Matrix Games Forums

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/02/42

Weather: Thunderstorms

Sub attack at 19,3

Japanese Ships
AP Chowa Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-40, Shell hits 2


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
BB Hiei, Shell hits 4
CL Yubari, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Murasame, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 4

Allied Ships
CA Northampton, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Chester, Shell hits 8, on fire
CA Louisville, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Swanson
DD Mustin
DD Morris
DD Selfridge, Shell hits 2, on fire


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
CL Yubari, on fire
DD Murasame, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yudachi, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asagiri

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CA Astoria
CA San Francisco
CL Hobart
DD Meredith
DD Gwin
DD Helm


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Shell hits 9
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
CL Yubari, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Murasame, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CA Astoria, Shell hits 2
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 1
CL Hobart
DD Meredith, Shell hits 1
DD Gwin, Shell hits 1
DD Helm


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Shell hits 2
BB Hiei, Shell hits 2
CL Yubari, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City, Shell hits 1, on fire
CA Astoria, Shell hits 3
CA San Francisco
CL Hobart
DD Meredith, Shell hits 1
DD Gwin, on fire
DD Helm, Shell hits 1


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
BB Hiei
CL Yubari, on fire
DD Asagiri, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
PT 36
PT 40, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT 43
PT 46
PT 61
PT 67, Shell hits 1, on fire


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Air attack on Lunga , at 38,40

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54
G4M1 Betty x 8

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 38

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 7 destroyed
G4M1 Betty x 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2 damaged

2LT W. Lees of VMF-223 is credited with kill number 4

LCDR T. Nakajima of F2/Tainan Daitai is KILLED


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What a brawl!

A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

Damien Thorn wrote:A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

I wouldn't have said that they got their butts kicked at all and therefore not pathetic at all. As for happening a lot, I've never seen it before.

Damien Thorn wrote:A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

If the Japanese TF was on a Bombardment mission I don't see anything terribly wrong with it as their weapons load out would be primarily HE rather than AP. If however they were on a Surface Combat mission then you have a point.

-g

Damien Thorn wrote:A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

I'll bet the crew of the Hiei thought the same thing. :p

I've been noticing that the IJN doesn't seem to do as good as I would have expected. I had three turns of surface battles around Luganville in a PBEM game. In all three cases the IJN was set for Surface Combat and twice they were surprised. I think the USN Radar is too effective for this time frame( July 1942 ). All three times there were two IJN Battleships with other ships. Twice the USN had CAs and once they had all DDs. The DDs did not surprise the IJN. In all three cases the IJN did not move, the USN moved into the hex.

I try to put a Yugumo class DD in air- and surface combat TF´s.

They have one air and one surface radar.

This may help not to be surpised (so often) in naval combat and increases the number of planes intercepting incoming strikes.

My problem with this is that it is July 1942 and in now 4 surface battles the USN has detected the IJN TFs with Radar every time. USN Radar was not that good for this time frame. In August 1942 at the Battle of Salvo Island, the USN failed to detect the IJN surface fleet and was routed. It just seems either I am very unlucky or the USN Radar is modeled too effective.

Hmmm... Let's see:

IJN:
- 2 BB
- 1 CL
- 3 DD

vs

USN:
- 6 CA
- 1 CL
- 7 DD

I really don't see a problem unless there were things that we don't know about like local weather, Leadership, Detection Levels.

All things being unequal, this could have gone either way.

Damien Thorn wrote: A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

Happened for real 13 Nov 42 also.

You also dont know if those 'hits' on the Japanese BBs even penetrated their armor.

Damien Thorn wrote:A nighttime battle and the Japanese, with battleships get their butts kicked by Americans without battleships. Pathetic. Something really should be done about this because it happens a lot.

Not quite.

As several of the following posters speculated, the performance was pretty good for the IJN. 1) They were on bombardment. 2) The BB's probably had all of 3 fire and 1 sys damage from that. They shrugged it all off, as well they should. 3) My two SC TF's are torn up. I have Salt Lake City with about 21 sys, San Francisco with about 16 (14in shell), and Hobart left for heavies, along with a few damaged and undamaged DD's. I didn't lose anything because all the damaged combatants put in to Lunga afterwards, but they'll not be back before mid-'43.

Essentially, I sank the screen and got mauled. Loads of fun.

Admiral DadMan wrote:Hmmm... Let's see:

IJN:
- 2 BB
- 1 CL
- 3 DD

vs

USN:
- 6 CA
- 1 CL
- 7 DD

I didn't notice that those were two seperate task forces with a total of 6 CAs. My mistake. I guess you are right; it could have gone either way.