Wake or the Gilberts I can't say I care too much. They are part of my outer defense ring and in themselves are not vital except as far as they open the path to my inner defenses. OTOH, I was hoping on using the airbases there to atrit the allied carrier CAP with my LBA before committing the KB. If I wait to commit the KB, that chance of weakening his carrier CAP with LBA before committing my own carriers would be gone and who know when the next opportunity would arise? It might not happen until he is even stronger.

So again: should I wait for the new toys; or commit to battle using the original plan of weakening allied carrier CAP whenever the opportunity arises?

[FatR]

I say, post your carriers so that they can react swiftly to Allied landings in the Gilberts, or elsewhere around your Pacific perimeter, move them to the immediate rear area when the Allied amphibious assault begins, and commit or not commit them based on situation. Considering, that Japanese land-based aviation isn't really attrited to any significant degree, Allied carrier force is bound to take significant plane losses in a major attack agaist Gilberts or Solomons, thus creating an opportunity for a decisive carrier battle on Japanese terms.

By the way, how you did achieve such insane ship acceleration?

[Chickenboy]

You've such a plethora of CV, CVL and CVEs available to you, I'm not certain what major impact the modest additional platforms would mean. Also, as you are unlikely to be able to simultaneously upgrade all airframes everywhere on your carriers, you may find it most feasible to prioritize upgrading for those ships initially most likely to see combat. Carriers coming online 'soon' can be at the bottom of your priority list, particularly those arriving without organic air groups.

Long story short: I'd form a credible mobile defense (or raiding force) with what you have on hand now, as FatR suggested. I don't know that the wait will put you in a better position.

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: FatR

By the way, how you did achieve such insane ship acceleration?

Thank you for your thoughts. I think it really will depend on how well my LBA is able to atrit the allied CV CAP.

As to acceleration: no subs; more shipyards.

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
You've such a plethora of CV, CVL and CVEs available to you, I'm not certain what major impact the modest additional platforms would mean. Also, as you are unlikely to be able to simultaneously upgrade all airframes everywhere on your carriers, you may find it most feasible to prioritize upgrading for those ships initially most likely to see combat. Carriers coming online 'soon' can be at the bottom of your priority list, particularly those arriving without organic air groups.

I don't think 300 additional carrier AC qualifies as "modest." [;)]

All the carriers except the CVEs come with squadrons and pilots, though not necessarily 100% filled out. They even come with advanced models that are not yet in production. This is how I managed to get the B6N2 Jill so early. For the CVE I have already identified the airgroups that will be stationed on them.

[CapAndGown]

July 21, 1943

An interesting day.

The allies air dropped on Merauke (southern New Guinea) and Horn Island. I am sending a cruiser TF from Kendari to bombard Merauke and Helen's based at Hollandia and Aitape will bomb the airfield. I am gathering up some small units at Singapore to garrison the northern New Guinea bases to guard against air drops there should the allies manage to get Merauke built up.

The allies have also reconned Terapo, which is empty. I have been on and off about that base. I had a naval guard there at one time, then I pulled it out. I am now going to put in a raider regiment to prevent a cheap air drop. Could be interesting if we both have air transports flying to the base at the same time. I put an LRCAP over Terapo in case witpqs is considering an air drop. It would be nice to shoot down some transports.

I got two advances in R&D today. The P1Y1 Frances was advanced to September. I converted all the factories to researching the P1Y2 version. The P1Y1 model has a service rating of 4. Not so good. The P1Y2 has a service rating of 2. Much better.

The Tony IIc was also advanced, in this case to August. I converted the Tony R&D factories over to the IId model. The IIc has a service rating of 3 versus the 2 of the IId model. I also took two Tojo IIc factories that were not very far along in repairing and converted them over to the Tony IIc so that they will become my production factories for this plane in a little over a week.

Now if I could just get the B6N2 model to advance. It is currently due in September. It would be fantastic if I could get it in August. 40 B6N2's a month are producing. I am not quite sure, however, how far along they are to the next 100. Does an R&D advance mid-month mean the factory goes into production right away? If so, then I am pretty sure I will start getting B6N2's made some time in August.

[CapAndGown]

July has been a tough month on allied subs. They are as thick as flies on a cow patty in the Solomons and up around Formosa/Kyushu. Last turn the S-44 bought the farm at Tulagi. Most of the others on this list are probably not sunk, but they have been damaged. (I know for a fact that Halibut is not sunk.)

[CapAndGown]

July 24, 1943

Last turn Helen's from Aitape bombed Merauke. They encountered P-38s on LRCAP. This turn I sent Helen's from Hollandia to Merauke on a night bombing mission. Turns out witpqs has moved in some P-47s. Three were destroyed on the ground. Tonight a cruiser force will (hopefully) bombard the base. I say hopefully because I decided to set them to mission speed to see if that would work. I figure this is a low risk mission so why not experiment to see if I can get the Tokyo Express setting to work. I have been leery of using mission speed since in my tests against the AI in the Guadacanal campaign it did not always work when I wanted it to.

At any rate, if witpqs thinks he can just use air transports to build up his bases, he better think again. The only way to support your bases is through control of the seas around them. This is why I never occupied Merauke: no mutually supporting bases are available; and trying to use my naval assets in the Arufa Sea is a dicey proposition at best without control of northern Australia.

[CapAndGown]

July 25, 1943

A successful bombardment of Merauke: 5 Thunderbolts destroyed on the field and runway damage reported to be 93%. Mission speed worked. I guess to get the sprint behaviour needed for an express run, your target needs to be an enemy base, not one of your own even if it is under threat of air attack. Using mission speed also reduced the amount of sys damage. So I will use it for bombarding enemy bases, but not for quick in-and-outs from my own bases.

Recon of Port Hedland shows an awful lot of troops at that base. 24k on my first look. There are probably more. No shipping though. Perhaps they are being held in reserve for a future offensive against the DEI. I will need to keep tabs on northern OZ. Of course, he could be loading up in Perth and the folks at Port Hedland are intended for a second wave. But, I would say that if the DEI is his intention such an attack could not happen for quite some time. Hmm. I just decided that I will recon Perth with one of my Glen carriers.