The best day of the war for the Allies opens with this encounter and will culminate in fireworks that lay to rest (at least temporarily) my bad habit of only damaging enemy vessels.
Battle of Tarawa: In two encounters with CVE Unyo, Grayling scores six TT hits. Confirmed sinking, of course. She takes 15 Zeroes down with her.
Over the past four turns, two Allied supply TFs have managed to come in and offload (thanks to big naval support). Supply about 68k. Forts at 5.5.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Battle of Cocos Island: Dave sends a capital TF hunting DS. The enemy ships instead run into BB Washington TF, serving as combat escort. The resulting battle is a decisive Allied victory. The Fuso TF had bombarded yesterday evening, so would've been low on supply. And CA Kumano had hit a mine during the bombardment run. I think Dave intentionally, if improvidently, committed this TF, but there's a chance it might've reacted. Fuso, the two CAs, and several DDs confirmed sunk. The CL took heavy fires/heavy damage.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Battle of Cocos Island: A counter-invasion force continues inbound and loses an xAP. Dave is very aggressively counterattacking. I hope he proceeds, as I think the landing would be an utter calamity. But sometimes battles turn on small things that change outcomes.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Battle of Cocos Island: KB launches yet another strike. This one fails too.
In this game thus far, Dave has been strategically conservative. He's mostly played inside the historic empire limits and hasn't gone for sexy thing like Ceylon or India or Oz or Fiji or Hawaii. But he's uber aggressive tactically. He commit carriers and combat vessels at flank speed and sometimes against tough odds. He gets in good punches, but today's action turned the tables rather dramatically.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Battle of Cocos: In seeking separation, both side see a few more fireworks. As the 16th opens, a USN sub misses CV Soryu SE of Cocos. An enemy subs puts a TT into CL Honolulu, slowing her to 13 knots. And - gulp - a sub puts a second TT into CV Saratoga. Somehow, damage inflicted is minimal - Sara can still make 21 knots and handle aircraft. Allied combat TFs finish off two raiding DDs. It's time to bug out, as most of my combat TFs are low or bingo on ammo and enemy subs are flooding the zone and finding damage vessels aplenty. Intentionally, most Allied TFs have been moving in such a way as to suggest that Diego will be the objective. Indeed, a handful of TFs are heading that way. But DS and her fast combat escorts (and damaged ones too) actually moves WSW, hoping to break contact. On the 17th, that goal seems to be met. I think two USN CVs and both fast BBs will head straight to map's edge and Capetown. The RN carriers and Hornet may make for Colombo, or possibly Perth...or, if I get a case of the yips, to Capetown too. I think Dave might come charging back with carriers, combat vessels, and subs. In the meantime, I chanced sending a few small supply vessels back to Cocos. They made it and upped supply to 10k, with another 4k available. That's still woefully low. Dave can and likely will surround, reduce and eventually take this island back. But I think the force needed to do so will lower the pressure on places like Luganville, Tarawa, Midway and the Aleutians.
Battle of Tarawa: An enemy combat TF is loitering about 10 hexes NE, probably inbound to molest Allied shipping. I have two CL/DD forces and two PT boat squadrons. Supply is 69k, so this base can withstand pressure for awhile.
China: No stirrings along the MLR.
Bay of Bengal: P-38s and 4EB in an effective airfield strike vs. Rangoon on the 17th.
Midway and NoPac: No real enemy presence or threat.
The Other KB (the one that was recently in NoPac): May be upgrading, but Dave is so aggressive that I have to allow for him pushing the TF south at flank speed to contest Cocos Island or seek my carriers. Or maybe their quietly in drydock.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Well done, those CAs are like gold dust for the Japs and their loss will hurt badly. Really as the Japs you can only get away with splitting up your CV assets during the first 3 or 4 months of the war. After that you need to keep mini KB with the main KB to maximize your chances in a CV battle, as Dave as found out to his cost....
Cocos Island: Dave's ships withdrew and a few Allied merchant vessels made it to port. Supply now at 15k. The wounded capital ships departed the map for Capetown. Considering the intensity of the fighting, the withdrawal went smoothly. No real problems with enemy subs and Dave didn't find a way to teleport/wormhole another carrier force across the map in two days.
Tarawa: Dave's withdrawn his combat vessels and air forces (temporarily) but has a half dozens subs posted around the island. Allied nav search has their location, so Allied merchant vessels have thus far succeeded in threading the needle to get into port safely. Supply up to 75k.
China: No action along the MLR.
Burma: Recon reports more AA inbound for Rangoon, which has been victimized by Allied 4EB coming in from Assam, targeting airfield and industry. A P-38G squadron at Akyab is giving Dave's fighters fits.
CenPac: With Dave fighting hard elsewhere, I think the odds of an attack at Midway are decreasing.
NoPac: Ditto here. I no longer exepct a massive offensive in this region, though I wouldn't be surprised to see a limited action to take Attu or another nearby base or two.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
You said earlier that the Sara could handle aircraft but I thought if the combined damage was 50 or above it couldn't conduct plane operations. The Sara is at 51 combined damage, 19 Sys, 15 Fly and 17 Eng. Did it just pick up a point or two since your previous statement or can it conduct operations in it's current conditions? Maybe it is not all three possible areas damaged combined to 50 or more that hinders flight operations?
You said earlier that the Sara could handle aircraft but I thought if the combined damage was 50 or above it couldn't conduct plane operations. The Sara is at 51 combined damage, 19 Sys, 15 Fly and 17 Eng. Did it just pick up a point or two since your previous statement or can it conduct operations in it's current conditions? Maybe it is not all three possible areas damaged combined to 50 or more that hinders flight operations?
I thought it was total damage of 100 and no category above 50?
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
Sara was definitely conducting flight ops, and the damage numbers are down since the immediate aftermath of the battle.
The damage threshold that prevents flight ops is 50. My guess is that engine damage doesn't count in that total, but that SYS, FLT, and Fires do. Just a guess on my part.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Thanks, Bearcat, for checking on things I don't check. Not because I'm not interested or needful but because my brain is packed and there's a tendency to go on general notions and understandings because that's usually sufficient. Eventually I fill in the gaps through helpful Forumites like you, and as circumstances make info particularly pertinent.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
"Planes on a ship may not fly if the ship’s combined System Damage and Floatation Damage are greater than 50. "
Thanks. I looked quickly at the manual but didn't find that section. So apparently you can operate while fires are burning! Probably no problem getting volunteers to fly off a burning ship.
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No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
In fairness, the fires (if not contained quickly) will rapidly increase System damage and render the CV inoperable in any case. But as I understand it, Sara is off the map, en route to Capetown so flight ops should no longer be an issue.
Dan, you sure poked a hornet's nest with that Cocos op! And things look pretty good at Tarawa.
Sara will be in Capetown's yards in two days. She's in fine shape considering the intensity of that battle.
At Tarawa and Cocos, Dave reacted quickly and strongly to the incursions along his perimeter. His overall style of play indeed reminds me of Miller, though there are differences between them too.
In the two campaigns, capital ships lost: Japan - 1 CVE, 1 BB, three CA, 1 CL; Allies - none (one CVE very badly damaged and marooned at a dot hex for a long, long time to come). He also lost considerably more aircraft than I did. I lost a fair number of low-value DDs plus a good dozen or so transports. But where it counts - attrition of fighting power - these two campaigns have been Allied victories.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
China: Dave is about to attack at Kukong, a forward outpost on the Chinese MLR. He'll take the base as soon as he attacks. The real Allied strongpoint is the wood-rough hex behind the base. I've strengthened it and have some hopes it can hold, but this is going to be a hard fight. I don't see threats anywhere else on the MLR. If Dave can attack at two or more vectors, the threat increases substantially.
Cocos Island: Enemy forces except a few subs have been absent for the past week or more. This allowed the Allies to augment supply to 17k plus. Forts will be at four in a few days. Airfield was built to 2 to increase the supply limit to 32k. Dave will sooner or later impose a blockade around this important island and the situation will become dire.
Tarawa: As at Cocos, Dave has pulled most of his air/surface units back temporarily, leaving a handful of subs to guard the approaches. Nevertheless, supply TFs have come in, raising the stockpile to 100k. Forts now at 6. I don't think Dave can reclaim this base. Tabituea doesn't have enough supply, but I'm working on that.
Elsewhere: Dave is quiet in CenPac, NoPac, and Oz. The Allies have been/are distributing troops and assault shipping in preparation for future offensives. The plan is to patiently await the appearance of a big KB somewhere, allowing me to move with confidence somewhere far away. If Dave conceals his carriers for an extended period, I'll probe somewhere to elicit a reaction. Troops in numbers are prepped for points ranging from the Bay of Bengal to NoPac.
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033143Kukong.jpg (525.18 KiB) Viewed 222 times
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
