Rookie Problems - Operation Shoestring

[DanielAClark]

17th August.
Enemy bombardment of Kokoda track. Ineffective.

Our P39s hit the track, and our B17s hit the port at Buna.

Lots of new ships arrive, mostly cruisers and destroyers.

Our carriers actually do sink the destroyer fleeing from Tulagi.

I realize i need to undock the AO and AV at Espirito Santo to load the base force into transports? Still getting a greyed out icon. I will need to get the right size transport fleet into the harbor.

This is rather difficult.

One of the carriers is withdrawing to Noumea. We stay with 2 covering the landing area. However this wont last much longer.

[RangerJoe]

Disband the AV and the AO into the port, they work better that way.

Just because you see no damage does not mean that there is no effect. Supply usage will go up because of the need to clean/replace the soiled loin cloths and other clothing. Fatigue and disruption will also increase.

[BBfanboy]

If the AV is staying at Espiritu Santo, it should be disbanded in port rather than docked. The AO does not have to be docked to refuel other ships either. If it is still in a TF, other TFs can refuel from it using the "Refuel at Sea" option. You can also disband an AO or tanker in port and it will provide fuel via the "Refuel in port" option.

You will frequently run into situations where the port is too small to dock all the ships for the unit you want to load. The solution is to just be patient and load the unit in chunks:

1. Remove ships from the TF until the total displacement tonnage (upper right on the TF screen when you are adding or removing ships) is under the port limit (on the Base Info screen, upper center).

2. Dock the TF and set to "Do Not Unload". Do not give it a destination other than the port it is in.

3. Select "Load troops" and from the list that comes up select the unit you want. If the unit does not appear, it is not movable because it is assigned to a restricted HQ and you have to spend PP to reassign it to an unrestricted HQ. If the unit is on the list but greyed out, it is in the wrong Op Mode for the type of TF. Amphibious TFs load units in Combat Mode. Transport TFs load units in Strategic Move Mode. If you are using a Transport TF, make sure the destination port is big enough and safe enough to dock individual ships (check individual ship displacement tonnage against the largest ship limit in the receiving port). Inability to dock a transport will lead to very long unloading times.

4. Once the first TF is fully loaded, undock it and form another TF of the same type, set it to "Do not unload" and dock it. Choose the same unit again and load the next chunk. There is an option when giving the load orders to "Use Minimum Ships" that is handy here (you have to use the "Verify Load" text after you do that and it will show ships that can be removed from the TF, but if the unit has Motorized Support or Artillery it tends to underestimate how many ships are needed so keep at least one "extra ship" at this point and choose "Use all ships" to redistribute the load).

5. The TF with first chunk of the unit loaded can either wait for subsequent chunks and merge those TFs into it (transfer ships individually) or the first TF can leave immediately and the subsequent TFs can be sent when they are loaded. This spreads out the unloading at the destination port.

6. BTW, any combat ships not carrying troops can be added to a TF after it undocks rather than tie up dock space.

[DanielAClark]

Thanks for the step by step instructions. Will see what i am doing wrong on this coming turn.

I think i was trying to load troops packed in strategic mode for an amphib transport. Oops.

Affirmative on the bombers. I am basically trying to hit the port at Buna because it eill slow down any supply unloading as well as eat into supply to repair damage.

I use the p39s or the B26s to hit the track.. or at least that is the current plan.

I am amused that no serious IJN opposition has emerged...part of me thinks the enemy is just waiting for my carriers to go away.

[DanielAClark]

18th August
We hit the Kokoda Track hard with the B26s AND the P39s. Our B17s hit Buna from 15000 feet and do MORE damage. Which seems counter intuitive (more damage from higher altitude)...but I think this is representing familiarity with the target now that it has been hit several times.

Setting up new sub chaser squadrons and shipping them out to various locations (Brisbane, Sydney, Noumea, Lunga, etc). Our AMs have already been hammering at a few pesky I boats that have tried to penetrate the Australian ports.

One of my destroyers hits a friendly mine outside of Tulagi. Urgh...realism.

Our B17s hit Tulagi hard again, and will need to stand down for fatigue.

However, our forces make a deliberate attack and TAKE TULAGI!

I have ordered the base force to unpack, and then will load it onto transports in 2-3 days. This whole learning experience has cost me a week...and may result in further delays as I will need to rearm the carriers before risking the transports.

Intelligence reports IJN ships sheltering in the Shortlands...waiting for their chance once the carriers are gone. So, when the carriers leave...so will EVERYTHING ELSE.

Learning note:
I have been using transport instead of amphibious task forces. For locations where I need quick resupply...I will need to use the amphibious task force. Hopefully I remember that in the future.

[RangerJoe]

If you have APDs and need quick supply, use a Fast Transport to haul a few supplies.

[DanielAClark]

Ran two turns tonight.

Up through 20th August
Port Moresby Front
I have reorganized the B17s and concentrated them at Townsville. We hit Buna hard on the 19th...but stand down for the 20th due to fatigue.

Multiple cargo ships spotted in Buna harbor so I order the B26s to go after them. Our P39s bravely escort into the teeth of the handful of Zeros. It does not go too badly...we trade nearly 1-1. Our bombers get through and neatly hit two of the transports with four bombs. Nice work!

Guadalcanal
Two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, and an E boat surprise the San Juan and two of my destroyers. All three USN ships are sunk on the night of the 19th. All day on the 19th, my two carriers (Wasp and Enterprise) spot the enemy ships but refuse to hit them despite having ample sorties (>300) and bombs. I suspect that my strike groups are set with too high a search level (20).

This costs me as the following night the two heavy cruisers and one of the enemy destroyers returns and engages the heavy cruiser group (Australia, Canberra, Chicago, Hobart) covering my transports unloading at Lunga Point. We drive off the enemy, with light damage to the cruisers. Our transports had got underway before the attack began and cleared the area. Again, my carriers refuse to engage the enemy.

I have adjusted the search settings, and will give them one more day...and if they refuse to fly will withdraw them to Noumea to resupply and then join Saratoga which has just finished resupplying.

I begin bombing Tassafaronga with my Noumea B17s...because why not.

The base force is loaded up on amphibuous transports and is proceeding to Lunga Point...guarded by Astoria, Quincy, etc. If I have to withdraw the carriers this force will fall back.

The Japanese have begun making Betty raids on Lunga. Only 5 planes at a time, with a token zero escort. They go after destroyers during the morning attack...but during the afternoon attack they put one fish into Hobart. She will be leaving for Espirito Santo to try to get some emergency repairs complete (float 50 currently)...before then heading to Sydney.

The IJN is starting to hit back.

[RangerJoe]

Check the commanders of your air units and carriers, including the TF commander.

The San Juan, if I remember correctly, is a CLAA which is best deployed with your carriers or transports for their AA fire.

[BBfanboy]

The IJN ships at this point have poor AA batteries and you can risk putting your carrier strikes at a lower altitude for better chance of hitting. For the DBs in clear or slightly cloudy conditions, use 10,000 feet so they will DB rather than level bomb. Dive bombing has the best chance of hitting ships. If the weather is overcast or light rain, I set my DB attacks at 3000 feet to have a better chance of hitting while staying above any 7.7mm MG fire. It's still in range of the 25 mm flak, but the bad weather influences their aim too.
My TBs are usually set to 6000 feet if they have torps and 3000 feet if they are using bombs, regardless of weather.

If there is enemy CAP, it is best to keep all your bombers at the same altitude so your escorting fighters can try and stave off the enemy's. I use 9000 altitude to stay above the 25mm flak and keep the DBs at the same level as the TBs.

BTW, since aerial torps rarely hit and often do not explode at this stage in the war, I prefer to arm my TBs with bombs until there are cripples that my torps have a chance of hitting.

[DanielAClark]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Check the commanders of your air units and carriers, including the TF commander.

The San Juan, if I remember correctly, is a CLAA which is best deployed with your carriers or transports for their AA fire.

Yes, her sinking was my fault. She was needlessly exposed and should have been withdrawn to the carrier groups.

[DanielAClark]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

The IJN ships at this point have poor AA batteries and you can risk putting your carrier strikes at a lower altitude for better chance of hitting. For the DBs in clear or slightly cloudy conditions, use 10,000 feet so they will DB rather than level bomb. Dive bombing has the best chance of hitting ships. If the weather is overcast or light rain, I set my DB attacks at 3000 feet to have a better chance of hitting while staying above any 7.7mm MG fire. It's still in range of the 25 mm flak, but the bad weather influences their aim too.
My TBs are usually set to 6000 feet if they have torps and 3000 feet if they are using bombs, regardless of weather.

If there is enemy CAP, it is best to keep all your bombers at the same altitude so your escorting fighters can try and stave off the enemy's. I use 9000 altitude to stay above the 25mm flak and keep the DBs at the same level as the TBs.

BTW, since aerial torps rarely hit and often do not explode at this stage in the war, I prefer to arm my TBs with bombs until there are cripples that my torps have a chance of hitting.

DBs are curently set to 10k feet. Their range is limited to the max range of the TBs.

TBs are set to 6k feet.

Fighters are set to escort / CAP at 10k feet.

I have read the threads on this forum for airstrike coordination, and i have yet to be caught out on it.

I too have little confidence in the American aerial torpedoes...

[RangerJoe]

I set the TBs to 1000 feet. They suffer no penalty for being down that low.

If Bettys and Nells are set to torpedoes at that height and no torpedoes are available, they suffer no penalty. If they are set to bombs at that height, they suffer the penalty.

[DanielAClark]

21st August
Typical ineffective bombardment from the IJA on the Kokoda Track. Rotation of P39s continues. B17s are still hitting Buna well, and rotating there as well.

I am starting to think longer term here. There really are not any bases closer to Rabaul than the Lunga / Tulagi area that offer much in the way of land based air. This means Buna is the next best thing...which means winning the naval war. Something we are far from doing.

But, I will want to start thinking about which army forces to prepare for taking Buna.

The transports continue withdrawing. Wasp withdraws on its own. I am beginning to think that the sorties remaining count is not accurate. Visual bug?

Hiei and Kirishima arrive during the night and bombard Lunga Point. They do some damage to the airfield and the port, but nothing that shuts it down.

I got REALLY lucky here, as my APAs with the base force (and my cruiser escort) arrived the next afternoon and are ready to land the force. Saratoga is now in position to cover the landings, as is Enterprise...but I do not trust that Enterprise is combat ready (though it says it is).

Once I get the base force in place, I will move the two marine dive bomber squadrons to the island and one squadron of the Catalinas to provide much better scouting.

Hopefully then I can start trying to interdict supplies to Tassafaronga, which we have not been doing at all.

[DanielAClark]

22nd August

Standard bombing of the Kokoda Track. We get more squad damage than usual. Good stuff.

Rabaul launches HEAVY Betty raids (>50) against the ships in the slot. We lose two fully loaded xAKs that were on their way to Tulagi. No losses among the escorting cruisers and destroyers. Our CAP trades 1-1 and damages dozens of bombers. But its not enough.

Major carrier battle east of Tulagi. Enterprise and Saratoga hit Shokaku with 4 1000 lb bombs. Zuiho is unscathed.

The IJN strike hits Enterprise with 3 bombs, putting her flight deck out of action. North Carolina was attacked multiple times and suffered one torpedo hit...but is still combat capable.

Enterprise will withdraw to Noumea. Saratoga will withdraw south of Lunga. I need Wasp back in action soon, but she wont be back for two days at least.

My base force is almost unloaded...and we now have PBYs and two squadrons of dive bombers at Henderson Field.

[DanielAClark]

23rd August

Most of my bombers at PM stand down for a maintenance rest. The B17s at Townsville keep pounding on Buna.

The IJA bombards my brigade in the hills. No effect.

I sort out the plane situation at Henderson Field...and begin sending the Enterprise groups back to Noumea. This will take a few days as we fix damaged planes.

With only one flight deck still active, we pull everything out of the Slot. I will be back to unload the last dregs of the base force when Wasp returns (2ish days?).

North Carolina and Atlanta move to Saratogas task force. The Enterprise clears the area to the south with Portland and four destroyers.

Our marine DBs from Henderson Field find and try to hit a pair of heavy cruisers NE of Tulagi. No hits. Saratoga also launches against these ships. No hits. Not a good showing.

Thankfully, no carrier planes spotted. So the IJN also pulled back. I do not believe we sank Shokaku. So now we try to assess the situation and decide when to send in supplies again.

[DanielAClark]

24th-25th August

Not much happens.

My transports that dropped off the Australian HQ at PM clear the area after running the Betty gauntlet out of Rabaul, no torpedo hits.

Wasp is now approaching the combat area. We will push some supplies to Tulagi, and put some more mines in the Slot. Then we retreat. I want to replenish my cruiser fleets and prepare for the next major reinforcement push.

7th USMC is arriving in 3 days, a USMC base force aviation support in 8 days. We will also be moving a SeaBee unit up to Lunga. That will be the next major push.

[DanielAClark]

26th August

A single zero escorts a dozen Betty's over PM. He manages to out fight about a dozen P39s and P40s from getting to the bombers before he simply got bypassed. Thankfully, most of the lost planes were merely damaged or driven off. No losses. We do down a few bombers, and all of their torpedoes miss the tanker in the harbor.

We pound Buna and the track yet again.

Our Beaforts at Milne Bay do not find worthy targets to sortie after.

I also noted that we now have a squadron of Beafighters at Brisbane. Unfortunately, they are not true fighter bombers...they do not have the capability to drop bombs. At present I will hold them in reserve over Brisbane. The P39s have more practical use to rotate into and out of PM.

Our transports begin pushing supplies - to Tulagi. Our tankers arrive at Lunga to provide a fuel reserve to eventually base ASW sub chasers here. Assuming I can drop off enough. Rabaul sends a good force of Betties again escorted by a single zero. He, unlike his colleague at PM...is easily driven off by the robust CAP from Henderson field of Marine pilots in Wildcats. We savage the Betty's. No torpedo hits against any ships in the slot.

Cats show that the IJN is probably supplying Tasafaronga. But doing so at night, so we haven't caught anything in daylight. With Wasp and Saratoga in range, I am going to mine the approaches to Tasafaronga...maybe.

Enterprise has almost made it to Noumea...when I realize that she will have to be repaired at Sydney. Her float damage isn't bad. Her system damage is 60. I am assuming I can get some of that down pierside at Noumea before sending her on to Sydney? She could be out of action for most of the rest of the campaign.

Hobart is going to head direct to Sydney for final repairs.

The intel report is showing Zuikaku as sunk...though I think they mean Shokaku...and I am not sure whether to trust it. We hit her with four 1000lb bombs...that could be a lot of damage. But we also didn't see any evidence of her sinking.

Best to play it safe. The CAP performance out of Henderson Field today was an encouraging sign.

[RangerJoe]

Check the weather at Guadalcanal and the moonlight. If the weather is bad and/or the moonlight is low, then move in PT boats to mess with the Japanese Fast Transports. If you can slow them down, then your air power might be able to find them during the day.

[DanielAClark]

Right!

I forgot I could build PT boats!

[Bif1961]

Put JFK and friends to work.