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Good points all and part of the reason I am torn. I have the play it safe angel on my left shoulder and the kick their arse angel on the right. Both make sound arguments. A new development. Just got the turn back and looks like KB may have just appeared off the Australian coast South of Sydney. He has gone deep. Looks like there is a good opportunity to run south from Wake through the Marshalls with only Betties to worry about. Now I know where all their main surface assets are, its worth a shot.

ORIGINAL: aoffen

What were the damage stas of the BB that foundered?

Something like
Sys 70
Float 30
Eng 18

Speed was 14 or 15 kts. Thought it would be OK despite the sys damage.
You live you learn

Hi just to try and clear up what happened to your BB that sank off PH. A ship will sink when sys damage gets to 99, not the float damage. Sys damage represents the condition of the ship and effects the systems on that ship like DC, fire0fighting, pumps, I also think guns and AA, radar- when a ship's sys damage gets to 99 it sinks. Float damage represents the condition of the hull- but not it's leakiness (that is the sys). So your BB with sys=70 and float=30 had a much higher chance of sinking than a BB with sys=30 and float=70. The only way to move your BB safely from PH to WC is to repair their sys damage as low as possible by using the pier side repair option. A BB with 0 sys and 80 float will have a much greater chance of making the trip- Although slower and at risk of sub attack. Fortunately you can have as many ships on pier side as you like/need. And yes it is a pain that it takes forever to repair the sys damage sufficiently for a safe passage- but better to be a little cautious and patient than seeing them floundering on a rush job.

PS- hope you and your family didn't get washed away in the Brisbane floods. One of the wettest days ever for the east coast.

What you say re damage makes a lot of sense if I compare to what I saw, but is completely the opposite of what is written in the manual aka

»System Damage (Sys) - is a number between 0 and 99. A rating of 0 indicates all systems on the ship are functioning at full effect with no damage, while 99 indicates the ship’s systems are 99% damaged (effectively out of action). The greater the system damage, the less effective the ship will be in all aspects of combat and also in damage control.
» Flotation Damage (Flt) - is a number between 0 and 100. Floatation damage represents the accumulated damage to the hull of a ship. When Floatation damage reaches 100, the ship will sink.
» Engine Damage (Eng) - is a number between 0 and 100. Engine damage represents the amount of damage to a ship’s power plant.

Is there something going on here I don't get?

Regards
Andrew

A ship will not sink as a direct result of 99sys damage.

99 sys does not come alone though, you will have floatation and fire damage and both have the tendency to increase to 100
but are opposed by the DC capabilities of the ship, which in effectiveness are governed by system damage.

So, effectively even a ship with 5 floatation and 99 sys damage will eventually sink with 100 floatation dmg.


Please note that on all my years of playing witp I have never witnessed a ship with 99 sys / 5 flt.... [:D]

Dec 30 through Jan 2

A couple of days down in Melbourne for the Australian Open slowed things down a bit and particularly this AAR. The way things are going I am not sure I have the heart to write it.

Rather than go thru day by day I will give you the painful summary. KB turned up off the Australian coast just south of Sydney on Dec 29th. I had positioned everyone in Melbourne as I had spotted them coming south a few days previously and thought he would head for Sydney. Just to be safe though I got the dozens and dozens of ships in Melbourne into TF's and sent them West till the danger was clear. Well, in short, I was wrong. His recon obviously picked up all the ships in Melbourne and he sent KB charging into Bass Straight. For the next 3 days he has ranged unopposed from Melbourne to Adelaide and back wreaking havoc on the assembled shipping as it tried to flee. The carnage is almost too much to calculate. First of all he caught the cruiser force as it fled down the west coast of Tasmania and over two days of strikes sank 2 Australian CA's (Canberra and Australia - the bastard), a USN CA (Louisville) 2 CL's (Leander and Perth) and a DD. He then systematically annihilated the merchant shipping as it fled at a stately 12 ~ 14 kts. So far we have lost 10 AP's, 9 AK's and 11 AKL's. This turn another 24 ships have been hit and I am guessing half of them sunk - I only have the AAR not the full turn at this stage. Now admittedly, very few US ships were sunk and a number of the vessels were tiny prewar coastal boats, but the Australian navy and merchant marine have been almost wiped out and the sheer scale of the slaughter is horrific.

I can't see how to stop him. My CV's are miles away and there is absolutely no reason he can't stay here until his ammo runs out. My only advantage is he doesn't know where my CV's are so I don't think he will risk KB retiring with no sorties left in case he runs into me. In order to help that likelihood I cancelled the Wake/Marshalls raid and ordered my CV's to retire before they were spotted. If he knows I am up north he will never give up pounding me in the South. I have to make him worried I am about to turn up in force.

Elsewhere……
My efforts to catch any of his damaged ships retiring from the minefield fiasco at Soerabaja have been a dismal failure. Numerous air, PT boat and sub attacks have resulted in significant air and PT losses for me. Mini KB has now turned up to cover the withdrawal so he shot down over a dozen Dutch aircraft last turn. My subs either fire blanks or miss completely so no joy at all.

In Malaya we have moved a brigade into the hex north of Johore Baru and another is on the way. Not sure we will have enough strength to attack but I advanced some armour in from JB so we control that hexside and with any luck the guys will retire south into JB when attacked. Will attach a pic when I get the turn tonight. The B-17's which evacuated from PI to Calcutta have been hitting Chang Mai without much effect. He has Oscars there so there is action but not many losses.

In the PI a big shock attack came in last turn at Clarke Field. We kicked arse - the only good news on the front. The shock attack only achieved 1-2 odds and resulted in 5000 Japanese casualties vs about 1800 for us. Take that!! Elsewhere in the PI he is slowly mopping up the other Islands. Pace is slow. I am guessing he needs to knock Clarke and Bataan over to free the forces to attack the DEI. The longer we can hold the better I guess.

In the Central Pacific the air training effort continues. Fuel and supply convoys to PH and Auckland are now set up. Saratoga has left San Diego and will rv at Pearl Harbour with the other 3 CV's. If KB heads West after Australia there might be the chance for a 4 CV force to duck in and do some damage. Meantime train and build are the two key words.

Trying to hang tough.
Andrew

It feels painful (especially for us Aussies), but those ships are mostly unimportant.  The AP's & any TK's will hurt a bit, they are all handy until mid 43.  The other ships are nice to have but won't slow you down once your turn to go on the offensive begins.

I'd go forward with the raids still - you might catch them flat footed somewhere else, sure you'll lose a few more ships near Melbourne,  but as I said, they aren't that important strategically.  You know where KB and mini-KB are, that doesn't happen often - use the opportunity to deep raid his supply lines.

Don't let them psych you out with some losses you can actually easily bear. His carriers are a very long way from being able to bring yours down.

I agree- get him to react to you rather than the other way around.

Losses for last turn. Not as bad as I thought. 7 AKL's, 3 AK's and an AM.

MTB MTB 7 Ship sunk Sunk by 12.7cm/50 3YT T. B. at 65,108 near Salajar Major
MTB MTB 10 Ship sunk Sunk by 12.7cm/50 3YT T. B. at 65,108 near Salajar Major
xAKL Canopus Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 69,165 near Kingscote Major
xAKL James Cook Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 69,165 near Kingscote Major
xAKL Karuah Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 69,165 near Kingscote Major
xAK Tarifa Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 70,159 near Ceduna Major
xAK Kooringa Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 70,159 near Ceduna Major
xAK Mary Livanos Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 70,159 near Ceduna Major
xAKL Darvel Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 71,172 near Portland Major
xAKL Kaiping Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 71,174 near Portland Major
xAKL Sjobris Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 72,170 near Portland Major
xAKL Mulubinda Ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg SAP Bomb at 72,170 near Portland Major
TK British Motorist Ship sunk Sunk by 53cm Type 95 Torp at 92,167 near Newcastle Major
AM Townsville Ship sunk Sunk by 800 kg AP Bomb at Adelaide Major

Some pictures
First SE Australia where KB is wreaking havoc.

The poor buggers left behind and barely alive in Portland

and also in Adelaide. Plenty of work for the yards if he doesn't finish them off

The situation around the DEI after the attempted bombardment of Sorebaja

Finally Malaya

Looking at what's in Portland- I'd call that pretty bad. Too late now- but what were you planning on doing with the long legged (high endurance) AP's you had there? There's no troops to be shuttled from Oz- would have thought they would have been better off in Aden, Frisco etc.
 
Anyway- do you have a feel for whether he'll go further west to pursue or retire east? If west I'd get those undamaged ships out of Portland and send them south in TF's of 1 or 2 each. Anything to drop the target size that'll tempt his carriers on the way back.

I've lost 590 ships ( about 400 in the first month of the war ) in my game against 1EyedJacks ( we are into May now ) and, as the Allies, not only am I on the offensive but I have over 200 xAKs sitting it out in various bases as there isn't enough work for them. To be fair I pay a lot of attention to the logistical side of things so I don't tend to need a lot of xAKs.

Bottom line though. 40 or so xAKs and a few old CAs isn't a huge issue.

ORIGINAL: Itdepends

Looking at what's in Portland- I'd call that pretty bad. Too late now- but what were you planning on doing with the long legged (high endurance) AP's you had there? There's no troops to be shuttled from Oz- would have thought they would have been better off in Aden, Frisco etc.

Anyway- do you have a feel for whether he'll go further west to pursue or retire east? If west I'd get those undamaged ships out of Portland and send them south in TF's of 1 or 2 each. Anything to drop the target size that'll tempt his carriers on the way back.

Most of those ships were escapees from the north. I am trying to set Auckland up as a hub so was keeping some capacity to use it. The AP's were going to head off to SFO but got caught before they left. My fault for not having enough of a sense of urgency I guess.

I think the CV's will go back East. there are oiler off the east coast waiting.

Go deep!
 
His carriers are way out of the picture, you can use this to do to him what he has just done to you!
 
You might end up with nothing but the likelihood of you losing a carrier is almost zero.
 
The Allies need a bit of a morale boost here - you can't do a Doolittle, but you might get a little bit of revenge.

Jan 3 - Jan 4

Jan 3
KB keep the preesure up south of Melbourne with another big attack on Portland that hits 15 of the damaged AP's and AK's that had taken refuge there. A number sink and the rest are trashed. A similar size strike on Melbourne hits the damaged cruisers under repair Melbourne. Neither are sunk but they are little more than floating hulks.

In DEI a small TF of damaged ships trying to get away gets hit by Betties near Batavia and the British CL Dragon takes a torp and goes down. Numerous Dutch air attacks on mini KB get snotted. Those Dutch fighters are perhaps the most useless aircraft known to mankind.

In Malaya the Japanese shock atttack the hex north of JB and get 7-1. The survivors retreat on JB. that leaves two brigades stuck at Malacca. Can't see our position in Malaya lasting to the end of the month at this rate.

In China Chengchow falls and an attack on Nanyang is rebuffed. The Japanese are pushing hard up here and I think its only a matter of time till they force us back into the rough terrain.

Jan 4

KB is withdrawing up the Australian East coast striking as she goes. More Dutch ships are caught in the net. My fault that one, they should have headed to Noumea.

Allied Ships
PC Zeeman, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
AO TAN 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AVP Arend, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
AVP Reiger, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
AVP Bellatrix, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
TK Anastasia, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
TK Francol, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port Moresby has started taking some punishment now with daily raids over the last few days. I suspect it is next on the list. The Japanese seem to be staking their turf and then back filling later.

In the DEI a big convoy of fleeing Dutch AKL's and the battered CL Boise are caught by a cruiser force. The results are predictable.

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Elcano
xAKL Escalante R
xAKL Legazpi
xAKL Lepus
xAKL Kwangtung
xAKL Lee Sang, Shell hits 1
xAKL Oriskany, Shell hits 2
xAKL Belawan
xAKL Benkalis, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAKL Benkoelen
xAKL Boelongan, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL De Klerk
xAKL De Haan, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAKL Duijmar van Twist, Shell hits 1
xAKL Lematang, Shell hits 2
xAKL Meroendoeng
xAKL Siaoe, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
xAKL Siberoet
xAKL Sibolga, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Sigli, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Silindoeng, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Sinabang, Shell hits 1
xAKL Bordvik, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAKL Proteus, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage

My PT's join in but get kicked for their trouble.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 49,97, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Chokai
CA Mikuma
DD Maikaze
DD Hagikaze
DD Murakumo
DD Asagiri
DD Yomogi

Allied Ships
PT TM-4
PT TM-5
PT TM-6, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-7
PT TM-8
PT TM-9, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

In China another attack on Nanyang is rebuffed. Their odds are improving though, this time 2-1 and I fear next time it will fall.

Time for an overall comment.

Things could be better but they could also be a lot worse. We have lost too much merchant shipping but I don't think it is enough to impair us at this stage. I may have to convert some more AK's into AP's but I think the situation is under control. We have lost a few cruisers now as a result of KB down in Melbourne. Again painful but not critical. Most of the losses have been Dutch and Australian so the USN is barely touched. That really means we have lost ancilliary forces that are useful in '42 but surplus later so I think we are OK.

I have now gathered some forces that can start confronting the IJN. I am going to reinforce Suva and Auckland as a starter. The 8th Marine regiment will head to Suva with engineers and as soon as I can release some infantry away from the US restricted HQ I will send a division to Auckland as well (probably Americal Div). An Aircobra fighter group is almost trained to 60 air skill level so will be ready for deployment to Suva and Auckland also. The US CV's are going to strike the Marshalls then head south to Auckland also. Bombers will follow in February. By end Jan/early Feb I hope to have a decent force built up that can threaten him if he tries another stunt on the Australian East coast like he just did. Once Suva and Auckland are secure, I will reinforce Noumea and try to build it up as a major base. I wouldn't be surprised if Port Moresby is taken so the first counter offensive will be based out of the Suva - Noumea - Auckland position. He is going to have to do a lot of work over the next few month backfilling behind his position. If an opportunity presents itself we might try and intervene once we have that secure base of operations. Most important thing meantime is to not lose any carriers so we have a credible strike force to keep them honest.

Regards
Andrew

Jan 5-6

Jan 5
DEI
I sent a 5 ship sub expedition loaded with mines to Kendari harbour which arrived today. Mines were laid and we had a small enjoyable success when the Dutch sub O20 put 3 torps into a TK, but that was counter balanced by two of his ASW TF's hitting and damaging both O20 and KXV. Both will survive.

The Dutch Airforce continues to slaughter itself against mini KB. They have been totally ineffective with the bombers hitting nothing over multiple raids and the fighters being shot down by Betties.

Australia
KB hits Sydney as it transits north up the coast.

Afternoon Air attack on Sydney , at 90,167

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 165 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 70 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N2 Kate x 106



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 25 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
AMc Goolgwai, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Iron Knob, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Allara, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Dundula, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMc Goonambee, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AMc Samuel Benbow, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Manpower hits 3
Fires 1653
Port hits 13
Port supply hits 1
The AP's had been partway through their conversion from AK's so were unable to flee. Brisbane is next I guess.

In the Pacific, despite my real reluctance to reveal where our CV's are, I have ordered a two CV raid to strike Roi Namur. They will be there in 2 days.

In China, both Nanyang and Wuchow fall to the IJA. Looks like Mark is going to have to head for the hills now.

Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 62701 troops, 657 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 2018

Defending force 29575 troops, 157 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 725

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 1677

Allied adjusted defense: 309

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Nanyang !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2262 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 93 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled


Allied ground losses:
10374 casualties reported
Squads: 492 destroyed, 114 disabled
Non Combat: 539 destroyed, 100 disabled
Engineers: 93 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 8
Units destroyed 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
17th/B Division
13th Division
116th Division
35th Division
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
34th Division
17th/C Division
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
8th Ind. Engineer Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
7th New Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps
29th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
4th Construction Regiment
22nd Group Army
5th War Area
31st Group Army


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Wuchow (76,57)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8232 troops, 119 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 293

Defending force 1700 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 26

Japanese adjusted assault: 550

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 550 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wuchow !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1494 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 126 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1
Units destroyed 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
66th Infantry Regiment
1st Ind.Inf.Group
67th Ind.Infantry Battalion
21st Mortar Battalion
23rd Army
2nd RF Gun Battalion

Defending units:
16th Group Army
13th Chinese Base Force

Jan 6
The Japanese subs have gone beserk again and mine just keep on shooting blanks. I lose 3 AK's and an AD to Japanese sub attacks - 12 torps are fired and 8 hit. The most depressing hit however is this one

Sub attack near Ailuk at 143,113

Japanese Ships
SS I-172

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 1
CL Helena
DD Cushing
DD Patterson
DD MacDonough
DD Smith
DD Perkins

I knew I shouldn't have gone on a speculative raid. The risks were just not worth the potential gain. Lexington now has 44 float damage and will be out of action for months, and he knows where I am. Aaaagh.

My return in all of this

Sub attack near Brisbane at 100,162

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma
CL Abukuma
DD Tanikaze
DD Kagero
DD Ushio
DD Sazanami
DD Kasumi
DD Arare

Allied Ships
SS Tuna



SS Tuna launches 6 torpedoes at CV Shokaku
Tuna diving deep ....

If only one had gone off.

In the DEI I have tried to get the remaining vessels out and to Darwin or Colombo. He has mini KB cruising the south coast of Java so I split everyone into single ship TF's and scattered them to see if someone can make it out. I also formed 3 TF's of local Dutch minesweepers to head out as decoys. If they absorb some losses they may help save some AK's. The Japanese also land in Bali.

I also manage to get a 220 mine field sown at Pt Moresby, but lose one of the mine layers to Betties in the effort.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 12



Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CM Bungaree, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AM Lithgow

That has just about run me out of VH MkII's now and so the loss of the Bungaree won't hurt.

Over on Marks side, he is trying to get the 45th Indian Brigade into Pt Blair so he can hold it. He has put together a fairly strong force to try and fight through but the Betties have spotted it and started to attack. Of 4 attacks only 1 has an impact, but it hurts

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 48,57

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13



Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
PG Hindustan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Kelantan, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
KV Fritillary
CL Hobart


Allied ground losses:
647 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 29 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 20 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)

The damage to the Lexington hurts my plan to get a 4 CV force deployed down in the Suva - Noumea - Auckland zone. Not sure 3 CV's are enough so my plan may be pushed back a month. I will use the CV"s to escort my convoys through in the meantime.

Regards
Andrew

OK, I'm in a Scenario 28 (DaBabes) game at about the same date you are on here. Did you finally go with 28 or did you ([;)] wimp out and) stick with Scenario 1? If you're in Scenario 28 it would be an interesting comparison.