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Herbiesan vs Cantona

(yes, we are back)

scene 1
PDU off
Historical first turn on
surprise on

no unit withdrawals

welcome back, will follow!

When the giants died

It is only a few steps from Captain Yamaguchi’s cabin to the bridge. A few steps taken so many times, in darkness, in stinking heated sunlight, sometimes in calmness, and in too many times with beating anxious heart.
But today, these steps are different from any other time.
These steps lead from peace to war, from knowing, from certainty, from routine and assuredness, to the unknown, to the unexpected, and to………and yes, and to doubt.
But never doubt before the men
Never
Calmly, as so many times before he enters this so familiar place, crowded, cluttered, utilarian.
“Captain on the bridge!”
His men stiffen
Salutes. All know what this dawn brings.
“A different day gentleman, but one we must treat like all the others” He smiles. After all what could life be like if the days weren’t a little different?
“Bring the ship to action stations if you please, I wish to address the crew”
Battleship Kirishima greets the grey dawn. Another day. But one like no other he suspects.
December 7th, 1941.

no unit withdrawals

Wow!

HERB!!!

Hibiki returns!!!

[&o][&o][&o]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

welcome back, will follow!

+1!

Will your model of Yamato feature in this AAR? The IJN can use all the help it can get!

Great to be back and playing a great player and friend. I hope we can be as entertaining as the last time out.

Withdrawls are off at Herbs request but I am actually toying with the idea of mothballing those ships due to withdraw as well as the air units. Will be harder to do so with lcus. I like historical playthroughs.

I don't know what to think of ship withdrawals.

Obviously some other theatre (Med or Atlantic) has a need for a certain ship of a certain type at a certain date, so some ship gets a wihdrawal date, to fulfill that need.

If this particular ship sinks before that time, nothing needs to be withdrawn. The need however, in the other theatre, for that particular type of ship still remains.

For consistency purposes, another ship of the same type should be withdrawn, considering that the effort against germany had priority.

edit: a minor typo

Nice to see this start up!! Will be following along. [&o]

Good luck and good play.

ORIGINAL: tolsdorff

I don't know what to think of ship withdrawals.

Obviously some other theatre (Med or Atlantic) has a need for a certain ship of a certain type at a certain date, so some ship gets a wihdrawal date, to fulfill that need.

If this particular ship sinks before that time, nothing needs to be withdrawn. The need however, in the other theatre, for that particular type of ship still remains.

For consistency purposes, another ship of the same type should be withdrawn, considering that the effort against germany had priority.

edit: a minor typo

There are no other theaters. Its a stand alone Pacific game that doesn't include the rest of the world.

After 10 years of playing this game, my current game is the first I ever played with withdrawals turned off.
Did it just for fun to see how differently it plays out.

Ship wise it has the greatest impact on England. It allows you to build up and maintain a decent carrier force throughout the entire game. Aircraft wise, it seems to have the biggest impact on the US. Allowing the PI squadrons to redeploy to Oz without having to withdraw in summer '42 is a huge boon. In early 1946 I reached the limit for airframes under the game mechanics and and had to start withdrawing and disbanding rear area squadrons.

(Withdrawals are now on)

Mother nature, thinks Yamaguchi, is a capricious bitch at times.
Kirishima's bow rises almost ponderously up the next marching swell, and as usual, fails to peak it, the white water rushing across her bow, sweeping over the capstans, piling against the barbett of A turret, then flowing in cascades back into the sea.
36, 600 tons of steel, and this bloody ocean treats my old lady like a canoe.....

He raises his glasses, focuses carefully on the flagship. Will she be able to launch?, or has this great gamble come unstuck?
If it does, Gods help Yamamoto....
But then he sees it, the great flag rising from her bridge, the Z flag, symbol of all that Japan can dare to do.
And it seems, what she will again
In the half light of this growing dawn, the first zeros begin to launch..........

"They are beginning"
“But will they achieve surprise? “ His executive officer, CMDR Ashigari grimaces “ I half disbelieve we are doing this”
“But we are”
“Yes….. Aircraft……It hardly seems fair does it?”
It takes little time for the skies to fill, for the squadrons to form up, to vanish south
And it takes not much longer, it seems, for the message to come in
“Tora, Tora, Tora”

Oh man, my morning read is back.

Thank you !!!!

[:D]
Kirishima keeps station of Akagi, 1000 meters on her starboard flank. The seas have moderated, the sun now shines, it is s imply glorious day.
The great ship remains at action stations, and the galley crews deliver breakfast to the men at their stations, bowls of rice balls, fish, steamed vegetables. The waves no longer break over her bows, and her decks are dry. It could be another day like any other when Combined fleet sails.
Except now the seas are potentially deadly, what dangers lurk submerged out there?
Yamaguchi hands the conn to the OOW, LT Hara, a competent man, he knows what his job is. He descends from the Navigation deck down to the radio shack, it is, as expected, somewhat crowded
The radio man is staring intently ahead, unseeing, everything concentrated on his ears, on the faint, crackling sounds of the headphones. He has a pad on his desk, lines of scratches, his head nods, another mark. The men about him murmur.
“And?” Yamaguchi asks quietly
“Each single mark is a bomb hit, double marks are Torpedoes”
There are a lot of marks. A great many marks
“We have smashed them, 8 BBs smashed, 2 have exploded, the base burns, Yamamoto was right……”
“But the enemy carriers?”
“Missing”
He nods. So, there it is. The American fleet is scrap. My rifles shan’t be needed today. Submarines and aircraft then.
“Let me know the total when you have it”
Kirishima rides easily under his feet. Well my old friend, my Mistress, our journey truly begins

Midday
Kirishima has reverted to second degree readiness. She remans glued to her position athwart Akagi, her attentions very much upon her.
The strike is returning. There have been loses, and there are obviously a great many damaged aircraft.
CMDR Ashigari again joins Yamaguchi’s side
“Do you think Nagumo will launch a second strike?”
A good question. One I would like to be able to answer. If the reports are true, is there any need to bomb scrap metal even further? . But what of the port? what of the fuel tanks. If we have gone to war over fuel…….
“I do not know………..I would think no carriers in port must be considered.”
“I wonder where they are?”
“Lurking no doubt. If I was Nagumo, that little problem would be my number one”


(waiting for allied first turn to be done. PS Cantona has permission to access this at the moment)

Dec 8th
There is no second strike. Kido Bahru has struck hard, incredibly hard at the American fleet. 2 of the battleships have exploded and sunk. All the others are burning or sunk at their moorings. All of them. Countless other vessels, all the cruisers, nearly every single auxiliary vessel has been hit.
And few, if any, allied aircraft remain.
There simply is nothing left to sink.
But the cost has been steep, especially in Zeros. Nearly 20 have been lost, Akagi has lost heavily of her priceless pilots.

Yamaguchi understands Nagumo’s decision. Japans sword is needed elsewhere, and needs to remain sharp. The American fleet……destroyed. Amazing. He stares down at his great rifles., and feels………..somewhat disappointed? I am at war, and what is there to test them on now?
But test them, that he felt, would surely occur
And they must be ready

DEC 10th
The pacific is a big ocean
That, one would think, is a pretty inane statement. But when you sail it, when the wake behind your ship stretches for mile after endless mile, and the radio picks up nothing but static, then, then its size truly does become apparent.
CMDR Ashigari has the watch, his captain snatching greatly needed sleep. Around him the battleship follows its steady routine, as does the rest of the fleet. Overhead the zeros and Kates circle, searching for the hidden Buka’s
But nothing happens, nothing is sighted. It is after all, a very large ocean. And there, of course is the problem. Combined fleet has struck, Japan has struck. And the allies, somewhere undoubtably over that distant horizon, already are striking back.
We are needed there. We are needed now. But gods, we have so far to go……..
There is something else. Ashigari knows the keenness of his Captain, the disappointment he already feels that Kirishima has not yet tested her guns. But he is new. He has so much to learn yet.
Ashigari is pleased that the American fleet lies in a shambles in Kirishima’s steady wake. Her guns may be great., but her armour……….

from the command of a Destroyer to a Carrier now that's a promotion.

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

from the command of a Destroyer to a Carrier now that's a promotion.

The ship is a lightly armored BB or a BC, depending upon what you want to call it.