Yup - me with no idea, and yet this turn I pull off a spectacular mid ocean intercept against the CV Formidable and her group
Well ok, Raver saw me coming and got out of the harbour, but he forgot to take into account that my ships are beaten and worn and are much slower now, so they ended up in the same hex. A Claa and dd sacrificed themselves to save the formidable, who then put a torp into the nearby kongo and haruna in the air combat phase, which removes them both from the war for the next 12 months. Bloody swordfish.
My betties launched, and put 2 torps into the formidable but didn't wreck her, so she'll probably retire for repairs, along with the two bbs I torped (1 each). All in all, Raver took more damage than I did, but he can afford it at this stage. I'm getting near the stage that a draw really isn't good enough.
Raver will post the combat report.
With dancing Bananas and Storm Troopers who needs BBs?
Well this last turn was filled with action ! I had spotted two of Luskan's TFs head for what I thought was Akyab and sent a surface TF with 3 RN BBs and the usual hangers-on to intercept, as well as sending HMS Formidable in a secondary TF to stand off about three hexes and hit him with swordfish. Well bugger me his second TF does a mid ocean interecpt and slaps my CV TF ! HMS Formidable escapes with no damage but her escorting units got slapped well and good. Comes around to the morning and I am unable to launch against him because the IJN TF is under cloud, but in the afternoon i do get a flight to launch and the reports are of only one torp finding it's target. In the mean time LRB launches against my CV and manage to put 2 torps into Formidable.
Not a good day for the RN.........the japs have come out of this encounter on top.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/21/42
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TF 7 troops unloading over beach at Padang, 17,53
Japanese ground losses:
499 casualties reported
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Night Time Surface Combat at 28,26
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Coastal Guns at Benkolen, 18,56, firing at TF 3
TF 3 troops unloading over beach at Benkolen, 18,56
8 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Oi Maru
Japanese ground losses:
356 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Benkolen, 18,56, firing at TF 3
TF 3 troops unloading over beach at Benkolen, 18,56
7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese ground losses:
258 casualties reported
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TF 7 troops unloading over beach at Padang, 17,53
Japanese ground losses:
152 casualties reported
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Sub attack at 49,108
Japanese Ships
SS I-156
Allied Ships
TK Semiramis, Shell hits 1, on fire
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Day Air attack on Lanchow , at 45,25
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 22
SB-2c x 12
Allied aircraft losses
SB-2c: 1 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
6 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 32,31
Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 4
Blenheim IV x 10
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 2
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 32,31
Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 7
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Blenheim I bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,28
Japanese Ships
CL Tatsuta, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Suzuya
CL Yubari
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,28
Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu
DD Nenohi
CA Kumano
CA Takao
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Beaufort V-IX launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x Beaufort V-IX launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Beaufort V-IX launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x Beaufort V-IX launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,26
Allied Ships
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CV Formidable, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Benkolen
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 1322 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 5793 troops, 50 guns, 0 vehicles
Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
And one turn later CV Formidable limps into diamond harbour, and my elite betties put another two torps into her. She didn't sink, but she's close! Certainly didn't cost me 7 zeros either!
Changing up the squadrons in Burma was well worth doing. Allows me to do some trianing wiht my less experienced pilots, and has created a massive difference in results. Finally scoring some hits. Removing the RN threat from the northern end of the map would make Raver's putting 6 cvs into 1 tf untenable.
Enjoy.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/22/42
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TF 3 troops unloading over beach at Benkolen, 18,56
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TF 7 troops unloading over beach at Padang, 17,53
Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 21,47
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TF 83 troops unloading over beach at Muntok, 21,55
Japanese ground losses:
392 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 3 troops unloading over beach at Benkolen, 18,56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 83 troops unloading over beach at Muntok, 21,55
Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 31,31
Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 4
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Blenheim I bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Diamond Harbor at 28,23
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
G4M1 Betty x 7
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Buffalo I x 2
Hurricane II x 10
Allied Ships
CV Formidable, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage hopefully gurgles under the waves.
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,30
Allied aircraft
Beaufort V-IX x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Ariake
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Beaufort V-IX bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Benkolen
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 6261 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 2221 troops, 8 guns, 1 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Japanese ground losses:
77 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Padang
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 12733 troops, 150 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 1293 troops, 5 guns, 1 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 101 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Padang base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Allied ground losses:
136 casualties reported
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 40,34
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 9588 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 2219 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 102 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!
With dancing Bananas and Storm Troopers who needs BBs?
HMS Formidable will live to fight another day...............but only after some time in the yards. I still have a rather strong naval force in the sea of Bengal which Luskan is yet to completely stamp out. Neither has he really made any in-roads into Burma. As usual Luskan aka the Bananananananana boy is blowing hot air.[8|]
Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Idiot Luskan is determined to try and inflict further damage on Formidable with a large raid on Diamond Harbour and fails to land any hits. His Bombers are just about nearly as bad as my fighter pilots! However, Luskan needs to be warned......the defenses at DH have now been beefed up to the point that you will never be able to break though!
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/23/42
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TF 83 troops unloading over beach at Muntok, 21,55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Diamond Harbor , at 28,23
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
2 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 27,37
Idiot Luskan is determined to try and inflict further damage on Formidable with a large raid on Diamond Harbour and fails to land any hits. His Bombers are just about nearly as bad as my fighter pilots! However, Luskan needs to be warned......the defenses at DH have now been beefed up to the point that you will never be able to break though!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Diamond Harbor , at 28,23
That's a cunning air defense plan! The sky will be so thick with swarms of burning Hurricanes falling towards the ground that none of Luskan's bombers will be able to get near the port. [:D]
"War is the remedy our enemies have chosen, and I say let's give them all they want." -- Gen. W. T. Sherman
Well, at least better to loose some Hurricanes than to loose a CV [;)]. When Spitfires finally will start to arrive, it'll be a different story, I guess[:D] Will be most interesting to watch!
Idiot Luskan is determined to try and inflict further damage on Formidable with a large raid on Diamond Harbour and fails to land any hits. His Bombers are just about nearly as bad as my fighter pilots! However, Luskan needs to be warned......the defenses at DH have now been beefed up to the point that you will never be able to break though!
Yep. He has now moved all those Wirraway and Buffalo squadrons into DH.. Luskan's pilots will be to busy shooting down allied fighters to have time to drop their bombs !!!
[:'(]
Sheesh! I loose a few Hurricanes and all the Jap fanboys come crawling out of the woodwork! Enjoy it while you can guys because before long the boot is going to be on the other foot!
Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
There are quite a number of Hurricanes around the place that can be stuffed into DH, I suspect they all transferred there after the combat took place though
Of course they'll probably get shredded anyway, but hey, they might kill a couple of Zero's!
mian problem the jap would face against the Hurricane is their armor : 2, a B17 has only 1 point...
and those 4 20mm cannons....one or two hits from these babies and a zero is a peace of scrap metal.
I am sure that the Hurricane could give the A6M2 zero a run for its money (given equal exp pilots) on the defensive. Heavier armour and weapon load would pay off of the correct tactics were used i.e. they aint deathtraps like Buffaloes.
Problem is the early war japanese pilots can make the zero dance and this is magnified by the manouvere bonus given to zeros early on to reflect lack of tactical knowledge fighting them so a 55 -60 exp Hurrican squn will not stop an 80 - 90 exp zero squn.
80 - 90 exp hurricane squadron I think would do pretty well at least on the defensive.
Well we're coming to the end of my early war zero bonuses. Raver has shown good restraint in the bay actuall, keeping his heavier units clear of my all too deadly betties. I have kept my betties in singapore on a vrey short leash as of late - I didn't want them flying 20 hexes over the DEI and having a go at some ship in port with every fighter Raver can spare overhead, so I've kept them at a much more sensible max range setting, meaning that anything too close to singapore would get fried.
However I moved another squadron in this turn and 22 of them launched for a long ranged attack at a tf on the other side of and halfway down java. 10 failed to find the place in the rain, but the other 12 punched a little hole in one of Raver's transports.
Was hoping to keep my potency at singapore a secret until Raver's cvs showed up let them close the range and then let the betty commanders have a go (would take at least 3 turns to get all the way out of bettty max range). But Raver has shown restraint there too. I've given him several easy unescorted targets for his surface forces or CVs in the area over the last two weeks and he just isn't taking the bait. He must be waiting for the big one.
With dancing Bananas and Storm Troopers who needs BBs?
Correct, I am indeed waiting for the big one. Anyone who has read the AARs on this board will see that most of the players who are allies tend to send in their CVs way to early. I am happy to wait as long as it takes to setup a battle that will be in MY favour. Even if I have to wait till mid '43 I am happy to do so. I feel that I will be able to steal some Islands from Luskan with out having to expose my CVs but that little trick is still at least 6 months away.
In the meantime I am happy to sit and wait, as it is Luskan who is going to have to make a move sooner rather that later as he cannot afford to allow my carrier strength build up unchecked, because if he does he'll get steamrolled in late '43.
In news to had an IJN surface unit is heading towards Ceylon. All torp aircraft and fighters have been moved to Tricomeele (S?) in expection of a big battle.
Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Well I've sort of moved my airpower to control the DEI region - in order to project enough power to make any cv battle there in my favour. Wishful thinking that Raver is going to come and play however. He'd much rather fight me weeks away from my airpower and if things continue the way they are, our big cv battle is going to happen ni early 43. I have to take the DEI, give my CVs a bit of R and R afterwards and then only three objectives remain for my victory:
1. Disrupt allied shipping in the Bay to slow allied buildup in Burma/China. This is going to have to be pretty bloody impressive to stop the allied/chinese steamrolling straight over me on the 1/1/44.
2. Destroy the allied CVs BEFORE the corsairs. Once 6/43 appears . . . that is the end of it if he's still got 6 cvs. He's got them holed up somewhere safe, training left right and centre.
3. Disrupt the allied US OZ supply line. I'm going to have to do it and soon.
With dancing Bananas and Storm Troopers who needs BBs?
1/ well that is a joke.......how is he going to disrupt me when a lot of my supplies come on the excellent rail links from India to Burma. Just goes to show you what a ratbrain Luskan is.
2/ The longer that I hold off the great CV battle, the more desperate Luskan will become, as he has already stated, he knows that he has to try and force a confrontation as soon as possible (before 6/'43), and so if I simply avoid this it might force Luskan into doing something stupid (doubtful but worth the wait to see).
3/ Now this is a problem for me and also for Luskan. To really try and disrupt the SLOC between Oz and the US Luskan is going to have to send his CVs very deep into the South Pacific (think of the Matrix logo in the bottom right hand corner of the map) and to do this he is going to have to have a LOT of tanker support, which in turn will also expose him. My problem is that I would HAVE to repond with my CVs but plan the operation in such a way as to catch him whem he is low on fuel and ammo or simply skip his CVs and hunt for his tankers. Either way the prospect is not good for either of us as I do not want to tangle with his CVs to early in the game, and Luskan does not want to have a CV fight so far away from his bases. This is going to be an interesting cat & mouse side show that will probably start in the next month and run for at least the next 12 months.
Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
