Where the Chrysanthemums Grow - DesertWolf101 (J) vs ITAKLinus (A)

[DesertWolf101]

December 15, 1941

Wow what a turn - where to even begin in recounting this day of twists and turns?

Battle of the Ceram Sea

Let's zoom in on the Ceram Sea area where December 14 ended with a substantial Japanese invasion convoy on its final approach towards Ambon. The convoy had two heavy cruisers and five destroyers as direct escort and was supported by a covering force of three heavy cruisers and three destroyers. Nell and Betty bombers, armed with torpedoes, were well within range and available for support from Manado. The invasion convoy was picked up by enemy naval search on December 14 and I was aware of the presence of four Clemson class DDs in the area. With this information I decided to proceed with the mission.

Sure enough, the action started in the Ceram Sea with a clash between the Japanese covering force and the Clemsons who without success fired off their torpedoes before being driven away with no real damage to either side. The invasion convoy also arrived at Ambon and all the Japanese troops and their supplies were landed under the covering guns of the escorting warships. So far so good, but then events started to spiral...

The Dutch Navy arrived with the dawn - three light cruisers and five destroyers engaged the covering force in a very long and drawn out fight that repeatedly extended from long to short to long distances. The fight went pretty well for the Japanese. The two largest of the three Dutch light cruisers as well as a destroyer were left in clear sinking condition.

[DesertWolf101]

Battle of the Ceram Sea Continued

The covering force, having exhausted practically all its ammunition, began to retire to the north... running straight into an even larger enemy task force - Force Z. The Japanese ships ducked and weaved and avoided the bulk of enemy fire. Destroyer Kuroshio was battered form the start, but as the range got long again, I even hoped that the cruisers would escape somewhat intact. Unfortunately, Nachi then took a plunging direct hit from the Repulse that slowed her down and allowed Prince of Wales to riddle her with 14 inch gunfire, sealing her fate. [:(]

[Lowpe]

Clear weather...and you still have great torpedo pilots!

[DesertWolf101]

Battle of the Ceram Sea Continued

Of course Force Z was far from done, and now pushed past the battered covering force to charge right into the convoy!

Frankly as soon as I saw the convoy being engaged by Force Z, I just hoped that the escorting warships would come through ok. The escorts had already fired off the bulk of their ammunition in support of the landings, and the convoy was caught unloading and unprepared. Surprisingly enough, the escorts actually fought pretty well, preventing a very bad situation from turning into an outright massacre. Of course, a large number of medium sized cargo ships were lost (thankfully all empty), but not all of them, and the escorts and the cargo ships themselves fought back hard. It was quite interesting to see the transports repeatedly put 8cm shells into some of Force Z's escorting destroyers for instance. Three of them are in pretty bad shape and I am guessing will likely sink.

Having largely depleted its ammunition, Force Z then retired to the south.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Clear weather...and you still have great torpedo pilots!

That was what I was hoping!

[DesertWolf101]

Battle of the Ceram Sea Continued

As Force Z retired and the air phases arrived, I willed the Nettie bombers to rise up and punish the enemy battleships. Unfortunately, I immediately started being hit with messages that the Nettie bombers were having trouble linking up, etc. Gah! To make matters worse, Francesco astutely sailed out with every ship he had in range to distract from the Nettie's targeting. So in the end, the strikes that did go out either failed to coordinate and turned back to base, went after riff raff, or went after the already doomed Dutch task force!

[DesertWolf101]

Battle of the Ceram Sea Conclusion

In terms of warships my losses are the Nachi and a Kagero class destroyer sunk. Various damage on other warships but nothing clearly fatal just yet - we shall see what the next turn brings.

On Francesco's side I am positive he lost the two Dutch light cruisers and up to four destroyers all of whom were severely punished. Elsewhere on the map I also sank a British destroyer and put a sub launched torpedo near Java into the already battered Mauritius light cruiser. She hasn't sunk but she is unlikely to show herself again anytime soon.

I did also lose 14 cargo ships, the bulk of which were 7 point Toho or Ehime class ships. At the same time Francesco lost a few tankers and various cargo/transports during the turn too due to my sub and Nettie strikes.

Overall though this one clearly goes to the Allies. Basically it comes down to the loss of the Nachi, which is a ship I just can't afford to lose. It could have been worse though - I did successfully land all the troops from the invasion convoy and I am optimistic they will do the job and take Ambon.

Now to plan what to do for day two. I think I could very well lose even more ships as I seek to extract them. Even worse, Francesco hit Manado with B-17 bombers and the damage to the airfields is at 45 runway damage. I am not even sure I can fly strike missions out of there anymore until the airfields are repaired.

[Lowpe]

Looks like you are in for a fight![:)]

[RangerJoe]

I like to take the empty base next to Ambon and have a land HQ there with prep for Ambon. I suppose that an Air HQ could also be placed there for torpedo bombers and fighters.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Looks like you are in for a fight![:)]

Most certainly - Francesco is definitely bringing the heat!

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

I like to take the empty base next to Ambon and have a land HQ there with prep for Ambon. I suppose that an Air HQ could also be placed there for torpedo bombers and fighters.

Or in Ambon directly. He has reinforced Ambon with a couple more units but I have landed 335 AV (including two tank regiments) to his current 88 AV so I should hopefully be able to take it.

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

I like to take the empty base next to Ambon and have a land HQ there with prep for Ambon. I suppose that an Air HQ could also be placed there for torpedo bombers and fighters.

Or in Ambon directly. He has reinforced Ambon with a couple more units but I have landed 335 AV (including two tank regiments) to his current 88 AV so I should hopefully be able to take it.

I mean capture it a turn or two before Ambon. That gives you an airbase in the area for fighter protection, a level 2 airbase can handle torpedoes for Nells and Bettys and if they are not available then those will use the full bomb load on Low Naval attacks. Then the land HQ can help at Ambon without being in the line of fire.

[Andy Mac]

The Dutch cruisers are expendable they have limited upgrades and this is their prime and really only purpose later in thewar if they survive they become convoy escorts only

[Andy Mac]

How did Force Z survive turn 1 intact

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

The Dutch cruisers are expendable they have limited upgrades and this is their prime and really only purpose later in thewar if they survive they become convoy escorts only

They are indeed, so really not a big loss for my opponent.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

How did Force Z survive turn 1 intact

We did not play the historical first turn Andy and I sent my carriers to Pearl instead of near Singapore.

[George Patton]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Looks like you are in for a fight![:)]

Most certainly - Francesco is definitely bringing the heat!

As I wrote before, Linus will use every expendable assets to slow down the japanese advance. Always escort your TFs. He loves sending a light TF ahead of an heavy one, like in this case. The light expendable TF will force your ships to use all the ammos, then comes the big ships.

This will be a great war [8D][8D]

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: George Patton

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Looks like you are in for a fight![:)]

Most certainly - Francesco is definitely bringing the heat!

As I wrote before, Linus will use every expendable assets to slow down the japanese advance. Always escort your TFs. He loves sending a light TF ahead of an heavy one, like in this case. The light expendable TF will force your ships to use all the ammos, then comes the big ships.

This will be a great war [8D][8D]

Thanks Patton. I think this will be a great game too. Francesco is definitely an excellent player and I am very much enjoying the challenge.

[DesertWolf101]

December 16, 1941

Some good news from the Ceram Sea today. I successfully managed to extricate all my ships from the sector except for three Toho/Ehime class cargo ships, including two that were already about to sink and that I counted as lost in my previous posts. With absolutely no more ammunition left and with enemy subs zooming in for the kill, it was high time to get out of there. That's not all - Ambon immediately fell to the planned Japanese attack.

In other news, a pocketed force of two Indian Brigades + surrendered to Imperial forces after they were surrounded and attacked at Alor Star in Malaya. I also set my Netties loose on some shipping around Rangoon where six enemy cargo ships were promptly sunk. I wish I could say the same elsewhere - light cruiser Adelaide was discovered running around near Rabaul but was missed by the dozen or so Nells that attempted to torpedo her.

[Lowpe]

You need to look at where Force Z, really any SAG, can rearm...and refuel.

These aggressive Allied fleet moves come at a cost, fuel and rearming minor sys and engine damage. They are usually very vulnerable after the raid.

Since you can predict their next movement, then you can hit them hard under very favorable conditions.