Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

30 June 1944

Another month comes to an end. Highlights of the day:

* SS Escobar hits a TK in the Formoso Strait
* LBA hits two TK at Tarakan. Hoping for even better luck next turn.
* LBA kicks the snot out of the convoy trying to get in and out of Admiralty Is
* An S-boat sinks the AK wounded yesterday off Truk
* LBA hits Bangkok's Resources from three different bases reduceing it to 2(245). Stick a fork in it; its done
* Superbees hit the Resource Center at Saigon reducing it to 145 operation.
* Babo falls after the SNLF is pounded by LBA out of Amboina
* Sorong HOLDS! A full US ID vs three BF and the attack is 1 to 1 and forts reduced to 87. GRRRRRRR!

Everything is about loaded up for Weda . I will move these units to Ambonia while waiting for Sorong to fall. Adding LBA to the mix there. Churchille wants a BB and two DD's for July. Gonna let him have the BB. The DD's are mine

[vettim89]

1-4 July 1944

Just moving stuff right now. The last of the pieces of the puzzle are fallen together on Ceylon. Will probably start loading in two turns. Once on my way, I will turn the LBA lose on the AB's on Malaya. Time to wreak some havoc.

Here is what is going on:

* The Sarong Op should reach its final climax this turn. The last deliberate attack came off at 5 to 1 and reduced forts to 2. Shock attack ordered this turn

* The Weda Force is approaching Amboina. They will need to wait for Sarong to fall before heading out. I now have about half a dozen squadrons of P-47D to participate. These will be spread around Nimlea, Amboina, and Soraong to support Weda's invasion force. THis is in addition to USV CV/CVE support

* After sitting there for a week Larry finally sent some unescorted strikes against Sorong. AAA defeated the first one downing 6 out of 15 Francis for no hits. CAP took out a 9 plane Francis strike and a 15 plane Betty strike.

* Amchitka now has Av support and about 80 fighters. I don't think these Japanese CV's will find the place so welcoming the next time they show up.

Hopefully by the end of July 1944 I will have occupied northern SUmatra, cleared the Celebes and Moluccas, and be moving on Marcus. Then the fun begins as my CV force will ballon over the next 60 days and bigger fish shall be fried

[vettim89]

5-7 July 1944

Finally moving. Little action over these days except the USN fleet boats are having a field day. I was tired of seeing such a target poor environment in the south so I am slowly moving my subs up around the HI. Sank three AK's on the 7th alone. also now that I have enough boats up there I am moving them a lot which is decreasing the number of hits from NaVSearch. Other things going on:

* The troops for Weda are at Amboina. Need to get the AB repaired at Sorong first. Should take no more than three days. Once this is accomplished, I will bring the CVTF back for replinishment then off to Weda. The day I send the Weda TF's I will start loading for Menado

* Last few troops and supplies are almost on board for the Sabang Op. Really short on MSW for this one. It could get bloody.

* Amchitka Is AB went to 4 last turn. Already have a B-29 group at SF waiting for level 7.

* I get three more fleet carriers in the next 30 days.


Thought I would post the score just for an update. Getting to 2 to 1 by 1 Jan 1945 is my goal. If everything goes as planned I may be able to make it

[vettim89]

8-10 July 1944

All the pieces are in place. The AB at Amchitka will go to level 5 AB next turn. I need 11 days to get it to level 7. That is when I get the last of the second group of B-29's. From there they will start hitting Japan proper.

The last US CVTF will make Amboina next turn. I will send the Weda force as soon as the air groups are are at full strength. Units are ready to load for Menado the day teh Weda force sails.

The RN force is about a week out of Sabang. All 4E in SEAC are turn loose on the AB in Malaya. I need to remind Larry that trying to move in a bunch of Kamikazes in there will be at a price.

Two large TF left SF this turn. They have about 150K of lift capacity for the Marcus op. CV Hornet II is just north of Panama in bound for PH. The picture is clarifying.

So the table is set. Weda and Sabang will be hit simultaneously. Then Moratai and northern Sumatra follow on immediately after those ops are complete. Then Marcus will go off. Finally the big ops for the second half of 1944: the Pagan/Iwo op and the PI.

Oh, and CV Kaga finally should up on the sunk list. That leaves Akagi and a couple of CVL's in the IJN OOB.

[vettim89]

11 July

The Japanese carriers returned to the Aleutions but did not find the welcome as hospitable this time. I had two CL's moderately damaged and one DD severely damaged. A PV-1 out of Amchitka put one bomb into a CVE. Larry also lost about 50 a/c and, of course, pilots I put about half a dozen subs in the likely return path.

Weda TF set sail. Sabang Force is four days out. These two should hit simultaneously. Larry will have to pick his poison.

[vettim89]

12 July 1944

The troops are coming ashore at Sabang. There is an INF BGD and 3 BF opposing 5 ID, 3 ARM RGT, and a USA Combined, a UK BGD Arms RGT (I think). Only token resistance so far and NOOOOOOOOOOOO MINES!!!!!!!!!

VETTIM89 dances the dance of JOY!!!

[vettim89]

13-14 July 1944

Troops about unloaded at both Sabang and Weda. The Weda TF is taking forever. This was a TF with plenty of extra lift and should have been a one day unload. Instead I am on day three. Disruption is high at both bases but the AV advantage is overwhelming in both spots for me. Larry tried some raids at the Weda force. The US CV CAP did not cover - weather. MY LRCAP did the job as the few Helen leakers all missed. Today was the first combat with the Franks vs P-47D. The Juggs ate them up but they did a good job against the P-38J/L's. Thought a I grabbed a screenie but no joy.

Will start loading the Menado force next turn. This base is much more tightly held by the Japanese with current recon indicating 20 K troops there. I have three Aussie Div plus tanks ready to go.

Up at PH, CV Intrepid is stuck at 10 SYST damage and needs upgraded. Everything else is upgraded and except for three CVL,s fully repped up. CV Hornet II is inbound but needs both her October 1943 upgrade and June 1944 upgrade. Not my favorite part of the code - why would the shipyard workers put the latest upgrades on a ship before sending it out?

Next turn should be fun as both Moratai and Menado are loaded up with Japanese aircraft. THe 4E's are headed in to Menado while the US CV air hits Moratai with some 2E backup from Amboina. Larry better be hoping for good weather as his AB's are about to be creamed. Would be nice if they were socked in when the bombers arrived

[Q-Ball]

vettim, still reading this good AAR. I think you are on the right track, the Allies should only have 2 grand strategic objectives at this point:

1. Stop shipments of Oil to Japan, and

2. Acquire one or more airbases to bomb Japan from

#2 is alot tougher IMO, because although there is alot of space to advance in the SRA, there are only a handful of places you can bomb from: Sakhalin, Iwo, Okinawa, Taiwan, Luzon, and perhaps coastal China. Korea I think is a bad idea, because landing there gives the Kwantung Army a useful purpose.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

vettim, still reading this good AAR. I think you are on the right track, the Allies should only have 2 grand strategic objectives at this point:

1. Stop shipments of Oil to Japan, and

2. Acquire one or more airbases to bomb Japan from

#2 is alot tougher IMO, because although there is alot of space to advance in the SRA, there are only a handful of places you can bomb from: Sakhalin, Iwo, Okinawa, Taiwan, Luzon, and perhaps coastal China. Korea I think is a bad idea, because landing there gives the Kwantung Army a useful purpose.

You forgot one - the one I am after - Iliolo in the Central PI. It is a SPS 5 AB and B-29's will be able to hit 2/3 of the HI bases. I can hit all of Hokkaido and 1/3 of Honshu from Amchitka. So I am in pretty good shape. The pace is really accelerating with literally one or two invasions a week now. The big jump will be from the Celebes/Moluccas to Mindanao. Once ashore there I should be able to run the southern and central PI pretty quick. Luzon will be another story and I thought about bypassing it. Then I looked at the VP for Manila and CLark and reconsidered. I may try Mac's approach: push the IJA into the northern third of the island and leave them there. My goal is still 2:1 by 1 January 1945. Sitting at 1.3 to 1 right now but there are so big base points hangin out there for me.

[vettim89]

15 July 1944

The Japanese came and the USAAF/USN met them in battle. Air losses were 10 to 1 in ALlies favor with the Allies only losing 37 a/c. My biggest loss was 14 F6F-5 but that was offset by 29 Franks alone. The 4E hit Menado before they could launch and pummled that base. Will repeat next turn. Three major raids came at the US force and I only had one leaker which missed. Still before people say anything about UberCAP, the best ratio Larry got of CAP vs escorts was 4 to 1. The last raid was 10 to 1 in favor of the defenders.

Attacks ordered at both Weda and Sabang next turn. I suspect Weda will fall as there are only two BF's there. Sabang may take a weak or so even though the base AV is 1700 to 386.

[HMS Resolution]

Out of curiousity, how many CVs, CVLs, and BBs do the allies have right now?

[Alfred]

vettime89,
 
Purely for the sake of Allied morale and prompted by Q-Ball's last post, I thought I too should mention that I follow this AAR, thus your effort to keep updating it (in the face of the temptation to concentrate solely on AE must be) is not in vain.
 
Alfred

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: HMS Resolution

Out of curiousity, how many CVs, CVLs, and BBs do the allies have right now?

Wow. Lets just count active

RN: 3 CV's, 2 CVE's, and 5 BB

US: 4 CV, 4 CVL 4 fast BB in SWPAC plus 4 CV, 5 CVL, 6 fast BB, 8 old BB at PH with CV Hornet in Panama shipping lanes and CV Hancock arriving Panama in 2 days. CV Saratoga II arriving SF 17 days

There are 15 CVE (plus Long Island and the CVE-R's) at PH. There are 2 more about to arrive, 1 in the Panama SHipping lanes and 2 that left Panama this turn

As I have only let Larry see a small fraction of my force at once, I really think he has no idea what he is up against

(edit: got the numbers right now)

[Canoerebel]

Vettim, like others have said, I continue to follow your AAR. Keep up the good work for the "good guys."

You're right about the leap from the Celebes to Mindanao being diffucult. I did that in my game against Miller. He had been chewed up pretty bad but he still made the advance very difficult and costly. But once you get a good foothold at Davao and another base or two, you'll be able to consolidate and advance in a big way so that the rest of the PI will follow at appropriate intervals.

I did strategic bombing from Luzon, but it was a little too far for comfort. You really need something closer like Formosa or China or Sikhalin Island to prevent wear and tear and fatigue.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Vettim, like others have said, I continue to follow your AAR. Keep up the good work for the "good guys."

You're right about the leap from the Celebes to Mindanao being diffucult. I did that in my game against Miller. He had been chewed up pretty bad but he still made the advance very difficult and costly. But once you get a good foothold at Davao and another base or two, you'll be able to consolidate and advance in a big way so that the rest of the PI will follow at appropriate intervals.

I did strategic bombing from Luzon, but it was a little too far for comfort. You really need something closer like Formosa or China or Sikhalin Island to prevent wear and tear and fatigue.

Agreed but it is a means to an end. First Amchitka and Iliolo. Then hopefully be able to move up to Clark Field. Then either Formosa or Okinawa. I will have to wait on dispositions in those areas to determine the likely axis of advance.

16-17 July 1944

After de-synching (hopefully), Sabang and Weda fall on the 17th. Lost of AB damage but I brough rots and rots of engineers. I sank three I-boats in these two days plus at least two more heavily damaged. What little that is left of Larry's submarine fleet is melting away. Of note, Larry is pulling out of Ban Don. Unit count had held steady at 19 for like six months. Now it is 16. If I only could get enough supplies in I would apply pressure here. I may try to sneak a convoy up through the SCS. I figure even 30 or 40 K of supplies would be all I need.

AMchitka goes to level 6 AB next turn. Should be about two weeks or so before level 7 then the HI gets their first dose of Superbees.

[vettim89]

18 July 1944

Gen Slim gathers his commanders and points south, "That way lads". The Angloamerican force amassed at Sabang heads for Kuala. The reconquest of NE Sumutra has begun.

Weda has engineers pouring ashore and hoepfully will be fully operational in a few days. Down south the US 6th and 40th ID, 8th US Army HQ and two Arty units begin loading for Menado. Lift is trickling back to pick up the second Aussie army for Moratai. I really over commited lift for the Menado op so I hopefully get everyone ashore in one day. When these two are secured I will leap forward and occupy Talaud Is - a green dot base in the Celebes sea.

The Marcus op is waiting for the CV's and last lift to arrive. Should I wait the extra three weeks for Sara? Debating that one.

I fear Larry may be pulling everything back to Singers for a last stand there. Not what I hoped for. Time will tell

[vettim89]

19-24 July 1944

A slow five days as the Allies consolidate gains on Sumatra and in the Celebes. Sabang's AB is fully functional and expanding. Weda has all the runway damage repaired and half the support. Unfortunately the port is still 100% damaged. Good news is three EAB land there next turn. Also sending 15 K supplies in.

All is loaded for Menado. I had gotten out of the habit of naming operations like I used to. Dropping the cartoon names and going a different tack. Operation Marshmellow is underway as the TF's sail for Amboina where there will pick up a SCTF, MSW, and of course CV/CVE cover. Make D-Day in about a week.

As lift trickles back to Darwin, Operation Mars Bar commences - Moratai. Think about two and a half to three weeks on that one. Talud will be developed either during or immediately after that op depending on the lift situation.

CV Hornet II arrives PH next turn but needs upgraded. CV intrepid is at 7 SYST damage and will need upgraded. Looks like I likely will wait for Sara II unless Intrepid starts repping up at a much faster pace. The Marcus invasion fleet will be escorted by 7 fleet CV's, 5 CVL, and 20 CVE.

[vettim89]

25-26 July 1944

The stage is set. Marchmellow Force is at Amboina. FIrst the USAAF is sending the Japanese at Davao a little present in the form of a power sweep that would make Vince Lombardi proud. Battle hardened pilots flying the newest US fighters are gonna lay some hurt on

Up at Saporo in Hokaido, the cursor intel says 62 ships wich may include some CV's. The Superbees from AMchitka will make this their first target. WIll need to wait and see how weather goes on that one.

I added it up. When the Marcus op sails in a few weeks it will be escorted by 32 carriers: 7 CV, 5 CVL, and 20 CVE. Now THAT will leave a mark!

[vettim89]

27 July 1944

I guess I made the proper offerings to the Weather Gods because everybody flew. Larry's e-mail comment was "What a shock". I guess he wasn't expecting this.

The Superbees hit Sapparo and you can see the results. I was hoping Larry might have his carriers parked here but alas no. Still I chewed up a bunch of lift and several of those pesky ASW escorts. Only a MSW is reported sunk but I suspect there are a lot of ships in a hurting way here.

The "Packer Sweep" also was highly successful. Sending in the 4E's now. Davoa is about to become untenable for Larry. Jolo Island, the other locale with a high concentration of a/c will be hit next. The Marshmellow force is on its way. Was able to augment the escort with two newly arrived CVE's. I put so much lift into this for a quick unload that I don't have enough to load the Mars Bar (Moratai) Force right now. This will cause about a weeks delay.

AT PH Intrepid is finally down to SYST 5 - need it to drop one more point when it will shoot up again after upgrade. Hornet II is down to 6 after her double upgrade (10/43 and 6/44). Lots of newly arrived lift inbound for PH for the Maulumte OP (Marcus)

Sorry about the poor image but it was the only way I could fit it all in

[vettim89]

Image of the Sweep. Complete wipe on Japanese side. I lost 9 P-47D and 2 P-38L. Nice to get all those Franks. Larry may need to considermoving some of his frontline stuff back home. So far it doesn't seem he has

Edit: forgot the image - oops