Herb VS Tabpub

[1275psi]

1/12/44

i am about to try an experiment.
enemy is gathering his APs ect at suchow? on the chinese coast- and his british task force is in the area too.
Formasa is his next target.
Im going to see if its possible to get a surfacegroup into his invasion fleet -before it sails.
I want to see how well i can cover the TF with LRCAP -or whether its a pointless exercise.
thus, 1cl, and 6 dd depart japan -and a very large percentage of my fighters begin moving to the south west corner of japan.

and the battle line gathers at saseabo...........

[1275psi]

2/12/44
the convoy at siapan is caught by a small cv task force -glug.
191 B-29s attack the home islands

[1275psi]

3/12/44
a lot of postings lately have been very short
I ain't had much i can do
With HI pool empty, oil all but exhausted - its time to try to use the BBs in glorious attempt to disrupt the enemy. I can't stand the thought of the BBs getting sunk in port.

They sail - yamato, mushia one TF
The 4 old BBs in another -Mutsu leading
2 battle cruisers in another
And 2 CA tfs also sail -small -but units as well

The single Cl TF reaches Okiwana -and he spots one BB

The next 6 days will be carnage - i expected it.
tabpub tells me I threw him badly of balance
The biggest disapointment -the way the liberator bomber kills so many ships.......[:@]
the biggest satisfaction - the giants have their moment...................[:)]

And so it begins -the last great march of the Ents.

87 p38,26 liberators attack the ships at Kadina -22 zekes
only 8 zekes lost - and the liberators hit transports

I begin to flood the south china sea with PG/PC and msw ships.
The CL TF -attack Swatow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1275psi]

4/12/44
My surface task force successfully charges into Swatow harbour -only to find that the target AP convoy has retreated!!![:@][:@][:@]
OH Crap!

Then the carnage begins.........
First 3 DD charging across the south china sea are night attacked by black widows -straffing them.
One is crippled, the other two retire

The surface task force -despite having heaps of LRCAP assigned to it -is attacked by literally100's of planes -you name the type -its there at the party
CL sendai, 3 dd are sunk, then another huge wave of planes -and its a total of 1cl, 6 dd sunk.

So that was a bust!
My strikes begin - 50 odd fighters vs 50 odd hellcats
I lose all my strike -he loses 1 plane[:@][X(][8|]
Cursed stock!

Another 50 odd fighters escort15 peggy - these are my very best planes -franks -and peggies at 83 exp -the franks mid 50's
the 47 hellcats, 9 corsairs shoot down all but 13 peggies!

yes -an attack!
And the Flak takes all but 2 down.......................... no hits

he begins to bomb all my airfields - not too bad

yamato and the battle cruisers are enroute to Okiwana- and under as many fighters a s CAP i can gather -and the rest of the battle fleet is following -

I order all the ships to attack, or go to taipae -where I hope to hide/fuel, and launch the attack from
The weather is going to be rotten -here we go!
At least 30 msw/pg/pc flood the area -attack!

[1275psi]

5/12/44
We are coming still - thunderstorms ground everything - I might have a chance here

Nanching falls in china

[1275psi]

6/12/44
Still storms everywhere

I transfer anything that flies to iether formosa/okiwana/the north coast of the phillipines -even some to hong Kong

The 2 giants reach Okiwana tomorrow -the slow BBs are still following. The rest of the fleet is also in the south china sea.

Weather clearing tomorrow -its carnage time!

[1275psi]

7/12/44

This is last post today -before I get into big battles

Just want to say its been 3 years of game time today -and almost 3 years real time of this game!

To Tabpub -I salute you! -great opponent or what!

To matrix games ----Thankyou for this great game!


And to anyone following this AAR -ta as well -its been a huge journey!

[1275psi]

/12/44
And the war exploded again

Copy of my notes:
multiple ASW actions south china sea, ss-019 finally sunk

tabpub -naval bombardment of the pescadores -and i hurt 1 cl, 3dd badly

very large CV group spotted to the west of siapan!
BB Mushia spotted at Okiwana!
heavy raid on shanghia
raids hit legaspi, naga,clarke field, clarke field, vigan,laong,aparri,Iloilo - all a mix of heavies, mediums ect -some jap planes lost
3 huge raids hit the pescadores
Then liberators begin to attack the many pg, pc, msw in the south china sea -i lose 3

My turn-
5 grace and 8 francis(huge raid hey[:)]) leave the phillipines -and manage to torp the CA Suffolk
3 betty fly -3 torps into the CL dauntless -it sinks
21 kamis fly from taan -1 tanker hit near Cam ray bay
Aparri launches a raid -27 tony,66 zeke,18 frank - against a 17 corsair, 85 hellcat CAP
The lot are shot down
Another strike -39 zeke,21 tony,18 frank -all lost - so far just 10 hellcats shot down
third strike -another mix of nearly 100 fighters goes in -and again 100 Hellcats have a feast -only 14 shot down
Stock is yuk -but with these poor pilots probably as per real life today!
More raids go in -all destroyed on his CAP - 3 betties, 10 betties, 3 oscar kamis, 16 grace
, 20 fighters, and 4 peggy -all lost

In the pm -
His CVs strike Loag -hard -carnage on the ground.
11 liberators atack -20 tony, 15 george, 58 zeke, 48 frank at aparri - and i have a win small here

Again my big strikes go in -and again chewed up

In the air its been a huge day -422 losses to his 70

My orders for tomorrow -every fighter i can, is placed on LRCAP duties -the battle wagons adavance still!

[1275psi]

8/12/44
tabpub invited me to read his AAR -so I have.
Really, really annoyed that some people say i should be embarressed over the final result of this battle -even before i have given my side
Could they do better?
Consider -
I have no fuel -this truly was the one way trip
I have no industry left
The pilot bug took all my pilots -I am trying to fight with average 30-40 pilots
its stock
I could leave the fleet in harbour -to get sunk next month anyway -or have a go

What would you do?
Ill say it now -there are players who play to the end - and those who talk about it.

Now for my version of events - the warts and all (nothing personal against honourable tabpub -but his AARs do only function when he is winning -or won a great victory)

Today Tabpub sends most of his CVs to near Naha/bataan island area -obviously hoping to attack my ships
My plan was this - yammato and Mushia to steam full speed into the valley of death -and be the bomb magnets -while the real hope I clung to - the battle cruisers - were covered by LRCAP - and could attack the invasion fleet. I attached what CAs I have left to these 2 TFs of BCs
The older BBs wre to follow as best they could -and again be the diversion

This plan worked

I will say it again -it worked -up to the last detail - apparently one task force of BCs managed to sail through 5 hexes full of allied CVs, BBs, the invasion fleet it was aimed at -but finished in the empty port of soochow
game mechanics -not tactics here beat me
But Im ahead of myself -this is how it played out

[1275psi]

The day began with 334 B-29s hiting Shanghia- CRUMP!
100 port hits just for a start
his CVs attack - 5 msw sunk - spread over all the South China sea - I like watching 100 plus planes dispatched to sink a MSW -not to attack a capital ship

I have a huge CAP/LRCAP assigned for the fleet at Taipai -its hopless![:o]
30 frank, 18 zeke defend against 59 hellcats, 56 helldivers, 14 avaengers, I lose all my planes -he loses 16 hellcats, 3 helldivers, 4 avengers

4 msw sunk in the port

Then his LBA attacks -64 p38,45 p40n,13 liberators -the great naval attack bomber of the war
39oscars,11 jack,7 frank,try to defend -nearly all are lost too -they do shoot down 14 P40n


The Mushia takes 3 times 2000 lb bombs (thats the start)

More LBA -40 p40n -45p38, 28 liberators -they hit a CL, and BC Kirishima is hit

42 oscars,23 kates - 57 hellcats - all lost -no losses inflicted
some grace attack -and torp a DD -the dutch one I think

Yet more LBA -61 P38 escort liberators -they meet the CAP -55 oscars,62 george,8 zero,83 zeke,33 tony
42 P38 are shot down -i lose 120 defenders
The 6 liberators still attack -and haranua , Tone, are hit

tactics are still working -just do not have enough firepower to pull this off - this is the entire available japanese fighter force being expended -and compared to what tabpub has -its a drop in the ocean!
The last strikes for the day are the worst -my shredded CAP fails.......

I put up still over150 fighters over the battle line near Okiwana -its the corsairs that cull -they are CV based -I lose 50 fighters to his26 planes
I am hit hard - Hyuga one bomb, 1 torp
Nagato -4 bombs, 2 torps
yamishiro -1 bomb -3 torps
Ise -2 bomb -1 torp
Mutsu -3 bombs

I am faced with the slow BBs are doomed -to damaged to flee -to crippled to fight
At taiho, the sisters reamain in great nick, and the BC's are there -also functional
If I flee, they will not escape -his CVs are now between me and Japan......

The invasion fleet is -however, well within striking range.
I can reach it -with luck -tonight

OK -what would you do...hmmmmmmmmmmmm[8|]

[1275psi]

9/12/44
tabpub tells me by mail -I did not expect this -and I have been caught out of position"
My notes say -"the last Huzzah" -and I asked myself -will i be dissapointed?
Probably

Well the turn started with a surface action
But not what I wanted -a single DD encounters a CV task force - 2cv, a cvl, a BB, ect, ect
Its over quick............

Buggar -despite a sea of green TF symbols -my ships see daylight with out engaging him -there are a few react messages -but basically I miss -the sisters are at Swatow -but no night action[:@]

Its inevitable what happens next

284 B-29 hit Shanghia
the airstrikes against the sisters is huge - yamato takes 10 bombs -many 2000 lbs, Mushia 8, haranua 5, Kirishima 2

His CVs mass attack Mutsu, ise -they sink, nagato as well as replay, after replay of air strikes goes in

Finally a surface action -yamato, Mushia 7 DD engage the first of what tabpub tells me were the only 2 SF TF in the area. The invasion fleet -defenceless, is one hex south of the port hex -fleeing (I sailed straight through it during the night[8|])

Unfortunately Hibiki is first to go[&o][X(]
Both BBs hit the CAs with 18 inchers - Sffolk3 times -dragon3 times, so Im dissapointed that they are not sunk

There are 3 rounds of combat, and mushia is sunk
(see tabpub AAR details)
Yamato is at 90 system damage at the end -so I get to check her out before I scuttled her
NOT A SKerrick of Ammo left -and no light guns iether -the bombs took all but a couple out

I scuttled her -as far as Im concerned, going down fighting better than scuttled in port[:)]
It took25 hits,2 torps, 10 bombs to sink yamato
Mushia 29 hits,13 bombs

A/C losses today -223 to his 41 -yesterday I forgot to tell -494 to 186

[1275psi]

10/12/44
6 BBs sunk yesterday
the fleet is destroyed -one last try -2 battle cruisres and the CAs are also in range -basically unhurt
They too try tonight to hit him -again I guess wrong -sail through a gazzillion TFs -and finish in daylight in an empty hex -man I hope this changes for AE

can't be bothered with todays carnage -445 fighters, TBDs and Dbs lost to his 95

Some kamis hit 2 CVs, a BB is torpedoed

The remains of my fleet are sunk
(Tabpub for details)

I have lost 1400 a/c in 4 days in the defence of formasa -and I have about 100 fighters left -full stop
Ironically, I have a george unit on Okiwana -60 odd damaged planes? no idea how that developed -with 212 pilots!

The fleet is finished -and his invasion is delayed only a week
I have 10000 fuel at the fullest port anyway.
HI pool is 12
I am building just Franks, zekes, judys, and some Francis
The remnants struggle back to japan

This game was lost ages ago -but I will fight on. (well, to mid 45 probably -or until AE comes out)

[1275psi]

after considerable thought, have decided to close this AAR
As Japan can only experience a series of defeats from here to games end -and apparently this means I will only "embarress myself" -and by implication open myself to charges of being a poor player -(not that i give a rats a@#$# about that) -it has occured to me -why bother?

So for those who are interested on how a late war game goes -ie -can the home islands defend -well sorry - find another game - or play for 3 years real life and find out yourself

I will continue the game -but this AAR is obviously just a way to whip myself.

[PzB74]

To bad to hear that you're closing down the AAR!
You've only credited yourself by playing on after defeat became a given conclusion.

Playing Japan almost always brings you to the brink of extinction by 1945, I barely had a few damaged destroyers left by 1946!-)
In reality "lost wars" are only continued as the only option for those in charge to lengthen their already doomed existences [;)]

I was pretty set on bringing my never ending AAR to an end, but when it became unbearable to drag myself to play a single more turn I decided that enough was enough. My only advice to you would be that you have to enjoy playing in order to justify writing up an AAR.

Anyway, thanx for the show and good luck with the endgame [:)]

[cantona2]

an honourable fight to the death herbiesan